The Tri Sout: Multisport Canada Triathlon Series Toronto Island

Tri Race #3

http://www.msctriathlon.com/ms/events/showevent.cfm?showEventID=141

Where: Toronto Island, Ontario

When: August 25th, 2012

Cost: Individual=$61, Relay=$92

Other Races:

Triathlon
Duathlon

Aid stations: 1 with heed and water
Swag: Medal for top 5 finishers in each age group, technical t-shirt, cliff bar, flyers etc.

My time: 0:43:13.7

My splits: Swim=0:11:21, Bike=0:19:26, Run=0:10:32

My transitions: T1=1:13, T2=0:45

My Result: 1st out of 74 in my age group of 20-29, 7th in gender out of 222 females, 45th overall out of 475 participants

Kevin's Result (my husband&best friend): 0:38:23.6 He came 2nd in his age group out of 38 and 6th overall out of 475 participants. Can't wait to see what he'll create next year

Winning men’s times: 0:32:41

Winning women’s times: 0:39:28.2

Experience:

Well well well, I can't believe that I am writing about my last triathlon of the summer. I didn't expect to do so many or to enjoy them to the point I have.

I chose to do the Toronto Island try-a-tri as the last one because I wanted to finish this season with my husband who started it with me. With him now back in season coaching soccer, this one was our last chance and close to home.

We woke up dark and early at 5am after only getting 4 hours of sleep and to be honest at that moment I just wanted to go back to bed, correction my Gremlin was saying your tired your body doesn't want to do this, just go back to bed, no big deal. I fought the temptation and just kept moving to get my gear on, thankfully I had layed out my gear the night prior.

We made our classic oatmeal to go, Kevin pumped the tires up and I took our dog, Kaiser out before we took off. We left a little late for my liking, and my Gremlin was out once again, placing the blame on my husband for hitting his snooze and not moving quick enough. He stayed calm through it all like he normally does and of course we made it downtown very quick and on the Ferry to the island with an hour to spare. I'm a very lucky lady that my husband has so much patience with me!

After getting off the ferry we both got our bikes into the transition area by age group and prepared our gear. My gear as you can see to the left included a running/bib belt. This belt makes it much easier to put on and less worry about pins coming undone as one did in my first tri and figuring out where to pin it. Race cap's represent the wave you are in, my wave was 20-29. My bike shoes, what you can't see is that I have them already half done up so I just have to slip my feet in and tighten. My running shoes! They have quick laces and allow me to slip in my feet just like my bike shoes.

After set up I ate the granola bar I brought along because I ALWAYS tend to get VERY hungry during swimming. I mean to the point my stomach is grumbling so loud all around can hear and then there's the movement factor, not so fun.

Toronto in the background of the transition gates!

Kevin came and got me shortly after eating and we went to get our numbers marked on our body, our chip on our ankle and pick up our race t-shirt. We still had about 30mins till Kevin's wave at 8am started so we walked down to the water.

This is the part I was dreading! I've been practicing the swimming portion so it wasn't the distance, but the cold Lake Ontario water. brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I stayed on the beach till five minutes before Kevin's wave was off and we both went in to check on the temperature. Much different than the lakes we've been in for prior tri's. Weather was warm outside but the water was numbing my feet. Kevin decided not to even go in full body but rather just lined up in the water ready to go. My wave didn't begin till 8:20 so I had 20mins to adjust my body temperature. When Kevin's race started I went in waist deep till I saw him out of the water and could cheer him on. I'm so happy it was in waves because we got to see that there was a sandbar right before exiting the water that majority of the men were tripping on when the sandbar went deep again.

Kevin was now long gone and I had gone under, not so bad I thought! It's all in the mind right? My age group filled with women in pink caps and wetsuits on (minus myself) got called over. I made sure to line up near the front of the pack so I didn't get caught behind others. The race director then went over race rules from start to finish with us. Remember we had all been in the water warming up and during this 5 minute talk we were all shivering waiting to go back in.

The gun was off! I was planning to do three strokes then breathe but due to all the participants I was breathing every two strokes. More feet and hands were on my body than before but I fought to stay calm and keep my position. I had to veer left off course at one point just so I didn't get sandwiched. This swimming is still a huge opportunity that I will be taking advantage of so that I'm not caught sandwiched one day!! The swim was 400m. For me it seemed like a long swim, and I know I've been training much further distances but somehow it seems daunting while I'm doing it.

Approaching the last buoy, we had to turn right back towards the beach...a 'clothing optional' beach by the way!! I noticed that no one was out of the water yet and there wasn't that many swimmers in front of me. I picked up my pace and realized I had been reserving quite a bit of energy. Still haven't figured out why I do that exactly...I think it's to conserve for later but I"m always feeling that I could've pushed harder.

Once out of the water we had to run through sand to get to the transition. This is where I started making up quite a bit of ground. Most swimmers were struggling to run the sand and I passed about 10 ladies in this short period. I could hear my breath quickening as I did so.

On to the bike!

The bike course was completely flat and why I probably cut my bike time by a few minutes from my last tri. Oh yeah I didn't fall this time, probably a big part of the improvement. I felt really strong on my bike and had it in the highest gear for the majority of the race. I was a bit wary of sand on the road in a few spots and wasn't pushing as hard as I could've been on the course. Sand was a factor the first time I fell and I still get a little nervy when I see it feeling like my tires will give out under me. My opportunity on the bike is with pushing a faster cadence in the higher gears. The scenery was pretty with the water just off to the side, I didn't get many looks though because I was looking mostly at the next racers and trying to catch them. Most races I've been in I'm in the first flight of women so I know any up ahead are beating me but on this day I couldn't tell because the relay and women U-20 were in a group prior.

I did have one girl in my division pass me right before dismounting off our bikes so I kept a close eye on her and when transitioning to the run I decided to skip putting on my hat to get out of the gate quicker. Right at the start of the run I saw Kevin and not long after pulled ahead of who I will call Navy suit (navy swimsuit). She had something on her that was clicking so once passing I made sure to get ahead enough so that I couldn't hear her anymore. We had to do 2 loops near Helen's Point and then we were back on the grass again where I saw Kevin and he said, "Only 100m to go". This is where I should've sprinted but again my Gremlin was reluctant telling me to reserve my jets till I saw the finish and I chose in that moment to listen to the gremlin....wrong choice! I did turn on the jets once I saw the finish but after crossing the line I knew I could've gone much harder in my run. GREAT LEARNING!! Now I just need to make sure I don't have that same learning.

My favourite part of the day was seeing all the new triathlete faces below:

What an inspiration! I hope many of them are hooked and will be back next year.

Here were Kevin and my results all printed up! My goal is to make it to that first page next year, so I

don't have to take 2 pictures.

Award Ceremony:

Kevin getting his second places medal! The winner won the full race and was already gone. Probably training somewhere.

My first gold medal for a tri. Now the hunger is on.