UBC Triathlon - Short Distance - TriathlonMini Sprint

WOW! Look at me GO! That 14 minutes even INCLUDES my transition! And, I was the 31st fastest swim of all the women! What a HUGE change from last year! I felt really good in the water. I was trying out my brand new swimsuit (risky) but it was awesome. I was passed by two people, one almost right off the bat, and one a few lengths later. The second person had a good pace, so I tried to stay right in behind her. It only lasted for about 50m, but it was kind of fun to try drafting!

Remember to start my watch so I could get a split time on the swim!! I would also just keep working on my fitness so I can go faster and gasp less at the end of each length! Overall, I'm SO happy with this swim.

No time on this transition, because UBC doesn't time splits, they just lump your transition time into your swim time (for T1). And since I forgot to start my watch, so I don't have anything but a guess. I think my transition was about 5:30 from the pool to the cycle transition, and another 2:00 into my bike, helmet/gloves on and back out onto the road. (The timing chip beeper thing actually splits the transition, its strange). Though this was about 7:30 total and seems slow, the transition area is about 400m from the pool. So once you get dressed, you have to run 400m to the bikes, into wherever your rack is, and then out again. It takes a fair amount of time! Regardless, it would be nice to speed this up a bit, but overall I'm happy. I also arranged my wet bag in order of what I would need this year, so that helped (towel on top, then sports bra, then pants, shirt, socks and shoes.)

I think if I did this race in the rain again, I wouldn't bother putting on long pants, and would just ride in my Tri shorts. It was so ridiculously wet out there, that we might as well have swam the whole race! Luckily it was warm, just wet. I would also wear my sports bra under my swim suit. Everyone else seems to do it. Why not join the club and cut my transition time down a little more!!

Pretty good bike leg today. As I've mentioned, it was SOOO wet outside. It had rained for about 3 days straight and was still givin'er as we headed out. Someone said that the marshalls were pretty picky about being able to see race numbers so I had to skip my jacket (as my # was pinned to my shirt, I didn't want to take the time to re-do it, as well as I didn't want to puncture my riding jacket!). I was a bit winded on the initial uphill out of transition and got passed by two riders pretty quickly. However, I made it back on the downhill segments, passing 5 people. (Even people on ROAD bikes! Me + my hybrid = strongest ever) Last year the slight uphill on the way back in kicked my butt, but this year I owned it, passing two people there and one on the more significant uphill right before the dip into transition. I feel like my ride was pretty solid, but I have to factor the rain in a little bit. It was stinging my face, and the road had puddles all over it. Some you could kind of maneuver around but others you had no choice but to go through, and it soaked my shoes and socks. As well, since it was slick, it made me more careful on the few curves and slow right down at the turnaround point. (Not to mention how heavy and non-aero my soaked clothes were!) Regardless, it was a good ride, but has the potential to be much better.

Get a race belt for numbers - makes you more prepared for crazy weather! Particularly in the rain, I would have another pair of shoes and socks waiting in transition just in case. Other than that, I just need to keep working on my fitness and power so I can kick even more butt next year!

No time for T2 either. I think it was pretty good. I was SO uncomfortable coming off the bike (in terms of how wet I was) but I felt ready for the run. I racked my bike as quickly as I could (had to do it twice as it slipped the first time), got my helmet and gloves off, and headed out for the run.

a) not be soaked from the bike
b) racked my bike properly the first time around, so I didn't have to redo it
c) had other shoes available to change into

I was pretty uncomfortable in my soaking wet clothes after the bike, so the run was not something I was looking forward to! I considered actually sitting down in transition and seeing how much water would dump out of my shoes if I took them off, but decided against it. Needless to say, the 'squish, squish, squish' noise that accompanied me off the bike remained with me throughout the run. WET! YUCK! GROSS! About 3 or 4 minutes out of transition, I saw Kirk coming the other way, but he was outside of course boundaries. He shook his head and called to me "I'm done" and I was like "Done? Did they DQ you? What's going on!?" He frowned at me and was like "I'm too sick," and waved me on. Turns out, he had come down with the flu that morning, but decided to race anyhow. When he got to the run, his stomach cramped right up and he had to pull out. When I saw him he was walking to hand in his timing chip. Such a bummer!! Anyway, I kept running, though I felt like I was keeping a slower pace than usual. At about 2km, my achillies tendon decided it was going to act up. (That's a whole kilometer earlier than last time it acted up! And it had a week off!!) So I had a bit of a walk, and some water at the first aid station. I pushed through until the second aid station at about 3.5km, and then had to walk some more. (I didn't walk for very far each time, but I was at a snails pace). Finally it started to feel better (or numb, maybe?) around 4km. I ran it through to the finish, and was super excited to get out of the rain! The only good thing about my achillies acting up again was it took my mind off the blisters that were forming inside my socks. YUCK! Didn't even notice them until I took my shoes off in the truck. Oh well. Though the run had its problems, it was not bad overall, and I finished strong! Got passed by a few and passed some myself...all in all, not too shabby.

I need to do something about this achillies heel of mine. That is a big problem right now. If I can't train because it hurts, I can't expect it to feel good during a race, and therefore I can't expect a good run! (And I really want to have good runs!) Might be time to seek out a physical therapist again. Otherwise, I would basically try to stay drier next time so I'm more comfortable and would possibly consider changing shoes and socks. I'd also train at a higher intensity so my 'race pace' could be faster.

Practically no warm-down. I crossed the finish line, was handed my souvenir water bottle, had like 3 orange slices, handed in my timing chip and headed straight to cycle transition to grab my bike. (We had an hour drive to the ferry, and we really wanted to make the 7pm sailing, so it was go, go, go!) Kirk had grabbed my bike and wet bag while I was running (even while he was sick! aww what a cutie) and his parents were there already, so we jumped into the truck and headed to the ferry. (I didn't even have time to change, so I partially changed in the truck, but wound up wearing my bathing suit until I got home! Good thing it dried on the drive before I had to put my jeans on.)

As a side note about Kirk...by the time we got home to Victoria that night (10:30ish) he was shivering like crazy and running a high fever. He was sick all the next two days and is only now feeling better. He told me afterwards that before he had to drop out about 1km into the run, he managed to pass 12 people on the bike! His times from the legs he completed - swim and bike- were posted on the website, and as it turns out he was only 2 minutes off the leader's pace when he got too sick to go on. I have to give him some props here - tough luck for his first race...weather and sick wise...but what a trooper! He would have done amazing if he hadn't had the flu :)


Swim: Endurance and efficiency. Though I was miles better than last year, I would like to be able to swim more quickly with less rest next year.

Bike: Fitness and Power. It all comes down to practice. Also, the rain, though only slightly.

Run: Achillies tendon and all around wet gross-ness. I know I have the capacity to run fairly quickly, but I am going to have to start incorporating more LSD runs and speed work in to keep the run up to par....as soon as I can deal with my achillies tendon. Base and Speed training need work.

Transitions: just need some practice, but considering how huge they are at the UBC course, not too bad.


I was SLIGHTLY less impressed with the race organization this year, but I think it was partially because of the weather. WAY fewer volunteers. They also stopped handing out gatorade :( It kind of annoys me that they start the awards ceremony at the same time my heat is starting, so I never get to see the post race activities. But the vendors were cool and there was some neat stuff to look at. Some draw prizes or something would make it even better! Overall, I would recommend this race, particularly to people who are just starting out. The course is pretty flat and pretty fast and well marked.