Shawnigan Lake 1/2: Race report

What a day for a race, the weather was absolutely spectacular, the water was a good temperature, and I was feeling ready to have a good race. I woke up at around 4am, had my usual race day breakfast of oatmeal and a bagel w/ peanut butter and a coffee. Then I headed up to the race with my friend Andy who was going to be racing in the olympic distance race. We got up there nice and early, got checked in and set-up my transition area and got ready to go. Jumped in the water and got in a good 10 minute warm up and was ready for the start.

Swim:
I seeded myself about 3 rows back from the front of the swim, which looking at it now was a mistake, but somehow I always get a bit intimidated at the start of the race, and everyone looks ridiculously fast in wetsuits!!! Anyhow, the gun went off and for the first 200 meters I proceeded to get kicked and generally beaten senseless until I finally managed to break free of the group I was with and find some open water for myself. Once free I was cruising. I settled into a nice pace and focused on my sighting and keeping myself relaxed. All the swim training I have done appears to have paid off, as I had a relatively relaxed swim, and I didn't push hard until the last 500 meters when I upped the tempo just a bit in an effort to catch a few of the people who were just ahead of me. I ended up exiting the water with the 2nd pack of swimmers in a new 1/2 iron PB time for me of 29:43. I looked at the results today and I ended up winning my age group for the swim... I can't believe it, lots of thanks goes out to Noa at PT performance who has bbeen helping me with my swim this year, thanks Noa!!!

T1: I really need to work on my first transition, as I seemed to take forever here(2:49). I'm not sure what I need to change, but I just need to get more efficient at it.

Bike: I jumped on the bike with the goal of steadily getting faster each lap. I had been working on my bike pacing over the last few weeks, and felt ready to have an awesome ride. The first lap I rode nice and steady, concentrating on getting settled into my ride and taking in my nutrition. The next couple of laps went by in a blur, I was riding really well, and seemed to be holding a good pace. Towards the end of the 3rd lap I caught a few of the guys who had been ahead of me and I was feeling great. The last lap I pushed just a bit harder and managed to come in with my best bike split ever in a half iron(2:34:00). Lots of thanks here goes to my coach Trevor who came up with a good bike pacing plan for me which I actually managed to execute properly. Good times.

T2: Easy peasy. Helmet off, shoes on, good to go(1:05).

Run:

The plan was to hold it steady for the first 5k, and gradually increase the pace every 5k until the end. Well, the theory was good, and my first 10k went off without a hitch, I was pullig back some time on the guys ahead of me, and feeling pretty good. But the heat was getting to me, and the gravel trail we were running on was sappig my leg strength quicker than I thought it would. The last 11.1k was just me hanging on for survival!!! I was trying to stay cool, and keep my legs from cramping and I ended up walking most of the aid stations on the back half of the course taking in gatorade and pouring cold water over my head. I managed to come around a little bit in the last 2k and pick up the pace and cruised home in a respectable 1:43:46. Not my best run, but not my worst run either. I think the biggest thing for me on the run is being a bit more aware of what I need to take nutritionally. If I had downed some more gatorade earlier on the run I may not have had the issues I had in the second half and been able to push a little harder. Oh well, lesson learned, and I will apply it to my next race which is the New Balance 1/2 iron on June 21st. As for the overall race, I am very satisfied, as I set a new personal best of 4:51:24 and even though I wanted to go sub 4:45:00, I think I will be able to achieve that this year after seeing this result.

Cheers,
Mike