Camping (+ Okotoks sprint tri)

I raced again this weekend. What else is new?

On Thursday night, I went to Kananaskis to camp. Although I planned to wake up early on Saturday, drive to Okotoks, race, then drive back, I wanted to spend some time with my family relaxing in the Rockies. Camping went well, although Laura and I arrived before nearly anyone else, so we didn’t have much water. We opted (foolishly) to drink some campground water from the taps onsite. Although there were no signs suggesting that we shouldn’t drink the water, we knew that the decision was risky. Unfortunately, hydration trumps sense, so drank we did.

I spent Thursday setting up a tent, building a beautiful fire, and walking down animal trails with small children. I managed to point out multiple types of animal poop and also explained how decaying trees become soil to feed new growth. I told the kids that there was a pot of gold hidden in the trees by leprechauns (which the children sometimes called lepers). It was good.

On Friday, I had an amazing run (~9km in 40min) bushwacking down animal trails and along riverbeds. I wanted to run more, but I figured I should save something for the race the next day. I also managed to do a short swim in my new wetsuit, hoping I wouldn’t fall victim to new equipment mishaps at the race. I drove to a different campground for a shower, then I played some bocce ball (super high energy!).

Race report:
This is the second time I participated in the Foothills Charity Triathlon (see last year’s post here). This is a fun race for a good cause, and I approached the triathlon as a training session, especially for transitions. Of course, I also hoped to push myself and place well.

Unfortunately, on Friday night, I got fairly sick. I won’t go too far into details other than to say that my stomach was severely upset and it loosed terrible, terrible things from certain lower and upper orifices. Laura seemed to drink enough alcohol on Thursday night to kill of the bug—I was the only affected person.

Regardless, I got up at 4:50am on Saturday to drive from K-country to Okotoks (with a couple emergency stops along the way) to race. On the drive I not only saw many elk and deer, but also a moose and a massive grizzly!

Anyway, I got to the race later than intended and I was fairly out of in when setting up. I managed to say hello to a few regulars (Bernie and Tony), do a short warm up swim, and then it was go time.

When the horn went off, I went out strong. For the first 150m I was contending for the first place position with the other lead person. I pretty much The pace was really aggressive, so I dropped back abit. That gave me time to concentrate on not filling my wetsuit with sh*te. Success in that endeavour was no small feat. I definitely felt my lack of warm-up during the swim because I felt like I didn’t hit my groove until I got on the bike. I had some trouble swimming off-course in this race too (not spotting enough). I should also note that a few people thought the swim was longer than 750m.

Regardless, T1 was a skit. When I came out of the water, I saw the leaders getting ready to head out; I thought I could catch them with a quick transition. However, I totally failed in my ability to get off the new wetsuit. I didn’t even have it around my waist by the time I was at my bike. I had to sit down to take the suit off. I probably spend an extra 30-40 seconds in T1 due to the new suit. Improvement (aka more body glide) is needed in this area.

I managed to get into the saddle of my bike without issue, although I took awhile slipping into my shoes. During the bike, my bowel issues continued to plague me, although I did manage to make it through the ride without embarrassing myself. I even managed to pass a few folk (including teams) who came out of the water ahead of me. Although my issues with the gearing on my bike weren’t as acute this race as last race, I still noted that I hit my bike’s top speed on a long downhill.

I felt slow on the run, like my legs were lead. Suck back a hammergel helped calm my stomach but I mostly tried to hold on for the race. I hoped to catch the two people who were ahead of me on the run, but I didn’t manage to. As is common, I felt like giving up and walking the last half of the run. I didn’t. In fact, I had the fastest run on course. (perhaps it was because I headed to the washroom immediately after the finish line).

• Total time: 1:01:58 (last year was 1:07:23)

• 750m Swim 9:05 (4th fastest)
• 20km bike 34:13 (4th fastest)
• 5km run 18:42 (1st fastest)

Official results here.

A few things to work on:

• T1: I can improve on getting the wetsuit off more quickly and getting on the bike more smoothly.

• Spotting: I got off-course a few times during the swim. I need to spot the buoys better. Also, I’ve been having goggle problems lately and I don’t know why. New goggles needed?
• Assessing position: I need to better know my standings in the race and how much I have to push to catch the people ahead of me. I don’t take note of how close (or far) I am to the front-runners so it isn’t easy for my to close (or widen) gaps.

After the race, I went back to camping. Had a nap. Hung out with quality people. Avoided the bacteria-laden water.