I woke up 2 days after Ironman Lanzarote, turned to Dezz and said "Okay, next focus: sub-5 at Great White North".
Fast forward 2 weeks and I'm sitting at Talisman Centre telling Grant about that same goal.
Sub-5 or bust.
Life has been lived over the past 6 weeks, but not much of it has been lived without a thought of how my actions would help or hinder GWN. Dezz commented about how my training didn't seem to decrease much after IML (true, but only because my IML training focused more on intensity than volume), I tried a new doctor-prescribed diet to hopefully help reduce any GI issues during the race, I memorized the name of said diet (Fermented Oligo-Di -Mono Saccharides And Polyols), I skipped beer and s'mores when camping in favour of water and multigrain crackers. But as is expected, especially when triathlon is a hobby and not a career, flood happens! Some days training entailed ripping down drywall instead of ripping up hills. (We were fortunate enough to escape the floods untouched; some friends' weren't so lucky). Other days yardwork was left half done in favour of bikework. Once again, I'm a very lucky man to be blessed with such a supportive wife. (I had to convince her that a girls trip to see Boyz II Men & NKOTB in Vegas should be more appealing to her than a trip to Stony Plain to watch me do yet another triathlon).
So come this weekend I was feeling ready. I had fought through a few days where the legs were feeling fatigued and just wanted to go home (I guess training since November can do that to a body), but I knew Grant had put me in a position to throw down that elusive sub-5.
Race prep, blah, blah, race package, blah blah, nutrition blah, blah, Go! I started very close to the front of the swim and managed to draft for about 1500/1800m of the swim. I was very happy to exit on 35 minutes (goal was 40min), along with club mates Jonesy, Gus and Slawinski. (In hindsight, I should have beat Jones since I actually saw him stop about 200m into the swim to check his watch). The swim felt quick and very relaxed. Onto the bike and heading out onto the new bike course, I was excited to see what the day would bring. The course profile looked like it was completely flat. Although there was nothing I'd call an actual hill, there was enough climbing and wind to make the bike a bit harder than anticipated. I caught up with Jones and Slawinski, but couldn't reel in Gus or Faizel. The nice thing about the 2-lap course is it was easy to keep track of everyone. On the day I didn't have the pop in my legs I'd hoped for, and had to hammer home to turn in a 2h37min 90km bike (a conservative 34km/h).
Out onto the run and although the tummy was feeling a bit of discomfort, I quickly found my leg speed. It's the first time I've used my Garmin on race day in a couple years and my pace fluctuated more than I'd have liked, but there were only about 10 minutes out there where it was a struggle (about the 10-12km mark) to move my legs. Otherwise I focused on technique and kept that sub-5 hour goal in site. Again it was great to see so many familiar faces out on course. And another reason I love triathlon - pros cheering on the age groupers. Kyle, Grant and Elmar were all coaxing me along as I passed in the opposite direction while they were still racing. Reaching the last KM of the race, I spotted Emma up ahead. Emma is a very strong triathlete in her early 20s who has much more potential than any of us age group guys ever had. But, we're typical guys with an ego, so the talk over the last week was that we couldn't get chicked by Emma, knowing that was a very real potential. One final push and a "let's finish strong Emma" propelled the two of us past a few other racers on the way to the finish line. Rounding the finishing chute to shouts of "Let's go Stringer", I crossed the line in 4:54:19. Goal: achieved.
Props to a great day of racing and new PBs by my teammates and coach, and cheering/cowbelling from Hillary and Jenn. And if you're ever looking for a good local race, check out the 2014 edition of Great White North. Just don't bother with the awards dinner unless you want some free food and have lots (and lots) of time to spare, or you are actually fast enough to win some money.
So what's next? I'll let you know when I figure that out.
