First off I have changed my twitter handle to @swift_T_Reid.
Having
just completed my third 70.3 race the training is coming together nicely.
I spent a few days in Poway before the race getting ready for a big
effort. On race morning I was very nervous and had a hard time getting down my
breakfast, but I kept telling myself that it was just another race and lets see
what I can do. I drove down to the race in my rental car. Somehow, I managed to
get a Dodge Charger.
Not sure how, but let's just say that I got to the race a little early… vroom vroom.
I had a good warm up in my Nineteen wetsuit and was able to get in the water about 10 min before the race. I lined up in the water to the left side because it was the shortest line and I had Trevor Wurtele just to my right. But the bulk of the field went to the left. I had a clean start to the
swim and got into a good position. I was moving around finding the right
feet. At about half way through the swim a small gap opened up and I could
not close it. For the rest of the swim I slowly saw the lead group pull away
and just at the end the next group caught me. This was a great swim for me. A
PB at 24:44.
It was a long run to our bikes and once I settled in on my Cevelo P3 I was able to get onto a good rhythm, making sure I did not go to hard at the start. I was able to catch a few people on the bike and only had two people pass me -Jessy Thomas and Lionel Sanders(the Green Flash). As Lionel went by we had a quick chat and cheered each other on. A huge
thank you to Lionel for giving me a new helmet the day before the race. My old
pink one could not rival the Canadian Louis Garneau. I brought up my
effort a little as he went past and got a little motivated. I had talked to
Trevor before about the bike course and he said that I should save a little for
the last 30km when it flattens out. I just kept waiting for the last 30km
thinking I have to save it for the last bit and thank goodness I did. The hills
were a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to get out of the arrow position. I
had to make sure I did not go over 315w on the hills though which was hard to
do. I came into Transition very relaxed and ready to run. I held about 277w for
the 90km. Not my best, but very close.
Out on the run Barrie and Paulo were giving me feed back as to where I
was in the race. I started the run in 10th place
with 3 guys about 45 seconds up the road. I knew I had to catch them slowly,
one at a time. There were a few very steep short climbs that I had to be
careful on. I had to make sure I did not push the up or down the hills too
much.
It was still a long run. In the first 6km I had moved up into 8th place
and all I could think was "I am in the money now lets see how much I can
make". At about 8km I passed 7th place, but my foot started to go to
sleep. I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had injured myself, and
wondered what do I do; do I pull out? But then I said "to hell with it,
just keep running it is not getting worse". I put it in the back of my
mind and ran faster. On the second lap I was able to overtake 6th place.
At the final turn around I saw that Trevor was dangerously close. I just put my
head down and said "legs you have to go faster". I went to a very
dark place in the last 4km. It was worth it, to finish 6th place,
with the 4th fastest run and a huge running PB of 1:14:01 in my Saucony Type A5
It was very nice to get
down to Florida for the start of my season at the Las Olas International
Triathlon in Ft. Lauderdale. It
has been a very cold winter in Ontario, so I have spent most of my time on the
treadmill and trainer, staying out of the cold. I felt that I was ready to
start off with an Olympic distance race, and in fact it was a bit shorter-
1000m swim, 34km bike and 10km run.
The day started early. I
got up at 4:30am to get ready for the race. I like to get up about 3-4 hours
before the start of the race to wake up. I drove down to the site and had a
good warm up. As I stood in the starting area about 4min before the start, I
remembered that I had forgotten to turn on the video camera on my bike. This
was too bad, but with it being the first race of the season I was glad that the
camera was only thing I had forgotten. It had been very windy and choppy in the
water the day before, but on Race Day the Ocean was perfectly calm water and
winds were only 5kph.
I lined up and
waited for the gun to go off. BANG! And the race was under way. I hit the water
and started to swim hard, with the first turn 100m away. I turned the corner and
saw that the main group of 5 was 15m ahead. I knew I had to get in that group,
so I pushed hard and turned my arms over. Once I got in the group I settled in
and found some feet to follow. I could see Cameron Dye and Kaleb VanOrt ahead.
As we turned the last buoy we headed into the beach exit, I saw the leaders get
out about 50-75m head. Once I hit the beach I scrambled onto land and dashed
towards T1. I was able to come out of T1 at the head of our group.
It was a 2-lap
bike and I was close to 3 other athletes. I did not have my power meter so I
was working with heart rate and cadence (my power2max had stopped working about
1 week before the race and I had to send it back to get it fixed). On the first
lap, Santiago Ascenpo passed me and I stayed behind him, holding a gap of 15m.
As I came to the end of the first lap Jacob Rhyner passed me and Ascenpo
started to pull away. I had kept my heart rate at about 170bpm on the first
lap. As we did the second lap I had to move around many age-groupers but they
did not get in the way. As I prepared to dismount I was in a group of 3 people
with Rhyner in the lead. My heart rate had come down on the second lap and I
was prepared to run hard.
I knew that T2 was going
to be very important - I had to get out fast and put on the pressure right
away. I led the group of 3 on to the run. I also knew that I was sitting in
4th, racing for money and trying to get on the podium. I heard that Ascenpo was
40sec ahead and I could see him. I quickly unclipped my heart rate monitor
while I was running so I could breath freely. Over the first 2km I gapped
Rhyner, but he caught up to me at 4km. Now I had to keep focused on 3rd place
and run my legs off on the second half of the run. As I started the second loop
I was able to run away from Rhyner. I kept on the gas and could see people
starting come back to me but I just did not have the speed to take 3rd place. I
finished with a 4th place finish and a great run.
This was a great start
to my season and I am now getting ready to race in Oceanside 70.3 on March 28.
Swim: 13:38 (5th fastest swim)
Bike: 47:21 (6th fastest bike)
Run: 30:06 (2nd fastest run)
Huge thanks to the Grumans how put me up in there home.
