This was definitely the tightest swim I've been in with a lot of limbs colliding for the first 300m or so. I did well to navigate my way through a lot of men that were much slower than me and made my way through the first loop and eventually found some space. I swam beside another fellow and we're going at the same pace. I had to shake myself out of it and push forward. Through the second and final laps pretty much untouched and unharmed. A pack of 5 guys right in front of me as we head into transition. My best swim time to date so I can't complain too much.

I again thought I lost time trying to navigate past slower people at the beginning. There was a lot of banging going on at the beginning that I may have been able to avoid if I had just started closer to the front.

A 300m run from Quarry Lake to T1. I had the wetsuit top off and got on my way as quick as possible. I forgot my towel to kind of wipe my feet off so I had little rocks and debris stuck on my feet. Couldn't worry about it too much. I threw a power bar and gel pack in my jersey and left. I had an assigned spot which wasn't in the best located area so it was a run to the highway to hop on the bike. Long T1 for sure, but not much could be done to make it quicker.

My official time is 1:15:13 which includes both transitions. My Garmin time was 1:11:12. So the route starts with descent to the top of a 4-loop circuit. The loop starts with a downhill chunk for 1.9k then onto a flat part for another couple clicks then a fairly short 12% grade climb to the turnaround. Obviously, on the turn back it's a 1.9k climb to the top of the loop. Repeat this 4 times...ugh. I was passed and did a lot of passing early on and near the end. Early on it became clear I didn't have the push on the bike. I couldn't really eat because I was sucking wind too much and my half gatorade-half water mix was still too sweet for me to really be able to suck it back. So it was mostly dead weight for me. I kept it going as best I could but seemed to not be as strong as I'd have liked. The final climb I spun up the last hill to the T2, getting passed easily by a couple guys. No worries about them though. I'll get them on the run I was thinking.

No more food. No more gatorade. I'm going to stick with one down-tube water bottle and one emergency gel in the jersey pocket. My lack of saddle time the 3 weeks leading up to the race affected my performance too, I think.

Not much to this one. I fiddled with the socks for a brief moment, but got them on. Shoes slipped on and off I went. Quick and easy.

I didn't have that burst off the bike like I usually do. I already felt spent by the hilly bike ride. The first km was downhill. Not that fun because it was a steep downhill where you couldn't really just let the legs go too loose. On to the next click where it climbs, and climbs and climbs. I passed the guys who passed me at the end of the bike leg. Good! Got those spots back. Third km goes straigt down again and then loops right back up. Even more painful. The 4th click is probably the flatest but still dips and climbs frequently. I have to push myself to pick up speed instead of moving to recovery. The 5th km is a run down to the start area again where we do the loop all over again. I pass a few more guys during the second loop. One fellow was a good rabbit for me the last few clicks. I was hesitant to pass him with about 1k to go fearing he would sprint pass me. I pushed hard so that wouldn't happen. With about 500m to go I shouldered checked. He wasn't coming. My spot was secured. I ran hard in, glad to be done.

Nothing. I had a decent run even though I wanted to walk at times it was so painful. I pushed through and did well in this leg. Just more overall run fitness is what I need.

Finished the race with my usual fist pump. The next two competitors came across the finish and then congratulated me on my throw down run. I told him how I thought he was trying to trick me into setting the pace for him to pass me on a final sprint...but he told me he just didn't have it.


At the end of it all placing 17th overall and 5th in the age group for a provincial championship race isn't too bad. But...I felt I didn't do as well as I could have on the bike. I lost out on an AG podium spot by 5 minutes...which was all on the bike. My run was my best leg again, just 9 seconds behind the best run time in the 30-34 AG. The swim was a nice surprise PR. I really felt great during the swim and kept breathing to the right only. Which I know now is my 'fast' side. To get better I just need to keep hammering away. The next few races I need to focus more on bike fitness to get that back to where it should be.


This course was the hardest I've done to date. I won't say too hard, but it was hard.