Category: race

Posted on

Race Recap: Bracebridge Olympic Triathlon

After last year’s no-show, I was eager to sink my teeth into this course.  I had an English muffin with Nutella for breakfast, and I decided to go with something a little extra: there was Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the kitchen counter and I had a bowl of that too.


I drove to Annie Williams Park with my wife, mother-in-law and the Lightning Kid in tow.  I was a little surprised to see how small the transition and race area seeemed; the Sprint Triathlon had taken place the day before, so I guess it was only a fraction of the usual field of athletes I see at these events.  I hadn’t gotten there much before the official start time, but everything was so nicely contained that I had lots of time to organize my transition area and get my wet-suit on after getting my bib and race kit yet before the pre-race briefing.



Swim

The swim was in the Muskoka river, and the water was quite warm and pleasant.  It was my first time experiencing the time-trial start.  Athletes lined up by bib number along the dock and started 5 seconds apart.  The crew did a fantastic job calling bib number blocks (about 50 at a time) and getting them organized.  It was a little anti-climactic realizing the race had already started when I saw about 20 swimmers in the water (I was #128), but it was such a smooth way to go to see the people in front of you take off one at a time and have a little space of your own to start your swim in.

The course started going with the current – apparently, I have to say the current seemed negligible to me, in fact, I had to look up which part was upriver and which one was downriver on the Multisport Canada website.  I did end up with a little physical contact with other swimmers occasionally, especially on the turns, but it’s nothing compared to a normal mass swim.  I honestly felt like I was keeping up a pretty good clip, and with a little sprint to the swim exit, I was out of the water in my fastest swim time for the Olympic distance.

Time: 28:07

Transition 1

Oof.  This part was not the greatest.  I like wearing my Garmin on the swim because I like knowing swim metrics, and I get little alerts for every 100 m I swim which helps keep me motivated, but I have to wear it on the outside of the wet-suit.  That means I should remove it before trying to take off the wet-suit – that is not what I did.  I ended up struggling with getting my right sleeve off.

Problem two: I didn’t wear a one piece tri-suit.  I simply feel more comfortable in my tri-shirt, but it’s too loose to wear under the wet-suit without causing bunching and chafing on the back of my neck, so I have to put it on my wet torso in transition and that’s always another tangle.  The gels I had put in the pockets fell out and I had to pick them up.

Last but not least, based on a good riding experience the week before, I had decided to put on compression socks.  I should have gotten body-marked on the back of my knee, because the socks hid my age (not that I mind that much), and there’s no fast way to put on compression socks, at least not correctly.  I simply had to eat that time cost.

The good news was I managed my Garmin correctly (although I hit the timers a little late in transition) and every leg got measured.

Time: 4:08

Bike

Exiting the park, I saw one fallen rider and one with mechanical problems, which should have been a bad omen, but wasn’t (at least for me).  In spite of there being a construction problem with a bridge in the first kilometer or two of the course, triathletes were able to cross the bridge unimpeded thanks to great co-operation between the race organizers, the provincial police, the district of Muskoka and most importantly the drivers who had to wait held up at the bridge (my thanks to all of you!).

Muskoka is notoriously hilly in general, but I found this course to have a few really good flat sections where you could really work up a good head of steam.  I was seeing speeds over 30 km/h a lot more often than I usually do.  Which is not to say there weren’t leg-busting hills…. there were times where there was no choice but to stand on the pedals in the lowest possible gear.

 I had someone call my name on the bike, it was the guy from TriMuskoka (whose name I can’t recall – sorry buddy!).  He told me he liked the blog posts – then passed me.  Still, I get passed by lots of people without an attaboy for my writing, so I appreciated that.

I still struggle with maintaining focus and the right effort/pace in the middle parts of the course.  I tried rolling through a few different mantras: Seek The Hard, Attah!  I also thought about how much the Lightning Kid has grown and learned in spite of the fact that he’s been dealt a hand that makes such things a little harder… I don’t mind telling you I got a little misty on the bike course, but I tried to use that as a little inspiration.

I figured that it was my last triathlon of the season, and I should leave it all on the course and imagined completely destroying myself and being reborn from the ashes like a phoenix.  That thought was a little melodramatic for my tastes and needed to be dialed back, but you get the idea.

There were some sharp 90 degree turns that made my teeth sweat a little, but if I’m honest I probably like a little excitement like that during the bike course.  On the last 3 km or so, I made sure to really keep the effort level high, and after dismounting, I ran my bike into transition.  I saw my family and started an ATTAH! chant which went over gang-busters with the crowd, but not with the Lightning Kid himself.


Here’s a sample of what I was looking for:



Time: 1:26:06

Transition 2

I wanted to make up any uneccessary time lost in T1 here; racked the bike, took off the helmet and bike shoes, slipped on my Zoot triathlon racing flats (no laces) and I was off.  I put on my hat as I exited transition.

Time: 1:14

Run

I like a simple out-and-back; no keeping track of laps, and you get two cracks at every aid station.  This course didn’t have that much to look at (for Muskoka), but it was pretty flat, and better yet, there was plenty of shade.  I had so much more strength when it wasn’t being sapped by blistering heat.  I really think it was the perfect weather that day; I had noticed headwinds on the bike sometimes, but it was worth it to get a cooling breeze on the run.

I got a chance to see a friend from high school on the run.  He’s a marathoner who did his first Sprint Tri the day before and volunteered to hand out water on the run with his son.  The volunteers were super on the race all around.

I did a lot of checking my Garmin on the run and my pace on the way out was looking good for maybe even a PB, but it kept spiking over 90% on the way back even at paces too slow to make that grade.

With a little over a kilometer left, I checked my overall time. 2:49… not enough to beat 2:53 (what I thought was my PB – it’s actually 2:52:38) – I wasn’t going to make a 4 minute kilometer at that stage, but getting under 3 hours (and thus better than my last 3 Olympic distance races) was nicely within reached.  I took a little walk break to make sure I had my best for the finish line and went for it.  When I could see the end I started another ATTAH chant, picked up the Lighting Kid and carried him (a little bewildered) across the finish line.

Time: 57:57

Overall


Overall Time: 2:57:29

My best time since 2010, and a smidgen better than Muskoka 5150 which I called a stepping stone to this one.  I was hurting after the finish line and I knew I did what I set out to do in terms of nearly destroying myself… I had to lie down, and couldn’t really muster a good stretch.

I remember feeling similarly at Wasaga last time.  The post race rewards of Hero Burgers and Chocolate Milk are a big draw for me, but I felt too lousy to really enjoy them… this time, after enough of a recovery break, I really savoured both, and the chocolate milk was one of the greatest things I’ve ever tasted….

The Multisport Canada series races are always friendly and I found this locale especially good with local support and manageable terrain.  I think I’d put in my Top 5 races.
Posted on

Race Preview: Bracebridge Olympic Tri 2013

I had said that this was going to be my redemption race.  I had said I was going to work on hills, put in more distance on the bike, and work on my transitions.  Let’s see what happened in terms of cycling mileage…

OOPS

Not exactly Olympic Triathlon type volume there.  What happened? Let me break down my biking blues…

Bike Blues

On July 1st, a week after completing the Muskoka 5150, for a first training ride, I got a flat tire. Which cut that ride short.  I tried to fix that tire, but when I packed my bike for the next weekend, I noticed another flat; so much for my repair job.

 I opted to get the tube replacement done professionally and bought a set of new tires as part of it.  Things were looking good.  I have an adjustable goose-neck (a.k.a headset) that lets me have my handlebars a little higher which is easier on my neck when I’m in aero-position.  I had lowered it a few weeks ago to improve how aerodynamically I can ride.  We were invited to my father-in-law’s place for dinner, so I opted to take my bike for what should have been a 13km ride.  I found that the handlebars kept dropping every time I hit a bump – I could pull them back up to a reasonable position, but all this would do is wear out the threads on the adjustable goose-neck.  I cut the ride short before I flew over the handlebars and called for a pick-up.

I tried to fix this problem by re-installing the original headset, but I must have gotten things wrong, because I ended up with handlebars that wouldn’t turn.  Another stop at another bike shop.  

 All set up to make my final pre-race ride, right? Wrong.  After 8km on Saturday, the skies opened up and drenched me, and Papa won’t risk skidding out on the road a week before the race.  I ended up making that one up the next day, but Plan A of having both a ride and a brick on the same long weekend was ruined.


I haven’t done any transition practice either.  I may play a little with getting my bike shoes on and off and mentally re-hearse/visualize my T1 steps this week.  My final open-water swim didn’t feel particularly strong, but the numbers actually looked pretty good over 2km.  Getting the wet-suit on and off wasn’t as bad as I remembered either.


Preview: Swim

The Bracebridge Olympic Triathlon swim is a single loop in the Muskoka river.  Though the 5150 swim course has some current, I don’t consider myself an experienced river swimmer.  I might try and compensate for the current when crossing the river, but overall I hope the challenges give the rest of my age-group more problems than me, and I come out a little ahead.; that’s the best I can hope for.


Preview: Bike

The bike course looks like it comprises a few tricky turns that I hope everyone respects and some of the classic Muskoka hills to climb…
The big hill on my last ride.  To get a sense of scale, look for the car in the pic.
I wore compression socks for the first time while riding (I haven’t loved them for running yet) this past weekend, and I could swear they made me feel a little stronger.  Putting them on for race day will make for a slow T1, so I’m not too sure whether or not I’ll wear them.  I’m not really bad on hills altogether, I think my bigger problem is staying focused and maintaining the right pace after 30 km or so.

The ride promises to be scenic, which can enhance my enjoyment, and I’m glad to see it’s keeping us away from Highway 11 and its bridges/ramps.


Preview: Run

I managed to do a brick (bike/run) using my Merrell Trail Gloves without damaging my Achilles’ tendons.  This course doesn’t seem to have any trail components, so wearing my Salomons might be overkill and maybe I can get away with my Zoot racing flats.  On the other hand, having some cushioning generally lets me be a little more reckless in my pacing.  I’ll bring both and follow my gut on race day.


Overall

As an official ‘Redemption Race’ to make up for not making it to the starting line last year, things are looking bleak – any sort of PB is pretty unlikely here.  Trying to be positive means going to the race site, grateful for the fact that I can do this kind of thing at all, and have fun while I’m out there.  I’m going to channel my inner Phaedra from Blisters and Black Toenails while on the course; she’s been killing it and racking up age-group podium spots all season.  I don’t have to have that result to have that spirit, do I?


Posted on

New Page: Race Day Checklist

A while back, I wrote up my own race day checklist so that I wouldn’t forget anything on race day; though packing it all the night before is advisable.  I found it easiest to organize by event, so that I could visualize what I was doing and what I’d need.  

The list in its original form is available on the page accessible from the tabs above, or you can click here: Race Day Checklist.  It’s not up-to-date for me since I now wear my Garmin in the water, and sometimes I race without socks, but it should be a good starting resource.  I’ve left a few blank lines that you could fill in your own special needs for, and there’s the possibility of downloading a PDF for prettier printing (link at the bottom of the page).



Have a great race!

Posted on

Race Recap: Muskoka 5150 (2013)

The day of the race I got out of bed at 5:30.  My wife and I had discussed several options about me getting to the race and her and the kids cheering me on, and in the end, given that 1.) I am an insufferable ball of nerves on race day and 2.) 3-ish hours is a long time to keep the kids reined in and safe at just about any location, I opted to take my mother’s car to the race site.  I had a plan to really, really fuel for this race to see if I could squeeze a little more performance out of the old body, so I had a whole-grain bagel with chia seeds and peanut butter for breakfast (I took a pic of it, but it turned out too blurry – sorry, foodies).



I was also trying a new one-piece suit for the first time. That was a little risky, but the worst pre-race news was that I had left my heart-rate monitor sensor strap at home. My race checklist has ‘Garmin’ on it, but that item has two parts, and one got missed. This was going to go one of two ways: either not knowing my heart rate would make me less conservative and really let me swing for the fences for better time, or I would blow up for lack of being able to keep my pace in check.

There was a lot of fog on the way to Huntsville, but the very latest weather forecast was substituting the threats of thunderstorms for threats of sweltering heat, and I figured (correctly) that the fog would burn off and never be a factor.

I found plenty of space on the Men’s 40-44 rack to place my bike and transition bag; at the time I figured I was at the race site earlier than I usually was, but afterwards I noted my age group only had 22 participants.  I didn’t do any transition setup at first, I just wanted to drop my stuff off before picking up the race kit.  They used to have all that inside the Muskoka Summit Centre’s Arena, but this year it was around the back of the building.  Still, the various steps of race kit pickup (look up your number, sign the waiver, pick-up the kit, pick-up the t-shirt, then race-chip anklet and body marking) were all clearly delineated which is not only beginner-friendly but also good for experience triathletes who are still nervous with cluttered brains like me.  Unfortunately they were out of large size in the technical t-shirts, but they offered to send me one afterwards or I could take a cotton t-shirt that day.  My old Muskoka triathlon t-shirts (from the ‘Muskoka Chase’ days, i.e. pre 5150 branding) are wearing out with holes etc. and I have plenty of technical t-shirts so I opted for the cotton.

Back in the transition area, I started my setup.  I got right with my equipment placement and took a picture, then I realized I had forgot something, and took another picture…. lather, rinse repeat.   Two new things to me would be wearing my Garmin in the swim – meaning I’d have to strap it on outside the wetsuit, and take it off to remove the wetsuit – and bringing some leftover Clifshots (courtesy of DarwinianFail) to the swim start for energy on the swim.  I did some shoulder mobility exercises with an old belt and ate a banana before heading to the swim start.

The swim start is 800 m down a gravelly road from transition; you can either have friends/family along to take your shoes from you when you get in the water, or give them to a volunteer to tag and bag so that they’ll be brought back to transition.  I should have chose the latter since I was on my own, and I meant to ask if I could include my camera in that deal, but race-day nerves ruled again and I forgot the whole thing and I made my way barefoot.  I wasn’t the only one, and it was do-able, just slow as you had to pick your way carefully.

At the swim start I pulled on my wet-suit on my own, and I’m proud to say I probably did a better job of that than I ever had before.  I did some more stretching, then with my Clifshots under my swim cap, entered the water.  I only had a few minutes to do a few warm-up strokes before the race started – my wave wouldn’t start until about 10 minutes after the pros and elites started, which was 8AM sharp.

Swim

I stuck to one side so that I’d be on the outside of the turn and be able to take it at a more gradual angle and so that I wouldn’t be in the middle of the crowd. I still ended up being boxed in between two other guys with a similar pace than me. I took a quick burst of speed with the hopes of putting them on my feet and giving myself some space, but they caught me again after a few hundred meters, so I did the opposite and let them both go by.

I noticed my technique was a little wonky and felt a little guilty about it, but I was sighting often and I knew I was staying on course, so at least that was efficient. I made the first two turns and I was on my way out of the bay and into the channel when my Garmin buzzed its first 500 m alert. Feeling good so far, one third of the swim done. Making your way up the channel is confusing for some people because they don’t know what side to put the buoys on (the race directions to tell you, but it’s easy to miss in the pre-race excitement when you have plugs and/or water in your ears) – the secret is, it doesn’t matter. The buoys just mark the way up the channel, so you can just follow the way and go to either side of them, and I know this from previous years.

Moving up the channel is when the current starts. Swimming against the current is weird because it doesn’t actually feel that slow at first. When you have the wind against you on land, you notice the slow-down because you use the land as a frame of reference for how fast you’re going. When you swim, you don’t get that good a look at the shoreline going by, but you see particles in the water flying by somewhat quickly and it makes it seem like you’re flying through the water. This part of the swim just takes patience, and soon the next 500 m alert went off. I kept plugging away and approached the bend in the river which always messes with your brain, because you can see the Summit Centre and transition so you think you’re nearly done; you still have a bit to go after you turn the corner. Strangely ,the third alert went off shortly thereafter – there were clearly 200-300 m left to swim and Garmin is telling me I’m done my 1500 m. Still, I pushed on with a minor final burst and exited the water.


Official swim time: 34:50


Transition 1

I was still messing around with the Garmin as I exited the water while I should have been pulling my wet-suit off. I was walking not running; I said in the pre-race that I didn’t feel my transitions needed much improvement, but I wound up having to sit down to take off the suit, and everything was just a little more awkward than I would have liked. I looked at the winner of the race’s T1 time and it’s less than 30 seconds! Something to work on after all.

Official T1 time: 03:11

Bike

I mounted the bike cleanly and clipped in without problems. I spun the pedals for a few kilometers when I noticed I hadn’t brought the Garmin from my wrist to the quick release bike mount. I figured I could do it while riding; risky, but I wanted the convenience. I managed it without crashing the bike or anything, but I had accidentally hit the ‘Lap’ button which signalled the Garmin that I was done biking and had entered T2; I was 3 km into my ride. I managed to reset everything and start tracking the bike as a stand-alone event (which is why the end result below shows 37 km). I also noticed the cadence sensor wasn’t working, which meant I only had my speed to guide me in terms of how I was doing. At 8 km in 19:33 I knew I was going about 24 km/h – a lot less than the 30 km/h I’ve always dreamed of.


The water bottle I used was less that optimal. It had a twist top that I had to unscrew and juggle the lid in the aero position. Tricky as heck; I found 3 tops and 2 bottoms to various water bottles I’ve collected over the years, but I had no good ones available on race day, so I went with what I had. Luckily (again) I didn’t crash the bike with my multi-tasking shenanigans.


Lots of climbing, not much else to say about the course. I’m simply undertrained for hills; not just in terms of strength and conditioning, but I found myself in too light a gear and over-spinning as I’d crest many hills. In other words, I need to work on the skill parts too. I took a gel 22 minutes into my revised time when I wanted to take it 15 minutes into the overall ride.

The turnaround point in Port Sydney is preceded by a stretch that is not only pretty, but pleasantly flat and really can put a smile on your face. After the turn-around, I found myself whistling ‘Bobby McGee’ – which I’d heard on the radio on the way to the race. The way back is more downhill than the way there, but still plenty of climbing. I took a Gu Roctane at the 1 hour mark, and though the package was orange, I swear it tasted like chocolate. I got out of the saddle a fair bit for the last kilometer or two to make sure nothing was too cramped up in my legs.




I dismounted and stopped the Garmin. It showed 1:25:13, which was already more than the 1:22 I wanted to beat, and I had no idea how long those first 3 (wasted) km had taken me.


Official Time: 1:31:00

Transition 2

I racked the bike, took off my helmet, and switched shoes. One last sip of water, and monkeying with the Garmin to switch to running, and I was off. I had a sun-visor packed but not set out in transition so I opted not to go digging for it.

 Official Time: 2:27

Run

It was starting to get hot, and I was expecting it. Luckily there were plenty of aid stations with water and Gatorade, and some were placed near turning points like the high school track you had to make a lap of, so you passed it twice within a couple of minutes of each other. I dumped anywhere from one to one and a half cups of water over my head at every single aid station. The 10 km course was two laps of a 5 km loop. The first loop I felt strong. I took a gel, so I was fueled, I felt hydrated, not thirsty (I usually have the opposite problem when you have too much liquid in you…), and I was doing everything I could to stay cool. The route was, you guessed it, hilly. I averaged a pace of 5:32 per km on the first loop, but as I closed it off, I saw my mom who gave me a big cheer, yet I was starting to weaken. I saw my wife and kids as I completed the first loop and shouted out that I loved them, and started on loop 2.


I’m not quite sure what happened as it was nothing as straightforward as bonking, or injury or being dehydrated or even overheated. My muscles simply weren’t firing all the way anymore. I’m sad to report I had a lot of negative self-talk when I saw my chances of beating last year’s time slipping away “It’s too hard… I need to slow down.” There was a more positive voice in my head arguing back, but I’m still a little shocked because I don’t think of myself as having that kind of negative attitude most of the time. There was one guy, who grunted and moaned whenever he found the terrain a little difficult (there’s a gravelly trail downhill section just before the 3 or 8 km mark, for example), and I found myself wanting to get away from him and the negative vibes he was giving off. Unfortunately, he had an average pace much like mine so I kept seeing Grunty McWhinerson around every turn. I actually had thoughts about outright quitting the race, but that kind of pain only kicked in around 9.2 km and it was frankly easier to just finish. I did speed up for the final half kilometre, and since I knew a personal record for the course was no longer in reach, I grabbed up Shark Boy and carried him across the finish line to give him a taste of that thrill (I kind of wanted to carry both kids, but I was a little tired by that point).






The Good

I could complain about the heat, but when it comes to weather, you can have storms cancelling the swim (or more), heavy winds ruin your bike ride, and I simply don’t like being rained on. It was a beautiful day.

The race was well run, and I never wanted for anything, they even handed out gels at the aid stations. The volunteers were fantastic, smiling, and always doing their thing energetically.

I finished, my family was proud of me and I had fun.

The Bad

I got to meet my inner coward, I think. I had the Garmin blues too, and didn’t get the kind of data I want to have not only in real-time, but for afterwards. It looks like I have to investigate my cadence sensor and buy yet another water bottle.

The Ugly

Nothing to see here; it’s Triathlete Bodies in Muskoka, what do you expect?

Lessons Learned and the Way Forward (it’s the Training, Stupid).

The difference between the race I wanted and the race I got is simply putting more time and distance in, especially in Muskoka-type terrain. I expect Bracebridge won’t be that different in August, so it’s going to be hills, hills and transition practice for me until then.
Posted on

Pre-Race: Muskoka 5150 2013

This weekend is my first triathlon of 2013: The Muskoka 5150!



Though Muskoka is becoming a Triathlon and Multisport hub, and the Muskoka 5150 had it’s inaugural race last year, the Huntsville race site and general venue has had a long history prior to the Ironman 70.3 taking place later in the year.


Compared to last year, this race is taking place nearly a month earlier so everybody, including me (who am I kidding? especially me) has had a little less outdoor training time, especially with the way the winter didn’t seem to want to let go.  The other big difference from last year to this one for me, is that I’m jumping age categories: from Men 35-39 to Men 40-44.  Doing some informal research has led me to believe that I will be comparatively slower within this age group for the same performance: there will be plenty of dads in this group, but most of them will have kids who are older and more independent than mine, allowing for more training volume.  Race stats always tell you how you placed relative to everyone else in your age group, and the way I’d like to look at my relative placement from year to year, race to race is by dividing my placement by the total number of participants within the age group for a percentile: the number reflects the percentage of participants who are faster than me – the lower the number, the better I’m doing.


Breaking down last year’s performance and looking at this year in a new age group:


Swim 1500 m
Time: 34:32 (2:19/100 m)

This put me at 21/28 (75th percentile) in the Men 35-39 Age Category.  In the M40-44 category for the same year, that would have put me at 35/40  (87.5 percentile) which is slower relative to the pack.  I have some pool swims on the order of 1500 m which are somewhat faster so I could optimistically project coming in 31/40 (77.5 percentile).  That’s still slower and it assumes that the time losses I incur for open water (not swimming a straight line, current, waves, dealing with physical contact) balance out with how much faster my wetsuit makes me.

My ‘un-taper‘ tune-up pre-race open water swim was a mixed bag. I ate too soon beforehand, but there are some good straight lines in there, and a sub 2 minute /100m swim pace, but the conditions were pretty much ideal – no wind, no waves, no crowds, no turns to make; it won’t be like that on race day.



The course actually starts in Fairy Lake then works it’s way up the Muskoka River; so you’ve got the open water waves from wind (though motor boat traffic gets minimized at race time), then current and navigational twists and turns in the challenge mix.  The good news is that I’ve done the same course (more or less) not only last year, but in previous Subaru Series events. If I sight frequently and use my memories of the past to reduce my ‘where the heck am I?’ pauses on the course, I think I can get a swim I’ll be really happy with.


Bike 40 km
Time: 1:22:49 (29 km/h)

I forgot that I must have made some gains on the bike last year, because that speed looks good for me historically speaking.  For bike performance I’m in the 85.7 percentile in M35-39 last year, and I honestly feel like I could squeeze out a better performance this year.  I think I’m a little stronger and faster (and lighter!), I just lowered my aero position a little bit, and I’ll be familiar with the course; I might even skip the bit of bad luck where I got stuck behind a car in a traffic jam situation going over a bridge.  Last year’s performance would have placed me at 35/40 in M40-44 or 87.5 percentile.  Again it looks like the new age group is actually a faster one.  But, if I can average 30 km/h, I could have a time of 1:20:00 and move to the 80th percentile.  The ride out to Port Sydney and back is a pretty one, but there are hills (they are inevitable in this area) and I’m not really well trained for that.  Fingers crossed.


Run 10 km
Time: 57:41 (Pace 5:47 per km)

I tend to think of myself as better in the swim than the bike or run, but last year’s race makes my swim and run equal compared to the pack at least.  I placed 21/28 or 75th percentile for running in the M35-39 category.  That pace/time would put me at 33/40 or 82.5 percentile for M40-44.  I don’t have a good prediction for running this year… I could be faster, but I haven’t done enough brick workouts to evaluate my speed off the bike.  That pace doesn’t look too threatening, but factor in the hills and heat, which I’m probably not conditioned for, it’s hard to be optimistic.  I did manage a good pace in my pre-race brick workout. After 32 km on a spin bike, I managed to run 5:25 per km, but only for 4 km. I do think with fuel and mental focus I could keep up that effort level, at least.




After playing around with zero-drop/minimalist footwear, I think I’m going to be wearing my new Salomon XR Missions.  The run course has roads, but also gravel (from segments that use a running track) and trail portions, so their tread will come in handy.  My main reason for choosing them in spite of the extra weight (compared to the Virratas or my Zoot racing flats) is that the cushioning means I can run how I want to.  I think trying minimalist running technique has taught me some about turn-over and not heel striking quite so much, but I never did find my mid-foot, and I don’t really feel like my technique needed that much change – good shoes mean I can run fast (for me), and what else am I really trying to accomplish?


Transitions

I like my transitions efficient but calm.  The only thing left to really affect how quickly I complete transitions (that is within my control, unlike rack placement or course layout) would be to attach my bike shoes to the clips and learn how to put the shoes on during the ride.  I’ve played around with it a little in the past and didn’t feel safe, so I’m not going to try it.  Everything else I think I’ve optimized for my own racing experience.


Overall
Time: 2:59:07

I placed 24/28 overall in M35-39 last year (isn’t it funny how your bike performance is the biggest indicator of your overall performance?).  That time would put me at 34/40 (85th percentile) in M40-44 or let’s say I shave off 3 minutes total from last year (2 for bike, 1 for swim, everything else equal)… it actually puts me in the same place since #33 did it in 2:53, which goes to show how limited this exercise is in terms of usefulness.  I still had fun though… I guess I just like numbers.


While this sort of analysis and prediction helps me stay motivated to give my best on race day, the truth is, without having had enough in-season training including open water swims, rides through hillier terrain and brick workouts, I have to treat this race as a tune-up race: the real goal is the Bracebridge Triathlon in August, it is to be my redemption race.

To prepare myself for the day, I’ve actually set alerts on my Garmin which I never do, but I’m hoping they keep me mentally focused: swim alerts for every 500 m so I know how I’m doing, and a bike alert to let me know if I let my cadence get below 75 RPM.  I wanted one for my run too, but they don’t seem to have one for pace, and the heart rate one is based on Zones as opposed to straight percentage of maximum, and I just didn’t have the confidence to peg my run performance that way.  Some things can still be done by ‘feel’.

Where’s your personal line on how much to go by ‘feel’ and how much to track the numbers? Can a race be a tune-up, or should the attitude always be ‘there is no tomorrow’ on Race Day? Can it be both?

Posted on

Race Recap: Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington

Done!  I finished the Chilly Half Marathon in 2:02:14!  While I was hoping for a finish time less than 2 hours, I think I can say I left it all out there on the course, and there wasn’t going to be a faster finish for me no matter what I did.  Let’s get into some details…

My wife dropped me off in downtown Burlington sometime after 9:30 and took the kids on a play-date rather than try to keep them happy in the sub-zero (Celsius, in case you’re reading this in the U.S.A!) temperatures.  City Hall was open and available to stay warm and take bathroom breaks, but I found it so crowded I wouldn’t have been able to guess where the back of the line was, so I opted to use a local Subway restaurant instead (I later bought cookies from them to make up for mooching).




As the start time approached people started lining up in the corrals according to what their estimated finish time would be.  I saw some pace bunnies struggling to get to the right position (hint: 1:55 is faster than 2:00), but I’ve never used them much myself (I’ll try to keep my eyes open for them but I use my Garmin instead).  Having the crowd fill in help stave off the cold a little bit, but just about everybody had to jog on the spot a little to stay warm, whether or not that was their usual pre-race habit.

There seemed to be a false start where the crowd started to advance, then stopped, but finally (about 10:10 or so) we were off.  I had plenty of time to start my music playing and start both Endomondo and my Garmin before crossing the start line chip sensor (the chips are disposable ones attached to the race bib – very convenient).

Straight down Brant street toward the lakeshore and then a right (west) we went.  Once I start running, I usually warm up right away, but this time I think it was at least 2 km before my fingertips stopped hurting.  I hadn’t taken as detailed a look at the race course as I should have: I knew we were heading toward the Burlington Skyway bridge, but would we actually be running on it?  That would be a unique experience but also very cold… the western turn-around point was at the base of the bridge.

I was feeling good, and though there was temptation, I kept myself from running too fast so that there would be plenty left in the tank (both fuel/energy wise, and from a muscle fatigue perspective). I was nearing the start point (about 5 km) when I noticed my phone was playing from the intended running playlist, but rather shuffling between the whole collection (neat Endomondo feature: if you go to the link and click ‘Playlist’ on the left, you’ll see what I was listening to!); the Scherzo from Beethoven’s 9th was not what I had in mind! I took a walk break at the top of a hill and made the change.

My Garmin did something weird and I have yet to figure out why: it gave me lap alerts for every kilometer about 330m early, even by it’s own measurement. For example, it called lap 10 complete at 9.67 km and lap 11 complete at 10.67 km. I got used to that, and actually found it handy to show how that particular kilometre was ‘trending’. At the actual kilometre markings, I still had the Endomondo app calling out my pace times.

One thing I did better than usual on this race was not over-hydrate, but I still found myself needing to take a pit stop around the 13 km mark. I had increased my pace in anticipation of the rest and lost time, so I don’t feel like this actually cost me anything in terms of my average pace.

With the course having two out and backs, there were plenty of opportunities to see other racers going the other way and maybe even a few high fives. There weren’t as many of these as I would have expected, but I’m one of the worst people for that sort of thing – I was fairly focused on running my race. In fact, I later realized that I hadn’t enjoyed the view of the lake at all, I think the flat light of the overcast day made me forget about the water.

I found that my heart rate was occasionally getting too high even when my pace was lower than I wanted it. The trick I found was to take my hat off; as I cooled off, my heart rate seemed to get lower for faster running.

My Achilles tendons were flaring up increasingly as the kilometres ticked off, but I was keeping the kind of pace I wanted: mostly around 5:40 to 5:45 km. I thought that was the pace I wanted for a 2 hour time, and according to my original plan 5:42 should have been it, but as I neared 16 km I began to realize the math was wrong – upon review I see there were a few 6 minute kilometres. I think I knew it was too late to make changes, but I couldn’t give up either. I started increasing my pace, and after the 18 km mark I really started hauling it (there is no tomorrow!)


At the 20 km mark, I got a call from my wife. I tried to ignore it, but ultimately took the call; thanks to the Jaybirds, I didn’t have to stop or slow down to fiddle with the phone. She was having trouble finding parking and ultimately she and the boys wouldn’t be at the finish line in time to see me cross, but I couldn’t hear a word of that at the time. Nor would she have been able to make out my guttural grunts and gasps as I was giving it my all on the last kilometre.



As I crossed the finish line, I stopped the Garmin and saw 2:02. I was a little disappointed, but not too much, as I didn’t really feel like I had made any real mistakes on the course or done a poor job of training for the race. One of the volunteers handed me a bottle of water, and I think he was checking my level of consciousness the way they do for Ironman finishers… I got my breath back and a hold of myself and thanked him properly. There were good post-race snacks, including PowerBar protein bars, bananas, and juice boxes.

Once I had reunited with my family, we looked for one of the restaurants that would be serving chilli and beer without being to crowded for a family with two small kids.  We found Melodia, and though they didn’t have seating in their main floor area, they were nice enough to open their second floor for us (they would later fill up to the point where they needed that space too).  We added to our meal of chilli (and a Carlsberg that went down soooo nicely) a Mediterranean inspired cheeseburger and grilled cheese (on a pita!).  I tried hard to keep our kids from ruining their nice tablecloths, but it ended up being me who spilled a whole bowl of chilli on the floor… I hope my tip made up for the inconvenience!

I had a Epsom salt bath when I got home and I’ve been taking it easy ever since – I think the last of my muscle soreness will be gone by the time you read this. I’d really recommend this event – I think I might do it again next year. At any rate, I want to make a March/Mid-winter race a tradition; training for it has kept me more focused and disciplined, and the outdoor runs have done a lot to keep my winter mood up.

Posted on

Race Preview: Chilly Half-Marathon

It’s the Chilly Half-Marathon this week!  Between depressive funks, snow and slush challenges and simply not always having every kilometer done that I should have, I was beginning to dread race day, but now, the more I learn about the race, the more I’m fired up for it (free beer)!

Here’s a video review of last year’s race (free beer!) courtesy of Get Out There Magazine:

Here’s all the reasons I’m excited::

  • Free Beer!
  • Weather looks good.

    • Free Coffee*
    • Free Beer!
    • Course is pretty flat:

    Race Route is approximate… it was the best I could do with Google Earth

      • Free Chilli
      • On my last tempo run, my hear rate stayed at 78% of max or below, so I think I can make the finish line in less than two hours.
      • Free Beer!
      • It starts at 10:05 AM perfectly reasonable to get the whole family out, and because we have friends in the area, they won’t have to wait outside the whole time.
      • Fitness Cheerleader is running this race too!
      For this week’s training (still in Taper mode), I did 5 km on the treadmill Monday, a Trifecta Tuesday involving a 1.4km swim (with kick drills, fist swimming and water jogging), Rowga (which really stretched out all the muscles I wanted streched out!).  I got my 1.5 mile tempo run with warm-up and cool-down giving me about 11 km total run for the week.

      Hopefully the rest of the week and weekend will be restful… on Sunday I hope to run like there is no tomorrow.  And from a training perspective, there won’t be!










                  Posted on

                  Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

                  While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

                  The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



                  As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

                  Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


                  I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!

                  Posted on

                  Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

                  While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

                  The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



                  As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

                  Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


                  I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!