UBC Tri/Du Race Report
This race was supposed to be a “friendly opener” to the race season. All that changed when more than 50% of the top contenders are the people you train with. All of a sudden, this friendly race became a hotly contested showdown ie. every precious second spent during the transitions actually counted – not that it never did, just the stakes were higher.
I showed up to this race with my game face on. I knew there was no way I was going let last year’s sandbagging time beat me again, which had given me a little more confidence heading in.
All that was left was the unpredictable weather!
The previous night forecast wasn’t pretty…DUN DUN DUN how am I going get in my action shots? My personal photographer (aka Dad) threaten to not attend had the weather not been pleasant. Ironically, my sister was playing volleyball in a nearby gym (War Memorial) during the same time, which would had made it convenient excuse for ditching me. Thanks Dad!
Good news, those little mm’s were a no show on race day and I got in my action shots. My race ended up being close to 10 minutes quicker than last year. Overall I was quite pleased with all swim, bike, and run. It was a positive sign that I was ranked top 15% in all three swim, bike and run (but obiviously some of the faster swimmers who took time to change before getting to T1 were shafted of a better swim split muahaha). This has never happened before!! YAY! Now I can say I'm equally as slow fast in all three.
Let’s back up. The swim felt awful. Perhaps that’s how I should get the job done. Coach Tia was able to time me with a clocking of 27:50 for the 1.5k swim. I was having severe stomach cramps and felt slower than during swim practice. I suspect that the cramps might have been caused by those uber tight new tri suites. They look fabulous by the way!
My dad who was braving the cold to take pictures thought I was attempting a new “topless” approach to pedaling since he only saw me leaving and arriving to the transitions. These were the only pictures he captured of me on the bike.
Me leaving T1
Me entering T2 – What a complete dork!
I knew my slow runs wasn’t going make me a faster runner. A lack of intervals training was my downfall so far. This explains why my legs felt fresh at the finish and why I had to pretend a little to seem tired. My lungs on the other hand were spent. Hey at least I know where to improve. It’s still march and early in the season! =)
