Well I have lots to write about, so lets try and keep some organization. First I will talk about the recovery week from Rhode Island, then we will move into the week getting back into training and end off with the Kenora triathlon Race Report.
Recovery Week:
The recovery week was used to catch up on life as well as recover the body. The max amount of time that I worked out was around 20 minutes or so. I really just focused on other aspects of training such as rest, and nutrition. Which got a little slipped up with some beers and rye with my bro. But really there was nothing special I did a lot of stuff around the house that training would just not allow me the time to do. I also did a lot of organizing for my new trip to Vegas!
Lead up week:
Coming into the next week I was racing on the Sunday. I have never raced this close to my A race before and I had no idea how to handle my fitness. After some research I treated this week as a taper. I kept the workouts short and intense and allowed lots of time for recovery. By the end of the week I was feeling back to normal again, and fairly ready to go.
Race Report:
This race was unique in that it was held in Ontario, which provides the challenge of hills. These local races are small compared to the 70.3 events and coming off the Rhode Island high I was barley nervous coming into this race.
During race morning everyone was congratulating me on my accomplishments in Rhode Island. It felt good I was starting to feel that I belonged in this crowd, even with the long hair and the beard. Race set up was fairly standard I set up transition and did my little pre race warm up. I didn't really have many nerves I just knew I was going to go out there and just lay it down and enjoy the day.
Swim:
Once I was all warmed up it was time for the swim start. I positioned myself with a good line at the front of the pack. As the gun went off I went out very hard as part of my strategy, and then settled into a groove. I could see there was a pack ahead of me but I try not to let that bother me anymore. I know my swimming needs improvement but I am seeing gains and I just need to be patient. I focused on staying long and really pulling all the way through my stroke. Just by using proper sighting I saved myself at least one position. My endurance felt good and I was still able to put in a decent sprint finish.
T1:
I came into T1 with a different attitude this race. I charged it I sprinted into T1 had a smooth transition and did a flying leap onto my bike. T1 was smooth!
Bike:
This is where I start to do damage. Like I said I was about 10th out of the water, but at 7 mins into the cycle I was in 2nd place. The first 5 min my heart was not even in my body, I was pounding so hard. From there I settled into a hard manageable pace, and tried to stay consistent. Kenora is known as a hilly course, but coming from Rhode Island it really was not that bad at all. With a final time of 1:05:07 I thought I would have some jam left to run. (fastest Bike split on the day came off bike in 2nd place)
T2:
I wish I could say t2 went as well as t1 but..... it didn't I racked my bike but it fell off so I had to pick it back up with my helmet on. Weird rules but there rules. Other then that my shoes popped on and I was chasing first place in no time.
Run:
Coming up the first hill I could see the 1st place guy. I knew he had beat me out of the water I must have done some damage on the bike. I pushed hard for the first 3 k bouncing off the rev limiter, the garmin was just a beeping at me. I was cruising at 6 minute miles occasionally touching under in the 5:50's. At 3 k I had caught up and was drafting behind 1st letting my hr come back down. It came down, I waited for a hill, and then I opened it up a bit. I got out in front and opened up a decent gap. I held it for the next couple miles, but the course got hillier. It was then I started to feel the race from 2 weeks ago and I took a bit of a beating. At around the 6k mark I got passed again, and I didn't have enough to chase from that far out. So from there I tried to stay as strong as I could through to the finish. Of course there were hills all the way into the finish as I opened up my sprint and finished strong for a 40:29 run. I missed breaking 40 by 30s it was kind of a piss off but I had no regrets of going out hard and leaving it all out there.
Overall:
What can I say I am living the title PR or ER. I have been to the Kenora hospital once and was prepared to go again if I had to. But with a PR at 2:09:07 I could not be more thrilled. It would have been the icing on the cake to take first but you have to be happy with personal improvements as well.
Kenora Triathlon (PR):
Swim: 23:30
Bike: 1:05:07
Run: 40:29
Total with transitions:
2:09:07
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