Back to Back weekends of racing, this time in Edmonton - Sprint Triathlon

Celebration (my TT bike) finally got the call up for this race! It was like switching up the goalie for back to back weekends of racing. Covid has made August a busy race season. It was suppose to be the World Championships for 2020 but long story short a year of deferrals and another year of international travel restrictions resulted in a local fun branded race (with the same WC finals title lol). 

Last time I wanted to race here, I forgot to sign up! Celebration wasn't too impressed with me in 2019. I didn't make that mistake this time. David was there with me last time, and I'm thankful he decided to join me again for 2021 edition. Worst case scenario, at very least I can say I DNS/DNF/DQ onto the results page instead of the shutout.

Here is a gift for me for qualifying onto Team Canada for this race! David was upset he didn't get one, but I reminded him the management fees we already paid to make him feel a little better!

The Swim (51st fastest split)

The one clockwise loop has remain consistent over the years. There is a little tiny beach run for the start. I've done the standard twice in the past, but this was the first time I only needed to do one lap! I chose to start on the right side about 7 spots from the end.

T1 was a good place to make back some time with a long run and a wetsuit transition.

The Bike (11th fastest split)

The bike was two large loops going in counter clockwise direction. We avoid the Emily Murphy hill by going around the less steeper Groat Road. There were a couple construction zones where no passing was allowed on Groat Road for the second hill along the out and back part. The conditions were wet and windy. I was impressed that road bikes were keeping with me as I was nervous not being in the drop position. This planted the seed that maybe I should had brought the road bike for this race!

T2 was pretty straight forward

Lots of room!

And the most fun, the run. (18th fastest split - also finishing 18th overall)

The one counterclockwise loop was half trail and half road. We didn't do the bridge to the zoo part this year. Perhaps it was a smaller footprint for this year. I made quite a bit of ground on the bike and the run I actually felt like a was moving backwards from the people up front.

Against My AG, I was lucky to sneak in the W for this race. But this race was dominated by the U23s!

Overall, David also finished first in his AG and 18th overall in the standard. I was happy we shared similar results! 

Hold my beer! Time to race again in less than another 2 weeks.

Covid has forced me to be more spontaneous in my race planning this year. Thank you for reading and joining on my journey! :)