2008 Vancouver Triathlon Race Report.

Sooooo..... Triathlon #2 done and done.  no photos this time though, sadly.  but, here is the report.  it might be short, cause i am tired tonight.  but, i may not have the time to write it this week, so, better something, than nothing right?

so, here are my results.  

13/36 in women aged 20-29.

25/110 in overall women.

127/288 overall, men and women.  

Final time:  2:47.09

Swim time: 24:24 (split 1:38/100m)

Bike time: 1:22:52 (27.4km/hr)

Run time: 59:54 (6min/km... ughghghg)  

let us compare that with squamish: final time 2:50.03; swim 26:42(1:47); 1:22:32 (26.9); 1:00:5 (6:05).

so, not so bad.  shaved the most time off on the swim, which i thought i would have. i think maybe i can still get faster on the swim, and definitely on the run... hopefully on the bike?!!?

so...

Swim:  fantastic.  I have loved swimming this summer.  Water was cold, though.  so, i am glad that i got in early. I think it was about 16 degrees, so initially, it was very numbing to the face and hands.  I got in, floated around a bit, took a little warm up swim, and was ready to go.  Initially, i was afraid that i was going out too fast, cause i felt a little tired at about 350 meters.  then, i got a headache, and i thought "shit.  it is too early to have a headache in a race.  this better not last."  but, i had past most of the people in my cap group, and was catching up to the slow people in the wave ahead.   ran out of the first lap super stoked, and dolphined into the second.  got squished between two large men around the last turn, and got shoved away.  at this point, i had caught up to the main wave in front of me, but was relieved that the swim was almost done, so i wouldn't ahve to navigate through.

T1: i loved that i had tri bike shoes.  they were ready on my bike, quick to get into.  tried to tie my (newly cut) hair back, but it was seemingly taking too long.  scrapped the hair elastic, and helmet went on.  wet suit seemed a little hard to get off.  not a bad transistion, but not great, either.  

bike:  was out quickly.  but, couldn't find my legs for about 5 km.  i wondered if it was the coldness from the swim.  the weather was a little chilly at first, but was eventually fine.  it took a bit for my headache to go away, but, i definitely did not have it for the majority of the bike.  it seemed to me, that on the bike, the only people who were passing me were men, and ladies on really nice tri specific bicycles.  and, as we know from bikesnobnyc, an upgrade is really a downgrade when it comes to racing, and really you should downgrade to win. SO, that is what i did. ;)  found the east side of the park quite windy.  but, i seemed to be okay up the hill, and just flew down the hill.  I wish i had a speedometer, so i could know how fast i was going down.  I think i averaged less than 20min a lap, which is about on par for me.  i enjoyed the tip from a client of mine to mark my water bottles for drinking.  found myself a lot happier about hydration. still hope i can go a bit faster on my bike though

t2:  come back to find my race rack littered with wetsuits, and crap everywhere. had to push things out of the way to rack my bike.  was a little pissed off about that.  couldn't put my hat on fast enough, so decided to ditch it (visor maybe needed?).  went to put on my new shoes, and hated the laces, later regretted that i chose not to wear socks...  ran out of transition, wishing i had had the chance to practice more brick workouts recently. 

run: so, because of my stupidity of leaving my running shoes in gibsons, on the sunshine coast, i did not have them for the week previous to the race.  that meant no running, and a slight panic previous to the race, ended up with me buying a pretty new pair of bright blue racing flats, from pacific multi sport.  (I am so thankful for that shop, ps.  and, i think it is a fantastic, not prestigious Tri shop.  love it.)  anyway.  legs felt silly.  shoes felt great.  that is, until the hot spots started. in particular, one goodie on my bunion.  damn that bunion.  anyway, the run course was nice.  a 2x out and back through the paved trails of stanley park. Rolling hills.  not long/steep enough to kill you, but definitely enough to challenge this girl who hates hills. overall, felt a little rough off the start, and didn't like the uphills.  i did not like the blisters that i got, but that can be fixed.  i felt like i was going slow.  i hate feeling slow.  run, once again, was the most painful part.  was able to pick it up towards the end, but was finished as soon as i got to the line.  

so, overall, had a blast.  i am addicted to tris.  my competitive spirit has kicked in though, and, i am not quite happy with a 13th place finish in my category.  now, don't get me wrong, i know that it is good, and i am super happy with the result..  but, i want to be faster.  

i want to be a sub 2:45'er next week.  i want to win the athena category when i race next week.  i will have a fast bike, and a full body massage on thursday to get my muscles in gear.  i will have had a good week of a hard work out, and then a rest day, and then some gentler mid-week workouts, and a short taper on friday and saturday. 

i loved the fact that roommate did phenomenal, coming 6th in her category for the sprint athletes, and rocked her run.  i loved that i had friends, celine, joel, tony, emilie, and marsha out to cheer for me and watch me race. i loved that i felt better about my nutrition, and hydration.  

i spent the rest of the day doing nothing.  even skipped out on watching one of my favourite bands play at malkin bowl in the evening, because i was too tired.  but, i couldn't sleep for an afternoon nap, or even much at night.  i was just so stoked from a great day.  the day ended with me eating wayyyyy too much sushi with erika.  and, that is when i finally felt full again.  

i am soooo ready to do this all over again on sunday, down in LA.  but, i am *not* ready for 30 degree, and sunny weather.  to me, that is way to hot.  i can barely contain how excited i am about this weekend.