Had a really good swim. Stayed calm the whole time especially in the mix of people thrashing about over the first leg. I just swam my own race in my own space for the rest of the time without any struggle. Breathing was good and my RPE felt right. Sighting the big orange and yellow buoys was a bit difficult because the sprint racers had yellow caps and some of the Olympic racers had orange caps. The return leg only had the one orange buoy to sight to opposed to the 4-5 yellow ones on the way out. I probably zigzagged a bit too much. I adjusted the distance based on everyone else's comments about a long swim course.

Mum was at the ready with her umbrella and camera right at the course marker to snap a photo of me surfacing and running up the beach.

Weather: 15°C, ENE 13km/h, Hum 91%, Light Rain

Swim a little faster by pushing myself a little harder.

Came in while the rain was starting to get heavier. Wetsuit got stuck on my arm at my watch and on my ankle chip. It took what felt like an eternity to pull it off. Got my socks and shoes on but decided against putting on another layer over my tri top. Got my helmet on and was on my way.

More bodyglide, baby oil, canola oil, or lard to get my wetsuit off easier.

The first lap wasn't so bad with the rain not being too heavy. I didn't bother putting on any extra clothing in T1 because I would have just been soaked to the bone anyway. It wasn't too cold although the rain hitting bare skin was uncomfortable at times. I passed at least a dozen people while only getting passed by a super fast dude wearing an aero helmet and Terry/windnsnow himself who blew past me just after the turnaround on the second lap and left me in his dust, or wake with the amount of rain falling at that point.

At about 7k into the second lap there where some super loud cracks of thunder. I was just passing a women and commented on it and she said "We're grounded with the rubber tires, right?" I replied that I didn't feel up to testing that theory and rode on.

I also spent a good portion of the ride lamenting over the fact that I had put on my socks with my bike shoes. Of course, within minutes of biking in the rain, my shoes and socks were sopping wet. My dilemma was that when it came time to put on the running shoes, it was going to really suck with my already soaked socks. I wished that I had saved the dry socks for the run. I've always just put on my socks in T1 to save time and did it on this day out of habit.

As I was coming into transition after a good ride, people were tearing down the transition area fences and all of the cones in the dismount area were gone. I thought, "Come on, I know I'm not in the first half of the bike finishers, but at least wait for everyone to get to transition". Then, someone stopped me to tell me that the race was called and took my chip. By this time, it was absolutely pouring and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. I was a bit relieved at the idea of getting out of the rain but I was still ready to run. That's what I came for. Ugh.

Start Weather: 14°C, E 13km/h, Hum 97%, Rainshower
Finish Weather: 14°C, NE 28km/h, Hum 100%, Thunderstorm with Rain

I rode fine - just right in order to embark on teh 10k run. Didn't wear any shades for obvious reasons, but some sort of protective eye wear like my swim goggles would have been helpful in the heavy rain. As well, I may have been more comfortable in a waterproof jacket if I had one.

Canceled due to thunderstorm.

Canceled due to thunderstorm.

Got my sopping wet self and stuff out of transition and into the car.


Rain...I felt fine and ready to go, but if it was dry, I'm sure everyone would have been faster.

The bike in the rain was certainly an exercise to test the mental toughness.

Lightning sinks triathlon

Kevin Mitchell, The StarPhoenix

Published: Monday, June 18, 2007

The one weather element that can stop a triathlon spread havoc Sunday at Pike Lake.

Lightning strikes in the immediate area forced organizers to stop the Merlin Ford Lincoln Spin Off Spadina Triathlon in mid-stream. News of a strike in Alberta on Saturday that killed one person and injured six others was top of mind when the decision was made.

"As we were debating this, three-quarters of the way through the race, there was a lightning strike right over our heads in the parking lot," said race director John Rayner. "That made up our minds. We said, 'OK, this race is done right now.'

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Swimmers make their way across Pike Lake Sunday in the Saskatchewan Triathlon

"I've been around five or 10 years and I'd never seen a race called off. I was running around apologizing to people, but they were all (saying), 'No, that was the right thing to do.' It's one thing to keep the race open for athletes, but you have volunteers five or 10 km out and standing on a highway. It's not fair to keep them out there."

Organizers pulled racers and volunteers off the course and sent them home after a day that started off with great promise. The race, which serves as a provincial championship, drew an all-time high of 220 competitors.

The swim went well, but rain started falling during the bike portion. That's also when the first flashes of lightning were seen.

The half-triathlon athletes did get most of their competitors in, with Joel Howlett and Rachel Edwards -- both of Saskatoon -- earning top honours in the male and female categories.

Saskatoon's Corey Borlein, running the Olympic-length event, was able to get in shortly before the race was called off and was named the men's winner. No Olympic-length women crossed the finish line.

The Olympic-length event includes a 1,500-m swim, 40-km bike ride and 10-km run.

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