Cornwall Olympic Triathlon August 19, 2007, 9am ========================== Since my relatives Peter and Mary's house was just 2 short-blocks down the road from the start-line/transistion zone, at 7am took my bike down there, and I was the first one there, so I got the primo transition spot, right at the bike/run out. Cool! I had to hang around a few minutes before I could get my registration - race number and body marking - and then I returned to the house to have a cup of tea, get the rest of my gear ready, and relax, which I did! It was a lovely morning, sun and cloud, just a touch of wind, and temperature in the low-teens! Perfect racing weather! At 8:10 I headed back to the race site and did the rest of my pre-race prep. At 8:45 I got my wetsuit on and went into the water. It was warm. I loosened up and floated around with the rest of the racers. It was a small field - I estimated about 30 in total. I felt good, relaxed, and happy. My goal for this race was just to be happy and have fun. I would do the effort/pace that I felt happy with. I didn't want to intentionally go fast/hard. If a good/hard pace/effort happened and it felt good, I would let it, but if it didn't, I wasn't going to force it. This race, just 4 weeks after Ironman Lake Placid, from which I was still feeling tired, was just for fun! Thehe times I'd given Peter and Mary and Stephen, who would be watching were a finishing time of approx 2:35-2:45, with a 27-30min swim, ~1:15bike, and ~55min run. I purposefully did not wear my HRM, instead just going with my sport watch, as I wanted to race purely by PE. Swim ==== 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Go! and we were off! I quickly found my groove and I settled in. Soon there were few people around me. I had a draft for a short while, but I lost them (left them behind). The swim was a two loop course, starting with the current, then 180degree turn and up against the current, and then completing the loop back with the current. Against the current I shortened/quickened my stroke, whereas with the current I lengthened my stroke and let myself glide more. My goggles got water in them, and that is an irritant for me (because I wear contact lenses), so I stopped for the couple of seconds needed to clear the water and re-seat my goggles so that they didn't leak anymore. I was swimming well, a slightly hard effort, but I felt good, and the first loop was soon over. I had no draft, and I noticed someone off my tail, just out of my draft. Going back up against the current, a gal came past me quite quickly - was I slowing down a bit? I thought so - and I tried to get into her draft, but I failed, and the guy behind me came up beside me and passed me. Drats. We made the turn around the final buoy, and I got inside him, and I increased my pace and left him behind as I gunned for the swim exit, where I caught up to the gal who had passed me and I got out of the water right behind her. T1 == I scrambled up the steep grassy bank, passing the gal infront of me, and I began the long run down beside the transition zone to the far end. My wetsuite pull-strap did its usual avoidance act, but I grabbed it eventually and I had my wetsuite down to my waist as I entered the bike racks. I got to my bike, and then the mess began. In getting my wetsuite off, I managed to knock my bike helmet and sunglasses off and across the transition area. A volunteer retrieved my helmet, and I grabbed my sunglasses before they got stepped on, then shoved them onto my head crooked. Then in putting my helmet on I realized that it was a little tight, so I had to jam it on (instead of loosening the slide at the back). And then I fumbled getting the chip strap done up. Having finally gotten my glassed and helmet on right, I grabbed my bike and made to run out of transition, but my bike wouldn't come off the rack! I had to stop and lift it up, and then off. After what felt like an entire year in transition, I was finally I was off and running out of transistion, across the mats, and flying onto my bike. And Peter caught that entire fumbling kerfuffle on video! Bike ==== After fumbling to get my feet onto my bike shoes - my right shoe went wayward after the elastic snapped - I got going, and once I was up to a good pace I smoothly got my feet into my shoes. I could feel my HR high, so I just focused on settling down and finding a good pace, which I was able to do fairly quickly. The first lap of the four loop bike course felt a little lonely - only the Olympic course athletes were out there, and we were fairly spread out already. I quickly caught and passed a gal and guy who were cycling together (drafting). It was nice that the course was closed to traffic - lots of room on Montreal Rd, where there was 2-way bike traffic, and being to cut the corners around NavCan and in downtown on the one-way loops were fun. On the downhill corner out of NavCan back onto Montreal Rd I used the entire road each time in order to carry as much speed as possible - I came close to hitting the median a couple of times! On the second loop I started seeing more bikes, as the Sprint and Relay athletes got out onto the course, and I enjoyed that as it gave me more people to pass! Especailly as many of them were on mountain/non-racing bikes, so it was very fun to whiz past them like they were standing still. I had a little trouble when I entered NavCan on the second loop. In prepartion for going up the hill, I tried to change down from my big chain ring to the small one. The chain wouldn't drop, and I had to take the hill in the big ring. It wasn't too bad, as I did not quite had to get into my lowest gear on the rear cog. After that I just stayed in my big chain ring for the rest of the race, and I had no issues with gear selection. I felt good and was cycling well at a good pace, usually in the low-mid 30's. My legs felt good. Lots of energy. I saw Peter, Mary, and Stephen the first couple of laps, but then I guess I missed them in the growing crowds were the bike course went past the transition zone. The wind had picked up a bit and was more of a cross wind so that I felt it most going back and forth on Montreal Rd, but it was not bad. On the third lap I was a bad boy and I drafted for a bit - a Sprint Relayer caught up with me, and we rode together/yo-yoing/back-and-forth a bit as we went through downtown. I noticed my pace/effort increased a bit as I stayed with him. It was fun, but I did not want to be cheating, so I soon backed off a bit. There were no race officials out on the course to officially penalize anyone. A third guy caught up with us, and as we took the sharp right-hand turn back onto Montreal Rd, he had too much speed and nearly went into the pylons in the middle of the road. I cut on the inside of the corner and passed him. Last lap, I felt good and I kept my pace/effort level steady, but I did not go hard-hard - I didn't feel like it. I was happy to still be passing Spring/Relay people. As planned I finished the eload that I had in my aero bottle - that was the only nutrition that I took in on the bike. I saw had seen Stephen, so I knew that they knew I was on my last lap, and there they were at the bike-dismount line as I came and did my flying dismount, and ran into transition, having done a bit of stretching/loossening up in the last km of the bike ride. T2 == I had a very good T2. Bike racked easily (the vibration knocked over the bike that was next to me hanging off the end of the rack). Blister cream under my right arch, and then socks and shoes on quickly, grabbed my hat and a gel, and I was off on the run. Run === The run was two out-and-back loops up the riverside pathway. I started quickly, but soon settled down into a good steady pace, that, if the km markers were accurate, was a 5min/km pace. Legs felt good and I had my running legs immediately - the benefits of all the brick workouts that I had done since February. There was a water station at the 1km mark, and another at the 2.5km turnaround, where I ate my gel, and an unofficial one with a sprinkler running between these two. I ran around the sprinkler as I really didn't want to get all wet - it was warm running as there wasn't much shade and the temp was now increasing, but I was not hot-hot. I just ran steady and managed the path, which was generally flat, but with a couple of short and sharp up/downhills. I came back towards the finish line and the 5km turnaround feeling good and I headed out for lap 2. I noticed my pace was starting to slip slightly off the 5min/km pace, and I starting putting in a bit of effort to counteract that. I was starting to feel a little hot now, as I could feel my face starting to get red. I reached the 7.5km turn and took my last cup of water for sipping and dumping over my head. I headed for home and increased my pace a bit. Not alot, as I still did not feel like really pushing (and suffering). I saw from my watch that I had regained my 5min/km pace, and I focused on just keeping my pace. I wanted a negative split for the run, and I did not pay any attention to what my finishing time would be. I should have paid a bit more attention, because as I came to the finish, I saw the clock reading just seconds over 2:35. Drat! I would have liked to have been under 2:35, and just a bit of attention and a small sprint, which I certainly had in me, would have done the trick! On well! I saw Peter and Mary and Stephen as I finished and I gave them a wave and a smile. I was happy! Results ======= my splits: swim: lap 1 - 14:06 lap 2 - 14:36 ----- total - 28:43 T1: 1:29 bike: lap 1 - 19:05 lap 2 - 18:20 lap 3 - 18:32 lap 4 - 18:27 ------- total - 1:14:24 T2: 0:47 run: lap 1 - 24:57 lap 2 - 24:47 ----- total - 49:44 ======== total: 2:35:07 offical splits: swim (includes T1): 30:12; 13/28 overall; 2/4 M30-39 bike (includes T2): 1:15:11; 9/28 overall; 3/4 M30-39 run: 49:44; 18/28 overall; 4/4 M30-39 2:35:07; 13/28 overall; 4/4 M30 - 39 Summary ======= I swam, rode, and ran happy within control. I did not feel like really suffering today, so I did not push the pace hard, but I was surprised with the effort that I felt comfortable with, and the good time that resulted. A very satisfying end to my 2007 triathlon racing season! Peter took some good videos of my T1 and finish, and the icing on the cake was winning the cooler pack in the draw prizes. Now, if the overall/age group awards hadn't have overlapped, I would also have gotten 3rd AG. No matter. A very satisfying, happy, fun race.