Oceanside 70.3

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 10^th 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 8^th 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 7^th 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 6^th 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 6^th place, with the 4^th fastest run and a huge running PB of 1:14:01 in my Saucony Type A5 

 Full results at Ironman Oceanside 70.3. 

To top the week off I singed on to be a Compressport Ambassador. Looking forward to recovering like a pro.

Huge thank you to: C3, Kinetico, Royal Containers, Caledon Hills Cycling, Cervelo, Saucony, Nineteen, Awake Chocolate, Compressport and my parents.

Next race is the Pro North American 70.3 Championships on May 2nd in St. George Utah. Stay tuned.

Welcome to the resistance.

#TaylorTime

Las Olas Race

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.

Thank you to Kinetico, Royal Containers, Nineteen Wetsuits, Caledon Hills Cycling, Cervelo, Saucony and Awake Chocolate for all the support leading into this race.