Cobourg Olympic Triathlon

Date: Saturday, August 11, 2007
Description: 1500m swim/40k bike/10k run
Location: Victoria Park, Cobourg On
Race Name: Cobourg Triathlon, HSBC Triathlon Series
Sport: Triathlon
Race Website: www.multisportcanada.com

Last year, friends had talked me into participating in a triathlon, so I chose the Cobourg Sprint 2006 as my introduction to triathlons. I had wanted to do the sprint distance again, because it was such a great venue, & to see if I had improved over the year. This year, they had moved the sprint distance to the Sunday, & I already had previous commitments for that day, so I decided to race the Olympic distance instead. I knew that I could complete the distance after having competed in the Peterborough Half Ironman in July. I had major cramping issues in that race, so I was determined to not let that happen again.

The Swim-1500m

The water looked beautiful & calm, but seemed a bit choppy once the swim started. Being in the last swim wave (women 45+ & men 55+ & relays), there is always the problem of running into stragglers from the previous waves. I had problems sighting with the buoys being so far apart. I wear glasses when not swimming, so had a little trouble seeing the buoys. By the first turn, it was quite congested & tried to make my way around swimmers from the previous waves. I found it quite choppy swimming across the top of the swim course, & seemed to swallow alot of water. After turning to head home, I found that no matter how much I tried to angle my course to swim home, I found myself always out to the right. Finally managed to touch down & walked out of the water & ran up the beach to transition.
Swim time: 29:50 1/6 AG

T1

My fastest transition to date, being under 2 minutes, but still lots of work to be done here. I had lots of sand on my feet from the run up the beach & had tried to drag my feet to lose the sand before I put my socks on. I’ll need to watch the fast guys in transition to see how to cut time.

The Bike 40k

They had said that the bike course was going to be hilly & it lived up to the description. I knew that I had my work cut out for me, because I am not the most efficient climber. Having only had a road bike since Christmas, I still have a lot to learn. Anyway, I did manage to pass a few people on the bike, still alot of people passed me climbing the hills. Some I passed back again on the way down, only to be passed by them again going back up the next hill. Was glad to see the turn around for a somewhat more downhill ride on the way back. Was happy with my bike time.
Bike time: 1:27:41 2/6 AG

T2

Was somewhat surprised that there were no bikes back in my age group yet. I must have had the death grip on my bike, because my arms & legs felt quite tired. Managed to pull on my shoes & grab my water bottle & head out for the run. Somewhat slow transition. But I had told my husband that I wanted to be out on the run course at the 2 hour mark & I left transition at 2:00:?. Felt good about that.

The Run 10k

I knew that this was going to be a 2 loop course that was flat. I was hoping to have a decent run. I thought 2 women in my age group had passed me before the 5k turnaround, & they flew by me like I was standing still. I managed to run until the 6k mark, when the heat finally got to me. From there it was aid station to aid station, pouring water down the back of my neck to cool off. I felt like I ran the last 30 minutes in a permanent hot flash!
Run time: 57:57 4/6AG

Total time 2:58:45

Post race:
Immediately after the race, I felt nauseous & dizzy. The paramedics made me sit in the shade with an icepack on the back of my neck. They said my skin was white & wanted me to try to drink to cool off my body. While sitting, I could hear all the commotion & announcements for those who had qualified for the Worlds at the Triathlon Canada booth. Lots of excitement of everyone over there, while I was sitting with my head down trying to sort out my race, & why I feel like this. When I finally felt better, we packed up my bike & belongings & my husband took them to the car. I rounded up my senior parents & moved them over to the awards area. I finally managed to sneak a peek at the results board & they had me in second place. I thought that there must be some mistake, that maybe someone in my age group was one of those that say ‘wrong chip-see sportstat timer’? Anyway, they finally get to my age group Women 50-54 & they call me up for 2nd place! No mistake. The woman in 3rd, immediately asks me if I have signed up for World’s & I say that I hadn’t thought about it, because I thought I was in 3rd. So, I go over to the Triathlon Canada booth to sign up, just as they are getting ready to take down the booth. So, I have signed up for a race that I had told myself during the race that I would never do again? Hopefully, I will have all of my sweating issues & drinking problems solved long before then.
Anyway, I went into the race, just to do the distance & had a goal of 3 hours & managed to come in just under that so was quite happy.

Thanks to those Running Free team members that gave me some encouragement during the run. You kept me going.

Thanks for taking the time to read.