The Race:
Wasaga Beach was the icing on the cake last summer. It was my last race of the season and it was the race that finally made me decide to do Ironman. I had what I considered to be a decent race and wanted more from this year. Considering what I had accomplished at my last sprint triathlon, I figured this would be exciting. I knew the course, was familiar with where I could simply go all out, and was looking to podium. You see, I had put a few pounds on after Lake Placid and broke through the 200lbs mark – so officially a clydesdale. I wanted to see how fast I could push this body.
Swim….well actually, a Run!
I was so looking forward to this swim. I had an amazing run up to this race for swims and had been placing high. After winning my age group at Peterborough, and knowing that most of the quick swimmers were either doing the olympic distance or weren’t racing at all, I knew I had a great chance to blow the field away and possibly set myself up for a great race. The weather was crap, cold and seemed to be getting worse as we drove north on Hwy 400. When we finally got to Wasaga, the swim had been cancelled due to the unsafe water conditions. Boy was I bummed. Now this race was going to be a duathlon and my swim would be a 5k run. Sucks to be me. I decided to pace myself as best I could and made due with the fact that I was peeved to not be swimming. Couple that with the extreme cold (and my only gear being a tri top) and it made for an exciting start to my day! The start of the race was about 500m down the beach and when you’re not in the first wave, the sand gets pretty chewed up. I kept looking for fresh sand to get some more solid footing and found a little. I really felt sorry for those behind us. In the end, the run wasn’t bad but it didn’t place me well enough to make a stab at a podium spot…but, it was a PB for a 5K! Run time – 23:39 (4:44/k); 9/26 Clydes; 158/321 OA
T1
After an agonizing first run, the transition wasn’t bad – shoes off, shoes on and away we go. The sand run was a bit painful though. T1 time – 2:23
Bike
I figured I could blaze the bike, and it felt like I did. It was a little cold but I felt like I was flying. Not too many passed me, and I actually passed a few (a growing occurrence at races for me). Otherwise an uneventful bike ride. After Lake Placid, nothing seems that scary or difficult. The Cervelo was functioning well, but I decided that I needed to switch out the aero bars as they were very uncomfortable. I finished up pretty strong and got into transition in a decent time. Bike time – 37:36 (31.9kph); 4/26 Clydes; 81/321 OA
T2
Again, shoes off, shoes on. The transition runs through the sandf weren’t ideal since I was pretty far along. In the end, I had to do the long sand run twice. T2 time – 2:02
Run
So with the start being a 5k, the end was switched to a 2.5k run. I wasn’t happy to be running again but what are you going to do. Essentially, this part of the run for me was simply to go fast and steady and try to limit the number of people in my classification from passing me. In fact, if I could catch a few, it would be nice. Back through the sand a few times and with tired legs, I finally came across the finish line. Decent time as it was a course PB (even though no swim). Run time – 11:47 (4:43/k); 9/26 Clydes; 180/321 OA
Overall
What was shaping up to be a coming out party of sorts for me was a bit of a let down due to the lack of a swim. I missed a podium spot in the under 40 clydesdales (I was 4th) by just under 3 minutes. If they had a swim, I believe I would have medaled, actually, almost certain I would have. All in all, a decent day, and it was nice to bring the 2006 triathlon season to a close, although somewhat anti climatic.
Overall time – 1:17:24; 6/26 Clydes; 121/321 OA – PB for the “course” by 14 minutes, so not a bad day.
It turns out that this was my last race for the year – sickness through September, October, November and in to December limited race and training time considerably. I’m only just back at it (December 11 as of press time) but already building myself back. Next year will be an assault on the PBs once more as I have signed on with Steve Bentley and will be doing Ironman Florida in November 2007. Should be fun!
Thanks for taking the time to read and until next time….keep the rubber side down.
Dude – you and me both re: being bummed about the swim. But it was probably the right call to cancel it. I have a new respect for duathletes. I thought there was nothing worse than running off the bike, but gettinng ON the bike after 10k is super hard. Special props to Team RF Mark “Speedy” Gilbert – this guy dropped me like a rock 3k into the last run! Good to see Roger H at this race too.