Leif Baradoy

I raced in the sprint distance at the 2010 Shawnigan Lake Triathlon this weekend. I enjoyed attending this local race because there were so many familiar faces. It seems like the a good chunk of Victoria’s triathlon community was out at this race. This was my first time competing on this course, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The race location was gorgeous though!

Tyler picked me up at 5:20am the morning of the race, while Laura silently cursed being woken up at such an ungodly hour (this latter information may or may not be true). While I loaded tri stuff into his car, my dog spied a deer, escaped out the open door, and disappeared, which can be somewhat frustrating whether you are due on an excursion to the local poker club, or you’re avidly waiting to ascend the stairs to bed at night. Thankfully, I was awake enough to deal with the wayward creature.. I managed to lure the rambunctious canine back a few minutes later using the left-overs of my (likely too large) breakfast and Tyler and I headed out on time.

I felt calm before the race. It was a chilly, overcast day on the island, spitting rain. I came prepared with many layers (and coffee) and managed to stay fairly warm until race start. The water was frigid so my extremities quickly went numb on the warm-up swim. When the race started, I went out fairly strong in an attempt to draft off of some of the faster swimmers. I felt that my sighting was fairly good (improved from a few weeks back), so I didn’t lose anyone’s feet or get off course and swim extra distance. The fast swimmers in my group (many from the NTC Development Squad) confirmed that I need to put some more work into my swim technique. I was eleventh out of the water.

Transitions were a challenge for me. I struggled to pull off my likely-too small wetsuit, despite applying vast amounts of water-proof lubricant to my legs and arms before the race. The cold hands didn’t help, of course, but that’s something each racer dealt with. I had no trouble with my helmet this time, so I count that improvement.

The bike course was fairly busy since the half iron and Olympic racers were already on the course. I made sure to give people a wide berth as I passed them, as this was a non-draft legal race. Moreover, the road wasn’t closed to traffic and there were a couple of impatient (dangerous) drivers who were making risky decisions. Thankfully, no accidents occurred. I took in a gel and some fluid on the bike, but mostly focused on riding. The roads were wet and bumpy in spots, so mindfulness was critical. I worked fairly hard on the bike while still trying to save a bit of energy for the run. I passed a few of the people who came out of the water before me, but my 4th fastest bike split wasn’t epic. One lesson I take away from this race is to push far harder throughout each leg of sprint races. I am disappointed to say that I felt like I had energy to spare when I finished this race.

My second transition was horrid. I had a couple people pass me in transition. Cold hands from the bike combined with some poorly placed body glide (on the tongue of my shoe) made it very difficult for me to get my shoes on. I certainly should have thought through the bodyglide, especially since I broke the cardinal rule of not trying ANYTHING new on race day. I paid for that mistake. I saw other racers, including some former NTC athletes, using gloves and arm warmers for the bike. I think that, given the temperature, that was a really wise move, even though it added some seconds to their T1.

I started the run feeling like someone had swapped the insoles of my shoes around. I couldn’t feel my feet and felt really weird running. Perhaps I need to practice running with numb feet (dip them in the ocean for 10 min and then go for a run). I’m amazed how much my form relies on the physical feedback I get from the ground, rather than from my hips. Proper cadence helps me get into better form (thanks coach!), but I still found that my footstrike was off for most of this run. I had sore heels later in the day, which is a sign that I was not running properly.

The run went by really fast but I certainly didn’t go out at race pace. I sat back too much. I felt like I was racing on the swim and working on the bike, but on the run I was flat and went at a pace far below what I’m capable of. I think this was all mental. I’ve put the training in and I’m capable of more. While I wasn’t worked up about this race, it was nevertheless a race and I should have treated it as such.

I’m happy to report that many of my teammates who raced at Shawnigan earned times and results that they are proud of. In particular, Adam O’Meara earned third place overall in the half iron distance and set down a course record on the 21km run. Well done.

Anyway, I have lots of room to improve and some clear take-aways from this event. Of course, I really enjoyed being out competing this weekend. I look forward to doing this race next year. Up next: Wasa Lake.

Full results for the Sprint distance race at 2010 Subaru Shawnigan Lake International Triathlon can be found here.

Today, I ran in the Royal Victoria Half Marathon. The course is gorgeous (mostly along the ocean) and the event is extremely well run—from package pickup to clothing dropoff to timing chip return, this is a stellar race. The race is also motivating because there are so many spectators; Victoria knows how to host a race. I encourage you to consider running this race in 2010!

My goal for this half marathon was to run it in under 1:20. If you’ve been tracking me on dailymile.com or Garmin Connect then you know that I’ve not been too diligent training lately. I’m letting myself rest, relax, and find a life rhythm here in Victoria. I will renew my focus on training again in the next couple months, ramping up in November and then getting focused in January 2010.

Today, I placed 34th overall (which includes the elite runners). 1639 people in total participated in the 1/2 marathon. Next year, I hope to run a <1:17. Also, I placed 9th in my agegroup (men 25-29). Results are here.

I did a few things different at this race. I fueled on a light breakfast at the advice of Amy Golumbia, a world class mountain runner & nutritionist. I don’t think skipping a heavy breakfast hurt me at all.

Because Laura joined me for this race (she ran the 8km. Way to go!), I got out of the house a little later than anticipated; my warmup before the race had to be cut short. After dropping my clothes at the change tent, I made my way to the starting chute, right near the front.

I was feeling pretty strong over the first 5-6km and then settled into things until around the 13km mark. I passed a number of people in the first 13km. I started feeling fairly heavy around 13-14km and got passed by someone. I decided that I’d try to have a Hammer Gel to get some calories in me. At the next aid station, I grabbed a Gatorade instead of a water, which was a risk. I’ve read never to mix gels and energy drinks, so, until today, I never had. My risk turned into a mistake (an unnecessary one). Although I was struggling before, I suddenly became extremely and painfully bloated. It seemed that all my energy was just sucked right from me. My pace dropped significantly and I was passed by three people that I’d been holding off.

Things got worse, so I decided to slow down to walk a little bit (for about 20-30 seconds) on km17. I was listening to some pro athletes commentate on the Ironman yesterday, and one of them was saying that sometimes stopping briefly can help you regroup and get back in the athletic groove. Essentially, I realized that top level athletes let themselves stop and this freed me to do the same.

I’m very glad I did. I managed to regroup and come back with a pace that I hadn’t had since ~km15. I managed to catch a few of the people who passed me when I started walking.

The last 1600m of the race was excruciating for me. I had hoped to give a final and full push in the last mile, but all I could do was hold it together. With less than 200m to the finish line, I had someone sprint past me. I worked to stay with them, but my body didn’t seem to have the go that I needed.

I think more mental commitment might have allowed me to hold the sprinter off, but I was hurting pretty bad in this race, so I feel okay about my time.

I wore my Garmin today so I could track my heart rate. Check out the map of the race, my km splits, and heartrate HERE.

Also, I want to thank SOLE for providing me with custom moldable footbeds and performance socks. They worked perfectly and allowed me to focus on my race, rather than worrying about the comfort of my feet.