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.
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