Time to hang up the wetsuit.

After one season of doing triathlons, I've decided to retire...

No i'm just kidding, going to be taking a break from scheduled training for maybe a month? I'll probably making a Fall/Winter schedule in October and get back to it. So I most likely won't have much to say for some time.

Thanks for following the blog! Been a great season.



Thank You Mr. Chiu

I'd like to thank my friend Winston for taking pictures at several of the races this year (specificically Peterborough, Orillia, and Wasaga). Without them I would have no blog, or just a super boring blog with only text. Also I'd like to thank his family for creating their famous pasta as it was a key part in my carb diet the past few months.

Photo Courtesy of Winston Chiu

Race Report - Wasaga Beach (Give-it-a-Tri)

It was a great finish to the season in Wasaga. I had my highest finish of the year and was also able to finish with a silver which was nice.

Final Results

I'm feeling too lazy to type up a full race report so I will do this one in pictures:

Pre-Race

Insane traffic on the way to the race, it took 3 hours for a 1.5 hour drive.



By the time I got there, I was basically the ONLY one setting up my transition zone.



I started walking towards the startline during the 3 minute countdown mark



Swim - 400m

The swim was a little akward because the water was so shallow near the beach so there was quite a lot of running in the water at the start and finish as opposed to swimming.

Swim Time: 8:48, 55/218 (2:12/100m)

 

Transition 1 WAS going very smooth until......



I managed to tangle someone elses shoe onto my bike pedal....



Wasted quite a bit of time trying to get it off...I actually would have jumped about 3 places.



Transition 1

I had an alrite transition until someone in the crowd told me a shoe was hanging off my pedal. I'm sorry to whoevers shoe that was hahaha. You probably had a rough run :)

T1 Time: 1:27

Bike - 10km

The bike portion was pretty flat with only a few hills. Not too many problems during the bike except that I NEED to get faster during the winter.

Bike Time: 20:41, 42/218 (29.0km/hr)

Coming back from the Bike Leg of the race

Starting the second transition

Transition 2

I'm not 100% sure, but I THINK this is my fastest T2 this year. Probably because of how small the transition area was though.

T2 Time: 0:41

Starting the run.

Almost at the finish line. It was quite a nice run along the beach on the boardwalk.

Final finish of the season...

Run - 2.75km

The run was quite nice as it was right beside the beach with a lot of people watching. The course was a little confusing but it went well.

Run Time: 12:39, 8/218 (4:36/km)

OVERALL TIME: 45:04.1, 16/218, 2/7 M20-24

Post Race Report

It was a great day on the whole. I finished with the silver in my age group and ALMOSTTT won a Timex watch. The organizers have a draw after every race with a lot of small little prizes and a couple bigger ones. There was a pair of sunglasses and two timex watches. So they end up calling two people's names and than mine. So I'm like holy s**t!! I actually won the watch because that's what I wanted all season really. What sucks is the two people called before me didn't show so I defaulted to the sunglasses which I found out were women's sunglasses............So disappointing haha gotta be more appreciative though right?







Race Preview - Wasaga Beach (Give-it-a-Tri)

Final race of the season....

This coming Saturday I will be having my final race of the season which is kind of disappointing because I have nothing to look forward to anymore. Going to be a long off-season of training.

Race Details

Swim - 400m

Bike - 10km

Run - 2.75km

I've taken the last week pretty lax so hopefully it doesnt hurt me too much haha. I really hope that I finish the season strong. From looking at last years' results and the description on the site, it's a fairly flat course and is going to be a quick one. The water temperature they say is around 18.5 degrees so it's not as chilly as Toronto Island but still pretty cold.

Random funny story. I put on some muscle pain reliever called Lakota a couple days ago before I went to bed just for kicks. I was told that it was really strong so I obvisouly had to try it. So I put it on maybe about 45 minutes to an hour before I went to bed and felt nothing but a very very slight cold sensation. I didn't just dab it on, I did the full leg, quads, hamstrings, calfs, even shoulders. I end up waking up at 4:30am because my legs feel like they are on fire. I'm not even kidding or being a baby, it was ridiculous. I'm not even sure what I felt, it was burning and stinging and but my legs felt cold when I touched them.

What makes it even more funny is I asked my friends Derick and Joey and they had also dabbled in some Lakota and they said it was like fire. Haha the funniest thing is another friend who I won't name pulled his groin so he rubbed it all up there. Shoulda known it was intense when there's some Indian chief on the cover of the package and the site says "Legendary Native American Formulas"

I really feel like this Lakota pain reliever is going to take me to the next level though.

How I feel right now
Lakota won't fail me.

Expectations
To have no problems and quicker transitions than last race.

Goals
I am hoping to have a strong enough race to rank high in my age group.

Race Report - Guelph Lake II (Try-a-Tri)

This race went ok...a good swim, hilly bike and a hilly run.

Final Results

Pre-Race

Haha I made it there on time this time which was nice. Had plenty of time to register and warm up.



Photo courtesy of: finisherpix.com


Swim - 375m

The water was nice and warm for this race and I felt pretty good during the whole swim. Didn't go very off course at all which was a change.

Swim Time: 9:29, 63/380 (2:32/100m)

Transition 1

I messed up this transition big time. Firstly, my bike shoe wasn't going on well, and secondly I was already walking my bike to the exit until a realized I forgot to put on my race belt so I dropped the bike and went back to get it.

T1 Time: 2:03

Bike - 10km

I always have so much trouble biking after swimming, it just get really dizzy for some reason. My legs even feel tired but its not like I kick at all really during the swim so I'm not too sure how to fix this. The bike was hilly on the way to the turn around and extremely fast on the way back which was kind of nice. Overall it was my slowest bike of the season which sucks though....I just came out really flat on the bike.

Bike Time: 21:58, 75/380 (27.3km/hr)

Transition 2

Once again the shoes weren't going on very smooth. Well over a minute on this T2....

T2 Time: 1:12

Run - 2.5km

The run started off pretty hilly and ended pretty hilly which was annoying. I think everyone found it quite tough though because I didn't rank that low in the run, relative to my time.

Run Time: 11:55, 16/380 (4:46/km)

OVERALL TIME: 46:38.8, 38/380, 7/41 M20-29

Post Race Report

I'm not too thrilled about this race but definitely an improvement from Guelph Lake I lol. Anything is an improvement from that haha.

One more race this Saturday to close off the season. Gotta finish strong!

Photo courtesy of: finisherpix.com

Race Preview - Anthony vs Guelph Lake II (Try-a-Tri)

I'm not sure if you guys remember BUT this was what happened my first race:

http://anthonyngtriathlonadventure.blogspot.com/2011/06/race-report-guelph-lake-weekend-try-tri.html

We meet again Guelph Lake...

So this coming up Saturday, September 3rd I have my 2nd last race before the end of the season and it is the same race that I f'd up big time in June. It is under the Subaru Triathlon Series and is the exact same race as Guelph Lake I.

Race Details
Swim - 375m
Bike - 10km
Run - 2.5km

So I really just need to get there on time and I THINK I should be okay, unless I forget how to swim for some reason and freak out again.

How I feel right now
I just had a race last weekend so I feel good. I took a different approach this week and kept it extremely lax, whereas before other races this season I would work pretty hard up until 2-3 days before the race. Hopefully it works out better.

Expectations
No problems during the race. Nice and quick transitions.

Goals
I'd like finish with a time in the 40:xx area. It might be a little to optimistic since my best race was in the high 42's on a fast course. It's going to take a perfect swim, a strong bike and the run of my life so we'll see haha.

Race Report - Toronto Island (Give-it-a-Tri)

Foggy, cold swim, foggy bike, nice run. On the whole a great day. Probably my favourite race of the year, it was pretty awesome racing at Toronto Island. It's such a nice and peaceful park.

Photo courtesy of Multisportcanada.com

Photo courtesy of Multisportcanada.com

The fog actually got so bad that the 40 and over wave must have been postponed a good hour and they also had their swim distance cut in half. That's why the total participants are only @ 266, because the 40 and over waves were separted from us on Sportstats.

Final Results

Pre-Race

Had a nice 4AM alarm set so I could get up and get to the ferry downtown by 6. Unfortunately we missed the 6 o'clock ferry and had to take the 630. When we got to the dock, it was insanely foggy and I already wondered whether they would postpone the race. By the time we got to the island, it was about a 10 minute walk to the race site. About 20-30 minutes prior to the 8AM wave 1 start they announced that the race would be postponed about 15 minute due to fog.

Swim - 400m

Once we got to the water, I noticed that basically no one was warming up. So I took a step into the water and found out why...it was blistering cold. Not "i'm being a baby cold", it was f**king cold. The swim was a tough one for almost everyone I think because your goggles would fog up right away because of the cold water. My goggles managed to get knocked off by someone during the swim which through off my rhythm quite a bit, but I got it together.

Swim Time: 10:53, 60/266 (2:44/100m)

Transition 1

I think this is the fastest T1 i've ever had.

T1 Time: 1:17

Bike - 10km

Nice and foggy bike, it was so foggy that you could barely see the person maybe 15-20 metres ahead of you. The bike was extremely flat which is why my bike time is inflated (or deflated?) just a bit when comparing to the other races. There were 3 pretty fast bikers that I tried to follow for most of the bike.

Bike Time: 18:41, 28/266 (32.1km/hr)

Transition 2

Fastest T2 I've had I believe.

T2 Time: 0:51

Run - 2.5km

The run felt a lot faster than my time, maybe because I set up closer to the bike course, which meant I was further from the run exit. I'm not sure if that makes sense even, but I felt like I had a better run than Orillia but my Orillia time was quite a bit faster.

Run Time: 11:13, 27/266 (4:30/km)

OVERALL TIME: 42:52.3, 19/266, 7/22 M20-24

Post Race Report

The best place I've had all season which is nice. 110% going to do this race again next year, it was just an exciting day. From taking the ferry early in the morning, the misty/foggy race was trippy, cold swim makes a nice story, and having my cousins and mom there was a nice touch as well.

Race Preview - Toronto Island

This Saturday I have the much anticipated Toronto Island race which a part of MultiSport Canada. The race is sold out I found out recently so it is going to be massive. 450 people are expected to be in this race so it's pretty intense. What also makes this an exciting race is that I have 4-5 other friends competing, as well as a few members of my family coming to support.

Race Details

Swim - 400m

Bike - 10km

Run - 2.5km

The race in Orillia was a nice prep for this Toronto race because I hadn't raced in so long and was a little worried about the swim again. So I think that helped quite a bit for my confidence. The organizers sent out the pre-race email today and they said that they advise wetsuits, so i'm lucky that I have one because apparently the water is coldddd.

How I feel right now

A little sore to be honest. I didn't plan on doing nothing the final two days before the race, but I did some sprint interval sets on a track which I hadn't done since high school this week and my hamstrings feel like crap re so I think I'm going to just rest these few days. Hopefully, I feel better tomorrow (friday) and am 100% come saturday morning.

Expectations

I expect to have a better race than Orillia, final time wise that is, because from what I've heard this track is pretty flat throughout.

Goals

Don't place 4th? I've had two age group M20-29 4th place finishes in the two try-a-tri's i've finished and it blows...

Race Report - Orillia (Try-a-Tri)

I'm super tired so i'm going to keep this one short.

Final Results

Pre-Race

Got up nice and early and arrived about 1.5 hours before the race start. Got there and set up transition, it started to rain about 15 minutes before the start of the race which sucked because the course and all the transition gear was soaked.

Swim - 375m

This race had wave starts just like Peterborough and per usual I was in the first wave because of my age. Once the horn went off, the start was pretty chaotic, probably because I went way off course to the left so I kept bumping into people that were actually going on track. The swim was okay though overall, minus going off course.

Swim Time: 9:35, 70/262 (2:34/100m)

Transition 1

Saved quite a bit of time just by wearing a shirt under the wetsuit.

T1 Time: 1:41

Bike - 10km

Nice and slippery, on the hills where I'd get off the seat and really give 'er I could feel the rear tire slipping everytime I pedaled. I rode into some rocks on the shoulder by accident and ALMOST fell too haha. Also some idiot in a red pickup drove in front of me sooo slow for a portion as the marshall was yelling at him. It was an ok bike, still struggled quite a bit. Not as fast as I want to be..but not horrendous.

Bike Time: 21:43, 38/262 (27.6km/hr)

Transition 2

Also saved some time with the new laces I have for my runners

T2 Time: 0:59

Run - 2.5km

The run didn't go as well as I wanted, but I still did ok. Nothing crazy.

Run Time: 9:35, 70/262 (2:34/100m)

OVERALL TIME: 44:48.4, 23/262, 4/13 M20-29

Post Race Report

Was super winded from the final kick but felt okay after a bit. One sport away from a medal but the 3rd place guy was a whole minute ahead of me so can't be that mad. Friend of mine Winston did his 1st tri today so big ups to him

I won a prize from the random draw they always do! Got a wrench set for my bike!

Will write up the Toronto Race Preview sometime this week.

Race Preview - Orillia (Try-a-Tri)

Haven't posted anything in quite some time now...but what a way to get started again, with a preview of my next race. I have 3 races in the next 3 weeks, all try-a-tri's (Orillia, Toronto, Guelph). The long sprint I was planning on doing in 2 weeks in the beautiful city of Toronto was sold out unfortunately...so i'm stuck with 3 try-a-tri's to finish out the season.

Once I found out I wasn't going to be able to do the long sprint, I quickly changed my training workouts so that they were much shorter but more intense. I think this should help me finish the try-a-tri's faster.

Race Details

Swim - 375m

Bike - 10km

Run - 2.5km

The Orilla race is part of the Subaru Triathlon Series once again and is on Sunday, August 21st, 2011.

As mentioned earlier, now that I know I only have 3 short races to finish the season I've been training shorter distances but at a faster pace. Many brick workouts have been done so I think I'll be okay come sunday.

Looking at last years' results, it looks like there will be approximately 315-320 people in this race, which is about double the amount in my Welland race earlier in the year.

Honestly, I feel like the try-a-tri's are tougher than the sprint triathlons because its such a quick race (well I've only done one of each..i'm such a seasoned vet lol). The reasoning I like to give is: I'd be more gassed sprinting 400 metres as opposed to running 5km steadily. The try-a-tri's are so short that you basically have to give it your all the whole time, without much time to establish a pace for yourself. Just like a 400 or 800 metre sprint.

How I feel right now

Right now I feel fine about finishing and all that stuff, but I'm still a little worried about finishing in a fast time. But come race time I think I'll be okay and ready.

Goals

I might be a little too optimistic about this, but I'd like to rank in the top 3 in my age group again.

Expectations

I want to have a nice and easy swim, have quicker transitions than the past, power through the bike and feel good afterwards, and finish with a strong run.



forty-six!!

When I thought it couldn't get any hotter....

What does feels like 46 even mean???

Race Report - Peterborough (Sprint Triathlon)

No panic in the swim! mediocre bike.. okay run.

Finally completed my first sprint tri, the race overall went pretty well. I'm not too happy with my overall place but it can only go up from here..I hope?

Final Results 

Setting up transition zone





Pre-Race

We arrived at the site about 90 minutes before the 9:00 start time which was nice. Had loads of time to prepare the transition zones, pick up our race packs, and get mentally prepared. I was nervous for the swim but I knew after my warm-up swim, I was NO WHERE NEAR as nervous and panicky as I was the last race. The main thing I think I was worried about was the mass start.  

Putting on wetsuit and getting focused

Swim - 750m

The start of the swim was a mass start of about 80-90 people each wave I estimate with 5 waves I believe. As the horn blew, I ran as far in as possible until I could barely touch the bottom. Mistake in my part because apparently you swim faster than you run in the water. I was only thinking about swimming less though, and there I was thinking I had everyone fooled..haha. As I rounded the first turn I felt fine and from there I knew I'd finish the swim for sure. I did however get kicked or "punched" right in the goggle as I made the final turn back to the beach, luckily the goggles didn't come off at all.




Swim Time: 18:25, 265/439 (2:28/100m)

Transition 1
Stupid tight compression shirt...It honestly might have taken me 45 seconds to put on. It got stuck because I was wet so I had to take it off and put it on again.

T1 Time: 2:20

Bike - 20km
One word - Hills. Basically the entire bike course were rolling hills. I had a rough bike for sure. I definitely thought I was a better biker than I showed. The bike was a tough one for me, the hills didn't help. I'm going to need to work on my cycling speed for sure. I think I've always been a bit over confident with my biking, but now I know I need to work on it just as much as my swimming even. I'm a little too relaxed during my training sessions, definitely need to up the intensity. I expected to average AT LEAST 30km/hr easy during the race...

Bike Time: 42:53, 259/439 (28km/hr)

Transition 2
Not a bad T2 was able to get off the bike easily and change into my runners quite fast.

T2 Time: 1:13

Run - 5km
Grass, Grass and more Grass. Most of the run course was on grass which was annoying but not terrible I guess. On the whole the run wasn't too bad, the usual heavy legs at the beginning and than it got easier. I didn't run as well as I know I can but it wasn't terrible by any means. I really wish I walked the course prior to the race. Reason is I usually try to really pick up the last km or so...unfortunately twice during the run I started to basically sprint, only to find out the finish line was still quite far away. The course was even set up so that you run PAST the finish area (which I thought was the end so I sprinted that part) only to do another short loop. So this really messed up my run because I gassed myself twice for no reason. My time was alrite though so I'm not too mad about my run.

Run Time: 23:51, 118/439 (4:47/km)










OVERALL TIME: 1:28:39.3, 192/439, 14/21 M20-24

Post Race Report
I felt pretty good after the race, a little heat exhaustion though I think. It was well over 30 degrees during the race. After looking at the results, I was a little disappointed because I really wanted to place in the top 100. But once I saw the 100th place time, I realized I was pretty far off. I'm determined to up the intensity of my biking because that really hurt me I think, and I can't always rely on my running to bail me out.

I'm excited though for the rest of the season and optimistic that I can drastically improve my splits for the coming races. A very successful day in my opinion.

Race Preview - Peterborough (Sprint Triathlon)

Before I start the race preview...saw Transformers 3 this week. INCREDIBLE. I'm a little bias though, because I'd be okay with 3 hours of just Optimus Prime walking around doing nothing but telling me stories of the good ol' days.

So badass!

Go see it!

Now to the not as important stuff:

It's almost here, in under a week I'll be participating in my first sprint distance triathlon. It's what all the training these last 2.5-3 months have been leading up to. The race is being held on Sunday, July 10th in Peterborough, Ontario and is a part of the Subaru Triathlon Series.




Race Details
Swim - 750m
Bike - 20km
Run - 5km


Training has been going ok...Lately I've had to shuffle around a lot of workouts for random reasons. I haven't skipped any workouts on my schedule, I've just had to make them up on different days which can get a little hectic. It's especially annoying during race week, because I want to get in all my workouts that I had to re-schedule, but at the same time I don't want to overwork and tire myself out.

The race last year had well over 450 competitors so it's substantially larger than the Welland race.

Son of a b*tch!! 1hr 44mins...that is Google Maps' estimate time to get from Toronto to the race location. Why do they ALWAYS have to start races so F-ing early...I cannot stand waking up early, I just can't do it. I'm getting better at it though because of all these early morning swims the last few months lol. These organizers need to start catering to those that don't live near the race location. The race starts at 9:00, which means I need to get there by 7:30. Peterborough being about 1.5 hrs away means it's going to be an early morning.

How I feel right now
Feeling more confident this time around. The Give-it-a-Tri in Welland was DEFINITELY necessary. Doing a 45/7.5 brick today makes me feel good about the 20/5 in Peterborough. So ONCE AGAIN it is up to you know what.

Goals
I'd like to finish the swim. Don't lose goggles and swim cap like I did last race. When I left the water I had my goggles and swim cap in my right hand and thought I could be a hero and do this trick where I flip the wetsuit arms inside out so that the goggles would stay in the suit. It didn't work...they must've fallen out.

Expectations
Swim: Be able to finish the swim without any panic attacks

T1: Improve BIG time. Last race's T1 was horrible. When the leaders are transitoning well under a minute and I was over two...I feel like I should be able to get it down to at least 1:30.

Bike: Maintaining a pace of over 32km/hr

T2: Again, improve substantially from Welland. I had one of the worst T2 times last race, I'd like to be around a minute this time around (last time was 1:41). I should really learn how to tie my shoes.

Run: I hope I'm not too drained after the bike, and be able to run around a 22 min time.

bloody hot outside....

Just got home from my 45/7.5 brick workout. It was soo hot outside. The bike wasn't bad because I had the breeze at least. But the run..holy f*ck was that bad. It was already a tough run because I was a little drained from the bike. But man, the sun, paired up with my Hawaiian Tropics Tanning oil that I applied prior to the workout.........come on really? so gullible... But really, it felt like it was 40 degrees. I'm praying that they'll allow wetsuits at the Peterborough race next week, because I dont think I can do it w/out one.

Race Report - Welland (Give-It-A-Tri)

Finally a real race report! It was a pretty rewarding day in Welland today, the sun wasn't out unfortunately but it was still quite nice for a race. Large crowds, amazing support (thanks for coming Derick + Joey) it was all in all a great day.

Results if your too lazy and rude to read the report

Pictures taken from the race

At the transition area getting ready

Pre-Race
I stayed over at my friends place the night before because he is closer to Welland. Funny story...I forgot my wetsuit at home. LUCKILY my friends from home were going to the race and were able to bring it along with them (saved my life Derick, more than once today). We arrived probably an hour and fifteen minutes or so before race time, so much more time to prepare compared to last time.

We got to the transition, layed out all our stuff, put on our wetsuits, and made our way to the swim area. When I got into the water for the warmup it was super chilly. I swam out maybe 60-70 metres for a warm-up and the panic feeling came back so quickly. I got out of the water, and I remember telling Dave, Derick, and Joey "I don't know if I can do this..." They kept giving me words of encouragement that helped a lot. That same horrible feeling from Guelph had come back, I literally started pulling the wetsuit away from my chest....

Swim - 400m
The water felt a bit warmer getting in it a second time, I guess because of the short warm-up I was able to get in. The organizers set up the swim in a Time Trial format, this meant that they'd send out one person every 5 seconds. This helped a lot I think, everyone was spread apart a bit more so there wouldn't be any large groups of people together. My BIB number was near last, so I was send out near the end.

Derick actually caught me stopped trying to calm myself 50m in

The start of the swim was extremely panicky. I felt my heart racing again, and I started getting extremely nervous and scared. At a point I stopped swimming maybe 50 metres in, thinking I would quit to be honest. I thought about it, and decided to continue a bit longer. As a rounded the first turn, I finally started feeling my heart rate fall. From here I got more and more comfortable until it felt almost like swim practices at the pool.

Swim Time: 10:22, 68/152 (2:36/100m)

Run-Up - 400m
This course was designed to unfortunately have a 400m run-up just to get to Transition 1. As soon as I got out of the water, I said to myself "Now, it's my time" and I just ran as hard as I could. In the crowd, I heard Derick cheering me on which gave me a nice adrenaline rush.

Run-Up Time: 2:00, 10/152

Start of the 400m run-up

Transition 1
Transition 1 took some time, I was a little gassed after the 400m run-up. Looking back, I think I put too much into that, but it worked out.

T1 Time: 2:11

Changing for the bike

Bike - 10km
I felt quite winded at the start of the bike, but slowly gained my composure again. I felt pretty good during most of the bike. I was able to pass a handful of people, and was only passed once but this guy that must've been going at least 35-40 km/hr. The bike course was flat for the most part so it wasn't bad at all. The bike computer I had was HUGE, it really helped me maintain a somewhat consistent cadence and speed.

Bike Time: 20:48, 36/152 (28.8km/hr)

Transition 2
Horrible! My legs were so wobbly. It took me some time to walk my bike to the transition. Next time I'm finding a transition spot that's closer to the entrance. I racked my bike quickly, took off my clip shoes, helmet, and put on my runners. As soon as I picked up the runners, I felt that they were soaking wet because I needed to use them for the run-up after the swim. I decided not to put on socks, and as I stepped in the shoe I could feel the water rush out. It was like a sponge.

There isn't a ranking for transitions, but by skimming the race results. I was about 115/152 in transition 2 times. I really lost a lot of time from it for some reason...

T2 Time: 1:41

Run - 2.5km

Crossing the finish line

My legs were so shot at the start of the run. I got through the first kilometre and from there I got my wind back and finished pretty strong. I wish I had walked the course before the race so that I would know where I could pick up the pace, or even have pushed myself harder at the beginning. It's a lot easier to change your run strategy if you know where your going. But if you don't know, than you kind of have to pace yourself until you know for sure where you're going.

Run Time: 10:28, 14/152 (4:11/km)

OVERALL TIME: 47:26.8, 36/152, 4/13 M20-29

Dave and I after the finish

Post Race Report
Once I saw the results posted and saw that I placed 4th in my age group category, I was soooo annoyed because I was one off from a medal. BUT I didn't realize that MultiSport was handing out medals in 5-year gaps instead of the 10 year gaps. I ended up placing 3rd and received a bronze medal for the race.

I feel a burden lifted off chest and out of my stomach..literally. The last week has been a living nightmare for me. I was extremely nervous all the time, and felt sick to my stomach everytime I thought about the Guelph race. I was so scared that the same thing would happen in Welland.

The swim ended up being ok. Looking back, I think I could have gone faster but I really just wanted to pace myself slowly and finish it this time. It's definitely what I need to work on the most still.

Each of my transitions were really slowly relative to the rest of the competition. I think I could cut 20 seconds or so from each transition if not more.

The bike portion went smoothly. I would have liked to reach the 30km/hr average just because it was such a flat course, but i'm pretty happy with how I did on that part

The running portions (run-up and 2.5km) coming into the race I knew would be my strongest parts of the race. Placing 9th and 14th overall for these parts felt great! The running aspect of triathlons are always going to be my best imo seeing as it's the one I've been doing throughout my life.

What a great day! I can't wait for the next one.

Race Preview - Welland (Give-It-A-Tri)

What happened last saturday has been eating me up literally every second of everyday. It makes me sick to my stomach when I think about it, it makes me nervous, and I honestly get a little scared when I think about what happened. It felt like a nightmare, except that I was awake.

All this is mainly the reason as to why I registered for another race this soon, because the only way to get over it, is to do it again.

The Welland race is apart of the MultiSport Triathlon Series and is on Saturday, June 25th.

Race Details
Swim - 400m
Bike - 10km
Run - 2.5km

Training has been going well, I've toned it down a bit just because of last weeks "race" and now Welland.



How I feel right now
Again..physically I feel great. Mentally I think I'm in a better mindset this time around because I did an open water swim on tuesday. I was able to do more than the 400m, and also got a little more practice in my wetsuit.

Goals
Again, I really have no expectations. I'd like to be able to complete the swim of course with a respectable time, and from there I think I should be able to get back into my comfort zone.

Expectations
Same as the Guelph Tri really. I definitely need to get there earlier, so I can have everything layed out nicely in the transition zones. Last time was a little bit of a mess, I didn't even put on my race #'s I realized afterwards.

Race Report - Guelph Lake Weekend (Try-a-Tri)

It took me 2 hours to get there because I got lost..... got registered and got to the water during the 1 minute countdown. Panicked as soon as the gun went off, started having an anxiety attack maybe 215 metres in...and quit. I had trouble breathing, I was scared to put my head back in the water even...just got really freaked out and quit..First time I've had an anxiety attack in my life...being so far away from shore, getting kicked and stuff because of all those people, not being able to see, being late, it just all built up throughout the race i think...

I let it get the best of me...sucks...guess I wasn't mentally prepared. I know I can do that swim, I just did two 400's on wednesday @ the pool to give myself some confidence and have done triple that distance too. The open water is just different I guess with so many people swimming so close together.

Definitely going to need some open water practice...

Sorry....
Til next time.