Yesterday, I got my first overall triathlon victory in the Wasa Lake Sprint race. It was a beautiful day and I was able to win in front of my four kids, my wife, my parents, my brother and my sister in law. It doesn't get much better than that.
I originally signed up for the Olympic distance race about four months ago. I had planned to do this race as a final tune up before Ironman France, which takes place on June 27th. The Wasa Lake race was my first triathlon in 2008 and last year I set my PB time on this course. I thought that it would be fun to come back and compete against the strong field and that it would be a good gauge of my fitness heading into my first Ironman race.
Unfortunately, the last two months of training have not gone as well as I had hoped. I have been struggling with persistent achilles' tendon issues that have severely restricted my running. The longest I have run in the last 10 weeks is 60 minutes and most runs have been 15-30 mins, followed by a few days of limping in pain. I have been a regular visitor to the massage therapist, physiotherapist, chiropractor and naturopathic doctor, trying to solve the Achilles problems. As of a couple of weeks ago, I had decided not to do the Wasa Lake race.
Fortunately, my swim and bike training have gone well. I have been swimming 4 times / week, averaging 10k to 12k metres. As a result, I have fought back from the broken collarbone injury and my swimming feels as strong (or stronger) than last year. I have also done lots of cycling, including many hill repeats and 4 big bike rides > 170 kms in the last month. Last weekend, I did a stunning 200 km ride over the Highwood Pass and back, which was the furthest I had ever gone.
Last Monday, I underwent a relatively new treatment on my achilles called PRP injection therapy. This was my second time having it done and I had some good improvement after the first one until I thrashed my achilles again during a hike up Ha Ling Peak with the kids. My achilles gradually improved over the course of the week and I went for a relatively painless 6 km run on Friday. As a result, I started thinking about doing the race this weekend.
I knew that if I went in the Olympic distance race, I would be up against some tough competition and would find it difficult to ease up if things were not going well. I also knew that I would be comparing my performance to the great race I had last year and would be disappointed if I fell short. I thought about doing the first two legs and dropping out but eventually decided that I wanted to test myself running in a short tune up race. Accordingly, I switched to the Sprint distance race, where I knew I would be competitive based on the times from the last few years. I had several people advise me against doing the race and, instead, just focusing on the Ironman. I knew there was some risk in running at race pace this close to my goal race, but felt strongly that I needed to test myself and come into the big race in a positive frame of mind.
I woke up Sunday morning to a beautiful day. I travelled to the race with my father, racked my bike in a good spot, visited with some of my fellow competitors and did my regular warm up. There were over 200 other racers in the sprint distance and I lined up in the front and centre of the swim start. When the gun went off, I hit the water and swam hard for the first 100 metres. I was able to clear the pack and hit the first buoy in the lead. I settled into a comfortable swim, feeling strong and confident. As I approached the second buoy, I was surprised to feel someone drafting off me. It turned out to be Megan Bird, a former competitive swimmer. As we came around the final buoy and into the direct sunlight, l let her go in front so that she would have to do the difficult sighting and I could take a nice draft to the finish. I came out of the water right behind her and then passed her in the run up to the transition area. We were almost 2 mins in front of the next swimmers in a 750m swim.
I had a smooth transition and headed out onto the three lap, 20 km bike course in first place. I took about 5-10 mins to warm up on the bike and then held a 41-43 km pace for the rest of it. It felt really good to hammer the bike and I lapped a good portion of field. When I came into transition I got to hear the legendary voice of Steve King telling everyone that I was winning, how my kids raced in the kids of steel race yesterday, what place I finished last year, etc. That guy is amazing - he knows everything and is a total pro.
The first two kms of the run were really good. I was holding a sub 4 min / km pace comfortably and my achilles felt ok. It was also fun, as the race leader, to have a mountain bike rider clearing the course in front of me and showing me the way. That was a new experience for me. After the first turnaround, I saw that I was over 3 mins in front of the second place racer, so I knew I was in great position. However, as I headed onto the "off road" portion of the course, my right foot landed awkwardly and I had a shooting pain along my calf. From that point on, my achilles started getting sore and I had to block out the pain.
I backed off the pace and finished in 1:05, over 3 mins ahead of the second place finisher (and 10 mins ahead of the second place athlete in my age group). As I ran up the final portion of the course, I high fived each of my kids and basked in the glory of hearing the "go, daddy, go!" chant. It was extremely fun to win in front of my family. I felt strong and in control the entire race.
My achilles and calves are now very sore and I'll know over the next few days whether they bounce back. It may or may not have been the right decision to race but, irrespective of what happens in France, yesterday I got to be the Champion on a beautiful day in the mountains. It was pretty sweet.
Next stop, Ironman France.
Myron
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