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Race Recap: Woodstock Give-It-A-Tri Triathlon

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I’m just going to start off by saying, it’s a miracle I even pulled this off given my training has been non-existent for the last 2 weeks, in some part, it was out of my control due to life circumstances….by I digress.

I’ve done 3 duathlons(run, bike, run) to date, but no triathlons(swim, bike, run), until yesterday that is and I’m happy to report that I did not drown.  :roll:   :lol:

Full breakdown of the race is available HERE but I’ll elaborate more in the post here.

The race was put on my Multisport Canada, a.k.a. Recharge with Milk Triathlon Series.  It was pretty well organized with a nice atmosphere and everyone was friendly, except for the weather.  It was a chilly day sitting around 14-15C and a strong NW wind.

I had a big cheering committee for this event; Mrs. Fat Guy and my sister & brother in-laws.  Thanks guys!

We arrived around 10:05 AM and with a scheduled race start of 11 AM, I had to hustle.  I ran to get my bib number, my registration package, timing chip, and got body marked.  I also squeezed in a pitstop at the port-a-potty before the lineups started.  Ran back to the car and got all my stuff together.  Then, ran to transition to setup.  There was no room left on the rack that I was suppose to be in (went by bib number) and I looked at the next rack for the 526+ bib numbers and there was 2 bikes on it so I just racked there as I knew at this point, it wouldn’t fill up anyhow.

As I was unpacking, I heard an announcement about a mandatory pre-race meeting which really messed me up to get ready.  I went to the meeting till about 10:50 at which point I bailed to finish my setup and put on my wetsuit.  I got to the start area a couple minutes before the start, swam a 20-30m out and back, and that was my warmup.  The water was warmer than the outside air which was kinda of interesting for the middle of June.

The race length for this “try-a-tri” race was suppose to be 300m swim, 10k bike, and 2k run.  Well, just before the start of the swim, the first buoy decided to go for a little swim.  In the end, the swim course was closer to 425m which is why the swim pace for everyone seems really slow in the results.  That extra length REALLY killed me.

THE SWIM

I’m going to focus more on the swim in this report as biking and running is pretty straight forward and really have nothing to add other than what’s in the post link breakdown above.

Let me first start by saying, this was only my 2nd open water swim (now known as OWS).  The first was the day before, Sat, in the Welland canal as a test for the wetsuit and how it was.  From my experiment on Saturday, I learned that sighting (checking to see you’re going in the right direction) was going to be my big draw back as I almost swam in a circle at my first attempt.  What I wasn’t prepared for was the other bunch of people swimming around me, into me, up me, down me, etc that I encountered on race day.  I mean, I knew about it from the reading I’ve done, and also this funny Clif Bar commercial, but it’s still surprises the crap out of you and it’s something that needs to be dealt with….while your swimming and trying to breath at the same time.

When the horn sounded I pointed myself in the direction of the first buoy and told myself to just “take your time” and focus on trying to swim left.  That was until I felt someone trying to swim over me, so I picked up the pace a little only to almost get kicked in the face from someone ahead of me, then someone t-boned me on my left side.  When I looked up, I was already too far to the right and had to correct.  This went on for the first 2-3 mins until the pack thinned out a little.  It seemed like it took forever to get to that 1st buoy.

Once I got to the first buoy, there was someone treading water at the buoy and everyone is trying to get around him.  Interesting.  Just passed the 1st buoy I also tread water for 5 seconds to see where the next buoy was, then proceeded.  At this point I was already tired and gasping for air every time I took a breath.  Once again I told myself to slow down, take long strokes and relax.  That was working for about 30 seconds until someone else decided to t-bone my right side.  I looked to sight and I was right on target so this person was heading in the wrong direction.

Once I passed the 2nd buoy I knew I was on the home stretch and couldn’t wait to get on terra firma.  Then it happen….I saw the bottom of the mirky water…some land.  I stood up and started walking out of the water like a drenched swamp monster, trying to catch my breath.

It took 12m:43s for the swim, but it might as well had been an hour.  It was done…the dreaded swim was done.  Off to the bike.

Bike & run were uneventful.  Based on my HR, I was at the redline for both…that’s all I had.

Official Results HERE.

Results Summary

Official Time: 48m 25s
Overall: 21st of 113 (19%)
Age Group:
(M40-44) 		3rd of 9 (33%)
Gender: 18th of 51 (35%)

 

Garmin Data:
Bike (10k) | Run (2k)

Here are a few pics of the event:

Woodstock Triathlon 2011

 

Next on the schedule is suppose to be the Lake 2 Lake 50k Mountain Bike race, next Sunday on June 19th, but I’m not 100% committed to do this race yet.  Some preliminary reports indicate that the proposed trail for the race is in questionable condition and could be a disaster waiting to happen.  Following that is the Welland Sprint Triathlon on June 25th.  This is a 750m swim, 30k bike, and 7.5k run.  That swim scares me.  8-O

 

Race Recap: Victoria’s Duathlon, Waterloo ON – May 24, 2010

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Pre-race routine:

Got to the event location @ 9:30 AM, unloaded the car, setup my transition area, registered & walked around.

Event warmup:

5 min jog around the parking lot with a few drills & stretches.

1st Run – 4km Out & Back:

For some reason the first km of the race, I didn’t feel “comfortable”. Once I got in to a groove, I felt more at ease. Maybe it was just nerves being that it was my first multisport event.

Bike Portion – 30k Out & Back with a small loop at the outer end:

Considering how hilly it was, I did manage to plan my strategy as I was riding…when to spin downhills for momentum, when to just glide to save energy, etc.

2nd Run – Same 4km Out & Back as 1st Run;

I was starting to feel it after the first km of the 2nd run. I took in some Gatorade at the transition and it didn’t seem to sit right. By the 2km mark, I had some funny feelings in my gut, but that settled within a few minutes.

Post-Race:

Walked around & fed off the post race snacks, drank a few bottles of water.

Official Results Here

Results Recap:

  • Official Chip Time: 1h 39m 36s
  • Overall: 216 of 519 competitors (42%)
  • Age Group: 24 of 51 (M35-39)

Race Recap: Mercedes-Benz 10k Race, Oakville ON – April 25, 2010

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It was amazing to watch the weather website all week.  It was calling for awesome weather all week except for Sunday – RAIN & COLD.  I’ve seen this in the past, and so far, it usually ended up being pushed back a day and race day was nice.  Not this time.

PRE-RACE

5:00 AM – Yes, that’s right…5 AM.  Had my usual cereal, milk, protein mix for breakfast, packed up, and headed to the event which was 110 kms (68 miles) away in Oakville.

6:50 AM – Arrived at the race site and park on a nearby street, 5 min walk to the registration area, which was the Appleby College arena.  For the 2nd year in a row, the event is organized start & finish from the college property.

7:15 AM – I’ve picked up my Race Kit, bib, and timing chip and proceed to try and find a change room or bathroom.  To my disappointment, everything in the arena was locked.  It was a good thing I decided to put on my running shorts at home before I left, otherwise some people would have had a nice freak show. :)

7:30 AM – For the next hour, I basically walked around, chatted with a couple of fellow runners, and waited for go to the start line.  I waited as long as I could to go outside which was cold, damp and raining.

8:20 AM – After standing in one of the little temp tents near the start line for approx. 10 mins, everyone started corralling to the start.  They had boards indicating time brackets so I looked for the 50-60 min bracket & lined up in front of that pack.


THE RACE

My strategy for this race was based on my 5k predicted time.  I had a goal of 55 mins to finish.

  • 5:36 min/km for the first half;
  • 5:23 min/km for the 2nd half of the race;
  • this would give me a 5:30 min/km average pace.

My decision to start at the front of my time bracket worked out perfectly.   I didn’t have to deal with too much traffic and fell into my running grove

My race bib number

quickly, and enjoyed the scenery.  The first 2-3 kms seemed to go by quickly, I felt good, and my legs were saying “BRING IT”!  I started thinking that I might be going to slow as my heart rate was still in the low 140s, but I decided I would stick with my strategy for now as it was still early.

By the half way point, I was a little ahead of schedule for my planned pace, but I felt more comfortable that way in case my legs decided to give me a hard time towards the end.  At this point I picked up the pace to my planned 5:23 min/km, but I noticed around the 6-7 km mark I was actually more in the range of 5:15 min/km. but I still felt great, and my legs had plenty left.

At the 7.5k mark, I grabbed a glass of water from one of the great volunteers, even though I didn’t feel thirsty I thought I might as well anyhow just in case.

With approx. 1k to go I looked at my Garmin and it said 48:15.  I was in great shape, so I decide to do a final 500m sprint as I could hear the announcer at the finish line calling names out.  I passed 6-7 people in that last 500m and crossed the line with a gun time of 54:40, but more importantly, a chip time of 54:02.  That’s almost a full minute quicker than my 55 min goal, which I thought was a lofty goal to begin with.  Knowing what I know now and how I felt during the race, I have no doubt, that once again, I could have pushed a little harder to whole race and end up in the low 53s.


POST RACE

After crossing the line, I felt in great shape.  Legs didn’t feel as bad as I thought they would.  I handed over my timing chip to another great volunteer, and another gave my beauty finishers medal.  I then slowly walked over to the “food tent”.  I grabbed myself a bagel, a banana, and a cup of Gatorade.  After a little more walking around as I ate my treats, I headed for the arena to get my bag, and change into some dry clothes.

The Awards Ceremony started at 10:30 AM.  Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait till next year to try again for a Mercedes. :)

Me & my medal!



Here’s all the telemetry from my Garmin 305 for this race:

 

Official Results Here

Results Recap:

  • Official Gun Time: 54:40 mins
  • Official Chip Time: 54:02 mins
  • Avg. Pace/Speed: 5:24 min/km, 8:41 min/mile, 6.9 MPH
  • Overall: 423 of 1219 runner
  • Age Group: 49 of 74 (M35-39)

Next on the race agenda:Victoria Duathlon – 5k Run, 30k Bike, 5k Run , in Waterloo area, May 24th 2010.