Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part II

Sorry I left you guys hanging on the race report.  I had to hit the road yesterday morning!

TRANSITION

I tried to be purposeful.  Blot the feet with a towel.  Put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and get out of there.  There were even still bikes on my rack – yay!  I thanked one of the triathlon officials for being there as I ran out and took off!

THE BIKE

I felt great leaving on the bike.  I stayed in an easy gear to spin the legs out and get the heart rate down.  Traffic control was great on the course as the first few intersections we went through were quite busy.  The folks did a great job of making sure we were safe.  Soon after coming out of transition was a big hill.  I pedaled and pushed, the heart rate rising.  I could hear someone behind me but they were obviously waiting for the downhill to make their move.  After the hill I was able to gear down and pedal with a bunch of power.  I passed a few people, a few people passed me.  I downed one gel about 20 minutes in, as per my plan. There were some nasty clouds in the sky that morning and I really hoped we wouldn’t get rained on.  So much for wishful thinking!  It began to rain as I turned the corner on to Highway 97.  This is the part of the course that is perfect for getting in aero and just going.  With the rain I was definitely feeling more cautious.  I was sitting up more.  Perhaps not picking off people ahead like I would have liked.  In Calgary it is either sunny or it snows so I don’t have too much experience riding in the rain.  Shortly before coming into transition the rain stopped.  I downed my second gel about 10 or 15 minutes from transition.  Despite riding more cautiously I still rode a few minutes faster than last year.I like this picture.  My parents were out on the course and found a couple of spots to take pictures at.  My mom spotted me and she was walking towards me to get closer for a picture.  I told her she should hurry up or she’d miss me and this was the picture…  Guess I was riding fast!

Bike – 40 km + T1 +T2 – 1:22:04
Garmin Bike Time – 1:18:27
Overall 84 out of 143

THE RUN

I tried to act quickly in transition.  Unfortunately I have no way to figure out what my T1 and T2 times are though.  I racked the bike, took off the helmet, changed shoes, stuffed a gel in my pocket and took off with my visor and my Garmin in my hand.  This year I used my Garmin Edge on my bike and the Forerunner on the run, where as last year I only used my Forerunner.

Ugh, my legs felt heavy…  I have definitely not done enough bricks yet this year!  Soon after coming out of transition was an aid station and I grabbed a water and a Gatorade.  I tried to dial back the pace a bit because of my plan to even or negative split.  The course is two loops with plenty of rolling hills.  Last year it was so hot and sunny on the run course.  This year it stayed overcast pretty well the entire time which felt great.  I chugged along on the run, debating when to take my last gel.  At the aid station at 2.5 km or at 5 km?  I’m not really sure why I settled on the 5 km mark, but that was the one I picked!  Although I had hoped to run consistently, what I was doing was consistently slowing down, just a little bit.  I kept moving though, only walking at the aid stations to down fluids.  Some folks just blew past me on the run like I was standing still.  I tried to see where the girls in my age group were at.  I knew I was ahead of a few, but I couldn’t tell how many were in front of me.  Oh well, not much I could do about that!

With 1K left to go I felt something loosen around my waist and my race belt fell off.  The elastic end came loose through one of the buckles.  I turned around to pick it up.  Rather than fiddling with it I just crunched it up in my hand and carried it.  Then finally…the finish line was in sight.  I had no idea where my net time was in relation to last year’s until then. I saw that I could squeak in under 2:56 so I took off down the hill to the finish.

Run – 10 km – 58:16
Overall 99 out of 143

Final Time – 2:55:37
Overall 99 out of 143
34 out of 61 Women
Women 30 – 34: 4 out of 9

The number 3 girl in my age group beat me by a solid 11 minutes so there was no contest for an age group prize.  The girl who came in first was also third female overall.  If they separated out top 3 overall from age groupers I had a shot at an award, but it was not to be.  Oh well, I cannot be disappointed in my day at all, swimming, biking and running strong and improving over last year’s time on the same course by 3 minutes.

I changed soon after finishing and grabbed some food.  They were cooking up burgers for us, plus they had some potato and bean salads, cookies, fruit and chips.  A great spread!  Family members could eat too by donation, which is a nice touch.  I stuck around for the door prizes and awards and that was that.  I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from the day!Hey…look at that, I forgot to turn my Garmin off…oops! 

And by the way, thanks so much for all of your great comments on the blog or on Facebook.  You guys are great!!!!!

Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part I

My first triathlon of 2010 is done!  I arrived in Kelowna on Friday afternoon and on Saturday I took off to Oliver to test out the lake (and my wetsuit).  Package pick up and the pre-race meeting was that afternoon.  The meeting was pretty straight forward and similar to last year.  The one big difference was that they were going to have the sprint athletes go off ahead of the Olympic athletes.  Then it was time for dinner and back home to bed in Kelowna.

Sunday morning I was up early….4 or 4:30 am I believe?  I woke up, showered, had some breakfast, packed up the car and took off to Oliver before 6 am.  I got there soon after transition opened and I took my time getting set up.  There was no one else set up on my rack yet so I grabbed the outside spot, lay down my new transition mat and put out bike shoes, socks, helmet, run shoes, visor, Garmins and nutrition.  Once everything was out I ate a banana and hit up the bathrooms.  After getting back to transition and finding a spot to sit they made an announcement that they Olympic athletes were in fact going to start ahead of the sprint athletes and that we had 30 minutes to race start.  Really?  I decided to start putting on my wetsuit as it generally takes about 15 minutes to get it on and adjusted properly.  Many thanks to the girl on my bike rack in the Speed Theory gear from Vancouver who volunteered to help me adjust it in the shoulders!  I looked at the bike rack and there was a girl who arrived last minute and had somehow or other squeezed her bike in at the end of the rack, making it really crowded there.  There was a big gaping hole in the rack with plenty of room for a bike in the center of it, but I guess position was more important to her than room.  Grr…  Oh well, not much I could do about it.  I downed a Strawberry Banana Gu, drank some water, and headed down to the lake to warm up.

THE SWIM

The water was measured at 15C the evening before but it felt pretty nice and warm out. I dunked my head, swam around a bit to get used to the water temperature and made sure to take care of that final nervous pee.  We were all called over to the lake edge for a quick briefing, then it was time to go!  My goal for the swim was to have a happy swim.  I decided to take a chance and start swimming with the pack in the hopes that I may be able to draft off some folks.  People spread out pretty well so apart from a bit of touching there wasn’t a lot of contact.  Every time I would breathe to the left I would see the same person in a green cap next to me.  It felt kind of nice to have people in front and to my left and right as I think it helped me stay on course a bit easier.  My swimming felt effortless and I swam past the four buoys on the way out in what felt like no time.  As we turned around to come back we all dispersed quite a bit more and I was more on my own.  I looked up and was surprised to see the number of people behind me.  Last year I think I was definitely more at the back of the pack.  I completed the first loop, ran out on the beach, around a buoy and back into the water.  Again on the way out I found a few people to hang out with.  I felt great the entire swim.  I didn’t swallow too much water, my chest didn’t tighten up.  Goal achieved!

This picture cracks me up!  Check out that look on my face!  I don’t look very happy, but trust me, I was.  I was trying to unzip my suit and get the arms off in preparation for the wetsuit strippers.  Yes!!  They had wetsuit strippers this year.  Thanks so much guys!  I hit the timing mat and looked up at the clock.  35 minutes and change.  That’s in line with what I’ll swim 1500 m in the pool at, plus it was 3 minutes faster than last year.

Swim – 1500 m – 35:18
107 out of 144

WCOC Teaser

I had a great day out in Oliver today.  I’ve been way to tired to put my thoughts down though, so I’ll leave you with a little teaser.

It was a fun day, I met my goals, set a course PR and came in 4th in my age group!  I’m off to Seattle tomorrow so check in with you later!

A Plan

So, I’m not really tapering for my race on Sunday which partially explains the 1:15 – 1:30 ride that I had on my schedule.  Last week it was snowing here in Calgary, today it was 20C (68F).  Shorts and short sleeve weather!  I raced home and hopped on my bike for a nice leisurely ride north of my neighbourhood.  I explored some new streets, saw some pretty houses, felt some crazy wind and rode up and down some rollers.

I also had a great chat with Angie regarding my race this weekend.  I think we’ve come up with a good plan for how to approach the day!

• Take a gel just before the start of the race.
• Goal for the swim – swim happy!  If I find feet, great.  If not, I just want to stay calm.  Last year my chest really tightened up on the swim and I’m hoping to avoid that this year.
• The bike…  I’d like to have a faster bike than last year.  Of course that will all depend on wind and the like, but I plan to race strong on the bike.  Plan for fuelling is one gel about 10 minutes into the bike, once the heart rate has settled down.  Another gel with about 15 minutes to go on the ride.
• The run…  I feel like I can have a strong run.  My big goal will be to attempt an even or a negative split on the run.  I don’t want to start out too fast, but I’m not allowed to dog the first 5K in an attempt to get that negative split!  Plan for one gel on the run.
• Ideally if I can equal my bike + run times from last year, then great!  This allows for some leeway in case I go faster on one leg compared to the other.
• Have fun!

I just have to make it through work tomorrow, plus I have a big interval run and a short swim to take care of.  A massage in the afternoon, then the evening will be all about packing!  I’ll hit the road Friday morning with my trusty travelling companion.  Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Interval Loops!

Our indoor Tuesday night spin sessions are officially over.  Luckily the weather gods were cooperative this week and we were able to meet up for a ride tonight!  Angie decided to mix things up a bit and had us meet out around Bearspaw/Rocky Ridge.  This makes me happy as it is a very short drive from my house to the meeting spot.  In fact, I even debated riding my bike over.  I decided not to tonight, but possibly in the future I will.

We rode a 3+ mile loop around Bearspaw Golf Course.  We were riding mostly residential streets so it was nice and quiet for cars.  The plan was to ride the first loop easily together, then after that we were supposed to alternate riding the loops hard and easy.  The majority of the loop was nice and downhill, which meant that there was a big hill right near the end.  Fun!  The best thing about the loop was that it felt like we were pretty sheltered from the wind.  I rode the loop five times, hopped off and did a super quick brick, then home in an attempt to get things ready for my upcoming trip.

That’s right, I’m taking off!  The Wine Capital of Canada Olympic distance triathlon is on Sunday in Oliver, BC.  I’m not going to lie, I feel like the first triathlon of the season has completely snuck up on me.  I feel like I haven’t ridden outdoors as much this year, plus I’m still getting used to some aspects of the bike.  After all, today was the first time I attempted to reach for my bottle and drink while riding.  Yup, its true!  Plus I haven’t swum in the open water for awhile…  Oh well, this is just a chance to get my feet wet this year, so to speak.

Wine Capital of Canada – Olympic Triathlon – Race Report

It's my birthday, and I'll race if I want to! Honestly, I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate turning 31 than doing something I love in an absolutely beautiful place. The Wine Capital of Canada triathlon in Oliver seemed to fit the bill. I'll clue you in on the rest of the weekend later, but for now, let's get to the race report!

My folks live about an hour to an hour and a half away from Oliver (depending on traffic). I never really thought about staying in Oliver, I just figured I would drive down the morning of the race. I was up at 5 am, had a shower, ate a bit of breakfast, grabbed a to go mug of coffee (that my dad made...he makes much better, and stronger coffee than me), and hit the road at 6 am. I got to the race site shortly after 7 am. I took all my gear over into transition, set things up, and hit the bathrooms a few times. Sometime after 8 am I started wiggling into my wetsuit. I headed down to the beach to get in the water and splash around. Yesterday afternoon the lake was 19.1C (66F). It has definitely warmed up over the last few days and the water temperature was really comfortable. All of a sudden it was 8:30 and it was go time for the Olympic athletes.

The Swim:
We would do two out and backs close to the lakeshore. At the end of the first lap we'd run out of the water, run around the fencing you see just off left hand side of the picture, then back in the water to do it all again. We had a 20 minute head start on the Sprint athletes. I was fully expecting to get run over by them on my second lap... When it was go time I watched the front of the crowd swim away and then I set off. I just wanted to swim comfortably the whole time. I really didn't care what my pace was since I knew that if I tried to book it, it would only make a minor difference to my time. But I would be exhausted after the swim if I did.

I discovered that the one unfortunate thing on the open water swim. I wear glasses, but my prescription isn't terrible. It is about a -1.25 in each eye. Normally my somewhat fuzzy vision in the pool isn't noticeable to me. But my slightly off vision, plus goggles makes sighting for buoys a real pain in the rear. I can't just pop my head up and see them, I need a few seconds for the picture to make sense in my brain. Whenever I wanted to sight I'd just pop into a heads up breast stroke kind of manoeuvre since that seemed to be a bit more effective. But I was most definitely not swimming very straight on my first lap. It felt like the swim on the way back took less time, and I was pretty happy to have the first lap over and done with. Although for some reason...I decided not to run out of the water and around the buoy. I treated it like some kind of Sunday stroll. Huh?
The guy next to me...and also in front of me had the same idea! And back in the water we go as the Sprinters are waiting for their wave to start.The wind started picking up over the course of the morning and I quickly discovered that I would be best off breathing on one side to avoid getting mouthfuls of wave. I felt like I was swimming a lot straighter on the second lap...maybe because I had few people to be led of course by. As I turned the final buoy to swim the last 375 m in I noticed that my chest was feeling a bit funny. I was breathing fine and not in distress at all...but it turned out that I really needed to burp! It made the heads up breast stroke a wee bit uncomfortable on the way back in, but otherwise I was feeling just fine. I was looking forward to getting out of the water to fix that though! I exited the water, ran over some grass, and up some stairs into transition. The clock read about what I figured:
1500m - 35:31 - 107 out of 134

T1 - 2:42 - 81 out of 134

I think I was a bit out of it. It took me a few moments to get the wetsuit off...and trying to put socks on wet feet is hard!

The Bike:

I ran my bike out of transition and crossed the mount line, then got on my bike. In the few seconds that it took me to get on my bike I went from having no one around me, to some woman that ran right in front of me and stopped to get on her bike, just as I was trying to pedal away. The road was pretty wide at this point, so I was kind of ticked off at her for that little trick. Grr. I got on and road away...happy to be away from the swim and now on my bike!

Just a short distance away from transition you head out on the main road and have a hill to climb. The hill looked a bit big initially, but once I was riding up it was no big deal. For the next few miles we were riding past wineries and along a nice rolling road. I didn't realize it at the time, but we had a pretty good tail wind going. I was flying along here, passing people and having a great time and enjoying the scenery! I was averaging about 21 mph until I turned a corner to head out to Highway 97. That was when I realized that there was actually wind around... Highway 97 is reasonably flat and I felt like I should have been able to just fly down here but that wasn't happening. I got down in my aerobars and just kept it in a gear where I could pedal at 90 rpm and feel comfortable doing so. I still managed to pass quite a few people despite the wind. I guess training in windy Calgary is paying off!
My dad managed to snap this great shot of me as I headed off Highway 97 onto some back roads to bypass riding through Oliver. I was really happy with how I rode and loved every minute on the bike.
40 km - 1:20:53 - 84 out of 134 (18.5 mph)

T2 - 1:18 - 49 out of 134

This was my fastest ranked activity of the day. That's interesting...

The Run:

I will say that I definitely, without a doubt, need to work on my pacing strategy on the run. I always start out too fast. My legs felt pretty good from the get go and I ran at what felt like a comfortable pace. I looked down at my watch and I was running a sub 9:00/mi pace. Hmm, doubt that is sustainable for 10K! We had a hill to climb just as we left transition and there was an aid station at the top. We'd be doing two loops of the course. I grabbed a Gatorade because I knew I needed some fluids. I also knew I needed to take my Gu but I felt a little wary without plain water to wash it down. Only thought of that once I was past the aid station... So I hung on to it for now and just ran. The run was most definitely not flat. It wasn't crazy hilly either, but it had plenty of uphill stretches to wear your legs out. We hit the turnaround point and thankfully there was another aid station here, so I grabbed water and Gatorade and took my Gu. By then it probably didn't make much of a difference, but oh well. Back on to running... I hit 5K around 28:xx...not too bad but my pace was definitely fading.It was pretty hot out (28C or 82F) and there wasn't too much of a breeze. I watched any thoughts of a PR go out the window, but I knew I could still break an hour on the run. While I had no real goals for the race I knew without a doubt that I would be disappointed if I didn't run a sub 60:00 10K. I mustered what I could for a final kick to the finish. Luckily the final stretch was all downhill...!!

10 km - 58:02 - 93 out of 134 (9:20/mi)2:58:24
Overall: 91 out of 134
Females 30 - 34: 5 out of 7
Females Overall: 24 out of 49

After I crossed the finish line the race director was there to shake my hand and congratulate me on my race. He asked if I had a good time and enjoyed myself. Gotta love those races where the RDs take a real interest in how people like the race. I wandered over to my spot in transition to pack a few things up and grab a bottle of nuun off my bike. I then met up with my parents (slash race photographers extraordinaire) and we grabbed some food at the post race BBQ. All in all, it was an amazing day!

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Taking the Show on the Road

Well my friends, it is time to take this triathlon show on the road! I'm off to the Okanagan tomorrow to hang out for my birthday and race a little Olympic tri. My friend Janelle is racing as well, and Kelownagirl is racing the sprint. I heard a rumor from Janelle's fiance that the lake we will be swimming in is still pretty cold. The last I heard is that the lake is running 16-17C. Fingers crossed it warms up in the next few days! Just in case I picked up a neoprene cap from Nineteen.

Packing for a little 4.5 day weekend away is a whole other animal when a triathlon is involved. Thanks to this race day checklist site I made a note of everything I would need - racing related or not. Yes it is true, I even need to remind myself to pack underwear.I put everything I needed on my spare bed. Please pardon the checkerboard painting on the wall. I have been wanting to repaint this room since I bought my place, I just haven't exactly gotten around to it...in the 2-1/2 years that I've been here...
Less than a quarter of my bed is clothing to wear this weekend, the rest is racing or training gear. Since I have a trial swim, a quick run and a recovery bike to take care of while I'm out of town I needed all of the gear for that too. Wow... Then all packed up...In workout news I actually had a rest day on the schedule today but it didn't quite work out that way. Since I'm working in the morning then headed out on the road in the afternoon I won't have time to get my scheduled run in. I also took my car in for service this morning. I normally take transit in from the car dealership...but really...I am not a huge fan of that. I threw my bike on the back of my car and then had a quick ride into work once I dropped my car off. Less than three miles one way. Not exactly a fun ride since there a lot of stopping for traffic lights, but it beats the train any day!

Alright, must clean up the kitchen then get to bed...

Okanagan Spring Wine Festival - Saturday

I flew in to Kelowna on Friday evening and arrived just in time for dinner. We went off to The Keg in town here, which is a really great steak restaurant. Except I have broken up with beef! So what is a girl to do? Order crab!! This Dungeness crab was amazing!!

On Saturday morning I decided to head out to the Mission Creek Greenway for a quick run. I love this trail - it is flat, quiet, and the scenery is amazing! Since Wednesday's run was so painful I figured flat would be just what I needed for a run. Since triathlon season is starting I swapped my regular laces out for Yankz, and this was my first run with them in these shoes.

The shoes felt awesome - not too snug, not too loose. It was a gorgeous day out there. I decided 4 miles seemed like the right amount to run today. Everything felt great - no shin pain, no knee issues...nothing. Yay for recovery!! As I was heading back to my car there was a lady running with a little dog and I made it my mission to catch up to her and pass her. Just as I was coming into the final stretch I finally caught up with her and took off in front! Every once in awhile you need to have those little things to motivate you.

After the run it was time to head home, shower up, and head down south towards Oliver to start celebrating the Spring Wine Festival! We had lunch planned at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, which just happens to be on the bike course for the WCOC Olympic triathlon that I'll be racing in a few weeks. We drove a ways on the bike course and I was able to check out all of the hills, the condition of the pavement, and any obstacles along the way (like the two cattle guards that advise cyclists to dismount and walk their bikes across...that should be interesting...). Lunch at Burrowing Owl was amazing. I had a baked Sockeye salmon sandwich on a homemade croissant. Good stuff!

After lunch it was back to driving the bike course and visiting a few other wineries! The scenery along the bike route is just amazing. It should be a fantastic race!!

We also stopped by Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, where the swim is going to be. Once we were done tasting and checking out the course it was on to a special Seafood & Chardonnay Winemaker's dinner at Sumac Ridge. We started off with a sparkling wine reception...

...and we were then treated to some amazing food and wine. My favourite by far were the fish and chips. I also sat next to a really interesting couple who enjoy cycling. They were telling me about a bike tour company that they took a trip with to bike through Provence. Now that sounds like an amazing vacation!!

Anyhow, on to more winefesting today!! Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!