roselle and i decided to make a bit of a long weekend out of the trip, as we try to do with most races. since it's roughly 9 hours away, we planned on spending a couple days in niagara falls to break up all the driving.
we be looking good...
took in the sights and sounds of the roaring waters. journeyed behind the falls and rode on the maid of the mist. it's beautiful and amazing. my savvy bride-to-be booked a room through groupon, which was awesome because it came with food and play vouchers. they were so handy because damn, it's expensive. i understand that it's a tourist trap, but whoa.
stunning, eh?
we continued our journey deeper into canadia early saturday morning, arriving just before registration opened.
once i was all checked in and signed the form for my possible championship spot, we made our way to the lake for a quick swim. the transition area was directly in front of the host hotel, and the swim start/finish was quite a bit away. i carefully examined the swim finish and the hill i would have to climb to get to transition. took a dip in the lake and was surprised at how warm it was. it had been chilly lately, and i assumed the lake would be cooler. felt great.
if we have the opportunity, roselle and i prefer to stay at a bed and breakfast. fortunately, we booked accommodations at the portage inn, which was located about 10 minutes from the race venue and was on the bike course. i reassembled my bike and rode it down to transition. da batmobile was ready to go.
race day
the start of the race was 8am, which gave me another hour of sleep/preparation. not sure why, since they normally start at 7, but it certainly was welcomed. the weather was a bit chilly, 50 degrees, but it was going to be a perfect day, high was 62-64 and sunny. it was announced that the swim was wetsuit legal and suggested being that the temp was 65. i had been nervous about the water temperature since i only have a sleeveless wetsuit. wished it was warmer, but i figured i would man-up and not panic. plus, at the start, there were a few girls going without a wetsuit and one guy in a speedo. these canucks are serious.
my wave started 24 minutes after the start and besides lake placid, our wave included women 18-29. normally, i just swimming around a bunch of dudes. we hit and kick each other a few times and before long, we seemed to spread out. so, i'm not sure if it was because of the inclusion of the females, but that swim start was vicious. i was punched, kicked and bitten. not sure about the last one, but it was crazy. i consider myself to be a strong swimmer and each time i would try to move up, it seemed like someone was there to kick or hit me.
as i made the final turn towards the swim finish, i started getting cold. never had this happen before. i tried not to panic and made every attempt to warm myself up. didn't really work, but i kicked harder and tried to finish strong.
swam 31:22, not my best
i climbed the hill to transition and started out on the bike. it was a stunning course with wonderful views. i taped the course profile on my front water bottle so i knew where and when all the hills were. definitely helpful, but holy smokes, they weren't kidding about the hills.
it was quite technical and you needed all of your gears. the roads were pretty rough too. the director stated that the course was pristine, so i was really surprised at how bad they were. saw a few bad crashes and a lot of road rash. thankfully, i escaped without any marks, just tired legs.
rode 2:56. happy with ride, not happy with time
now it was back into transition and out onto the run course. this is where i normally fall apart. whether its nutrition or lack of strength, my run splits have never been too good. in training, i run like a gazelle. well, maybe not, but i haven't been able to produce a run split during a race that reflects my ability. but i was going to heed the advice of coach scott and also, use my garmin to set my pace. i've never raced with a garmin before. it's been the best product for training and improving. so i built up my legs for the first few miles. in past races, i would fly out of transition and by the end, would be walking. this time was to be different.
the course was, yup you guessed it, hilly. it seemed that every time you went down a hill an uphill was waiting right around the corner. but, i kept on chugging along. tried to be as consistent as possible. i finally made the turn towards the finish and saw the finishing line tape waiting for me. i haven't been the overall winner yet, so breaking the tape at the finish line was awesome. very cool muskoka! took a final glimpse at my watch, 1:52 for the run. i took 21 minutes off my best run split prior. sweet!
as i met up with roselle, she gave me all of my specifics. '13th out of water' '16th off bike' and '19th after run'. i was really surprised with my swim, but more surprised with the other two. usually, i'm dropped on the bike and run by much more than that. so i'm certainly moving in the right direction, but i didn't earn my spot to the world championships this time. whammy! i was hoping for a better ending too...
it was my best time in the 70.3 distance and that was worth celebrating.
No comments:
Post a Comment