Syracuse 70.3 Race Report

Race Date - June 23, 2013

Race Details:
1.9K Swim
90K Bike
21.1K Run

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.

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.

The beach and swim start area

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is what I looked like after my practice swim

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Syracuse 70.3 Garmin Bike File

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!

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.

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.

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.

Syracuse 70.3 Run Course Elevation - It's pretty obvious where the hills were here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

             

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.   

Syracuse 70.3 Garmin Run File

2013 Syracuse 70.3 Race Results

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.

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.   

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.

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.

This was the view leaving the park and trying to get back to Syracuse

The last stop on this journey made everything worth it.   Brian, Cynthia and myself headed to the Dinosaur BBQ for dinner before making the long haul back to Ontario.  I highly recommend the Tres Hombres!!   Awesome!!

Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race

This 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race Garmin Data

Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race Results

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!!

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.

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.

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.

2013 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Race Report - May 26, 2013

Race Details:

750m Swim
20K Bike
5K Run

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.

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:

A slightly cool morning for a triathlon

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

 

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)!

Garmin Swim File

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.

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.

The run out of transition

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.

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.

As you can see, I didn't even bother pulling  my arm warmers up my arm

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.

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:

Woodstock Triathlon Bike File

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!).

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.

Super close up shot from Mike Cheliak on the Run!  Cool!

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.

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.

Woodstock Triathlon 5K Run File

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.

Here are the results:

2013 Woodstock Sprint Triathlon Overall Results

Podium Shot!   Cool new medals this year too!

2013 Victoria's Duathlon Race Report

Race Details:

4K Run
30K Bike
4K Run

Given the unpredictable weather we have had this spring, I wasn't sure what to expect race day.   This year, we were pretty lucky and were greeted with above normal temperatures.   In fact, this was the hottest Victoria's Duathlon I'd ever done.   It was well into the 20's at the start of the race and by the end, was getting close to 30 Celsius.

This race has a slightly later start at 10am, which is nice.    I decided to move up to the first wave with the elites, which would allow me to race with most of the faster athletes in the race.   Right at 10am, the race got under way, and we were off on the first 4K run.

Start of the race - Wave #1

I wasn't feeling quite as "fast" as last year, as I really haven't been doing as much speed work.   The first K of the race is pretty much downhill, followed by an uphill.   It went by at a pretty quick 3:34/km avg. pace.   At this point, there were likely 20 or so athletes still in front of me.   The 2nd K is mostly downhill to the turn-around point at 2K, which went by in 3:37.  

After making the turn, it felt much warmer, as the wind was out of the south, so running north without the wind made things warm, plus it was uphill.   The 3rd and final K of the race were a bit slower in 3:49 and 3:50.   I finished the first run in 14:43

Finishing up the first run with Scott Dickie

Victoria's Duathlon Run #1 Garmin File

I entered transition with another Waterloo racer, Scott Dickie, and made the quick change to bike gear and was out on the road in only 36 seconds.    I quickly got into my shoes and up to speed on the bike as we made our way out of the Creekside Church parking lot.

Starting the bike

By now, I figured I was in around 12th place or so, and I began passing a few athletes as we made the grind up the Erbsville hill.  Still up the road though was at least one athlete that I knew was in my age group, Ming-Chang Tsai.   I eventually caught up to him at around the 5 or 6K portion of the bike.   We went back and forth a few times, before I decided to put in a bit of an effort and see if I could drop him.   This worked, and he was not able to catch up after the last time I passed him.

By now, there weren't too many riders up the road, but I believe I slowly picked off a few more before we got to the turnaround at the end of Hessen Strasse road.   One of the guys I made my way past was Larry Bradley, shortly before the turn around.   He is a solid duathlete, so I was happy to make my way around him on the bike.

As I made my way around the turn around point, my average speed was just over 38kph and my power was pretty much about 270 watts for the first half of the bike.

The wind felt a bit tough on the way back, as I believe it was out of the southeast slightly.   I worked hard to try to keep the power consistent on the trip back.   Unfortunately (or fortunately), there weren't too many riders left up the road, and I believe I only passed one other racer, just before we hit the steep hills on Kressler Rd.   This was the last person I passed on the bike, as I powered my way up and over the hills and back to transition.

As I approached the dismount line, I heard one of my kids yell out that I was in 7th place overall.   I finished the bike portion in 47:19 with an avg. power of 269 (NP 276).

Victoria's Duathlon Bike Garmin File

T2 went taking only 35 seconds and I was out starting the final 4K run.   By now, it was noticeably hotter out there.   As I made my way down the first hill and up the second, I heard someone coming up pretty quickly from behind.   This was the same guy I passed near the end of the ride.   He was flying on the run and I couldn't keep up.

I made my way down to the turn around point, where Dave Rutherford was there and snapped this picture.

The turn around on the 2nd run

As I made my way back up to the 3K mark, I finally passed one other racer, to put me back into 7th place from the first wave.   I would have liked to push the last half of the race a bit harder, but the motivation wasn't really there, as I was neither being chased, or really trying to catch anyone.

As I made the final run towards the finish line, my kids were there and they ran with me for a bit and I crossed the finish line in 1:19:09 with a final run split of 15:58, a fair bit slower than my first run.

The final turn to the finish with Tate running along side

Victoria's Duathlon Run #2 Garmin File

Overall Race Results

Another local athlete Florian Ong, who started in a later wave actually had a faster overall time than I did, so he finished ahead of me, pushing me to 8th place overall.   My time this year was about 40 seconds slower than last year, which isn't too bad, given the hotter and tougher conditions, both on the run and the bike, so I was pretty happy with the result.

Post race shot with the boys!  Tate wasn't too happy!

2013 Hamburger Hill 7 Mile Road Race

Going into this race, I wasn't feeling quite as fast as I was last year.   With my goal race not until November, I hadn't done a whole bunch of speed work.   As a result, if I could be reasonably close to last year's time, I would have been pretty happy.   Really though, the main goal was to win the Wilmot Township division, given this was going to be the last year for this race being run locally.   Starting in 2014, Ted Seyler (local race director) is handing it over to Lloyd Schmidt of the Waterloo Running Series.

The conditions this year were not nearly as good as last year.   It was only hovering around 6 degrees with a cool, stiff wind out of the NW, which meant the 2nd leg of the out and back section was going to be tough!

The race got under way promptly at 9am with a blast from one of the local fire department trucks.

Right from the start, there were 4 of us running pretty close through the first kilometer, as we enjoyed a bit of a tailwind.   There was myself, Ken MacAlpine (who I considered the guy to beat), Greg Dyce and Peter Vandriel.

Eventually Ken and Greg began to distance themselves, once we started heading down the hill at Erb Transport, and I found myself running just behind Peter Vandriel.   Just as we made the turn onto Sandhills to   tackle "The Hill", Peter pulled off to the side at an aid station and I made my way into 3rd position, which is basically where I stayed the rest of the race.

As I made my way up Sandhills, at a pace that felt a lot harder than last year, I pretty much knew I wasn't going to match last year's time.   I was already about 5 seconds per kilometer slower, and I hadn't even dealt with the hard part yet.

Eventually I made it up and over the big hill and tried to push hard down to the turnaround point, which is pretty much at the lowest point on Sandhills before we had to turn around and retrace our steps all the way back to the Wilmot Rec Complex and the finish line.

As I made my way around the turn around cone, I was greeted with a nice stiff and cold NW wind, which slowed the pace down and certainly made things seem so much harder.   The next 1-2K back to the top of Sandhills was really tough going, as I tried to keep the pace up, but the uphill, cold headwind was really taking it out of me.

Eventually (and thankfully), I reached the top and got to enjoy the fast decent back to Gingrich road.   At this point, we were still dealing with a bit of a cross/headwind, so the climb back up the hill by Erb Transport was tough again, but this was pretty much the last of it.   Once we got to the top, we were at least sheltered from the wind by some trees until the last half K to the finish line.

Unlike in prior years, where I was being chased and had some people I could legitimately catch ahead of me, this year I found myself totally alone for 3/4 of this race.   So although I wasn't taking it easy, I wasn't forced to push myself just that little bit extra, which likely cost me a bit of time.

I eventually made my way back to the rec complex and around to the back of the arena, where we got to run inside to a finish line on the arena floor, which was cool.  They did this the first year, but haven't done it since because of issues with the timing chips on your ankle (didn't work well on concrete floors).   With the chips in the bibs this year, it meant we had a finish line much like the Around the Bay in Hamilton.

I crossed the line in 43:21, 3rd place overall and 1st place in the Wilmot Township division.   Last year my time was 41:39, so about a minute and a half slower.   I believe this is partly due to less speed work and partly due to the colder and windier conditions.

Here's the Garmin file for the race (didn't hit stop right at the end however)

Garmin Race Data

Hamburger Hill 7 Mile Road Race Results

While I was off doing the 7 Mile race, my oldest son finished 4th overall in the 3K, which was another big improvement for him.   After my race, I did the 1K fun run with my youngest son Tate.   He pushed hard and had a great time as well.

New Hamburg 3K Race Results

So looking ahead to next year, there will be some big changes to this race.   The course will be slightly different (and much harder) going to the top of the aerial hill and back.   With it being a Waterloo Running Series race, there should also be a lot more people racing it out in New Hamburg.   I'm really looking forward to that one!

2013 Around the Bay 30K race report

This year marks the 6th year doing this classic end of winter/beginning of spring race.   The weather leading up to this year's race was anything but spring like, but luckily, race morning brought calm winds, sunny skies, dry roads and a comfortable temperature of about -2 at the start of the race.

As usual, Darryl and I arrived at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton around an hour ahead of the 9:30am start time.   We did our normal tour of Copps and visited the facilities before making our way back to our car to get all of our racing gear on and ready for the race.

Just before 9:30 we headed to the race start and timed it perfectly, as we were only standing around at the start for 5 minutes or less before the horn sounded and we were off.

Last year, I went out pretty hard in the first half and suffered a bit in the second half when I went 1:59:27 and broke 2 hours for the first time.   This year, I had a goal of going sub 2 again, but wanted to do a more consistent effort throughout, which meant holding back a bit in the first 15K when things are pretty flat and easy.   I was hoping this would allow me to be stronger in the hills and still finish with a good kick in the last 3K.

As usual, the race did start out pretty quick, as the first kilometer went by in 3:40 seconds, but this still felt really easy.   After that one though, I settled in, running with Darryl Huras, my running partner from New Hamburg and we were ticking off K's in the 3:52-3:56 range quite consistently.

The first 5K with Darryl right behind

Another shot at about 8K with Darryl

My nutrition plan this year was to take a gel right before the start, then one at the 10K mark and another at the 20K mark.   This would also work out to one every 40 minutes (approx).   Last year, I felt like I ate a bit too much food before the race, so this year, I had some oatmeal and a slice of toast about 3 hours before the race, and then only ate a Lara bar on the way down to Hamilton.   This left my stomach feeling good and ready to take on the hard efforts ahead.

Unlike last year, where I took off ahead of Darryl and he played catch up in the last half of the race to finish together, we stayed together the entire time.   In fact our splits on Sportstats are identical (except for the finish time).   This was much more enjoyable, running the race with your training partner, rather than us each doing our own thing.   We both went through the 10K point in 38:59 (last year 38:21), which was right on our 39 minute target.   Boom!!  So far so good!

After going under the QEW and working our way along the stretch of the race on Beach Blvd, we were in a nice pack of about 10 runners all working together to set the pace up front.   You wouldn't think you would get much benefit out of drafting in a running race, but it is mentally much easier to cruise along right behind or beside another runner, rather than slugging it out there all by yourself.

Eventually, we hit the 15K marker in 58:32 (last year 58:00), so we were both still well on target and feeling pretty well for the rollers and hills in the last 10K of the race.

As we got into the back section of the race along North Shore Blvd. I was still feeling pretty good and strong going up and over some of the smaller rollers.  We hit the 20K marker in 1:18:19 (last year 1:18:07) so I was steadily making up time over my race from last year.  The first bigger climb at La Salle Park went pretty well and it was then that I knew I was feeling stronger this year than last.

We finally made it back to Plains road, where it is mostly downhill until the big climb at Valley Inn Rd.   All was going well, but I was noticing some discomfort in my lower left heel as it felt like my shoe was rubbing.   It was somewhat annoying, but nothing too major.

The big climb up Valley Inn Rd. back to York Blvd. went really well.   Last year, I took two short walking breaks.   This year, Darryl and I were both together and managed to run up the whole way.   At the top, I was actually still feeling pretty good, so I quickly tried to get back up to speed around the 4:00/K pace.    

Just before meeting the Grim Reaper still with Darryl  behind

It was at this point, that I slowly started losing Darryl a bit.   I believe we were together through the 28th K which we did in 4:02, but as we headed down the small hill towards Copps I began to pull away, not intentionally, but I was noticing that if I kept up a good pace I had a shot at sub 1:59, which of course in a new PB for this race.   

I was running along with another runner and actually making my way past some other runners at this point.   The 29th and 30th K of the race went by in 3:54 and 3:47.   My Garmin buzzed off the 30K mark, just before we were to turn down the ramp into Copps (this race is always long for some reason).   

Just before heading down the ramp into Copps

Eventually, I made my way down the steep ramp into Copps and onto the coliseum floor to the finish line hitting the line in 1:58:50, a new PB, and this only a couple of weeks before my 40th birthday.   

Here's some cool finish line video of me finishing.   Darryl comes in 10 seconds later!

New PB of 1:58:50!!

All done!  Yah!

This marks the 6th straight time improvement at this race, which is pretty remarkable and is definite proof that you DO NOT have to slow down as you get older!   I ended up finishing in 90th place overall out of 6,850 runners and 9th out of 489 runners in my AG.   Funny enough, I would have finished 15th in the M40-44 AG, so things don't get any easier next year!!

Here's a shot of the Sub 2 gold medal and the result of that rubbing on my left heel! Ouch!

So overall, I am quite pleased with the effort this year and especially given my pacing strategy throughout.   Even with the hills in the last 10K, I still managed a 40:20 10K.

It's always good to get a good race in early that hopefully sets the stage for a solid summer triathlon season.   I'll likely hit up a few more running races prior to the kick off of the multi-sport season at Victoria's Duathlon in Waterloo.   It's going to be a long year with my A race not till November at Ironman Arizona, so I'll have to watch things closely throughout the summer.

Here are some other useful links:

Garmin Race Data

Race Results on Sportstats

Waterloo ReFridgeEighter 8 Mile Road Race - February 17, 2013 Race Report

This years race marks the 6th or 7th year in a row of doing this winter favorite.   I don't seem to do many road races once triathlon season gets going, so I always try to mark this one on the calendar.

Race morning brought some very cold temperatures of about -18 Celsius, 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.

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.   Usually I do the 8K as part of my own company team, but no-one from work was interested this year, so I was recruited to join Sean Delangne's Health and Performance (H&P) team and take a crack at the longer 8 mile race.   I was more than happy to oblige.

Shortly before 10am, we all headed to the race start, which headed north this year and around the building instead of south and immediately onto University.   The new course this year was pretty fast as the only hill was the climb up Lexington off of University, which we had to do 2x for the 8 miler.   Overall, runners found the new route better than the previous version, and I would tend to agree.

Once the national anthem was sung, the race got under way, just past 10am. 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.

Early on, I found myself running with another H&P runner, Dave Rutherford.   We were basically side by side for the first 3 or 4K of the race until I pulled ahead a bit.   We both 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.

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 fair bit, but looking at the splits, the 3rd K was still at 3:49, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

At approximately 3K running with Dave Rutherford and Florian Ong right behind

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.

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.   I could tell there was a small group including Dave and H&P runner Florian Ong not too far behind though.

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.

By now I could tell I was gaining some ground on the next 8 mile runner ahead of me.   Eventually, as we made the turn back up Lexington and onto Bridge, I caught up to him, just before the second time passing the 8 mile turn off.   This time however, we had to go straight up Bridge into the wind.   This was likely the toughest part of the race, as we were facing a stiff wind and road conditions in a few sections were a bit slippery.

Just past the turn off, I passed this 8 mile runner and set my sights on some 8K runners.   I began passing many of these 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.

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 and past many of the 8K runners, but could tell there was no chance of catching any more 8 mile racers.   The nearest one was likely 250 or 300 metres up the road.

The final turn to the finish line

The last few metres to the finish

After making the final turn to the finish, I picked up the pace again and finished with a pretty good time of 48:43 for the 8 miler and 6th place overall.

Garmin Race Details

2013 8 Mile Road Race Results

Since the guy who finished 2nd overall in the race was also in my AG, I ended up picking up the AG win for the M35-39.

Our Health & Performance team made a clean sweep of both the 8K and 8M corporate divisions.   In the 8 mile race, it really wasn't even close, as we all ran under 50 minutes, and won by almost 30 minutes combined

2013 8 Mile Corporate Team Division Results

So as the big 40 is just around the corner for me, 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!!

Here's a few shots of the awards presentation afterwards

8 Mile Corporate Team (Left to Right - Me, Dave Rutherford  and Florian Ong)

Winners of the M35-39 Age Group

So overall, I'm plenty pleased with the results of this race.   Similar to last year, I'll be doing the Around the Bay 30K near the end of March.   I can't imagine conditions will be nearly as good as last year, so whether or not I can go sub 2 hours will be another good test of the winter fitness.