Owen Sound Olympic Duathlon

– Date – 8/4/08
– Description – Duathlon (5k/40k/10k)
– Location – Owen Sound, Ontario
– Race Name – Owen Sound Olympic Duathlon
– Sport – Duathlon
– Race web site – http://www.trisportcanada.com 

A poor week of training due to some long hours at work had me a little worried going into the Olympic Distance Duathlon in Owen Sound. I had made commitments earlier in the week for accommodations and visits with friends (as I am originally from the area) so my desire to jump down to the sprint distance on Sunday would be a tough switch so I stuck with the longer race on Monday.

I arrived at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Arena a little closer to race time than usual as I did not want to make my family wait around too long before the event. Thankfully, the smaller triathlon field allowed for a smooth pass through registration so I quickly put the pre-race administrative duties aside with plenty of time to spend on bike set up. Our Duathlon bike racks, as well as the Overflow rack, were jammed packed so I positioned my ride on the Relay rack (with the OAT official’s approval) giving me lots of room to position all my gear. It was nice to have the extra space to avoid some of the added distractions the full rack provides.

I then made my way over to the Duathlon start where I could see all the usual suspects, and a couple strong competitors that have not been out much this year, going through their warm up routines. I knew the depth of the field was going to put my goal of top 5 overall in danger, not a great feeling after the week I had been through.

Being a visitor to the arena many times to watch and play hockey in my younger days, I knew the run was going to be very flat being so close to the shoreline. As we were pushed off for our first 5k run, we headed along the walking paths beside the small public beach, making our way along the water to the downtown area where the bay comes to a point. I came out of the gate in a hurry and found myself at the head of the pack for most of the first kilometre and a half with my legs feeling quite fresh. I could tell I had many athletes nipping on my heels so I just tried to keep the pace and let them make their move when they decided they wanted to take control. As we hit the point, Nissim Aubergel (in his first race this year) pulled ahead pushing the pace even faster with a smooth, effortless motion that had my pre-race goal even more in doubt. I had not seen this duathlete before so was not sure what his potential was when sizing up the competition at the starting line.

With Nissim leading the charge we made our way up the other side of the narrow bay a few hundred metres. This portion would loop back down the boardwalk right on the waterway and bring us quickly back to the bridge at the point. I was still sitting in second at this time but Derek Alldritt was pulling up alongside as we made our way to the water station around 3.5k into the run. We blew through the station and headed for the bikes with very fast splits. Derek had taken a few of his long strides to open a little gap but I was still sitting in 3rd as we all rounded the pathway into transition. As I hit my lap time on my watch I could see 17:59 for 5k, my quickest 5k ever (although not a certified 5k course) and one of my goals for the 2008 season.

While getting on my gear, I could see the rest of the duathletes filing into the zone. I quickly got suited up and ran my bike out the back sitting in 4th as Bruce Bird got out ahead of me with one of his amazingly fast transitions. Now that we had hit the bikes I could tell the wind was a little more difficult than it seemed closer to the arena and it would only get worse as we headed out to the farm fields of the north end of Owen Sound. It had been a long time between visits to this part of the rural city (the arena was as north as we used to drive back in the day) and I totally forgot how hilly it was.

The pace was a little slow out of the gate due to the slight incline presented to us right away but the group of riders soon got rolling and I could see two duathletes from my race slightly up ahead. Speedster Bruce was already making his way through the triathlon field and leaving us in his dust again.

As I negotiated the average sized rollers, I was able to reel in Derek. Nissim was next on my hit list and was in view just a little bit ahead of me. I was not sure how his cycling would be so I was pleasantly surprised to be able to catch him within the first 10k of the ride. After getting past Nissim, I made it to our longest climb of the day, thinking I was moving well as I past many triathletes during this stretch but at the summit I was met by a familiar Felt bike with Zipps. It was Derek again and he was starting to get up to his regular speed slowly leaving me behind. I wanted to keep up but I could not find the next gear for some reason.

With Derek past me I was starting to wonder who was now on my tail. I continued to peek over my shoulder every couple of minutes but nothing seemed to be happening too close to me. That was until the 15k marker when I was starting to get a little too comfortable with my cruising speed. Just as I was thinking to myself that John Stewart had not been in the cycling picture, yet (he is often past me within the first few kilometres), who would blast his way past me during a small incline. That is right; Mr. Stewart had all cylinders pumping now and was flying down the cobbled asphalt.

John had stuck to his 5k run game plan and did not get caught up in the speed Nissim had dictated. I had roughly 40 seconds on him to start the bike portion of the race but that obviously was not enough and his bike split was a little more than 2 ½ minutes quicker than mine.

I was now sitting in 4th place and looking to hold on for the rest of the ride not knowing what else was happening in behind my bike until we hit the turn around. At this point, I could tell Nissim appeared to be my closest concern. I had about a minute on him as I made my way back to the arena where I tried to keep the momentum from the mostly downhill roads on the return to transition.

Soon the arena was within sight as I prepared for a rapid dismount, pulling my feet from my cleats ready to run the bike without stopping to clip out that I use to waste time doing. It worked very well and I had a wide open lane to run past a few others who had come to complete stops to get off their bikes. From my quick assessment of the racks it looked like my assumed 4th place position was correct. It sometimes gets a little hard on the bike to notice other athletes when there are some many triathletes out on the course at the same time as us.

After a decent transition, I made my way back out to the run course (2 laps of the 5k course we had already ran) trying to measure my current speed. On the longer runs I have to hold back out of the gate to conserve some energy for the last couple of kilometres. Tricky part is to not give up too much time to the folks chasing, which was a definite concern realizing Nissim’s running abilities.

With a little more than a kilometre under my belt I had settled in with a bunch of triathletes maintaining an average pace that would get us close to 42 minutes. That is a bit slower than I would like but I just couldn’t push any harder with the heat starting to impact my hydration. For some reason the amount of volunteers at the water stations seemed smaller than usual, and I kept missing refreshments as the group ahead of me would grab all the cups offered.

Rounding the tip of the point of the “U” shaped loop, I started to see the leader coming down the other side on the boardwalk. Bruce was well ahead and in control of another race with nobody really in striking distance. His strong cycling really puts him in great shape before the run so most of us are battling for positions 2 through 5 coming off the bike.

I kept rolling along with my triathlon group looking for Derek and John to see if they would be within reach or not but the trees between the road and the boardwalk made it difficult to get a visual. When I finally got to the boardwalk side of the course, I could see that they were approximately two minutes ahead of me, quite a bit of a gap to close on athletes of that talent with only 7 kilometres remaining. I felt I was now racing for time and to get as close to a 40 minute 10k as possible. I decided that would be a nice way to wrap up what I would consider a decent race to this point.

Reaching the midway mark of the final run back at the arena the splits on my watch were moving a little quicker but not to the point that I would make it back to a 40 minute run. As I made the turn, I caught a glimpse of Nissim and suddenly started to worry about 4th place as he surely had the speed to make up the little space between us. I put my best effort in for the last lap, keeping a close eye on his progress. Thankfully, our second loops seemed to be moving around the same pace as the distance appeared to remain intact for as long as I could watch him.

Our final stretch of pathway leading to the finish line brought much relief as I was certain my spot was secure. I made a little sprint up the corral for a photo op from my wife and then made my way across the mats in 41:34 (for the 10k run), a little slower than desired but I was happy to complete another event without incident. It has been a very consistent season that I want to keep on track as my body and bike have held up through all the races, a pleasant turnaround from last year. Next up will be the Sprint in Orillia and then a last minute decision about the Ontario Championships in Cobourg on the HSBC circuit.

Thanks for reading!