tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57647938876351888762024-02-07T07:36:27.865-05:00My Triathlon and Training AdventuresMostly race reports from Triathlon and Running races. A few random ramblings as well.Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-46190448715474210782016-11-07T22:03:00.002-05:002016-11-08T12:43:08.938-05:002016 XTERRA Maui Offroad Triathlon World Championship Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: October 23rd, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1500m Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~32K Off-road Mountain Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~10.5K Off-road Trail Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I qualified for this race at the <a href="http://mytriathlonandtrainingadventures.blogspot.ca/2016/07/2016-mine-over-matter-xterra-off-road.html" target="_blank">Xterra Mine over Matter triathlon</a> which was actually my first off-road triathlon. The family and I headed to Maui a week before on October 15th. After a really long travel day, we eventually made it to our condo in the NW corner of Maui, just south of the race site.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were a number of other athletes from the Southern Ontario area also racing, as well as my training buddy from Kitchener, Steve Good who was also staying close by. We did a number of training sessions in the week leading up to the race, including an awesome road ride around West Maui. If we're friends on Facebook, you can check it out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/luke.ehgoetz/videos/vb.678611421/10154462619841422/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The one thing that was happening prior to the race on a regular basis was RAIN. It wasn't a major vacation sucking rain, as it was really spotty, but it pretty much rained several times a day, sometimes hard, in the 3 or 4 days prior to the race. This would ultimately play a huge factor on race day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race morning arrived and it was a pretty low key with lot's of time to get to the race site for the 9am start. We were always waking up stupid early the whole week, so getting to the race site around 7am was no problem. Race morning was pretty nice with sunshine and light winds. Despite the low winds, the waves at DT Fleming were still kicking up, and as promised, we got a rough water ocean swim!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At around 9:06am, after the male and females pros, as well as the 39 and under males, our age group was off! The first 75m or so of the swim was the hardest, just getting out past the wave breaks. Once past those, it was just a lot of up and down to the first buoy, which was only about 375m out, as the swim was two out and backs of 750m with a 50m beach run in between. I was actually able to stick pretty close to Steve the whole way and came out of the water only a few seconds back which was a nice change to the way we have raced this summer (he's always way ahead!!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The best pics of the whole event can be seen on the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/XTERRAplanet/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155452054166110" target="_blank">XTERRA Maui Facebook page</a> There are two galleries, check them out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My wife was able to catch a cool video of Steve and I coming out of the water with some epic waves. Check it out here - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/luke.ehgoetz/videos/pcb.10154480778531422/10154480772586422/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">DT Fleming swim exit</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I finished the swim with a time of 28 minutes and a bit. Compare this to the Parry Sound Xterra with the same format and distance, which was about 4 minutes faster, goes to show how much more challenging it was.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/754196731" target="_blank">XTERRA Maui Swim - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was a long run up a long hill to the transition zone. By the time we hit transition, I was with Steve and then we got to our bikes and got ready for the epic ride ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once onto the bike and about 500m in, I noticed I still had my swim skin down around my waist. What a f*cking idiot I thought to myself. I stopped, laid my bike down and proceeded in taking it off, as I didn't want to a) overheat with it still on, and b) destroy it in all the mud we were going to encounter. Once I got it off, I stuffed it into my tri shorts for the rest of the ride. Stopped on the side of the bike course dealing with this likely cost me about 90 seconds and about 50 positions on the bike, which was the worst part.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next two hours can pretty much be summed up like this:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ride for a bit;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop, either for other riders or because I can't ride my bike on this hilly, muddy course;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Try to ride;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop to clean the mud out of my bike frame</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Try to ride;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop and fix my shoe which broke when somebody ran into me;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Try to ride</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Walk with my bike with others;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Try to ride;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop and carry my bike up this stupid hill because it's easier than pushing it because the rear tire won't turn anymore;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Try to ride;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stop and clean the mud out of my bike frame...repeat repeat repeat.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The ride was simply a gong show adventure. Scott Tinley, former world champ at this race summarized everything really well <a href="https://www.facebook.com/XTERRAplanet/photos/a.10155461077486110.1073742006.139989526109/10155461079211110/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I would say that in the first two hours of the bike, I walked or carried my bike way more than I rode it, like 70%. It sucked, but we were all in it together!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I eventually reached the top, spent a bunch of time trying to clean my bike so I could ride it, then started the descent. By this time, it seemed to really thin out and I wasn't dealing with many other athletes. The last 60 minutes seemed to go by fast, even though it didn't really. My bike constantly seemed like it was going to fall apart anytime I tried to put out any power. I only had access to my rear derailleur as my front was no longer working. I eventually made it back to transition with a very disappointing bike time of over 3 hours. My Strava file only has 2:53, but that was the moving time. I spent at least 12 minutes not moving at all on the bike course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/754196759" target="_blank">XTERRA Maui Bike - Strava Link</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once back in transition, my left shoe was so full of mud, I couldn't even get it unlocked so I had to sit down and just "yank" it off. I got my run stuff on and was off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first 5K of the trail run is pretty much all up hill. Needless to say, it was hot, hard and pretty slow. Despite how poorly the race was going for me, I actually kept a positive attitude on the run and just kept plugging along. Not one person passed me on the run, and I likely passed about 50 people, so that was motivating. After 5K, we got to run back down to the beach. There definitely were some technical spots where we were jumping over or going under branches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At around 8 or 9K, there was one really hard hill left on a paved road. This part was tough, but eventually I made my way past this and ran downhill all the way to DT Fleming beach where we had a a few hundred meters to run on the beach...which was also pretty tough and slow. I eventually made it to the finish line, and was happy this adventure was over. Up to that point, I really had no idea what my overall time was, as I just wasn't looking at my watch, but was surprised to see around 4:37 or so. Before the rain, my estimated finish time was maybe around between 3 hours and 3:15, so yah, didn't quite accomplish that!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/754196749" target="_blank">XTERRA Maui Run - Strava Link</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">So overall, it was an epic day and in a weird kind of way, pretty fun. I'd like to definitely try this one again and hope for better conditions, as I really wasn't able to test the fitness during this race due to the conditions. People say the bike was HARD, but in reality, it wasn't hard at all. It was just SLOW. It would have been much harder to be able to ride and push hard on the climbs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the race, myself and the family chilled and did some great sight seeing on the island including a trip up Haleakala, which is 10,000' above sea level. I actually rode my mountain bike down the mountain 2000m before connecting with the family again. It was pretty awesome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks for following along on the many races this year. Not sure what the plan is for next year other than the Boston marathon in April and the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee in September. We'll figure that out soon enough I guess. Here are a few more race day pictures! Later,</span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-29913570550056642102016-09-21T22:09:00.000-04:002016-09-21T22:19:03.936-04:002016 Barrelman Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: September 18th, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">89K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">21.1K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was my second time doing this race. I also did it last year in 2015. The one thing making this race a priority for me was the Triathlon Ontario Long Course Series and also because this race acted as the provincial long course championship. I knew that if I was to win my AG, I'd capture the long course series championship. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The conditions this year were looking favourable for some fast racing prior to the race, given the S/SW winds. Similar to last year, it was wet and windy the day before the race when I arrived in Welland on Saturday for registration, the athlete meeting and to drop off my bike. No biggie, as the weather for race day was looking ideal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race morning came and the conditions were as expected. A bit humid, but light winds to start and a nice temperature around 20 degrees. Given the bike was mostly setup and I had no shoes for a run and we couldn't take our bikes out of transition, I found I had lots of time before the race start to get a good swim warm-up in and then I just chilled on the dock at the flatwater centre and watched the pros and then the first wave head out. After wave 1, I got in the water and headed to the starting line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I found myself beside some relay swimmers, which I think really worked out for me. At the sound of the horn, I put in a good effort and found some feet right away. I was determined to not lose these feet today and it FINALLY seemed to work out just great. Staying in the draft, I found myself working at a quite comfortable pace with another swimmer literally right beside me stroke for stroke. This was just perfect I thought.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just before getting to the first turn buoy, we started hitting the wave that took off 5 minutes ahead of us, so there was some traffic making the first turn. At this point, we continued to make our way around other swimmers and around the second turn buoy. I found myself getting out of the draft a few times, but just put in a short little effort to get the feet back. This was literally the first time in a long long time I found a good draft all the way around the course...literally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When we exited the water, I checked my watch and it was low 30 minutes and I was really happy with that. It was over 2 minutes faster than last year and I was feeling really good. It turned out to be the 3rd fastest swim in my 40-44 AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/716964314" target="_blank">2016 Barrelman Swim</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">T1 took 1:11, a bit longer than normal, but we had to stuff our wetsuit in a plastic bag so it could transported to the finish line in Niagara Falls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Onto the bike, I quickly got into my shoes, put my head down and went to work. My legs were feeling good and the speed immediately started to rise. My SRM power meter battery pretty much died a month or so ago, and I didn't want to risk sending it away to get replaced because it would mean no cranks or PM leading up to Barrelman. I'll send it away over the winter and until then, I figured I could get by on perceived exertion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was a bit of a headwind/crosswind as we headed out to the loop in Wainfleet and I was consistently making my way past all the other racers from the previous wave. By the time I made my way to the most southwesterly section of the course, my average speed was already close to 40kph.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's worth noting that throughout the entire ride, I was not passed by one other athlete, which made me feel pretty good about my effort. Looking back at the ride though, I noted that Mike Coughlin (last years Ultraman World Champion) who was doing the bike as part of a relay team was always about a minute or so up the road and behind me, was James McNoughton, a solid rider who was participating in the Swim/Bike event. Viewing the flyby on Strava, you could see that we were all pretty close. It would have definitely been good to have connected with either one of these guys as it would have made the bike it bit more interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once I got back onto Feeder road and basically with 50km straight back to the Falls, the speed began to pick up even more. It was also at this point that we hit a few rain showers and the roads were wet in spots, so corners needed to be taken with some caution. With no power to focus on, I simply was watching my heart rate and average speed. Once I got up to the upper 40kph, I was determined to see if I could get to an average speed of 41kph+ for the ride.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Once off the smooth roads of Hwy 58, we had to negotiate a whole bunch of turns on our way back to Niagara Falls. In this section, the roads were not great and it was sheltered at times, so we weren't getting the full benefit of the wind. Despite this, I kept pushing pretty hard and eventually hit 41kph a bit before we got onto the final push north on the Niagara Parkway up to T2. It was in this section that I backed off the effort a bit and tried to get my spin a bit higher so I could be ready for the run. I was already at 41.2kph and was holding that pretty easily up the parkway. It was at this time that I was starting to feel some fatigue in my legs, but knew the run was just around the corner and I quite often find that bike fatigue doesn't quite translate into leg fatigue on the run....at least not for a little while.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got off my bike at the mount line with a ride time just under 2:10 at 2:09:56 and an average speed of 41.1kph.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/716964471" target="_blank">2016 Barrelman Bike</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacXjVlv0QXcwXK67FakuxP28H3t2RO2juSBnFmdf3XSR_N6wJIIsl8lY5u6acqzJqpXQVbQPdCn5D-VL-XoZAP3ephzY60z4EY_6jWI6Z17HPQIUftZ5WtjBturw8Igs2xC6E5h5DPRA/s1600/Bike+Dismount.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacXjVlv0QXcwXK67FakuxP28H3t2RO2juSBnFmdf3XSR_N6wJIIsl8lY5u6acqzJqpXQVbQPdCn5D-VL-XoZAP3ephzY60z4EY_6jWI6Z17HPQIUftZ5WtjBturw8Igs2xC6E5h5DPRA/s320/Bike+Dismount.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I quickly racked my bike and grabbed my run bag and sat down to put my socks, shoes, etc. on. My feet were covered in gravel, so they needed a good wipe down prior to putting socks on for the run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">T2 took 1:39, which is longer than T1, but it was a long run through transition and having to deal with a run transition bag didn't make things any quicker.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Starting the run, I actually felt good. My first few K were just over 4 minute pace. I knew I was near the front of the race, but I was really surprised how "empty" the course was. There was literally nobody I could see on the course up the road. In fact, I didn't see anyone until I hit the out and back section at Dufferin Isle Rd. Just before the turnaround, I think I saw 2 or 3 athletes heading out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first time up Burning Springs Road hill wasn't too bad, and I steadily made my way into Niagara Falls. In this section, I think passed all but one of the athletes I saw near the turn around. Once to the casino, the run got a bit more interesting, as we were dodging tourists as we worked our way behind the casino, down the stairs to Murray Hill and then towards the Falls. There were tonnes of tourists out checking out the Falls, which was a bit of a distraction on the run back to transition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The run back is deceivingly tough with some false flats and gentle hills, but eventually I got back and finished the first lap in around 44:06 for the first 10.5K. I was now just 100 meters behind the last athlete that I saw on the first loop, which was Art Hare, who was doing the relay. I finally caught him just before heading into Dufferin Isle Rd. again for the turnaround.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At this point, things started to slow down a bit as I was really getting tired. I knew though I was having a really solid day so I just kept on pushing pretty hard and taking in as much water and coke at the aid stations as I could.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My main goal for the run was to break 1:30. With a couple of K left, I knew it was going to be pretty close. I eventually got past the small rollers on the way back to the finish line and with only a little more than a kilometre left, I picked it up. As I went through 20K I had about a little less than 5 minutes to go if I was to go sub 1:30. I picked up the pace for the final K and with all the cheering spectators and other athletes, I was able to run a good pace for the last K and into the finish line for a total run time of 1:29:38 and a race finish time of 4:13:12. I got the call from Steve Fleck as I came across the line winning my AG and as the 5th overall racer. Given I started 5 and a half minutes behind the pros, I actually ended up 4th overall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/716964361" target="_blank">2016 Barrelman Run</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=30947&status=results" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sportstats Results</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPDh148Kv2phAO5Gmt8iOQ3JYP2zOOyaWICf31Kece7tCBdwgWyCFuOjIKYbUEBGmE_8nom9-GJKEoRs3qLdQK3TYmq2qhRnNWxhhot9T4iIehoxu6RZtvPj4H_m15tGE4j8mRidBXyk/s1600/Finish+Line+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPDh148Kv2phAO5Gmt8iOQ3JYP2zOOyaWICf31Kece7tCBdwgWyCFuOjIKYbUEBGmE_8nom9-GJKEoRs3qLdQK3TYmq2qhRnNWxhhot9T4iIehoxu6RZtvPj4H_m15tGE4j8mRidBXyk/s320/Finish+Line+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was a 10 minute half distance PB for me and I was pretty pumped knowing I won my AG, was the provincial long course champ for 40-44, won the Triathlon Ontario long course series and well, finished on the overall podium for the race and would even get some prize money!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Below is the finish line video from the race.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy8LBhA-ggOzyIsIT1Q0aWt0rTfaUspqqSEAAEQHeJCdn8hpIFApRUjmYGDH-dTV93wD9gRidANi_A-4o2OWg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXd_q-ykCRxbTaPGGMJwPc0a5GNNjOAYhTf2qRsY0a93BIaYbLrBv4IY7YJHawVyLRZtYVdJAeiWdJ0axXUleRC9pza3SqWao22KkDcSfyp07YA4UJCpFOhlTMUoQqIEmqzHfK995RU9E/s1600/AG+Winners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXd_q-ykCRxbTaPGGMJwPc0a5GNNjOAYhTf2qRsY0a93BIaYbLrBv4IY7YJHawVyLRZtYVdJAeiWdJ0axXUleRC9pza3SqWao22KkDcSfyp07YA4UJCpFOhlTMUoQqIEmqzHfK995RU9E/s320/AG+Winners.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AG Winners</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoAbA-AKLArKiIiXgZfrNDyikWaaotNjjMYsgp3tu0U8cTF1P2S9G_Nryl_lI9qzPmyf9WSAg8jwXrlOt-D3IaUvcmzbp_77p35owdaHwkn8yqOGnUDAhmdwq7mEUyUwwNi2ShA6FnTc/s1600/Overall+Podium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoAbA-AKLArKiIiXgZfrNDyikWaaotNjjMYsgp3tu0U8cTF1P2S9G_Nryl_lI9qzPmyf9WSAg8jwXrlOt-D3IaUvcmzbp_77p35owdaHwkn8yqOGnUDAhmdwq7mEUyUwwNi2ShA6FnTc/s320/Overall+Podium.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top 5 overall in the race</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So with that race, the triathlon season is over in Ontario. In a month or so, I head to Maui to race the Xterra World Championship with a number of other athletes from Ontario. I'm really looking forward to going back to Hawaii and checking out something other than the Big Island for a change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Special thanks to the family for putting up with the ongoing training and to a number of sponsors including <a href="http://3sixty5cycling.com/" target="_blank">3Sixty5 Cycling</a> for their awesome wheel lineup. They sure worked for this race! John Salt and the <a href="http://www.multisportcanada.com/" target="_blank">Multisport Canada Race Series</a> put on great events, including this one. <a href="http://niagarafallstriathlon.com/" target="_blank">Barrelman</a> is now the largest independent half iron race in North America. If you are considering stepping up and dong a half or if you haven't done this one yet, you really should give it a go. Everything about it is top notch starting with the amazing swim in the Flatwater centre to the fast and flat bike and amazing run by the falls and fantastic finish line area.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thanks for the read and following along.</span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-26076370656750563682016-08-31T14:45:00.002-04:002016-08-31T14:45:49.140-04:002016 Wasaga Beach Olympic Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: August 27, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.5K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">40K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">10K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was my second time doing this race. I also did the Olympic distance race last year too. This year, race day brought much better swim conditions, and my swim time reflects that. The Olympic triathlon started at 10:30, which was great, as this allowed ample time to drive up to Wasaga from home. I came up with my buddy Steve Good, who was also racing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">We started in the third wave, going off at 10:33. The start area was pretty gracious and at the sound of the gun, I tried pushing pretty hard to see how long I could swim with Steve. It didn't really take long to lose him, which again, is just a disappointing part of my triathlon swimming. I just wish I could figure out how to catch and hold a good draft. I basically swam solo through the halfway point, at which point I connected with another guy and tried to do some drafting. This worked well until we made the final turn back to the beach. From what I could tell, he was really veering the wrong way, so I just pulled out and took my own line back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Wasaga has a pretty shallow and extended entry, so when I could no longer swim, I stood up and ran the final 40-50m to the beach, which is never really easy...I'd rather be able to swim right to shore. I eventually made my way out of the water and over the timing mat in 24:56. This was good for the 13th fastest swim in the race and 2nd fastest in my AG behind Steve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/691049733#comments" target="_blank">Wasaga Beach Olympic Triathlon Swim</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXtwUowEau5CNux1McOHdI7YfGFeJ7HfEwAOrrCyxsjtps8Qobv14WI81E09_2XRcBzU-EHIJ1RmxJRw5sVaXT3PlOeQ7KzskzIfSZyZVXDpdie7g-ihRpcAa4ncGY5iNQK7j-uPwCUM/s1600/Swim+Exit+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXtwUowEau5CNux1McOHdI7YfGFeJ7HfEwAOrrCyxsjtps8Qobv14WI81E09_2XRcBzU-EHIJ1RmxJRw5sVaXT3PlOeQ7KzskzIfSZyZVXDpdie7g-ihRpcAa4ncGY5iNQK7j-uPwCUM/s320/Swim+Exit+1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2CgYvEh0Zq61zRq_KdYwZTAmnpVtNZagQc5NE-raaXWKGt_6Rdm-iYz5FsmVSg-ptxLKRhJASSSACJ2Fq_RDdTH5lI7FPNeYv4ifAeOve3-gP0W6oZrkUSWauufFv5qnKPPl-Yk91OI/s1600/Swim+Exit+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2CgYvEh0Zq61zRq_KdYwZTAmnpVtNZagQc5NE-raaXWKGt_6Rdm-iYz5FsmVSg-ptxLKRhJASSSACJ2Fq_RDdTH5lI7FPNeYv4ifAeOve3-gP0W6oZrkUSWauufFv5qnKPPl-Yk91OI/s320/Swim+Exit+2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">T1 went well as I easily got out of my Nineteen Rogue wetsuit. Side note, I absolutely love this suit. Best one I have ever owned! Highly recommend! T1 took 53 seconds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Out onto the bike, I really didn't feel great. The power wasn't coming easily, but luckily, the speed kept creeping up. I feel my aero setup on my bike is pretty much dialed in, so as long as I kept my head down and put forth a good effort, the speed will come. At about the 5K mark, I had made my way past a number of folks already and found that the next group was a good chunk of the road. When we hit the middle part of the ride, it was a super smooth road with a nice tailwind and I was hitting speeds of around 48kph. I made up a bunch of time in this section before we made the turn towards the turnaround point. The course was changed last minute compared to last year, and the change was good. It was easier to follow, as it was basically just a big out and back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Just before approaching the turnaround point at 20K, I saw Steve for the first time, and just after the turnaround, I caught up to him. We rode together for a while, but shortly after, we both got passed by another athlete, who was doing the Swim-Bike. He was riding hard so I did what I could to try and stay with him (legally). Even without the draft, I find it easier to ride with others, as it gives you something to focus on, other than the ongoing suffering. In the last 4-5K, he eventually pulled away and finished maybe 200-300m ahead of me. It still was a good ride for me, as I finished the 40K ride just under the one hour mark in 59:45. Unfortunately, my power meter died around the halfway point (SRM, so thinking the battery needs replacing) but until that point, I was holding an average power of about 266 watts, which was actually lower than what I was hoping to do. I was targeting around 280, but since I actually held a better average speed than last year, I can't complain too much. Coming off the bike, I believe I was 3rd overall in the race and first in my AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/691049770" target="_blank">Wasaga Beach Olympic Triathlon Bike</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DiY9R0XTcQod6A0eJIZC7VKhE-vNvdIUm7l9zrUD3Mq90yv_63iT_G5X-t5sm4sQYiDjV0kh7ubDYgp9jm9ZICLS0dZqOKQPzC04e3v2UlYpb29qopzjrDzeWHQmf2g7UVNc_KzWLME/s1600/Bike+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DiY9R0XTcQod6A0eJIZC7VKhE-vNvdIUm7l9zrUD3Mq90yv_63iT_G5X-t5sm4sQYiDjV0kh7ubDYgp9jm9ZICLS0dZqOKQPzC04e3v2UlYpb29qopzjrDzeWHQmf2g7UVNc_KzWLME/s320/Bike+1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81eXluLbq5AOe-_IxneSPdsV-Um2JbSZjIyc2otoQp1ezAZzaqgLWCBwX5ukjWkKOL6fL5AFAYiD4zlYsXG33KTdvMVwQlWaVo2hRJXPVggwmnYox7L8rrNVpRE70dyzK9dI4mU_-RBw/s1600/Bike+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi81eXluLbq5AOe-_IxneSPdsV-Um2JbSZjIyc2otoQp1ezAZzaqgLWCBwX5ukjWkKOL6fL5AFAYiD4zlYsXG33KTdvMVwQlWaVo2hRJXPVggwmnYox7L8rrNVpRE70dyzK9dI4mU_-RBw/s320/Bike+2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">T2 went well, in and out in 48 seconds and off onto the run. The course was completely empty at this point, but the first 500m is along the boardwalk in Wasaga and there were plenty of people on the beach cheering, so that was cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Overall, I was feeling decent and pushed along at a steady pace, which was right around 4:00/K's. I was thinking that maybe l could run a bit faster than last year, where I ran some of the run with Billy Bostad, who is a pretty good runner. This year I was completely solo, nobody ahead to chase and from what I could gather, not really anyone behind me pushing me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">At about 3K of the first loop I started running into other athletes going out onto the first lap. The course was pretty tight, so I had to be diligent when passing other athletes and at some of the aid stations that were dealing with two way traffic.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztwoo3GGDQkmGG8fcDRUxLSVsOYCImRq0f1Rv9BmTJuscL6p5kkDs5oEPfCrRTlJ2cqIfMacu-5JuekFaT0h42v_NOZDNNoeDM6PlfUmaxw6ikToHrTEyZGrTpuhFMiJ3klN2H534KGM/s1600/Run+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztwoo3GGDQkmGG8fcDRUxLSVsOYCImRq0f1Rv9BmTJuscL6p5kkDs5oEPfCrRTlJ2cqIfMacu-5JuekFaT0h42v_NOZDNNoeDM6PlfUmaxw6ikToHrTEyZGrTpuhFMiJ3klN2H534KGM/s320/Run+1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">After finishing the first lap, I connected with another athlete starting their first lap when I was starting my second. We ran together for maybe a kilometer before I started to pull away. It was much more congested on the second lap, but eventually I made it back to the boardwalk and the final few hundred meters to the finish line. I finished the run in 40:06 (I really should have been paying more attention to my run time to get under 40:00) and a total race time of 2:06:57, which is a new Olympic distance triathlon PB.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/691049766" target="_blank">Wasaga Beach Olympic Triathlon Run</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=30583&status=results" target="_blank">Official Sportstats Results</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_sHK-BBXhE-4MEXsePbNn2U_M22U8-FZZHNyn-4jyGYkhiB3EztcRk6oIzpdnZbk_W27IOJUfhfhj90E-J15gIF4et_cSmaKabGvkbqr5dLk72exGv9OvNJcCMRJXmLxJ1aFl28NjIc/s1600/Finish+Line+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_sHK-BBXhE-4MEXsePbNn2U_M22U8-FZZHNyn-4jyGYkhiB3EztcRk6oIzpdnZbk_W27IOJUfhfhj90E-J15gIF4et_cSmaKabGvkbqr5dLk72exGv9OvNJcCMRJXmLxJ1aFl28NjIc/s320/Finish+Line+2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHQKCKE7oFBbvCNaFOUcvv-wEgyrJQ00ng-pByOkkZcqNVMrFs4gg4xSiCIP9ZsBDIAZW2zy68jliZmo5qxdsxLHDWB8TgJVI1RXA-648eQPTNljyBJIE6Jdn2eqeFC1GYiTHFO179wk/s1600/Finish+Line+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHQKCKE7oFBbvCNaFOUcvv-wEgyrJQ00ng-pByOkkZcqNVMrFs4gg4xSiCIP9ZsBDIAZW2zy68jliZmo5qxdsxLHDWB8TgJVI1RXA-648eQPTNljyBJIE6Jdn2eqeFC1GYiTHFO179wk/s320/Finish+Line+1.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sums up how I felt after finishing!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was some confusion at the end of the race, as to my overall finishing position. I started the run in 3rd overall in the race, and moved past Andrew Bolton on the second lap, so I thought I was then in second. As it turns out, I did get passed with about 3K to go by a guy wearing a running singlet. I thought for sure he was a relay runner (he was flying), but it turns out now that he actually was in the olympic triathlon. He was Scott Hill, and he had a fantastic final run going 34:00 flat to move into second overall. Sportstats didn't seem to have his result when they did the overall awards, as they still had me in second when we did the announcement post race. I still won my AG though, and the M40-44 had a great showing as the top three of us also made the overall podium.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overall race podium...I actually finished 3rd.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFEDnfpDAmag4DP54daDp4mRajdLSIcC40CcohVsl92bNWyXKOvXG-gJFxY3rw3LX5Q0jxylfpZL2fwJlpMUBrKFwRswLQWN4naYzW7H74gNs_nREKgVedna2eoIp4usNWb0ystcN-W4/s1600/AG+Awards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFEDnfpDAmag4DP54daDp4mRajdLSIcC40CcohVsl92bNWyXKOvXG-gJFxY3rw3LX5Q0jxylfpZL2fwJlpMUBrKFwRswLQWN4naYzW7H74gNs_nREKgVedna2eoIp4usNWb0ystcN-W4/s320/AG+Awards.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">40-44 Age Group Podium with my buddy and training partner Steve Good</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up for me is the Niagara Falls Barrelman. I'm not going to lie, I really want to defend my top master and 40-44 AG win from there last year. Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-13578431368041556832016-08-03T13:13:00.002-04:002016-08-03T13:13:49.210-04:002016 Kingston Long Course Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: July 31, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">56.2K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">15K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was my first time doing the Kingston Long Course Triathlon. Click on the link below to watch my video race recap. A few extra pictures and stats are noted below as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/177320294" target="_blank">Kingston Long Course Video Race Report - In Vimeo</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some metrics from the race:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/660226376" target="_blank">Kingston Long Course Swim - Strava</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1281817427/3" target="_blank">Kingston Long Course Bike - Garmin Connect</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/660226408" target="_blank">Kingston Long Course Run - Strava</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall Results:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=30456&status=results" target="_blank">Kingston Long Course Triathlon 2016 Results - Sportstats</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zoom Photo also captured some cool finish line pictures and video. See below</span></div>
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwnl1YZkzX87XbfO_Dd6TgI0ZiJlwTVdod80oh4cOeOXtBY5EYScFKmfArAiQPi2_Z--Zq1OyV2WXiQ4mVxpg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall, the race went really well and I can't wait for the next one up at Wasaga Beach.</span></div>
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-54180546891245218752016-07-27T10:23:00.001-04:002016-08-29T16:16:49.930-04:002016 Xterra Parry Sound Offroad Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: July 23, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.5K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ 25K Offroad Mountain Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ 8.8K Trail Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was my second XTERRA race of the year. I qualified for the XTERRA Worlds in Milton Mine over Matter, so the pressure was off for this race, and I just wanted to have some fun. I sure did...or did I? Not sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steve Good and I went up on Friday, the day before the race and did a pre race swim, ride and run. Pretty much just one loop easy of the entire course. I immediately knew we were in for a real treat on race day. Plus it was super hot and humid.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLZiyTF8vNM4SldXTYqI38C5z7MuIl5Lj8dmQZxXEPKluHu4aAFkvktih5ggAmaBpxOtioYXoPflMO8fEq-a1fIJzPFFVLAf4xhei3oBmad6hGQSmp3PNyu6Y5lCoC0jFJm0ubsu1CSc/s1600/Luke+and+Steve+at+the+Swim+Start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLZiyTF8vNM4SldXTYqI38C5z7MuIl5Lj8dmQZxXEPKluHu4aAFkvktih5ggAmaBpxOtioYXoPflMO8fEq-a1fIJzPFFVLAf4xhei3oBmad6hGQSmp3PNyu6Y5lCoC0jFJm0ubsu1CSc/s320/Luke+and+Steve+at+the+Swim+Start.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The race had a late start at 10:30am at Nine Mile Lake just north of Parry Sound. It was a beautiful venue for swimming. There were also two transition zones, as the lake was about 1.5K from the run course. So after doing all the race morning check-ins, Steve and I grabbed our swim and bike gear and rode to the swim start and got setup and did a short warm-up swim. There was a drone hovering above the swim course that captured these awesome pics...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 10:30, the horn sounded and we were all off. It was a mass swim start, as there weren't really that many participants. I was using my new Nineteen Rogue wetsuit and it felt pretty nice as I tried to push hard to get ahead of the pack at the start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Maybe 200m out, I grabbed a draft off a guy, but it just felt too slow, so I pulled out and went around, which was likely a good call, but this meant I swam the rest of the swim solo, cause I couldn't quite catch the feet ahead of me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The swim was a double loop of 750m with a short beach run in between. I came out of the first loop in 6th place and basically held that position through the second lap and into T1 finishing the swim in 24:45.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/650896724" target="_blank">XTERRA Parry Sound Swim - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The bike started with a 1.5K uphill ride along the beach access road back to the Georgian Nordic Ski club where T2 was and then immediately into a bunch of single track. The single track sections were unique and a bit different than what I have experienced back home at say the Hydrocut. Here is how the race director describes the bike course:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"bits of technical singletrack that wander over undulating ridges of exposed granite. These sections are connected by flowing doubletrack, offering ample room for safe passing, as you sweep by lakes, marshes, and beaver dams… There may be no massive leg-burning ascents, but there are still plenty of short and sweet climbs to keep you on your toes. While nothing on the course is scary or dangerous, the technical sections will certainly reward the skilled riders. And the unique exposed granite sections will put a smile on everyone’s face…"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They sure did put a smile on my face. Actually, I found the course pretty cool, but at the same time, it was pretty bumpy, and it would have been better to have a full suspension mountain bike, instead of the hard tail that I have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I made my way through the course, I believe I passed two other athletes and got passed twice myself, so basically came off the bike in the same position that I started it in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were only a few memorable moments throughout the ride. The first was when I didn't take a line well and had to unclip quickly before crashing, and another was when I was pedaling around a tight corner and my left crank hit a rock or root or something, and I literally crashed and burned. Luckily, nothing was broken on either the bike or myself and I was able to get up quickly and get back in the race. I think I only lost 20s or so there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/650891646/overview" target="_blank">XTERRA Parry Sound Mountain Bike - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once back in T2 I was able to quickly rack my bike and get my shoes on and get out onto the crazy run course they had for us. Only 500m or so into the run, we had to climb up "The Wall", which was a huge slab of granite with a rope to help us up, since it was pretty darn steep! Check out the video link below...</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/GOParrySound/videos/549914678525090/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Wall</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Overall, the run course was incredibly unique. Here is how the race director describes it:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"In a tip of the hat to our adventure racing friends, we have created a run course that is challenging and memorable. The majority of the course follows technical single track, twisting and turning through the forest, splashing through streams and along rocky ridges. And while that may be tough enough for the average runner, there’s more: each lap of the course takes racers up The Wall – a massive 15m slab of sloping granite, complete with rope assists to aid those weary legs. It’s an experience that none will soon forget…"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The course was 2 laps and it was epic. On the first lap, I even lost my shoe in a boggy part of the course. I use <a href="http://xtenex.com/" target="_blank">Xtenex laces</a> in most of my racing shoes so I can easily get them on and off in transition. Unfortunately that means they can easily come off when you plant your foot in a mucky bog!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I finished the first lap with no changes in position, but starting the second lap, I was about 60 seconds down on 5th place. I caught this athlete at the wall and carried on through the tricky course, being cautious to not lose my shoe again or twist an ankle for that matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I ended up passing the athlete that was in 4th place about half way through the second lap, so that put me into 4th overall, where I would finish, when crossing the finish line in 2:36:47 with a final run time of 45:32, the second fastest on the day behind Rich Pady, the race winner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/650896766/overview" target="_blank">XTERRA Parry Sound Trail Run - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://elementracing.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Full-Triathlon-Results-Xterra-Parry-Sound-2016.pdf" target="_blank">2016 XTERRA Parry Sound Full Distance Triathlon Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So even though I finished 4th overall, the 3 guys that finished ahead of me (including Steve who finished 3rd overall) were also in my 40-49 AG, so that meant I got nothing other than the satisfaction of another decent XTERRA race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have no other XTERRA races planned this year other than the XTERRA World Championship in Maui, Hawaii. Between now and then though, I will be doing the Kingston LC Tri, Wasaga Beach Olympic and the Barrelman Half Iron race in Niagara Falls again.</span><br />
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<br />Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-91427042321811835382016-07-14T14:45:00.001-04:002016-07-15T06:35:16.321-04:002016 Muskoka 70.3 Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: July 10, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.9K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">94K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">21.1K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I haven't done this race since 2011, having done it 4 years in a row up until that point. Each time I have done the race, I have bested my previous time and I was really hoping to do that again in 2016, despite being 5 years older and in a new age group!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I went up to Huntsville the day before the race, picking up a buddy in Barrie and heading directly to Deerhurst for a little pre-race open water swim and short run. It was raining pretty steady the day before, so we skipped the bike and just did the registration, bike drop and headed to the hotel to chill before going for dinner later in the afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race morning brought clear skies and a nice temperature. Once in transition and with everything setup, I headed down to the swim start with Steve Good for our 7:10 start in the 3rd wave. By the time we got ready and dropped our morning clothes bag off, we only had about 5 minutes to get in the water and over to the start line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 7:10 the horn sounded and we were off. We headed directly into the sun, so it was pretty hard to sight in the first 10 minutes until we made the first right turn. There was a bit of chaos, as there usually is for me, since I'm just not fast enough to get away from it all, but overall, it wasn't too bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the back half of the swim, I found myself off to the left of everyone else, despite constantly swimming to the last turn buoy. Not sure if I had the better line or if I was off course. Either way, I had lots of clean water and just kept moving forward. I eventually made it to exit stairs and when I stood up I saw high 30 minutes, which wasn't too bad. My official swim time was 31:03, good for 10th overall in my 40-44 AG and a new PB at Muskoka.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/636655785" target="_blank">Muskoka 70.3 Swim</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I used the wetsuit strippers to get the wetsuit off quickly and then made the long uphill run to transition. I quickly got my helmet on and was off on the hilly 94K bike around Lake of Bays.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I immediately starting passing lot's and lot's of people. The plan was to hold around 260 watts throughout the entire ride. As usual, I started off a little hot as I was in pursuit of those ahead, but I didn't feel like I was pushing beyond my limit. I hit the lap button around every 45 minutes to track my average power and heart rate during the ride. The first 45 minutes came in at 269 watts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The next 45 minutes, as I got settled in, I rode 258 watts. It was in this section that I eventually caught up with my buddies Carlos and Steve. By this time, Steve had taken over the lead AG lead, so when I passed him, I was the new 40-44 AG leader. Steve had been riding with a guy for a while, and when I passed him, that guy hopped in with me and together we basically finished the ride together. I don't want to call him out for outright drafting, but I'm pretty sure if I hadn't come along, he would have been much further back when I finished. I kept an eye on him throughout the last half of the race to make sure he wasn't sucking my wheel. I'd say that he spent 75% of the time behind me in that last half of the ride. We chatted a few times and he seemed like a nice dude from Australia (but later through Strava analysis, it turns out he was from NYC), so I didn't let it bother me much. It was just good to have company for the last half.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When we turned in Baysville, I had an average speed of 37.3 kph, but I knew that was going to drop, as we hit the hills and a bit of a headwind back to Deerhurst. In this 3rd 45 minute section, my average power dropped to 241 watts. I purposefully decided to take the last bit easier with a high cadence to hopefully save the legs for the run. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />We eventually made our way back to Deerhurst, and my average speed for the ride dropped to 36.2 and an average power of 255 watts and normalized power of 266 watts. The variability index of 1.043 was a little higher than what I would normally do, but with all the hills, it's pretty hard to keep it consistent for the entire ride.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I held onto first place in my AG through until the end of the ride which came in at 2:36:05, a new PB.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/636664009" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Muskoka 70.3 Bike</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once into T2, I pulled a stupid move and couldn't find my spot right away, as I was walking around with my bike. Total brain fart, as I was only one section from the end of the aisle. I eventually found it and started getting my socks and shoes on, but noticed that the headband I was going to wear (Lionel Sanders style) was nowhere to be found. I moved a few things around, but couldn't find it. More time lost. Overall, I bet I wasted 30-40 seconds in T2...really dumb!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eventually I just grabbed my sunglasses and headed out for the run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once out, there was a small group of guys up ahead and I started making ground on them. At the 2K mark, a guy went absolutely flying by me and sure enough, #41 was written on his calf. There goes the AG win today! I didn't recognize him, but I found out after that he won the Toronto Goodlife marathon this spring in like 2:35, so I didn't feel too bad later on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I eventually caught up to the pack of 3 guys and we ran together for a large chunk of the race. One fell of the pace around 8K but myself and two others stayed together all the way through town to the turnaround and back to Hwy 60.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />At this point, the fatigue and effort of the day was starting to catch up with me. The two guys (who by the way were in younger age groups, so I knew I had at least a 5 minute lead on them) started to pull away a bit and with 3K left, I'd say they had about a 100m lead on me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The down and back up section at Cookson Bay was by far the hardest part of the race. The downhill hurt the quads and the uphill was, well just torture. I kept the feet moving, except for 3 seconds through the aid station to grab some pepsi, and eventually made it to the top. A short bit more and it would be a nice downhill for a few minutes back to Deerhurst.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once back at the resort, there was one more climb and then a flat/downhill run around transition to the finish line. Just before entering the chute around transition, a guy in the crowd said there was someone coming up from behind and he was maybe 100 yards back. That seemed like a lot at the time, but as I kept going around transition, people kept telling me that someone is coming up fast. There was no way I could risk an AG spot at this point (even though I didn't know if he was actually in my AG or not), so as soon as I made the final turn down the finishing chute, I cranked it up and hit the fastest pace of the entire run by a long shot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end, I did cross the line before this guy, but only by 3 seconds, and sure enough, he was in my AG, so wow!!! that was close!! I ended up holding onto my 2nd place in the 40-44 AG and in the end, finished 11th overall in the race (note - this was an AG only race with no pro field). My final run time was 1:32:39, and you guessed it, another PB here at Muskoka (although this was the first time doing this new run course, which was likely a bit easier).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/636655835" target="_blank">Muskoka 70.3 Run</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />My final finishing time was 1:44:52, which was an overall race PB by almost 10 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=30222" target="_blank">2016 Muskoka 70.3 Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There turned out to be 5 spots awarded to my AG for the 2017 70.3 World Championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and I decided to take the spot. I've never been, so figured it would be cool to check it out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So overall, pretty happy how this race turned out. Next up is Xterra Parry Sound on July 23rd, so it's time to get back on the MTB to get ready.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-82400647794862742492016-07-08T16:34:00.000-04:002016-07-08T20:41:29.869-04:002016 Mine over Matter Xterra Off road Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: June 25, 2016</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1000m Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">21K Off road Mountain Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">9.2K Trail Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was my first time dipping my toes into off road triathlon, and I must say, I was pretty excited. This race was also a direct qualifier for the <a href="http://www.xterraplanet.com/maui/" target="_blank">Xterra World Championship</a> in Maui, Hawaii. I'm not going to lie, I already had plans to go. Hopefully racing, but if not, I'd planned on cheering on my buddy Steve Good who was pretty much going to make it no matter what. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The race took place at the quarry at Kelso Conservation area in Milton at the top of the escarpment. The swim was in the beautiful quarry, the bike on the Kelso mountain bike trails and then the run was also on the same mountain bike trails with a finish around the quarry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I arrived pretty early and got all setup and chatted with various folks until it was go time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was hot and dry leading up to the race (and has been ever since) so there was some concern the swim would be a non wetsuit, but in the end, they took the temperature at just the right spot and we were allowed to wear our suits. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The male pros went first, then the female pros, then all AG men at 8:01. My plan was to go out hard from the start to try and find feet and get clear of the chaos at the beginning of the swim start. I was surprised that at 200m in, I was still stuck in a decent size group of swimmers, and I had lost contact with the feet I was hoping to stay on (Steve's). Anyway, I kept swimming hard and eventually made my way back to the swim exit in around 15:25. Aside from not getting the draft and pull around the course I was hoping for, the swim went ok. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I tried to quickly get through transition, but I must say it was a bit different than a normal tri. I put socks on for the bike and then put my MTB shoes on in T1 and ran with my bike to the mount line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once on the bike though, I started making my way through other athletes and this is quite a bit different than a normal tri where passing people is easy and fun. In mountain biking, you can't just pass anywhere. You need to find the right location and opportunity and hit it hard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The bike course was one short lap on the trails before coming back to transition and heading out for another longer loop. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The ride went pretty well without many issues except I did have to stop and unclip a few times in some of the trickier sections, primarily the Rough Trade section. I pre rode this section a week or so earlier with Steve and was ready to hit the good lines and rip through it, but when people in front of you stop and unclip, you're basically forced to do the same or crash!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once through this section, it was a bit easier to make passes and I continued to move through the field. Once back to transition and starting the second longer lap, it was much more spread out. I occasionally came across other athletes and was able to pass most when the time was right. I felt pretty good throughout and felt like I had a good groove going on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I eventually made my way back to transition where I just passed my buddy Brandon Habermehl before heading in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/620321462" target="_blank">Xterra Mine over Matter MTB Ride - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">T2 was a bit more like a normal tri, so this went pretty well. Brandon and I left it together, but right away, he started to slowly pull away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The race was pretty spread out at this point, as we made our way around the run course, which was basically similar to the first loop of the mountain bike ride (except the last 3K around the quarry).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All went well and I was feeling pretty good, pushing a decent pace. As I exited the forest area and into the blazing sun and double track trail around the quarry, I noticed one athlete up ahead. Eventually I caught up to him and yup, he was in my AG. The good thing about this is that I knew he was in my AG, but he didn't know I was in his. I found a spot where I felt like I could just drop the hammer for a bit and put in a good surge past him. He immediately noticed that I was also in his AG and picked up the pace for sure and ran with me. I just kept pushing pretty hard and eventually dropped him with a few K to go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end, this was a good thing, as there was no guarantee a 3rd the 40-44 AG was going to get a Maui spot. Steve was still up ahead so I knew I had to fight to hold this spot. I didn't know until I finished that I actually finished 2nd in the 40-44 AG and 3rd overall amateur behind Steve who took first and Brandon, who took second overall amateur but first in 35-39.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/620321443" target="_blank">Xterra Mine over Matter Trail Run - Strava Link</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I ended up finishing in 1:54:58 10th overall and 3rd amateur as mentioned.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=29958&status=results" target="_blank">Xterra Mine over Matter Sportstats Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finishing second behind Steve basically assured me of my Xterra Maui spot, as we were in the largest AG so I knew we were going to get another spot allocated to us.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VGzEoyna_OLmrBvxTxifva7ohq9aS2INoOov4osxHp6bsH_4xB05uGlQNdpDfeVYMUNX-tYzkIZiFraFk5T3RXmskc3eTAlp8ysUwX2VekNH24Lk0CwntgFnFQFrkvIgypqTCUc77bg/s1600/IMG_1290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VGzEoyna_OLmrBvxTxifva7ohq9aS2INoOov4osxHp6bsH_4xB05uGlQNdpDfeVYMUNX-tYzkIZiFraFk5T3RXmskc3eTAlp8ysUwX2VekNH24Lk0CwntgFnFQFrkvIgypqTCUc77bg/s640/IMG_1290.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Brandon Habermehl, Steve Good and myself (top 3 amateurs 2016 Xterra Mine over Matter)</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So overall, I was super happy how the race went, and that I got my Maui spot to race in October. I am also doing the Parry Sound Xterra race with Steve, but with the spot locked up, I can go into this one relaxed and just have some fun.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2016 Xterra World Championship Bound!</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-62070702277679713992016-06-13T16:39:00.000-04:002016-06-13T20:50:08.008-04:002016 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Date: June 11, 2016</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Race Details: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">750m Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">20K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">5K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After a long hiatus I'm bringing my race report blog back to life. This past weekend I raced the first event in the 2016 <a href="http://www.multisportcanada.com/" target="_blank">Multisport Canada Triathlon Series</a> schedule at Pittock Conservation area in Woodstock, Ontario.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There was some hype about severe weather that never materialized, but the race did have some really windy conditions, and it did get a bit warm, but in such a short race, it wasn't that big of a deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John Salt had a short little introduction for the MSC ambassadors in transition before the race, which was cool. Here is a shot of John and I just chilling beforehand and a shot with most of the ambassadors after the race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was in the 4th swim wave going off at 9:06am. It was only my 2nd open water swim of the year, but I felt confident and thought I was going to have a decent swim. Off the horn, somebody went off pretty quick and I didn't have time to get on their feet. I just focused on putting out a good hard effort for several minutes and then just see who was around to hang with. I immediately found pretty clean water and didn't have much contact out to the first turn buoy. Once we made the turn, it was a wall of swimmers from earlier waves. This took a bit of navigating around and I had to pull up and find some clear paths one and a while. In addition, it was a bit choppy the whole time, as the wind was coming at us from the side. Going out was a bit harder, as I breath to my right and the waves were hitting me in the face.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once we made the last turn and headed back to shore, I found myself swimming alone and just trying to get the turnover up. I thought I was going to have a decent swim time, but when I got back to shore, my garmin read something like 12:50 or so. This was disappointing and something I need to continuously improve upon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">T1 went ok, but I did drop my goggles and swim cap and had to turnaround and pick those up. That cost me 5 seconds! LOL.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Onto the bike, there were a number of people at the mount line when I tried to get on, and my shoe hit the ground, but overall, no biggie. The exit of the park is super bumpy and really slow, so you can't start hammering until you get out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once out, I just got down to work, but found my 88mm <a href="http://3sixty5cycling.com/" target="_blank">3Sixty5 Cycling</a> front wheel catching all the cross winds and it kinda made me nervous. There were many sections where I had one hand in my aero bars and one on my base bar. I managed about 37 kph at almost 290 watts for the north section out of the park to the first turn passing all kinds of people. At the first turn, we got the huge tailwind and for the next 3K or so, I averaged 47kph at only 263 watts until we made the turn south to the turn around point. Again, more cross winds as we went south and then north back to road 33. The westerly trip on road 33 into the headwind was tough but managed to average 34.5kph at 290 watts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The final turn back to the park was again an ordeal managing the cross winds and I got stuck behind a few slower riders in the no passing zone going down the hill and to the dismount line. In the end I rode 31:42 at around 263 watts, but that includes the downhill and run to the transition zone. I'd say I was close to 285 watts for the true ride. Nobody passed me, so I was guessing I was close to the top of my AG. There were a few bikes on the rack when I got there, but I was also mixed in with some younger and older AG's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/605936164" target="_blank">Strava Link Woodstock Sprint Tri Bike</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A pretty quick T2 and I was out on the run course. The first few hundred meters were a little bumpy going over a grass field, but eventually we were up on the gravel trail of years past and I was making my way past many other racers from earlier waves. There was however one runner that I was not gaining any time on and I could tell he was older, so I was wondering if he was in my AG. It turned out to be Chris Jocelyn, from the 45-49AG, but he was running well. I'd say I kept the gap pretty consistent out to the turn around, but he started to pull away once we made our way back. I creeped his results on Sportstats, and he's a solid runner, so no pride lost there. By the time I made the turn and was headed back to the finish line, it really started to feel warm, but knowing there wasn't much left, I just kept pushing along. My splits ended up being pretty consistent despite the rolling course on mixed terrain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/605939227/laps" target="_blank">Strava Link Woodstock Sprint Tri Run</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the end, I crossed the finish line in 1:06:35 11th overall out of 345 racers and first in my 40-44 AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lionel Sanders (aka the hottest 70.3 triathlete on the planet) made a special guest appearance at the race and crushed everyone. Good thing it wasn't longer, or it would have been way worse. He's a super nice guy and spent a tonne of time hanging out and chatting with other athletes. Of course I had to get an obligatory photo opp with him. This is myself and Spencer Summerfield, another MSC ambassador and 3Sixty5 athlete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So with the first race in the books, it's time to get back to business. My next MSC race is going to be the Kingston LC Tri. This is one I haven't done before so I'm very much looking forward to that one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-31780833783555832482014-06-27T11:29:00.000-04:002014-06-27T13:34:36.039-04:002014 Ironman Syracuse 70.3 Race Report<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Race Date: June 22, 2014</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.9K Swim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">90K Bike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">21.1K Run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I vowed after last years race, there was no way I'd be back to do this race, due to the crazy run and the gong show that was trying to leave the race site. However, when WTC decided to hold the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant, CANADA, I decided I needed to find a race to do to get into this!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many people did Muskoka last year, but that didn't work for me since I was already doing the 2013 70.3 World Champs in Las Vegas the same weekend. As result, I decided to give Syracuse another shot, hoping that they would have figured out how to resolve many of the athlete complaints from 2013. In the end, they did just that, and this race was a HUGE improvement over 2012, mostly in terms of weather, but the parking situation was also very easy this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was able to recruit a buddy from Barrie to do the race with me as well, so at least I didn't have to make the trip on my own. In the end, there were three of us who all went to Syracuse. Myself, Carlos Vilchez from Barrie and Graham Dunn, from Kitchener, who is also on the Health & Performance team I am on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year I did this race under the coaching guidance of Wolfgang Guembel, but for 2014, I am back to just doing things on my own. I learned some good stuff from him, but I felt that I could easily do this myself again this year, incorporating much of what I learned from him into my own training.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been having a good year so far, setting various PB's here and there, so I was again optimistic that I could have an even better race in Syracuse this year compared to last year. In 2013, it was hot as sh*t for the race which hurt many people's overall times. This year the weather was looking just perfect, so I knew that was going to help too. Race day presented sunny skies, light winds and warm, but very little humidity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Onto the race. I was way back in wave 16, so I started at 8:10am, a full hour and 10 minutes after the pros went off at 7am. This sort of sucked, but also meant I'd have lots of company out on the course, and I sure did!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was in the first of two M40-44 waves and at 8:10, the horn sounded and it was game on! I swam pretty hard for the first 200-300m to try to get away from the main chaos that is the swim start and also to see who at that point was also going to be still with me. My goal was then to find some feet and just let this person pull me around the race course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This pretty much worked to a T, as I found a guy just a bit up ahead of me, so I put in a short effort and snuck right in behind him. I was actually quite surprised how little traffic we seemed to have to swim through, despite there being hundreds and hundreds of other swimmers still out in the water from waves that started ahead of us. I just focused on keeping the bubbles from his feet right in front of me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At times, I thought maybe he wasn't taking the most perfect lines, but the effort was very comfortable throughout the rest of the race, so I just stayed with him and let him dictate what my swim time was going to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It didn't take long and the swim exit was just ahead. When I stood up, my Garmin read low 30 something, which wasn't too bad I thought, and actually a bit faster than last year so I was pleased given I felt like I hardly did any work at all and felt great!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I quickly got my wetsuit off my torso and immediately ran to a wetsuit stripper to do the rest. Unfortunately, I only got one instead of two, and she struggled a bit with it on my feet, but it was only a few second delay, no big deal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My official swim time came in at 30:58 to the mat, which ended up being 21st in my AG out of 249 athletes, so off to a good start.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The run to T1 is a bit long, but given I didn't have to deal with my wetsuit, I was able to quickly get my bike stuff on, grab my bike and get going. T1 took 2:28, which was pretty average given the size of the transition zone and that it was all on bumpy grass and that I had such a long way to run with my bike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bike course has a long grinding uphill in the first 18.5K, followed by a few fast descents and a bunch of other sharp climbs. Overall, the last 60K is net downhill, which partially offsets the much slower avg. speed from the start of the race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nutrition wise, I stuck with my Infinite approach. A normal concentrate in my PD aerobar bottle up front and a more concentrated solution in a bottle behind my seat. I then took water at pretty much every aid station. All went well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Power wise, I was looking to go about 260-265 avg. for the race which was higher than last year, but I think I'm just a bit stronger so I thought I'd go for it if I wanted to get a podium/Worlds spot this year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall, the ride could best be described as "On Your Left". I bet I said it a hundred times, as I likely passed close to 1500 athletes who started in waves ahead of me. The course was pretty busy with traffic from start to finish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first hour of the race my avg. power clocked in at 274 watts, which was a bit high I thought, but it did include the long uphill and I was feeling pretty good.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0Cm6CI3BbeMUhaFfwbI1UaRbcnr_TDysRvV2stxlLfwB9ZxidP7EufJpEAIfQ3g7DGQjjDBdhGfen6E9vzk4q5bEhAaguh78s4NwAb4G1lkg2k65YiZ4Apao8-bC4LIRCOajCULMqEg/s1600/Bike+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0Cm6CI3BbeMUhaFfwbI1UaRbcnr_TDysRvV2stxlLfwB9ZxidP7EufJpEAIfQ3g7DGQjjDBdhGfen6E9vzk4q5bEhAaguh78s4NwAb4G1lkg2k65YiZ4Apao8-bC4LIRCOajCULMqEg/s1600/Bike+3.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second hour of the race came in at 263 watts, as I was able to get into a bit more of a consistent rhythm. I was still feeling pretty good, so I continued to push on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All was going really well until we almost got back to the race site. There was about a 2M no pass zone, and unfortunately, I got stuck behind a female athlete who was just puttering along. The speed went from about 42kph to about 28kph and the power in this hour segment was dropping off like a rock as I was literately coasting along. Near the end of the no pass zone, I looked back and there was a pack of about 25 guys all shaking their head and getting frustrated. Eventually it ended, and I pushed the pace back to the transition zone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All said and done, I biked 2:24:46 at an average power of 263 watts, normalized power of 270 watts and an average speed of just over 37kph. This was a very nice improvement over last year in terms of power and time (about 20 watts higher and almost 8 minutes faster). I had the 4th fastest bike split in my AG, which actually moved me up to 4th overall in my AG starting the run.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526830362" target="_blank">Garmin Bike File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/158750781" target="_blank">Strava Bike File</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T2 went pretty well and I was out in 1:15, only a few seconds slower than the top guys in my AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In order to fix the parking lot exit problem, the run course changed slightly this year. We now had to run around the outside of the grass field before climbing a hill and getting onto Apulia Rd. The Syracuse run course is notoriously hard, and although this change wasn't hugely significant, there's no denying that it made the course a bit harder than it already was. It added more running on uneven bumpy grass and another fairly challenging quad burning hill climb to the already two stupid hard climbs on the course which we have to do twice. Heck, even Jordan Rapp, multiple Ironman Champion described the Syracuse run course as "Absurd" - proof, see <a href="http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=5135351;page=2;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;" target="_blank">here</a>. How local Cdn kid Lionel Sanders runs a 1:09 half there boggles my mind. It was such an awesome run, he even got his own thread on <a href="http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=5135351;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;" target="_blank">Slowtwitch</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the time I got out on the course, most of the top pros were done their race (depressing for sure), but there were tonnes and tonnes of people out running. The section of road on Apulia was a bit congested at times, but overall I had no issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I hit the first hill, I ran about half way up before I slowed down and powerwalked for about 10m. I did this 2 or 3 times on each hill. I kinda of expected this, so I didn't let it discourage me. I just find it lets the heart rate come down a bit and breaks the hill into tiny little sections.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once at the top of the last hill, it was time to hammer back to the finish line/turn around point to repeat everything I just did all over again. The run back went well, except for the downhill running that crushed the quads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't think anyone in my AG passed me on the first lap, but not too long into the start of the second lap a guy in my AG did go flying by. He was moving really well, so I just let him go and did my thing, trying to keep a steady pace throughout and only walk for a short amount of time on the hills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually I made my way to the top of the last hill and the turn around point, and it was mostly all downhill back to the finish line. I was starting to feel decently tired, but the 2K "flattish" stretch along Apulia allowed me to open things up a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before starting the final climb on Apulia to the parking lot entrance I spotted Carlos, who started 25 minutes earlier than I did. I had seen him at various times on the run course, and was slowly gaining on him, but I was unsure if I would catch him before the finish line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we made our way around the parking lot section, I caught him and we ran together for a bit before I pulled away and kicked it up a bit for the last 500m or so into the finish line.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWEJ0lbmPOcPxvat4pwV70oRiMFyR1suCt7swoXooV84UoeYQTnq_TViA4gFCxH5MrZjNlL0w6n7HEEFJHa6-IHvNAIV4hMU8R7EGXc1oN24Ys_H38vh7K9kEFlu0An0bC8dCPe7PybM/s1600/Finish+Line+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWEJ0lbmPOcPxvat4pwV70oRiMFyR1suCt7swoXooV84UoeYQTnq_TViA4gFCxH5MrZjNlL0w6n7HEEFJHa6-IHvNAIV4hMU8R7EGXc1oN24Ys_H38vh7K9kEFlu0An0bC8dCPe7PybM/s1600/Finish+Line+Shot.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end I ran 1:33:31 for the run. Not great, but not terrible either. It was a pretty steady and consistent effort that was about 8 minutes faster than the prior year and 13th fastest in my AG. I did lose one spot and finished 5th in my AG, which is the same spot I finished last year. My total time was 4:32:56 which was about 18 minutes faster overall than the prior year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/526834116" target="_blank">Garmin Run File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/157110052" target="_blank">Strava Run File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=108986" target="_blank">2014 Syracuse 70.3 Overall Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were 8 allocated Mont Tremblant World Championship spots in the M40-44 AG and I did take one of them. This means I'm heading back to Tremblant in September to race. Ideally, I want to put forth a faster time than I did when I went 4:25. That's the goal anyway!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So overall, I was pleased with the effort on the day, and after waiting around for a few hours to get cleaned up and our stuff out of transition, we eventually headed out and were pleasantly surprised to be able to leave the parking lot in about 2 minutes! Much much faster than last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Same as last year, we headed directly to the <a href="http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/locations/syracuse/" target="_blank">Dinosaur BBQ</a> for mandatory refueling for the long trip home back to Canada.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmRCIDU-yO4pkPpyd4gdmptIJoZMUodONlLnhPX6QCcGD3Km9Yo-nq0oz-7NEl1pTl0PSGGMhQ2q1Cp8J3j_BQJO1yRes8gn4g5e41GfzBei2I5EbRCqA9DZ3wwaCWQia114ncNtTRzE/s1600/Dino+BBQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmRCIDU-yO4pkPpyd4gdmptIJoZMUodONlLnhPX6QCcGD3Km9Yo-nq0oz-7NEl1pTl0PSGGMhQ2q1Cp8J3j_BQJO1yRes8gn4g5e41GfzBei2I5EbRCqA9DZ3wwaCWQia114ncNtTRzE/s1600/Dino+BBQ.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebratory post race dinner at the Dino BBQ</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up for me will likely be the Multisport Belwood triathlon, before beginning some serious Ironman training leading up to both the 70.3 and Ironman World Championships this fall!</span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-32937643065506575682014-06-26T21:26:00.001-04:002014-06-26T21:26:32.478-04:00Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race 2014<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was the 2nd year in a row for doing this race. I raced it for the first time ever last year on the H&P team. I had a good time of 38:10 and coming in 3rd master overall. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year, the race took on a bit more excitement as I was on Team Mike. Read more about the different teams and the draft process here <a href="http://coachinghealthandperformance.blogspot.ca/2014/06/2014-waterloo-10k-classic.html" target="_blank">H&P Waterloo Classic Results</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was definitely shooting for a time close to 37:30. This wouldn't be a PB, but certainly a good time on this course, which has it's fair share of hills.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a beautiful day, which allowed all the runners to warm up outside on and inside the track at Waterloo stadium.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race kicked off at 9am and it was a huge sprint for the 50m down the track before making a sharp turn through the gates before hitting the roads of Waterloo.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEeYoD0voYw1qrtlYnd266x6y7jUygpp4eLzyYkLT9DMhChAVFJGNWavwFa8w96YTFyPpyackfDSQT1UwX29m4wHXKAu80OVe5AIK9-r6z7ALHqwhcHLvJ4NxbXMM5MsZQsiNOF4K1RE/s1600/Start+of+the+Race.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEeYoD0voYw1qrtlYnd266x6y7jUygpp4eLzyYkLT9DMhChAVFJGNWavwFa8w96YTFyPpyackfDSQT1UwX29m4wHXKAu80OVe5AIK9-r6z7ALHqwhcHLvJ4NxbXMM5MsZQsiNOF4K1RE/s1600/Start+of+the+Race.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The pace was fast and I was doing my best to keep fellow H&P teammate Greg Dyce in my sites, as he was the one I was lined up against against the other H&P team, Team Dave.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the first 3K of the race, my average pace was pretty much around 3:30/K, which is pretty darn quick for me, and I was pretty surprised at this point. The pace felt challenging, but I really wanted to push myself today to see just what I could do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I went through the 5K point in 17:40, which would be a new 5K pb for me, but if it's not in an actual 5K race, it doesn't seem to count! Just past the 5K mark, I passed a fellow H&P runner Ahmed Ahmed, who was actually drafted ahead of me in the team draft, so that was encouraging.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At about the 6K mark, the same runner (Gigantor) that I battled with at the <a href="http://mytriathlonandtrainingadventures.blogspot.ca/2014/05/waterloo-half-marathon-april-27-2014.html" target="_blank">Waterloo Half Marathon</a> caught and passed me. I tried to stay with him, but he was just going a bit faster than I seemed to be able to go today, and he slowly pulled away as we crested the hill on Westmount.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we approached the turnaround point for the 10K I could see where I was overall. I figured I was in about 12th overall, and judging by the athletes I saw coming back, I thought I was the top master runner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, as we got back to the top of the hill, another runner caught me, and I was definitely a master runner, so I knew I had to stay with him. I did just that pretty much all the way back to the 9K mark, where he ever so slowly inched away. I know I was going to be disappointed if I lost to him at this point, but I can say 100% that I was going as hard as I could (I think!).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only about 600m left in the race</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we got back to the track, it was only 350m to the finish, but we had to dodge, duck and dive around the slower 5K runners still finishing their race.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I pushed hard, but could not reel in Mark Meyers, who finished as the top master. I crossed the line only 3 seconds after him in 36:46, which was a new 10K pb for me and was much better than my 37:30 goal time. I ended up 13th overall and second master which allowed me to take home the $75 cash prize for that, which was a sweet bonus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/521353077" target="_blank">Garmin Race Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=waterlooclassicL.htm" target="_blank">2014 Waterloo Classic 10K Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As far at the MikeVsDave H&P team battle, Team Mike lost by only 10 seconds overall, which is the combined time for the top 5 athletes on each team. Man, that was close.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the race, I chatted with all the members of the team, had some food, did the awards thing and headed home pleased with my result. The following weekend I headed to Syracuse to the the Ironman Syracuse 70.3 for the second year in a row. See my next blog post on how this race went (hint, it went well!!)</span></div>
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-62133313725238718382014-05-27T11:38:00.000-04:002014-05-27T11:38:53.741-04:002014 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Race Report - May 25, 2014<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">750m Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">20K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year when I did this race, it was close to freezing when I left my house. This year, the air temperature was warmer for sure, but because of the cold winter and spring, the water temp was still only 59 or 60F.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After arriving at Pittock Conservation area, I quickly got myself organized and did a short ride/run to warm up and then got my wetsuit on and made my way to the chilly waters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After getting in the water, it was indeed cold, but it was such a nice sunny day, I knew it wasn't going to be too bad. I did a short swim and got some water in the wetsuit to adjust things up a bit and then waited for my wave to kick off at 9:08, which was the 3rd wave of the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the horn blew, I tried to put in a good effort to get some space, but this only moderately worked. I still fond people grabbing my legs and bumping up against me for likely a few hundred meters. I found the water so murky that I couldn't keep in good contact with other swimmers around me, so drafting wasn't working all that well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I eventually made it to the first turn buoy and started running into slower swimmers from other waves. After rounding the last turn buoy, I made a push back to shore and when I was finally able to stand up, my Garmin said 12:00 right on. This was a bit disappointing, as I was hoping to be around 11:30 or so, which is what I believe I did last year. It's always hard to tell in the swim if the distance is exactly the same, but overall, I was in a decent position, as I don't think there were too many white caps around me as I was coming back. It turns out I had the 4th fastest swim in my AG race day. I think the colder water slowed most people down a bit.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swim exit</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Into T1, and I think I did a decent job. I had a bit of a struggle getting my wetsuit off my left arm, but I did get it before I got to my bike. I didn't have too many issues getting my wetsuit off either, so it wasn't too bad. In the end, T1 took 59 seconds. How the fast guys manage to get in and out in less than 40 seconds is amazing to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Onto the bike, we once again had the tricky run to the mount line and then a slow and rough climb out of the park. I waited until we were completely out of the park before I slipped into my bike shoes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once in, I started hammering!! The first 3K is mostly uphill, and the watts were pretty close to 300 at this point. We faced a mostly cross wind going up this stretch to country road 33. Once on county road 33, we enjoyed a fast tailwind, but the road surface wasn't great. I continued passing lots and lots of other racers at through this stretch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A few K down the road, we made a right turn and had a fairly fast and smooth trip down to the turn-around point at 10K. After the turn, it was back into a slight headwind/cross and I continued to make my way through the field, holding about 290 watts or so on average. I was able to pretty much hold those watts all the way back to the park, which was good to see.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading out on the bike</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once back at the conservation site, it was a no pass zone to the mount line, so we had to take things fairly easy down the hill and around the corners, as there was still quite a bit of gravel on the roads also. I stopped my garmin just before the mount line this year, to get a better reading for the bike portion of the race. Here is the Strava ride file for the race. It was good to see that absolutely zero people passed me on the bike, and that I had the fastest bike split in my AG (32:16) and 10th fastest in the entire race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/145520272" target="_blank">2014 Woodstock Sprint Tri Bike File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T2 went fairly well and I was in and out in 37 seconds. One of the fastest in my AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started the run with the weird feeling in my feet like I had last year. It felt sort of like my insoles were bunched up, but at least it went away quickly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first K of the run is on some loose gravel trails, uphill slightly and into the wind. I pushed pretty hard to make sure I got a good start and the first K went by in 3:58 and I was feeling better as the run went along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point, I was seeing lot's of the elite guys from the first wave coming back and I was watching the legs on the guys I was passing to see if anyone was in my AG. I didn't see anyone in my AG the entire run, so I was taking this as a good sign. This year, there wasn't anyone on the run that passed me either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last year, the turn-around was slightly long, but this year it seemed like it was bang on. On the return trip to the park, I tried picking up the pace a bit and with only 1K to go, I pretty much put it all out there and finished the last K with a 3:45 average. I crossed the finish in 1:05:47 and a final run time of 19:28 for the 5K. My finishing time was just under 2.5 minutes faster than last year which was good to see. The better weather played a big part of that, but I did have a faster overall bike and run this year compared to last.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0QRU0ZgolTKbvPA6lKUkGxekKcmEGYBBsvAPsFCB05iQCZeEy3dHEL9qKyFFadWSrdtZzfnREIshm68Ce9SPhQDq4LxL_KSr6Q-TunWfAXztcgSaGTQsdxaQALMvaTwYXjDwfXnGTpI/s1600/Run+Pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0QRU0ZgolTKbvPA6lKUkGxekKcmEGYBBsvAPsFCB05iQCZeEy3dHEL9qKyFFadWSrdtZzfnREIshm68Ce9SPhQDq4LxL_KSr6Q-TunWfAXztcgSaGTQsdxaQALMvaTwYXjDwfXnGTpI/s1600/Run+Pic.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing up the run</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/145519923" target="_blank">2014 Woodstock Sprint Tri Run File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After finishing I grabbed some chocolate milk and food and chatted with a few other racers before checking results. In the end, I finished 2nd overall in the M40-44 AG and 16th overall in the race which was an improvement over last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=106945" target="_blank">2014 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Overall Results</a></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GNTx6VgqVdLiA6UUk61ESaGaZM5N_vQ0T1vkUE-oK18V-g2XwPU-ZMR6PDQkMg3Vw7AaIHbWId2OpNDNYn_TDRhNTxdbSD-ttqqreVeM7tOJjbmxBCLha2KJcn73UFE7AhIEnx833-E/s1600/Podium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4GNTx6VgqVdLiA6UUk61ESaGaZM5N_vQ0T1vkUE-oK18V-g2XwPU-ZMR6PDQkMg3Vw7AaIHbWId2OpNDNYn_TDRhNTxdbSD-ttqqreVeM7tOJjbmxBCLha2KJcn73UFE7AhIEnx833-E/s1600/Podium.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">40-44 AG Podium</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As this was the first triathlon of the year around this area, the competition in Woodstock was pretty high. The top two finishers in the race are totally capable of podium spots in most 70.3 races around the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Up next is the Waterloo Classic with my H&P teammates. This one is going to be a good time for sure!! Then I am doing Syracuse 70.3 again on June 22nd in hopes of grabbing a Mont Tremblant 70.3 World Championship spot. So far so good though!</span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-44659520905032790462014-05-16T16:37:00.004-04:002014-05-16T16:37:45.112-04:00Baden 7 Mile Road Race - May 10, 2014 Race Report<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This race was previously the New Hamburg Classic prior to being taken over by the Run Waterloo series. I always put it on the schedule since it is a home town event for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The course changed slightly this year, making it a bit more challenging and running to the top of the Baden aerial tower, which is supposedly the highest point in Southwestern Ontario (but I couldn't confirm this on the internet). </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view to the top of the aerial tower. A short 200m climb at approx. 20% grade</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I can confirm though is that the view at the top is pretty spectacular. This was more easily confirmed the weekend before the race when a bunch of us did a few practice runs on the course. On race day, I wasn't trying to take in much of the scenery!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race started back at the Wilmot Rec Centre (WRC) just past 9:30am. We had a pretty large group of Health & Performance runners doing a mix of the 7 miler and the 5K. In addition, my son Holden was doing his third 5K race of the spring. Here are a few shots of the start.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuKB4DE_KNL-IaDGS3wu_mIbivsQ9Q21FaiB3s33pFhd4WnNadx_AVMDdgHVN5b2FyMPfH7UB8aB-rWrhrcYg-gAx2haegtL3Jw6U2yrnrwJRTQag-9rIlPHcrp9O8ZkGyxZy4MO93Js/s1600/Holden+at+the+start+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuKB4DE_KNL-IaDGS3wu_mIbivsQ9Q21FaiB3s33pFhd4WnNadx_AVMDdgHVN5b2FyMPfH7UB8aB-rWrhrcYg-gAx2haegtL3Jw6U2yrnrwJRTQag-9rIlPHcrp9O8ZkGyxZy4MO93Js/s1600/Holden+at+the+start+2.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holden is on the far right in the orange</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool shot of Holden jumping the curb to stay in the mix and of course H&P coach Sean leading everyone out at a blistering pace</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race headed around the WRC before heading out on Gingerich road and taking a straight shot to the aerial tower. Wrapping around the WRC, I found myself in about 7th or 8th place, but the start was a combination of both the 7 miler and the 5K, so I wasn't sure exactly where I stood in the 7 miler which I was doing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I quickly found myself running with fellow H&P runner Greg Dyce. I was pretty sure he was doing the 7 miler, so I was thinking this was ideal, knowing I was really hoping to be running with someone on the way back, given the windy conditions on the day and the fact that we had a tailwind out and massive headwind coming back.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHicDg6nam1wIGAy7hkR8nT81Ba9cF5Ly6gIb5PqkdeeHqjM6wztOa6o9C2YMPX_uKyEvHJZgAnPRStPKXp94Mns4-qhd-UNXyfdmVuIYCs0MIzUvR0p-eKv5NgWWEokYabBBgVq0vXQ/s1600/Leaving+the+WRC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHicDg6nam1wIGAy7hkR8nT81Ba9cF5Ly6gIb5PqkdeeHqjM6wztOa6o9C2YMPX_uKyEvHJZgAnPRStPKXp94Mns4-qhd-UNXyfdmVuIYCs0MIzUvR0p-eKv5NgWWEokYabBBgVq0vXQ/s1600/Leaving+the+WRC.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving the WRC and ripping down Gingerich Rd.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The wind was howling out of the west on race morning, so we had a tailwind going out (which by the way, never helps you as much as a headwind slows you down!) and a big headwind coming back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just past the 1k mark of the race, we enjoyed a fast downhill section to Foundry St. in Baden. At this point, we were all amazed how much of a lead coach Sean had in the 5K. He reached the 5K point way ahead of everyone and at a blistering pace of 3:10 or so. Crazy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once our group hit the 5K turn around, it became clear where everyone stood in the 7 mile race. After a few more people made the turn, I learned I was in 4th place in the 7 miler, just a few steps behind Greg, which was perfect. To this point, our pace was about 3:42/km, but we now faced a pretty much non-stop uphill run to the top of the tower hill. It was a gradual climb for the most part, with a short little hill to get to the tower hill driveway off of Synder's Rd. Here are some more cool shots on the way out to the tower hill.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYJ0lfV6AquvGbC86-6EJWZlTZg9kOfJyiN69pMUHyLHvOOS1rbfe0ubXBep7w7H1iuBXy_u0RSiolmY98rjXmwpbpqSBe3Xpl2uDvTIU-pNGr7NQCQHxwsf1-bc1SKXNAxFMC9nNRig/s1600/Working+with+Greg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYJ0lfV6AquvGbC86-6EJWZlTZg9kOfJyiN69pMUHyLHvOOS1rbfe0ubXBep7w7H1iuBXy_u0RSiolmY98rjXmwpbpqSBe3Xpl2uDvTIU-pNGr7NQCQHxwsf1-bc1SKXNAxFMC9nNRig/s1600/Working+with+Greg.JPG" height="254" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I see quite a few H&P singlets at the front of this race</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAoIFUikdCdOspbtaz7zNxxrfP4zL9QxEtmjJhXhw0sBDrWuCEnnnWdI7XJQlQ7sFEDLKNTbqX8hojEYpCsDbWz-60hyEGeLWBcVgRVItU56zZkLx7FrMJbfjsBx43WTKJPwAfiL6DXQw/s1600/Heading+out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAoIFUikdCdOspbtaz7zNxxrfP4zL9QxEtmjJhXhw0sBDrWuCEnnnWdI7XJQlQ7sFEDLKNTbqX8hojEYpCsDbWz-60hyEGeLWBcVgRVItU56zZkLx7FrMJbfjsBx43WTKJPwAfiL6DXQw/s1600/Heading+out.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to keep a steady pace</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_GqD1WdMQnZP7CqPafxI-u6Mo0FqgQvqVpqdirXT_bZrlRV2MSdbNHowneJ6qsPXklPbGM-DnoBveZvSJrsxu2ejPfnoGGrOgySIpQcjybZjjPManc3OYvvkN-OXmSW_Eg9FLkxzQng/s1600/Starting+to+spread+out.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc_GqD1WdMQnZP7CqPafxI-u6Mo0FqgQvqVpqdirXT_bZrlRV2MSdbNHowneJ6qsPXklPbGM-DnoBveZvSJrsxu2ejPfnoGGrOgySIpQcjybZjjPManc3OYvvkN-OXmSW_Eg9FLkxzQng/s1600/Starting+to+spread+out.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working with Greg Dyce, just a few steps behind him</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After making the climb up Synder's Rd, we made a 180 degree turn onto the driveway which took the runners to the top of the tower hill. This was a gravel driveway and it was a bit soft in spots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part of the race was a race "Prime" for the fastest uphill/downhill part of the steepest climb. The timing mat was right before we started the big haul up the hill. Going up the hill, I just tried to stay with Greg and keep the feet turning over. At the top, the race organizers had a 65+ pound cast iron bell that we could ring to symbolize our accomplishment of reaching the top! It was super cool, but when I got to the top, my legs were almost quivering from the effort. Here's some more cool shots of the hill climb.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNm0xevrjs6IOluKiywgC8DAjMwoHxf7BJyjlUJTEg1B40moyU70eA2ncJvnNnr7O73almZKE8gZ749Ch50NSYn4ve3LaI75B-b6wbEkPIdogKXGIo7VezG20Gq5JVsfFU1OO8loFWo5c/s1600/Luke+and+Greg+on+the+climb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNm0xevrjs6IOluKiywgC8DAjMwoHxf7BJyjlUJTEg1B40moyU70eA2ncJvnNnr7O73almZKE8gZ749Ch50NSYn4ve3LaI75B-b6wbEkPIdogKXGIo7VezG20Gq5JVsfFU1OO8loFWo5c/s1600/Luke+and+Greg+on+the+climb.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The CLIMB!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilywthB1lYIQ8zrn7avo6_dxIHvRiMN51L6xgxBVmHR0lbTj81kuxesb-f12A4WekkNBlyOM6NLSZ8jfH04Ug9TLhUF0lCN7gzAeBuEOkiwH7OCjk6mMhY75UOsgW4v7jBQhXy5GrfPlk/s1600/Yah+this+Hill+Hurts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilywthB1lYIQ8zrn7avo6_dxIHvRiMN51L6xgxBVmHR0lbTj81kuxesb-f12A4WekkNBlyOM6NLSZ8jfH04Ug9TLhUF0lCN7gzAeBuEOkiwH7OCjk6mMhY75UOsgW4v7jBQhXy5GrfPlk/s1600/Yah+this+Hill+Hurts.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The PAIN!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA6wQ4liUtDi1RHFZXu0ZVsU6OBYzyI0Hb_5AcbqMEBEDRp67e7dOMdrrfCNJ4t4gkSynYpkFTjQUn9uxc0J3ICnH8hSxAC3ePujaqUifaJiLI4SxBhrk-BoNkSRMCZ7_bx2F5ooMBCgE/s1600/The+bell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA6wQ4liUtDi1RHFZXu0ZVsU6OBYzyI0Hb_5AcbqMEBEDRp67e7dOMdrrfCNJ4t4gkSynYpkFTjQUn9uxc0J3ICnH8hSxAC3ePujaqUifaJiLI4SxBhrk-BoNkSRMCZ7_bx2F5ooMBCgE/s1600/The+bell.JPG" height="262" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cast iron BELL!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4sMfJEVppysdOgFQGV2XP8xUmvV38DbOW-s1MRx24ByUrDEjK6KV4rLhTY3L9_vcnVjyZygIEE4kJ-g9aIFPRSAxz9XYmEYpWr0Nmx0UHCOqx1PiBD6cUfStTEA1TOhDgUmV9V3psp0/s1600/Ringing+the+bell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4sMfJEVppysdOgFQGV2XP8xUmvV38DbOW-s1MRx24ByUrDEjK6KV4rLhTY3L9_vcnVjyZygIEE4kJ-g9aIFPRSAxz9XYmEYpWr0Nmx0UHCOqx1PiBD6cUfStTEA1TOhDgUmV9V3psp0/s1600/Ringing+the+bell.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "I'm not sure I can feel my legs anymore!!!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi4ToZD6CcF85XVyOuaCaohNhGQGu5GRfUsiawojs5wFB_BBIpTgHDDMh0xrpECShq7YGGqFdOhpT2bSiA1Y806r7U3CnR7nJVy17El_vHAUbDJO0z83wwk2_uOaaNPbC53yqtLpdUNQ/s1600/Lots+of+HP+Runners.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi4ToZD6CcF85XVyOuaCaohNhGQGu5GRfUsiawojs5wFB_BBIpTgHDDMh0xrpECShq7YGGqFdOhpT2bSiA1Y806r7U3CnR7nJVy17El_vHAUbDJO0z83wwk2_uOaaNPbC53yqtLpdUNQ/s1600/Lots+of+HP+Runners.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tonnes and tonnes of blue and white H&P!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpwxLdrB1GnAYCuOCeUWAvObPIJbyivaKLij0PXfs4qWjQ-McqcXFSeW1ikC3fK0YRJvlWmUrRuFHCxaetk-dGLhPsvCbxrsrFzMuFm4rvT3M9qIsnhslaOMw5fzHKSr7So6zMdgWrQQ/s1600/Hard+descent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpwxLdrB1GnAYCuOCeUWAvObPIJbyivaKLij0PXfs4qWjQ-McqcXFSeW1ikC3fK0YRJvlWmUrRuFHCxaetk-dGLhPsvCbxrsrFzMuFm4rvT3M9qIsnhslaOMw5fzHKSr7So6zMdgWrQQ/s1600/Hard+descent.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of control on the DOWNHILL!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that the hill was done, we now had to deal with 40kph head and cross winds on the 5.5K trip back to the WRC. When we got back to Synder's Rd, Greg, myself and another runner were all very close. At the top of the hill, I could see the runner that was in 2nd place for the first half slowing down just a bit and Greg was going to sit on his shoulder to freshen up. I made a decision that we needed to make our move now, so I ran up to him and tapped him on the back and said "Let's Go", and off we went speeding down the hill towards Baden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This strategy seemed to work really well. We each took turns blocking each other from the wind for 500m stretches at a time approximately. By the time we got back to Foundry, we had a decent 100m or so lead over the next runner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The climb back up Gingerich at Erb Transport was tough! Into a big headwind and up a hill. Our pace slowed a bit obviously, but I wasn't feeling too trashed at that point, so I just kept working with Greg. Once past the roundabout at the top of the hill, I knew we would be sheltered from the wind a bit because of the trees, so I tried picking up the pace to see where Greg was at.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once we came around the corner and hit the wind again, I decided I would just give it what I had, and see what happens. It was at this point that I started to pull ahead from Greg, so I just carried on hoping I wouldn't lose a sprint finish like I did at the Waterloo half marathon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The finish of the race (as seen below) was inside the arena. Just before entering, I made a quick check to see where Greg was at, but it looked like I had second place locked up and crossed the line in 43:52, 2nd overall and first in my AG.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStBCVn_3miFF_0QlK9JD6Q6lK58FlqoAC7TTx_SAqZoZgyvC5Zdpg2S5LMkeCei3tgscjEdt0fAbTRZNYpp8p9OaSoX8dGIoRYpVLm5pP4zdbb_aryLdOYrJe_bPh5nb6pXYdS4tUP_M/s1600/The+finish+line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStBCVn_3miFF_0QlK9JD6Q6lK58FlqoAC7TTx_SAqZoZgyvC5Zdpg2S5LMkeCei3tgscjEdt0fAbTRZNYpp8p9OaSoX8dGIoRYpVLm5pP4zdbb_aryLdOYrJe_bPh5nb6pXYdS4tUP_M/s1600/The+finish+line.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=WLbadenL.htm" target="_blank">2014 Baden Road Race 7 Miler Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.strava.com/activities/140127291" target="_blank">Strava Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/497896838" target="_blank">Garmin Connect Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So overall, I was pretty happy with the results. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holden did well in his 5K coming in with a time of 24:19 and 3rd place in the under 12 category.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqimNuNrRntgi1KAEXi7rqHxXAH6nqeIPT9JIHn7IUSxOvNIqzu2bVreD1mcR3dVWDjAIp_o2nXWxyT6sSZExlriHcN8Z7yV-_FIU4F-zpN8AhZqwM9v4YlkpFwCrKuWBiSSb9fBi_6M/s1600/Luke+and+Ken+Podium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqimNuNrRntgi1KAEXi7rqHxXAH6nqeIPT9JIHn7IUSxOvNIqzu2bVreD1mcR3dVWDjAIp_o2nXWxyT6sSZExlriHcN8Z7yV-_FIU4F-zpN8AhZqwM9v4YlkpFwCrKuWBiSSb9fBi_6M/s1600/Luke+and+Ken+Podium.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Ken MacAlpine, the 7 miler winner</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74vXKD4ZBJ3GZT9nGv1lwy-dhfY71mEKDRHfiiowBGBUCL2hi5EkgDTZL6aH66b0GEHEfVWW6PuHbaSTVTZBLwRb5KAZdWeIWQ1VFuMKVmOQHlJpMSNpW_QRyAGEebBjNZQ9bloZMAEo/s1600/Holdens+Podium.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74vXKD4ZBJ3GZT9nGv1lwy-dhfY71mEKDRHfiiowBGBUCL2hi5EkgDTZL6aH66b0GEHEfVWW6PuHbaSTVTZBLwRb5KAZdWeIWQ1VFuMKVmOQHlJpMSNpW_QRyAGEebBjNZQ9bloZMAEo/s1600/Holdens+Podium.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holden in the U 12 category (he's only 10, so big things to come from him!)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Congrats to the Run Waterloo group for putting together a great race! The first of many Baden Road Races! Up next for me is the first triathlon of the season in Woodstock on May 25th. I hope the ice is all out of the water by then!!</span></div>
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-77652726041821849362014-05-01T17:40:00.003-04:002014-05-01T17:40:52.396-04:00Waterloo Half Marathon - April 27, 2014 Race Report<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a while since I've raced a stand alone half marathon. My previous half was the Hamilton Road to Hope back in November 2011 where I ran just under 1:22 and qualified for the New York City Marathon (but ultimately couldn't go to because of Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012). The Hamilton Half is a pretty fast course, so I wasn't going into this one expecting to PB, especially since I just ran an 8K PB the night before in Elmira.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race starts and finishes at Bechtal Park in Waterloo and the weather race morning was clear but a bit cool and breezy. Pretty good conditions, but not perfect.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some H&P Runners pre race</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The full marathon kicked off at 8am and the half started at 8:30 am, so after getting warmed up and hitting the washroom for a final time inside the soccer house at Bechtal, I made my way over to the start line where I chatted a bit with Greg Dyce, another H&P runner doing the race. I did pop one gel immediately prior to the start with a plan to take another at about the 10K point with some water, and then supplement with water/Gatorade at the aid stations as required. Nothing too complicated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right at 8:30, the race kicked off with some bag pipers playing and sending us off. Leaving the park, I was just behind Greg and in about 7th or 8th place overall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heading south on Bridge, we hit a steep downhill section just before the roundabout and grand river bridge. Sometimes running fast downhill hurts as much as going uphill. You just do it a lot faster!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually we turned onto Bloomingdale Rd. and this is where we started a gradual uphill climb and into the wind for about 4kms. I started this section running by myself, but eventually a guy came up from behind and passed me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This guy's name was Thomas Hope, and as it turns out, we would spend a lot of time together during this race. I had never heard or seen him before, but he turned out to be a pretty solid runner and he as a BIG DUDE. From here on in, I will refer to him as Gigantor, since he was about 6 and a half feet tall (at least) and likely over 200 lbs. Just a big solid guy!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He likely passed me at about the 2.5K mark, and I just tucked in behind him for a while as he did a great job of blocking the wind for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the next several K, I just followed him, and we eventually started picking off some of the runners up ahead of us, including Greg. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we left Bloomingdale, I took the lead again from Gigantor, and we were running in 3rd and 4th place overall in the race. Gigantor always just kept off my shoulder and within 10 or 20 feet from me the entire race. Here is a shot of us as we coming up on the 10K point.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying hard to drop the big guy!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shortly after passing the 10K mark, there was an aid station and that's where I took my second gel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we passed 11K, we started a pretty steady and long climb up into the town of Conestogo. This is where we finally caught up to the guy running in 2nd place. On the climb up to Conestogo, we both passed him so we were now running in 2nd and 3rd overall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once at the top of the hill, we were in the middle of the town and we had a short flat run to Northfield, before heading south and with the wind. This section was a bit rolling, but overall, a net downhill. The pace picked up a bit again, as we ticked off a few K's in the low 3:50's. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did get a bit of motivation from fellow H&P athlete Dave Rutherford as he drove by on this section, but Gigantor also got some motivation as his family drove by and were screaming and cheering for him!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a slight uphill again as we got onto University Ave and then faced a bit more headwind while running slightly NE for a little while. A short bit down Northfield, we had to do a small out and back section that I was totally not expecting. I looked over the course maps prior to the race, and I thought we ran straight back University to Bechtal Park, but there was about a 1K out and back on Country Squire Lane and Rd. that we had to do and that was a bit deflating. Gigantor wasn't even aware of it, so we were both surprised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was in this section that we saw Ed Cyr, the race leader, so we got an idea how far ahead he was. At this point, he was out of reach unless something terribly went wrong for him. I'd say he was a good 500-600 meters ahead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once back onto University, we cruised a bit of a flat section before the downhill/uphill at Lexington. I picked up the pace a bit on the downhill, and tried to just focus on some quick turnover back up the hill past Lexington. I was sort of hoping that I would be able to snap the elastic band between Gigantor and I, but no luck, he stuck to me like glue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just past the 19K point in the race, coach Sean Delanghe was out ripping around again on his mountain bike, so he decided to ride with us for a bit, offering up words of encouragement (mostly to me I think, but because he is such a nice guy, he would keep everything plural).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had in my head that with 20K to go, I would try to find that extra gear and hopefully lose Gigantor once and for all. Unfortunately, he had the exact same idea, and as soon as we hit 20K, he made his move past me and was really picking up the pace! I thought crap, I guess he has something in the tank after all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was at this point that Sean spent a bit more time back with me and was REALLY pushing me and making sure I kept up and didn't get dropped. Looking back at the garmin data, we were running into the 3:30 per kilometer pace at times, and at the end of a half marathon, that is really pushing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I managed to keep within 10 feet of Gigantor, but he just wasn't slowing down. As we turned the corner onto Bridge from University, Sean was really pushing me to make my move. Unfortunately, I really was pretty maxed out at this point and just couldn't make the re-pass.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />We entered the Bechtal Park again and I tried my damndest to pass him back, but to no avail. With only about 100 meters left in the race, I sort of mentally gave up, as he was slowing pulling away and I was going full throttle! In the end, after running in 2nd place for half the race with Gigantor right on my heels, I lost the sprint finish and had to settle for 3rd.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />It really was a great finish nonetheless, as I can't say I have had too many sprint finishes in races like that before. Here is a finish line shot, so you can see how close we really were.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I said, I finished 3rd overall and was first place in my AG and the first master runner in a time of 1:23:50, 2 minutes off the race winner Ed Cyr (who is in his 20's!). This was just 1:50 off my half marathon PB time, but on a much tougher course, and without running a hard 8K race the night before!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=waterloomarathonH.htm" target="_blank">2014 Waterloo Half Marathon Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/CZLLBPXM5RQGCUZUBVKFBK76C4" target="_blank">Training Peaks Race Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/488606667" target="_blank">Garmin Race Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After grabbing some food and chatting with other racers and friends for a bit, I headed inside to warm up and collect my cool emergency road side assistance prize from St. John's Ambulance for winning my AG.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />So with 4 races under my belt in 2014, and 4 overall podium finishes, I am pretty happy with how well my running is going at this point. We just need things to warm up and dry out so I can start getting in some solid and consistent bike training. Tri season is right around the corner, and I am very much excited to get it off to a good start as well!</span><br />
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<br />Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-17123438103499173552014-04-30T16:58:00.000-04:002014-04-30T20:02:40.890-04:00Waterloo EndurRace 8K - April 26, 2014 Race Report<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This 8K was the second race in the 2014 Waterloo Running Series EndurRace challenge. The first race was the 5K two weeks ago which I finished 3rd overall and won my AG.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The temperature for this race was quite a bit cooler than it was for the 5K. I think it was around 4 or 5 degrees and a decent wind blowing at times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Similar to the 5K, the race started at 6pm at the Lions Club up in Elmira and followed much of the same route, except we had to go a bit further south.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race kicked off right on time, and just like the 5K, a whole bunch of runners shot off the line like they were doing a 200 yard dash! I pretty much found myself sitting in 3rd place after a few hundred meters, and shortly after the 1K mark, I passed the runner that was in 2nd place overall. The lead runner was Brendan Hancock, another speedy Health & Performance runner. He slowly but surely pulled away over time, and I really had no chance of catching him. He's just faster than I am!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first few K were pretty quick, as we mostly headed south on Arthur street before making a right hand turn onto Whippoorwill street. I'd say the wind was mostly out of the NW, so running along this stretch was not too bad, as we were protected by some forest and some subdivisions. Near the end of this street, it opened up and we were hit with some decent winds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Near the end of this section, coach Sean Delanghe was ripping around on his mountain bike talking to a few of the runners, including myself. Here is some video he took during the race:</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3We2E-sNk7g" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">EndurRace 8K Video</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We eventually turned right onto Barnswallow drive, and this was likely the toughest part of the race. It was mostly into a headwind and the pavement on this road was terrible. You had to be quite careful with your footing or you could easily go over your ankle in a pothole!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still holding 2nd place overall, we made the right turn onto Church street and out of the wind. This section was fairly fast, as it was mostly downhill before climbing back up to Arthur street again. Back on Arthur, we headed south and retraced a bit of the course over again before making a couple rights onto First street and then Synder Ave.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting a police escort down Arthur Street in Elmira</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9FV-W-dNeqwlFBaicde50XgeDhPXpxegurfTQp-FSlVCt-PYWWt8KPOmmfJScmNaP0SjEFr-2k1I6mm2a-bN-aCr18g1v2Ixpc1eg6XILi7k2M22kug907gLSxI2VCM7ATiXdN0iE2As/s1600/Around+6K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9FV-W-dNeqwlFBaicde50XgeDhPXpxegurfTQp-FSlVCt-PYWWt8KPOmmfJScmNaP0SjEFr-2k1I6mm2a-bN-aCr18g1v2Ixpc1eg6XILi7k2M22kug907gLSxI2VCM7ATiXdN0iE2As/s1600/Around+6K.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The final push back to the start along Synder was a bit tough as we battled the wind one more time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I eventually made my final turn back onto South street and crossed the finish line 2nd overall in a time of 29:39, a new 8K PB for me and the first time in a race I have run under 30 minutes for 8K!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=wlendurace2L.htm" target="_blank">2014 EndurRace 8K Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/488606635" target="_blank">2014 EndurRace 8K Garmin Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So yah, I'm 41 now and just set back to back 5K and 8K PB's. I guess training has been going well. I think the key right now is (knock on wood) I am not dealing with any injuries and have been getting some steady, consistent training in across all disciplines (Swim, Bike and Run......remember, I'm a triathlete, not a runner! LOL!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With my 8K result, I also had the fastest combined time for the 5k and 8K (I guess I'm just lucky that none of the guys who beat me in both races also ran the 5K and 8K!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the race, I got a quick massage (since I was running the Waterloo Half marathon the next morning in about 13 hours) and chatted to other team members and friends while getting a bit of food into me. I left right after the awards to get home, fuel some more and rest for tomorrows race. Given the success of these two races, I was hoping to keep things rolling in the half marathon.</span></div>
Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-72049370264127083912014-04-15T21:04:00.000-04:002014-04-15T21:09:15.778-04:00Waterloo EndurRace 5K - April 12, 2014 Race Report<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the long cold winter, it was great to see warm conditions for this local race. Unlike most races, it started at 6pm up in Elimira, instead of the normal morning start. This meant I had to watch what and when I ate my food on Saturday so that I didn't start the race with much in my stomach, which would not have gone well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once again, I was racing on the Health and Performance Open team, as well as the Parent/Child division with my 10 year old son Holden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got to the race site about 45 minutes before the start, so Holden and I did a bit of warming up prior to getting to the starting line.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Holden at the start</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My wife Deanna was at the start, so she got some video of the race start as well.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwuYOYMIR95jKbV66F1oCcoBUaF2bqZaXP8syNNgDdw72Bwm94hHf1Fc27sNUaoVSnf0zKRCjKXTfd-9PYE7Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the gun went off, it was crazy to see how many people sprint off like they're doing a 100m race. After a few hundred meters, I was likely still in about 20th or so overall, but slowly but surely started passing these sprinters as they ran out of gas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mike Piazza, also from Health and Performance was doing a great job of sticking with me, as we went through the first kilometer in about 3:32 (even though I did hear him say yikes or something like that after we heard the time from the volunteer yelling them out). </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDbO0xXIK2-4nzcmDujQSXtK4sXmhXCNZK17OzdzPnGDqjsBiZUI240ZWGZ2JXgAABHusSMEpOGyKLQSriAS6rxtyCEvmBX7wCs7w-KjMG-DFaAbfr2-Jmy-k0Hn-FK8Wu_1dAvulU0I/s1600/Running+with+Mike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDbO0xXIK2-4nzcmDujQSXtK4sXmhXCNZK17OzdzPnGDqjsBiZUI240ZWGZ2JXgAABHusSMEpOGyKLQSriAS6rxtyCEvmBX7wCs7w-KjMG-DFaAbfr2-Jmy-k0Hn-FK8Wu_1dAvulU0I/s1600/Running+with+Mike.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luke and Mike moving through the field</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By now, we were in the top ten and were still moving steadily past other runners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before the 2nd kilometer marker, I made my move past another runner into 3rd overall in the race. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not long after that, I got a bit of a stitch in my side, which isn't surprising given the fact that I was running much faster than I normally do, except when doing intervals. Luckily, it didn't last long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From here on in, I had a nice young lady on a bicycle basically pace me around the course through until the finish. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V3d11gq3ITW53qICtEALAeZaonNDz-bVyqwv2czHYKkNl-MWE7chgLYRH776itJBnqxcqfjNW5osSEzk48rE0uR2zI82RVbW-YI3xbSUs0TNm-Wlz2QmPw88rjuSqP0jzb5qXSvfzJk/s1600/Endure+5km+race+April+2014+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V3d11gq3ITW53qICtEALAeZaonNDz-bVyqwv2czHYKkNl-MWE7chgLYRH776itJBnqxcqfjNW5osSEzk48rE0uR2zI82RVbW-YI3xbSUs0TNm-Wlz2QmPw88rjuSqP0jzb5qXSvfzJk/s1600/Endure+5km+race+April+2014+026.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final push to the finish line</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I held my 3rd place spot right to the end, and crossed the line in 18:12, which is a new PB for me at this race distance. Holden also had a great race finishing in about 23 minutes, which was good enough for us to secure the Parent / Child team race also. Here's a great shot of Holden finishing up his race. Awesome form. If only he trained!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEhtbwj9ycojLppKRPAZ75imE6iTwkfjy3oHc7XASWuirEzJ4JlTbq6cQETGHCwLbpMl9_90FqlOGNP5p6wno-T2UkQ-BtK8KTKcStM3Jg0ItdO51_rKibQPJ8ISVWBHi6PE4f0Rrou0/s1600/Endure+5km+race+April+2014+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEhtbwj9ycojLppKRPAZ75imE6iTwkfjy3oHc7XASWuirEzJ4JlTbq6cQETGHCwLbpMl9_90FqlOGNP5p6wno-T2UkQ-BtK8KTKcStM3Jg0ItdO51_rKibQPJ8ISVWBHi6PE4f0Rrou0/s1600/Endure+5km+race+April+2014+034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holden has great form sprinting to the line!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOR2yQBjuacto0nas6jc9OKYZYg5056E-o-HCwM44pWfmEmRYF2x-Y3A_93TRoEQRqgi5VB5RVXrXxGySgvGiZ4R6ssP2qJNRKrrYT9rtkAJ8G3Nd_-Ko468l7xJ8BZLTDVfnGwbWlzfo/s1600/Parent+Child+Champs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOR2yQBjuacto0nas6jc9OKYZYg5056E-o-HCwM44pWfmEmRYF2x-Y3A_93TRoEQRqgi5VB5RVXrXxGySgvGiZ4R6ssP2qJNRKrrYT9rtkAJ8G3Nd_-Ko468l7xJ8BZLTDVfnGwbWlzfo/s1600/Parent+Child+Champs.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holden and I winning the Parent / Child team event</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=wlendurace1S.htm" target="_blank">Overall 5K Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=wlendurace1SPC.htm" target="_blank">Parent Child Team Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/479387828" target="_blank">Garmin Race Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our Health and Performance team also won the Open division (only one team though), but I think anyone else would have been hard pressed to beat us. Our top 5 runners were all under 20 minutes and our top 3 under 19. We had 3 of the top 6 overall finishers! Solid team effort for sure!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next up is the second part of this race, the 8K run April 26th. There are awards for the fastest combined time between the 5K and 8K. I hope to have another decent run there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next morning I am doing the Waterloo Half Marathon, so that should be interesting.</span></div>
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-36079598098108334182014-03-06T11:55:00.000-05:002014-03-08T13:46:08.502-05:00Waterloo ReFridgeEighter 8 Mile Road Race - February 23, 2014 Race Report<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">With not much else going on in the winter, I usually try to get
this local race on the schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Race morning was chilly, but at least the roads were dry and it
was nice and sunny. The wind wasn't too strong, but definitely blowing
enough to make the headwind quite a painful experience when I was warming up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As usual, the race started and ended at RIM (aka Blackberry) park
in Waterloo. I arrived about an hour early to get setup, warmed up and
chat with my Health and Performance teammates. Also happening this
morning was the 2014 Olympic Men’s Gold Medal Hockey game in which Canada won,
shortly before the race got under way!
Sweet!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The race got under way right at 10am and right from the gun, there
were several runners flying up the road. Since the 8K, 8M and 3K race
all started at the same time, I had no idea who was ahead of me at this point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Early on, I found myself running with a few other H&P
teammates. We went through the first K in about 3:45 and the first mile
in around 5:45. This was about the pace I would have started off the 8K
race, so I wasn't sure how long I would be able to hold on to this pace, but
running with the wind and into the sun felt pretty good, so I just stayed with
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">About 2.5 K into the race, we had to get off of University and
make the first climb up Lexington, which felt like it slowed the pace down a
bit as expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once we turned right off of Lexington onto Bridge, we were heading
north and into the wind. This section was definitely colder, but
luckily, we only had to run about a K or so until the 8 mile racers turned
right and wound their way through subdivision streets back over to University.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After this turn, I could finally see who I was running against, as
the 8K runners just kept on going straight up Bridge. Unfortunately for
me, the closest 8 mile racers were several hundred metres up the road, so I
found myself running solo at this point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once I got back to University, we were once again running the same
route that we started with. At this time though however, I found myself
actually feeling quite overdressed, as the wind was at our backs and the sun in
our face. I knew this wouldn't last too long, so it didn't bother me
much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">By now I could tell I was gaining some ground on the next 8 mile
runner ahead of me which turned out to be another H&P runner. I got
to within about 20 or 30 metres of him, but could never get much closer than
this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just past the turn off I began passing many of these 8K runners as
we approached Northfield. Once turning right onto Northfield, it was
quite a bit easier, as the wind wasn't in our face and we faced a bit of a
downhill back to University Ave. I was
still trying hard to catch the other 8M runner ahead of me, but he did a really
good job of just keeping ahead of me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was great turning back onto University, as we got the wind on
our backs and sun on our face for the final couple K back to the finish line.
I pushed hard through this section trying to catch what turned out to be
the 2<sup>nd</sup> place finisher in the 8M race and past many of the 8K
runners. Once we made the final turn
back onto Millennium Blvd. the 2<sup>nd</sup> place seemed to pull ahead and I
knew I wasn’t going to catch him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After making the final turn to the finish, I picked up the pace
again and finished with a pretty good time of 48:42 for the 8 miler and 3rd
place overall.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/450244293" target="_blank">Garmin 8M Race Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2014&r=refridgee8rL.htm" target="_blank">2014 8M Road Race Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Health & Performance team made a clean sweep of both the
8K and 8M corporate divisions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So as I get older, it's great to see that I can still set PB's.
In fact, a lot of people set PB's in this race. So just because
it's cold outside, doesn't mean you can't still run FAST!</span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-62737454246300195042014-02-12T11:47:00.000-05:002014-05-21T16:47:36.808-04:00TrainerRoad Overview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavfGo6OKRNQsFLOsgodmztKbpq1u5O2-FNfdotba394b_tXuFKTC8BfxaLWnabLnwWuqAPthdJ97O2FYsBj4Zg17kyY6Mxa6bjraD76RI7XpovQjuxy-ml6eBB2LY48H4LrQlKOVsL1g/s1600/TrainerRoad+Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavfGo6OKRNQsFLOsgodmztKbpq1u5O2-FNfdotba394b_tXuFKTC8BfxaLWnabLnwWuqAPthdJ97O2FYsBj4Zg17kyY6Mxa6bjraD76RI7XpovQjuxy-ml6eBB2LY48H4LrQlKOVsL1g/s1600/TrainerRoad+Logo.jpg" height="246" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a nutshell, <a href="http://www.trainerroad.com/" target="_blank">TrainerRoad</a> is a software program that links up to a few gadgets on your bike that can give you virtual power indoors when you don't have a power meter. If you already have a power meter that is Ant+ compatible, it will read directly from it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A power meter is something that measures the amount of work you are doing while riding your bike. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you need it explained in a lot more detail, read this -> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_power_meter" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Everything you ever wanted to know about Power Meters</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The TrainerRoad website does a great job of explaining how everything works in these two links:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 - <a href="http://www.trainerroad.com/how-it-works" target="_blank">How TrainerRoad Works</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 - </span><a href="http://www.trainerroad.com/getting-started" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Getting Started with TrainerRoad</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not going to get into a huge review of the system, as it has already been done by some of the best out there:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/09/inside-look-at-trainerroad-way-to-make.html" target="_blank">DC Rainmaker's Inside Look at TrainerRoad</a> (a little older, but still good)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tririg.com/articles.php?id=2013_01_TrainerRoad" target="_blank">TriRig's Review of TrainerRoad</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both of these guys do an awesome job of covering the features that TrainerRoad has to offer with cool pictures and everything. I can't add much more on top of that. The ability to use TrainerRoad while watching television, a movie, Netflix or many other types of indoor cycling videos (<a href="http://www.thesufferfest.com/" target="_blank">Sufferfest</a>, <a href="http://www.spinervals.com/" target="_blank">Spinervals</a>, <a href="http://epicplanet.tv/" target="_blank">Epic Planet</a>, <a href="http://3lc.tv/" target="_blank">3LC</a>) make the program even that much better. Most of the time though, I don't watch anything, and just listen to some awesome music! (Velobeats, 8 Track or any of your favorites)!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is what I can tell you. If you are going to ride indoors in the winter, or heck any time of the year, you should be using this program. Sure, if you already have a Computrainer and ERG videos available to you, then you may not need this. But if you only have a Computrainer, you can still link up to TrainerRoad for the workouts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Using TrainerRoad makes your workouts significantly more structured, effective and overall, a lot more fun (if you can call suffering on your bike fun!!!). Either way, the time will go by much faster using the TrainerRoad software instead of just pedaling along on your own attempting to get a workout done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As for the results, there is not one person out there that can't say they have improved, using TrainerRoad. Most of the feedback I see is people saying they have improved A LOT!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Personally, I know that I have. My first FTP test that I did using the software resulted in an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) of 279 back in November 2011. Fast forward a little over two years, and about 160 workouts later, my latest FTP test using the <a href="http://www.thesufferfest.com/" target="_blank">Sufferfest</a> video <a href="http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/660737-Sufferfest-Rubber-Glove" target="_blank">Rubber Glove</a> while doing the 2014 version of the Tour of Sufferlandria provided me with a new value of 310. Given I started at a pretty high level to begin with, that is a pretty good improvement and I am quite happy with it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I contacted TrainerRoad to see if I could be an ambassador for their program and they said yes. As a result, I have some sweet promo codes I can distribute that will get you one month free (a $10 value) of TrainerRoad access. NOTE, this is only for new members that have not yet created an account with TrainerRoad. Just drop me a line if you want to try this out and I can pass one along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you haven't tried it yet, you should!! I guarantee you won't regret it....unless you DON'T want to get stronger and faster on your bike this year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-23715987258787801692014-01-02T14:49:00.003-05:002014-01-02T14:49:24.206-05:002013 By the Numbers......<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2013 was a slightly different year for me. For the most part, I had a coach for the whole year, which was a first for me. I wouldn't say it was a dramatically different change in training, but I certainly did some things different than what I had done on my own in the past. The number one thing that changed was the approach to doing intervals on the bike all year long, and not just in the winter on the trainer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 2013, I did some of the same races I did in 2012, and I believe I showed some slight improvement over last year. I also did a number of other events that I had not done before, and that made the year a bit more interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My A race in 2013 was Ironman Arizona in November. This made for a slightly longer than normal season, but I am happy to say I achieved my #1 goal, and that was to get another chance at going back to Kona. I did this by posting an Ironman PB of 9:24 at Arizona.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All my race reports are here on my blog, so if you want to know how any of the below races went in more detail, check them out. Here is how 2013 played out:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2nd place in AG (6th overall) at the Re-Fridge-Eighter 8M road race in Waterloo (1st place corporate with H&P);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A top 10 AG finish and my second sub 2 hour (gold medal and PB) finish at the Around the Bay 30K road race in Hamilton;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3rd place overall at the Hamburger Hill 7 mile road race here in New Hamburg;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An AG win (8th place overall) at Victoria's Duathlon in Waterloo;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An AG win at the Woodstock sprint triathlon;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3rd in AG at the Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race (1st place corporate with H&P);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5th place in my AG at the Ironman Syracuse 70.3 (and 70.3 World Championship qualification);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An AG win and 3rd place overall at the Belwood Triathlon;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2nd place overall in the 3rd stage of the EndurRun, a 30K trail race at Bechtal Park in Waterloo (part of the H&P Men's team);</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">36th in AG (top 15%) at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Henderson, Nevada;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7th place in my AG and a personal best time of 9:24 at Ironman Arizona (65th overall) and my second Kona Ironman World Championship slot secured!</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I said this last year, but none of this came without a lot of training and commitment to the sport. Without the support of my awesome wife Deanna, I am certain none of this would have been possible. She's been awesome!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The summary below shows the training breakdown that goes into all three sports. In addition, the focus on strength training throughout the year goes a long way to keeping me "mostly" healthy and injury free. I had slightly less volume than I did in 2012 (via less overall workouts), but the intensity of many of the workouts was likely slightly higher.</span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-37903192900936586732013-11-24T21:53:00.001-05:002013-11-24T21:53:52.672-05:00Ironman Arizona Race Report – November 17, 2013<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3.8K Swim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">180K Bike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">42.2K Run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a nutshell, this was a pretty good race, but far from a perfect race. It started off a bit of a disaster when I was putting my bike together the day we arrived in Arizona. A small piece of aluminum in the fork snapped, which meant I couldn't attach my aerobars and left me in a bit of a panic. I quickly called some shops and actually found one that carried Argon 18's about 30 minutes away from the hotel. I was travelling with Brian and Cynthia Scott from Waterloo, so that meant we all packed into our van with my bike and were off to see what could be done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end, everything worked out great. Argon was super awesome in having a warranty replacement fork overnight-ed to the shop in Scottsdale which arrived Friday morning. The shop, Airpark Bikes, did a great job of getting the new fork on and I picked my bike up Friday night and put it together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday morning, the day of bike check-in, I did a short 20 minute ride to make sure everything was ok, which it was, so I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, the day before the race.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dropping off the bike (with new fork) in transition</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was up at 4am race morning to get some food in me, which consisted of some oatmeal, coffee, half a bagel and a protein drink. At 5:15 we all headed to the race site, which was already very busy prior to the 7am race start time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I quickly got everything setup in transition and made my way to the very long port-o-potty lines. Without any time to spare, I dropped my morning clothes bag off, finished up with my wetsuit and made my way to the lines waiting to jump in Tempe Town Lake. There was a lot of talk about the water temperature, but after jumping in, I found it just fine. The clarity of the water on the other hand was the exact opposite. You could barely see your hand in front of your face in the water.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxhXEAUCIO1mu9dl-uDEgQRAwywi_-maD_hCMUjMdZP6t5UJ-sYbd5f-7pk2fkvrlAKHzvfoLnGmtY6EclELuuXkq_1Khl-DvDVB7JrLSIyOUJmyxZuuoliZSy1Q9x0PHFX6Dm_Rj1TE/s1600/IMG_00000102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxhXEAUCIO1mu9dl-uDEgQRAwywi_-maD_hCMUjMdZP6t5UJ-sYbd5f-7pk2fkvrlAKHzvfoLnGmtY6EclELuuXkq_1Khl-DvDVB7JrLSIyOUJmyxZuuoliZSy1Q9x0PHFX6Dm_Rj1TE/s320/IMG_00000102.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the start at Tempe Town Lake. Notice the beautiful water color</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I swam over to the start line and had only about 5-10 minutes before the start of the race. As per instruction from my coach, I started over to right, about 10 or so meters away from the wall, pretty much right at the front. At 7am sharp, the gun sounded, and a very long day had begun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The start of the race had the usual full body contact sort of action, but this came as no surprise, given it was a mass swim start. I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't last too long before I could actually get some open water and begin something that appeared like a normal swim stroke. It was at this point that I thought I might have a shot at an hour swim time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not long after this though, the contact began to pick up again, and this time, it felt like I just couldn't get out of it. I had to completely lift my head out of the water just to find people to try and draft off of, as it was impossible seeing anything underwater. Just when it seemed like I would get on somebody's feet, I'd either lose the person, or someone else would come in and bump me off them. This pretty much happened all the way out to the first turn buoy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After making the left hand turn at the 2nd buoy, I immediately noticed how much easier it was to see, now that we were heading back and not looking into the rising sun, as we were doing on the way out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coming back, I again found it difficult to consistently stay on people's feet for various reasons, or maybe I just suck at drafting. Either way, I was making ok time and feeling good, so I just kept on pushing. Eventually we made it back to the bridges near the swim start and it was only a few hundred more meters to the exit. I took a quick peak at my watch which already read just over an hour, so my sub 60 minute swim was out the window. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made the final left turn and swam fairly hard to the swim exit steps. These steps were a bit tricky, as there was nothing to step up on, so you basically needed to drag yourself, with the help of volunteers up onto the steps. I was a bit dazed from the swim and didn't even notice the two steps down at the top and almost went for a loop into the crowd. I took a quick peak at the clock which read 1:05 something, so I was a bit disappointed. I was really hoping to be closer to 1:02 or 1:03 at least. Oh well, another day perhaps. I I finished the swim in 42nd place in my AG and 312th overall in the race.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cMXvhbhrw3sNpMDI8mlm_H97BuSLZH9GYpzLkGtb1_6FhfXL6u8819PzqHLkhjZIv9vs_f4cfiqYU118FMDgEQRiHdVCXOC4wTCBO2AcTi-8Qj1iEH_W_0ANNt6Sz9INmv3zHnvMTAY/s1600/Swim+Exit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cMXvhbhrw3sNpMDI8mlm_H97BuSLZH9GYpzLkGtb1_6FhfXL6u8819PzqHLkhjZIv9vs_f4cfiqYU118FMDgEQRiHdVCXOC4wTCBO2AcTi-8Qj1iEH_W_0ANNt6Sz9INmv3zHnvMTAY/s320/Swim+Exit.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDgJ7g1uNVFFv0loozCwPktppxo06AEA7Celrv6rTD9NL11SRVxiJ5nI1GiUN7AEGHJCXx5q6O5O6_lZecMjFMBpC6CcQ6mgUrrVDcPaVBp1rIexwCDo-a1OQ_4jWM3ImqaGGYUUUXRA/s1600/Swim+Exit+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDgJ7g1uNVFFv0loozCwPktppxo06AEA7Celrv6rTD9NL11SRVxiJ5nI1GiUN7AEGHJCXx5q6O5O6_lZecMjFMBpC6CcQ6mgUrrVDcPaVBp1rIexwCDo-a1OQ_4jWM3ImqaGGYUUUXRA/s320/Swim+Exit+2.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a quick exit from my wetsuit via the wetsuit strippers, I worked my way to the change tent to get ready for the bike ride. T1 wasn't lightening fast, but I felt like I wasn't wasting any time. 4:29 and I was on bike bike about to begin the fast 3 loop, mostly flat, highly congested bike ride.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plan was to go out and hold about 230 watts on the bike, but at the beginning, everything felt easy and I had a hard time keeping the watts much below 250, despite telling myself I need to slow down a bit. It just felt like the right pace and effort, so I carried on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the first lap, the only people I was passing were swimmers who had faster times than me obviously, but just aren't as strong on the bike. I found that I rather quickly got into a good group with a bunch of other riders and tried to keep it legit at all times. Of course, when people are passing each other and then easing off the pace at the front, there was a lot of moving around. I seemed to think that the marshals were doing a good job of keeping things in check, as they were almost always around our group, and at times, I swear one rode right beside me for 5 minutes!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRo9lBFfF20scsln_JanVgznZdYg1yXT7zbXxaMkGAY6JdXstt8ICxeII3uyA7VTQI4_KYrod0CJnd-eHSOk50igC_guzXRRNNn4Y5JMjdv7zkfstnIcvy3SMRbqS-ILqAleMcQV154E/s1600/Bike+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRo9lBFfF20scsln_JanVgznZdYg1yXT7zbXxaMkGAY6JdXstt8ICxeII3uyA7VTQI4_KYrod0CJnd-eHSOk50igC_guzXRRNNn4Y5JMjdv7zkfstnIcvy3SMRbqS-ILqAleMcQV154E/s320/Bike+3.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made it to the turn-around point on lap 1 in about 53 minutes with an average power of approx. 260 watts, definitely ahead of plan, but things seemed to be going well. After making the turn, we had a nice tailwind and downhill section and the speeds really picked up. I was doing about 34.5kph average out to the first turn, but as soon as we turned, I was easily doing about 50kph+ for at least a few K until we got down out of the steeper part of the climb up to the turn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point, I was still working mostly with the same group and things were going well. I let the power come down on the return trip to town where I averaged 42.5kph with an average power of 239. I was really working a high cadence at this point, and I averaged a cadence of 97 for the return trip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before getting back to town, we went through a bumpy section where my Profile Design Aero bottle (for the first time ever) popped right out of it's cage. I had to slam on the brakes and make a quick U-turn to pick it up, as it held almost half my nutrition for the bike (it was a double Infinite solution). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point, I lost the group I was working with, but I just kept my cool and started making my way through the other riders. I reached the turn-around back at transition in just over 1 hour and 35 minutes for the 60K loop. My average speed had popped up to 38kph and my power had dropped to 250 watts and things were feeling really good.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrnOZLEwfOKslFmOhazU8QTFxMz4Vpam-FEh58tvya6fogXNxiEDeW0H5oPjcS1DllxQ51kKiJ0v_LLHbs2LmRevHBVE7-u-R-eS94WhdDTwf4eAcUMC2qAYnfk1CbOQ6N0l-EwhUrUw/s1600/Bike+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrnOZLEwfOKslFmOhazU8QTFxMz4Vpam-FEh58tvya6fogXNxiEDeW0H5oPjcS1DllxQ51kKiJ0v_LLHbs2LmRevHBVE7-u-R-eS94WhdDTwf4eAcUMC2qAYnfk1CbOQ6N0l-EwhUrUw/s320/Bike+4.jpg" width="211" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only about 10 minutes into the second lap, I caught back up with the main group of guys (and some pro women) that I was working with previously. Everything continued to go pretty smoothly, but as we started the climb up to the turn-around for the second time, we started catching other racers on their first lap. This started making things a bit tricky and you had to really stay alert, as sometimes you would come up on racers doing only about half the speed we were doing. They come up quick, and at least twice I almost ran into the back of somebody else going significantly slower than me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The overall power on the second loop dropped to 233 watts, as I found myself stuck in a bunch of packs at times with no place to go. It was quite frustrating when you make a good effort to get away, only to get swallowed up by others sitting right behind and not content to just stay there. Once they pass however, I swear they would slow down and then I'd be sitting in the middle or back doing really low watts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second lap was just a bit slower in about 1hr and 36 minutes, and as we started the 3rd lap, the congestion on the course was crazy. My power for the first 30 minutes of the third lap was only 220 watts, as I was in and out of packs and trying to navigate around the slower riders. About halfway through the final lap, me and another guy seemed to break away from the pack and we were working well together. As we made the climb up to the turn-around for the final time, I was trying very hard to keep my 7 or 8 meters behind him at all times. Just then, a marshal pulls up and flashes me a red card for drafting. I asked where this took place and she said at one point (likely when we were passing the slower riders) that I got into the draft zone of the guy I was behind, and then dropped back without making the pass. I knew there was zero to gain by arguing with them, so I just shook my head and acknowledged the penalty. At this point I was feeling a bit deflated, but I tried not to let it get me down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next penalty tent was right at the turn-around point, where I quickly pulled in and started my 4 minute penalty. I was in with another guy who just pulled in, so I used it to get some fluids and calories in for the ride back to town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As soon as the 4 minutes was up, I got a nice push from one of the volunteers, and I was immediately hammering hard down the hill to get back into the game. The ride back to town was a bit lonely, as I was totally not working with anyone else at this point, and was passing hundreds of other racers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_VrsAMfwoqficasLljf_M6jGrhqjXvfnRykg0OiNhXQbLVqjHha8AOQt3neCeKHJ1POytK1rU91CbVYlQVTGg8spJVsj7wQXw8MbXO1xVme4wjEOC_o7crIDDGzFDoYd6ovmSr0KvMw/s1600/Bike+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_VrsAMfwoqficasLljf_M6jGrhqjXvfnRykg0OiNhXQbLVqjHha8AOQt3neCeKHJ1POytK1rU91CbVYlQVTGg8spJVsj7wQXw8MbXO1xVme4wjEOC_o7crIDDGzFDoYd6ovmSr0KvMw/s320/Bike+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I eventually made it back to town and handed my bike off to another one of the great volunteers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the end, I rode 4:50:45 (including 4 minute drafting penalty) or 4:46 excluding the penalty. This brought me home with an average speed of 37.5kph and an average power of 239 watts for the entire ride. The plan for the ride was to ride about 230 watts, so I did end up going a bit harder, but in the end, I still felt good and didn't feel at all like I over-cooked things. After the bike, I had moved up to 9th in my AG and 81st overall in the race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/406624105" target="_blank">2013 Ironman Arizona Garmin Bike Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once off the bike, I quickly grabbed my run stuff and made my way to the change tent. In the tent, I got some more sunscreen applied, shoes on, grabbed my salt and visor and was off. T2 took 1:30 which wasn't too bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started the run feeling not too bad as we ran along concrete paths to the first turn-around point at McClintock Rd. Similar to other Ironmans I have done, I didn't bother carrying anything other than salt. I seem to get by fine with what I can pick up at aid stations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After making my way past the transition zone again, I started thinking to myself that this run is feeling harder than I thought it should at this point. I was not sure if it was the concrete paths slamming the quads or the effort on the bike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I eventually made it to the Priest St. bridge where we crossed Tempe Town Lake for the second half of the run course. It was just after crossing the bridge that I popped into an aid station for a washroom break. Feeling much better after, I carried along and ran beside the lake to the second turn-around point on the run course. Shortly after making the turn, I ran into coach Wolf (Wolfgang Guembel) who ran with me for a bit to see how I was doing. I told him that I thought the run was feeling harder than I wish it did. He told me to relax the shoulders and stay light on my feet whenever it felt hard and painful. I pretty much had to think of this the rest of the run!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjL4iYAKQdObhAojj7h5-Ncf-YmAG1ezbDW4dTxX1iOqcA_gQDpccy0DVxbClV1jrTJLVWdUJQXWQt7NL_mGHAj0ufIzSmHC4OCMICLl6ityLRWEBsNmwohXQiWg4iCNKeGfHYRd47xSM/s1600/Run+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjL4iYAKQdObhAojj7h5-Ncf-YmAG1ezbDW4dTxX1iOqcA_gQDpccy0DVxbClV1jrTJLVWdUJQXWQt7NL_mGHAj0ufIzSmHC4OCMICLl6ityLRWEBsNmwohXQiWg4iCNKeGfHYRd47xSM/s320/Run+2.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still more suffering!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwHFawYFcj3zcMLxqpMd-33THujXAz3jQm1RARlpiz4wSKVGyDMdoJ5b4V9QG45NFla01lYnJjI0IO-vcWulThPsYpZi8los_tElC29SDXy1iWmFhAJFRnYc5L8C93UsxgVruzS-76M4/s1600/Run+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwHFawYFcj3zcMLxqpMd-33THujXAz3jQm1RARlpiz4wSKVGyDMdoJ5b4V9QG45NFla01lYnJjI0IO-vcWulThPsYpZi8los_tElC29SDXy1iWmFhAJFRnYc5L8C93UsxgVruzS-76M4/s320/Run+1.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suffering big time here!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is only a small hill on the run course along Curry Rd., and after getting through it, I hit an aid station and took in a bit of a banana which seemed to make me feel just a bit better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finally made it back to the transition zone in about 1hr 35 minutes, so despite not feeling great, I was still doing ok time wise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Starting the second loop, my legs were feeling noticeably more sore, and I started taking walking breaks through every aid station. At about the 30K mark, I started taking more and more walking breaks for very short periods of time, like 10 seconds or so. These breaks seemed to happen more and more in the last 10K when things started getting very very hard. I was playing mental games by now and really having to push myself to keep running. I'd go through periods where things felt ok and then a short bit later where things felt really bad and my hamstrings were going to lock up at almost any second.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really wanted to run at least as well as I did in Tremblant last year, but with 10K to go, I pretty much knew that wasn't going to happen. I finally got to 37K and had only 5K to go and about 30 minutes to run under 3:30 for the run. I knew I started the run right around the 6 hour mark, so all time under 3:30 was time under 9:30 overall, which was my main goal for the race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I kept pushing but with about 2K to go, a guy in my AG passed me. I managed to run with him for about 45 seconds until I just couldn't hold him any longer. To this point, I'm not sure if it was my brain or my legs that let him go, but I'm sure it was a combination of both.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finally made it to Ash Street, for the final 500m or so to the finish line. It's funny how well you can run knowing the finish line is in sight, but when it's 10K way, it really gets you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The crowds were not huge at this point in the race, but there were pretty good, and I soaked up all their energy for a final push to the line, where I was able to finish in 9hrs 24min and 49 seconds. My final run time was 3:22:37, but it seemed so much longer than that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/406625348" target="_blank">2013 Ironman Arizona Garmin Run Data</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_t3H2T2GBf834c35a5nR3MvktT8n9L2ZQJ1Hb3RXMHujt80Y-pzYCtzLT3MJrMzlXBVUhjy6OrNKTYpO4maRKJ-3Ug0sYsz4vN3POV1bW1Wtrz8R3pZJaqHdRkm57-MOPBfAHoqSy0i0/s1600/Finish+Line+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_t3H2T2GBf834c35a5nR3MvktT8n9L2ZQJ1Hb3RXMHujt80Y-pzYCtzLT3MJrMzlXBVUhjy6OrNKTYpO4maRKJ-3Ug0sYsz4vN3POV1bW1Wtrz8R3pZJaqHdRkm57-MOPBfAHoqSy0i0/s320/Finish+Line+3.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FH2OGuuKll5Fx_EL9JKexqhmO6El86zvfrF6nISVGbeHQBm4dvdmSo_iCvg-4A2EdQqXAn2u7MV2kNMJoMjQKdxYUE5HcbxkGpOfWZRrSzUbHTLfHM-NKepBNDee8YYAes_W__MRbaY/s1600/Finish+Line+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FH2OGuuKll5Fx_EL9JKexqhmO6El86zvfrF6nISVGbeHQBm4dvdmSo_iCvg-4A2EdQqXAn2u7MV2kNMJoMjQKdxYUE5HcbxkGpOfWZRrSzUbHTLfHM-NKepBNDee8YYAes_W__MRbaY/s320/Finish+Line+1.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmop6Gj3vBPdwBogMTiCFR-dneOAHfRIdcDGG8ZsiAYPeTwGKFTjx2wNFT-ssIdzZlcaJvAljHLYPhgYKqGAkLFuvRMRkgulEid4FqO2k0SJfV94Y6PS596w6yOliR8q_35NSKplyzVQ/s1600/Finish+Line+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmop6Gj3vBPdwBogMTiCFR-dneOAHfRIdcDGG8ZsiAYPeTwGKFTjx2wNFT-ssIdzZlcaJvAljHLYPhgYKqGAkLFuvRMRkgulEid4FqO2k0SJfV94Y6PS596w6yOliR8q_35NSKplyzVQ/s400/Finish+Line+2.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incredibly happy to be done!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finishing only a few seconds behind me was Chris Pickering of London, Ontario. My father in law also managed to capture my finish on video as seen here..</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxuEmPVBW8B9i7Qa8L-6Jyp89W3AkdEmVeb41deaB6o5ZksWeCDd-Ce6hPtceRQ-sxLeXbjGM1NKhgw20-6uQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So unfortunately after getting passed in the last 2K, I was bumped from 6th to 7th place in my AG out of 435 and 65th overall in the race out of approx. 2,800 starters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After making my way to the massage tent, I talked to the guy who passed me, and he told me that the guy who got first in our AG already had a Kona spot, so assuming 6 spots in our AG, his would roll to me, which made all the pain after the race seem worth it after all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a little bit of food, I got changed, hooked up with Brian who unfortunately could not finish the race and then we went back to the finish line and watched Cynthia roll in at just over 13 hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next day, we went down to the race site for the Kona roll-down process and it was then that I found out that there were 6 guaranteed Kona spots in our AG and the winner had indeed already taken his spot at IM Lake Tahoe back in September, so I was good to go!! Mike Reilly kicked off the roll-down process by calling my name first, and I was right there to snag the spot. After me, there were only two other Kona spots in the entire race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So overall, I was really happy with my time and picking up a Kona spot, but on the other hand, I was a bit upset in getting passed in the final 2K and also getting the drafting penalty. Without either, I would have grabbed a guaranteed Kona spot and would have finished in about 9:20 or so. A podium spot was still about 2 minutes quicker, so it would not have made a difference there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The good news is I now have all year to try and put together a much better race in Kona compared to what I did there in 2012. Now I'm just really enjoying the downtime and unstructured training until sometime in the New Year!! </span><br />
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-77994524445050056592013-09-19T16:01:00.003-04:002013-09-19T16:01:37.708-04:002013 Vegas 70.3 World Championship Race Report<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Date - September 8, 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.9K Swim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">91K Bike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21.1K Run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This race, despite it being a championship event, was really just one step in my journey towards Ironman Arizona in November. I went into the race feeling pretty well and for the most part rested and ready to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race morning presented something nobody was really expecting....RAIN. Looking back at the 4-5 days we were there, Las Vegas got as much rain as they had year to date. That being said, there was still plenty of hot, dry weather that made the other activities around race weekend enjoyable.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPVm6GJEvLHwe5TT3anBXV8KMnjgCIxSJdD5GXNQ2aiPiaV2CT5GBNPY0gtu1WI3UsKkxhuchh7VkhpJ6KNrT9Bv-cckiU4_I_aoJlpDzkLyBdcHz0Ym9qRC7A6wbsjumchDYM6mNU4c/s1600/IMG_0654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPVm6GJEvLHwe5TT3anBXV8KMnjgCIxSJdD5GXNQ2aiPiaV2CT5GBNPY0gtu1WI3UsKkxhuchh7VkhpJ6KNrT9Bv-cckiU4_I_aoJlpDzkLyBdcHz0Ym9qRC7A6wbsjumchDYM6mNU4c/s320/IMG_0654.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In T1 and ready to roll</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T1 was not in an ideal spot for all the rain that was falling that morning. It was sort of at the bottom of a small hill that surrounded it, and the rain made for a very messy and muddy transition zone. As seen in the picture below, the entire transition zone is surrounded by mud.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T1 Surrounded by mud<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpMcy5ewuUw1WjCG_JQV5hjROy7yZv_6PtQ4dFL7sIOhx6JN-JXwtYc3phJ7JB1Vcjb3jI56DvCYz3CnlM4FJy4g3kUh3G-8DXTkEuotp6TeGVSKBkctyOhtS4uRN60_TPMOKjgKMelc/s1600/IMG_0657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpMcy5ewuUw1WjCG_JQV5hjROy7yZv_6PtQ4dFL7sIOhx6JN-JXwtYc3phJ7JB1Vcjb3jI56DvCYz3CnlM4FJy4g3kUh3G-8DXTkEuotp6TeGVSKBkctyOhtS4uRN60_TPMOKjgKMelc/s320/IMG_0657.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race organizers for some reason decided to close transition a full 30 minutes before the pros went off, so this meant I had to be out of transition an hour before my start time of 7:28. This meant a lot of standing around in the rain watching the pros and various age groupers start their races.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, 7:28 am came around and my wave got into the water and made our way over to the starting line. After a bit of treading water, the horn sounded and the race was on!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The water was very dirty and I found it very difficult to find people to swim with, during the chaos of the start. I wish I could say I felt great and found a great rhythm and some feet to get around the course on, but I would be lying. It wasn't a struggle, but I also didn't feel like I was going very fast. Being a non wetsuit swim didn't help things either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I came out of th</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e water in 34:40</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which put me in about 90th position in my age group out of 239 other athletes. Obviously not great, but is the worlds, and the swim is my weakest discipline. The run to transition was fairly long and it was very slippery/muddy, so I had to take my time a bit. T1 took 4 minutes as it was also a pretty long run out of transition before we were able to get on our bikes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting the ride, the rain was still coming down pretty steady. It was very difficult to even see through my sunglasses, so I had to push them up until they cleared up a bit. Without the speed of the open road, they were pretty fogged up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first several kilometers of the bike were basically around the resort area of Lake Las Vegas and then uphill to the main highway. I tried to keep the power in check, as it would have been easy to blow the entire race by killing this part of the ride. Everything went according to plan, except for the fact I lost my salt somewhere near the start, which sucked, but in the end, didn't cause any issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once on the main highway, the rain continued to come down, but at least I could see through my sunglasses, which was completely necessary, due to all the spray coming off the bikes in front.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, the bike course was really fun. There was really nothing about it that was flat, but instead, had many super fast and intense downhills and many long grinding uphills. None of the hills were very steep, but many were long.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I basically got into a good group with a few guys and worked the different parts of the course. I found that I was strongest on the "flatter" sections and downhills, and would lose some time on the uphills. Not sure if this was because I was just doing a good job of not over extending myself on the climbs or because the other guys were just stronger in the hills.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BKq5LOHf8fRQlT4XS5GZTP3Bpe28OiKrB3FD1bGUe8o82VG3qYcgkhAMzuo-mO6ND772I8oK-mL1nlyNl5u5-0SFbBgZZQMVs-ngMliI2bjEXFm1g4gGNxeuvrHBwVPKO0HA2zJe4fE/s1600/Bike+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BKq5LOHf8fRQlT4XS5GZTP3Bpe28OiKrB3FD1bGUe8o82VG3qYcgkhAMzuo-mO6ND772I8oK-mL1nlyNl5u5-0SFbBgZZQMVs-ngMliI2bjEXFm1g4gGNxeuvrHBwVPKO0HA2zJe4fE/s320/Bike+2.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At about the 70K point of the bike, the rain basically stopped and the sun started coming out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we got back into Henderson (T2 is not where T1 was) there was a super fast section where I was able to get the cadence up and freshen up my legs. Unfortunately, the last 10K of the bike course has some substantial climbing, so that took a bit of snap out of the legs just before starting the run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finished the bike, which was 56.6 miles (91.3K), due to logistics in 2:34:25 and moved up to 46th in my age group.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/374298291" target="_blank">Vegas WC Garmin Bike Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After handing off my bike to one of the great volunteers, I made my way through the sea of red transition bags and eventually found mine and went into the change tent to get ready for the run. T2 took 1:56, which again wasn't super fast, but I made sure not to make any mistakes or forget anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The run course was much like the bike course. There was barely a flat section to be found. You immediately start running down a slight downhill to the first turn-around at approximately the 2K mark. Then you turn around and run back and past transition to another turn around point a few K past the transition/finish line area. It's basically a little over 3K to the second turn around, which is pretty much all gradually uphill. Then it's almost 2K back to the transition zone to start the next lap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The run consisted of 3 laps of this course. I felt pretty good through the first lap, getting in all my nutrition and salt as required. On the first lap, I actually passed Leanda Cave, the female pro who won this race last year. She wasn't having a great day, so this isn't saying much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I felt like I ran a pretty steady race. I tried pushing the pace a bit more on the downhills to try and make up for some of the time I was losing on the uphill sections.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the time I reached the third lap, I was starting to get pretty tired, but continued to push to the top of the last turn around knowing I had a nice downhill finish. After reaching the top, I was able to find another gear for the last kilometer and a half to the finish line. During this section, I started passing a lot of runners (many of them still on their first or second lap) as I was easily doing under a sub 4 minute kilometer pace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually I hit the finish with a final run time of 1:33:12, which was pretty good given all the hills and the heat and humidity that had shown up for the run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/374298683" target="_blank">Vegas WC Garmin Run Data</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the run, I had moved up a bit more to finish in 36th overall in my age group and 301st overall in the race out of over 2000 participants. Finishing 36th put me in the top 15% in my age group, which isn't bad, given these are the best 70.3 athletes in the world on that day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So overall, I was happy with my result and look forward to my preparation towards my A race this year, Ironman Arizona on November 17th.</span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-88308881138930460152013-08-18T05:49:00.000-04:002013-08-18T05:49:17.137-04:00EndurRun Stage 3 - Bechtal Park 30K Trail Race<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Normally a summer Ironman would keep me from doing a race like this, but with my A race not until November, I have taken the time to get involved in a few events I normally would otherwise pass up.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When asked if I would be part of the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/healthperformancewaterloo/" target="_blank">Health & Performance</a> Men's team to go after the overall win in this years <a href="http://www.endurrun.com/" target="_blank">EndurRun Event</a> I jumped on board. With my focus primarily on the "longer" stuff for Ironman training, I was asked to do the 30K trail race, which was on Tuesday, August 13th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This 30K race consisted of 6 laps around the trail network at Bechtal Park in Waterloo. I arrived about an hour or so before the start of the race, which was plenty of time. The EndurRun event is pretty unique, so there aren't too many people who actually show up and race these stages, so you get a real small time feel. Even though it is a small event, Lloyd Schmidt and his crew still did a great job of getting everything setup and the trails well laid out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before 8am, Lloyd did his customary roll call for all participants and the race kicked off right at 8am as planned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first kilometer of the race, I pretty much just sat in with the lead group of the Ultra runners (the crazy guys and gals racing the entire event - all stages) to get a feel for what their pace would be like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we hit the easiest part of the course, the paved road coming into the park, I slowly pulled away from these guys and was comfortably sitting in second place. The lead runner, was a fellow relay participant, who I didn't know at the time, but is a very talented runner, Derek Lantz. He's a 1:13 half marathoner and a very good triathlete, who just this year won the overall title at the Peterborough Half Ironman. I was very surprised to see how quickly he was pulling away from us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew our team only had a 14 second overall lead in the standings over his team, but I couldn't attempt to match his speed without completely blowing up myself, so I just stuck to what I felt was the right pace for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race was constantly rolling with hills over a combination of pavement, grass, wood chips, dirt and gravel trails, so it was difficult to get into a consistent "fast" rhythm. That being said, the terrain was constantly changing, so I felt it forced me to be constantly using different muscle groups, which actually made me feel better overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first lap went by in 21:48 (although I think each lap was slightly long at about 5.1K) and I was feeling generally ok with my pacing. As I got back to the paved section I could see that the lead runner was waaaaay up the road already, so my hopes that he was just going to fade after the fast start were dissipating quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just focused on my race, and I was quite surprised how quickly each lap seemed to tick on by. I think this actually made the time go quicker, as I could always focus on the different sections of the course which I knew were never really that far away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the third lap, I began taking a gel as we crossed through the finish line section, and would run with it until we got to the entrance into the wooded trail section. I would then grab some water and put it down and repeat for the next 3 laps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would say by the end of the second or start of the third lap I actually started lapping other runners, which I was surprised would happen so quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd say I started feeling a bit of fatigue mid way through the 4th lap, but nothing that was causing any issues.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMv3YMAWtSVeahmjVL_I55kaOHpxolOpW3nIMvuZ10QgYWySA8g-sRDd9VuTIuPLsqdBfj0yGLy4Ca3ySz50nFgB4M6gDzlOT-jM6Txj-NKs-H63uZTF8CjcDCCHvFrk0YCWXOK_QJ_w/s1600/DSC_0261_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMv3YMAWtSVeahmjVL_I55kaOHpxolOpW3nIMvuZ10QgYWySA8g-sRDd9VuTIuPLsqdBfj0yGLy4Ca3ySz50nFgB4M6gDzlOT-jM6Txj-NKs-H63uZTF8CjcDCCHvFrk0YCWXOK_QJ_w/s320/DSC_0261_2.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Face starting to tell the tale here</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sean Delanghe (head coach of H&P) and Dave Rutherford (who is running the marathon for our team on the last day) were both around for the entire event and were giving out lot's of encouragement throughout each lap, and before I knew it, I was running through the finish line area and Dave started ringing a bell to signify the last lap. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried picking up the pace a bit knowing I was almost done, but looking back, it was only a moderate increase and I crossed the line for the last time in just under 2 hours and13 minutes, but as I said earlier, each lap was just a bit long I believe, so my Garmin showed 30.52K.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/360427023" target="_blank">Garmin Race Details</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.endurrun.com/results2013s3.html" target="_blank">Overall 2013 EndurRun Stage 3 Race Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I managed to hold on to my second place result, but finished an incredible 14 minutes back of the winner Derek Lantz, who knocked our relay team way out of the lead. This was disappointing, but in reality, there was nothing I could do about it. If I really tapered hard for this race and gave it 110%, I might have been able to go a few minutes faster, but nothing that would have been able to keep us in the lead in the overall standings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news was that I put a bunch of time into the other relay teams, which pretty much locked up 2nd place for us at least. Overall, I felt I had a good race and was happy to have participated in such a great event. The post race food was some of the best I have ever seen at a race....ever!!! The small family feel at the event really made this event stand out and kudos's to Lloyd and his family for putting on a great race.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpwQBGElldTgUyGimMH84OztHlMUy0c167FjN0qmYs5JiXylwrscfovv2eYVO37xpouOxIou27AZ5Mp55gMunbN8UCPWP1SkIrbJrrgFldKfY7BVQNTkhtg9PSp-q7cyYnzSlrW-5NGs/s1600/DSC_0620_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpwQBGElldTgUyGimMH84OztHlMUy0c167FjN0qmYs5JiXylwrscfovv2eYVO37xpouOxIou27AZ5Mp55gMunbN8UCPWP1SkIrbJrrgFldKfY7BVQNTkhtg9PSp-q7cyYnzSlrW-5NGs/s320/DSC_0620_2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As of writing this, Stage 6 is in the books and coach Sean had a great race in the 10K coming in just under 37 minutes. Unfortunately, the first place relay team keeps putting time into us, so we are 99% sure of getting 2nd place overall this year in the relay division, which is still pretty decent. It has been a really fun event to be part of, and depending how things go next year, I look forward to doing it again.</span></div>
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Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-7580264572826731602013-07-22T17:31:00.000-04:002013-07-22T17:31:46.165-04:002013 Belwood Triathlon Race Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Date - July 20, 2013</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">750m Swim</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30K Bike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7.5K Run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like the Belwood venue. I did it 3 times when it was a Subaru race, but starting this year, Multisport Canada took it over. The venue and the courses were nearly identical to what it was in the past, except this year it was a shorter swim (750m vs. 1K) and longer run (7.5K vs 7K).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I arrived race morning a little bit late, but still with plenty of time to get things sorted out. After parking, I got my bike in transition, registration and kit pickup taken care of, bike setup and a short run to the washroom, which would work as my warm up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With only 15 minutes to the start, I got into my wetsuit (decided to go sleeveless, as the water was pretty warm given all the hot days we've been having). Once down at the lake, I warmed up for a few minutes and made my way to the starting line for the 8:30am start.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided I'd go pretty hard off the start for the swim to try and get out of any trouble and then try to find some feet. This worked well, and I had no issues. I then was able to get onto some feet, that I more or less followed to the first turn buoy, where we had to go left. Once making the turn, there was a little bit of chop hitting is from the side, and I found myself off and on the guy's feet in front of me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After hitting the second turn buoy, we had the benefit of a slight tailwind (yes tailwinds help in swimming too) and I pushed the pace back to shore. For the most part, I ended up swimming this part solo, but I did come together with another guy that I swam beside for a bit to the swim exit. When I stood up, my watch said 11:50 or so. I was really hoping for about 11:30 to come out of the water, but overall, not too bad. My official swim time was 12:52 including the run up to transition. This was good for 9th best in the race.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exiting the swim</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't really know what position as I was in until I heard Steve Fleck start calling us out as we were coming into T1. As I entered transition, I think I was in 5th overall, so a pretty good swim in fact. I managed to get out quickly and move into 4th place overall starting the bike.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH7IK95vbHShRMxI9rzwp8OnbY-wJaFlRM6VUWv1ikcPUkQ_BVAYTpFJqT8D9QVLu02ODRcubEp-um1KI8UdaVvvTWc9tcn7FzRvM56Mrjhkw2qpEFEFbOMCvpmg7Z3urDZLZT_nCFro/s1600/Bike+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH7IK95vbHShRMxI9rzwp8OnbY-wJaFlRM6VUWv1ikcPUkQ_BVAYTpFJqT8D9QVLu02ODRcubEp-um1KI8UdaVvvTWc9tcn7FzRvM56Mrjhkw2qpEFEFbOMCvpmg7Z3urDZLZT_nCFro/s400/Bike+2.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting the 30K bike</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I saw the 3rd place athlete up the road about 500m or so, so I set out after him. My target power for the ride was between 275-285 watts, which was pretty much what I was doing as we made our way to the first right hand turn at the 4th line. Once on this road, we enjoyed a nice tailwind and average speeds of around 42-44kph. I pushed the pace and eventually passed the guy in front of me to move into 3rd place overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little further down the road, we had to turn onto Wellington Rd. 22 and complete an out and back section. At this point, we were into some rolling hills and a cross wind. As I approached the turn around, I saw the first place guy (Alexander Hinton) was way ahead of everyone, but I was only a minute or less behind 2nd place, which turned out to be a female, Leanna Lee, who had a great swim and was riding very well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ended up catching her on the hill just past the 4th line. At this point, I was in 2nd overall in the race with absolutely nobody left to chase down. Alex was so far ahead I couldn't even see him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From this point forward, I just focused on my own race and watched my power levels closely. We eventually made a left hand turn onto Wellington Rd. 26 and right into a decent headwind and some steady uphill sections.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt like I controlled my efforts through this section of the course and we eventually got back onto Wellington Rd. 18, which was flat and took us right back to the race site. I took advantage of this section and just put my head down and got some nice speed with some higher cadence efforts to get ready for the run. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I got back to the race site, I stopped my garmin at 46:38, which had the course slightly long at 30.43K. I managed to hold 39.2kph for the ride with an average power of 282 watts, so a pretty good ride as it turns out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346246152" target="_blank">Garmin Bike Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a decent second transition and was out quickly starting the final run. To start, we have to run on a gravel section as we crossed the Shand Dam, and we were right into that headwind again.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_MNtBoRsljFI_TFSTPSDFq8RI0wgrzcPuLxo19kvYbCN8r995ZejBoLJSZWgbPNHJRT0gsqyjS9nM5TFxISV-ZXvuwurFfAZ0nBhOzyK-WQX_tDLtMOjRJ12wegyksNDLujk2edpXaw/s1600/Starting+the+Run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix_MNtBoRsljFI_TFSTPSDFq8RI0wgrzcPuLxo19kvYbCN8r995ZejBoLJSZWgbPNHJRT0gsqyjS9nM5TFxISV-ZXvuwurFfAZ0nBhOzyK-WQX_tDLtMOjRJ12wegyksNDLujk2edpXaw/s400/Starting+the+Run.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting the 7.5K run</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I felt OK starting the run, but knew some of the guys behind were solid runners, so there was work to be done for sure. It was also a bit hot and my first kilometer as we did a short out and back section was only at 4:06. My plan was to run 4:00/K's or slightly less, so I knew I had to pick it up a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After making the turn around, I could see the 3rd and 4th place guys coming up fast. Once back on the main trail, Devin Wittig flew right passed me, and I knew I had no chance of staying with him. He was running about 3:30K's, so it didn't take long for him to move out of sight. That put me back to 3rd with Adrian Lawson not far behind. I knew he was a good runner also and could tell that he had made up some time out to the first out and back section.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got into a decent rhythm as we made our way out to the furthest turn around point. The course was pretty flat, so it was easy to just keep a consistent effort. My 2nd, 3rd and 4th K's were all pretty close in time at 3:59, 4:00 and 3:58. As I made my way around the last turn, I was able to see where I was at, and noticed Adrian hadn't gained as much ground as I thought he might have. I still had him by about 30-40 seconds as we headed all the way back to the finish line.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0UVJW8J1m5uNHOr7IyMhnFJibIkC8vYoc6OHwy9oKgaB31zvoXicxe8CAzelwmfIYv1_hIDOb8pLOld7XYWHigbLaALCu6bhZaFxU46K9APkgmEi-C2L6OxbD16UUrA4QdMWypl-K84/s1600/Run+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0UVJW8J1m5uNHOr7IyMhnFJibIkC8vYoc6OHwy9oKgaB31zvoXicxe8CAzelwmfIYv1_hIDOb8pLOld7XYWHigbLaALCu6bhZaFxU46K9APkgmEi-C2L6OxbD16UUrA4QdMWypl-K84/s400/Run+1.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finishing up the run across the Shand Dam</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My 5th and 6th kilometers were in 4:02 and 3:59, and I knew at this point I had to push the pace a bit, as a few shoulder checks allowed me to see that Adrian was gaining. With only 1.5K left, I pretty much just gave it everything I had. The 7th kilometer went by in 3:51 as we had to make our way along the gravel trail to the finish line.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />With the finish line in sight, I was going pretty deep and ran the final half K in 1:47 (a 3:49) pace, which felt much harder than that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ended up finishing the run in 29:42 and holding onto my 3rd place overall finish with a time of 1:31:31. This I believe is the first time I have ever finished on the podium in a race overall, so that was exciting! I did end up winning my age group by about 13 minutes, and was the first overall age group athlete (non elite anyway).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing the finish line in 3rd place overall</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the race was any longer, Adrian would have caught me for sure, as he only ended up 10 seconds back in 4th overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/346246758" target="_blank">Garmin Run Data</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=104060" target="_blank">2013 Belwood Triathlon Results</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be the first one to admit that it was a pretty depleted field, as a lot of the faster guys who normally race in this series were at the Toronto Triathlon Festival races which were happening the next day. Regardless, I did have a solid race and met (slightly exceeded) my own race expectations.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_jqT-R1zwzMJRIqUJdR7vYcZcGiGhpQ9lmpVuZpAxpzzP1_JKazvSTyJDqpV4bJfrMBfEFi6xOAC3WIhpdh7GUfcz_Y-nXGvOjg02xuyZKq1FgFwxz3GKWWgSUu9S-C-k_ULWcj2PCM/s1600/Overall+Race+Podium+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_jqT-R1zwzMJRIqUJdR7vYcZcGiGhpQ9lmpVuZpAxpzzP1_JKazvSTyJDqpV4bJfrMBfEFi6xOAC3WIhpdh7GUfcz_Y-nXGvOjg02xuyZKq1FgFwxz3GKWWgSUu9S-C-k_ULWcj2PCM/s400/Overall+Race+Podium+Shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013 Belwood Triathlon Overall Podium Finishers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after finishing the race and chatting with a bunch of other racers, I took a bit of a dip in the lake before the awards ceremony and heading home. Not a bad day overall. Next up is the 3rd leg of the EndurRun as part of the Health and Performance relay team. A 30K trail run at Bechtal Park in Waterloo. That one's going to be interesting!</span></div>
Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-76298859662788268632013-06-27T12:55:00.002-04:002013-06-27T12:55:16.759-04:00Syracuse 70.3 Race Report<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Date - June 23, 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Race Details:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.9K Swim</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">90K Bike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21.1K Run</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main reason I wanted to do this race, was because it would be new. I like the idea of trying new things, and the timing worked well, given I was hoping to qualify for the Vegas 70.3 World Championships in September.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I drove down to Syracuse with Brian Scott and his wife Cynthia on Friday morning and arrived at the race site mid afternoon. We all checked in and got our race kits, and then checked out the swim start and transition area. The one thing about this race is that everything is really spread out. It all takes place in the Jamesville Beach County Park with the swim in the Jamesville Reservoir. From where we parked, it was likely over a kilometer to the swim start area. This meant a lot of walking over the next few days.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beach and swim start area</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After checking out the expo, etc. we got in the van and headed to the hotel to check in. The race site is literally out in the country, so most out of town athletes all had to stay in Syracuse, approximately 15 minutes away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That night, the three of us just ate in our rooms. Cynthia made a bunch of awesome food (rice, pasta salad, chicken, potato salad) and they invited me to eat with them, which was great. Good carbo loading food at a great price. After dinner, we headed out to check out a few things, but it was a relatively early evening and I sat in my NormaTec boots for a bit before getting to bed around 10.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel before heading back to the race site to do a bit of training and to check in our bikes. Before going to the race site though, we drove the early part of the bike course where the majority of the hills were. It was definitely going to be a slow start to this race, as the first 19K or so is basically all uphill. We took a short-cut back to the race site and followed the last 20K or so of the bike course. This section on the other hand was slightly downhill and pretty fast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once back at the race site, we did a short training ride on our bikes. I rode the entire run course, which we had to do twice. I'm not sure that was a great idea, as the hills in the last two kilometers of this course are a bit ridiculous There were two very significant climbs, that we essentially had to do twice, since there were two loops on the run course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the ride, we checked in our bikes and headed to the beach for a practice swim. The water temp was very good, but there were quite a few weeds in the reservoir that we had to deal with. They weren't freaky or anything to swim through, just kind of annoying, as they would get caught on your goggles while you swam through them.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgyV2_GJNCe8Lf-uUoDx7c-pifUglSrKqSioIAfzSHqWoYeM2ZnFpPkBL2jIrIW4iNjkhDjOCN0g_vNG8IpRlsJKwDsGK7QCeT7IC0nM1LHZDkEFEE2O5DF3_ZWWqzVll4R3nCUkimeM/s1600/LaFayette-20130622-00354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgyV2_GJNCe8Lf-uUoDx7c-pifUglSrKqSioIAfzSHqWoYeM2ZnFpPkBL2jIrIW4iNjkhDjOCN0g_vNG8IpRlsJKwDsGK7QCeT7IC0nM1LHZDkEFEE2O5DF3_ZWWqzVll4R3nCUkimeM/s320/LaFayette-20130622-00354.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what I looked like after my practice swim</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a short swim, we headed back to the hotel where we once again just ate in our rooms and chilled out for a bit. I eventually headed back to my room and got all my gear ready for an early checkout, sat in my boots again and headed to bed around 10, after watching the Hawks beat the Bruins in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had the alarm set for 4:30, but I didn't even need it. I quickly had some breakfast and coffee, a shower and gathered up all my stuff as we were checking out. We were on the road to the race shortly after 5:15 am for the 7am race start.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a decent lineup into the park, but it was moving relatively quickly. Eventually we got parked and made our long walk to transition to get our stuff set up and ready to roll. Everything went smoothly and I made my way down to the beach to watch the pros head off at 7am. I was in the 10th wave, meaning I had to wait until 7:40 to start. Around 7:15 I got into my wetsuit and did a short practice swim before heading to the starting line for my wave.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 7:40, the gun sounded for the first wave of two for the M40-44 group and I was off! I put in a good effort to the first buoy, and this worked out well, as I had very little contact and a good amount of open water ahead of me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent a bit of time swimming beside another swimmer to gauge the effort. I thought that if I swam relatively moderate/hard and this guy was still with me, then I'd slide back and try to draft off of him to save some energy. As we started to catch up to swimmers in earlier waves, I did just that and spent a good amount of time just taking it easy behind this other swimmer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did this until about the 20 minute mark of the swim, out near the last turn around back to the beach, where I decided to pull out and just do my own thing and try to pick up a bit of time. I really felt like I had a good swim, so when I reached the beach again to get out and saw 32 minutes plus, I thought for sure the swim had to be a bit long. I certainly thought I'd be closer to 30 minutes or less for 1.9K.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After coming out of the water, I quickly got my wetsuit down to my hips and took advantage of the wetsuit strippers to do the rest. It worked out well, and I was quickly out of my suit and on my way to transition. I ended up coming out of the water 10th in my AG out of 207 athletes in 32:58 to the mat well past the water, which is pretty darn good, although I wasn't aware of that at the time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">T1 was pretty efficient without any issues and I was out in 2:37 and on my way on the bike. The first 3K of the ride was fast, as we had a tailwind and slightly downhill section to find our legs. We headed north to Jamesville before turning right and getting right into the first of MANY uphills over the next 45 minutes or so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My nutrition on the bike was pretty standard. Start with a normal concentrate up front in my aerodrink with a double concentrate bottle on my frame that I would empty in just before the first aid station on the bike, where I would start taking water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My plan on the bike was to hold an average power of about 250, but it was a smoking hot and humid day, with a forecasted humidex in the high 40's. This meant that going too hard on the bike could easily crush dreams later on in the race (I'm thinking Kona in 2012!!!). Therefore, somewhere between 240-250 average power on the bike was the plan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mentioned, the first 19K was pretty much all uphill and into a headwind, so I really had to keep things in check. By the time we reached the highest point in the race at about the 18.5K mark, my avg. speed was only about 28kph and my avg. power was close to 260. Shortly after this point, we hit some speedy downhills, and the power began to come down a bit. A little while after the first aid station, I think we hit the hour mark on the bike, and I hit my lap button with an average power of approximately 255, so right on target given the hills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just past the 30K point on the bike, we had a wicked fast downhill/uphill. I basically went from hitting a top speed of 82.7kph on the bike to about 10kph in the span of about 30 seconds. It was incredible!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From this point forward, there weren't many more significant elevation changes, as we made our way around the beautiful countryside outside of Syracuse. The course snaked through a few small communities and state forest parks before we finally got out of the headwinds that we were dealing with for most of the first 60km of the bike course when we turned right in Truxton.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By this time, the race had spread out quite a bit and passing people came at less frequent intervals. I think throughout the entire bike portion of the race, I might have gotten passed by 2 or 3 people in total, but likely passed about 800 other racers which was cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second hour of the bike had the power come down a bit. Not really because I was fading, but because I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to fall apart on the run. The effort seemed moderate anyway, so pushing bigger watts on such a hot day didn't seem to make much sense. I believe the power in the second hour of the bike race was 245 watts with an average speed of 35.6kph.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just passed the 2 hour mark and 70K point of the race, we hit some very speedy and technical downhills on Clark Hollow Road. This road had recently been chip sealed, and there appeared to be some loose gravel on the sides, so I made sure to keep near the middle of the road.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once back on Apulia Rd which takes us to the race site, the speed picked up again. This was a very nice and smooth road, which gave our legs a bit of a chance to do some quick spinning prior to starting the run.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ended up biking just under 2:32 according to my garmin, with an average speed of 35.3kph and an average power of 245 watts and a normalized power of 253 watts. This gave me a variability index of 1.03, which is under the suggested 1.05 as per Joel Friel. Good stuff!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332908326" target="_blank">Syracuse 70.3 Garmin Bike File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So since I held back a bit on the bike and tried to keep a pretty consistent pace, I was hoping to have some fresh legs and feel good on the run. Unfortunately, after exiting T2 in 1:17 and getting on the road, the heat and humidity hit you like a brick. At least riding, you generated your own airflow. Running, not so much. It was really hot!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After exiting the park area, we had a short little climb on Apulia Rd before heading downhill to the flatter section of the course for a mile or so before heading into what I called the "Syracuse 70.3 version of the Energy Lab". It was a short downhill into a valley that had dark pavement and little to no wind. The sun and heat was just cooking down there and so a very special thank you and appreciation needs to go out to all of the volunteers working the aid station in this section.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After rounding a curve, we were greeted to a rather large hill at the 3.5K marker of the run. It wasn't killer steep, but it was long, like several hundred meters long. It was at this point that I started my first of many walk/run strategies. Walk a bit, run a bit to the top. A bit more running than walking, but my mental part of the race was starting to fall apart a bit. There were two guys in my AG that I think had passed me on the run to this point, and the fact that we had to do this course 2x for the full 21K, did not have me in good spirits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I eventually got to the top of the first hill where we faced a "flattish" section for 800m or so, before facing another rather large and annoying hill. This time it was steeper, but not quite as long. Again, the walk/run strategy was employed and I was not feeling good at this point. Just past the top of the hill was the turn around point, which meant we had a series of downhill running ahead of us, as we retraced our steps all the way back to the race site. Here's an idea of what the elevation profile was like for the run.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz2m0PlBcfpUZBBcuO619RqAr2MfF7WYUEXnjFKOgY13ktdgYUhyLLear4J-XgDJ4JwngSRL5wv5T_byY3oQ65IlgBbhw7tmtQP39Fv7IkuT-92tUeq6MyM6X4YB7xle6PHWgGuFe1x0/s863/Run+Profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz2m0PlBcfpUZBBcuO619RqAr2MfF7WYUEXnjFKOgY13ktdgYUhyLLear4J-XgDJ4JwngSRL5wv5T_byY3oQ65IlgBbhw7tmtQP39Fv7IkuT-92tUeq6MyM6X4YB7xle6PHWgGuFe1x0/s320/Run+Profile.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Syracuse 70.3 Run Course Elevation - It's pretty obvious where the hills were here.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The downhills unfortunately were just steep enough that they really put a good hurt on the quads as we ran down them. Eventually I made it back through the "Energy Lab" and onto Apulia and I actually thought I was feeling better as I noticed I was reeling in one of the guys that passed me earlier on. By the time we got back to transition, I was right beside this athlete and I made the pass on one of the gravel trails leading out of the park to the road, where we would repeat everything we just did one more time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So although I was totally cooking out there, I managed to run steady all the way back into the valley sauna to the base of the first hill. Again, like last time, I did a walk/run strategy on the hills, which were packed now with lot's of racers, most of them doing their first lap. Only one guy passed me through this section, and was only a few hundred yards up the road when we finally hit the turn around point for the second and thankfully last time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was now time to hammer as best I could down the hills. Luckily there was a guy with a water hose spraying runners, but this meant we were really wet (technically I was soaked from head to foot well before this) and running downhills had me sliding all around in my shoes. With the wet roads, I had to be very careful not to actually wipe out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used up the last of my salt in the aid station before getting back on Apulia Rd, but at this point there was only about 2.5 or 3K left in the race. I saw up ahead the runner who passed me earlier and I was determined to see if I could catch him before we got back to the park. With some steady running, I managed to come up beside him and pass him on the last climb up to the park.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I reached the top, I turned on the gas for what was mostly a downhill/flat stretch to the finish. It was still tricky negotiating the bumpy park grass and gravel trails, but I finally reached the finishing chute and took a quick look back to see if anyone was trying to make a last second surge past me. Luckily, nobody was, as I'm not sure I had anything to respond to if they did.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBZSbMMpks7mHxoAPLWJbpfuFhRVyOvH-gHuGLnEASm4VuBJDyPFbDXgGoutlzuRXNZtTCdM9zWpTLnHh2rrPQxfmHk-8Zj24s7xPMcIkvXA1UB7oTiuckyxKuF-zWLH6f1DKSJm80Ng/s522/Finish+Chute+Run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBZSbMMpks7mHxoAPLWJbpfuFhRVyOvH-gHuGLnEASm4VuBJDyPFbDXgGoutlzuRXNZtTCdM9zWpTLnHh2rrPQxfmHk-8Zj24s7xPMcIkvXA1UB7oTiuckyxKuF-zWLH6f1DKSJm80Ng/s320/Finish+Chute+Run.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I crossed the finish line with a finishing time of 4:50:42 with a final run split of 1:41:24 and immediately tried to find some shade to cool down and hang out for a bit.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMXRUIgkAfdt2eDKHlcN9xMEW2INJ_Nh9Ds6EH93C31RN8menVY6km6KHEgxlNlV3-cRf_pIWla6t1q64mWWz-ebW4VQGL2IZ_patc_WpiO8k5ct74xjvUEcAa3M3N08u32nBzNyNcXI/s523/Finish+Line+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMXRUIgkAfdt2eDKHlcN9xMEW2INJ_Nh9Ds6EH93C31RN8menVY6km6KHEgxlNlV3-cRf_pIWla6t1q64mWWz-ebW4VQGL2IZ_patc_WpiO8k5ct74xjvUEcAa3M3N08u32nBzNyNcXI/s320/Finish+Line+1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmLjiwZl72vPwVJFP8mjiNf6PhsPOphGoJG1JWPSBOfTHuvSZqyJmeUJKpHJJx-RE9rhbJz3tlAj4KhARCG3a7Ms2FeniihHA-5jlbWCwMQ6fIpSo5knlKP21JxP-0s69_uhc5aRptM0/s518/Finish+Line+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmLjiwZl72vPwVJFP8mjiNf6PhsPOphGoJG1JWPSBOfTHuvSZqyJmeUJKpHJJx-RE9rhbJz3tlAj4KhARCG3a7Ms2FeniihHA-5jlbWCwMQ6fIpSo5knlKP21JxP-0s69_uhc5aRptM0/s320/Finish+Line+2.jpg" width="216" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After chatting with some other athletes, including Tommy Ferris from Hamilton, Ontario and owner of Ignition Fitness, I was able to get some food in me and find some preliminary results from an athlete checking online. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332909170" target="_blank">Syracuse 70.3 Garmin Run File</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=105037" target="_blank">2013 Syracuse 70.3 Race Results</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it stood, I was 5th in my AG and 49th overall in the race. I can't say I was that excited with the result, despite the fact that I got on the podium and managed to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships (which I took). I know this seems silly, but I was really hoping for a faster time and better results across all three disciplines. This race was far from Mont Tremblant 70.3 last year both in terms of course difficulty and race day weather, so I have to keep that in mind. I think I raced pretty smart on the swim and bike by taking it relatively easy. I saw my fair share of athletes needing serious medical attention after the race.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few hours after finishing, a huge thunderstorm blew through which forced organizers to actually stop the race and pull those still remaining off the course. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was also no award ceremony or roll down process (they would email athletes after the race offering roll down slots) because of all the chaos from the storm.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz98scxpYhDzA-rewCkf3tqqHkMLnqsc8gmEiTE_2Hj3Qi4F8_kDr6OOgIX1G04xTG-jH15ZOM9BfQq8kcXDY4Wdla__jr7ULXq59RwmtvkUDE4g_mp5mHE9rYJ8fsHnPHSu_GndcMiE/s1600/LaFayette-20130623-00356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz98scxpYhDzA-rewCkf3tqqHkMLnqsc8gmEiTE_2Hj3Qi4F8_kDr6OOgIX1G04xTG-jH15ZOM9BfQq8kcXDY4Wdla__jr7ULXq59RwmtvkUDE4g_mp5mHE9rYJ8fsHnPHSu_GndcMiE/s320/LaFayette-20130623-00356.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This also got everything very wet and sloppy, which caused an already disastrous parking situation to be that much worse. People were stuck in the parking lot for hours before they could get out, and when they finally did, there was a huge lineup of cars heading back to Syracuse.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaa2y3ZluVHUAc9jQOu84CQJitCfoUR5kU4SAjXfp4Z1O3xJcKkF2RoFqS8AF-9T4xaDKeNRC155SoMHrxj34xFXrF91jh6BFi3DDCZ9hrEb1jH1YDSBrv96PW0da0ajyYhg9MDoHwe0/s1600/De+Witt-20130623-00357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaa2y3ZluVHUAc9jQOu84CQJitCfoUR5kU4SAjXfp4Z1O3xJcKkF2RoFqS8AF-9T4xaDKeNRC155SoMHrxj34xFXrF91jh6BFi3DDCZ9hrEb1jH1YDSBrv96PW0da0ajyYhg9MDoHwe0/s320/De+Witt-20130623-00357.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the view leaving the park and trying to get back to Syracuse</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last stop on this journey made everything worth it. Brian, Cynthia and myself headed to the <a href="http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/" target="_blank">Dinosaur BBQ</a> for dinner before making the long haul back to Ontario. I highly recommend the Tres Hombres!! Awesome!!</span>Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-14794095294442856882013-06-24T21:43:00.001-04:002013-06-24T21:43:30.892-04:00Waterloo Classic 10K Road RaceThis years race marks the 36th consecutive year of this race, but oddly enough, I've never done it before. It's always smack dab in the middle of triathlon season, and I usually had other priorities other than running a fast 10K.<br />
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With my key race not until November, I finally though it would be a good idea to see what kind of speed I had in June, and the fact that I am now in the 40+ age group, there was an incentive to see if I could grab some cash that was up for grabs for the top 3 overall masters runners.<br />
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The day started very wet, with some heavy rain all the way into the race site at University stadium in Waterloo. This race starts and finishes on the track, which is pretty cool.<br />
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Once I arrived, I got inside the stadium building and where race kit pick up was going on. After a small issue with registration (I wasn't on the list) everything got sorted out and I got into my race gear. <br />
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I recently joined Sean Delanghe's Health and Performance team (officially anyway) so I spent some time chatting with Sean and other team members, before heading outside to do a bit of a warm-up. Luckily by this point, the pouring rain had turned more into a light drizzle, so that was good.<br />
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Closer to 9am, I got myself situated near the front of the starting line. The 5K and 3K were also starting at the same time, so it was pretty tight up front, and at 9am, the gun sounded and we were off.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGtCi3d9i2vSh3H9Fjj7GzFW0eqqDXplOaRyAlDYmYV4XH1c-1ulXZJa8w_6inrxs31G_hfPtxbDZhhQ_zTZu5CAQB-wvok9dynbdJwg_uMSY8RLJ3rV9UIIkk51BuuBe3ehiWW3I-7U/s1600/Run+Start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGtCi3d9i2vSh3H9Fjj7GzFW0eqqDXplOaRyAlDYmYV4XH1c-1ulXZJa8w_6inrxs31G_hfPtxbDZhhQ_zTZu5CAQB-wvok9dynbdJwg_uMSY8RLJ3rV9UIIkk51BuuBe3ehiWW3I-7U/s320/Run+Start.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had to run about 50-75 meters before making a quick right out of the stadium, through the parking lot and onto Seagram drive. This was a bit crazy, as the exit from the stadium was pretty tight, the ground was very uneven and there were potholes full of water everywhere. I took this section carefully and managed to not trip over anyone's feet!<br />
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Once out on Seagram drive, I got into a quick but somewhat comfortable position just behind fellow H&P runner Dave Rutherford. Just before the first K marker, we had to make another left onto University Ave., which again, need to be taken with a bit of care, as the roads were very wet. We passed through the first kilometer maker in 3:38.<br />
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Not too long after, we made a right hand turn onto Westmount Rd. and started the first of two climbs on this stretch, as we had to come out to this road again for a partial second loop. The pace slowed down a bit as we made the climb up to the 2K marker, but as I crested the hill and began the downhill section, things picked back up a bit, and I began running right behind a few other runners.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRWJWW0hKX9s-oyyLH1W1lMzAbZl5qZwvHRH5jGaaHyIf1YUptjpgxRbVwK5uCFyIA41TRWqXjmDIubNojHSKK5mbZHRNVPm5l2gCCUSQ-5PXm9dMqInIDPPDJQTFsG9lgCYVJ1xgTf8/s1600/Run+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRWJWW0hKX9s-oyyLH1W1lMzAbZl5qZwvHRH5jGaaHyIf1YUptjpgxRbVwK5uCFyIA41TRWqXjmDIubNojHSKK5mbZHRNVPm5l2gCCUSQ-5PXm9dMqInIDPPDJQTFsG9lgCYVJ1xgTf8/s320/Run+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was at this point, I should have been more observant to what was going on, as we were approaching the turn-around for the 5K. I was still pretty close to some of the runners, and as we approached the 5K turn-around, the female runner I was behind slowed down and made the turn to head back and I almost ran right into her. I should have stayed more to the right...oh well.<br />
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We lost a bunch of runners at the 5K turn-around point, and now, it was just back to Dave and myself and a few other just up the road ahead of us. It was pretty spread out at this point in the 10K race, as we approached Columbia Street and had another hill to get over.<br />
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About halfway up the hill on Columbia, I passed a couple other guys, but at this point, there wasn't really anyone else that I figured I was going to catch up to. The race was supposed to go right on Phillip, but with construction on the street, we ended up making a right onto the Laurel Trail, that connects back up with University Ave.<br />
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Shortly after getting back on University Ave., we passed the 5K marker, which I believe said about 18:35, so my unofficial goal of going sub 38 minutes was still well on track.<br />
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The wind seemed to pick up a bit more as we headed down University towards Westmount for the partial second loop. Despite this section being pretty flat, and even potentially very slightly downhill, the pace did not pick up as much as I had hoped. The 6th K went by in 3:50, and now had to climb the Westmount hill for the second time in the race. The 7th K, which included going up and down the hill slowed down to a 3:57 pace, and it was here that I gave up 2 spots in the race and $25....more on that in a bit.<br />
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Two guys passed me I reached the top of the hill. I tried staying with them for a bit, but for some reason, the legs just didn't have the pop required to hold their pace. As approached the 10K turn-around, I started counting the runners coming back and I found myself in 12th place in the race as I made the turn just past the 7K marker and began the trek back to the stadium, following the exact same route we took when we left it.<br />
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The 8th K, had us once again climbing back up the Westmount hill (for a 3rd time) before enjoying the downhill and slight tailwind finish towards the stadium. I saw lot's of familiar faces passing other 10K runners as they made their way to the turn-around point.<br />
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Once I made the turn back onto University, I could see one of the guys who passed me on the hill not too far up the road. I doubted my ability to reel him in, but gave it my best shot anyway.<br />
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Eventually, I got back onto Seagram Dr, where I saw coach Sean and he pointed out that I was the H&P team in the 10K, which I pretty much already knew, as I'd passed all the leaders already. Kilometer 9 was a bit faster in 3:51, but I was feeling tired at this point, and was really hoping for something faster. The entrance to the stadium was just up the road, so I decided to see what I had left and push the pace.<br />
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The last 350 meters of the race was on the track, but unfortunately, there were still lots of 5K runners still finishing up, so instead of just gunning it around the inside lane to the finish line, I had to swing to the outside (and narrowly miss on a few occasions) other runners on the track.<br />
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As I rounded the final curve on the track, I heard the announcer call out 38 minutes, so I knew that goal wasn't happening. Despite that, I pushed through right to the finish, coming in at 38:10 officially, with a chip time of 38:07 and still 12th overall. Just over my 38 minute goal time.<br />
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/329008540" target="_blank">Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race Garmin Data</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://chiptimeresults.com/resultsreader.php?y=2013&r=waterlooclassicL.htm" target="_blank">Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race Results</a><br />
<br />
Less than 30 seconds later, Dave Rutherford crossed the line as the 13th finisher. Another H&P runner, Eric Vicujnik, crossed the line only 15 seconds after Dave. Sean had also entered us in the corporate division, so that was a huge victory by us. No other team even had a finisher under 38 minutes, and we had 3!!<br />
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By now, the rain had really started coming down again, and I was in line for some less than stellar post race food. Eventually, I got back inside and actually had a hot shower and dressed prior to the awards ceremony, which took an awfully long time, given we had to go through both the 3K and 5K before the 10K.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxvHWTkBzmS-QkIDWoeZoUcVmwerPDG52DZdD2td1o31rioBnd2JvocbORka4gDhFaoqKQEo-ajJgtHOoWFyWBfRyLxGncp8SjrD2sk5nbJ7g6Iz5BmvjvJp_yFQx5SlR7ABNOym1c0U/s1600/Masters+Top+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFxvHWTkBzmS-QkIDWoeZoUcVmwerPDG52DZdD2td1o31rioBnd2JvocbORka4gDhFaoqKQEo-ajJgtHOoWFyWBfRyLxGncp8SjrD2sk5nbJ7g6Iz5BmvjvJp_yFQx5SlR7ABNOym1c0U/s320/Masters+Top+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Back to that $25. I did end up finishing as the 3rd master, and 3rd in my AG at the same time. That meant I got the $50 prize. As it turns out, one of the guys that passed me was also in my AG. He only finished 19 seconds ahead of me, but in the end, I'm not sure I had the legs on this day to even make that up. Walking away with the 3rd master overall was still pretty rewarding.<br />
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Up next is the Syracuse 70.3 this coming weekend. This will be a solid test to see where my longer endurance fitness sits. It's calling for some smoking hot temps, so I'm sure I'm in for a real battle.Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5764793887635188876.post-61669218740461321002013-05-27T20:19:00.000-04:002013-05-27T20:19:45.286-04:002013 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Race Report - May 26, 2013Race Details:<br />
<br />
750m Swim<br />
20K Bike<br />
5K Run<br />
<br />
This year, the Woodstock race was only a one day affair and the triathlon was only a sprint. I generally do better the longer the race goes, so the short race wasn't in my favour when compared to all the super fast young dudes who focus entirely on this type of distance. Needless to say, I would treat this as a nice speed session and give it everything I had.<br />
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It's crazy how much the weather has been fluctuating this spring. Last Monday we did Victoria's Duathlon, and on the second run, the temp was pretty much 30 degrees Celsius. When I got up this morning just after 6am, this is what we were greeted to:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slightly cool morning for a triathlon</td></tr>
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Needless to say, I was a bit concerned about getting on the bike after coming out of the water. This made the the clothing decisions race morning much more difficult.<br />
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I arrived at Pittock Conservation area shortly before 8am and did all of the necessary pre race duties and then decided to just go for a short jog, rather than getting on the bike when it was still pretty chilly. As we got closer to race time, I got my wetsuit on and went over to the lake to check out the water. Surprisingly, when I put my feet in, it didn't seem too bad (likely cause it was still fairly cold outside). It was cold enough that the race organizers made the swim a wetsuit mandatory one, which might have put a few racers over to the duathlon. I couldn't imagine doing that race without a wetsuit though!<br />
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I did decent warm up to get the blood flowing and eventually made my way to the start as the first wave of athletes went off. I was going off in wave 2 this morning.<br />
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From the sound of the horn, I put in a good effort to try to distance myself from some of the chaos and contact that we usually get at the beginning of the swim. This worked well, as I pretty much had free and open water right from the get go.<br />
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As we headed out to the first turn buoy, I think I might have gone a bit further right than I wanted, but nothing too bad. I made the first right turn with a few other guys and I tried to get a draft going, but one guy took off and the other fell back, so I was pretty much solo again. I could tell however that someone was on my feet pretty much the whole way around the swim. Good for him, but it would have been nice if he made an effort to come up and pass so I could do a little drafting too. It's a lot easier to draft in an Ironman when we all start at the same time. With only 50 or 75 in my wave, this didn't help my cause much.<br />
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After rounding the second buoy, I made a strong push back to land and when I finally stood up and checked my watch, I was happy to see around 11:30 or so on my watch. That was well over a minute faster than last year, which is definitely good news!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5m_HoU4m2M-REdlztgM-XnPzn9Pid-_qNk7jTbr3FpPs2eLvaT5py_32eVWks0HJN0fhYXvFTyLJFvCcUdekHUW5ymBUPkZ2eWJ4koGSuSTeEf9snQaTCC6bHppHE4YUjb5_QlHl7Z0/s1600/Swim+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5m_HoU4m2M-REdlztgM-XnPzn9Pid-_qNk7jTbr3FpPs2eLvaT5py_32eVWks0HJN0fhYXvFTyLJFvCcUdekHUW5ymBUPkZ2eWJ4koGSuSTeEf9snQaTCC6bHppHE4YUjb5_QlHl7Z0/s320/Swim+2.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2HcZrTUkaw5V8_FsdVe0jvgXR6TXCudzwWeCAIwS1fkthe-5eXFH3BW0eUWOn47rx3-cqZ8Co8OG85xM_Yhy1d3AeTiotn9evcCpogqRUp-vXBMr5VgTKcRbnXJ6mCwREbJ-F8kFolGk/s1600/Swim+Exit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2HcZrTUkaw5V8_FsdVe0jvgXR6TXCudzwWeCAIwS1fkthe-5eXFH3BW0eUWOn47rx3-cqZ8Co8OG85xM_Yhy1d3AeTiotn9evcCpogqRUp-vXBMr5VgTKcRbnXJ6mCwREbJ-F8kFolGk/s320/Swim+Exit.jpg" width="215" /></a><br />
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It was a decent run to the transition zone where the timing mat was, so my official swim time was 12:03, but here is my Garmin file (not the most accurate with the distance though)!<br />
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/318501678" target="_blank">Garmin Swim File</a><br />
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T1 was by far the worst part of the race for me. Some days I have no problem getting the wetsuit off and sometimes it just won't come off my ankles. Today was the latter unfortunately! Once off, I then struggled to put arm warmers on and also gloves. Things seem to get stuck when you are wet! T1 was a terrible 1:34, about 45 seconds slower than I wanted, and the worst part about it, was that I couldn't pull my arm warmers up my arms when I got on my bike, and would later find out that I really didn't need them at all. <br />
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The run to the mount line in Woodstock is a bit tricky. It's uphill over bumpy grass and lot's of posts that you have to navigate through. I eventually made it to the mount line and got on my bike, but you immediately need to go around a tight turn and up a big hill. Because of that, I didn't end up getting into my cycling shoes until we were about 300m into the bike race. Once I did though, I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder from my sub-par transition and started hammering past other racers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFkq5P_AYKWbOd4VbQmTOggSpxU3wZKYWvAQOeJNu-WkJtFS8rhTbsNo1dYE-QlEcp5zb7VCC0C4KhW7Zbq6J4K1cL8HsKSjnX-KdvDwSm6ct0vJgPDza-hqBRTbMy7QzSKojJH1e_-o/s1600/Starting+the+Bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFkq5P_AYKWbOd4VbQmTOggSpxU3wZKYWvAQOeJNu-WkJtFS8rhTbsNo1dYE-QlEcp5zb7VCC0C4KhW7Zbq6J4K1cL8HsKSjnX-KdvDwSm6ct0vJgPDza-hqBRTbMy7QzSKojJH1e_-o/s320/Starting+the+Bike.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The run out of transition</td></tr>
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The first 3K of the race is generally uphill, and at this point, my power was just over 300 watts, which is pretty much my FTP. Once we crested the top of the first hill, I did let it come down a bit, as 300+ is not sustainable really. <br />
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I continued to pass lot's of racers, as we faced a nice little headwind as we traveled up to the first turn on country road 33. Once on #33, we were forced to deal with some bumpy road conditions, but at least it didn't last too long. After only a few K, we made a right hand turn and were on some smooth road conditions again, and had the benefit of a nice tail wind all the way down to the turn-around point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_IuU1gfemQ2YdyPN9zWQL0uwNj-TR8PLPSfVAGaFBRdzrV019uZoV5DeeiNofpwIKUcSEj081EnML0D3_vg63plRSEYyh8e3xdYRawEtwcBqRJ-zmlQE3efnhnK_OZi8IWobREs5-wY/s1600/Bike+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_IuU1gfemQ2YdyPN9zWQL0uwNj-TR8PLPSfVAGaFBRdzrV019uZoV5DeeiNofpwIKUcSEj081EnML0D3_vg63plRSEYyh8e3xdYRawEtwcBqRJ-zmlQE3efnhnK_OZi8IWobREs5-wY/s320/Bike+1.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see, I didn't even bother pulling my arm warmers up my arm</td></tr>
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After the turn, it was back into the headwind and a slight uphill all the way back to #33. I continued to pass racers, but at this point, they were more spread out, so there was a lot more solo riding. Not one person passed me though on the bike throughout the entire 20K ride.<br />
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We finally made it back to the park and I took a quick glance at my computer before we headed into the no pass zone. I had held 297 watts until about the 19.7K mark of the ride. After that, I lost a tonne of power as I had to more or less coast down the hill and make the turn into the park and to the dismount line. In the end, I averaged just over 37kph and around 282 watts, but this of course includes the long run on the bike from the transition zone to the mount line, where I had no power and not much speed. Here is the garmin file for the ride:<br />
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/318500883" target="_blank">Woodstock Triathlon Bike File</a><br />
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T2 was quicker in only 44 seconds, as I got into my running shoes and headed out on the run course. My only problem now was that my feet were pretty numb. I thought that was strange, since they didn't really feel cold on the bike. Needless to say, it felt like my insoles in my shoes were bunched up and the middle of my foot was all tingly. This made running feel very weird. So much so, that I almost stopped to check if the insoles were out of place (in the end, I don't think they were, and my feet were actually numb!).<br />
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The start of the run was a bit slow, as I battled the feeling in my feet and the gravel path that we had to run along for the first K. As I got over the dam, I saw the lead guys coming back, and realized they were pretty far ahead of me, despite starting in the second wave. It was also at this point that another racer passed me. Given his speed, there was no way I was staying with him.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY3veNjez4_dMxQMy21NrK5f2wub73NN1fQj8leXgtB3N1iwc9GoI3e9YO2rpMVtZX2fYSTQki0luh1pNDELaQWeGmEQcmrJ5FnjP9rx45KcVXfqaXktxJhQrK_IAOAiQLedXrXHNmdQ/s1600/Close+up+Run+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY3veNjez4_dMxQMy21NrK5f2wub73NN1fQj8leXgtB3N1iwc9GoI3e9YO2rpMVtZX2fYSTQki0luh1pNDELaQWeGmEQcmrJ5FnjP9rx45KcVXfqaXktxJhQrK_IAOAiQLedXrXHNmdQ/s320/Close+up+Run+Shot.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super close up shot from Mike Cheliak on the Run! Cool!</td></tr>
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Just before the turn around, another racer passed me, but this time, I was able to hang with him a short bit until he eventually pulled away as well.<br />
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After making the turn and heading for home, I was feeling a bit better and picked up the pace a bit, running just under 4 minute K's. Finally, after passing the 4K mark, I pushed just a bit harder towards the finish line which I eventually crossed in a time of 1:08:02. My final run was 20:37, but my GPS had the run at 5.2K, at a 3:58/km pace. That was a little slower than last years run which was 7.5K, but not too bad though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FC_Uqy6E3IG42Gh5PyZRU75AFaYVrc69285zedjxlchHU57ctkGlNcwhkF1cSbODvLEXjYiqu-N0QobizcXpUZI6MASaNsd8c8RuTUGKYrs_dUUl6GMRV5AXyHmVWbCspEXaojxi2ow/s1600/Finish+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FC_Uqy6E3IG42Gh5PyZRU75AFaYVrc69285zedjxlchHU57ctkGlNcwhkF1cSbODvLEXjYiqu-N0QobizcXpUZI6MASaNsd8c8RuTUGKYrs_dUUl6GMRV5AXyHmVWbCspEXaojxi2ow/s320/Finish+1.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://connect.garmin.com/activity/318501752" target="_blank">Woodstock Triathlon 5K Run File</a><br />
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After finishing, I grabbed some chocolate milk and a hero burger (Man I love the post race sponsorship at these races!). I chatted with some other folks for a bit and then decided to check results which were posted. In the end, I did grab my M40-44 AG win and finished 19th overall. As I said earlier, this series is attracting some fast young guys (and gals), so 19th overall isn't too bad, given my key races this year are a couple of half Ironmans and then Ironman Arizona in November.<br />
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Here are the results:<br />
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<a href="http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=103635&bib=117" target="_blank">2013 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Overall Results</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX5N1YS5VSAVDxnlF_RgmLCaEN13q6T3mlwYr8Tu8-VtFT2fr-guReqINKi5ZJi2yvcIvMz_Kq6MKRJJm44gHY7LJfhMQ96N9QJXXhIJ3eDkdwyDXh5lfXlepC-tfMFgG_4exVr9kGNk/s1600/Podium+Award+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX5N1YS5VSAVDxnlF_RgmLCaEN13q6T3mlwYr8Tu8-VtFT2fr-guReqINKi5ZJi2yvcIvMz_Kq6MKRJJm44gHY7LJfhMQ96N9QJXXhIJ3eDkdwyDXh5lfXlepC-tfMFgG_4exVr9kGNk/s320/Podium+Award+Photo.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Podium Shot! Cool new medals this year too!</td></tr>
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<br />Luke Ehgoetzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05281931821978211006noreply@blogger.com0