A Comeback to this Distance - GWN Half-Iron RR

It's been a busy month! Over a month ago (nearly 2...oh boy), a few friends and I did a little road trip to this cute town called Stony Plain to do the Great White North race, which is a popular half-iron in the Edmonton area (approx. 20-km west). If you were like us, coming all the way from BC, you were almost likely competing for those automatic worlds qualifiers spots for Penticton. Unfortunately for me, I was just outside those spots, but didn't go without a killer PB in this distance. At the end of the day it was a great set-up for my full Iron in Whistler and a very solid result for me coming back to this distance which I haven't done since 2014. I was sporting the new TRS Team Racing tri kits (yes, I'm excited to be part of an international triathlon team :) ) and it was cool seeing representation from several others out there!


PS - thanks to the race's director didn't feeling right to charge us for our great results, we were given the right to download these pictures for free! :)

I enjoyed the PhD nutrition drinks.


The race was pretty simple and straight-forward. The 2k swim started on Allan Beach, with a mass start single loop in Hubbles Lake. Two transitions race with one-direction-stick-and-two-loops-lollipop bike course and two out-and-back run loops. It was neat counting what position I was in until I realized on the run course that pretty much everyone ahead of me was also in my competitive age group (haha rats)! ;/


Here's my half iron race results in graphs. GWN was my first time cracking under top 10% in this distance!

Thanks for reading.  Until next time. Cheers. :)

We had some time to check out some Canadian Olympic Trials action!

Pace Bunnying Around for the Vancouver Scotia Half

I got to say, my first time being a pace bunny was super fun!

I was very lucky to be selected for the Asics Team squad pacing the 1:45 half marathon group. Despite the summer heat conditions, I did hit my target kilometre pacing with nearly military precision. One of the Asics Reps even ran right next to me. Feeling like a rockstar! :)

I was in the thick of the race atmosphere minus the usual intense pre-race jitters. Instead that void was replaced with some pre-race bunny jitters, as runners were coming to me (ME!) with questions about pacing and tips. A lot of blind trust was placed on this newbie pace bunny.

Pace bunnies do come with super responsibilities. People are safely tucking away their watches so that they can just solely follow you. Me! That is their complete focus. If only I had an evil laff, but I decided it was best to run a solid race for everyone to hit their goals.

My strategy was simple. Steady on the flats. Easy, higher turnovers at the downhills. Try to hit each kilometre on 1:44 pace.

http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/PaceBandCreator.cfm

This pace band helped.

Some highlights:

While going downhill on NW marine, a lady told me that we were doing it right, taking it slower on the downhill.

My co-worker Nelson at the Running Room ran with me the entire way. It was super satisfying knowing he was happy with his result. We ran 1:43:45 with plenty of time for people to reach their sub 1:45.

I got comments from people thanking us for being able to hit their goal times! “What a beast!” someone say to me!

Of course coming into the finishing line, you got comments like “Wow, such perfect timing!”

Dimitrios was pacing a friend too, and said “A long career of pace bunnying ahead of you, my friend!” I had my nerdie pace band on one wrist and TomTom GPS watch on the other wrist and gulped, “Yup!”

 

Outclassed by Fast Runners at a Duathlon – Point Grey RR

Well race day was a wet miserable day for a race. The theme was wet, wet, and more wet for the run, bike, and another run respectively. Last year we had similar wet conditions, maybe a touch worst. We were joking that the 5-10mm rain conditions we got this year were relatively better at least.  

Jen and I competed in the BC Duathlon Championships again this year. Up for grabs was world qualifier for Penticton 2017. We needed to win our respective age category to get it. Last year, we had little intention to go to 2016 Worlds in Spain, but this year the marbles counted because the Worlds will be coming here!  

Click on Image to read more!

The first run I was holding a bit quicker pace than I would had liked. The loops around the stadium was reversed in the opposite direction this year, making it slightly steeper for the ascends. Last year, I ran about 3:50s per km compared to 3:40s per km this year. Going into T1 in 8^th, I had my work cut out.



The transition was smooth, and I was careful on the bike for the first hill down to NW Marine. Two loops, I caught a few runners, but the top three was out of reach. Strong field, which made it fun. 




I had less energy to push on the bike as I was still recovering from the run. Slightly slower than last year's bike but still happy for the result. My calves last year died. This year, my calves were relatively fresher and could actually work.




I was one of the slower runners in the field despite the strong run performance (likely would had been a PB on both runs had it not been 400m longer). I got passed by a runner in a puffy jacket and was impressed. I still held on just barely sub 4minute per km pace but realized it wasn't enough to catch the top contenders. It was more just surviving this race at this point.  


Luckily 5th overall secured the top spot in my age category this time. Jen won her age category too. Super stoked. A small monkey is off our backs. :) Next up is long course and aquathon qualifiers for me.

 :0

Familiar faces and fabulous company at the race :)

 

My 100th Race - Boston Marathon RR

What was my time?
3:01:18.

I went into this year’s big 120^th Anniversary of the Boston Marathon with one of my own big milestones, as this race marked my 100^th race, since I started the sport twelve years ago. As well, the race celebrated the 50 years anniversary of women participating in this race. A lot of big miles for another big major marathon.

Me, Johnson, and Baiyun

In 2012, the year of the extreme heat, I ran Boston quite a bit slower and raced to ‘enjoy’ the experience. My time was 3:25-something in the 30 something degrees Celsius weather and it had given me a perspective for dealing with the heat on this particular famous course.

I’m extremely proud of my time, achieving another personal best time; however, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t dreamed of breaking that epic 3 hours barrier coming into this race. I raced a great race, and it was one of my strongest personal achievements, running smoothly for most of the way.

I got an Asics Boston-course adjusted pace band, which really helped. I followed it to the tee until 35km.

There was some breeze late in race but the damaged was done early with 20s C heat. This course is a unique monster and really punishes those that don't pace well.


5K: I took the downhill extremely easy for the first 4k. First few kilometers was slower than my overall run average pace.  

10K:
My left calves started cramping first, as the chamber of road made my hip rotate more towards the right side. There was a couple occasions when I had to aggressively tap the shoulder of other runners who suddenly started walking 1m ahead of me in the packed crowds after grabbing water from the aid stations.


16k: I don't sweat often, but I did by this point. I knew it was going to be a tough day ahead!  


1/2 way: 
Wellesly scream tunney could be heard a mile away. They take shifts to scream for 6 hours. Nothing beats this!


There were several mini trampolines with kids jumping and cheering us on, that given me a bit of a boost in energy!

30-35K Heartbreak Hill:
Race redemption to run sub 3 fell apart at about km 35. I knew I was about a minute off pace.  Mostly hips flexors were thrashed with bruising to the toenails. Easier on the cardio after Heartbreak Hill.

Katrina and family cheered us on at heartbreak Hill. I managed to grab a freezie stick from someone off the side of the course as my body was over-heating.


After 35K:
I dared not to look at my watch again and just poured all my effort to finish the race. I knew I was going to be about 1 minute off from reaching my goal time. At that point, I just muster all the strength I had.


Near the final stretch:
Once I hit the Citgo sign, I knew it was the home stretch. So much emotions coming down the final right on Hereford Street and left on Boylston Street. A bit bittersweet experience to see the time tick away and the finishline only hundreds meters away from cracking sub 3. Despite this, I had a great time. As Baiyun says, and dare I say it, it's another reason to come back to Boston one day.


Source: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3001/3027055789_3b055afec8_z.jpg

Time for the Lobsters Rolls and Boston Crème Pies. A huge thank you to Johnson and Baiyun for their warm hospitality! And Breakfast Courier for contributing to my trip!


Congrats to my travel buddy Eric for his first Boston!

Lastly here's some nerdy graphs and splits:

 

 

 

Race #99 - First Official 5K - BMO St. Patrick's Day RR

In 2004, I completed my first official 10K race. Since then I've been tracking all my races of various lengths of single or multi-sports races on a neat little excel spreadsheet.

 

Fast forward 98 races and nearly 12 years later, I completed my first 5K race (race number big nine-nine) at the BMO St. Patrick's Day 5K. Haha yes Winston, it's about freaking time. :)

 

Credit: Keith Dunn

 

 

Jen and I drove down to Burrard Bridge and parked near the neighbourhood, and mainly because I was too cheap to pay for parking. We ran a 5k warm-up, which was a distance equalling to the length of the race. I tried keeping up to Jen but she was too quick.

 

As we approached Stanley Park, it was nice bumping and brushing shoulders with so many stars. The local triathletes sure stuck out to me like sore thumbs.

 

Start time was 9:30am. The weather just cleared up as we start. We did a small counter-clockwise loop, which consists of the start on Pipeline Rd and around the Stanley Park Dr, and back onto Pipeline Rd and turn up a nasty hill to the finish. The terrain was quite rolly with a downhill start and an aggressive first turn. I liked the course, as it was challenging and fun.

 

 

Per unit kilometre of the race, I felt more pain than ever in my 12 years. A lot of hurt. I'm a bit like a truck and require a gentle ease into a good steady rhythm.  

 

The miles splits were recorded. I was surprised that my placement was pretty consistent, despite my speed gradually getting slower and slower as the hills rolled in.


Here they were:

• Mile 1 – 84th 5:28
• Mile 2 – 87th 11:24
• Mile 3 – 82nd 17:35
• Overall – 81st 18:09

I fell short of my overly-ambitious expectations of 17-something-something, however given my training, I don't think I can be too disappointed. Damn my slow-twitch muscles. Too slow and steady for this 5K stuff. 


Jen finished with 1 second ahead of me. I like to say I let Jen beat me, however that couldn't have been more far from the truth.  


PS - Running Room was an organizer of this event, which contributed to the reason why I wanted to sign up and represent! Great post race food from chips to cupcakes and beer! :)


Next race on the calendar is the big kahuna Boston Marathon...dun dun dun!! I'm getting excited, but also a little nervous for that big sub 3!


Well, epic cliff hanger, we'll see what Boston holds. 'Til next time!

Race morning cartoon drawn by one of my roommates. :)

 

Try the Tri, Do the Du - UBC Tri/Du RRs

Yup, the double.

Photo Cred: Jensen Tung

I was inspired from both of my current roommates, as I was the last (ehem i.e. underachieving) roommate to attempt the double, which was doing more than one individual multisport event at UBC Tri/Du. A few years ago, Jon completed the Olympic and Sprint in style and also beating me in the Olympic event. Last year, Brendan signed up for both the Olympic and Sprint events! He finished 2nd in the Olympic but then got too caught up chit chatting with friends to start the sprint.

Now it was my turn.

Left: Standard, Photo Cred: Steven Durfee

Right: Duathlon, Photo Cred: Vickram Sidhu

The Standard Tri

I knew I could finish the standard in around 2 hours 15 minutes. My concern was finishing before the Duathlon start at 11am. To add to the excitement, parked cars on the run coursed delayed the race start by 45 minutes (we were waiting for the cars to be towed). That meant about a 15 minutes buffer time.


I started in the second heat in order to make the duathlon heat. I painfully watched the first heat begin swimming inside the 50m pool.

Photo Cred: Jensen Tung

Standard results:
- swim, pretty much same result as usual
- bike, 2 minutes improvement from same course last year
- run, 2 minutes improvement despite a slightly longer course.


Here's a update to the graph:

The Duathlon

After crossing the finishline from the standard event, I had about 14 minutes to get ready. I ran to get my bike moved from the standard rack to the duathlon rack. I also ran to get my race bibs switched and ate a Sweet Potato Cliff jel.

I paced myself pretty much the same as the standard. I was running on pretty tired legs. The bike I felt no push, and then a big cramp just getting off into T2. A few athletes were just behind me including my good friend Kevin, luckily I was able to run off the cramps and held on the last 5km without any more people passing me (I was 3rd overall as I got off the bike).


Good news sometimes come with some mishaps, I managed to squeak out a 9th in the Standard and 3rd in the Duathlon before being told that I wasn't allowed to race the two multisport events in a period within 36 hours by a TriBC Official.


Oh silly gee whiz, I wished somebody told me earlier, as I didn't have a clue.


Here's a little snippet from the ITU rules updated very recently...

Regardless, I was pretty happy with both of my results. Nobody can take that away from me at least. The double DQ is something I never would had thought was possible. A DQ for being a little too awesome. Ironically, the official was feeling generous and let me DQ an event of my choosing. Next year, maybe I'll just stick to something simple and just TRY sticking to DOing one multisport event. ;)

Well, keep on being awesome! :)

Last Race as a Twenty-Something - First Half RR

The First Half half-marathon on Valentine's day was my last race before entering the new decade.

The weather was pretty wet this year and I avoided going outside for as much as possible before the start. Unfortunately due to the wait for the line-ups for the washroom, I started with the 1:45 pace pack. It made for some epic crowds surfing as I had to aggressively navigate through the field between KM 2-3. I only have myself to blame for that. :/




Once clear, I was able to settle in with a group with Ellie Greenwood. We had a steady pace until the half before she took off in style. I maintained the pace and ran steady and strong despite the miserable weather.


I was aiming for a 38:20 split at 10KM and got 38:24 which was nearly on pace despite the fashionably late start. Mike ran out from N. Van to cheer us on! He said something like "keep it up and looking for a strong second half from you, Winston". 


I was thinking happy-feet as we got around Lost Lagoon, where usually this was where the legs would start to not cooperate.


Near the end, I was struggling in the last 2KM, the calves started hurting as we had to run up the final mini hills under the Granville bridge. This was a bit of a wake-up that I need to seriously do more running. A small group passes me but I cruised into the top 100 this year for the first time!


Overall I'm pretty pleased with my progression over the last few years:). Promising sign to break my long waited sub 3 marathon eventually! This year might be that year!!

Both of my more speedier roommates had a special cake for me that night! :D 



Thanks for reading! Until next time! :)