The taper is an important element of a successful race. But forced tapers due to illness kinda suck. I went into the Sylvan Lake 1km-60km-10km feeling a bit under prepared due to 5 days of relative inactivity leading up to the race. But come race weekend, I was feeling about 80% fit.
After a leisurely drive out to Sylvan along the backroads (Shannon rode out while Dezz joined her by bike for the last 30km or so), we registered and met up with our J-Force teammates for a bite to eat. Following a solid 6 1/2 hours of sleep, I was up at 5:15 for my breakfast of thin bagel, banana and almond butter and then headed over to transition. My transition times have improved this year in large part to keeping my transition area much simpler. I took this same approach today giving me another day of quick transitions.
Into the lake, we started in knee-deep water. And once the gun went off...we walked. The first 100m were very shallow following along the shoreline, so it was a combination of walking, swimming and dolphin diving. And then I finally settled in. It was nice to be able to see the bottom for most of the swim and site off the boat line as the big yellow buoy straight ahead of us blended into the sun. After 22 minutes, I was walking up the steps and hustling along to the wetsuit strippers. Not a great time, but I was actually in the top half on the swim (just barely).
Out onto the bike, my legs struggled to find the groove. With no bike computer, I was going purely on feel. And by the 10km mark, I was able to confirm that I was indeed very sluggish at 19:32. Knowing my goal of 3 hours would go out the window if I could barely hold a pace of 30km/h over the 60km bike course, I tried to spin my legs up and started to pass a few people. Around the 15km mark I lost both my spare tubes so I prayed to Ryder Hesjedal for no flats (prayers answered). The rest of the ride felt very slow like I was pushing into a big headwind. But it must have just been one of those days as I actually averaged 35km/h over the last 50km to secure the 6th fastest bike split overall.
I knew I'd have to catch Jason and Chris on the bike to have a good chance of beating them. As I racked my bike and slipped on my running shoes, I saw Jason head out onto the run. Doh! The run was 2 loops with an out-and-back, meaning I could see my teammates throughout the run. Although I made up some time on Schwanny after his winning bike split, I had no chance of making up time on Chris and Jason who paced each other to a blazing run. It was a hot run and I think the one week layoff may have taken it's toll on the final lap. A slow run, but I was happy with my overall finish of 2h56 (4th AG; 9th overall). It was pretty sweet to finish top 10 along with 3 friends. Thanks for pushing me a little bit harder guys.
Afterwards, it was time to relax and cheer on everyone else. Congrats to Shannon and Twyla who teamed up with Ricky for their first Team J-Force experience, Ms. Reid who had a blistering time for 2nd in her age group on the half, and Ted who won his age group in the half...always with a smile on his face. And congrats on the finish to Tracy, the latest Jason Lapierre Spirit Award Winner. I can't wait for next year already.
After a leisurely drive out to Sylvan along the backroads (Shannon rode out while Dezz joined her by bike for the last 30km or so), we registered and met up with our J-Force teammates for a bite to eat. Following a solid 6 1/2 hours of sleep, I was up at 5:15 for my breakfast of thin bagel, banana and almond butter and then headed over to transition. My transition times have improved this year in large part to keeping my transition area much simpler. I took this same approach today giving me another day of quick transitions.
Into the lake, we started in knee-deep water. And once the gun went off...we walked. The first 100m were very shallow following along the shoreline, so it was a combination of walking, swimming and dolphin diving. And then I finally settled in. It was nice to be able to see the bottom for most of the swim and site off the boat line as the big yellow buoy straight ahead of us blended into the sun. After 22 minutes, I was walking up the steps and hustling along to the wetsuit strippers. Not a great time, but I was actually in the top half on the swim (just barely).
Out onto the bike, my legs struggled to find the groove. With no bike computer, I was going purely on feel. And by the 10km mark, I was able to confirm that I was indeed very sluggish at 19:32. Knowing my goal of 3 hours would go out the window if I could barely hold a pace of 30km/h over the 60km bike course, I tried to spin my legs up and started to pass a few people. Around the 15km mark I lost both my spare tubes so I prayed to Ryder Hesjedal for no flats (prayers answered). The rest of the ride felt very slow like I was pushing into a big headwind. But it must have just been one of those days as I actually averaged 35km/h over the last 50km to secure the 6th fastest bike split overall.
I knew I'd have to catch Jason and Chris on the bike to have a good chance of beating them. As I racked my bike and slipped on my running shoes, I saw Jason head out onto the run. Doh! The run was 2 loops with an out-and-back, meaning I could see my teammates throughout the run. Although I made up some time on Schwanny after his winning bike split, I had no chance of making up time on Chris and Jason who paced each other to a blazing run. It was a hot run and I think the one week layoff may have taken it's toll on the final lap. A slow run, but I was happy with my overall finish of 2h56 (4th AG; 9th overall). It was pretty sweet to finish top 10 along with 3 friends. Thanks for pushing me a little bit harder guys.
Afterwards, it was time to relax and cheer on everyone else. Congrats to Shannon and Twyla who teamed up with Ricky for their first Team J-Force experience, Ms. Reid who had a blistering time for 2nd in her age group on the half, and Ted who won his age group in the half...always with a smile on his face. And congrats on the finish to Tracy, the latest Jason Lapierre Spirit Award Winner. I can't wait for next year already.
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