HSBC Toronto Island Triathlon 09

Sunday August 16, 2009
Triathlon
Swim 750m, Bike 30 Km, Run 7.5 Km

I have done this race each of the last 3 years and really like racing on Toronto Island. This race just keeps getting better each year. In 2007 it was switched to a duathlon as the water temps dropped to low 50s overnight after high winds turned the water over. The race went well but since the bike course is a 10k loop it was very busy. The next year the water cooperated and they had spread the wave starts out to limit congestion on the bike course. It definitely helped but still a bit chaotic at times. This year they got it right. The waves were spread out 12 minutes each and put the fastest AGs to the front. The spacing was perfect and the bike course perfect.

Swim: 750m

With 12 minutes between groups you never had to swim through people. The beach at Hanlans Point is beautiful and the water is crystal clear. Not what you expect when you think of Toronto beaches but it would be a great place to spend the day swimming. The swim went well for me as I got on a pair of feet at the start which I followed to the exit. I think I could have swam harder but the effort would not have given me much in terms of time so I stayed where I was. I think I came out in 5th or 6th from my wave. It is a long run up to transition so your swim time is a fair amount longer but I checked my watch as I came out of the water and I was just over 12min.

Bike: 30km

Scott Simpson who has been winning most of the races for the M40-44 AG was just ahead of me leaving transition so I knew that I had to work to keep up. Another fellow from my AG was right behind me at the start of the ride but quickly dropped off and I didn’t see him again. This is a fast course and I was interested to see how my new fit would work on a flat course. I tend to struggle on flat courses as I just don’t seem to push hard enough. My new fit worked quite well and I was able to catch and pass Scott in the 2nd lap. We both made a wrong turn and had to come back and ride across the grass to get back on course but it didn’t cost us too much time maybe 10-15 seconds. My training partner Glenn was also racing and he is riding really strong so figured he would pass me at some point. He caught me mid way through the 2nd lap and proceeded to pull away. Scott then rode up to me and started to chase him down. We stayed in this position for the balance of the ride. Glenn had about 40 seconds on me and Scott about 30. For some reason my bike time is all in T2 so as best as I can figure I averaged just over 38kph. Glen had a super strong ride at just under 40kph avg.

Run: 7.5k

After a quick transition I quickly got into a good running groove. It was super hot but I felt really comfortable and my HR was in a good range. The run changed this year into 2 loops which I didn’t know so when I met Scott and Glenn coming back at me I thought for sure I had lost more time than I thought but just ahead was the turn around. I had cut the time to them in half and by the 2k mark I had caught and passed Glenn and set my sights on Scott. At about 3k I caught Scott and tried to drop him but he just sat on my heels for the next 2k. I really pushed and went through these in 7:41 but Scott just stayed. I knew I had a bit more but thought for sure he was going to blow by me in the last KM but he started to fade. At 6k I opened up about 10s on him and by about 7k it had grown to just under a minute. I knew no one else in my AG was going to catch me so I just cruised in sure that I had finally won my AG.

I like the heat and yesterdays heat was an advantage for me. It was a great race and I was very happy with how it went. The results weren’t posted so we headed back down to the water to cool off. When we got back we took a look at the results and I see that I am in 2nd. I did not see anyone else in our AG nor did anyone else I was racing with. After looking at the results we understood why. Bruce Bird who I have not seen before swam slightly faster but not much but what he did do was ride faster. He averaged 44kph on the bike, I know I didn’t hit 44kph at any point on the bike and this guy averaged that!! He ended up winning overall by a fair margin so I can’t be disappointed in 2nd AG and 12th OA.

Congrats to one of my training partners Joseph Park on his first podium in the Duathlon on Sunday as well. Awesome job Joe!!

This was by far the best Island Tri that HSBC has put on and if you haven’t done it before I recommend that you put it on your list for next year. That is unless you are really fast and in the M40-44 AG then you won’t like it 🙂

Up next is the Cobourg Olympic Triathlon in a couple of weeks.

Congrats to Roger, Angus and John Song on strong races. Laurent thanks for volunteering and drinks along the way.