Lakeside Triathlon

Race: HSBC Lakeside Triathlon
Date: Sunday June 7, 2008
Location: Lakeside, Ontario
Description: 750m swim/30km bike/7.5km run

With Ironman Switzerland quickly approaching I decided that I wanted to get in a few triathlons before raceday.  I am signed up for the Muskoka Long Course on June 15th but I like to race so decided to do Lakeside on Sunday.  My motivation was 2 fold.  It was the only HSBC race that I had not done and after a winter of working hard in the pool I wanted to see if I had made any improvements.

Around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon I thought that I had made a pretty poor decision.  I had just spent the last 6hrs chasing my Coach Tara Norton around on the bike.  It was hot, windy (never seemed to be at our back) and Tara is super fast so I was pretty tired coming off the bike.  It was on my run off the bike that my great idea was a poor one.  I am generally pretty good in the heat but since this was the first day that I had trained in hot weather it did me in.  

Sunday morning I got my stuff packed and headed on my way to Lakeside.  Wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get there so I left early.  From Toronto it took about 90 minutes. 

The route that they suggest you take to get there takes you through back roads and when I pulled into the parking lot I didn’t know what the venue was going to be like.  All you see on the way in is fields and gravel road.  Let me say this venue is beautiful.  Transition is set about 30 yards from the water, swim is on a beautiful little lake with a great sandy beach.  Checked in, racked my bike and went out for a quick run, bike and swim warm up.

750m Swim:  For some reason there was a lot of room at the front of the swim start (you start in knee deep water between 2 buoys) so I got on the line and waited for the gun to go.  I always find the first (or second) race swim a bit disconcerting.  I eventually found a decent groove and cruised along.  I think the swim was a bit short but I came out of the water in 11:15, my work this winter has paid off.

30km Bike:  Out of my wetsuit and onto the bike.  I took a bit of time to put socks on as I didn’t want to take a chance of any blisters, normally I wouldn’t want to waste the time.  Onto the bike and I felt OK.  I found a decent rhythm but I just didn’t have the energy to push as hard as I wanted.   My pace was OK but this course is one where you can really fly.  The course is a mix of flats and rollers with only one decent hill.  More flat than anything else.  The roads are nice and well marshalled.   Hit transition in 50:30 (35.9kph avg).  I was not passed by anyone on the bike and passed a few in my AG but had no idea where I was.

7.5km Run:  After a quick transition I was out on the run.  Settled into a good pace from the start but just didn’t have the energy to push on the run.  I kept a consistence pace throughout and though it was hot I handled it much better than yesterday.   I passed quite a few people on the run but only one in my AG.  As I crossed the finish line I had no clue if I was in first (OK I was pretty sure that I wasn’t) or 12th.  Ended up running a  32:57 (4:24kms) which was all I had.

Overall I was pretty happy with how I bounced back from the hard day on Saturday.  Ended up finishing 4th in my AG and 13th overall.  The 3 guys ahead of me were all fast and finished 4th, 5th and 6th overall so even fresher legs I probably wasn’t catching them.

For anyone looking for an early season race I would highly recommend this one.  It is a well run event by John Salt and team in a beautiful venue.  I will be doing this race in the seasons to come.

Team Running Free was well represented as I saw both Angus Kim and Mark Cairns on the course.

On to Muskoka this weekend to see how I handle a longer race off a big training day the day before.