Race: Lakeside II Sprint Duathlon & GT 12.9
Date: Saturday September 19 & Sunday September 20, 2009.
Location: Lakeside Summer Resort
Description: 3 km run, 20 km bike, 3 km run / 400m swim, 10 km bike, 2.5 km run
Sport: Duathlon & Triathlon
Website: www.hsbctriathlon.com
This was the last duathlon and triathlon of the season for me and of the HSBC Triathlon Series. It was sort of sad on one end – knowing that I would not be seeing my “summer family” until next season, and good on the other because I had a great Sunday. Yes, it was a win in a GT 12.9 race, but a win is a win and I’ll gladly take it. Is winning a 5km running race any different?
Duathlon – Saturday September 19
3 km run – 14:33 (4:51/km)
T1 – 43 secs.
20 km bike – 35:50 (33.5 km/hr)
T2 – 30 secs.
3 km run – 15:32 (5:11/km)
Total – 1:07:05 9th overall, 3rd in 40-44
This race is fairly easy to describe. I ran one kilometer at a decent rate of speed, but the rest of my running was horrible. My legs were not there. Doing nothing for the last 2 weeks probably has something to do with it. Quite frankly, after the Iron 226 I did not want to do much of anything. I was happy with my bike ride though. Tried a Zipp 808 on the front, sketchy in certain points due to the wind but I liked it once I got used to it. I still need to log some more hours on it though.
GT 12.9 – Sunday September 20
400 m swim – 8:36 (2:09/100m)
T1 – 1:07
10 km bike – 18:04 (33.2 km/hr)
T2 – 26 secs.
2.5 km run – 12:52 (5:09/km)
Total – 41:04 1st overall
I was supposed to race the Duathlon earlier in the morning but my calves were sore and I was getting some weird vibes from my Achilles. After yesterday’s run performance, running 10 km today was not going to be pretty so I decided to just race the GT 12.9 and finally give that race a good effort – not doing it minutes after racing another event. Plus, I was tied in the point standings with Kirk Nielsen, so I wanted to give him a good battle with this being the final race of the season. Kirk did not show up, but I approached the race visualizing that Kirk was always ahead of me. I guess it worked.
Being not much of a swimmer, I think it is ironic that my swim might have won me the race. I actually saw the leaders the whole way, kept them in check (not dropping my usual gap to them) and rode like heck to get away build whatever lead I could. Once on the run, I gave it all I had. At the run turnaround, I estimated I was about 90 seconds down, but the three ahead of me had left in a wave three minutes before me, so as long I maintained that gap and created more of one on those behind me, I had a good chance of winning the whole thing. I did and I got my first overall victory.
There were two points of inspiration for this win. One, Matt Tatham (he passed away last weekend after winning his age group at Wasaga Beach). I (along with a few other athletes) wrote his last race number (606) on my calf, so his spirit was there to guide me to victory the whole way. Second, was my wife. It was her birthday and I joked on the drive down that I would win it for her. My in-laws think I cheaped out, but I don’t think so. How often do I do something like this? Before Sunday, mmmmmmm…..never! We did go to the Keg that night for dinner.
I should also give props to a product I’ve been testing out since mid-August – Acid Zapper. I am not going to say it is a miracle product yet but since I’ve been on it I had my best Ironman race, and now a race win. I do know for a fact that I recover quicker than ever before and I will take any race performance enhancements as a bonus. I took a heavier dose of it Saturday and was pretty fresh on Sunday morning. I will keep on using it during the off season and next year so I will be sure to report back with my conclusions.
Congrats and shout outs to the many Team Running Free athletes in attendance: Gord Avann, Larry Bradley, Karen Gamble, Peter Geering, Gary Kennedy, Laurent Saugrin, John Song, and Greg Collett who was the race announcer on Saturday. Sorry if missed anyone. See you next season on the mulitsport circuit.
Up next is one of my favorite gigs of the year, the 2 hr pacer at the Scotia Half Marathon. I love this race and I am glad the race organizers took be back after my year off. Sunday will be fun. I will be doing 10 and 1. See you out there with my bunny ears.
