Leading up to the race
I have been slowly making the transition from
short- to long-course racing over the past couple of years. Two years ago, the
Multisport Canada Barrelman Triathlon was my first long-course race (half-iron
distance; 2km swim, 89km bike, 21km run). It didn’t go well; I ended up having
knee pain on the run and walking most of it. My plans to do Barrelman last year
disappeared when I had a bike crash one month before the race, prematurely
ending my season. This year I was determined to have my second shot at a
long-course race. The complete focus of my training for the first time was on
long-course this year, and as such, Barrelman (now partnered with Rev3) was my ‘A’
race.
Barrelman takes place in Niagara Falls,
which is where I spent the night before the race. Emma and I got a chance to
wander around and check out the festivities of downtown Niagara Falls, and most
importantly for me, scope out a Tim Hortons that was close to the hotel. This
was important so I could get my pre-race coffee and milk for my cereal in the
morning.
I got up early in the morning, got my Tim
Hortons, and headed to the shuttle location. Barrelman is interesting in that
transition 1 (T1; swim to bike) is in Welland, and transition 2 (T2; bike to
run) is in Niagara Falls (the bike course goes from Welland to Niagara Falls). We set up our bikes in Welland on Saturday, headed to
Niagara Falls to sleep and park our cars (because that is where the race
finishes), and took a shuttle back to T1 Sunday morning. Seeing all the bikes
in T1 drove home to me that this was the largest race I had ever done, with
1000 people registered. My main goal was to finish in the top 5, and my
secondary goal was simply to have a strong race and enjoy the experience.
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| Early morning swim exit. The calm before the storm |
With the swim being my weakness and
relatively the shortest leg of the race, my plan was simply to maintain good
form and not burn too much energy. Knowing my swim ability but also realizing I
didn't want to let the field put too much time on me out of the water, I was
hoping my effort would get me a pace of 1:35-1:40/100m. I ended up swimming
1:40/100m. I came out of the water in 50-something place, which was fine
because I was within my planned swim time and knew I had a lot of biking and
running ahead to reel people in. As soon as I exited the water I got a pretty
bad hamstring cramp in both of my legs. Luckily I was able to alleviate it with
a bit of stretching, only losing about 30 seconds.
The bike
Because the bike course is flat and fast I
knew it would be tempting to hammer, and that many people would likely do this.
Also realizing it was supposed to be 33 degrees by the time we hit the run course,
over-cooking yourself on the bike could lead to disaster on the run. My plan
for the bike therefore was to not go too hard, especially at the start. I had
to trust that if I laid down a solid steady effort I would still be
able to work my up through the field. For the first half of the bike I settled
into a pace that felt right and was able to pass a few people. The second half
of the bike is where it got interesting because some of the faster cyclists
started catching up and passing me. Barrelman is a non-drafting race, meaning
you have to stay 12m back from the rider in front of you. However, you still
get a moderate draft benefit riding 12m behind someone. This added some
strategy to the race because I had to determine who I should try and stay with
and who was moving too fast that I should just let get away, having faith I would be
able to catch them on the run. In the end I think I paced the bike very well, moved
up a few positions, and ended up averaging 39.4kph.
Near the end of the
bike I started feeling sick to my stomach, so I eased off the pace a little bit
for the last 3km, which seemed to alleviate that feeling. As I approached T2 I had a lot of worries about the run. Would I feel
sick again, would I cramp up, would I have to use the bathroom like a thousand times
(all things that have happened to me on the run in training and racing). I
entered T2 not sure what place I was in, racked my bike, threw on my shoes (and
socks!) and headed out for the run.
The run
The run was a huge wild card for me. On the
one hand, the run is my strength and I have been running really well in
training and racing this year. But on the other hand, I had to walk the run
portion last time I raced this distance, I have experienced all of the problems
mentioned above, and the temperature was 33 degrees; I have a terrible track
record racing in the heat. Because I paced the bike well I felt pretty good
heading into the run. Knowing it was really hot I didn’t even look at my GPS
watch, this run pace was going completely by effort. I figured I would take the
first 10.5km lap steady, trying to stay cool with the water and ice at the aid
stations (pouring ice down your tri suit is a life saver), and pick it up for
the second lap to catch all of the people who took the first lap too hard and those who over-biked. That was the plan anyway. I was in 6th place entering
the 2nd lap, but boy would this next lap be a humbling experience.
First, I
lost about 2 minutes having to take a bathroom break. My average pace was
4:05/km for the first lap (20 seconds per km slower than my goal – that’s a
lot), and for the 2nd lap I couldn’t seem to get the pace any faster than
4:16/km. I figured, ok well going slow now means I’ll probably be able to
finish really strong in the last 3km or so. That 3km went by slower than anything I
had ever experienced. I wanted so badly to walk the last 1.5km but knew I had
to hold whatever pace I could in order to maintain my current position. I felt
a huge sense of relief and accomplishment when I crossed the line (maintaining my
6th place). I was greeted by race director John Salt and then had a
Facebook Live interview with Cody Beals. I was so physically and emotionally exhausted
I don’t remember a word I said during the interview, mostly just gibberish and
slurring I would imagine.
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| Complete exhaustion |
Post-race
Despite being the hardest thing I've ever
done, this was the most fun I've had at a race. It truly was an experience. I
can't say enough good things about the Multisport Canada crew and how well this
race was put together. From my perspective everything was flawless. I didn't
get my top 5, but I have a ton of respect for the 5 guys who finished ahead of
me, and for everyone who did the race.
That caps off a great season and the most
fun summer of my life. I'd like to thank Multisport Canada and the Loaring
Personal Coaching crew for being a large part of that. I would also like to
thank Zizu Optics for the sunglasses, they came in extra handy today.
