Orillia Sprint Triathlon

Completed the Orillia Sprint Triathlon this morning and was quite pleased with the outcome considering the trouble my hip flexor has been giving me, and the conditions of the road. At times, I felt like I was in the tour de France riding on the cobblestone streets! The one major problem I did have was in the swim (surprise right?!) I had a good warm up. Strong seal on my goggles, the water temperature was WARM...not just okay, but warm. It was warmer in the water than it was out of the water. Anyways, race starts, I take my time so that I can pace myself and not run out of energy. What I realize once I dive in and begin stroking is that that 'great seal' I had on my goggles has disappeared and they weren't just leaking a little, they filled up in 6 strokes. So, I had to stop, readjust, and continue. Lost a lot of time there. Once I got going, the going was tough. Very choppy and difficult to breathe. If I suffered from seasickness, there'd be some pasta floating in Lake Couchiching right now. I exited the water, checked my watch...18 minutes. Not impressed. Something about the Subaru Triathlon Series and their difficult swims. Other courses, I'm averaging 16:20. Subaru, much much worse.

The bike was...interesting. Starts with 5 - 6 km of gradual uphill and winding streets. Once I got out into the country, it wasn't too bad. I watched one guy crash hard right in front of me and his body slid on the road like it was ice. If that's what happens, I hope I NEVER crash. It looked like it hurt a lot. I passed a lot of people on the bike, got passed by one person in my age group, but I think I caught up to him. Weird thing was, I never really saw anyone from my age group on the bike. Passed a lot of people in the wave before me, but no one from 30 - 34. Maybe like 6 people I passed.

The run was fun. I know, for me, that's about as likely as me saying I enjoyed the swim. But, the Wednesday night speed workouts have really helped my confidence in my running, and I'm doing a great job pacing myself. I think the big difference is I've worn my watch the last 2 races and I've began the timer at the start of each run so that I can check on my pace and see if I'm going to slow or too fast. I ran a respectable 34 minutes. Respectable for me that is. At Bala, I ran 41 min for 7.5km. Now I ran 34min for 7km. Granted, two totally different courses, but not 8 minutes difference I think.

Anyways, it was a...fun race. Very tiring, but good to push myself to those limits and achieve some goals that I've set for myself.