Race Report: Toronto Waterfront Triathlon

            Place   Time     Pace        Transition
Swim(750m)   8/190   14:47   1:59/100m   3:06
Bike(32k)   65/190 1:00:59   31.5 km/h   1:13
Run(7.5k)   54/190   36:09   4:50 min/k
Final       38/190 1:56:13
Age Group    7/14

Another triathlon under my belt yesterday. This one was a lot more fun as it wasn't so stinkin' hot. I was already sweaty by the time I finished riding down (7:00am) so the humidity was pretty high. Funnily enough I was 38th just like last time but with 190 racers instead of 116 it's actually a big improvement. There were lots of friends from the Toronto Triathlon Club at the race either competing or helping out, and 'we' had a nice awning set up by the finish to collapse under.

I liked the time trial start where each racer leaves in order of their bib number, 10 seconds apart. I almost got myself in trouble though as I mis-remembered my bib number, hidden under my wet-suit, and nearly started 10 places to soon! Heh. No big crush in the water and I immediately had other racers strung out in front of me to use as motivation. The swim went great, eighth place is a fantastic result. My new TYR goggles were excellent in both fit and field of view (first time wearing them! Not something a coach would recommend...). I think I've also got the hang of my wet-suit fit as I didn't feel like my breathing was constricted this time.

Although the water quality was "good" there had been fears that recent storms were still overwhelming the sewer systems and that poor lab results would result in a duathlon replacing the triathlon. I did encounter some debris in the swim which caused me to stop and investigate because I though it might be someone's timing strap, but it was just a chunk of bark. But what is it about me and watches? Once again I forgot my stopwatch. This time I hit the button half way through the swim so I could at least monitor my heart rate.

The transition area was a large gravel parking lot, which I wasn't keen on because of the dirt and tiny sharp rocks, but in the event it wasn't too bad. Took a while to get the wet-suit off as I was a bit dizzy and the heart rate monitor said 175... Leaving the transition area with my bike I had to run about 300m to the actual bike mounting point. It felt a lot further.

The ride was good, I got faster every lap. The course was a 6km loop that crossed a number of railroad tracks and had three sharp corners. It was a bit bumpy through the corners and some of the mats placed over the tracks weren't very stable. At one particular railroad crossing there was a veritable garden of dropped water bottles and the yellow mesh balls that fit into the mouth of Profile water bottles. I treated all the hazards with respect... The guy I bought my Cervelo P2K from crashed out on his new P3C on the sharp northeast corner, but that was the only incident I saw. Lots of scrapes on him, but he was up and about after the race.

The second transition was quick except for the long run back in with my bike that preceded it. The "real" run was on nice paved trails and I had more left in the tank than last race. I have to figure out how to keep motivated though. Every race I grumble to myself that the swim and bike leg was plenty, why do I have to run too? Once again I walked short stretches but much less so than last time.

After the race I spent a good hour walking around, stretching, eating, chatting etc. It was then that I noticed I had slight cuts on the top of both feet over my arches. No idea how I got them! Pulling on shoes? Something rubbing during the ride or the run? It's a mystery. I rode down to the race (at 6:30 AM) and I rode back in the afternoon after the post-race wind-down. When I got home I had a hot bath, a cold beer and two hour nap. The evening was spent relaxing with Sheryl and her family on her condo's rooftop patio...

Listening to: Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz from Demon Days.