North Shore Triathlon, May 20, 2013: Race Report

On May 20 I did my second triathlon and my first attempt at the sprint distance. I really enjoyed this race and I'm still loving triathlon so far :-). The race was the North Shore Triathlon in North Vancouver, stating at the Ron Andrews Rec Centre.

My time:   1:33:36

Placing: 218/285 overall, 91/135 Female, 13/17 in F45-49

Splits:
Swim:  20:20
Bike 46:20 (includes most of T1 and all of T2, actual bike time:  40:50, speed 25.9 km/hr  8) )
Run:  26:57 (actual run distance 4.62k, 5:50/km pace)

Sportstats link here.

Details:

Swim:
Format:  740m pool swim: 20 lengths of a 37m pool, 2 sets of 5 laps switching under the rope in the shallow end

I was in the second wave of swimmers. The waves went slowest to fastest and only a small group was ahead of us (those expecting 25 minutes or more). By my bib number I ended up randomly in the front of the approximately thirty people expecting 20 minutes.  This was a bit of a mistake- as I suspected, most people who put down 20 minutes were faster than that.  I tried to move back saying I was a "slow 20" but no one wanted to go ahead of me.  So I ended up starting third (!) in our wave and got hunted down by the pack after the first lap. I let about 5 people go ahead of me after lap 1, and then felt more comfortable. I felt pretty good through most of the swim, better even than at the UBC tri.  For the first 370m we had to go up and down the 37m pool five times, going under the rope four times in the shallow end.  I tried to go under the rope after turning at the wall as I have practiced.  However, this  proved pretty difficult in the waist-deep water, so I just ducked under.  [Flip turns were allowed—really?  I am not sure how that would be possible.]  I messed up the start of the swim on my watch so I was just using the time clock; I noticed I was just about 10 minutes after my first 370m. I got out of the pool and walked back to the other side to start the second half.  The second 370m felt a bit smoother and I had more space in the lanes, and before I knew it I was at the stairs ready to come out again. My arms were tired and my legs could already feel the work, but I felt good overall.   I finished the swim at just over 20 minutes (2:42/100m).   My official split was 20:20 (the timing mat was outside the pool).

T1:
First transition was slow. I felt nervous that I was forgetting something- I know this will get better with experience.  In my first triathlon we left a wet bag at the pool and changed in a change tent, but yesterday was more standard in that we had to leave everything in bike transition.  I pulled on my pants and shirt over my swim suit, tried to fix my hair and broke my hair tie (with no spare), and sucked down some water and half of a gel. I made my way out of the transition maze and mounted my bike and was off.  Total T1 time, estimated from watch and bike split:  about 5 minutes.  That is definitely something to work on for next time.

Bike:
Format:  17.6K including 4 laps back and forth on Mount Seymour Parkway

Thanks to the Dollings for warning me about setting my bike in low gear to be ready for the steep climb out of the parking lot.  Once we were on the Parkway  the ride was really nice. The uphill wasn't too bad but I could definitely feel it more with each lap.  The downhills were really nice. Although the seven hairpin turns were very slow, I loved the 4-lap format because we could keep track of people on either side, plus it was great for the spectators.  Hula girl was cheering with Foster and Andrea near the bike lap turn, and Rob was across the street from them. I also saw  Thing2 on her run course three four times and shouted out to her each time (I used her real name ;) ). She was running by the end so I hope I helped. :)

Half-way through the bike I was only at about 20 minutes so I knew I was good for my target time of about 45 minutes.  I don’t have individual lap splits, but by memory I was going about the same pace for each lap.  You can easily see the seven turns on the bike graph from my Garmin and they are all about equally spaced (the seven low points in the speed graph).  My total bike time on my Garmin was about 40:50, for a 25.9 km/hr pace. :)  Official bike split of 46:20 includes most of T1 and all of T2.

T2:  Bike-run transition was pretty easy because I wore my running shoes on the bike.  T2 still took about 30 seconds to rack my bike and make my way back through transition to the run exit.

Run:
Format:  5K on the neighborhood roads and some trails off of the Parkway.

I never runs these roads, but had been warned about the hilly route.  My legs definitely felt pretty tight when I first started running, but loosened up pretty quickly.  I started pretty slow, close to 6:30/km, but ended up speeding up as the run progressed.  By 2.5K I was just over 15 minutes (6.00/km average for the first half); and at the finish (4.62K on my Garmin) I was just under 27 minutes, for an average of 5:50/km overall.  I am very happy with this run.  I have lost a lot of run fitness since my injury last year, so I have a lot of room for improvement.  And more work on the bike will help too.

Finish:
I could hear them announcing my name as I crossed the line, and I felt like a star.  I didn’t know my total time at this point, but I figured I must be pretty close to my goal.    I was thrilled to see my final time on Sportstats later (1:33:36, see full stats above).   I came in a bit faster than my goal time:  I was right on target with my swim and run, and a bit faster on the bike.

I am now officially hooked on triathlon and I am planning one more pool triathlon this year. Open water can wait till next year.  I thought I would want to focus on run training now, but I am enjoying the multisport training more than I expected. I would like to ride this wave until the end of July, after which  we will be travelling and I will likely be mostly running.

Thanks for reading.