Wasaga Beach Triathlon

This was the last race of the 2011 season. We had great weather for this race. I mean it was sunny and not too hot. The water was incredibly calm, and we were very lucky because Wasaga Beach can be very choppy. At the beginning of the year I decided to do the olympic triathlon at Wasaga Beach instead of the half ironman in Muskoka. The reason for this mainly was because I didn't think that I had the experience or mileage in order to complete a half ironman. I have never even run a half marathon before, let alone bike 90K. I think I made the right choice, however stepping up to the Olympic level is a pretty big step from the sprints I have been doing. I didn't know if I would be finish in reasonably good condition. In fact, I had know clue how I would even do in this race, with the training I put in this season. I was in a really competitive field, there were lots of elite AGs in my category, and they were competing for this huge cash prize.
While I was waiting for the race to start I saw a vendor who was selling bike helmets and I needed a new one because the one I have is too big for me. So I bought it. It is kind of space-age looking.

I didn't warm up for the swim, only because it was 1500m and I wasn't going to race it. I tried the breathing pattern my coach suggested but then after awhile broke into 2s on my stronger side. This was ok, except there was a delay after every breath. Next season, I am going to work on my breathing patterns specifically for racing. I didn't do that this year and it showed up in my 1500m race. I have to learn to race on 3s, and train on 5s, I think, instead of 2s and 4s. I am going to ask my coach when I see him in the fall. My sighting was much better for this race, as I have been practicing it in the pool. The olympic swim is easier to sight for because I am not leading the pack. In fact for the first 3rd of the swim I am swimming with a pack from my wave. It gets a little more difficult at the end, when the stronger swimmers pull ahead and then I am pretty much by myself again. But the good thing is that I was still 11th out of the water from a pack of 31 women. My time was 31:54 which included the run out of the water which wasn't too bad; Wasaga has the most difficult swim transition because it is so shallow you have to run for quite some distance through the water to get out, and it affects your time.
I had a pretty good transition onto the bike, although I took careful time to put my bike shoes on. But once I was on the bike course everything was fine. The bike course was extremely flat which doesn't favour my skills. I look for a hilly course because it gives me opportunities to increase my average speed, and there were only two small hills on this course. I tried to bike as aggressively as possibly, but I did remain conservative, only because I wasn't sure how hard to push myself. A few sections of the course were crowded but it was much easier than biking in a sprint. I don't consider myself to be a strong cyclist but if I was I could see the olympic being a better distance for these riders. I ended up with a bike time of 1:17/40K. Better than what I have done in the sprints this year.

The run course was pretty easy, there were a few twists and turns and some trail running, but it was easy to pace, because there was only one small hill. I keep an aggressive pace, but again, I had to run a bit slower than in a sprint because it was 4x the distance that I was used to racing. I passed quite a few people on the run course, but was passed by only one woman who was not in my AG. I didn't really know where I was in the race, only because I didn't see any woman in my AG on the course, except for one who passed me on the bike course. This is a bit good for me, because it will force me to work more on my cycling skills. Last year I was being passed more by people on the run. This year, all the passing occurred in the bike course, and a couple on the swim, however there were mostly guys. My run time ended up being 53:34 for 10K which was a pretty good run time. However, I know I could improve a lot in the running still. My total time for the race was 2:46 and change which is almost 20min faster than my first olympic race. I am hoping next season to shave a bit more off that time, which will put me more at the top of my AG. My AG happened to be one of the most competitive AGs in this race, so I am not that disappointed. It was a good experience, just to let me know where I need work to improve. Thanks MSC for a great race day, what a lot of fun!

Guelph Lake II sprint triathlon

Oh boy, I said I was only going to do one subaru race this year. I kept coming back for more because I love the matching Tshirts and plaques. I even posed for three pictures because they look so cool. You can tell I have my priorities straight! And now for the report!

I went into this race with a bit more strategy after the debacle at Orillia. Since I was well aware that I would be one of the first out of the water for my wave, this required a swim strategy so that I would not get pushed under the water again. It was practically the same swim course as Orillia so I positioned myself on the far left side of the beach. Then I swam and outside line, remaining at least 5m away from swim buoy #1 and #2. Once I passed by swim buoy #2, I headed straight for the exit buoy. By this time I was ahead of the pack for my wave and my position didn't matter, because at this point all I had to do was dodge the odd person from any previous waves. There were a few, but because the crowd had thinned out, it didn't matter. It turned out that I was 5th overall out of the water, first female, exiting with a swim time of 8:48. Although, Guelph lake has a really long exit from the swim course which really adds to your time. I estimate around 1.5minutes, it is difficult to tell.
Unfortunately while running up the hill to the transition zone I tripped and badly injured my foot.

My toe hurt when I tried cramming my foot into my bike shoe, but the baby powder I had put in my bike shoes really helped get my foot in. I racked my bike the wrong way. Instead of having the handle bars facing towards me in the transition zone, they were facing the other way, and I couldn't get my bike out because my water bottle was blocking its removal from the rack. I struggled a bit which cost me a few seconds (about 20) but eventually got it out. It was a short transition to the bike course, so I didn't get the added advantage of running in my new bike shoes. I didn't seem to have trouble clipping in either which was what I thought would happen with the new shoes, and very quickly I was off on the bike course. The pavement is rough at guelph, but I didn't let that phase me. My bell keep ringing which maybe was a good thing. Again I spent a lot of time cruising down the middle, but a fast swim time got me on the bike course quickly and I was ahead of the pack. I passed many people on the bike course, but this time I made sure I stood up on hills and any time I had to slow down after making turns. This seemed to help my bike time as I came out with a much faster bike time than the first guelph lake triathlon and at Orillia. Guelph lake is an easier course to go fast on than Orillia, but I think with more work on my racing skills I should be able to do better at Orillia in the future. I finished the bike course in 20 minutes and 45 seconds, including the two short transitions in and out.
By this time my injured foot was killing me. I took time to carefully put on my running shoes which I knew was going to be a problem. And in no time I was off on the run course. My bike leg wasn't too bad, but it was still there and I had a bit of work to shake it off. It was incredibly hot on the run and difficult to run really fast. Guelph lake is also a difficult run course because it has several small hills. I kept a strong pace, but I knew with the hills I was going to be slower than I was at Orillia. I ended up running the 2.5K in 13 minutes, which was 44s faster than my time in June. I was pretty happy, although my goal to run 2.5K is 12.5 minutes, which is the time I had in Orillia.

My overall time in this race was 45minutes and 45 seconds. I was first in my AG, and 5th overall female. This is PR for this distance. Everything went really well for this race except for me injuring my foot. I am just lucky I didn't break a toe because I have an olympic distance triathlon next weekend! Oh well, I am just cruising until next weeks race. Then it will be the end of another great season. Thanks Subaru, for another fun race!