Race Report: Great White North 2005
What a start to my "tri"athlon season. On Sunday, July 3, 2005, I had the best race of my life.
I say "tri" in brackets, as my season actually started with the Auburn International Triathlon. However, due to heavy rain, the lake was full of debris and the swim was cancelled. It was turned into a duathlon, the swim being replaced by a 3k run. I managed a very respectable 30th overall against some very fit athletes on a very difficult course. I was redlining it much of the day but I didn't blow up. I was astonished how my fitness had come along and how hard I could actually push my body for 5 hours. I finally had the endurance+speed I have been working so hard to attain. It was this revelation that made me very confident of my abilities coming into GWN.
My taper was a bit messed up for this race. I always run the K100 relay, but this year the race landed 8 days out from GWN. I usually do a 20min anaerobic run 8 days out from my big races anyways (a Mark Allen tip I picked up), so it fit my schedule. However, a 60min anaerobic run at altitude took a lot more out of me than my usual 20min! My legs were quite slow to come around, and though I managed to get in some easy taper rides, I tried not to run much in the week between races. On the day before GWN, I felt flat. My last SBR session to loosen up wasn't the zippy feeling I usually had from a taper.
Race morning, the weather dawned almost perfect, sunny and mildly warm with a moderate NNW wind. The water temperature was very warm, almost too warm. I thrive in hotter conditions though, so I wasn't complaining. I made sure to get in at least a 500m warm-up, as I was planning to go a lot harder from the gun than usual. I've been putting in more mileage in the pool, and thought I had a good shot at breaking 30mins if I kept the tempo. This would likely keep me clear of the MOP hammerfest and put me up there with people who knew how to swim a straight line, site and pace properly.
The swim started with the usual crowded melee, but quickly cleared as the pack spread out. I jumped on a set of feet and kept my turnover rate high. First lap complete in 14:53, on pace for sub 30. Jumped on the feet of the guy right in front of me at the turnaround buoy and followed him to the swim finish. Thought of trying to pass, but figured this guy was holding a pretty decent pace, so why waste the energy? Hit the timing mat at 30:16. I had a hard time finding my wetsuit strap and still had the top on my arms when I hit the strippers. Rookie move! Could have knocked 20s off transition there!
The rest of transition was flawless, just dropped my wetsuit, grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, and ran to the mount line. In Auburn I managed to knock one of my shoes off before mounting and was happy not to do so this time.
I started passing people right away. Some fast looking dudes too. Was wondering, am I going too hard? Should I back off? Nah, I feel great. There was a tailwind in the first 3k and I dropped it into the big ring and went at it. Legs felt surprisingly good. The next 40k or so to the turnaround was uneventful. I passed Catherine, just outside Stoney Plain; she was on her way to a 5th place women's finish that day. One of these days I'll beat her out of the water, one of these days!
I was ripping past all the aid stations. I noticed a lot of people specifically use aero drink holders for this race, as the on-course liquid comes in small vinegar-type bottles that don't fit bottle cages. I prefer to carry three bottles, keep cruising, and make time. I kept saying to myself "your legs will tire, don't worry about", but they seemed to be on cruise control with no sign of fatigue today. I have to credit this to all the tempo work I have been doing in training. After cruising through the river valley I saw Tom Evans coming back towards me leading the race, no surprise there.
I started counting positions, 1, 2, 3, 10, 15… As I hit the turnaround I was in 20th spot. Woohoo! I knew I was up there but this felt pretty good! I picked up the tempo a little more. I had a lot of gas left in the tank, and felt I could afford to. HR was creeping up to 160 now. Every 10k or so, I picked off another competitor and I couldn't believe how fast I was going. I was passing guys that looked so strong, and most of them had disk wheels. My beat-up P3 w/ 404's is a pretty fast machine I suppose. It seemed like every guy was looking at me and saying "going too fast, gonna blow up, I'll catch him later". But I never did blow up. I hit the Stoney Plain town limits in 16th spot.
posted by Greg @ 7/04/2005
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