Shane's Regina Beach race report

Well the day was great and the warm up on the bike felt good. There was a little wind but nothing to be concerned about for a round here. While in transition, at the top of the hill, there was a very long line up to get our timing chip and swim cap. (The people running this were not very efficient which in the end, delayed the start of the race by 15 minutes.) Therefore I had allowed for some miscellaneous time during the warm-up but not the 20 minutes we spent in line at the top of the hill. So, by the time we walked down to the bottom of the hill I had to make a decision on whether to complete a run warm up or skip it. Well, I decided to skip the run warm-up, as you know I take a long time to warm up for the swim. It was also 20 minutes to start time with a meeting in there some where. The swim warm-up went very well and just as I was finishing up, the announcer said that we are going to be delayed by 15 minutes. (This would have been nice to know 20 minutes ago, oh well.) Back in the water I went for a little bit more swimming.

Okay now onto the race, when the gun went off I charged into the water and there were people around me but within a 100m I was out front, or so I thought. Out of the corner of my eye at about the 200m mark I could see a couple arms coming in from my right. Anyways, back to my swim. The swim to the first buoy was approx. 325m and for the entire length a guy kept running into me and I kept looking to see if I was off course, but I was not. Then eventually, the person disappeared and I never saw them again. Upon reaching the first buoy, I was feeling pretty good at this point and tried to pick it up to the next buoy as I could see a couple people in front of me approximately 25m. When I turned at the second buoy I could still see the person in front of me and I gained ground. So on the way back to the beach, I pushed it to see if I could catch this person. Still my arms felt pretty good and I told myself to push harder. I actually did not see this person on the way back to the beach but when I got up out of the water and ran around the buoy and was about to dive back in the water for the second lap I saw the person and he was just standing up out of the water. The start of the second lap is always hard as you know with the standing up and running a bit and then diving back in. For probably the first 4 minutes at least I just told myself to breathe and relax. My arms at this point were really sore and almost tight and very sluggish. I was really trying to think about long smooth strokes and forget about the pain I was in. Well about half way to the 1st buoy of the 2nd lap, I did start to feel better. And between the 1st and 2nd buoy, I actually got very relaxed and had to tell myself to push. Then I was off to the races and began to push harder and harder. Finally onto the last leg of the swim, I could see splashes in the distance and said lets go, I feel good for this part of the race. Well, I got to the edge of the beach and someone said that you are 4th out of the water. I felt pretty good at this point. I stood up and run for the swim transition area. Once into this transition, I tried to relax and be methodical in getting my wetsuit off. I was a little light headed. Once the wetsuit was off, I put my one shoe on and almost fell over and then steady myself and put the other on. Once again almost fell over.

Now, it was onto the 650m steep hill to the bike transition. I felt good coming out of transition, but that lasted about 50m, where my lungs and stomach did not feel very good. I thought I was going to puke right there. Well, thank god it past. The hill climb was a grind (and I would say it is similar to the hill on the bike course at Wildflower but not as long and I had to run up it.). I just tried to keep focus on the top of the hill and one foot in front of the other. I can’t imagine how high my HR was at this point but maybe it was better I did not know. There was nothing easy about this hill, except maybe when you got to the top.  Well the bike transition, went off without a hitch and I was out of there within 15seconds of getting to my bike. Now onto the bike.

When I first got onto the bike, I was still feeling very tired from the run up the hill and the swim and I tried not to push too hard off the start. I could see the guy in front of me and he was about 400~500m in front. I just kept telling myself to relax and try not to sprint at this time. Just get into your rhythm and then begin to push. (The shoulders on the road that we were biking on were about a 2 feet wide and then gravel and a bit of a drop.) Well, I had taken a few sips of my drink and then I started to calm down and get into a groove. I could still see that guy out front and decided it was time to get into the aero position, as the head wind was a problem at the moment.

Well, I am still not sure what happened next but I remember getting down into the position and then taking a drink and the next thing I know I was on my side sliding of the pavement, with my bike sliding out in front of me. It happened so fast that I had no time to react properly. After I stopped sliding, I remember looking straight up to the sky and thinking did that really happen and damn my leg hurts. I also heard a voice behind me ask if I was alright. I said, “yes, just some scrapes but I feel fine, thank you.” (I bet it looked pretty weird from the lady in the car behind me. I am just glad she wasn’t any closer.) Well, at this point I was a little shocked on what just transpired, and I got up off the ground and began to look at my bike. At first glance, it did not appear to have much wrong other than the seat turned sideways and the brakes off a bit. I fixed both of these things and got back on the bike. (Quitting at this point did cross my mind, but only for a split second and then I said lets go.) So, I got back on my bike and I quickly got going again but realized that I only had the lower chain ring of gears. I got off the bike again and tried to fix it or at least jam it in the top chain ring so I could have my top gears. No such luck. I said to myself I cannot do anything about it and just go with what I got. Not having the upper (big ring) on the way out, did not matter as the head wind was strong enough that I could not shift up to those gears anyways. But on the 2nd half of the lap with a tail wind, I could not go like I wanted. Going down some of the small hills, I had to glide and not pedal as I was cycling at 115 rpms for a long period of time and not getting any grip. (While I was laying at the side of the road and fixing my bike, four people passed me. The crash happened at approximately 4K of the bike.) From this point on, I just tried to push as hard as I could go and see what I could do, even though I crashed. One more person passed me on the bike ride the rest of the time and it happened to be my younger brother and I stayed with him on the way out on the second lap but he dusted me soon after that. In addition, to the crash and the bike trouble something wasn’t agreeing with me as far as nutrition and I puked a couple times on the bike.

Upon arriving in the bike transition, I was feeling not bad, considering what had happened and was looking forward to getting onto the run and hoping that my luck would turn around.

Well the luck did not turn all around but I was able to get through the run with a few problems. One being for about the first 8 minutes, I felt like I could not breath and I actually seriously thought I would abandon. But that ended up passing and I was able to focus more on the run. But the entire length of the run I felt nauseous and wanted to throw up. And so, I just said that I will just keep moving and hopefully get over it. Well, that did not happen and I actually threw up going up the hill just before the turnaround. I felt a little better but the nausea came back and I held it in for the rest of the run. It was hard as my legs felt fine and actually really good but every time I sped up I felt even worse in my gut. At approximately 1K to go, three guys passed me and I tried to stay with them but it felt even worse. So, I just chugged along and eventually got to the finish and had a last burst of speed at the end and finished.