Well, since Nats were in Kelowna this weekend, many of the top guys were missing. I viewed this as an opportunity to go for the win.  I certainly was looking forward to this race, after a not so great Owen Sound race, plagued by fatigue, stomach cramping, and no warm-up.

One problem I’ve been having all year is way too short warm ups and therefore not competing to my potential. My swimming is most affected by warmup and I usually don’t get into a great rhythm until about 1.5-2k into a swim session.  The problem was steming from travel issues like getting lost along the way, running out of gas etc.  Anyway, I got to Orillia with 70min to spare… plenty of time to WU. Then as I’m about to head out for a WU bike ride, I’m putting on my helmet, reach down to buckle it, and notice that one half of the buckle is missing… either someone stole it, or it just fell off after the last race. So I ran around for 40min trying to figure something out… at last Kevin MacKinnon(race announcer and former UofT tri club coach) takes time out to run over to his car and lends me a buckle from his helmet… and literally saved my butt.  He couldn’t have been a nicer guy!

So off I go to warm up.  I had about 2k of riding, and 3min of swimming and that was it for WU.

SWIM- started off conservative, then when I made my move, the current dragged me about 30m off course, so Idid a little Detour which slowed my time bigtime… wasn’t too happy with that.

BIKE- However, I started strong on the bike and maintained it… not a super fast pace but there was tough winds at times on this rolling course, and I was still 2min faster than last yr, on a day when most guys were 1min slower in their bike splits from last yr. Looks like those 2000k of cycling in july are starting to pay big dividends.

RUN- Onto the run, I overtake a guy who I thought was in first at the 1.5k mark, until I approach the turnaround of the run and realize there is a guy about 2min ahead of me… he put almost 2min on me in the swim alone… had I had a better swim and maybe kept him in my sights I probably wouldn’t have such a huge deficit. Oh well… that’s what happens with no/short WU.  All run my hamsrings were super tight and I did not feel fast at all. In fact I ran 20sec slower than last yr, so I was surpirsed I still had the fastest run split. Was pretty windy for the first 3k on the run though.

2nd place overall… still an improvement over the last race, cycling is coming, but my run is still not showing my true fitness. My running fitness is definitely better than last yr, but I’m not showing it yet in these races. Looking forward to the Montreal Olympic Triathlon in 4wks. Might use GL2 or Wasaga Sprint as a tuneup.

PB