Winston Guo: 2019 Multi-sport Mid-Season Report

I enjoy racing way too much that I've fallen behind in my blog maintenance.

Here's a snapshot of how 2019 is going so far as we near halfway into the precious multi-sport season.

My goal for the first half of 2019 season is to focus on racing well. Not just fitness but also clinicalness. I.e. how much seconds can I take off in each of the 5 splits. Evil laff.

The second half will be focused more on Marathon building. It's exciting getting into the Berlin Marathon build phase. Sadly, the training will be tough as it eats away my late tri season.

The solid red above - BAD!!! Solid green - good work coach!! :)

2 Solid REDS:

Race #1 - weaker bike leg due to heavy winds and flat course which really favours the big uber cyclists with big watts! Certainly not my strength, but I do take note as something I can maybe improve upon in the future.
Race #4 - my first aquabike leg!! This is like stripping your favourite leg (the Run) and let the Swim-bikers chop you into pieces. It's no surprise my swim leg choked as the previous day of racing made me a little fatigued.

1 Solid GREEN:

Race #2 - I love hills, not just because my favourable power to weight ratio haha. The hilly bike means using a lot of gears which is fun for me.

The vs. Top 10 is another interesting stat. A couple other notables. My T1s are very strong. My running is strong to hold on its own. Swimming, despite improving, still very much a weakness along with biking with big power on the flats.

Here's some more data I collected.

The swim without wetsuit is definitely a weakness for stronger runners like myself. It may be very much 20seconds in time more or less but it kills your reserves available to bridge the fast run split. Take note Race #3, Oliver was wetsuit optional in 2018 and I finished 2nd OA with a murdering run split passing 2nd and 3rd overall within the last 100m, but struggled this year to hang onto the age group podium. Having Steve King run through all the trivial facts on your performances was really cool I must admit, but the target on my back definitely made things harder this year.

Intensity factor for you bike nerds means a punchy tough course. Closer to 1.0 and it is pancake flat and smooth surface. This makes sense, as Westwood is drastically hilly and Oliver is pretty pancake flat and less punchy especially on the sprint course.

One variable not mentioned is protection from wind. The bike at Lacey Washington was pretty sheltered with trees nearby. This provided optimum racing to be fast. Having cooling conditions also helped.

Pavement roughness was a little tougher on the aquabike which shows the higher 20 minute average power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Maps~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Race #1 Bare Bones - also BC Provincial Champs.
Noticeably a few big names were not in attendance. Top ten was left wide open this year for me!

Run1 & Run2 - stick and 2-loop lollipop in CW direction

Bike was single out and back, but the winds reversed on us this year. Headwinds out. Tailwinds back.

Race #2 Westwood Sprint - Dynamic Race Events
One of my favourite courses part of the series. The hills are my biggest fans, and the winter of training indoors definitely suit this course.

Slight chance in the bike course, adding more distance on the out and back portion. We avoid the imfamous chain drop hill turn coming back into the transition area.
Swim is one loop. Bike double out and backs. Run is one loop of the lake with a couple puncher hills, the last one near the finish, I had to walk up.

Race #3 Wine Capital of Canada - Oliver Sprint

Had a big target on my back and not having Stan in the race, winner from last year, we knew the win was up for grabs. The transition normally is closer to the parking lot of the beach, but this year made T1 more exciting. It was a secret run inside the race. Swim RUN Bike Run. Surprise no-wetsuit swim definitely costed me 20 seconds! Patrick who ended up ahead of me, always had 2 minutes in the banks on me. Finishing in 4th just after him was an honour, he's also one of the nicest, offering me tips for improving my swim after the race.

Race #4 Oliver Aquabike

No, not on a paddle boat, though that would be fun!!

Swim T1 (my secret run leg) and Bike!

This was rolling wave start and self choosing. I picked a spot where there were lots of crowds. Thinking back, maybe I should had started further back as getting into the congestion only made swimming slower with longer tangents. The long run into transition was my chance to run, being a runner at heart. Bike was the 2nd year using this new route. What a beauty. The route is quiet and challenging with climbs on way out and pretty fast descending back. It was fun to dance my way across T2 as I was finished.

Keith, who finished just behind me actually had faster legs, offered me some swim awesome tips post race. I recently tried his band work and really noticed the difference.

Race #5 Black Hills Sprint - Lacey Washington

More of a recon trip for future and checking out on the racing scene in Washington.

Swim start was a 2-4 person roll start. Lots of room to swim. The course is fast all around. Pavement was well marked so directions were everywhere. Bike was one CW loop. Run was 3 out and back legs like the flux capacitor.

Credit: Dynamic Race Events

I have to say that my coach & girlfriend Jen is the key to my recent consistent results. She pulls me back when I start to stray away from the higher level goals. She made me do a swim block in early spring, sacrificing some run training.

I was telling my dad, "I did so and so race and finished in the top X". My dad calmly says, "you have a good coach!" No good work or nothing. My dad has a sense of humour...I think.