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| I must had caught the photographer sleeping on the wheel. Here's an arm candy pic of myself instead. Photo Credit: Reuben Butterfield |
Well you know the
result, but here’s the back story.
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| My look of shock as there was still a whole bunch load of people ahead of me. Photo Credit: Reuben Butterfield |
My supportive
girlfriend and tough-love coach Jen thought I was a silly goof after my
joyful and raceless (but very fruitful saskatoon berries…it was a good season)
trip to Edmonton. Her father is a man of few words. He asked me how I did in
Edmonton, and then with the short reply of three words
"What a
disappointment".
His home cooked pasta meal and apple apricot were amazing
the day before Edmonton. Disappointing the meal was for no show.
Heading into Elk
Lake, it was good to pre-run and pre-drive the run and bike race routes
respectively again. I think the body knows how to push through pain when it
knows precisely how much pavement/trail is left on course.
I was well rested.
Motivation was high especially after Jen's dad words. Lessons were learnt the
hard way last year being out sprinted in the finish line. Race conditions was
hot and tough. You definitely need to embrace a bit of grittiness, which are my
favourite type of racing.
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| Me a little nervous and hiding in the back. Photo Credit: Reuben Butterfield |
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The swim. No wetsuit
in fresh water. Not ideal. One clockwise loop with blinding sun on last
length. New this year, we started in carrel groups and chip time as we funneled into the lake.
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| Swim sighting was bad! :/ |
The bike. Single out
and back, but a lot of punchiness mini up and downs left and rights, also
watching out for not mainly live cars in the residential area, but more
concerning other cyclists heading in opposite direction on the back stretch as
there was no yellow line delineator at times. Not necessary fast, but a lot of
fingers near brakes to ride the twists and turn action.
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| Race map |
The run. Also single out and back on the trail with a little hill at the turnaround. We saw the biker placed the cone for the turnaround point on the day before. The same biker was also doing a bike escort for the leader on race day, so cool!
---~~~---
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| Me on far right being all signed up and race ready. Photo Credit: Reuben Butterfield |
A first 1st for me!! That's in the overall category (baby!). I have previously finished pretty much
everything inside top 10 i.e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. But never 1st! Lose. Lose. And I lose.
If you're looking for a little inspiration and close to WiFi and/or can tether off a friend, this speech
from Deshauna Barbara is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen this already!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BRrvPQzTwE
I had my very own Deshauna moment. "...the person we are now is not the person we need to be when we cross the finish line in our dreams..." Powerful.
I'm learning now to
embrace my fail forwardness. If you've ever reached rock bottom or what
certainly feels like it, take that as an
opportunity to bounce back higher than ever before! I'm stealing this line from
a clever friend, Brendan, who had previously shared his Monday motivators with
an insightful quote along those lines. He also happens to be a very good
triathlete because I've seen him fail forward first hand behind all his
successes.
I had 26th fastest swim, 3rd fastest bike, came into T2 in 4th place, and 1st fastest run splits, finishing 1st.
When one spectator said top 3 was close on the 1km mark of the run course, I knew the front two guys were coming backwards towards me. My racing instincts kicked in, and it was my race to lose at that point. I had passed the leader just as we hit the turnaround point with the start of the bike escort.
This
was the short, but very intense and anything-can-happen derby style Sprint
distance format. Losing mere seconds can come back to haunt you no matter what
places you are battling for. My transitions times improved 11s from last year.
Last year I lost to
a unsuspecting teammate by 1 second and lost to the age group winner by 10
seconds in this same exact race. The slimmest of margins and it hurt more than
the legs. You knew I wasn't looking back, easing off the gas pedal, nor
celebrating early this year regardless of the situation.
I'm sad to report, since
mid July 2019, Coach Jen has formally shutdown any high end intensity workouts
on the bike and swim for preparation for the marathon in Berlin in late September. But I am starting to enjoy the running workout blocks as the stimulus is working and yet still keeping me race fit for multisport.
We will see in Cultus lake sprint tri, grande finale race of the multisport season! No bike/swim intensity training. Just running. We will see.
Thanks for reading!!
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| Oldies from UBC tri club - Theresa and Naiely and her friend Karen Thanks to Theresa for hosting us!! |
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| This was Lindsey's first win in the ladies category in the same distance as well. UBC Tri Club oldies FTWs!! |
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| Post run cool down lap and caught being fashionably cool. Photo Credit: Joel Rushworth |
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| I'm a man who's car is an accessory for the bike. A fellow athlete seems to follow suit and (motor) bike is also an accessory for the bike. |
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| A trick I learned with the glasses after watching world champion, Mario Mola! |
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| Super fashionable swag shirts as many were seen wearing them. Angie, race director, has out did herself again. Great work! |
