SQUAMISH TRIATHLON Race Report – Olympic Distance – 05.07.09

Place Overall: 2nd
Place 25-29: 1/16
Total Time: 1:56:23

Note:
Swim: Most likely a little long, all paces/100m a few seconds above usual
Bike course: 1/3 flat, 1/3 downhill, 1/3 uphill
Run course: Trail run, minor hills

Saturday was busy busy busy, only went for 1hr on the bike, no run planned, no time for swimming, disgustingly full from AYCE sushi, and with very low expectations about Sundays race. The hip could go either way, either hold on and let me run at a decent pace, or get pissed and force me to DNF for the first time. A DNS (Did Not Start, for all people not in the sport =P) was not an option, I was fine to swim and to ride…

The weather was pretty good on Sunday, getting almost too hot at the end as race started quite late (9.30am) compared to other races.

On Sunday I woke up at 4:30am, had a bowl of cereal, grabbed bottles from fridge, pumped the tires, got ready and waited for Choppy to come and pick me up. Once he came we met up with Jeffrey Manson and left for Squamish. A couple of stops along the way for food (I had my toast with PB and chocolate milk with coffee in my bag) and powergels (Jeffreeeeyyyy ) and we were there. Setup of T1 and T2 was smooth and fast. Warmed up on the bike, 10min jog (hip little sore), and 10 min swim. For the race I really had very very low expectations. Although I knew that the fitness was there, It was going to hurt more than usual and feel a little off… The plan: Crush the swim and the bike, not save anything for the run, who knows what was going to happen.

The lake was calm, the adrenaline was already pumping, I was determined to go hard and the gun went off. Started fast, very fast, trying to get ahead and avoid getting kicked. 50m into the swim I found myself 1 body length ahead of everyone else and that got me going even harder. I swam alone the whole lap (1500m) feeling strong and relaxed, exiting the water more than 1 min ahead of 2nd and 3rd, and almost 2 minutes ahead of 4th. Mission accomplished, had a great swim...

T1: Excellent transition once again. Wetsuit came off quickly and easily, got glasses and helmet on and off I went. Getting into the shoes was a piece of cake, slipped them in as I supermaned on the bike, not sure how that happened but was great. Basically landed on my seat with both feet ½ way inside the shoes.

Bike: 4.5 laps ( T1 and T2 were in different locations) of the course, so first lap went hard and analyzed course, technical sections, max possible speed into sharp turns, etc. Following 3 laps went strong on the flats / downhills, and very hard on the Hwy 99 uphill keeping low gear and high cadence (80-90). At the top of the hill on every lap legs were absolutely shot, and needed 100m or so to get back up to speed. After 4 laps legs were crushed but I was still in the lead, mission accomplished. Last ½ lap went easier than previous laps, upped the cadence to flush legs and cruised into transition still in the lead.

T2: Very good T2. Removed shoes easily and dismounted without issues. Slipped on shoes little trouble, grabbed race belt and hat and off I went in search of the moment of truth.

Run: 2 x 5km laps on trails. Started fast, could feel the hip but the adrenaline was blocking most of the pain, also tightening the core and glutes helped barely feel it. I had no idea where the second place was, but I knew there was some fierce competition out there on the chase. As the leader I caught most marshals/volunteers distracted, so the first lap I did not get handed out any water/Gatorade and I went off course twice costing about 30 seconds in total. I was kind of pissed. About 4km into run I was caught by Olly Piggin, but had no answer. My hip was being kind enough to let me run at a high tempo pace with no pain, asking for more was asking for trouble. He dropped 200m after and I just let him go. Second lap went smoother in terms of marshalling and volunteers, I actually got handed out some water instead of being expected to grab it myself from a table with 200 glasses which most of them were empty =S. 30 min of running in 9 days finally showed up 6km into the run. I slowly started to die, it was getting quite hot as well, and the hip was being nice but not as nice as in the beginning. I was not leading anymore, but had a decent shot at 2nd place if I kept it going. Set the autopilot, let my hips dictate the fastest comfortable pace to the finish, and kept it going. 2km to go there was a small out and back section; I was still at least 2 min ahead of 3rd, relaxed and pushed to the line.

Looking at the results I don’t think I would have done any better on the swim and bike if the hip was in top shape, but the run was just awful. All tris this year I have been around 36 min 10km, yesterday was 39:15. Yes, the course might have been longer/tougher than usual, but looking at other people splits and knowing what the normally run, I should have run ~37:30 instead of 39:15. Overall, I can not complain. Yesterday and today the hip is as bad / as good as it was Saturday, so that’s sort of good I guess. This week is all about getting healthier…

After the race I chatted with the guys, had gigantic amounts of food in the food tent, waited for awards, back to Vancouver straight to Granville Island with Choppy and Jeffery for fish and chips (I did not get any as I was still disgustingly full still), laundry, dinner, and bed.

Once again, lots of friends racing this weekend (and some of them just dropping by on the way, It was an awesome suprise to see Andra and Stefan suddely appear out of the blue in Squamish) Hopefully everyone is pleased with their results.

Choppy: good job on the first Olympic! Cramps and all you made it! (and thanks for the ride)
Jeffrey: my bother told me it was also your first olympic, I did not know! Congrats!
Curtis: 2nd place in 20-24 man, nice work. (and I owe you $104, I don’t forget)
Dave: Payday! that was a good swim for you wasn’t it? Nice work!
Colin: your fitness is coming back quick after a year off... I might need a Mcarthur parachute soon ;)
Susanne: Payday! 1/3 of the espresso machine is paid =)
Rob and Ricardo: Nice work guys, Vancouver next? Come on Rob!