Lakeside Sprint Triathlon (HSBC) – a clydesdale’s tale

Name of Race – Lakeside Sprint Triathlon
Website for the Race – http://www.multisportcanada.com/ms/events/showEvent.cfm?showEventID=39
Date of Race – Saturday, June 9^th, 2007
Location of Race – Lakeside, Ontario
Type of Race – Sprint Triathlon
Distance or duration of Race – Swim – 500m; Bike – 18K, Run 4K
Description of Race – a beautiful venue to host a triathlon; swim was warm with a few weeds at the start, bike was wide open, a few rollers and fast, run was flat out and back on gravel roads.
The Race
This was my first race of the season so I took it easy with a shorter distance sprint triathlon. Also, first race with the new fit on the Cervelo and with the new race wheels. Was excited to see what would happen. Lots of friends racing this year and I was stoked to try and podium as I was racing as a clydesdale (clear the hurdle this year by 10lbs even though I’m just as fast as last year or faster – even with the extra 15 lbs).
Pre-race
Was up very early since it’s a long drive to Lakeside and I’m somewhat picky about getting to races early to have first choice in terms of racking the bike. Only benefit was that it was a 10am start time so I didn’t have to be there too early. Arrived on scene at 8am, took the best spot on the rack and got the gear ready. It was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day to race and I was pretty psyched. Popped the mandatory and ritual pre-race gel (was trying GU this race – Just Plain flavour…really good stuff). Hit the water, warmed up the wetsuit (another ritual!) and got ready to go.
Swim
Didn’t know what to expect on the swim since I’d only been back in the water for about a month after a very long layoff (maybe 7 months). Placed myself on the inside buoy as always and went off with the gun in the first wave. Had a decent swim and was clear of a lot of people by the first buoy. One guy decided to use me as his guide/spot for the race and kept hitting me…annoying as anything but I finally shook him on the second turn. Felt like I was having a good swim and was the 6^th out of the water. Swim time – 9:14 (1:51/100m), 2/21 AG and 10/204 OA

T1
I thought that this was a slow transition. The strap on my shoe pulled out and I just felt slow. Time shows a decent transition though and pretty fast compared to last year. T1 time – 1:18

Bike
I set out on the bike a bit out of breath from the swim. Took a minute or two to get the breathing back. The course was gentle rollers, a bit of headwind on the way back in. I was looking forward to seeing how this would go…was going well to start, got passed by RF teammate Roger Hospedales (who was doing the duathlon) about 10 minutes in to the bike. Also passed my friend Scott who was doing the duathlon…he’d blown a tire after being 3^rd OA after the first run and riding in the top 5 OA. End of day for him and pretty crappy. But I soldiered past him and was cruising after the first turnaround…I was passing people like crazy (and I don’t pass that many people typically) and seeing as I was near the front, that’s a good sign! At one point, I was ‘cruising’ at 51 km/h! Hit the second turnaround and almost rolled to a complete stop with the headwind and gentle climb. Only positive from that part was that no one really passed me (except the uberfit 40-44 men). The HED Jet 50s were doing their thing as they definitely gave me some more speed this year. And the fit on the bike feels pretty decent. Turns out the course was probably a bit short so my speed isn’t accurate, but I’ll go with it since that’s what’s published. Bike time – 31:30 (34.3 km/h although the bike course was shorter than published so speed closer to 31 km/h), 5/21 AG and 44/204 OA.

T2
Pretty fast through T2 but the sudden (and painful) cramp in my left calf didn’t help heading out on to the run. T2 time – 0:48

Run
The first kilometer was long and painful…long since the course was almost 1k longer than published and painful since I was trying to work out a painful cramp in my left calf. I finally settled into a decent pace by the 2K mark and was going OK. Had one person in my age group pass me, but since I’d signed up as a Clydesdale (or so I thought), I was only keying in on ages + size. No big guys passing me so I wasn’t all that worried. Run felt OK once I got into my rhythm and had an OK run. Run time – 23:18 (5:50/km as published although the course was longer than published and an actual pace was close to 4:50/km), 16/21 AG and 90/204 OA.

Overall
As always, the short race is great for me with my strong swim and decent bike splits. It tends to keep me up front and gives me enough space to hold. I still need to improve on hill climbing on the bike (I guess dropping a few pounds would help) and on getting settled on the run quicker. I knew that I had placed high for the Clydesdales since I didn’t see any pass me…what a surprise when a guy with a 1:22 total time was announced as the winner! Turns out I had been registered by accident as an age grouper. No biggie, my own fault really for not checking. Good for the other guy to get an award. I ended up winning a draw prize so I was happy about that.
Overall time – 1:06:06, 5/21 AG and 39/204 OA.
So I was very happy with my splits and overall time and placing. Looks like this year may be a prosperous one for me. Team Running Free had good representation at the Saturday races (four of us) and everyone (except me) podiumed – Karen Gamble in the F50-54 Triathlon, Peter Geering in the M55-59 Triathlon and Roger Hospedales in the M35-39 Duathlon. Go Team Running Free!
Next up is the Binbrook Triathlon next weekend. Stop #2 on the HSBC circuit for me. A bit longer but apparently flat and fast…which suits the big guy perfectly!
Thanks for taking the time to read.