The Race Report

First things first. I want to thank everyone who took the time to make a donation. The total for my fund raising effort was $805.00. The online site will still be open for the rest of the week, if you had wanted to make a contribution, but were unable to.

The race itself went really well. As mentioned in a previous post, I did not get a lot of time to train recently, and I was expecting a relatively mediocre performance - especially in the pool.

However, it all went great. My target swim time when I registered for the race was 10 minutes, and was based on me training a fair bit. Last year I swam in 11:36 with quite a bit of time in the pool. This year I was testing my lung capacity quite fully, but I managed a 10:36. So, I think swim club paid off with some technique improvement - I just have to get to the pool more often.

I joked that last year I actually raced a quadrathon, because my transition took so long it was almost its own event. This year it was smooth and organized.

The bike was a huge difference this year. Last year I used my hydrid, and this year I used my new road bike. It was a blast. I actually felt like I was going quite fast. I passed a number of people, and was only passed by 2 other cyclists.

I entered the bike with a guy from my swim heat just in front of me (orange shirt guy). So, my eyes were on his back, and I was trying to make sure he didn't lose me. The first loop around I was right there with him the whole way, and a good portion of the second loop. Then I made a major mistake with my gears and ended up coasting to a near halt at the bottom of a hill - I lost him.

The run felt okay. Last year's route was super steep, but the new route is much more level. It actually went to a part of Esquimalt that I did not even know existed, and there were some beautiful views. The route went out to a point did a short loop, and then came back.

As I started my return trip I noticed that I had gotten orange shirt guy back in my sights, and I started to close the gap. The last eight blocks or so were a steady soft incline, which is probably my strength in running.
I closed in on him block by block, and then with about two blocks to go I managed to increase the speed a bit more, and passed him. The rest of the run was smooth sailing.

A great event, and I am looking forward to Sri Chimnoy.