Racing News

Another busy weekend for my poor muscles! Saturday was my usual long ride with my triathlon club, Sunday saw my first triathlon race of the season and on Monday I was getting paid to sweat again on The Shopping Channel.

Saturday's workout was a chance to practice all three triathlon legs, with a swim in Lake Wilcox at 7:00 AM, a 45K bike ride on the country roads, and then a 5K run. I took it easy on the swim because a new club member was uneasy in the water. She was wearing a wet suit for the first time and she was asthmatic... I swam back and forth near by to provide a bit of moral support. The bike ride and run were a bit harder and longer than I should have gone, because the next morning I had a race that I should have been saving my energy for. Couldn't do it, had to go hard... Maybe I learn one day.

Sunday was race day, the Milton Triathlon, on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment... My race didn't start until 10:00 AM but because of logistical issues everyone had to be there before 8:30 AM. I got there in good time so I had plenty of opportunities to discover all the things I'd forgotten and needed to replace. Then I relaxed a bit with my friends. We were easy to spot in our new red racing clothes! My race went well and I finished 9th out of 67 in my age group, and 112 out of 613 overall.

Swim (11:22, 1:30/100m) - I got a great start, and led my wave to the first turn. I had put a lot of effort into adjusting my wet suit for a good fit and it paid off. Then I got caught up in the traffic from earlier waves (I was in wave five) and lost a bit of ground trying to get past people.

Bike (51:41, 34.8 kph) - The bike leg was pretty good too, but I often had to pick my way through clumps of slower cyclists. This was a problem both going up and down the notorious Sixth Line hill. On the way up I lost momentum a few times waiting for a gap to pass struggling riders, on the way down I had to hold back because of a clump of riders ahead of me. I still managed to hit 82 kph though! The bike leg is always the weakest leg for me. I'm not massively slower, but it's frustrating getting passed by some of the people that I passed in the water. One of my club mates, Paula, blew by me in convincing fashion. That's when I focused on the lovely day and the beautiful countryside...

Run (34:25, 4:36/k) - Coming out of transition, after having to actually tie my laces because I forgot to put elastic laces on my running shoes, I immediately faced a short but steep hill. Yike! It wasn't a problem though, I got up fine and didn't have any leg pain after the bike. I felt good the whole way and only walked a very short section, the top part of the furthest gravel hill. Otherwise I just kept passing people! I gained back a lot of the ground I lost on the bike, and got ahead Paula again pretty quickly. Most triathlon running courses are pretty flat but this one was fairly rolling, so it was an interesting run but often a bit of a challenge.

Wherever possible I like to go for a cool-down swim after my race, to rinse off myself and my clothes. It felt so good on Sunday...

Monday was another long day at The Shopping Channel, demonstrating fitness equipment. The simplest and cheapest device, "Smart Arms" was the hardest! I was still a bit sore from my race the day before, but I found the strength to go shopping between shows. I also found a great public library nearby that will be a good spot to relax between shows in the future.

Listening to: Icky Thump by The White Stripes from Icky Thump.