Try This Tri 2009: First Race of the Season.

Last weekend, I enjoyed racing in Try This Tri—500m swim, 16km bike, 3km run—with Joel H. This was my first race of the season and the initial testing ground to see if training would pay off in noticeable results. I am please to report that I managed to achieve second place overall and first in my age group. You can view full results here.

Something went poorly with my swim and I need to investigate that further (review training, technique, approach to race environment). However, I managed to have the second fastest run and third fastest bike. My run pace was an impressive 3:15/km. If you had asked me two weeks ago whether I was capable of that speed, I would have told you that I couldn’t imagine myself being that fast. Last week, I learned that my body is capable of more than my mind imagines. This realization suggests that my psychology and expectations play more a significant role in my training than I originally anticipated. The pace also helps me reposition what I think is possible for me in a race environment; I have potential for speed.

I am indebted to Canadian Pro Triathlete Scott Curry for his presence at this race (that is him in the photo). He helped me achieve this speed and pointed me to a new horizon of achievement, simply because he was fast and I decided that I would try to keep him in my sights. As you’ll see from the results, he secured first place with almost three minutes difference between us. Thankfully, he started his pool swim later than I did, so he didn’t pass me until the third lap of the four-lap bike course. This allowed me to push for the final lap and keep him in view.

I had a very fast transition and left on the run only a few metres behind Scott. He took off at a very fast pace, but I remained committed to keeping him in my sights so I matched his pace as best I could. Although he finished his run 45 seconds head of me (he ran 3:01/km), the pace he set tricked me into a new normal and gave me the fastest run I’ve had in recent years. Thank you Scott!

I tried a few new things in this race, including running without socks, as well as clipping my shoes into the bike and then jumping on the bike at the mount line. I’m pleased to say this technique aided my quick transitions.

Things I learned from this race:

1. Get my feet in the bike shoes ASAP. When I jumped on the bike with the shoes clipped into the pedals, the elastic bands broke right away, but I didn’t have my feet in the shoes yet! Trying to fiddle with them while riding wasn’t ideal (they were spinning abit, hitting the ground), so I lost a little time and focus having to fit me feet into moving targets.
2. Don’t tell myself that I’m in a lower league than other athletes. As son as I saw Scott Curry, I told myself he was beyond my league and chasing him was the best I could hope for. This attitude embraces compromise before the race even begins! How terrible. I need to have my mind lead the way into success at my races. I got lucky and my body ended up showing my mind what it could do, however it is my mind that will direct my body to achieve more consistent results. I need to approach races as a contender, not as someone making excuses for himself before the race has even begun.
3. Read the maps/Drink water on straightaways. I know this one, but I want sucking back some H2O right before a sharp turn. I was going fast and tried to hit the brakes one-handed while putting the water bottle in the holder. I dropped the bottle between the crank and frames and then couldn’t pedal (lucky, it didn’t hit the ground!). Slowed me down for about 30 seconds and interrupted my focus in a big way.
4. Patience. Tri this Tri took place in a small pool, so they stuck 4 people per lane (slowest swimmers first) and then rotated people in when someone finished their swim. Because I anticipated having a faster swim time, I began my race at 10:45am—nearly four hours after arriving at the race site! This waiting contributed to an overly exuberant (read inefficient) initial 100m of swim, awkward fuelling, and a general sense of mental discordance. Rather than saying I wanted every part of the race to be on my terms, I started the race simply wanting to get going. Haste is no virtue and I think my poor swim time was due in part to rushing things.

I learned a few things, but I also think I succeeded on improving my transistion, bike efficiency, and running speed. This was a great way to kickoff the year.

Up next: Review and results from the KGH Sprint Triathlon at Sylvan Lake.