My initial plan for the summer had been to take a couple races off after the Peterborough Half-Ironman, so I originally hadn’t been planning on racing the Niagara triathlon. However, I was pretty motivated after the half-Ironman, and actually wanted to get back in another race.
I was looking forward to the shorter distance, and really trying to work on speed. Blair had also given me a hard time about how slow my transitions were at Peterborough. Comparing some of the transition times, I realized that I could knock a minute or so off my overall times just by getting in and out of the transition area faster. So one of my main goals for this race was to get my transitions down under a minute.
Speaking of transitions, before the race, I noticed a fellow competitor spraying PAM all over his legs and arms. I asked him about it, and he told me that it was to help the wetsuit slide right off!! I’ll have to add PAM to my race bag for the next one!!
SWIM: 700m – 15:53 (2:17/100m)
14/17 M25-29, 120/298 Overall
I had a decent swim in Peterborough, but for some reason, didn’t feel good again in this one. I wanted to hammer through it, but it seemed long (I’m sure it was more than 700m), and I ended up getting passed near the end of the swim by racers from the second wave. Not off to a good start.
However, I focused on sprinting through T1 and getting onto the bike, and was rewarded with a 1:08 T1 time.
BIKE: 24 km – 43:06 (33.3 km/h)
5/17 M25-29, 64/298 Overall
For the first time ever, I also tried leaving my shoes clipped into my pedals. I had practiced getting into them a couple days before the race, and thought I had it worked out. However, I had some trouble with the straps slipping out of the buckle, and it took me a kilometre or so to finally get my feet into my shoes. I’ll have to work on that if I really want it to save me time!!
I had heard horror stories about the huge hill up the escarpment, and it lived up to it’s billing. I passed a few people going up though, and after that, flew through the flat top section. I thought I was going to die on the descent as we went three wide through the turns, but rolled in safely off the bike.
RUN: 7 km – 28:25 (4:04/km)
6/17 M25-29, 47/298 Overall
The run course was flat and fast, and for not pushing it too hard, I came out with a good time. For the most part, I was running on my own, but still finished with a strong sprint to the finish.
Total: 1:29:27, 8/17 M25-29, 55/298 Overall (Full Results )
Overall, it was my best overall result yet in a triathlon, however, I would have liked to place better in my age group. I was disappointed in the swim, but did manage to improve my transitions, which is what I came to work on!
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