March brings with it cherry blossoms, chocolate bunnies in the stores, and the start of the racing season for triathletes. In New Zealand, violent winds two weeks ago forced the Ironman organizers to cancel the swim and slash the bike and run distances in half. The following weekend, our local triathletes braved cool temperatures at the UBC triathlon. March 18th marked the race date for the Commonwealth Triathlon event in Melbourne as well as the California Ford Half Ironman in Oceanside (25 miles north of San Diego). Ready, set, go!
My season started, for the second year in a row, with the Half Ironman in California. There are some who poke fun at athletes who peak for this early season race, claiming that those who peak in March will be suffering by October. Yet who really knows how everyone’s season will play out? The winners of the event, Luke Bell and Michellie Jones, are both likely to have the last laugh as they master multiple peaks throughout the year. They are simply far superior performers to the rest of the field, and can win races even at sub-peak fitness.
I had three goals for this race. First, this event marked the beginning of my race season and would fire up my race muscles. Second, this event was intended to test my run fitness. Third, I was hoping to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship event, held for the first time in November in Clearwater, Florida.
I accomplished two of my three goals. My eagerness to race is stronger than ever and my eagerness to train smartly has been reinforced. I qualified to the World Championships, as did my training partners, Paul Krochuk and Michael Simpson. I was unable, however, to test my run fitness, since my digestive system did not cooperate and I was forced to take a few breaks.
The trip itself was exceptional. I traveled and bunked with Paul at the Days Inn Oceanside, which was a five-minute walk to the race start at Oceanside Harbour Pier. We both loved drinking coffee, eating well and watching Will & Grace repeats. Nothing beats Karen’s (rich snobby co-star) humor to take the edge off an upcoming race. Brian, my coach, was very much a part of the race organization and was appointed the Run Race Director. He worked day and night, along with hundreds of others, setting up the course and attending to race details. This was a bonus and a burden. While he would constantly provide updates on race day changes or athlete gossip, he was far too busy to have much face time for race strategy discussion. Eighteen hours before the start of the race, we found a Starbucks to review the Plan.
The Plan was as follows:
Swim fast. Swim as fast as my arms and legs could churn and kick with one objective in mind—stay warm. The water temperature was all of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so cold, in fact, that the organizers were offering age grouper athletes the option to swim only 700 meters instead of the full 2.0 kilometers. I had my best swim ever and exited with some of the top swimmers.
Bike conservatively. Break the ride down into four quarters with a different focus on each. Cadence, Muscle Recruitment, Effort, Race. My goal was to conserve some energy for the run. The ride was grueling so I consciously conserved energy. In hindsight, I feel I could have given this ride more than I did but my focus was the run, so I kept my eye on the ball.
Run to my potential. That meant running an effort I am trained to exert. It also meant staying mentally focused on keeping a fast, smooth foot cadence, hips forward and relaxed shoulders. It was all supposed to come down to my last 15 kilometers (the first five kilometers were dedicated to adjusting to the run and to setting the pace). Sadly, just as I was catching a few girls ahead, I had to make a detour to the seaside bushes of a residential road. Did these stops cost me in time and a compromised pace for fear of churning my insides? Likely. For this reason alone, I was sad not to have run to my potential. On the other hand, my competitive juices are fired up in great anticipation of the season ahead.
Brian and I had agreed ahead of time that the only way I could upset my race was to ride too hard in the bike leg. What we failed to discuss was gastric distress, an all-too-common occurrence in triathlon and the number one cause for DNFs. Fortunately, I know what caused this distress and in the future I will definitely avoid the foods I ate to bring these symptoms on. Better to know the answer than to wonder why it happened!
Having earned my spot at the World 70.3 Championships (see http://www.ironmanlive.com/ for more info) and with my racing season officially launched, my trip to California was a success. For those of you who raced in the UBC triathlon, I applaud you. If you plan to carry on racing this season or if you are kicking off your season in the next few weeks or months, I have a word of advice: avoid fiber for 48 hours leading up to a race and definitely avoid bran muffins the morning of a race!
Christine
My season started, for the second year in a row, with the Half Ironman in California. There are some who poke fun at athletes who peak for this early season race, claiming that those who peak in March will be suffering by October. Yet who really knows how everyone’s season will play out? The winners of the event, Luke Bell and Michellie Jones, are both likely to have the last laugh as they master multiple peaks throughout the year. They are simply far superior performers to the rest of the field, and can win races even at sub-peak fitness.
I had three goals for this race. First, this event marked the beginning of my race season and would fire up my race muscles. Second, this event was intended to test my run fitness. Third, I was hoping to qualify for the 70.3 World Championship event, held for the first time in November in Clearwater, Florida.
I accomplished two of my three goals. My eagerness to race is stronger than ever and my eagerness to train smartly has been reinforced. I qualified to the World Championships, as did my training partners, Paul Krochuk and Michael Simpson. I was unable, however, to test my run fitness, since my digestive system did not cooperate and I was forced to take a few breaks.
The trip itself was exceptional. I traveled and bunked with Paul at the Days Inn Oceanside, which was a five-minute walk to the race start at Oceanside Harbour Pier. We both loved drinking coffee, eating well and watching Will & Grace repeats. Nothing beats Karen’s (rich snobby co-star) humor to take the edge off an upcoming race. Brian, my coach, was very much a part of the race organization and was appointed the Run Race Director. He worked day and night, along with hundreds of others, setting up the course and attending to race details. This was a bonus and a burden. While he would constantly provide updates on race day changes or athlete gossip, he was far too busy to have much face time for race strategy discussion. Eighteen hours before the start of the race, we found a Starbucks to review the Plan.
The Plan was as follows:
Swim fast. Swim as fast as my arms and legs could churn and kick with one objective in mind—stay warm. The water temperature was all of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so cold, in fact, that the organizers were offering age grouper athletes the option to swim only 700 meters instead of the full 2.0 kilometers. I had my best swim ever and exited with some of the top swimmers.
Bike conservatively. Break the ride down into four quarters with a different focus on each. Cadence, Muscle Recruitment, Effort, Race. My goal was to conserve some energy for the run. The ride was grueling so I consciously conserved energy. In hindsight, I feel I could have given this ride more than I did but my focus was the run, so I kept my eye on the ball.
Run to my potential. That meant running an effort I am trained to exert. It also meant staying mentally focused on keeping a fast, smooth foot cadence, hips forward and relaxed shoulders. It was all supposed to come down to my last 15 kilometers (the first five kilometers were dedicated to adjusting to the run and to setting the pace). Sadly, just as I was catching a few girls ahead, I had to make a detour to the seaside bushes of a residential road. Did these stops cost me in time and a compromised pace for fear of churning my insides? Likely. For this reason alone, I was sad not to have run to my potential. On the other hand, my competitive juices are fired up in great anticipation of the season ahead.
Brian and I had agreed ahead of time that the only way I could upset my race was to ride too hard in the bike leg. What we failed to discuss was gastric distress, an all-too-common occurrence in triathlon and the number one cause for DNFs. Fortunately, I know what caused this distress and in the future I will definitely avoid the foods I ate to bring these symptoms on. Better to know the answer than to wonder why it happened!
Having earned my spot at the World 70.3 Championships (see http://www.ironmanlive.com/ for more info) and with my racing season officially launched, my trip to California was a success. For those of you who raced in the UBC triathlon, I applaud you. If you plan to carry on racing this season or if you are kicking off your season in the next few weeks or months, I have a word of advice: avoid fiber for 48 hours leading up to a race and definitely avoid bran muffins the morning of a race!
Christine
