I just finished competing in the Barrie Sprint Tri, and the Orillia Sprint Tri, so I'm going to combine those two races into this post.
Barrie was a disaster, even though I still had PBs in the swim & run, and shaved 3 mins off of last year's time. It was a disaster because I really did not want to race it. All year long I was hyped for this race because I really wanted to perform well, but leading up to this race I got into a funk and didn't want to race. I guess it was overtraining or something...I don't know. But the day before and the morning of, I didnt want anything to do with this race. The weather was horrible with torrential downpour leading up to the race. This didn't help my not wanting to race at all.
My swim was a PB mostly because they moved the race in making it about a 650m race, yet advertising 700m. Not bad for those timid about swimming, but it really skews the stats. I got out of the water okay, but I didn't have a smooth swim at all because right before I had to sprint back to transition to try and get my girlfriend my spare pair of goggles (she was in the wave before me and her's snapped).
My bike was horrible. It was pouring, and I had no interest at all in going as hard as I know I could have. I ended up with the same time as I did last year, despite riding my Cervelo P2 which is about 2 min faster than my Opus Fidellio.
My run was GREAT! It wasn't until I got onto the run that I really felt like racing. I ran as hard as I could and averaged 4:14 pace for the 5K (realistically 4.8K), which is the best I have ever paced in a race.
All in all, I had a better time this year, but worse in my age category. Barrie is tough because they do 9 year age cats, and it seems the top 5 is filled with my age cat. But, I need to use this as motivation to improve my speed. And, I already knew I was a good cyclist so the great run helped my confidence setting me up for Orillia and Muskoka 70.3
I think the main problem with Barrie (2 years in a row with mental issues) is that I have no fear of the course and it is so close that there are literally no nerves at all, therefore it bores me. I'm going to have to use my drive for a podium to get me pumped for next year.
Orillia: Orillia was yet another wet/rainy race. But this time it was cold as well. The swim was rocky as usual, since the swim takes place in a shallow-ish portion of the lake, but I did improve 2 minutes over last year's time, so I felt really good about the work I have put into my weakest parts of triathlons.
The bike was really good until the ride back into town. I was averaging over 35KM/H until I got to the hills, but I knew they were there so I wasn't too worried. What bothered me was that I was unable to get my average back up to 34, on the turny decent back to transition, possibly due to the wet conditions and the narrow roads. I only improved about 40sec over last year, showing that the cervelo doesn't make much of a difference on shorter races.
The run was great. I had just finished watching Jamie's DVD "Endurance Nation", and the one thing they talked about was 'staying in your box' and doing what you should, rather than what you could. I started the run at a jog, and at about the 1KM marker realized I was in the low 4:30s, which was too fast at that point of a 7KM run. I purposely slowed myself down, which was very difficult to do because I've always had a hard time of slowing my legs down despite what my head is saying. But I did, and took advantage of some of the decents/flats to pick up the pace. i took it easy on the ascents, and when I got to the 6KM marker I had Kevin's voice in my head saying 'okay, now we're going to do 1KM of Quality!', and I ran as hard as I could to the finish. It was the best I have ever felt to end a race, and it was the best pace I have ever averaged for that technical of a course and that distance (I know Barrie was faster, but it is not a technical course. Orillia is up, down, flat, humid).
All in all, I shaved 6min off of my Orillia time last year, and I feel really good about Muskoka 70.3. My goals are sub 6:00 hr, which I think I can do depending on the weather and how well I take care of myself on the run. One thing I learned from Endurance Nation is that I have to stay in my box and know what my limits are and not exceed them. By not going ball's out on the run and then letting the inevitable crash even out my pace, I was able to control how I finished, which is what I want to do for Muskoka.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Muskoka Long Course
This year I've really pushed the distance of my training and racing, so I've sacrificed a lot of speed on shorter courses. Thankfully, this was a long course, so I was hoping to do pretty good! After my horrible running display in Gravenhurst, I was really eager to redeem myself. I attended Kevin's speed work the Wednesday before to get myself mentally prepped to run fast, and by Friday, my adrenaline was pumping and I was feeling really really good about the 13KM run in this course. I also mentally prepped for all aspects of the race, where as in other races this year that I didn't perform well in, I was only focussing on 1 maybe 2 aspects of the race.
I had been checking the weather all week because humidity in combination with dehydration lead to my faltering in Gravenhurst. It was looking to be a perfect race day with 23 and sunny and NO HUMIDITY! I woke up early, drove up to Huntsville,, and got myself settled in around 6:45. I was able to do a light 750m, go to the washroom a couple of times, top up the hydration levels, and then head to the swim start.
This was a 2km swim, and if I hadn't done to Baydog Across the bay swim a few weeks earlier, I would have been crapping my pants because it would have been the longest I had continuously swam. But, I did swim from Minets to Johnson's beach, so I was feeling pretty good about the swim. I was in the first wave, the horn sounded, and I was off!
After taking 2 hard hits by the same swimmer to the goggles and the ribs, I opened up some space by picking up my pace and finding some open water. Once I made the first turn, I got off track, and despite my best efforts, could not get straightened out to the next buoy. Thankfully, another swimmer was in the same predicament, and I 'grabbed his toes' until the next turn. All in all, a great swim and about 3 minutes faster than I had expected.
I was feeling really good about the bike, as I always do. I knew that this would be a hilly course, but also some good flats to pick up speed. I was averaging 33km/h to the turn around, and was feeling great because the ride bike would have been predominantly down hill. I went to the small ring up a very steep hill before the t/a and as I was changing to the big ring, the wire snapped and I lost the big ring! I had to ride the last 27km in the small ring, cranking up the cadence to keep the speed over 30. It was disheartening as I felt my race was over and wouldn't meet my goals. However, I had a lot of time left on the bike to think about this situation, and eventually came to the realization that there was nothing I could do about it but suck it up and still do the best that I could. I did, and averaged 31km/h on the bike. Respectable considering.
Onto the run. I had been fooling around with different hydration techniques, and really focussed on how my body was reacting to the hydration techniques that I was using. For instance, too much Gatorade meant severe pain and cramps. Therefore, I predominantly drank water on the bike, and had 6oz water/2oz gatorade in my fuel belt for the run. This seemed to help, as well as drinking water whenever I was thirsty. I didn't push myself too hard on the run, fearing that I might bonk at any step, and there were some steep hills on the 2 loop course. But, I ran continuously and finished with a 5:15 pace (5:22 according to the stats, but I stopped to pee so that doesn't count!). I felt really good about the run, which really helped me in my training and future races. If I had had a bad race here, I don't know what I would do mentally for Muskoka 70.3.
All in all, I didn't "race" this race. I treated it as 3 separate training sessions. This really helped me mentally as it kept me focussed and I didn't over do it. I had a great day, and can't wait to move on to my last 2 sprint races (Barrie and Orillia) before I tackle Muskoka 70.3.
NOTE: did the Muskoka 70.3 bike course over the August long weekend. Great course. First 60KM are good. Smooth, rolling, fast. The last 30KM are killer hills. Thankfully, I am now aware of this as I will adequately prep myself so that I can complete the 21.1KM run after that hilly bike course. Should be fun!
I had been checking the weather all week because humidity in combination with dehydration lead to my faltering in Gravenhurst. It was looking to be a perfect race day with 23 and sunny and NO HUMIDITY! I woke up early, drove up to Huntsville,, and got myself settled in around 6:45. I was able to do a light 750m, go to the washroom a couple of times, top up the hydration levels, and then head to the swim start.
This was a 2km swim, and if I hadn't done to Baydog Across the bay swim a few weeks earlier, I would have been crapping my pants because it would have been the longest I had continuously swam. But, I did swim from Minets to Johnson's beach, so I was feeling pretty good about the swim. I was in the first wave, the horn sounded, and I was off!
After taking 2 hard hits by the same swimmer to the goggles and the ribs, I opened up some space by picking up my pace and finding some open water. Once I made the first turn, I got off track, and despite my best efforts, could not get straightened out to the next buoy. Thankfully, another swimmer was in the same predicament, and I 'grabbed his toes' until the next turn. All in all, a great swim and about 3 minutes faster than I had expected.
I was feeling really good about the bike, as I always do. I knew that this would be a hilly course, but also some good flats to pick up speed. I was averaging 33km/h to the turn around, and was feeling great because the ride bike would have been predominantly down hill. I went to the small ring up a very steep hill before the t/a and as I was changing to the big ring, the wire snapped and I lost the big ring! I had to ride the last 27km in the small ring, cranking up the cadence to keep the speed over 30. It was disheartening as I felt my race was over and wouldn't meet my goals. However, I had a lot of time left on the bike to think about this situation, and eventually came to the realization that there was nothing I could do about it but suck it up and still do the best that I could. I did, and averaged 31km/h on the bike. Respectable considering.
Onto the run. I had been fooling around with different hydration techniques, and really focussed on how my body was reacting to the hydration techniques that I was using. For instance, too much Gatorade meant severe pain and cramps. Therefore, I predominantly drank water on the bike, and had 6oz water/2oz gatorade in my fuel belt for the run. This seemed to help, as well as drinking water whenever I was thirsty. I didn't push myself too hard on the run, fearing that I might bonk at any step, and there were some steep hills on the 2 loop course. But, I ran continuously and finished with a 5:15 pace (5:22 according to the stats, but I stopped to pee so that doesn't count!). I felt really good about the run, which really helped me in my training and future races. If I had had a bad race here, I don't know what I would do mentally for Muskoka 70.3.
All in all, I didn't "race" this race. I treated it as 3 separate training sessions. This really helped me mentally as it kept me focussed and I didn't over do it. I had a great day, and can't wait to move on to my last 2 sprint races (Barrie and Orillia) before I tackle Muskoka 70.3.
NOTE: did the Muskoka 70.3 bike course over the August long weekend. Great course. First 60KM are good. Smooth, rolling, fast. The last 30KM are killer hills. Thankfully, I am now aware of this as I will adequately prep myself so that I can complete the 21.1KM run after that hilly bike course. Should be fun!
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