Tri Race #2 (picture above is the view when walking into the event)
What: Orillia Chariot Try-A-Tri
http://www.trisportcanada.com/orillia.php
Where: Orillia, Ontario
When: Sunday, July 29, 2012
Cost: Chariot Try-A-Tri: Early Registration=$46, 2 weeks out= $56, Race weekend=$61
Other Races:
- Triathlon
- Duathlon
- Bike/Run
- Triathlon Relay
Swag: Medal for top 5 finishers in each age group, coupons, bread, powerade bar, t-shirt, and a lotion for recovery.
My time: 0:45:10.02
My splits: Swim=0:09:09, Bike=0:22:45, Run=0:10:58
My Result: 2nd out of 14 in my age group of 25-29, 3rd was what I medaled out of the 20-29 group, 8th in gender out of 124 females, 30th overall out of 204 participants
Winning men’s times: 0:36:40.2
Winning women’s times: 0:37:44.5
Experience:
For this race, Kevin(my husband) and I drove up the morning of since the race didn’t start till 11am. We had our breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries prior to leaving and had some banana bread in the car once we got close.
The weather in Orillia was pretty hot, with barely any wind or clouds. Water was nice and warm.
Once on site Kevin and I felt more prepped this time as to how to set up our gear. We got our bikes in the transition area and prepped all the rest of our gear out bike our bikes in a way that would allow for a quick transition.
Key Prep:
- Bringing a towel this time to step on once out of the water so that my feet can dry better
- Adding baby powder to my towel and inside my bike and run shoes again to aid in moisture absorbing and friction since I went barefoot this time
- Bike shoes were half done up and ready to go. This allowed me to only have to tighten one strap
- Quick laces on my running shoes. This resulted in me not having to tie my shoes
- Below you will see that my helmet was already on my bike and my sun glasses and bib belt were directly underneath and beside the helmet to slip on quick
Biggest change this time was that I wore a bathing suite for the whole event. Very new for me to even be in a normal suit but the result was lowering my transition time to…
T1=1:16 and T2=1:04 (my first tri transition times were T1= 1:37 and T2=1:21)
I saved a total of 21 seconds in my T1 and 17 seconds in my T2!!!! Very excited about that.
After we were all prepped Kevin and I went to the beach and got warmed up in the water by swimming a little bit and taking a look at the swim portion of the race. It was a triangle marked by buoys and for this race we were swimming clockwise, the opposite of Gravenhurst direction.
SWIM:
Prior to the swim all racers lined up just outside the water on the beach and we all took our marks. Our group included males and females under 29. Once the horn blew everyone was off into the water by means of running till it became too deep. For the swim I felt much stronger and calm compared to Gravenhurst. I did have a few swimmers crossing over me and kicking but it wasn’t such a shock to the system and stayed on my course. As soon as I could touch I started running through the water to the transition area, on the way I could see Kevin only a few people ahead and felt good about where we both were at in our race.
T1:
First transition seems like a blur now. I was there then I wasn’t. I just remember trying to jump over the swimsuits that prior racers left in the middle of the ground…Possibly trying to deter other racers?
BIKE:
Oh the bike! Before mounting we all had to run our bike to the top of the hill. Once on the bike I was off as quick as I could. In the Tri you need to stay to the right unless you are passing someone and you also cannot cross the middle of the road or you can be eliminated from the event. Keeping this mind I started climbing the first hill and I noticed my upcoming target, a male who was biking in the middle of our side of the road. When I started passing him I made sure to let him know and unfortunately while right beside him he started leaning towards me and ended up falling off his bike, taking me with him. He was very apologetic and tried to get back on his bike and fell again. Many passed by us while getting our bearings back. I also did the same thing (falling again)…Learning quickly that mounting on a hill was going to be hard. I ran my bike over to the curb and got on and was on my way again. At this point I was a little frustrated thinking my chances of medaling might be over but I got that thought out quick and started going harder.
T2:
During the 2nd transition I almost took my helmet off to early without realizing that if I was to do so before racking the bike I could be disqualified. I am very grateful for the volunteer who reminded me by shaking his finger nicely to instruct otherwise.
RUN:
I got out on the run quick and the first portion of the run was a slow incline to the turnaround. I saw Kevin at about halfway to the turnaround reminding me that it would be all downhill once I hit it. During the run I kept finding a target in front and kept my focus at chasing them down. I made sure also to focus on all the females I saw and to counted them to figure out what place I was in and strategically figure out who I had to pass next to get to the next spot. At the very end I saw Kevin for the 2nd time and he was cheering me on saying I was just around the corner and to pick it up. From that point on I was in a dead sprint/stride till the end.
After the race I went directly to the mist shower that was there and got some gatorade into my system. Kevin and I then went back to our bikes to put our post race clothing on. Food was next, gobbling down the subway sandwiches, fruit, soda and many snacks. The sun was beating down hard all the while and we both re-applied the sunscreen prior to the award ceremonies.
AWARDS:
Before they awarded the medals Kevin and I went to check out our results, I was psyched to find out I came 2nd and not surprised at all that Kevin killed it again, coming first in his age division. During the medals I was rewarded with third and was a little confused. Found out after that because our age division didn’t have many people they combined two groups together. Overall I’m super happy with even medaling, especially after the fall during the bike ride.
My favourite part of the awards was seeing the guy who won the 80+ division just hop and skip up to collect his medal. He was an inspiration in such great fitness and so happy! Proving that age is nothing but a number!!!
Here is a final picture of my amazing husband who is my biggest supporter and such an inspirational figure in my life who pushes at 100% in everything he does.
Again I can’t wait for the next one!!!
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