5K Run TT

Just a really quick update, the tri club had our final event last night in the Fall Classic Race Series. The 5k Run TT. The event was a huge success, with weather holding out for us we had a semi dry course to run on. We had our largest showing with 35 people out and most made it out to the social afterwards as well.

I've felt pretty terrible running lately, however, on Monday I ran a mile which Matt helped pace me and I managed to pull out a 5:15. Nothing exceptional but at least I know that I haven't completely lost my fitness post marathon which is how it feels.

Starting the 5k, we took it out way too fast running a 3:10 first km so I slowed it down to around around 3:35-40 for the remaining 4k.

In the end managed to hold it together for a finish time of 17:55! My first sub 18 minute 5k since starting triathlon and a new PB that has lasted since 2006. Considering how I've felt lately, there is no doubt that once I get my running legs back that this time will drop even more. I guess the hunt is for 17 now, lets hope it doesn't take another 4 years.

And I wasn't the only one. I think about 2/3 of the runners who had previous 5k times managed to PB. I guess I'm doing something right as coach...

Not much else to report. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting in the weeks to come!

Sooke Race Report

It hasn't even been one year since I raced Sooke, however, I've complained about that race enough that it might as well have been 10. To put it lightly, Sooke didn't go well last year, and I spared nothing in describing my distaste.

My track record at Sooke has been less than stellar. My first year, I ended up skipping it due to injury. My IT band was really tight and I decided the marathon was too important to risk it.

Last year, After a great summer of performances, I had let my fitness somewhat diminish, got to Sooke and expected a great performance which just wasn't within my ability. Mix in a few bike technical difficulties (chain getting stuck, wheel falling off) and it wasn't the best day.

As a result, it was difficult to get pumped up for Sunday.

Driving over to Victoria and Sooke on Saturday the weather was miserable, dumping rain. Fit nicely with my feelings for the race, however, after a very relaxing ferry ride and a casual trip out to Sooke the weather and my mood started to change.

Mel and I stayed at Nick's place after going to Boston Pizza with Winston, Andrew and Derrick we settled in a Nick's for the night.

Sunday morning the sky had cleared. It was still cool but the roads were dry.

We got there plenty early and set up. Mel was racing the Olympic which started 90 minutes after my race, so she had plenty of time, even getting in a bike ride warmup.

I got down to the start line with a positive attitude, prepared to make this my best race of the summer. Goggles on, standing waist deep in water, its announced that there is 10 seconds until the start. I splash water in my face and SNAP! Goggles break right across the nose. The old man beside me was very concerned. I swear had I not stopped him he would have tried to find an official to delay the race. Instead, I tossed my goggles back over everyones head to the beach and dove into the water like an amateur.

Mass starts without goggles... Not too much fun. I ran into EVERYONE! This swim was very reminiscent of my first years in triathlon. Unable to swim straight, hitting weeds because I realize I'm all the way to the left on the shore. Good times. To sight I had to do this fancy head whip to get the water out of my eyes before I could open them! Looked good. Mel ran into one of her friends at the start line and announced that her boyfriend was approaching. At seeing my spastic movement in the water, no goggles or cap (took off my cap because it was falling off due to the goggles having been under it), Mel decided it was wise to point out the swimmer behind me as her better half.

I came out of the water in 32 minutes... Pretty slow. I figured I should have been able to swim around 29 in the lake since it is calm with no current. Oh well.

Onto the bike. I wasn't able to see too well out of my right eye. It kept watering which made the first lap fun. The bike went well. Not much to report. Got passed a few times, and passed a few people. Fairly uneventful. The only big thing that happened was Katya Meyers caught me with 1/2 a lap left and I decided to try and stick to her because I knew she would run well off the bike and it would be nice to have a pace bunny.

2:36:44 for the bike, not bad considering the course. It was really windy and hilly.

Came into transition about 10 seconds back, flew through transition having the fastest T2 of the day, AGAIN! and was out on the run course. My legs still felt pretty good. Katya took off. We went through 2k in 7:45 which is much faster than I normally run off the bike. I weighed my options and decided that if I tried to stick to her I would probably blow up and really not enjoy the second half of the race. So despite having a Model/Pro Triathlete to follow, this just wasn't tempting enough to keep me on her heels.

Katya Meyers, she's on an elephant

I ended up finishing with a 1:36:20 Half. My legs felt pretty good, I was simply lacking intensity training this year due to the ankle injury. Had I been able to put in more intensity it wouldn't have been so foreign pushing the pace.

Finished the day in 4:45:47. Good enough for 9th place overall. The overall winner was way ahead, however, the race for 3rd was tight. Between myself and 3rd was only 6 minutes for 6 spots. I am pretty confident that without the swim issues, I really could have been a contender for the podium. I would have been that much closer to the front and that much more motivated to push.

The others on the team had a great day as well. Winston had his fastest run split in a half iron finishing in 2nd for the 20-24 age group in a time of 5:04 and Andrew finished in 3rd in the age group having had his fastest swim.

Mel had a great race in the Olympic achieving her first sub 50minute 10k off the bike which considering the wind and hills on the run course is impressive. Her time of 48 would have been much closer to 45-46 on a flat course! Unfortunately because the age groups are split up 20-29 for the Olympic distance she finished in her favorite spot: 4th! Otherwise she would have won or come 2nd in the 20-24 category.

I don't have many details of Derricks race, however, I know he was quite pleased with having the 11th fastest bike split in the Olympic!

Winston getting his medal

Andrew and I atop the podium

The boys were so overjoyed with the days events that they broke out into an impromptu dance party!

WOO!

Race Reports!

Boy! So BUSY! What has been preventing me from writing my blog? Is it too much time writing my Thesis that I am fed up with typing? Unfortunately no. But on that note, I have started writing and have a group of pages started. Hopefully more to be written in the days to come.

Back to business. I didn't write a race report for Shawnigan or Victoria, because, well quite frankly, they didn't go all that well.

In a nutshel: Shawnigan, coldest race I have ever done, feet frozen the entire time I was on the bike and until 5k into the run. Had a decent considering the amount of training I have done swim and bike. Came off bike in 8th and decided to quit the run because my ankle wasn't doing great. Smartest race decision of the day. Also my first DNF. Shoot. On the plus side I did get to run in with Mel since she was just finishing up the Olympic race as I quit the half.

Hey, its Mel! And who is that good looking guy behind her? I swear I'm just watching my footing, I did have a sprained ankle after all.

On to Victoria. Quick and simple; Painful. I woke up Friday before the race with the start of a cold, and it just kept getting worse. By Sunday, I was congested and coughing and had a sore throat. This cold was bad enough that I actually took Monday-Tuesday off from work (Making them my 3rd and 4th sick day in 3 years).

Knowing that with zero training since Shawnigan, and a week of drinking at home that this wasn't going to be a great race, I had a fairly relaxed attitude towards it. When we were late leaving Sunday morning and only showed up to the race 30 minutes before the gun, No problem! When they called 1 minute to go before the start and I still hadn't started putting my wetsuit on, no problem! The cannon went off and I quickly got a very stressed spectator to zip up the suit and off I went. The swim as expected, not great. I had to manage my way through 400 people to get up to my pace. The bike, ouch. Just had nothing. Was 14 minutes slower than last year on the bike. Was coughing up a lung. The run, stopped and sat in transition to put on my ankle brace while my friends heckled me, and then started the slow jog. Mel training for a marathon ran the second lap with me, it went something like this:

Vince km 11: Mel, you set the pace, I don't want to go at a speed that is too fast for you since I am just jogging this for training

km 14: Vince realizes he is actually slowing down Mel and not the other way around.

km 15: Vince has to walk for a minute while Mel is forced to wait.

Despite how grumpy I was, it was nice to have company on the run.

Finished the race in 5:02. Slowest Half Iron in the books, but finished which I guess was my best result of the year...

I got over the cold and managed to get a few training sessions in, physio once or twice, and then before I knew it, Vancouver!

I'll put a little more details here. Had a great morning. Race site nice and early, got in the water for a warm up. It was a beach start which I have only ever done twice (Vancouver past two years). There was a false start, this made everyone take a few steps run and then stop and come back. In doing so, I went from 1-2nd row to 4th. Not ideal since despite my being a slow swimmer this year, I am still decent and shouldn't start behind too many people.

Moments after the false start

This was by far the roughest swim I have ever done. I was getting pummelled. The water was wavy and people were thrashing. I got to the first buoy and someone walloped me in the face. Nice! After 300m it started to spread out and despite swallowing half the pacific, I had a great time. At 600m I noticed that Amy Kirkham was right next to me and I decided to keep her at my side for the rest of the swim, I knew she was going to work hard, and it was nice not to focus solely on chasing people down.

Getting punched by a girl in the swim

Onto the bike, I felt terrible. I always do for the first 20-30k. After 1.5 laps (of 4) I started getting into a groove and was working well. I lost 80 seconds on Amy by 40k and managed to catch up that 80 seconds by 80k and we rode into transition more or less together. She had an awesome race finishing 3rd overall in the Women's pro field. My bike splits were nice and even. Fastest lap 34.6kph and slowest lap 34.48kph. Not too bad. There was a girls relay team from the club who very modestly stated that they were going to pass all the guys doing the Half. I would be lying if I said this hadn't kicked my ass in gear when I saw Kim closing down on me after the first lap of the bike.

Getting to the run I decided that I wasn't going to hammer. Amy caught up to me by 1k and was really moving (running is her strength). Normally I would have tried to stay with her, but with circumstances this year that just wasn't in the cards. Trying to avoid what happened in Victoria, I kept it controlled but mainly just focused on not twisting my ankle and getting in enough nutrient. Finished the run in a respectable 4:41 pace, for a half iron time of 4:42:##.

This was a really fun race because we had lots of teammates from UBC at it. The whole time I was running I rarely went 5 minutes without seeing someone I knew who was cheering me on. Especially the group of girls who had raced earlier in the morning who were all at the finish line. A guy I was running with made a remark that I sped up each time we went by.

The positive note of the day. I am able to run again. My ankle didn't feel great, but gave me no real problems, so after 10 weeks of nothing, I am finally able to try and rebuild again. I have 5 weeks until Sooke, and lets hope I can bring that 4:41/km pace down closer to 4.

If I had more energy I would mentioned everyone who raced. There were a lot of UBCTC first timers, and a lot of new PB's. So I will just group you all together and congratulate everyone at once on making it an awesome day!

Also, check out 5:10 into THIS video!!!

Hope this wasn't too boring. And maybe now that I am caught up. I'll post more. And if not, I'll blame it on my Thesis!

Updates: Ankle / Sun Run / UBC TRI

Lots of updates so I will make this brief. My ankle is slowly getting better. I can now bike on it more or less 100%. Going up steep hills still sucks because I can't ankle with my left foot, but oh well, fortunately this only means I don't win the King of the Mountain sprints with my friends out on hammer rides.

There is still some swelling, however, I am able to put full pressure on my toes which means I can bike and run more or less naturally.

As such, I had the Sun Run last week. Upon telling my physio this, she was not overly excited to tell me that I could get back to racing right away. With plenty of nagging I was told provided I went out and bought an ankle brace, that I could jog it but not push it and risk more injury. With Shawnigan Lake only 3 weeks away, this was an acceptable compromise.

This actually worked out really well. Because in not racing, I was able to run the race with Mel and pace her to a new PB! She wanted to go in the range of 44 minutes, but her previous PB was 45:XX so anything below that would obviously be a success, especially with having run the Vancouver half marathon the week before in 1:39:14!

This was definitely the most enjoyable 10k race I have ever done. Don't get me wrong, running a pb is fun, but that HURTS! Being able to encourage Mel through the run and take a race casually was a nice change.

In the end we ran 44:21, a huge PB for her, and I managed to finish the run without any pain which was a huge plus for me!

Many of our friends thought it was fun to joke that we matched. The shirts was on purpose, the shorts and shoes was somewhat accidental though.

Silly Sun Run people thinking that by putting writing on the photos that I won't steal them

After a week of training, mostly in the pool, putting in my biggest week of the season at 9.4km (Including the race) WOW ALL PULL! I was feeling a little more ready for the UBC Triathlon. I was given the same instructions as before. I could race but don't take any stupid risks on the swim/run.

PUMPED!

The swim sucked. I was really slow and had in my head that I was just cruising so as soon as anyone touched me, I slowed down and let them pass. My swim time was roughly 24:25, but this includes easily 30 seconds of me waiting for people to pass while I stand at the wall.

Check out that consistency! (note sarcasm) Also, read from bottom to top, 15 being my last 100

15- 1:38:20
14- 1:38:10
13- 1:48:10
12- 1:36:80
11- 1:36:20
10- 1:36:10
9- 1:29:60
8- 1:37.9
7- 1:38:30
6- 1:40:20
5- 1:37:3
4- 1:35:40
3- 1:42:00
2- 1:33:40
1- 1:22:70

#13... Yikes, don't know what happened there.

I opted to race in a speedo because I don't like swimming in a tri suit and decided that since I was cruising the swim, what was a few extra seconds in transition really going to cost me. This turned out to be a mistake as there was some minor (MAJOR) discomfort after about 30km on the bike. But on the plus side, swimming in a speedo did offer for photos like this:

No big deal

The bike was uneventful. I wasn't in as good of shape as I would have hoped, but the only thing that hurt here was my pride. Averaged in the range of 35-36, haven't gotten my exact time yet.

Then onto the run! I decided early that the run would be a cruise and I would only up the pace if my ankle felt perfect. I started off running quickly but not overdoing it. Thanks to a few poorly marked first km I thought I was flying! Went through 4km in 14:30!!! As a result, and seeing as how I was still making up quite a bit of ground on people I decided that my ankle was doing great and it was time to put on the pressure. I really upped the intensity and managed to run down 3-4 people ahead of me, finishing in 11th place overall and 6th in my age group (Why oh why did I have to get older!) But the surprise of the day was my run. The course according to multiple GPS was 10.7-11km long. As a result this means I was hovering in the 40 minute range for the run on a 10k. I have never run sub 40 on a 10k in a triathlon, and considering I ran the first 4k easy I was quite pleased with this. Shows that despite the injury and no running for 3 weeks that I haven't lost too much.

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but I am actually quite pleased with the race!

Best move of the day: Getting water at 500m to go and styling my hair!

Many other UBC TC members raced today.

Mel Nathaniel and Mike in their first Olympic distance triathlons both winning medals in their age group and mocking me for only finishing in 6th.

Along with Karin, Tiger and Jesse racing their first triathlons!

And Jared in his first SHORT! I knew you could do it!

PHOTOS! In no particular order!

Jesse and Tiger coming off the bike

Myself, Nathaniel and Mike getting ready for the ELITE heat!

Nathaniel pre race setting up transition

Storm too fast for the camera again!

Karin and Rachel

Mel Running down to her bike after the swim

Mel post race. Still having fun?

I'm sure I've missed some people, sorry about that. And big thanks to Scott and Eddy for taking all the photos!

Wet, Windy and Cold Half Marathon

I had been debating for a while as to whether I would run the half marathon this past weekend for a while. With my mom in town, and she hasn't seen me race since 2006, I decided to enter and see what I could do.

Weather predictions didn't bode well for the race. As would be expected for the fall classic, the forecast was calling for rain. As luck would have it Thursday-Saturday were next to perfect days and then come Saturday night the sky opened up and the rain started.

Waking up Sunday morning at 6AM I took a quick peak at the weather network and this is what I saw

Now I realize that says Nov 16th, but today and yesterday have had the same weather

It was about 4*C and raining pretty steady for Vancouver. Fortunately though the entire course was always sloped in some direction and the result being I never found the puddles too hard to avoid. Don't get me wrong I was soaked, but at least my feet were never squishing around in my shoes.

I dressed pretty well for the race which made the rain and cold not an issue. The hardest obstacle yesterday was the wind. Being a smaller half marathon than the Victoria half (1000 people vs 5500), I found myself running alone a lot and out along Marine drive the wind really picked up. It would have been smart for me to put in the extra effort to keep right behind people for this section but heinsight is 20/20 right.

All in all I had a good race. Slower than victoria 1:26:29 but considering the conditions I'm pretty pleased with myself.

I could have done a little better with the pacing, I have been running a lot of mile/5k runs lately and when the gun went off, I shot out like a bat out of hell. I ran my first km pulling back at 3:26 pace and was in first place for nearly 800m. Oops, I probably paid for that a little. Live and learn.

I had a lot of trouble seeing the km markers, some of them were hidden in the bushes so I only have a few of my splits.

1km - 3:26

3km - 11:11 (7:44 2k)

8km - 32:01 (20:50 5k)

9km - 36:07 (4:06 k)

10km - 40:19 (4:12 k)

12km - 48:50 (8:30 2k)

18km - 1:14:23 (25:27 6k)

21.1km - 1:26:29 (12:06 -3.1km)

Average pace 4:06 YUCK!

To see how the rest of the UBCTC did check here

5k Run TT Results

On a dark cold rainy night, 26 UBC Triathlon Club members set out to do the 5k run time trial. Using the Acadia loop that we ran last year we set up the same course, 5.5 laps to make a total of 5k. Or so we thought. Last year we mapped out the run based on GPS data from Kevin's Garmin 305. Assuming this was accurate, we used the same route this year. In our easy lap warmup, Winston confirmed that a lap was 900m and so we ran an extra 500 after 5 laps to make it an even 5.0k

With little warmup because people didn't want to get all wet and cold we started. Barry led out and was quickly gone out of sight, and I followed with Matt on my heels and a chasing group of 3-4 about 30-40m back. Lap 1 was fast but felt good finishing the first km in 3:20. I decided this was too fast so eased up a bit, probably a little too much because km #2 was in around 3:45, YIKES slow!

After that my pace times get a little fuzzy because the laps aren't set up for easy math. All I know is that I ran my first lap in 2:59 and ran through the finish line with 1 lap to go at 14:57. I thought I had it. I really wanted to break 18 minutes! This wasn't all I had to think about either. Matt had been hawking behind me the whole run. I waved him passed to try and share he load after 2k but he misunderstood my signal. In his defense, it was a little vague. After seeing Matt kick hard in the mile race, I knew I needed to break him early. So with 1k to go I really started picking it up and surging. I pushed hard on the uphill and the elastic snapped and Matt was 10 meters back instead of the 2-3 he had been. Now the fun part, I'm lapping some of the people running and I can't decipher their feet from Matt's. Its he right behind me? Or still 10-15m back? I just keep pushing trying not to think about. I round the last corner, cross the line and hit my watch!

18:08, NOOO!

So close.

I felt really good running though. Last week I described how I felt like I could have kept going, but that I just couldn't go any faster. Last night being just a little slower, felt great. Hopefully I can carry that in my race in a few weeks.

I was really pumped with this finish, but oh so close. Then Matt finished about 9 seconds back and Winston finished about 30 seconds back. Winston informed us that the route was 5.1km. Not sure how confident I am in this, but then two other runners with GPS watches, Kim and Kory both said the course was long. When we averaged out all 3 GPS it gives us a distance of 5.13km.

Now what do I do. Do I scale this down by 130m and give myself a time of 17:39 for the books? Or do I just suck it up and it doesn't count as a new Personal Best.

I'll leave that to you to decide. Leave a comment as to whether you think this is a new PB or not?

Also, I didn't get a photo of myself at this run, however, we did snap this funny one of Nathaniel which gives you an idea of the conditions.

Tuque, long sleeves, goofy smile.

Mile Recap

Well, I'm not going to lie. I've got mixed emotions about the mile race on Wednesday night. The race went very well for the team. We had 29 athletes out at practice which is HUGE for us and the biggest showing for the race series to date.

My time for the mile was 5:13. Pretty good. Before starting I was telling people I wanted 5:00 but figured that this week that was unrealistic and that anything under 5:20 would satisfy me.

We started out pretty fast, first lap in 69 seconds. Probably too fast, but oh well. I settled in and let a few people pass me thinking that they would blow up, running my second lap and crossing the halfway mark in 2:31 (82 second lap YIKES). My next lap didn't go any better running it in 83 seconds. Meanwhile lots of teammates are passing me.

I managed to close it down and run my last lap in 79 seconds, but I just had nothing in me with respect to a kick. I didn't feel like I was dying, in fact I felt I could have run a few more laps, but I just couldn't go any faster.

Now the reason I say mixed emotions, I'm pleased with my time, however, not really with my placing on the team. I finished 6th on the day where as if we had run that a year ago I would have finished 2-3rd. Now I am in better shape than I was in a year ago, however, everyone else has improved it would appear significantly more than I have. Now don't get me wrong. I'm pumped everyone is running so well, but a little bummed that I am not seeing the same shift up.

Oh well, I won't dwell on it too much. I haven't been training for speed at all. I do half marathon and half irons. So speedwork isn't exactly my focus. This weeks race is a 5k run TT and hopefully the longer distance suits me better.

On a more positive spin, we had a bike race this past Saturday, a flat 10k TT out at Iona and there I finished in 3rd with a pace of just under 39kph which is pretty good for me. I rocked out a skinsuit and my full TT bike and wheels.

Me in an Ontario Skinsuit. Made me go faster because wearing Ontario BURNED! I really wish it were Quebec

Thats all for now, I know a lot of people were wondering how the mile went.

Victoria Half Marathon

This was pretty much a perfect weekend! Although many people have heard that a ferry caught fire or something on Friday morning, my commute over to the island really wasn't too bad. Only the shocking line and anxiety of getting on the boat was a result, and even that wasn't too much trouble because we left early enough that we could catch the next boat.

So Winston and I departed for the island with hopes of two new PB's! A few other UBC Triathlon team members were running as well, Melanie Van Soren and Kelsey Foote ran the half marathon with Winston and I, and Ceilidh Curtis ran the full marathon with his sister.

Winston and I stayed in the hostel which proved to be a pretty sweet lodging, I got to sleep at 10:15 and was good to go come my 5:30 alarm the next morning.

Had my standard bagels and gatoraide breakfast and at ten to seven we were out the door walking/jogging the 8 blocks to the race start for 7:30.

My main concern coming into this race was going to be my fitness. Having been sick I knew that I wouldn't be able to go out as hard as I normally would and wasn't sure how my lungs would hold out.

Conditions for the race were perfect, roughly 5-8*C when the race started and about 12-13 when the race ended. I remember thinking once at about 6-7k that my wrist were cold but after that I never thought about it again.

Deciding that the best game plan would be to start off conservative, I wanted to run my first 10k in around 39 (rather than my previous plan of 37:30ish).

1) 3:49 - 3:49

2) 3:52 - 7:41

3) 4:00 - 11:42

4) 3:46 - 15:28

5) 4:00 - 19:29

6) 4:09 - 23:38

7) 4:08 - 27:47

8) 3:58 - 31:46

9) 4:02 - 35:48

10) 3:58 - 39:46

I ended up going a little slower than expected but sub 40 was still fine. I knew I was well in control and could hold this pace. The first few km were really hard because still being a little sick I had a really stuffed nose and throat and it took about 8-9k to clear up. Water stations were REALLY important for me to clear my throat and mouth. Km 5/6/7 were all kinda hilly in the park and are the explanation for the slow pace.

Once I saw that things were going well I decided I just wanted to try and hold 4 minute pace. This was going well until about 12k when I had a really bad aid station. Marathon walkers could start early to ensure finishing at a reasonable hour, and as a result right about this time is when I was catching up to them. Right before an aid station a woman jumped in front of me because she needed my powergel that I already had my hand stretched out for. This made me have to stop to get another one (I really needed to fuel up because I wouldn't have a chance again until 17k). This only really caused me about 2-3 seconds which shouldn't be a big deal, however, I lost the group I was running with and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get back into a rhythm once its been broken. Even though I was working harder, I was losing ground.

11) 4:05 - 43:52

12) 4:04 - 47:56

13) 4:08 - 52:05

14) 4:00 - 56:05

15) 3:59 - 1:00:05

16) 4:05 - 1:04:10

17) 4:04 - 1:08:15

18) 4:05 - 1:12:20

My goal continued to be run 4 minute pace and as you can see I hover between 5-20 seconds over pace. Then all of a sudden km 19 was slight downhill and wow, a 3:46km. This brought me back into contention for sub 4 minute pace and when I realized I had a little zip in my legs I decided that 4 minute pace (1:24:24) was no longer my goal, but I wanted to run sub 1:24:00. The last mile was definitely the hardest one of the race, rolling little hills and lots of turns. I had to fight really hard to go sub 1:24. Hitting the flags at 100m I could see the clock ticking past 43,44,45 seconds so I just gave'r and managed to go under the flag in a gun time of 1:23:59! SUCCESS!

19) 3:46 - 1:16:06

20) 3:48 - 1:19:54

21.1) 4:03 - 1:23:57 (1.1km)

Last Mile in 5:58

Last 800 2:58

Last 400 1:25

My final chip time was 1:23:57. I'm super pleased with this especially since I was so unsure about my fitness. The only kicker, I placed 6th in my age group, 4th and 5th were the two runners ahead of me and only by seconds. Oh well.

After this successful day I decided that I wanted to put in another hard month and see what I could do at the fall classic in November. The season never ends!

Thanks for reading.

Oh! and this is a PB, by 6 minutes!

Two other PB's on the day, Winston beat his two year record by 19 seconds and Melanie beat her time by 8 minutes I believe. So great day.

Photos to come.

Sooke Race Report

I decided to wait before writing this report and for that I'm glad I did. After the race I was very disappointed with the outcome, however, now a week later I feel as though I have a different perspective of how things went. Believe me, had I written this report fresh, it would have a very different feel.

It was a typical race weekend, the only difference being not nearly as many people involved. Sooke was a small race and many of the regulars decided to skip it because they were either competing elsewhere or had already finished their season.

I stayed at Dereks place once again, thanks for that, and woke up race morning as rested and ready to go as ever.

From Dereks we had a short trip to T2 where we dropped off our shoes and then hopped on the bus to Camp Barnard where the swim start is.

After a nervous bathroom wait where there was 1 bathroom for the 100 athletes, Derek suggested wondering the camp and finding others. Sure enough we found port-o-potties that had clearly never been used. It was funny how relaxed race morning can be when you don't have any of the usual stresses.

Derek and I quickly got to the water just in time for the last announcers words and waited for the canon to go off.

Check out this photo, do I look prepared (bottom right)?

I didn't feel good in the water, I felt as though I was being passed by everyone and that I just wasn't giving it 100%. My right knee started getting stiff in the fleshy part behind the joint but that settled out after about 1000m. I exited the swim with a descent time just under 29 minutes. Fairly comparable to my other swims this year. I can't really complain seeing as how much swimming I've been doing.

I've never seen myself in my goggles, now I know why people make fun of them

After a quick transition I was off and on my bike. Right away I was feeling great. Pushing hard and catching up to a lot of people. I was told coming out of transition by some friends and spectators that I was in 10th, turns out truth was 11th. Quickly in the first 5 minutes of the bike I had caught myself up to 7th and after 15km was in 6th. Things were going my way. That is, until disaster struck on the bike. I was riding in the big ring starting to slow down. I reached up to shift down to the small ring just as the guy in front of me swerves a little to the left. His derailer cable snapped and he was investigating it. His swerve wasn't anywhere near me, but it was sudden enough for me to shove my shifter down and brace my hands on the handle bars. In doing so my chain fell off over the small ring. No big deal, shift up keep pedaling and everything will be fine. Well no such luck today. The road in Sooke is rough to say the least, and I'm assuming I hit a bump which threw my chain up between the small ring and my frame. When I pedaled I just cranked the chain further up wedging and twisting it. Chain was instantly locked. Got off the bike and first thought it was my rear wheel from the bump. Opened the quick release, no luck. Loosened it again and thats when I noticed my chain. I tried as best I could to get the chain out but it was in there good. In the end it cost me about 3-4 minutes to fix. I had to jump on my left pedal in reverse to get the chain out putting a nice little scratch down the side of my frame. Great.

After this is all dealt with I flip the quick release back and get on my way. Instantly my gears are shifting all funny. Awesome, but no matter. I just keep pushing, trying to control myself from going 150% for the next 10 minutes and blowing up. I went from 6th to 20th in those minutes.

After a descent next 30km I am coming down a steep hill and one of the volunteers waves an ambulance bus in front of me. I'm conveniently going 65-70km/h and have to slam on the brakes. The ambulance didn't have its lights on or anything, it was just commuting. As I slowed I got to about 20km/h before my breaks put my rear wheel into a skid. Once this happened, I guess my rear quick release wasn't tightened enough in my haste because my rear wheel slipped right out. Thankfully I wasn't going very fast and managed to get my foot on the ground before the wheel did any damage to my bike or fell out. It was just dangling in the chain. This could have been terrible. Thankfully it wasn't. The worst that happened was I had to get off my bike losing all the momentum of the hill (which was a lot) and put the wheel back in while swearing under my breath of how stupid I am.

All in all this was a physically great bike, I felt strong and fast. However, with the issues unfortunately it didn't go quite as planned. And on a separate note, I don't know if I will do this race again for the simple fact of the quality of the road. It was terrible. Sure it was a beautifully scenic course, but when you think your bike is breaking under you the whole time because of the violent vibrations, you just can't enjoy it. Road quality, gets an F. The rest of the race an A though.

D-Rock Looking pro on the bike

Probably about 5 minutes before bike disaster #1

I like this photo

Nicks girlfriend Hannah out on the bike course

My lovely ride over to the island, Claire. I don't think I was that happy on the bike

Ceilidh out on the bike course

Hey looks its the bumble bee, this guy makes me laugh

I ended up getting off the bike in 14th and started the run. Sadly this is where the race ended for me. Getting out of transition I was only about 1:45 behind Derek. Not bad considering, I should have been really pleased with this. But after the first km was slow (around 4:20 instead of my hopeful 4:00) I tried to push it a little faster and only came up with a 4:15 for km 2. These are decent speeds but I just didn't have the mental toughness to deal with it anymore and I gave up. I didn't actually stop running but I slowed down drastically. I think my 3rd km was on 5:20. Things I've learned from this race;

1. 19km is a long way to run home when you really just want to quit.
2. Running slowly in racing flats hurt
3. Running slowly in general hurts, your really not smooth and there is a lot more hammering.

I ended up finishing the race averaging 5:05 min/km on the run. My slowest run pace EVER in any race. I wasn't a happy camper. People were passing me going at a very easy pace, 4:40-4:50, but I just didn't care. I let them go. I don't think I've ever done this before and hopefully never will again.

Now for the reflection. It has been a long season, and I wasn't in as good of shape for Sooke as I was for races like the New Balance or Vancouver half. Despite this I was demanding of myself the same quality performance. I managed to pull that out of the swim/bike, however, when I got to the run I think it was just a little too much. I wanted to run 4:00 min/km but even without any mental breakdowns that was probably beyond my limits. So when I couldn't pull it out I started blaming the race for my lack of fitness. Saying that all this had happened and no one would blame me for quitting (which they haven't but should). I've come to accept that I quit, however, am no longer as disappointed with the outcome of the run. Next time I just need to re-evaluate my form and create goals that are not exceeding my potential of the day.

In the end it was a long race (longest I've ever done by 1 minute), but it was a beautiful day and I got to spend it with a bunch of my friends, so I'm no longer complaining. And on the plus side I am now much more motivated for my half marathon in 3 weeks to finish my season on a strong note.

A new friend Eric Suess who may be joining UBCTC

Derek very quickly making a 2 minute gap much, much bigger

Claire finishing up the run

Me with the look of pleasure all over my face

Enjoying the scenery out on the run course

Podium shot. Can't say I'm too disappointed with this one, Derek and I 1/2 and Eric in 3rd!

Vancouver International Half Iron Race Report

This week has just flown by.

Change of pace for this race, instead of having to travel all day Saturday I got to relax quite a bit since I was sleeping in my own bed for once. I didn't want a repeat of last year where despite being a race in Vancouver, it was my latest sleep because I kept putting things off. Fortunately Nick and his girlfriend Hannah were staying with me and they kept me in line and to bed early.

After a pretty good pasta dinner with chicken, I just had some stretching to do, pack up my bag and head to bed.

Surprisingly, despite sleeping in my own bed, this was the worst sleep I've had before a race all year. I think it was because it was really hot in Vancouver. Oh well, at least I got to sleep early so although interrupted, I still managed 6 hours of sleep before the 4AM wake up.

Out the door by 4:45 and at the race site by 4:50. AWESOME! Nice being so close.

Set up T1, uneventful, bathroom line, then hop in the water for a brief 150m warmup and adjustment in my wetsuit.

This race had a beach start which is the only one I do each year. Clearly I need to practice it. Running into the water and diving in. I quickly filled both my goggles, and fortunately didn't end up with them around my neck. Problem being, I'm 10 meters into the water with 400 people behind me. No time to fix them now without getting thoroughly drowned. Instead I swim the first 300-400 meters completely blind, eyes closed simply bumping into people to my left and right to sense the direction I am supposed to be going. Thinking that this is among my worst starts ever, I finally get some free space, turn over onto my back and fix my goggles. And sure enough, who is right behind me, Rachel Kiers. Seeing her right behind me reassures me a little, she typically comes out of the water right behind me, so things aren't going so badly after all. That being said, I feel like I could have done much better. (Photos taken from SI photography or Rachel Kiers site).

Exiting the water in 15:15 after my first lap. Yikes, slow, I wanted to be around 13:45. Must be a slow course. The water was calm but everyone was fighting for the same water. Instead of fighting I just pushed hard and managed to bridge my group up to a group about 30-40 meters ahead of us. Thanks to some poor navigating with the current, I tack on to the back of the group and let them pull me in to shore.

Click this picture to enlarge, its pretty sweet

In this photo above, coming in to the finish of the swim you can see Rachel (middle blue arm) Nick (far right) and Me (middle left with arm in air). I think this is a pretty cool photo.

Exiting the water Nick is right in front of me. So despite how I felt in the water, I guess this swim is pretty much on par with the rest of the season coming out with Nick (albeit really slow)

Swim time 31:07 (slow course).

T1, uneventful. I make up some excuses to Nick that he beat me because I didn't shave my beard.

Onto the bike. I knew my competition would be A) Nick B) Rachel C) Sheldon. Rachel and Nick were both right with me leaving transition, and Sheldon with a much better swim would be 3-5 minutes up the road. I didn't concern myself with him too much though because in the past two races I've crushed him on the bike so bringing him back in wasn't going to be an issue.

Nick and Rachel have beat me on the bike in every race we have done so far this year. My goal therefore was simply to keep the two of them in sight. I've had a habit of going out too hard in the past, so I used them to pace myself and decided if I was keeping up, I was doing well. The pace seemed nice and relaxed, but I figured that was just what even splits was supposed to feel like.

After 2 laps (of 4), I still haven't caught up to Sheldon, I decide to time him on the out and back and realize he is still 4 minutes up on me. I haven't caught up ANYTHING! Whats going on. For someone who averaged 32.5 at the last race he is FLYING! I decide this is the point where I need to throw caution to the wind and just go after him.

Surprisingly my third lap, although my fastest (gaining a minute on Nick and Rachel) equaled Sheldons 3rd lap to the second. It was only on my 4th lap that I brought him back in, but was still 95 seconds down after T2.

Can you believe Scott averaged 33.2 on that bike!

Rachel Kiers

Some good looking guy

A hometown star, Magali Tisseyre who won the womans division

Patrick Waters

Sheldon Clarke

I dug a little too deep at the end of the bike. Within 2k Nick has caught up the minute lead I had on him and Sheldon is out of sight. Seeing Nick catching up I decide to try and relax and gear up for when he catches me and to just stick to his heels. This works successfully for the first 10-12k. My knee is kinda hurting, similar to the last race, but its not actually slowing me down. At 14k I decide its now or never to catch Sheldon and I surge. Although the effort increased, my speed didn't at all. I'm going to blame the wind again and the increased drag caused by my beard. In the end Sheldon ended up pulling it back to 3 minutes by the end of the run with an impressive time of 4:29:21. I followed behind at 4:32:52.

On a comical note, there was a finishing shoot which I missed while talking to a friend on his first lap. In doing so I either had to backtrack 100 meters, or climb over a small fence to get to the finish line. I decided the jump would be much quicker and spectacular so after 4.5 hours of racing I scale a quick 5 foot fence and storm the finish line.

Now for far too many numbers for anyone to care about. I broke down the race splits provided from the website to show where I lost time to Sheldon.

My mistake, I hugely underestimated Sheldon on the bike. He went from 32.2kph at his first half 7 weeks ago. To 32.5kph at Victoria a month ago, and rode a blistering 35.6kph in Vancouver. I was shocked. Once again, I'm going to blame the beard. Too much drag.

Again, for those interested.

Run

And I'm not sure what happened here, they must have had the km markers wrong or something because I didn't catch my time at the end, however, if I backtrack it means I ran a 2:57 last km which I definitely didn't do. Maybe a 3:30 but not sub 3. Especially not with my fence jump.

All in all I'm really pleased with the way the race went. Few tactical errors. I feel I could have bridged closer to Sheldon on the bike had I raced hard from the get go. Had I been able to see him on the run I think it would have been a different race. And that was only 30 seconds away from being in sight. Remember this Sheldon. I won't make that mistake again.

Was pleased with my run, however, when I tried to surge, I realized that I can't push myself at all. When running with Nick, when he was setting the pace I had no problem keeping up, but then as soon as I was on my own I needed some incentive. That will definitely be a major focus over the next two month until our next faceoff in Sooke.

Anyways, results can be found here

WINSTONIAN!

Amy running one of the fastest run splits of the day

Rob showing off some guns on the course

Jeremy flying into the finish

Rob with his finisher Salute

And big congrats to all my friends who raced. A few PB's in there. And Facundo, Choppy and Kamal who raced in the sprint. Nick sorry I couldn't find more photos of you.

Kamal

Facundo Winning yet again

Was a really nice day and great to see everyone out. And what did I learn? Should I have shaved. HELL NO! I've now got a built in excuse for all my mini failures.