June 3, 2012
On Sunday, I raced my second tri of the season in Milton. The forecast was calling for rain and luckily it held up for the most part. We did have to contend with cold temperatures and a nice head and cross wind though. I was thinking I really have to stop doing this race because the weather at this time of year is hit and miss. I have done this race in freezing cold and wet weather before as well as hot, sunny, and humid weather. I had a bit of a race plan which was to swim hard, bike hard, and see what I can do for the run.
The swim went ok for me. I am horrible at starts and this race was no different. I tried to go hard right away but I was not very successful at maintaining it. I went hard, then kind of got caught in the mix of slower swimmers who go out too hard and die right away, and then I was able to push the pace after I passed the jumble and swim hard home.
The bike I was a bit disappointed in. I thought I was able to ride faster than what I did on Sunday. However, the wind made it a bit tricky so I am going to blame that! ;) I started the ride pretty comfortable and just started hammering it. Got to 6th Line hill, looked up, and thought that the hill actually did not look all that bad. Guess all the hill training is helping me in that respect. I was passing lots and tried to maintain the effort but I found myself slowing down and being a bit cautious when I was faced with the wind; or more like pushed from the side by the wind. Then at some point it felt like I was not trying as hard especially as I was approaching the big downhill. As I started to descend 6th Line hill, I went into full on chicken mode. I have no other explanation but that I was way too cautious. I hit my brakes and went down the hill quite slowly. Probably the slowest I have ever gone down that hill. I know of one too many bad crashes that I think it is starting to play with my head now. I ended up averaging 30kph for the entire ride which was slower than last year.
The run went better that the bike. I started the run with very heavy legs and was holding a slow pace. I slowly got my running legs under me and by the turnaround I started booting it to the finish. I felt like I finished the run strong and in much better shape than last year. My run time was also just a bit faster than last year's time. Overall, I was 2min slower than last year but we were faced with harsher conditions. I placed 12th in my age group and was 36th women overall. I am hoping I can build on this and have a strong showing at Guelph next weekend.
I also want to give props to my friend Leanna who won the race! Woohoo! Way to go! And I want to wish another friend who I travelled to the race with a speedy recovery after crashing in the last 4km of the bike.
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