Guelph Lake 2 - Triathlon

So, I wasn't really sure how this would go down - i am normally a panicky swimmer but my half in June went really well and I was so calm and i had barely and OWS then and that was still the case now. Actually, i hadn't done OWS since that race.

I started with my wave which was the third wave, near the back as usual. There were three buoys out and three back and the water was pretty comfortable and pretty calm. I started and got into the mix and felt a little short of breath so I decided to just count my strokes and focus on breathing comfortably

Before I knew it we were rounding the far buoy and i had a great turn. At the second turn it was more crowded. I had to negotiate around the breast stroker and some flailing kind of kicks. It seemed to me that the last buoy was right on the beach but it turned out, no, it wasn't and I had gotten to where it was to my left. I made a quick zigzag back to get around it on the proper side as i didn't want any worry of 'cheating' or cutting the course.

Overall, I felt strong - i probably could have swum a bit faster but I was very happy with this effort. And with the alternate location for the swim the run to transition is super short and does not add to the swim time!

A little more OWS just for sighting practice and to get used to swimming faster and where I can push the effort. A

I was just so flummoxed to see so many bikes on my AG rack! That never happens to me!! It was awesome. I was a bit out of it and it took a second to get going. Others on my rack were coming in and beating me out!

Luckily I was paying enough attention to see that my chip had come off when i took off my wetsuit and I got that back on.

It was a grassy and slightly dangerous all uphill run to the bike mount. I tried to be quick without falling my face. I didn't really run much.

Planned it out better. I forgot my sunglasses

I really wanted to hammer the bike! I knew my overall time might be a little slow due to the long run to the mount line from transition - nothing to be done about those logistics. I was aiming for an hour or less, if i could.

The first roads were really quiet but the main one out of the park was just terribly bumpy. I knew I needed to get sport drink into me so i had put my aerodrink on so I would have no excuse (except that I put it on backward so the straw was further away from me - doh!) but the bumpy road made it pretty difficult.

The bike course was busy and i was passed by the fast dudes in the waves behind me pretty quickly. I pushed on the uphills wondering if I might regret it. The course was much hillier than I remembered. It started out pretty cloudy and then became sunny as the ride went on.

I spent some time leap frogging with a girl from my AG on a road bike. I memorized her bib so i could look it up later - she would pass me on the flats and downhills and i would pass her on the uphill.

There were lots of spots where it was difficult not to draft or at least be too close to the people around which was frustrating. But overall I felt good - i was passed quite a bit but I i think i did just as much passing which was a nice feeling. There was some wind on the way back so i had to mentally focus on keeping the effort up.

Overall i felt strong coming back to transition even though road-bike girl was ahead of me - there wasn't room or time to pass safely by that point.

Not too much. I am actually very happy with this even though it a little longer than my goal. I would probably put my aerodrink on the right way (feel pretty dumb for that one) and grab my sunglasses in T1 (but it wasn't too bad for debris and such)

The dismount was a little congested and the downhill run on the grass in bike shoes was a little dangerous. Volunteers were telling people to be careful.

I don't remember much about this other than the need to beat road-bike girl. My run is decent so I had a suspicion I could beat her - the competitive fires were alive!

And I still forgot my sunglasses!

Not too much this was pretty quick. glad to have the elastic laces on my shoes finally.

I probably blazed out of T2 too fast. Seriously, i haven't been doing all that much run training and I decide to drop the hammer?? Of course! This is the last race of the season!

By now the sun has come out in full force and the course is all kinds of little rolling hills and varying terrain. By km 2 i was wondering if i could hold the pace.And was having those internal conversations on what to do about it. I told myself I could slow down but i didn't. I had at least two girls in my AG pass me. One blazed by - there was no way I was keeping up to her - i remembered seeing her out on a fat tire bike. The other i actually caught up to for a while and I talked to her but she had a finishing kick i didn't so that was that. I was super happy, I definitely came in under two hours and met my goal to push it!

I am happy to say I looked up road-bike girl and I beat her by 10 mins! Boo-yah!

Nothing, really. Hand held water bottle? For this distance run though it's fine to use the aid stations

I finished and grabbed water. Then, I actually headed back to transition. I had seen my running buddy on the course (she did the du) and knew she was several minutes back so i had time to go back to transition and get my food bracelet which I had forgotten to put on.

I got my food (excellent spread with subs and Summerfresh salads and hummus packs) and headed down to the finish line to cheer on my friend!


It's always training. I do want to really improve my bike over the cooler months - i think that is where I have the most gains to make.

I went back to work in July after being on a year-long parental leave so it was great to give me a reason to continue to train and get settled into our new normal at home. I think I did well despite lacklustre (but not terrible) training and I had a good time!


Trisport puts on a great race. This is a long-standing, popular venue and I had a great time. Post-race food was excellent.

The alternate location was pretty tight on space and it was difficult to leave while they had the afternoon races coming in to set up but they did a good job with the last-minute changes.