Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Bracebridge 70.3 Race Report and Anniversary



Sunday was a great day. It was my 1 year anniversary and I was racing another 70.3 Race. I have a very understanding wife haha and I promised to get her something pretty if I could race..!!!

In all honesty my wife is amazing and everyday I am glad I found her and married her. She is caring and very understanding to a sport that takes so much physically and mentally. Even when I am down and tired she is always there to pick me up and make me smile. So I know I am not good at the sappy stuff but I love you babe!

Ok back to business haha!!!

After a solid performance in Calgary, not the best run, but a solid performance non the less I decided to enter the Bracebridge 70.3. The course looked great, and although I knew I would be tired I couldn't miss the opportunity! Shannon and I drove up on the Saturday night and decided to camp. What better thing to do then sleep on an air mattress on a camp grounds....in the rain!

Surprisingly, I was feeling really good. I had some solid workouts throughout the week and was thinking it was going to be a good day and it was.

The Swim was tough with a solid current in the river. My goal was to come out not too far back to catch the leaders. I came out 7th and with a fast transition I was in 5th! Onto the bike I quickly caught the leader 10km in and never looked back. I really wanted to work the bike and in 45km I hit 1:07 on my power meter. My goal was to stick the same pace back, but like my season is going the sky opened up again and dumped a crazy rain storm on us, so I really was careful not to skid out or blow a tire! I came in 2:19, with an avg of 39 and change. Not bad for the rain. That gave me a 10min lead going into the run. I have to thank Louis Garneau for a great pair of carbon shoes. I can honestly say I have never had a shoe that has such a solid transfer of power from my foot to the peddle. I avg 285 watts for the race and my feet felt comfy the whole time! Amazing!

It rained like crazy 12km in on the run and my goal was to settle into a 4km pace. Mentally the run is tough, especially when you have no lead vehicle, no one around just you and the road. I was clicking off the kilometers and when I got to the out and back and didn't see anyone, I know I shouldn't have, but let up the pace just a bit and started doing 4:15's still not bad!

I took 1st overall and won by 14 minutes over the next athlete. It was a good day and I am very excited to have gotten the win. I have to thank John and HSBC Triathlon Series for a great race and excited to do it next year!

Thanks to all my sponsors IMFIT.ca, Cera Sport, Trigger Point, Guru, LG, Altitude Tech, ISM Saddle, Xterra, and of course my coach LB!