It’s hard to believe that the 2006 triathlon and duathlon season has come to an end. In my first full summer of racing, I gained a lot of experience, and made some great improvements throughout the year, particularly on the bike.

The final race in the Subaru series was a duathlon held in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Heading into this race, I was sitting in 6th place overall in the series point standings. The top five get invited to the series ending banquet and receive an award, so I needed a good race to move myself up in the standings!

I woke up early and headed down on a grey morning. I was worried that it would be cold, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the temperature was perfect for racing! Blair had also come down for the race, along with his parents who were visiting from Ottawa. After losing to Blair by all of 9 seconds in the season opening duathlon in Waterloo, I really wanted to go hard and see if I could take this one!!

RUN 1: 4 km – 14:25 (3:37/km)
5/23 M25-29, 37/487 Overall

If you’re read any of my previous posts, you’ll know quite well that swimming is my biggest weakness! I was really looking forward to going out hard in the first run, and trying to stick with the lead pack. With the relatively short distances in this race, the term “sprint” really did apply. I stuck with the pros for the first kilometre, and realized how fast it was when we hit the 1km mark in 3:15! I slowed a little in the third kilometre coming back up the hill from the turnaround, but finished strong and came into T1 with a very fast 3:37/km average, and in 5th place in the age group.

BIKE: 23 km – 37:41 (36.6 km/h)
6/23 M25-29, 50/487 Overall

The bike course was flat and fast. I usually try to keep my heart rate around 160 bpm on longer bike rides, however, in this race, there was no holding back. The first 10km was into a strong headwind, however I hammered through it, and really turned it on coming back in. My speedometer broke a few weeks ago, so I could see my speed, but I knew my average was going to be fast! When I checked the results after the race, I was very happy to see the 36.6 km/h average! My fastest yet in the tris, and certainly getting up to another level compared to the 32-33km/h range that I was in last year and through the beginning of this year.

RUN: 4 km – 16:05 (4:02/km)
5/23 M25-29, 47/487 Overall

I was a little disappointed coming into T2 to see five or six bikes alread on the rack. I didn’t think there were that many age-groupers ahead of me, but there were a few unfamiliar faces at this one. After the fast first run, I really wanted to push the second run. I just couldn’t seem to find that sub-4:00/km pace though, and was 1:40 slower on the second run than the first.

Total: 1:09:21, 6/23 M25-29, 33/487 Overall (Full Results )

Overall, I was very happy with the race!! I was happy with sixth in the age group, especially since there were a few duathlon specialists ahead of me. My 33rd place overall finish was one of my best ever, and my finishing time relative to the winner’s time was also the closest I’ve ever been! All in all, it was a great way to end the year!! I managed to beat Blair by a little over 5 minutes, which made up for a couple of the whoopings I took earlier in the year!!

Looking at my duathlon result, I think it’s clear what my goal needs to be over the winter – learn to swim effectively!!! My biking came a long way this summer, and I learned how to push harder on the run. With some improvement on the swim, I’m hoping to be even more competitive next year!!

It’s hard to believe that the triathlon season has come to an end! I have had a great summer of racing, challenging myself at longer distances and learning a lot about the sport of triathlon along the way.

Trisport added a new race this year at Sherkston Shores, located on Lake Erie just a short drive from Fort Erie, ON. This would be the last race of the year, and the Sprint Championships – age group prize money would be up for grabs!

I headed down on the cloudy afternoon, thinking it would be a good day for a race. As I was pulling into the race site, the clouds opened up, and I spent the next hour setting up and getting soaked by the rain. As luck would have it though, it stopped a few minutes before the swim start, so at least we didn’t have to race in the rain!

In the transition area before the race, I noticed that all the really, really fast guys in my age group had decided to show up for this one. There was going to be some good competition, and while my strategy for this short race was to hammer it out as hard as I could, I didn’t expect a podium finish this week!

SWIM: 750m – 16:00 (2:08/100m)
11/15 M25-29, 84/244 Overall

I started out feeling great on the swim. I really gave it my all over the first 300m, and was right up with one of the front packs. However, I will admit that since Belwood, I have been slacking off on my swim training, and I sure felt it. I slowed dramatically over the next few hundred metres, and came out of the water with the top swimmers from the next wave! At least I don’t have to swim until next year now!!

BIKE: 20 km – 33:03 (36.3 km/h)
7/15 M25-29, 45/244 Overall

The bike course was short and flat. Despite being a little wet, I really wanted to hammer the bike course. I kept myself in a high gear the entire time, and after getting the heart rate under control in the first few kilometres, I dug in over the last 15km. I was rewarded with my best bike speed ever in a triathlon, over 36 km/h! I know it was a short, flat race, but it still felt good to know that I can hit those sorts of speeds, especially since I am still riding my Giant OCR 3 road bike!

RUN: 5 km – 19:29 (3:54/km)
7/15 M25-29, 30/244 Overall

This really was a “sprint” race. With the short bike ride and short run, there really was no letting up from start to finish. I was averaging about 3:45/km over the first three, but then the run course took us down and right along the beach (on the sand) for a kilometre. I was almost 4:15 for that one, but finished strong and managed my best run pace in a triathlon as well.

Total: 1:10:11, 10/15 M25-29, 45/244 Overall (Full Results )

Overall, the last tri of the year went pretty well. I felt really good on the bike and run. With some work on my swimming in the offseason, I may be able to shave off a few more minutes and really compete with some of the top age-groupers! I was very happy with the progress I made through the year, I am stronger in all three disciplines, and have also shaved time off by working on my transitions!

I still have the Niagara-on-the-Lake duathlon coming up on September 23rd, and then the Toronto Marathon (my first full-distance marathon) on October 15th, so check back for updates!

The Trisport series runs two races at Guelph Lake – one in June (see my results from Guelph I), and another on Labour Day weekend. Racing the same course once near the start of the season and again near the end gives you a great chance to measure how much you’ve improved over the summer. I knew I had gotten stronger on the bike, and have been working on really pushing the runs, so I was hoping to shave off a little over 3 minutes and break the 2:30 mark!! I was looking forward to giving Blair a good run for his money as well!

SWIM: 1.5 km – 31:16 (2:06/100m)
10/14 M25-29, 104/215 Overall

I really haven’t been swimming much since my week up at the cottage before Belwood, so I wasn’t looking forward to the 1.5km swim. I was about 1:20 slower than Guelph I – I definitely paid the price for slacking off on the swim training!! Blair pulled off a 27:45 swim, so I had 3:30 to make up on him!!

BIKE: 43.5 km – 1:15:27 (34.6 km/h)
4/14 M25-29, 28/215 Overall

First note – my practice in the transitions helped me knock off over 30 seconds off my T1 from Guelph I. As I said a couple posts ago, this is easy time to shave off.

I have been feeling really good on the bike lately, so I really wanted to try to hammer it out. I knew I was a little slower on the swim, so I pushed hard on the bike. I was about 2.5 minutes faster, and I was extremely happy with my 34.6 km/h average and 28th overall bike split. It was even more satisfying after the race to see that I beat out Blair and his $3000 speed machine by 19 seconds!!

RUN: 10 km – 41:28 (4:09/km)
3/14 M25-29, 29/215 Overall

I have been working on trying to push myself on the run, the last few races, and it paid off again here. I was almost a minute faster than in June. At the turn-around, I knew I was only about half a kilometre behind Blair, and trying to catch him, I ripped through the last 2 kilometres, both in under 4 minutes! My swim had done me in though, and I finished 30 seconds behind.

Total: 2:30:25, 5/14 M25-29, 33/215 Overall (Full Results )

I missed my goal of breaking 2:30 by 25 seconds, but I improved by almost three minutes over Guelph I. Despite the relatively weak field (Ironman Canada was last weekend, and it was a long weekend), I was very happy with my bike and run performance, both were in the top 30 overall. Blair managed to break the 2:30 mark by 4 seconds, so he had a good race too! Comparing my results to the top people in the race, it’s obvious that I should be spending a lot of time in the pool this winter – that’s where I can make the biggest gains!!