This past weekend was the Multisport Welland 70.3 race. I was able to make it to Welland on the Wednesday to get a feel for the water, get on my bike and see part of the run. Although the course was flat it was going to take a lot of mental strength to keep the bike moving strong and your legs going in a 96% humidity day.
Over the past 3 weeks I have been going strong. From racing in Middlebury CT at the Rev3 Half Ironman, straight into Guelph Olympic and then hammer out another Half Ironman in Welland, I was feeling a bit tired but was excited to race a Half Ironman in Ontario. Not only that but many people were telling me the competition was going to be good and I love a little competition..haha
I got to the race and saw that many elite professionals and age-groupers were out and ready to hammer. It was great to see everyone make it out, but in all honesty was not mentally prepared to hurt as much as I knew I would. Guembel, Gray, Pady, Ross, were among a list of great athletes competing.
I have been feeling confident in the swim so being allowed to where my Xterra Vendetta Wetsuit I knew I would be able to hang in there and come out of the water with a strong time. The gun went and I felt good. I got into a great tempo and came out of the water in 28min. That is around 1:25 per 100m, not to shabby I was a minute down on Nigel and Pady so I knew I would have to work to get them.
I got onto my bike and my goal was to be consistent today. I wanted to hit 10km every 15min. This would put me at a 40km avg off the bike with a 2:15 bike split. I got into the grove and got passed by Mr. Walton who looked like a machine on that bike. He said keep up but he laid down a serious bike time, but knew he would pay a bit in the run for that one. He left me around the 70km mark and again I was on my own. A lot of thoughts go through your head at the point and I was just trying to keep myself motivated to get prepared for the run. On a sad note, I won't to send a shout out to Richard Pady, who hit a car around the 70km mark and I pulled passed him and he didn't look to hot. I did however hear he was ok with only a couple broken bones, which is good to hear he will ride again. Around 85km I was excited to get off the bike, I felt I was loosing power and was a bit worried to run. Usually I am excited to get my run on but I knew today was going to be a mental run.
I decided to go with a bit more supportive shoe on the run from Saucony, so I had the Fast Twitch, which is a great show to race in! Breathable with support..what more do you want from a shoe. The humidity got me right away and I knew I just had to get my legs turning over and I would be ok. Around 3km I caught Darryn and was sitting in 3rd overall. I was told Joe was 90 seconds back so my goal was to hold him off. Around 7km I started to feel really good and picked up the pace. It wasn't till km 16 that Joe met up with me and that is when the fun began. I saw that he was hurting so we kept pushing the pace on each other hoping one would break. Around km 18 Joe was able to open a 60m gap on me and pushed forward. I tried to surge and came up short by a few seconds at the finish line.
Mentally and physically I am pretty spent. 3 weeks of racing, some good results, and today on tired legs a 4:20 Half Ironman. Not my best performance in the run but I am happy with the result. Thanks to John Salt for another great event and also to all the volunteers!
Next race will be Joe's Team in Barrie, then Muskoka Long Course, followed by an Olympic Distance Triathlon in Cornwall, which I am very excited for!!
