BC Long weekend tradition at Elk Lake RR

The next stop in my triathlon schedule involved another road trip, this time to Vancouver Island.  I convinced Jen to join me for the trip, and tricked her into registering for the standard distance triathlon.

The Elk Lake triathlon was recently added to the Dynamic Series as a way to keep the Self Transcendence triathlon alive.  This is the longest running triathlon in Canada (38 years!) and has always taken place on the BC long weekend.  Despite its long history, this would be my first time racing, though I did volunteer at it once several years ago.

Having done the earlier race at Elk Lake I've not seen the grass this golden brown, it's always been green. 

I chose to race the sprint in preparation for Super League two weeks later.  The course was a single 800m clockwise triangular loop in Elk lake, an out-and-back loop along the technical old Saanich road, and an out and back loop on the east side trail of Elk lake.

The water temperature was a comfortable 24oC, which meant another non-wetsuit swim.  The race was a floating start.  And by floating, I mean waist deep water.  We were told at the pre-race meeting to watch out for the stump on our way back onto the beach, which was marked with a small orange buoy.  The sprint heat was smaller, but I found a good group to work with on the first two segments.  The standard distance races started 10 and 20 minutes before we did.  By the time I rounded the second buoy, the lead men from the standard distance race came flying past us.  It was humbling to know that they were covering double my distance, yet swimming so much faster.

The bike course started fast as we rounded the lake and onto the scenic Old Saanich Road.  The course was technical with several punchy hills and blind sharp corners. Even though we drove the course the day before, I still felt uncertain about what was coming. This is the type of course that rewards athletes with good bike handling skills and has familiarity of the route.  The non-wetsuit swim tips the favour for swim-bike specialists, since the punchy nature of the bike course made it more difficult for bike-runners like me to estimate the gap.  

The bike course had amazing support with the help of at least 50 local cadets. Huge shout out to them for doing everything they can to make us feel inspired. Passing by the roundabout with a group of them cheering felt like a little turbo boost of energy. 



Kudos credit to Judah Paemka catching this photo! Riding the legal distance just behind Jeff.

Coming back into transition, I knew that there were a couple guys just ahead of me.  I didn't know how many of them were in my age group, but knew that I would have to run hard to catch anyone I could.  For the second time in two weeks, I watched the winner of my age group cross the finish line.  This time the gap was only 9 s!  And to add to the pain, Brendan Robinson from the UBC triathlon club just edged me by 1 s.  These finishes make the race exciting!  And also illustrate the importance of practicing your transitions and pushing right through the finish chute.  I struggled to put on my socks in T2, which might have put me just out of reach of catching Jeff. Pretty sure Jeff ran without socks! :P  Lesson learned.

I was happy that Jen decided to extend her triathlon season to eight days and compete.  We saw her enter T2 during our cool down and take off on the run.  She knew that she was in fourth and looked focused on reeling in the girls ahead of her.  She ended up finished second female overall.

 Brendan Robertson right beside me 1033 and 1035.

Photo credit to Judah Paemka: Jeff, winner of my AG, Me, and then Brendan Robertson eventually edging me down by 1s at the finish

A chance to learn from the Superhumans - ITU Edmonton Standard Triathlon RR

The next race included a road trip to Edmonton for the WTS event.  I have done this race the last two years and feel that it is underrated.  You get to watch the best triathletes in the world duke it out (twice this year!) and get a better perspective on how they approach each aspect of the triathlon.  Edmonton is known for it's event organization and it really shows.  They have been credited for writing the manual for future cities wishing to host a WTS series race.  This year, the WTS introduced three mixed team relay events.  One of them relays was in Edmonton, so we got to watch the elites compete in a sprint distance triathlon Friday night, and then in the team relay Saturday after the age group races.

Before I get into my race report, I wanted to mention some of the unique things Edmonton did.  Edmonton has hosted a WTS series race or a World cup event multiple times in the last two decades.  Hosting an event of this stature requires that the community is willing to embrace the event. For instance:
- They brought in over a hundred volunteers (including hair braiding)
- Closed down all the roads on the bike course.  They are repaving Groat road and Groat road bridge for the 2020 grand final.  Not many triathlons can get support from the City to do this.
- Technical officials are situated along the entire course to ensure everyone followed the rules.  It was interesting to see how precise they were for the elite races when it came to the mount and dismount lines.  In a couple cases, they would review the dismount on a tablet to see if they needed to assess a penalty.
- They offer an official swim familiarization for age group athletes with boats and kayaks to help with navigation.

The AG standard triathlon course includes two clockwise loops of Hawrelak lake (purple), six loops of the bike course (red), and two out and back loops around Hawrelak park for the run (blue).

With the elites tackling the sprint Friday evening, the age group races started a little later.  It was nice to sleep in race morning and casually make our way to the start line at a reasonable hour (the standard race started at 10:15 for the men's heat and 10:45 for the women).  The water temperature was 22.8oC an hour before my race started, so wet-suits were not allowed.  This wasn't good for me since Paul Tischelaar (Olympian from Beijing 2008) was in my heat!

At 10:10 AM, all the age group men lined up behind a number on the starting block (it was self selected based on first come first served).  And with the cue 'on your marks', we run up to the front of the pontoon and wait for the horn.  It was cool to start the race just like an elite!  The swim was warmer than the air temperature, which was nice for a non-wetsuit swim.

Coming out of the water, we had to run about 400m to transition (the hidden discipline).  I hammered it trying to make up ground with 8th fastest T1 split. 

The bike loop was challenging with 6 climbs up Emily Murphy hill and a couple technical sections at the turn around points.  This style of course suits my strengths as you require good handling skills and use of all gears. There was a steady stream of motorbike officials patrolling the course, which made it a little intimidating as they were passing on the right side. To prevent cyclists from crossing over one another, the bike actually runs clockwise on opposite side of road. Good thing the roads were closed circuit. :)

By the time I got to the run, it was getting hot.  Luckily they had three aid stations on the course and a sprinkler set up at the 1K mark of each lap. I posted the 7th fastest run split, something I've been improving on this year. Jen posted the 2nd fastest split of the day, going sub 40 minutes! 

Despite our quick run splits, I witnessed my age group winner crossing the finished line 10 seconds ahead of me.  I was gaining on him over the last 2K, but ran out of distance.  Similarly, Jen also watched her age group winner finish 11 seconds ahead of her. Regardless good to represent our home province BC in the mix!

The pro race mixed relay was exciting to watch. The order sequence is female, male, female, and male, each completing a mini-triathlon (300m swim, 7K bike, and 1 mile run). A new skillset required for the mixed relay is a clean tag-off with officials carefully ipading your tag at the transition line. The women's approach was orderly like penguins al lined up tightly before diving. In contrast, the men's approach was much more leisurely hiding in the shade until the very last moment until they had to get up and sprint for the tag-off. This might actually maximize your momentum.   

The exchange area is complete carnage! You really know each nation is giving every bit of energy as some weren't keeping it together and puking and fainting after each exchange. 20 minutes of intense action for each. The commentator was figuring that 11-12places qualifies you for the Toyko olympics in 2020. It's a super exciting format, one that I'll be keeping an eye on!