Binbrook Triathlon (HSBC) – a clydesdale’s tale

Name of Race – Binbrook Triathlon
Website for the Race – http://www.multisportcanada.com/ms/events/showEvent.cfm?showEventID=40
Date of Race – Sunday, June 18^th, 2007
Location of Race – Hamilton, Ontario
Type of Race – Triathlon
Distance or duration of Race – Swim – 750m; Bike – 27K, Run 6.5K
Description of Race – Really nice race venue; big grassy transition area, soft sandy beach, flat and fast course and a difficult mostly off-road run course
 

The Race
Weekend #2 and race #2.  I was looking forward to Binbrook since I heard great things about it being a flat and fast course.  I hadn’t trained much the week leading up to the race but I still felt good.  The swimming was where I wanted it to be, the biking was OK but the run was off a bit, which showed come race day.
 

Pre-race
Was up and out of the house pretty early to make it to the park with loads of time for the 8:30am start.  Drive was easy and problem free and was set up in transition in no time.  It was a smaller crowd since most people were at the Muskoka Long Course race but I still saw quite a few familiar faces and a ton of Running Free teammates (Roger Hospedales, Karen Gamble, Prem Hall and Larry Bradley…although didn’t get a chance to introduce myself and have a chat).  Saw one more Running Free teammate that I didn’t recognize – apologies to Gary Kennedy for not introducing myself but I did see you many times on course!  Headed down to the water, quick warm up and I was ready to go.
 

Swim
Headed down to the water, quick warm up and I was ready to go.  Due to the smaller field, they did a 2 wave swim start – men and women.  Gun went off and I did a quick 50m sprint to get out into some open water.  It was hard to spot heading to the first buoy since it was directly into the sun, but I made it unscathed.  Felt strong so continued to push it.  By the time I hit the second buoy, I thought that I was clear of the crowd.  Had a hard time spotting the Timex watch on the beach, but got there in decent time.  As I came out of the water, I heard John Salt announce that I was the 5^th out of the water and the 8^th person overall into transition.  It was a long run into transition so my swim time seems slower than it really was.  Felt great getting in that early and being amongst the leaders…even if it was short lived.  Another solid swim outing for me.  Swim time – 14:57 (1:59/100m), 1/16 AG and 10/185 OA
 

T1
Decent transition but felt pretty slow.  Not as good as the previous week but still OK.  T1 time – 1:54
 

Bike
Out on the bike my goal was to hold off as many people as possible and stay near the front for as long as possible.  One thing I would love to do this year is try to maintain my swim leads on the bike and put myself in a good position heading in to the run.  The course was really fast but a decent cross wind on some of the open parts of the road were slowing me down.  Stayed aero the entire ride which felt good.  When I hit the 13K mark I saw the leaders heading back and timed how far behind I was.  By the time I got back to that point, I figured I was 6 minutes behind.  Not bad but they had already put a few minutes in to me seeing as I was so close after the swim.  Saw Roger, Karen, Gary and other friends on the bike and as always, it’s always fun to see the Team being represented so well.  Came back into transition feeling good and ready for the run.  But it was getting hot and a big guy like me has a hard time with hot runs!  Thought the bike was better than it was but I guess I need to keep working on it.  Bike time – 53:05 (30.5 km/h), 8/16 AG and 73/185 OA.
 

T2
Pretty fast through T2 again this week.  Glad that I’m able to keep that up.  T2 time – 0:45
 

Run 
All I can say was that it was hot and tough running on the grass/gravel/dirt.  Only a small section of the run was paved and that was the only part where I felt comfortable and strong.  I’ve come to realize that I’m a much better runner on asphalt and that any other surface wreaks havoc.  The run was tough since it was so hot.  Two glasses of water at every aid station to keep cool and hydrated.  Struggled somewhat and had a hard time maintaining speed and placings…can’t wait for a paved run!  My run pace was very slow this week…slower than I have been in a triathlon in a long time.  Run time – 37:46 (5:48/km), 8/16 AG and 109/185 OA.
 

Overall
It was a good race.  The heat was tough for me and the run wasn’t pleasant.  I was happy with my final placing and psyched about the swim.  In the end, I ended up with a strong placing in my age group (6th) and finished decent overall (60th).  

Overall time – 1:48:27, 6/16 AG and 60/184 OA.
 

This week was also my first podium finish.  Being that I’m tipping the scales at about 207lbs this year, I’ve been racing in the Clydesdale division.  Coming into the race, the time to beat from last year was 1:52…so I beat that and figured I had a good shot at winning overall…but yet again, foiled since another Clydesdale had entered the race and finished in about 1:42…so I managed a second place finish.  Still really happy with that and looking forward to a continued strong year.  Again, great representation from Team Running Free on the podium with an amazingly fast duathlon from Larry Bradley and another first place finish for Karen Gamble. 
 

Next up is the Mitsubishi City Chase next weekend for a change of pace.  I’m really looking forward to doing something a bit different and will be sure to post the experience next week.
 

Thanks for taking the time to read.