Binbrook Triathlon - Triathlon

Lake Niapenco looks like it was filled by the race sponsor, Chocolate Milk. At no point during the swim could you see the bottom, even in knee-deep water. If there are feet in front of you, you'll feel them long before you see them. All this leads to a bit of a stressful swim. I did get jostled around a bit, despite starting near the back, for the first 200m. Luckily (?) I can't swim a straight line, so I was quickly off course and therefore unlikely to get bumped. I weaved my way back, but since I couldn't be sure I was going in the right direction I was never able to get a comfortable rhythm going. I ended up having to sight every second stroke.

I think the swim time includes a 300m run-up to T1. Garmin had the swim at 16:26 ending before the run to transition.

Practice sighting.

I was pleased with this transition, even if it was a bit slow. I managed to get the wetsuit down to my waist while jogging up from the lake. The wet suit came off fairly easily once I got to my bike; it didn't snag on my heels or my timing chip, for a change. I had remembered to keep my bike in an easy gear, had my bike shoes spread wide on the ground (I don't clip them to the bike), and had minimal struggle getting socks on.

Nothing

I haven't been training with aero bars, so I was riding the road bike without them. I did manage to stay in the drops the whole time, except when drinking. It wasn't long into the bike ride before riders from prior waves started passing me. Still, I enjoyed the ride, passed a few slower riders, and generally just tried to hold the pace I intended to, rather than burning up. For the second half of the course, there was a woman on a pink bike holding around the same pace as me; I'd pass her on every downhill (being substantially assisted by gravity) and she'd pass me on every uphill. I do need to be more confident cornering, brake early if needed, and make sure to look to the *inside* of the corners.

Drink more evenly during the ride. I had a third of my bottle left when I got to T2.

One of these days, I'll learn how to tie shoes. Until then, T2 will remain a challenge. That said, I felt T2 went fairly smoothly. The only hitch was the decision to gulp down the rest of the Gatorade in my bike bottle, knowing I can't drink the sports drink they serve on course. That negatively impacted my first km of the run, because it was sloshing in my stomach.

Investigate no-tie laces. Don't chug the sports drink

Within 1 km, I felt my right calf giving me trouble. This was odd, because in my 15 month running career I've never had trouble. I haven't been running a lot lately, so that might have had something to do with it. I walked the first water station without drinking, because I still had my Gatorade making me uncomfortable, but had to stop around 500 meters down the road to stretch the leg. From that point I just ran, at what my watch told me was my half-marathon pace. I probably could have pushed a little harder, but was worried about my calf giving out.

Hero Burger and chocolate milk. I love MSC races for the postrace food.


On the swim, the inability to keep a straight line. On the bike, fitness generally. Perhaps clipping on my aerobars would have helped, although I did manage to stay in the drops for at least as long as I would have been on the bars. Running, general lack of fitness, and caution over the possible calf injury.


MSC puts on good events. My only issue with this race is the venue - the murky lake is annoying to swim in.