Sunday night my throat was scratchy, and I spent the drive home Monday trying not to cough out a lung, so that may have had something to do with how I felt on Sunday. Here goes..
This race was my first full tri since 2008, and the first race I actually trained well for since 2008. This race was supposed to be my confidence booster race, so I remembered why I love tri, and as a stepping stone into perhaps longer distances. I chose this race as it is in my hometown, and I one day hope to tackle the Olympic, which goes past my mom's road!
Pre-Race:
We got to the site around 6, my race started at 6:45. I ran into a girl who I had gone to high school with, we did the Summerland Sprint in 2007. She just had a baby Dec 31st! We chatted for a bit, and I got all set up. I was just about to get into my wetsuit when the announcement was made: no wet suits. I found out afterwards that the water was 23.5C, and the cutoff is 22C. This made me nervous, but I threw my jersey on (I thought it might be more streamlined than just my bra), and went to do a warm-up swim. Since no one was allowed a wetsuit, I did not feel like I was at a disadvantage. I felt strong and fast during my warm-up.
Course map for reference, if you choose: http://peachclassic.ca/pdf/Overall%20Course%20Map.pdf
The Swim:
While I did feel strong and fast during my freestyle, I would veer at about a 45 degree angle to the right every time I tried. I ended up doing a lot of breaststroke, because I could see. I was getting discouraged as we headed back to the beach, but I was still with a pack of other swimmers. About 100m from shore I was getting very tired and just wanted to be DONE swimming. I think now this was due to the plague I have contracted.
Swim time: 21:07. Bleh. Definite room for improvement. Time to switch back to bi-lateral breathing.
T1 time: 1:45. Not wearing a wetsuit has its advantages
The Bike:
This is a tough bike course. After an out and back on Lakeshore, where I passed people, there is a climb up Vancouver Hill where they all passed me back. I really struggled with the climb, and was huffing and gasping by the time I got to where the KVR crosses the road. I had an older guy pass me, and he asked if the whole course was this bad, and I said no, but there were rollers. There is another stupid out and back section to Uplands Elementary and back, and it wasn't until I had done that, and was heading onto Naramata Road, that I finally felt settled and strong. The first sprint male heading back to transition passed me at Spiller's Corner, and the first Olympic male heading out passed me at Accident Corner. I felt good about that. I passed several people on Naramata Road, one girl I was following I thought I should fall back so I wasn't drafting, then I thought "To heck with that!" and passed her. I loved the Naramata road part of the race, this is my hometown road, and every foot is familiar to me. I apparently passed the guy from the beginning of this paragraph, as he passed me again on the run, but I don't remember doing so. Going down Vancouver Hill I rode my brakes so bad I could smell them. I thought I hit 60km/hr, but my bike computer says my max was 54.4. I don't have a lot of downhill speed confidence yet.
Bike time: 50:21. I am happy with that considering the course.
Total at this point: 1:13:12
T2:
There was the stupidest, longest run from the dismount line to T2, which counted towards your bike time. I did up my running shoes too tight in T2, but did not stop to adjust them. I have a blister on the top of my second last toe on my right foot that burst. Ah well.
Time: 2:03
The Run:
The run goes back up Vancouver Hill, then turns onto the KVR in an out and back course. The older guy passed me again on Vancouver Hill, and complained he really hated the hill. I'm with ya, buddy. I had to walk the hill, then managed to run after we turned onto Vancouver Place (I have an ex-bf whose parents live on Vancouver Place and I was NOT going to walk past their house). There was an aid station as we entered the KVR, and I managed to start running again a bit past it, and settled into a pace I felt I could maintain for awhile. I ran to the turn around, small walk break, ran to the aid station, walked to drink, and then ran from there to the finish, even if my downhill looked funny. My final time was 41 minutes (ish), with an 8:22 avg. pace. I am ok with this as well, since I walked at least 1.5km of the run, if not more, so I must have had a nice run pace to average out to 8:22. I need to work on running through the dead legs, and maybe some freakin' hill training. OR do a race that does not incorporate Vancouver Hill.
Run time: 41:47
My goal, once I realised how tough the course was, and how much I was struggling (things got shiny on the run, so I didn't push any harder), was under two hours. I made it.
Total: 1:57:01
Overall impressions:
The Peach Classic is a very well-run race. It was organized, efficient, and every volunteer and course marshall was fantastic! There were tons of course marshalls, so I felt safe on both the bike and run. I absolutely loved racing in my hometown, and on the road I drove daily for years.
The course is challenging (did we mention that?). The announcer said at one point that everyone's time for the Olympic would probably be 15 minutes faster on a different course. Colleen and I joked that if the race directors could figure out how to make the swim go up Vancouver Hill, they would.
I will tackle this race again. It's tentatively pencilled in for 2014.
