Race: Gravenhurst International Duathlon
Date: Saturday July 18, 2009.
Location: Muskoka Wharf
Description: International Duathlon – Run 10 km, Bike 40 Km, Run 5 Km
Sport: Duathlon
Website: www.hsbctriathlon.com
I was supposed to pull off anther Triple this weekend (both duathlons and GT 12.9) but nixed the idea when I woke up at 5 am on Sunday. I had some inner thigh soreness and could have raced quite easily but Jody Miller’s (HSBC Triathlon Series announcer and Ironman athlete) voice echoed loudly in my head. “If I was your coach I would tell you not to race tomorrow!” She said this to me just before I left for home on Saturday. So with me doing Ironman Lake Placid next weekend, I let common sense rule and stayed home on Sunday.
International Duathlon – Run 10 km, Bike 40 Km, Run 5 Km (Provincial Duathlon Championships)
2 hrs 32 minutes 17 seconds
1st run – 52:00
Bike – 1:10:20
2nd run – 28:10
Everything went as planned for this race. The whole idea was to make sure not to destroy myself before Ironman Lake Placid. So I took the first run easy and made sure not to go faster than 5:00/km pace. If you are contemplating doing this race, let me inform you that every kilometre of this run course has some sort of uphill. There is nothing gigantic but there are lots of ups and downs.
On the bike, I allowed myself to push it since I can recover quickly from hard efforts on the bike. I felt fairly good, and no one passed me. However, my bike split would have been faster (1-2 minutes at least) if it were not for being caught behind vehicular traffic on three separate occasions on the course. It was refreshing that the motorists were so polite in not passing the cyclists ahead unless the coast was absolutely clear, but it sucked for me because there was no room to go around the cars on the right side. For some reason I always considered this course flat. It isn’t. But you can certainly go fast on this course because you can carry the speed up and over most of the hills.
In transition, I cramped slightly when putting on my running shoes but made it out of there without keeling over. On the final run it was all about running steady and resisting the temptation to run hard – difficult to do since I love pushing that final run and my mind kept telling me that this was a Provincial Championship and I need to run faster. But I knew that such an effort would mess me up for IMLP so I behaved.
Early on in the run, my headache problem resurfaced (for the first time during a race though) and kept drilling into my skull the whole way. When I finished the race I tried to get some food in me to make it go away. I had a root beer, slice of pizza, banana and watermelon but it still stuck around. So I made my way back to transition, changed my clothes, made my knapsack into a pillow, used my Running Free jacket as a blanket and had a nap for 90 minutes (somewhat interrupted by fellow athletes wondering if I was ok). I woke up somewhat refreshed and the headache was mostly gone. I will definitely pay a visit to the doctor and have this checked out. Over the past week, after every workout, I get a headache. At first it went away if I ate some candy, but that remedy is no longer working. My Ironman will not be fun if it pops up during the race. The pain is already going to be there and I surely do not want more. We shall see.
Once again shout outs go to MultiSport Canada for putting on another perfect race, plus the tons of Running Free athletes out there. Way too many to try and mention because I would miss somebody. You all rocked. You gotta love everyone shouting out “Go Running Free!” Hope to see you at Bracebridge.
