A slightly late race report

I was in the Peterborough Sprint Triathlon on July 6, and had what turned out to be pretty much the greatest race of my young triathlon life. It's a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive for me to get there, so that meant arriving the day before and staying at the good old Comfort Inn. They treated us well, as usual, but I'm always sad that I'm up too early in the morning to be able to partake in the free breakfast. The cool thing about this race is that there is a half-ironman event held there the same day... so I get to be inspired by people who are on the cusp of achieving (or repeating) what I hope to do on September 14 in Huntsville at the Muskoka 70.3. Plus there are lots of pro men and women there competing... it's cool just to walk around the park amid the mix of pros and regular folk like me. I realize they are professional athletes and should be in great shape, but when I can see them that close, I'm always amazed at just how fit they really are. I've never been to an Ironman race (or a really popular 70.3) so I don't really get to rub elbows with the pros too much. Sometimes a couple will compete in a lesser race in the region, but if I'm in the race too, obviously I don't get to see them start or finish. They're gone as soon as the gun goes off, and they finish a day or two ahead of me. The Half has a mass start and goes off an hour before the Sprint, which means we get to sit back and be treated to some of the best and most technically perfect swimming forms I've ever seen. Plus, the 2k swim is a double-loop 1k with a short run on the sand between loops. This is awesome, because we get to stand on the beach and have some of the best triathletes in the country (and the world) run by us to start the second loop. We also get to see the leaders come out of the water and head out on the bike. It's a great venue for a race, because with only 500 or 600 racers, you don't get the crowding of an full Ironman or "official" 70.3 race. I also love watching and listening to the supporters of age-groupers in the race... there's non-stop shouts of things like, "Go, mom!" -- sometimes made by kids barely old enough to walk. Triathlon... the only place I know of where I can be inspired by a 4 year-old cheering on her mother. My race was what I call a "standard" sprint distance - 750m, 20k, 5k. I did this race last year, and it was actually my first sprint distance triathlon... so I was looking forward to bettering last year's time. The swim (750m): Wave #2, wearing the white caps. The half IM swimmers were mostly out of the water, with the exception of a couple of stragglers. The horn went off and I jogged for the water, continuing my tradition of not hurrying at the beginning of a swim. Mental note -- improvement needed. I had been hoping to catch a draft from someone who was slightly faster than me, but of course, I lost the fast swimmers right away, leaving me to swim at the front of a group of mid-pack dudes like myself. For some reason I swam very wide the whole time, especially around the final turn. Heading back toward the beach, one of the lifeguards on the outside actually had to move her kayak further to the outside to get out of my way. I'd be interested to know how far I actually swam... I certainly didn't have to worry about any contact. My only other "problem" had to do with the watch I was wearing. I opted to not wear my HRM for the race, and I had on an old (and I mean old) Timex that I occasionally use for the stopwatch. Well, as I'm heading back to shore, the damn thing came off my wrist! I felt it slip off as my left arm was stretched out in front of me, and then as I brought my right arm into the water, the watch was pretty much at my face. It was just by luck that I managed to grab it with my right hand and stuff it partially in the front of my wetsuit, because I wasn't about to stop and make any kind of effort to recover it. Swim time = 16:41 (2007 = 17:22, a small improvement). It was slower than my Guelph time, but that's not surprising given my navigation and watch troubles. T1: I had two major brain farts in T1. First, I hadn't put my sunglasses inside my helmet to grab and quickly put on... they were actually still zipped away in my bag. I was going to leave them, but I wear them more for eye protection than for the sun, so I took some extra time to get them. Second, I grabbed my bike and started running without putting on my race belt and number, so I had to go back and get it. Idiot! I had probably only gone about 10 steps, but these things seriously put me in a sour mood. T1 time = 2:00 (2007 = 2:24) The bike (20k): Nothing major to report here... I rode hard but in control. I never felt like I was breathing too hard or really pushing it. I was trying to keep my cadence up, and shifted down a little earlier than I would have normally for a few of the steeper rollers. Passed some, got passed some... it felt good but really quite ordinary at the same time. Bike time = 37:31, avg 32 km/h (2007 = 42:07, 28.5 km/h). A personal best by a bunch. Very happy here. T2: Got the feet out of the shoes and ran in... got the running shoes on and ran out. Time = 1:18 (2007 = 1:40). The run (5k): As I took off on the run, I didn't know what my average bike speed was, but I knew it had to be close to a PR... this made me wonder if I'd gone too hard, and whether or not I'd have anything left for the final 5km. So I just tried to keep my breathing regular and not push it too hard. As usual on the run, I was passed by a ton of people... men, women, big, slow... they were all faster runners than me. Time = 26:30 (2007 = 29:26). Despite improving almost 3 minutes in the run over last year, it was still by far my slowest segment, comparatively speaking. Swim - 182/433 overall, 28/50 age group Bike - 183/433 overall, 26/50 age group Run - 223/433 overall, 35/50 age group... Booo! Overall I improved by 9 minutes on this course, so I'm happy with that. I obviously have room to improve in all 3 segments, but my running seems to have fallen behind for some reason. My next race is my first Olympic distance on August 4th, and I'm very much looking forward to having a solid performance.