Fall like conditions greeted participants in the Canadian Duathlon Championships on September 15th in scenic Parry Sound. As I polished up my quick continental breakfast in the lobby of the hotel I made sure I had enough warm clothes to step out into the windy, brisk morning air. I was very anxious to see the course so I had no problem getting out of bed so early on this morning. I was determined to have my best race of the year and had all the positive thoughts in a looping video in my head. Now it was time to show off all the hard hours of training and preparation.
I reached the slightly out-of-town location in the county of Seguin two full hours before the scheduled race time and planned my attack. As this event site was a little farther from the hotel than I first imagined, I had to get the car back to my family so that they could join the race in progress and stay warm in the comforts of the hotel until that point. I could not expect my little one to stay in the cool, fall temperatures for very long so I gave an approximate time to come out and watch the final minutes of the race.
With the hotel 10k away from the race site, I decided running was not an option so I decided to set up what I could on the bike rack, after picking up my registration, and then drive back to the hotel with my bike. Even with a 10k warm-up ride I would still be back to the transition area with an hour to spare. As it turns out, it was actually a great ride back and the road was very smooth and quick with the wind to my back.
As I got closer to the fair grounds, where we were all staged for the race, I met up with some other riders out for their warm up and got to see some of the competition in action. Seeing all sorts of skill levels out there relaxed my nerves a lot and I began to get excited and ready to start the race.
During the final hour of preparation I tested a number of different clothing options and came to the conclusion that shorts and a singlet were out of the mix. I sorted through the huge hockey bag of gear that I had left from my first visit and suited up and made sure my transition area was neat and tidy. I then headed over to the starting line for some final instructions and last minute stretching. After a few short wind sprints I felt surprisingly warm and snuck up to the front of the pack to get into position for the gun.
A few good luck wishes with my fellow competitors and then we were verbally ordered to go! The pack gathered right from the opening paces as we made our first turn down a short but hilly section that took us back towards the main highway. It was only a few hundred metres on this street before hitting the shoulder of the highway which was slightly down grade. At this point the front runners, including myself, were holding close together feeling out the pace and competition.
We traveled only another couple hundred metres before tightly looping back through the field of athletes up the slowly sloping pavement. As we passed the side road we originally emerged from moments earlier, the hill began to rise a little more noticeably and created a little more resistance on our legs. The large group continued to move as a unit and hit the loop at the peak together. This tight turn created some jostling for position before a quick decent back towards the rolling side street. The pack of close to 25 runners was still intact as we made our way back to the official end of the loop for the first time. It was a very quick 2.5k in just over 8 minutes so I knew I was going to have pull back on the reigns to make sure I was going to be able to ride the bike in a fashion I visualized earlier in the day.
As the next loop started back out to the streets of Seguin, the pack stretched out on the rollers as the leaders pulled from their chasers. I knew sticking near the front was going to be suicide so I let them go and started to run at my own pace and ignoring the competitors around me. It was going to be a long race so there was no need to panic about positions, yet.
During the final two laps I was able to keep a nice, steady pace just a little back from the second, large group of runners. I did not want to challenge too much as I knew this was already new territory by my time standards and I was confident this was going to be my best 10k split in a duathlon. My pre-race goal was to go under 40 minutes without draining the reserves for my bike and final run and I was well ahead of that pace. As I rounded the pylon near the finish line at the fair grounds, I looked down for a peak at the time. Thirty-five minutes and some change. I glanced back and noticed two other competitors on my tail as I headed up the track to the back end of the transition zone where my bike was patiently waiting. I made a clean change of gear and took my bike off a very crowded rack. It was nice to see I was in a respectable position to start the 40k ride.
On my way across the converted basketball court, serving as the transition zone, I noticed the two men that were right behind me had even quicker conversions and were going to hit the road slightly ahead of me. I reached the “On Bike” line and hopped up on the bike but slipped off the pedals twice, causing a touch down on both instances. These little gaffs cost me a few valuable seconds as I watched my competition fly down the road to the first turn. I finally settled down and clipped into the pedals to begin my chase for the two spots I had just lost. I made the turn down the side street slightly past the one we used for the run and headed out to the main highway. It was a brief straightaway to the highway and I was just getting up to speed before the left turn brought me out to that section that would act as the major racing zone for the four loop course. The asphalt was very smooth and made for an awesome ride. The roughly four kilometre section of highway was mostly flat with only a few gentle slopes. The wind was very strong along this portion of the route with a large lake on the south side offering little in the way of protection.
As we headed out to the turn we faced the powerful breeze that angled in to our rides from the water. During this period I was able to overtake one of the riders that had passed me in T1 but had the Windsor twins fly by for an overall negative positioning. Thankfully, I had three new competitors in my sights so I was able to keep positive and kept the cadence high generating a respectable amount of power. I was now feeling confident that my training was going to hold up thanks to all the recent tips from my coach, Syd Trefiak.
I joined the group of three as we hit the turn around and got a smooth, controlled turn in before hammering on the pedals. The wind was now our friend and boy was it making things fast. I kicked it down to my lowest gear and blew past two of them within the first 400 metres on this side of the road. The other guy was keeping up as we made our way back to the side road that led us back to the fair grounds where we had a tighter turn to negotiate.
One loop down, three to go and the race was getting exciting. I was now side by side the last member of the group as we continued through the brief side road section and then made my move into the wind to pick up another spot. As I looked up ahead I knew I would have to really push to catch anyone else. The riders at this caliber are so consistent that they usually are able to hold their distance when they see any challenges. I settled into a solid pace as I became clear of the last person I had just moved past. This solo riding would last for the entire second lap right back into the start/finish area.
As I reached the narrow turn zone I was able to look back a little easier and could now see that I had company and he looked quick!
I picked up the pace and got my legs churning faster as I made my way back to the highway. It wasn’t long before I could hear the thundering disk wheel rolling across the pavement. I tried to fend off the challenge but he was far more talented and sped by me. It would take a heck of a lot amount of energy to battle so I backed off and found my pace again.
I continued back with my game plan to average 35 km/h on the bike leg of the event thinking this would earn me a decent time and allow me to run the last 5k with some energy. I wrapped up the third loop with a slight lead over some new riders that had been hanging behind me for the last 5 k. I figured they were a safe distance back and would not be too speedy on the run so I remained calm and focused on a relaxed and consistent final 10k. By the mid point of the last loop they seemed to be inching a bit closer. It was time to jack up the power and use the wind to set sail home as quickly as possible.
With my head buried in the aerobars I cranked out an amazingly quick half lap. I was pretty sure this was good enough to defend my spot and reached the cutoff road in no time, actually making ground on another athlete. We hit the side road neck and neck and jockeyed for position leading up to the dismount line. Although, I was just a nose ahead of him at the line he was much smoother and was running to the transition gate with a lead.
Not wanting to loose any ground on this target, I got my gear switched over as quickly as I have all season and slapped on my Running Free cap ready to finish off strong. I came out of the fenced transition area just metres behind. My legs were tired and I was shuffling too slowly to make any ground on him. I now had to put it in defense mode as I had two people around 200 metres lurking behind me. As I made my way up the slope half way through the 2.5k loop, I could see all my nearest competition, front and back. Looking ahead at this point didn’t seem to be an option as I was spent. Looking back, I was afraid they were a little stronger so I had to drive forward. I reached as far into the reserves as possible to complete the first lap and started to visualize the finish line. It got me excited and I kept up the pace to remain a little over a 100 metres up on the two in my rear view.
With others coming off the bike and joining in the run I was able to hook up with a first looper who started to pull me with his pace. This was a great benefit for my last 2.5k and helped me keep at a constant gap between my closest followers. When I hit the slope for the final time I found a little extra gas and solidified my spot in the field. I made a controlled decent and rounded back towards home. With 400 metres to the line I put in a finishing kick and hit the line, exhausted from the effort I had sunk into this event. I looked around quickly for an approximate head count and was happy to see fewer people than expected at the finish area.
After a short rest and some post race stretching and nutrition I met up with my small (wife and daughter) cheering section to share in my joy. They were just arriving as the time I had estimated was a little longer than what I actually needed. When they finally posted the results I was happy to see a top 25 spot (23rd) in the overall race. This was good enough for 6th in my AG at the National Championships.
