Ottawa Early Bird Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon

I was above mid-pack, which was better than I expected. My swim coach told me to relax, swim a warm up and whatever I do, don't pass anyone. The extra effort to pass wouldn't be worth the 5 seconds. I managed to follow the first two, but ended up passing 4 people. I caught the first close to 300m, when he started to do the breaststroke. He let me pass at the wall. The next two were between 300-350, where two of them were breaststroking then. I skipped by and stayed constant until 400. Somewhere along that point I caught up to someone else and cruised by.

In the last 50m, I began to kick harder to try and wake up my legs, based on the coach's suggestion and pulled out of the pool feeling great.

Not much. The swim went as smoothly (for me) as it could. I stayed calm and within my ability. I didn't burn myself out, which I was worried about. (Especially if someone behind be would have caught up... I might have panicked and then tried to over do it).

I'm not a particularly good swimmer, so this counts as success.

A long run from the pool to the bike zone... around 500m. This was to my advantage as I passed a couple of folks along the way.

I had my singlet and jacket waiting for me outside the pool, to put on while I ran. I got the singlet on, then called an audible and decided to not wear the jacket. The temperature was warming up, and I didn't think I'd need it.

More practice getting into my bike shoes. Other than that, again, things went well.

The course was pretty flat, with small hills at either end. (It was three out and back laps). I was ok for pacing, but a bit slower than I wanted. The wind was tough and I didn't have the outside mileage to really attack. I stayed comfortable for this portion, pushing where I could. I couldn't really tell how I was doing, so I kept my head down and raced my own race. With that many bikes on the course it was hard to do anything else.


I need to improve my bike some. That will just take some more time riding outside and not on the trainer. It was surprising and frustrating to find out that this was my weakest segment. Although if I frame it differently, my swimming has definitely improved, since it was actually competitive.

Going into the transition was fine. I managed to jump over the mud puddle and rack my bike quickly. Changing into my shoes went fine. Flipped my bib to the front and off I went.

About 500m outside the tzone I remembered that I still had my #%$@ helmet on. It's very comfortable, so I don't usually notice I have it on. I was too far out to run back, and I didn't feel like throwing it into the bushes. So I decided to just run the whole thing with it.

This is a stretch, but perhaps I'll take my helmet off next time.

Also: speed laces for my running shoes.

Despite the extra weight I was carrying, this went about as well as possible. I hit the trail at a good clip, despite my legs feeling horrible. I knew they'd come back fairly soon so I just had to run through it until then.

Slowly they felt better and at 1km I was where I wanted to be. I cruised through the run and was picking off people regularly along the way. Unlike the bike, I wasn't passed at all, so I took that as a good sign. Aside from the first km, it was really a pretty easy run. I didn't over exert, and I definitely had some in reserve.

Also the helmet probably hurt my aerodynamics...

Helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet helmet.

MMM ... free banana and bagel. Also free massage.


Besides the helmet? I probably needed more time outdoors on the bike. Also I'm not as good a swimmer as I used to be... thanks to evolution.


Enjoyed my self, got some important ideas on what to improve and I got to wear a helmet. A lot.