This year the weather forecast was sunny and HOT. Of course for once the weather network was actually correct and the weather was exactly as predicted. I arose at 5:45 am and had my usual pre-race breakfast (toast with LOTS of peanut butter, Nutella, and banana) and headed out to Gatineau Park. This triathlon is unique in that the distances aren't a sprint tri length or an olympic tri length, but somewhere in between. I set up my gear (at two different transition zones), got my timing chip, got body marking and was then ready to go.
Due to my outstanding swimming abilities (haha ...) the swim is always the easiest and fastest for me. I really appreciate this triathlon for a number of reasons but my favourite has to be the staggered swim start. My experience in Ottawa was not one I wanted to repeat and was thrilled when we started in waves of 30 swimmers from the beach. The only slight difficulty I had on the swim was on the way back the sun was directly in our faces and spotting the shore buoy although bright orange proved quite difficult. However I made it and took the short run (uphill) from the beach to the first transition zone. I threw on my bike gear and headed out. The hardest part of this triathlon is the very hilly course for the bike. Last year this proved agonizing for me since I was most definitely not mentally prepared, but this time around it was not half as bad. You are rewarded for your hill climb by the nice and fast descent after. I must admit I am not as ballsy as some cyclists proved to be as they bombed past me on the descent at speeds I'm too frightened to imagine. I clocked my top speed at 57.1 km/hr and dare to venture some of these cyclists were easily over 7o km/hr. Not for the faint of heart ... I finished my bike and started on the run. This time I decided an ipod would be good company since by this time the heat had reached a decent level and the run was on asphalt with no shade. An event that stands out from the run is the 81 year old man who was actually running ahead of me. Now, to be fair, this event can also be done in a relay style and this man was only doing the run portion, but I must admit I felt a great deal of relief when I was finally able to pass him. I couldn't let my ego take that kind of hit no matter how tired and hot I was. The only difficulty I experienced on the run was the last km or two. This part was almost entirely uphill and it was starting to be mid-day and the sun was taking a mental and physical toll. I actually attempted to change a song on my ipod but physically raising my hands and pushing the button turned out to be too taxing so I just concentrated on running and running only. I was relieved to finish and proud of my accomplishment. Although I feel in much better shape than last year I was only able to beat my time by a matter of 58 seconds. I must remember though that progress takes time and I just need to continue training, remain patient and the rewards will come!
Results:
Time: 1:56:01. Place overall: 148/208.
The information from sportstats is below:
(again, if you click on the camera beside my name you can see the pictures they took of me ... thankfully they are WAY better than last year :).
I also just wanted to quickly comment on The Ride to Conquer Cancer. Jen and I have both received our biking jerseys in the mail and are both beyond excited to finally be able to do the ride. I can't believe how fast time has gone by and after months of planning, fundraising and training the ride is 6 days away!!! I will keep you all posted on how that turns out!!
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