Race Report: Sooke Half – One Last 'Test' before dee Ultimate 'Test'

Date/Time: August 7th, 2011, 7:25 am
Weather: 15ish, foggy morning, sunny afternoon
Distance: Half IM
Gun time: 5:28:16
Swim: 40:39 (2:08 per 100m pace)
T1: 1:53
Bike: 3:04:50 (29.5 km/hr)
T2: 1:14
Run: 1:39:43 (4:44 per km)
Age Group: 5/9
Overall: 29/110

Good friends make threats to get other good friends to the race site on time. I happen to have some very speedy friends, however when it comes to the previous day to check in our bikes and attend the supposedly mandatory pre-race meeting, it’s a completely different story. We seem to always take our princess time to get everything ready and arrive very fashionably late. Not sure if everyone else is just early...;)

We easily missed our intended ferry sailing which was a blessing in disguise; I knew there was this awesome Montreal smoke-meat sandwich place nearly to kill time for the ferry wait - yummy goodness!

In the end, we managed to arrive to T1 only minutes before the 6pm cut off time to drop off our bikes. Success (minus the mandatory meeting, so sorry to the race organizers)!

I had learned I had a pretty awesome number coming into for this race in Sooke.

Double Symmetry is double sexy!

Okay Carl had a cool number too (but obviously not as awesome as mine).

These local races in the Subaru West Coast series have been a huge asset to my training for the upcoming Ironman Canada in less than two weeks! I’ve learned that doing these races are not only the fun part of my training to keep my motivation and sanity, but also these races allow me to build some solid lactic threshold training. These are huge confidence boosters for preparations for my first Ironman.

The swim!

We all know very well I can’t swim (or very well for that matter) and it is only with reason I let the WORLD pass me. Being a bottom-half swimmer, I usually leave family members and friends wondering if they had missed me coming out, but then humbly realizes – NOPE – he’s still way out there still swimming. This time, nearing the final length of the two lap swim course, I just envisioned “ice-cream scooping”. Yes, you'd read correct, big fat and generous ice cream scoops for my swim technique. I wanted to desperately bridge this 10m gap to a group of half a dozen swimmers to use their draft. After envisioning the ice cream scoops, pretty soon I found myself exceeding the pack and arriving onto the swim transition carpet in front of that group. I was impressed!

Seriously, I’m not in last place anymore! Look at all those athletes behind me!

Then onto T1!

This was one of my quickest transitions (shaved 6 seconds from last year).

The Bike!

It was a little bit tricky swiping off the hay-ie grass off my feet and putting on my bike shoes just in time for this picture!

Crisis averted! No cones were slowing me down this time around! Road rash all healed. =)

I’m sure you’ll find people saying this bike course was much tougher than last year’s course. I had to take the descents gingerly to ensure I didn’t do something I’ll regret later, and it’s just a smart time to nutrition up. Unfortunately, a few blind turns and suddenly you realized crappzers – maybe I shouldn’t have swallowed that cliff bar right before this climb. It happened several times, and that was just what caught me a little offguard. Overall it was a hilly and challenging course – so glad they closed off traffic! Terrrific!

Then onto T2!

Uneventful.

And finally the Run!

This is by far my favourite run course of the series. I enjoy the hills, the grass, the gravel, the road, the jetty and the town. It’s rockstar like atmosphere and I like the challenges that this course throws at you.

Thunder thighing it up. Love this run course!

So only two weeks until Ironman? T-week begins now!

Thanks to UBCTC team, race organizers, and most importantly volunteers for this race! =)

Race Report: Victoria Half – New milestone!

Date/Time: June 19, 2011,6:45 am Weather: 15ish, clear
Distance: Half IM
Gun time: 4:57:07 (new pb!)
Swim: 40:10 (2:07 per 100m pace) could be better?
T1: 2:09
Bike: 2:42:25 (31.5 km/hr) not bad!
T2: 1:04
Run: 1:31:22 (4:35 per km) felt strong!
Age Group: 10/25
Overall: 81/354

It all started with the realization of a missing timing chip a little 10 minutes before the gun...

Something just felt bare on the right ankle from that internal gut feeling check. I looked around and surprisingly found a chip just a metre away sitting on the motionless grass, but the chip had read ‘411’ on the black strap. My number was 137. Close? Not even! Did I grab the wrong chip I thought. Seconds later an individual ran to snatch it up. I was left chipless only minutes away from the start.

It was a case of a rookie mistake, but a veteran’s cool. Long-story-short, FLASHBACK to last year I had experienced a similar mishap, and was missing a crank bolt until race morning and eventually got one that fitted just in time from the bike mechanic – surely I had little to worry about this time around. This was an epic mental battle from pre-start to finish.

I ran to the lady at the timing booth and kindly advised her of my situation. She opened her eyes wider than normal and was shocked as anticipated and told me in a demeaning tone, “you’ll have to pay for one if you don’t find it and nobody turns it in!!” I replied “okie, that’s a deal”, and was handed chip 500. I booked it fashionably to the starting line.

For some reason, this was one of those swim that just honestly tanked. Everything felt a bit more offside than usual. There was little time to adjust my mental focus. Even this breaststroker was making a feast by kicking a 3 metre wide span and I felt helpless without doing a lengthy detour. Out of the water I came and at this point I was a solid 253!

No time to celebrate, I dashed into T1 and did a flying mount. Ka-lump, la-lump my left shoe hit the ground a couple times before slipping my feet in.

This was a difficult bike course – rougher terrain and some false flats near the end of the (2x) lap course. I was holding a decent 32km/hr speed until the last 5km where the bike fell apart, not in the literal sense but it sure felt like it. I was passing person after person in the first 80ish km and even yo-yo-ing with a few duels with riders equipped with aero helmets and fancy deep rimmed wheels. By the time I hopped off the bike and I was in 124 (a little more respectable).

T2 teed off well.

Mental focus was in check. I felt cautiously up to the test and my legs took the first 2-3 km to fully transition into run mode. Unlike the last race where I struggled cardio-wise, this time I was able to hold a decent pace and finished the two laps within a minute of the run splits. Finished in 81st in a deeper field this year.

In personal record fashion, I recorded my fastest half IM time of 4:57:07. Sure the course was shorter. But if you measured the time with the winner’s time, I had always previously came 1-hour-plus-ish; this race was a different story and I wasn’t digitally-spanked by more than an hour. A personal milestone was born.

Thanks for reading and congrats to everyone who participated!! Also, thanks to the volunteers (including the year-round planning committee) for making this event so successful every year. =)

PS Turns out, I had left my original timming chip in my street-clothes back pocket. Lucky for me, I turned the chip in without emtying more of my pockets.
 

Race Report: Shawnigan Lake - Official Season Begins

Date/Time: May 29, 2011, 7:30am Weather: 15ish, sunshine
Distance: Half IM
Gun time: 5:07:27
Swim: 38:36 (2:02 per 100m pace)
T1: 3:43
Bike: 2:41:15 (32.7 km/hr)
T2: 2:02
Run: 1:41:53 (4:50 per km)
Age Group: 4/5
Overall: 27/84 

Alrighty, no more blogging hiatus, I guess this little race report is a little overdue...perhaps. This past week, I’ve been flabbergasted with loads of real world work and client meals and trying to sneak in more training whenever I can, despite the jubilant excitement of the city for the Canucks and their exciting run for the cup! My prediction is I just hope the better team will win zee cup. =)

Cool shot I stole from the Clock Tower Images



Shawnigan Lake is the first race of the Subaru Western Tri Series and having done this race last year, I had a better idea of kicking the can this time around.

Here's the team report summary: http://ubctriathlon.blogspot.com/2011/05/shawnigan-race-results.html


Naiely, Derrick and I went over to the Island together. Naiely prepared us her famous homemade pasta for the ferry trip over and it tasted great - among her secret ingredients was added brown sugar. We also had yummy yogurt with fresh fruits to top it off. We’ll have to bug her for that secret recipe.

We took the later ferry than everyone else on the team, and had to rush to the race site. No worries, we got there just in time to miss it. Haha it’s the honest effort that counts anyways. The team took over Camp Pringle (superb hospitality) this year and it was super nice being within minutes of walking distance to the race start.

swim.

Having not swam more than 7 times the past two months, and 3 of those 7 swims were during the last week leading up to this race, I knew I was in trouble for this race and it would had been a huge wake-up call. Despite all of this, my time was 59 seconds faster than last year – and I still got the gloomy impression I was coming out dead last out of the water. I know my time will improve once I start attending VOWSA swim practices.

Lesson Learnt:

Two Swim caps did the trick this year, no more bobble heading coming out of the water this year unlike last year!



t1.

Last year I lost time for running back to retrieve the timing chip because I had taken it off whiling stripping my wet suite and then forgot to put it back on. A similar trend as the swim, I was out of T1 quicker by 69 seconds than last year. I was happy.



bike.

This year I bought miss P2 to the race - Faster, lighter, and aero-er, which made it a lot fun-er race.

I think it even attracted celebrity status of sorts, which I’m not known for. While completing the third lap, a random dude biked past me on the passing lane, rotated his head 90 degrees clockwise at me like a robot and yelled out “hey it’s UBC TRI KID!” I had no UBC tri clothing on at the time, but I guess my signature grimacing-smile had given it away. This had given me a boost on the third lap along with so many Olympic and sprint bikers on course. First and last of the 4-laps course felt really lonely. Biking-wisely I was exactly clocked in at 2 minutes faster than last year.

Lesson Learnt
Temperature was warm and sunny and I was wearing my Sugoi long sleeve jacket which was a huge mistake! It also costed me a couple mintues figuring out how to put it on and take it off at the transitions. But one great thing about this is that it had simulated a heat ride and I felt HOT on the ride. Good prep for Ironman at least.



t2.
I didn’t use the portables this time around and saved 103 seconds from last year.



run.
I guess by this point, I had just under 6 minutes of banked time from last year’s race. Inevitably with the hotter conditions this year, my cardio system was running out of steam (no pun intended). Usually it’s the legs that give first, but I really felt the lungs burn. The last 5 km was the hardest part as this relay lady was on my tail within a metre all the way to the finish line (good work on her part for keeping up). It did make for an epic run, but I learned from Garmin I was still 5 minutes slower than last year. I was impressed that I managed to shave off last year’s overall time by 20 seconds.

Lesson Learnt
I will need to embrace for the hotter conditions, and as the season moves on, hopefully so does my fitness.

Dash to the finish

The highlight of this awesome trip was enjoying buffet food on the ferry trip back. Not going lie, we kinda pigged out – and not surprisingly Naiely felt obligated to taste-test everything on the dessert menu.

Race Report: BMO - Mowing down the clock for Boston

Date/Time: May 1st, 2011, 7:30 am
Weather: 7ish, Cool sunshine and not a single drop of rain.
Distance: Marathon
Chip time: 3:07:32 (4:27 per km pace) new pb!
5K: 21:03
10K: 41:45
15K: 1:03:00
Halfway: 1:27:22
30K: 2:08:36
35K: 2:32:03
Gun time: 3:08:00
Age Group: 25/211
Overall: 99/3225



I remember it was absolutely gorgeous running weather for this marathon. Fantastic race support I might add! Okay, that was probably the biggest understatement of the year – but still awesome race bling, music, scenic route, cheer zones, many fans, GU & aid stations, and pre-race urinal rooms (a little too much info?), and the list goes on and on!! I felt like a rockstar. I was a rockstar!!


This was my first BMO race ever and I was a little aw-shocked with the number of runners here in my very back yard. I was caught chit-chatting when I bumped into mr. sauce (Derrick), who had signed up the night before to test his 8K distance. This explains my poor start time HAHA, but I really did enjoy the race.


I tried starting slow, but I just couldn’t resist the temptation. I started going faster barely after the first 5K already (21:03) and had a faster split by 10K (41:45). Between 15K and 20K, a Japanese dude was dressed up in a monkey suit and holding a decent pace in the low 4 minute/km. I tried sticking with him but had the unfortunate image of seeing his back sweat seeping into the costume. I give him A for effort tho. I was able to make the heroic pass soon later. Unfortunately for zee monkey man, he was nowhere to be seen afterwards.

By close to 20K, I was actually really close to smashing my half-marathon pb (1:28:35ish from 2009). My legs still felt fine by this point. I think the halfway time is actually a little shy of the marathon-halfway since this was actually the location for the half-way of the half-marathon. Clear as mud? For the record, maybe add 90 seconds and that’s probably more correct – I think I should be around 1:29:00, which is not quite my half-marathon pb by my books.


By 30K onwards, it was just a matter of how fast my legs can make the daunting approaches on Burrard Bridge as pace times were already thrown out the window. Garmin wasn’t impressed.


But as the distance grew, so did the calf tightness. My right calf started cramping so much that it altered my form and I was compensating with my left foot. The tendon on my left foot outer side eventually got so bad, I knew this requires some serious downtime from running the next week or so.



I had this sweet RunningRoom pace band with all the odd-numbered km split times. Too bad for me, it was a uniform distribution and my exponential relationship was a terrible fit to the pace band times by this latter end of the race. Still a great gadget to have on hand (oh a pun) http://www.clinics.runningroom.com/paceband.php


As I crossed the finished line...I took two tiny steps to a grinding hault and one of the finish-line catchers kindly whispered in my ear, "walk it off, the cramping will go away." Easy for him to say...but I think it helped.

My final thoughts:



My time may not have been fast enough to register for Boston next year with the new staggering scheme for registration, but I’m keeping my optimism high. Hopefully the world isn’t paying attention and I can still sneak in with my qualifying time. ^^ It’s likely it will come down to me vs. 100,000 for 26,000 spots.



Despite this, I was quite happy I was able to qualify for Boston again, and this time doing it as a working man. Not too shabby, this was 20 seconds faster on a more challenging course than my previous pb. I did get some more decent mileage in these few months and gain a little more confidence everyday for that Ironman in late August.

Thanks to Steph and Kendra for making these awesome signs!!
Boston crew: Brendan, ThunderThighs, Max, Liam (and also Carl and James but not shown). All had fantastic Boston qualifying times; Big congrats! =)