Leading up to the race
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| Getting the bike ready to go pre-race |
The Multisport Canada Welland Long-Course Triathlon was my
first A-race and first long-course race this season. More than any other
season, the focus of my training over the past 8 months has been on long-course
racing. That means more lonely long steady effort intervals at a pace that's
just slow enough to be boring but just fast enough to be difficult. That being
said I really like long-course and think it really suits me.
Welland long-course triathlon is perfect for anyone looking
to build up to the longer half-iron distance races. It's distances (2k swim,
56k bike, 15k run) are a nice stepping stone from the standard distance. You
add that it is flat and fast, and Welland becomes the ideal early season race
for the those looking to get their feet wet (ha, puns) and test the waters (ok
that's enough) of long-course racing and for others looking to hone their
skills, pacing, nutrition etc. to be competitive in a future half-distance
race.
The swim
It's amazing how spectator friendly the swim is at Welland
and how many spectators come out to watch. The grandstands that overlook the
Welland Canal were full of people which made for a very fun atmosphere. My swim
has been feeling good in the past few weeks so for the first time I was excited
to get into the water as opposed to nervous. My goal was to catch a draft and
hope to swim around 1:35-1:37/100m. Also, for the first time ever I was just as
worried about those who would be chasing me out of the water as I was about
those I had to try and catch on the bike and run. I'm usually the hunter not
the hunted (which is just a cool way of saying my swim sucks). But with guys
like Matt Straatman (who ended up having the fastest bike split) and Chris Balestrini
(who ended up having the fastest run split) coming out of the water after me, I
had to be ready for a role reversal.
Once the gun went off I ended up catching
a draft off of someone going about 1:30/100m and challenged myself to stay on
their feet as long as I reasonably could without burning too many matches. I
stuck with them on the way out and was dropped at the first turn (so about 900m
out). I swam solo on the way back and averaged 1:37/100m for the swim. Overall,
a good swim in my books (and over 2mins faster than last year). I'll keep
working hard in the pool and maybe at Kingston Long-Course in August I'll be
able to stay on the draft for the whole time.
The bike
The bike course is flat and fast. That being said, we had a
decent head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way back. It was
important to be disciplined on the first half so you didn't burn all your
matches for the potential speed gains on the second half (wind or no wind
there's not much you can do if your burnt out). For some perspective, my
average speed on the way out was 36kph and was 46kph on the way back (not
including the loop). I was able to catch about 5 people throughout the bike,
and was passed by Matt Straatman at about the 40km mark. I knew that his wave
started 1min behind mine, so I worked hard not to let him pull away too much
because not only would I have to pass him on the run but I would have to put
another minute on him on top of that, which is not easy.
The run
As I started my first lap of the run course I looked up into
transition and saw Chris Balestrini coming in off his bike. It was difficult to
stay disciplined in the first km of the run knowing he was coming after me and
that I had a few people ahead to try and chase down. I'm going to pause here
and say that this is one of the things I love about the Multisport Canada
races, that they attract strong local competition but do so in a friendly
supportive atmosphere. It makes for very fun racing.
Anyway, back my story.
Chris passed me at about the 9k mark. He was flying and I wasn't feeling great
so I wasn't able to stick with him (which would have been a tall task even if I
was feeling amazing). Matt looked very strong for the first 10k but faded in
the last 5 and I was able to reel him in to secure 4th place.
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| Look at those Zizus shine |
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| Top 5 of the day |
Post-race
Overall I am very happy with my race. I took 10 minutes off
of my time from last year, improving in all 3 disciplines. Multisport Canada
put on a fantastic race and it was very fun to race with everyone who showed
up. Many of us who raced today are racing in Gravenhurst on July 15th, which
promises to be equally as fun and exciting. I would like to thank LPC and the
Hurdle Project for all of their support, Multisport Canada for putting on this
amazing race and supporting me as an ambassador, and Zizu Optics for the
awesome sunglasses that helped get me through the grueling 15k run.
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| John's entourage |
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