2015 Lakeside Sprint Triathlon Race Report

Here we are, last triathlon of the season. The months flew by and just a few posts ago I was still wallowing in self pity. Things are better now and it's been a while since I felt my knees hurting while running or biking. Am I completely healed? I don't know, and to tell you the truth - I am, and will forever remain cautious, I guess. If I don't do my strength and maintenance workouts, there are consequences for sure. But I digress. I don't know where I was going with this... a sort of conclusion to my season or a preamble to my race? Come'on thoughts, make up your mind!

So, Lakeside Sprint Tri. It was also the season ender last year, and since I like competing against myself, going back was a good way of seeing if I've improved in any of the disciplines. The week before the race was a sort of mini taper, but sprinkled with a few quality workouts, such as 6x400s on the track or the Truuli-2 workout on Trainer Road, that I did the day before the race (like you're supposed to, according to the Trainer Road gurus). I was skeptical at first, but as soon as I finished this workout I was so pumped up and ready to go, that I was almost bummed that I'd have to sleep on it instead.

I prepared my tri bag the night before and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the race start was once again pushed to 10am (thank you Multisport!!) and I would not have to wake up at ass-o'clock to make the 2h drive to Lakeside. Sleeping until 6am on race day, what a treat!! I was super tired anyway, and by 10pm I went to bed and fell asleep immediately. The alarm clock rang in the middle of a nightmare that had me following the GPS to Lakeside, but ending in Woodstock instead. The dream was so vivid, that I woke up sweating and on the verge of having a panic attack, but I was instantly relieved to see that I was still in my bed and Mr. Google did not send me to the wrong race site.

I showered, put on my Coeur team kit, then had breakfast: a slice of bread with margarine and a thick slice of ham, 2 boiled eggs, and a Portugese egg tart that I had bought the night before. Nothing new on race day? I love living dangerously, what can I say?

Took my water bottle, my Gu Espresso Gel (for the buzz effect on the bike) and THE banana (my only pre race ritual that I cannot live without), and started driving at 7am sharply. The roads took me through long stretches of farm country and I had to trust my GPS that it would get me to destination on time, despite the road closures that I ran into and put me a little on the edge.

I made it to Lakeside with plenty of time to set up my transition spot leisurely and even chat for a while with my friends Carly, Dana and my old coach Dave.

Yay for a selfie with Carly!

And yay for a selfie with Dana!

I even had a rack with my number (163) on it! Despite the record number of women in my 40-44 AG (31), I found the transition not being as crowded as in previous races, so maybe we were spread out better, who knows. And despite the cold, the sun was poking its rays through the clouds and made the conditions look rather promising. It's always a good feeling once everything is under control and you're only minutes away from another adventure and hopefully, a lot of FUN.

I visited the portapotties for a last time, ate my banana, then put on my wetsuit. It was the best way to stay warm anyway and from what I had heard, the water was much warmer than the air as well - a balmy 22C, about 10C higher. With 15 minutes to spare I went to the lake to do my swim warmup, but it may have been a mistake because it only took me about 5 minutes and then I shivered for another 15 until my wave was sent off. Must have been the cold because I peed no less than 5 times in the water. Everything to keep myself warm!!

The swim was very crowded, and my strategy this time was to concentrate on doing long, powerful, and complete strokes instead of the high cadence motor boat. I also sighted less than usual and kept my head low. All this made the swim less strenuous, in spite the moments when I was literally grunting and swallowing mouthfulls of weedy water. It kept me hydrated though, and that was a plus. I didn't find any feet to follow, but I think I passed quite a few people, especially from the wave before. I finished the swim feeling the most relaxed this year and that's a good sign that whatever I was doing worked to my advantage. It was also the fastest swim this year, on par with the Muskoka 70.3 relay (actually even faster).

Look at all the white caps still swimming behind me, and the blue ones from the wave before. Booyah!

The transition was short and sweet and I hopped on my bike in no time... so fast that my heart was still up in my throat. I also forgot to change sports on my watch and found myself fiddling with it while riding and that seemed as dangerous as driving and texting. I gave up after a wind gust almost pushed me sideways and scared the crap out of me (not literally, jeez). Once more, I found the route extremely crowded and for the first 5km I kept passing people without a chance of moving to the right that much. I was getting really worried that I may get a penalty, but it's not like I had where to go without hitting the brakes or getting myself within someone else's drafting zone. The crowds thinned out by the time I reached the 10km turnaround, and for the rest of the race another girl and I kept passing each other back and forth - but thankfully she was not in my AG (but looked very legit in a Team Canada tri suit). According to Sportstats, I passed 31 people on the bike and 5 of them were in my AG. Not bad me thinks, especially with all the rolling hills and headwind on the longest stretch of the road. I ate my gel about 2/3rd of the way after being slowed down by the headwind. I finished the bike in 39 min and change, 6th in my AG. I had NO idea of my time since my watch was all screwed up, but it felt like a solid bike ride by the amount of effort that I put in.

I had another fast transition, in just under 1 minute. I chose to go sockless again, since it was only a 5km and I had already removed enough skin from my toes to see blisters coming back so soon. I took my Gu Chomps with me, thinking that I may need them (I didn't). I also managed to reset my watch and change it to Run mode (I should learn how to use the Multisport mode next year, d'uh), and the plan was to get to the first kilometer and assess my effort level. Once I got there I hit lap and saw 5:12. Whoa, that was fast and I wasn't feeling bad at all. Can I keep the pace up? A few hills were coming up ahead, but then I could just use the downhills to recover. I finished the next kilometer in 5:08. Even better! Those were definitely my fastest paces this year and I was still feeling like a million bucks. The next 2km were pretty tough because of the hills, but I still managed some decent times (5:20 and 5:40). Last kilometer, I took it home (4:56). I could not wait for the paved section as I knew that I was just around the corner from the finish chute. 3 ladies in my AG passed me on the run, but they were very strong and most likely running under 5 min/km. I knew that I could not keep up with them, but everything can happen, so I never gave up mentally. I had an awesome run, what can I say. I managed my pace really well and in the end it paid off.

I finished with a big smile on my face and... wait for it... a 5 MINUTE PR (for both this race and the sprint distance) and a time of 1:23:49!!!  I was already happy with my 8 seconds PR at Bracebridge, so you can imagine how I felt when I saw the time on the board. But the field was also very strong and despite my best effort to date, I finished 9th/31 in my AG and more than a minute slower than the previous girls.

I went to change into dry clothes because my tri suit was still damp, then took a few bites of banana, oranges and pretzels and went back to transition to pack my stuff. I was on a schedule to leave as soon as possible because I wanted to get to hospital in time to visit my friend Carol before going to pick up my son from his Bronze Medallion class, so I didn't stay for the awards or draw prizes. Dana later told me via Twitter that my name was called for the second best prize, but I'll take karma and a PR over a prize any day. It was a day that kept on wining though!

And if you want more proof that this day could not have been better, here's what welcomed us later when we pulled into our driveway.

In the end, this triathlon season, just like this double rainbow, was pretty spectacular. I didn't do an Ironman, not even a half - but I don't feel less of an athlete because of it. I had a lot of fun, I remained healthy, I even got a shiny new PR - and I didn't kill my legs in the process. I gained a lot more insight into racing short distance and I can definitely see myself continuing on this path in my old age. And maybe, just maybe I'll also make it on the podium then. 

For now, I have one more Multisport event on my calendar: The Barrelman 1/2 distance swim/bike. My longest ride this year was about 70km, so that's going to be interesting. Let's hope that I didn't jinx myself with all the tiger blood and winning above. Between us, I am more looking forward to another weekend away than the race itself, haha. Niagara Falls for the win, yeah! #eyeroll #sarcasm ... I am so blasé!

2014 Lakeside Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I told myself before the Ironman that if I was going to survive the day, I would participate in this last triathlon of the season "just for fun". I knew that my friend Marlene was going to be there, Zin was already signed up and so was Phaedra, the 40-45 AG champion extraordinaire, who most likely was going to leave me in her dust. But since all are awesome peeps, I knew that I was going to have a great time. My legs, not so much.

On Wednesday before the race I had a moment of panic when I realized that I was not yet registered. Oops. In retrospective, I should have checked the weather app before clicking OK, but ... whatever. Rain or shine, I had no reasons to back up now, I had raced in worse conditions after all.

As to training for it, *cough cough* -- since the Ironman I went on my bike once for a 50km ride with a friend from the tri club, and I ran 2x1600m on the track once... sloooooooow, just to make sure that my legs were still in working order. And I swam twice in open water, more for relaxation than anything . In my mind, this was going to be a a day to be more social than competitive and so I had zero stress going into it... but I admit being a bit puzzled while deciding what to wear. Eventually I decided on wearing my Cour tri top, my old black Sugoi tri short and my cycling jersey that I bought in Mt. Tremblant. That's what IM gear is for, right? Bragging rights forever, yo!

The drive was going to be about 2h long, so we woke up again at some ungodly hour that started with a 4 if I remember properly. We got dressed warmly, knowing that temperatures were not going to raise much more over 10 degrees Celsius. We also took our rain jackets since a thunderstorm was on the menu, just because Mother Nature was in a pissing mood I guess.

We ate breakfast and drove to Lakeside... hoping to find a coffee shop nearby, but alas none was to be found. However a "premium" parking spot was available, just beside the portapotties. I was secretly hoping that Phaedra's friends from Real Deal Racing were going to be there with cookies, bananas and coffee. But they decided to skip this party, and we were left miserably un-caffeinated.

We took our bikes in transition, then we went to pick up our bibs, get body marked and leg chipped. We returned in transition to set up our stuff, then we went back to the car to remove the extra layers of clothes and make a last stop by the portaloos. It was still raining, and the idea of putting on my wetsuit was a challenge that I was not ready to tackle, yet I knew it was necessary due to the low temperatures. From what I had heard, the water was much warmer than the air, so I was eager to get myself immersed in this hot tub, or at least that's what I wanted my brain to believe.

I am so thankful that I decided to bring my old XTerra instead of my ROKA because the operation took only a minute given how much looser this wetsuit is. Plus I wasn't planning on breaking any records, so the less stress the better. As expected, the water was nice and warm, but once I finished my little warm-up loop, I had to resort to jumping jacks so I don't turn into an icicle. I was in the third wave and the minutes were not going by fast enough. But once the gun went off, I knew that I had to swim hard to keep my blood flowing. I jumped in with no less than 6 dolphin dives, 6 more than in my entire career of triathlon age grouper, then tried to stay close to the buoys, and latch onto feet whenever possible. This was a triangle shaped course (just like at Professor's Lake, yay) - but not quite as peaceful. There were also lots of weeds, but thankfully deep enough that my hands were not touching. Overall I thought that I swam really hard, but once I got out of the water my watch showed the slowest time ever on this distance. Oh well, whatever happened, happened. Not going to dissect this swim forever. I am pretty happy with my sighting and the fact that I ended the season without drowning.

I made my (very short) way into transition and there I decided that I didn't need any extra layers. For some reason, I was boiling inside. I don't know what I was thinking... but at the time it seemed to be the right decision. By looking at the race pictures, it seems that I was in the minority to go on the bike with only one (soaked) layer, but hey, I like living dangerously. See? No jacket, no arm warmers, no socks... no problem! We'll talk about that later...

Sometimes I like to compare myself with a seal or something. My fat layer is thick enough to protect me from the elements, alright? Riding on...

Where was on my bike again? Ah, yes... out of transition and on the road. So what do I do, like in every other sprint that I did this year "for fun"? Hammer it, of course! On your leeeeeft! And man I love passing people! This race felt very crowded though... it was tough to stay legal, there just wasn't enough space between people, so for most of the time I found myself riding on the left for long stretches at a time, passing 5 bikes at once. There were a few rollers, but not the big hills that I was expecting after watching the pre-race video. Nothing much else to report... I ate a gel, a drank water, I peed, I tried to stay alert and hungry for a placement in top 10.

Just before the 10k turnaround a lady in my age group passed me and I made a pact with my legs that they were not going to fall off until I passed her back. And so I did quickly afterwards, then continued burning every cell in my quads until the end of the bike leg, heart rate through the roof, way above threshold... because racing all out was going to be the most fun I could have that day. That is, if I wasn't going to have a heart attack. Thankfully my heart stayed put and brought me safely through the dismount line, even though I looked like I was about to collapse.

Not many smiles in these photos!! That was freaking HARD! I managed to average 30kph with a perfect 40min split for 20km. Given my lack of speed training this year, I'll take it!!

Truth is, I was no longer feeling my hands and feet and running in those cleats without any feedback from my toes was interesting to say the least. I racked my bike, with difficulty since my hands were also numb and not very agile, then struggled with one of my socks for about 15 seconds, until I decided that it was not worth the effort. What difference it would have made when I had no feeling in my feet? I bet that even the most ginormous blood blister or a stress fracture would not have fazed my legs. So, for the first time ever, I put on my shoes and skipped the socks. Nothing new on race day? I keep forgetting about this detail ... but you never know until you try, and this was another opportunity with an outcome that didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, so I went for it!

I heard someone calling my name running out of transition, it was Cody Beals cheering on us mere mortals. That was awesome! And yes, he was already done with his race and I was just starting my run. With his 40kph bike average and a 17min run... D'UH!

Okay then... time to see what's left in those legs of mine. And the answer to that is... very little energy and a shitload of pain. I pushed hard again, heart beating out of my chest, but the hills were there to destroy me. Take this, shredded legs and achy knees! Oh and by the way, here's a million potholes and enough mud to keep you entertained. I tried to catch Marlene, but she was getting out of reach, running strong ahead of me... Knowing that this was her first tri this year and a comeback race from injury, it made me happy to see that she wasn't showing any signs of slowing down, which could only mean one thing: all systems A-OK and more races together in the future!! (Maybe? I hope... I like Marlene, she's all kinds of awesome).

I resolved to running my own pace and remaining on top of those potholes. And for good reason, as I saw another girl injuring her ankle just before the turn around. It was definitely not a day to let your guard down. I managed to keep my head in the game and finish under 30 minutes, far from my 5k PR, but good enough for 8th/24 in my AG with a total time of 1:29:00 (yes, again).

The pictures below are a good visual for everything that went on at Lakeside. It was not my favorite race because of the weeds in the lake, the shallow swim start and the crowded bike. The weather conditions were less than ideal too and I have been waiting for 10 days now to get hit by pneumonia. I might have escaped this time, but it was a close one. I am still not convinced that racing after mid September is a good idea, and I will definitely think twice next time that I sign up.

Time to wash my sneakers, say goodbye to my race buddies and call it a year. It's been an awesome one, with plenty of rewards. I made new friends, I set new PRs, I even got a handful of points in the Multisport Canada series to give me something to chew on for next year. I am still racing for fun, whatever that means in the spur of the moment, and that, my friends, is what keeps me moving forward... A perpetually moving target.

Until next time!