Role Models

First race in 2 years yesterday, and it was fun. Swimming and running were faster (slightly and much, respectively) than expected, and was only able to hold 265W on the bike. Lessons: a) I need to do more riding, b) I need to get some intensity going, c) I'm fitter than I thought after 4 weeks on, 4 weeks falling off the wagon completely, and 3 weeks back on again.

However, this post is about more than my old man fitness coming back at a half-assed rate - take a look at the results and note the age group of the 6 guys who came in ahead of me:

http://www.atlanticchip.ca/events/results-show.php?result=795

They're all in the 16-29 age range, and in fact, every one of these young speedsters is Canada Games age (which I believe means they're under 21). There were 13 people in the male 16-29 age range, and 10 of them were around 1:16 or faster. There were even 8 racers in the notoriously scant women's 16-29 range.

2 years ago when I last raced, my time from yesterday of 1:05 would have won many TNS races, or at least gotten you into the top 3 behind an old fart or 2 such as myself, Matthias, Milburn, etc.

My point? Triathlon in Nova Scotia finally looks like a young person's sport again. I can't recall a time like this since back when I got started in the early-mid 90s, when young names like Gill, Campbell, Snowdon, Roberts, Murphy and O'Connell (to name only a few) were at the top of the leaderboard, not to mention Irvine, Barkhouse, and McFadyen.

Many of these young athletes are battling for a spot on Nova Scotia's Canada Games team; we other members can only hope that they stay interested in our sport beyond the Games' triathlon events (August 18/21 in Summerside). To me, they seemed passionate, motivated, and competitive, all while displaying humility and a sense of community and comeraderie.

These kids are restoring the swagger and excitement to the top echelon of triathlon in Nova Scotia - I think we "experienced" triathletes (I'm politely calling us old) have a lot to learn from them. Sure, we know lots about the technical aspects of the sport, about training, transitions, and all the tips and tricks - but they're having pure, honest-to-goodness, competitive FUN out there.

Thank you to the parents and clubs out there for spending the time and money to get these young people involved in our wonderful sport. It's nice for us old folks to have role models again.

Week 3; Wolfville-Roubaix

Something I've wanted to do for years is the annual (13th annual this year) Wolfville-Roubaix bike 'race'. 85km of informal racing, including several km of dirt roads (hence the name), around the Annapolis valley region, starting and ending at the juice factory in Wolfville, NS. Today I finally did it, and it was even better than I had imagined. I had no idea what a great community of cyclists exists in this province - the 67 riders in attendance were friendly, courteous, and generally in good spirits. I've been on a fair number of group rides in the past and in none of them were people so focused on the great things about riding - camaraderie, friendly competition, and just plain fun. For the first hour, everyone from former pro cyclists to people just hoping to make it through rode side by side and chatted, enjoyed the breathtaking scenery in The Valley, and felt generally enjoyed each other's company. It made me keen to get more into the riding scene here; hopefully I'll be able to get into some more races this summer.

After the first 30km, the group split and I got a good taste of where my fitness is at. I stayed with the front group for about 5 minutes before realizing that my top-end speed and speed endurance are basically non-existent. In better news, I did average about 250 watts and 29.6km/h for the 55km/1:50 after the split, so I do have some leftover aerobic capacity. Route/speed/HR data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3926970.

A quick note about my training, in case anyone is interested (is anyone interested? I've always wondered how common is my own intrigue with other people's training) - I made it over 10 hrs of total training this week, which is a good start. The past couple weeks have been about 6 and 8 hours, and I feel like I'm off to a pretty decent start. I've also been enjoying myself immensely - something I was lacking in the final stretch of my full-time racing years. I've a long road ahead of me if I want to be competitive, but it's a road I love to travel.

Back

Training again, hoping to do a race this season. Maybe 1/2 IM. More to come.

Plover Cove ITU Continental Cup - race report

Last Monday I travelled to Hong Kong to race in the Plover Cove ITU Continental Cup Triathlon, in an attempt to salvage a good result from an otherwise somewhat disappointing season.  Staying with my friend and former housemate and Mount Allison swim teammate Nick Crowe, I had a great chance to rest up and prepare for a Saturday morning start at 7:20am.

After successfully navigating my way around the city a few times, and consulting with Nick and our friend (and fellow Cumberland County denizen!) Deanna Dobson, I was confident that we had all the bases covered for the slightly long and complicated trek to Plover Cove from Hong Kong island.  However, when Saturday morning came, we ended up having a real Hong Kong adventure getting to the race site - the lady driving the taxi said she knew where we were going, but then changed her mind once we were in the cab!  I ended up getting into the transition area quite a bit later than usual, but was still in a good mental state - panicking about things over which you have no control has never helped anybody.

The swim start was from a pontoon, and the positioning was quite even across the start line, so the start went quite well.  However, after about 200m, the pack split into two groups and I was forced to choose one - at which point I began to lose touch with the main group, and by the first turn buoy at 365m, there was already a gap between myself and the tail end of the main group.  Frustrated but not ready to give up, I put my head down and tried to catch the group for the remainder of the swim, but to no avail - I exited the water 3 minutes down on the leaders and almost 2 minutes off of the 2nd pack.  This was very disappointing, since I've been doing so much good work in the pool lately and thought it would be much better this time.

I went out onto the bike knowing I would have to dig deep to try to catch the 3rd pack, after a lead group of three emerged and the 2nd and 3rd packs were fairly sizable and would work well together on a very straight, although hilly, course.  Catching a few of the riders who were dropped from the main packs or got stranded in between, I brought a couple of guys along with me as I started to gain a bit of time on the 3rd group.  However, my two riding companions could just stay on my wheel, and as such I rode solo the whole way and lost a bit of time back on the last lap.  Only losing 25 seconds to the 3rd pack, and riding well, I just couldn't compete with the strong front groups, and entered the run over 6 minutes off the leaders and with no way of running into a top 10 position.

Coming out of T2, I had a bit of a snag - as a result of my rushed transition setup, I hadn't noticed a plastic razor cover in one of my racing flats!  I had no choice but to stop and take it out, and lost at least 5 seconds to my riding partners on the way out of transition.  However, back onto the run, I picked up the pace and got ready to push myself to as fast a run as possible.  Focusing on catching as many guys as possible from the groups ahead of me, I got into a really good rhythm and pushed hard in the hot, humid sun as it pounded down on us on the beautiful Plover Cove Dam.  Passing a few guys along the way, I ended up having my fastest run of the season - 35:38.

Overall I ended up in 13th place out of 26 starters ... even after such a terrible swim, only 1 spot off of my best ITU result to date.  A bit disappointing since I was sure I was going to be able to hang on in the swim this time, but once the swim clicks in and I get into that 2nd or 3rd pack I'll hopefully be running for the top  5 instead of 12th or 13th.  Hopefully next time will be different!

You can check out photos of the race and my trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/aaronjlwebb/HongKongPhotos

Thanks for reading,

Aaron