Multisport Canada Wasaga Beach Olympic Triathlon Post-race Report

Leading up to the race

Wasaga Beach was the host of the Triathlon Ontario Provincial Club Championships, and I was excited to join a large group of LPCers participating at the event. This year was a little different than previous years in that Multisport Canada decided to host both the Sprint and Olympic race distances on the same day. I don’t typically like this format because the races tend to overlap, meaning you have finishers from both races finishing at the same time, which makes it confusing for both the racer and those watching to decipher what position you are in relative to others in your race. Wasaga Beach was not like that however, because the sprint went off at 8:30am and the Olympic at 10:30am. They were far enough apart that there was no overlap but close enough together that racers and support crews stayed for both races to watch and cheer, making for a very fun atmosphere.

My first time doing this race 2 years ago I did not have a good race, and last year I had to drop out during the run due to a nagging injury I acquired from a bike crash a few weeks before the race. The goal this year was to finally put together a strong race at this venue and really just enjoy the atmosphere and the competition, knowing that I had some teammates that were similar in ability to me racing and many others watching.

The swim

My goggles fogging during the swim has been a consistent problem of mine my entire triathlon career. Based on a suggestion from a teammate I ordered anti-fog spray, which came in right before the race. I tried it out once at the pool and again during this race and it worked fantastically. My goggles were clear the entire swim, making that leg of the race much more enjoyable. As planned I drafted most of the swim, but exited the water in about 24 minutes (1:39/km by my Garmin), which was a little slower than I was hoping.

My hairs are standing up, that means I'm
about to attack

The bike

The bike course headed out of the ‘party central’ beach area and into the rural roads of northern Ontario. The flat, exposed and non-technical course played to my strengths because I could get into the aero position and just focus on pushing big consistent watts. I knew teammate Dylan Pust would be out in front after a strong swim, so the goal was to just do my thing: grind and slowly reel him in. After making a bunch of passes early in the bike I was in 3^rd at the turn around, still well behind Dylan and 2^nd place Len Gushe. This was concerning knowing Dylan was a strong runner, but I stuck with my plan knowing there was still plenty of race to go. I finished the bike in 1:00:00 (40kph), still in 3^rd.

The run

Leaving coach Mark in the dust

The run is a flat two lap course that starts and finishes along the sidewalk of the main stretch of beach. I have regretted in previous years feeling like crap on the run and not being able to enjoy the fun atmosphere of the run leg at this race. I started the run in 3^rd, 4-5mins behind Dylan and Len, but far enough ahead of the rest of the field that, pending some sort of disaster, I was pretty sure my 3^rd place was safe. My goal therefore was to push it hard, but feel strong and stay in control the whole run, so I could really just enjoy it. This strategy actually worked very well. I ended up having my strongest run of the season, capturing the fastest run of the race (and a new pair of Sketchers Performance shoes for my troubles), finishing just 10 seconds behind 2^nd place, and being able to really enjoy a hard earned 3^rd place. I was greeted by high fives as I ran down the final stretch into the finish line.

Post-race

I spent the afternoon chatting with teammates and other racers about their races, and spent

the evening camping with friends near the beach, sitting back and enjoying a well-executed, hard fought race. Thank you Multisport Canada for putting on such a great event, Triathlon Ontario for hosting the club championships, LPC for the comradery and making this past-time so much fun, and Zizu Optics for providing me with only bit of triathlon gear that doesn’t look dorky.

Race site by morning, beach by afternoon

That caps off my Multisport Canada series races for 2017. Based on my performances at Welland, Gravenhurst, Kingston and Wasaga Beach, I think I have secured 3^rd place in the elite series standings. Now all that’s left is the Multisport Canada Rev3 Barrelman Triathlon, the focus of my training all year.

Kingston Long-Course Triathlon 2017 Post-race Report

Leading up to the race

This was my 3^rd year in a row doing the historic Kingston Long Course Triathlon, and 5^th year in a row competing at the venue (I had done the short course the 2 years prior). It is one of my favourite races because it is my hometown race and I love the feels-like-long-course-but-isn’t-quite-long-course vibe. The 2k swim, 56k bike and 15k run forces you to apply long course racing tactics (in-race nutrition, proper pacing, learning to deal with the inevitable unforeseen issues that occur during a long-course race) while not taking the same toll on your body as a half iron distance race. This is not to downplay it's importance however. It always ends up drawing very solid competition from local up-and-coming pros and was indeed one of my 3 'A' races this year (the other 2 being the Welland Long-Course and the Rev3 Barrelman Half coming up this September). I was tapered, felt very strong and was confident going into this race.

Note: the Kingston Tri isn’t just well known among up-and-coming pros. It draws people from all across the spectrum looking to challenge themselves on a scenic course in a supportive environment.

The swim

The water in Lake Ontario was very choppy. As a result, Multisport Canada made the call to change the 2k swim loop to 2, 1k swim loops so we weren’t venturing out too far into the lake where the water would be increasingly choppy. This was for sure the right call. Even with the change the water was very choppy and caused me all sorts of grief. The challenging swim conditions were compounded by the fact that I still haven’t seemed to figure out how to keep my goggles from fogging (please send advice my way). Earlier this season I got a pair of Speedo Vanquishers, which worked really well for a couple of races but fogged right away in this race. I couldn’t see a thing, I ended up going off course multiple times, having to stop and look around multiple times (which is both embarrassing and a confidence killer), and eventually decided to just swim the last loop with them on the top of my head because I couldn’t see a thing with them on. I ended up swimming 37:30, 5:30 slower than I was hoping. Needless to say, my confidence was destroyed by the time I reached T1.

The bike

Despite a very disappointing swim, I had been feeling good on the bike and still wanted to test myself and see what I could do on the bike course. The Kingston bike course is fun because it is a mix of fairly challenging rolling hill terrain, but it’s not so challenging that it can’t still be biked fast. I felt strong the whole way, averaged 39.5kph and obliterated my previous bests on this course.

The run

At 3km into the 15km run I considered dropping out because my stomach didn’t feel great and it was very hard to muster up the motivation to grind it out on the run knowing I was already so far back from where I wanted to be because of my swim performance. After some mental debate I decided to tough it out. At the turn around I was surprised to see that I was in 6^th place and not as far behind 3^rd-5^th as I thought I was. This gave me the motivation to pick it up a bit and try to run myself into 5^th place. Despite running 15 seconds per km slower than I was hoping this run, I couldn't seem to run any faster. I would have to settle for 6th on this day, but it was behind 5 guys who I have a great deal of respect for so I'll take it.

This season I have run very well off the bike in Olympic distance races but have run poorly in the longer distances, despite that being the focus of my training this year and having run really well in practice. It goes to show that long course racing is more than just being fit, you have to put it all together in the race, and to put it all together takes practice. That is why the long course race distances at Multisport Canada Kingston and Welland are perfect and should be taken advantage of.

Post-race

Despite not meeting the expectations I set for myself in this race I still had a great time, got to catch up with some triathlon buddies that I usually see here every year, and had a fun road trip with teammates Ben and Stumpy, not to mention a night on the town in the often talked about but never visited Belleville.

Thanks as always to the LPC Hurdle Project, the Multisport Canada Ambassador program and Zizu Optics for the support.