Dan’s Triathlon Blog

With everything I’ve had going on with school in the past couple weeks, I completely forgot to post about the Ironman World Championships, held in Kona, Hawaii on October 21, 2006. This race is considered one of the ultimate endurance tests in the world, and is the triathlon world’s equivalent to the Super Bowl.

What makes this race so special is that there are qualifying spots available to us average “age-group” athletes, who get a chance to race alongside the best in the world. Participants either need to qualify through another Ironman event, or win one of a few spots available through a lottery.

There were a number of athletes from the KW area competing at Kona this year. My marathon training partner, Wolfgang Schmidt, qualified in Arizona in the spring, and Bob Dawson qualified in his first Ironman at Lake Placid in July. Both of these guys are in their 40’s, and I am amazed at what phenomenal shape they are in. From talking with them over the past few months, I have really realized the commitment required to train for an Ironman. These guys think nothing of 6-7 hour training days. While training for the marathon, I did all my long Sunday runs with Wolfgang, and learned a lot about what it takes to hold up over those distances. It’s been a great inspiration to hang out with these guys and see how they train.

Anyway, both of these guys had great races. Wolfgang’s finished in 11:34:48, and was 108/166 in the M45-49 categoy, while Bob finished in 10:49:26, 123/215 in the M40-44 age group. Awesome stuff when you consider that they’re up against the best in the world. Congrats guys – hopefully one day I will be there with you!!

PS – Read the official Ironman race wrap-up. There was a 6.7 earthquake on the island the week before, which made things interesting!

PPS – Down below I posted about Dick and Rick Hoyt. There were back again this year. Read about it here!

How’s this for inspiration? A friend in my class sent me this link about father and son, Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick is Dick’s disabled son. Together, they have completed eight Ironman’s and 85 marathons, including a best of 2:40 in Boston. Check it out here: http://cjcphoto.com/can/. Watch the video at the end too… I hate to admit it, but it brought a tear to my eye.

PS – If you have trouble with that link, the video is also on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE.

I came across a post on the Waterloo Cycling Club Triathlon forum the other day. There is a new documentarty being released profiling 4 elite triathletes as they prepare for Kona in 2005.

The movie is called “What It Takes”. Check out the website, http://www.witmovie.com.

Looking at the cities in which it is being released to theatres, it doesn’t look like it’s coming out around here (strange because 3/4 athletes profiled are Canadian). I’m definitely considering ordering it though. The trailer looks pretty good. Check it out here: http://www.witmovie.com/media/wit-teaser-small.mov. You’ll need Quicktime to view it.

If anyone reading this has seen this movie, maybe you can post a review for us. I’m sure it would be motivating to watch, especially through the winter when I’m finding it tough to get pumped up about training!

I just came across a post titled “A Little Slapstick at the Chicago Marathon“. Looks like the winner fell on his butt as he crossed the line! While I wanted to collapse at the end of the race, I can at least say that I proudly ran across the line. Though I certainly wasn’t winning the race…

In another shocking development, I managed not to lose any toenails after the marathon. Probably because they were still growing back from the half-Ironman, but that’s a minor detail.

PS: It gets better. Apparently he had a concussion from falling at the finish line and spent two days in the hospital. Read about it here.

If you’ve read my blog entries from the last few months, you’ll know that my 2006 season has been one where I’ve pushed myself to my limits. Before the season, I had three major goals:

1. Break 1:30 for a half-marathon
2. Finish a half-Ironman
3. Run a full marathon

I got goal number one out of the way early in the Waterloo Half-Marathon . In July, I managed to will myself through the half-Ironman run and cross the finish line (Peterborough Half-Ironman Report). Yesterday, my final day of reckoning for 2006 came as I took to the starting line in the Toronto Marathon.

As triathlon season wound down in August and early September, so did my training. I am also back in school this fall (see my MBET blog), and the last few weeks have been busy with projects, tests and networking. My training for the past month consisted of long Sunday runs (got up to 35km a few weeks ago), and maybe one short run squeezed in during the week. With the relatively low volume of training I had done, I was worried heading into the race about how I would hold up over the distance. On the bright side though, I was feeling fresh and strong heading into the race!!

One of my biggest concerns was the weather and how to dress. The high was predicted to be around 10 degrees Celcius, but it was much colder at the start. Despite being worried about overheating, I wore long tights, a long-sleeve running shirt and little “magic mitts”. I threw on a throwaway T-shirt overtop to keep warm until I heated up, and was ready to go.

First 21.1 km – 1:30:49 (4:18/km)

My strategy going in was to try to run around 4:25 – 4:30 / km for the first 10km, then see how I felt and maybe pick it up. As always seems to happen when I get in a race, I went out hard. Despite seeing my heart rate in the high 170’s (in training I tried to keep it around 165), I told myself I was feeling good and running easy. I tossed the throwaway T-shirt at the 5km mark and turned up Allen Road. The stretch of run through G. Lord Ross park was a nice change from the city streets, and I hit the 10km mark around 43 minutes. I kept it up, and passed the 14km mark in just over an hour – that’s almost a 3-hour pace!! Way too fast! However, at the time, I was feeling great, and thought that a 3-hour time may actually be possible.

Coming down Yonge St. back past the starting line was a lot of fun. There were people lining the street cheering us on. A few people even used my name, causing me to do double-takes to see if I knew them. After this happened a few times, I realized that my race bib had my name printed on it along with my number! DUH!!

I kept moving well down Yonge, and pushed on the steep downhill leading up to Hog’s Hollow. When I saw my time at the halfway mark, and knowing that there was a long downhill stretch on the second half, I thought I might have a shot at three hours, and figured I was on pace to finish in around 3:05!

Second 21.1 km – 1:44:36 (4:58/km)

The second half started with the toughest hill on the course, the nearly 1km killer just south of Yonge and York Mills. I missed the kilometre marker at the top, but I’m sure I managed to push up it in around 4:30. I was still feeling great when I passed my parents a kilometre or so later, and boldly predicted a 3:05 finish time as I ran by! It wasn’t long before I began to regret that!

At the 27km mark, I could feel my legs getting heavier. Take a look at the splits below, and you can see that’s where I really fall off the pace. I started stopping to walk through the aid stations around this point, and I knew any hopes of a 3-hour run were gone. At 35km, with my legs aching, I told myself that if I could hit 37km by 2:45, I’d still have a shot a making 3:10. I died in kilometre 36 though, and walked for a minute or, costing me precious time! The realization that I was not going to make my goal hit home at 39km, and the wind went out of my sails. Coming up York St., the final uphill and the mental battle took it’s toll, and I came to a complete stop somewhere past the 40km mark. Just as I stopped my friend’s Adam and Lynne walked by – Lynne had finished the half and they were walking home. Their cheering got me moving again, and I shuffled my way around Queen’s Park.

The last few hundred metres were lined with spectators, and somehow, I found then energy to turn it up. As I picked up the pace, I could hear the cheers, and broke into a full sprint for the last 100 metres! It was a bittersweet moment crossing the line, because I knew I had come so close.

The support of my friends and family being there at the finish was awesome though!!! Thanks guys!! Next year maybe one of you will step up from running the half and try this with me!

Total: 3:15:23.5, 10/102 M25-29, 97/1119 Men, 104/1618 Overall (Full Results)

Note: I posted my kilometre splits here.

Guess that’s it for the 2006 season of racing. Thanks for following along. Over the next couple months, I’ll try to post some of the things that I learned this summer as I challenged myself at longer distances! I’m looking forward to 2007, and potentially an Ironman! Stay tuned!

Well, the marathon is over! Four days later, and I’m almost walking normally again. I’m in the process of writing up my report, but wanted to get my split times off my watch, and figured I’d throw them up in a post. I was shooting for 3:10, and thought I was there at the halfway point. Take a look and you can see that I was on pace up until 39km, then just couldn’t dig deep enough for that finishing kick. More to come!

And 30 seconds… thanks to the nice ticker on the front page of the Toronto Marathon site, I can countdown the seconds to the big race! I have set my goal at 3:10, which will qualify me for Boston!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve put in my longs runs (up to 35km two weeks ago), but I am worried that I haven’t run enough shorter ones to have me in peak form. At this point though, there’s not much I can do about it. A couple more shorter runs this week to keep the legs loose, and then it’s race day!! Should be an experience!

6 days, 11 hours and 6 minutes and 15 seconds… the countdown continues.

I’m just registering with Technorati. I need to put a link to their site on my blog and post it. So here it is:

Technorati Profile

That’s it! Let’s see if I can increase traffic on here!

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!