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.