Congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend, namely Vince, Facundo, Choppy, and Jody! Yeehaw! And a special thanks to my one-woman support crew Carbear!
Here it is, in all it's glory!
Ooo forgot to include my times for each leg:
Swim: 25:07
T1: 2:09
Bike: 2:32.45
T2: 1:57
Run: 1:39.48
Pre-race routine:
So me and Carolyn and the whole crew (Choppy, Jody and Vince) woke up at the delightful hour of 4 a.m. and ate our delicious and traditional breakfasts (Mine was PB/Jam + Whole wheat bread and Hot oatmeal). We ended up leaving the house at about 5:10 a.m. and it only took about 30 minutes to get to the race site.
Me and Carolyn had a little bit of a panic attack since we couldnt find the Shawnigan Community Center, but eventually found it, parked the car, grabbed all the gear and caught the 6 a.m. ferry to the race site!
At the race site, we found my bike in transition, set down all my gear, and I pumped up my tires and got my little spot ready! Hit the bathroom twice and got in the water about 5 minutes prior to the start!
Event warmup:
Nadda! This just proves yet again that I dont really need to warm up!
SwimComments:
I started right at the front, after being scared $hitless by the cannon shot that they had FAILED to countdown to. It was a bit of a rough start and I got elbowed and kicked a few times. After about 300m I got away and bridged a gap between myself and the mob. There were two guys out front that I never caught but used to sight.
The sun was in everyone's face in the way out towards the first two buoys and on the way back it was super easy to sight the buoys. In spite of this, me and the two lead guys went for the wrong buoy on the way back, only to be headed off by the canoe which cost us about 30 second apiece I would say.
The rest of the swim was uneventful but I ended up coming out first in individual, since the two guys that beat me were relay-ers!
What would you do differently?:
Not follow people, and instead sight the buoys myself!
T1
Comments:
I added a layer of tape to my heel for my blister, and threw on my cycling shoes!
What would you do differently?:
NOT put my waterbottles in my rear cages while racked, obviously the bike wouldnt fit underneath the rack with the bottles in!
BikeComments:
After my slow transition, I was pumped to finally get out on the bike!
I was feeling super good right from the get-go! Me, this female pro, and other guy left transition together and held together for the first lap. I got tired of having to stay out of the girl's draft zone so I passed her near the end of the 22km loop, and the guy stayed with me.
About 2/3 of the way through the 2nd lap I lost my chain on a climb and lost the guy I had been with for the first lap. I pulled over and fixed it and it only took a few seconds. As a side note, I lost 4 water bottles in total in the whole race due to my rear bottle cages. ARghhhhhhhhh. Still managed excellent hydration + nutrition and never even felt thirsty!
Anyways the 3rd lap came and went, but I lost my chain again sometime in the lap. In total I was passed by 5 people on the bike(not counting those who passed me while I was in transition), and could not be MORE happy with my efforts. Even though my bike was great in the race, it succumbed to the common P2/P3C problem of the slipping saddle. My nose was angled down at my top tube by the beginning of the 3rd lap. It was RIDICULOUS. Thankfully the bolts were still pretty tight, so I forced the saddle angle back up.
Anyways, I am SO happy about my bike and can't believe I managed to hold almost 35km/h over an 88km course!
What would you do differently?:
NOTHING...
Except maybe look into fixing this seat problem!
T2
Comments:
Not a bad transition...
Except I was about to leave t2 and i had forgotten my race number! Garrrrr my brain is dummbbbbbbbb!
What would you do differently?:
Not forget my race number!
RunComments:
So my plan from day 1 for this run was to cruise at a comfortable pace in order to allow my legs to be fully recovered for Montreal(Lifesaving nationals) and Commonwealths the week after. The day definitely went according to plan.
Basically Vince and I left T2 at the exact same time and he pulled ahead right away. I definitely held back a ton on this run and felt very comfortable with my pace. I was able to talk normally without wheezing or anything, and had no problem staying smooth and upbeat! Vince stayed within sight for the whole run, minus the last 2 km where he attacked and I was super stoked. I knew he was gunning for Nick and he got him at the end so i was happy to see he had the pep and his stomach wasn't holding him back from a good kick at the end!
I held my pace really comfortably and couldn't be happier with how it went. I felt like I could have done it twice at the end! It took a lot more will power then I thought it would to stop my racing instincts. Especially at the end, when there were 4 guys that were in reach in the last km.
What would you do differently?:
Nothing! Executed my plan perfectly!
Post race
Warm down:
Bananas, socializing, sitting around with Carolyn, bagels with peanut butter! Mmmmmmmm....
What limited your ability to perform faster:
Nationals + Commonwealths over the next 2 weeks!
