So I had originally put the Chinook Half-Ironman distance on
my race calendar as it has been the Alberta Long Course Provincial
Championships for the last few years. Given that the race sells out early I had
registered early and then when the Alberta Triathlon Association released their
official Championship Race Schedule I learned that Great White North(GWN) would
serve as the Provincial Championships. (Note to self…harass the ATA to release
the Championship schedule earlier. Releasing the schedule in the new year is
not cool especially when Chinook and GWN both generally sell out quickly and in
the fall). Seeing as I was registered anyways I figured I would race, but treat
it more like a hard training session.
We travelled down to Calgary on Friday and paid a visit to
Element in Edmonton to pick-up a few items.
We attended the athlete dinner on Friday night and I was sadly
disappointed. I had heard great things about the race and figured it would be
of the calibre of GWN, I was mistaken. The dinner was average at best and the
athlete briefing was useless. I really
appreciated the effort put forward by the Race Director and his staff (it was
evident that they really cared about this race, but this was a foretelling of
the race as a whole.) To attend an athlete briefing where the RD rambles off
some useless information in a haphazard manner and cannot adequately explain the
course because he failed to ensure the projector and computer were working in
advance is clearly not kosher.
I woke up Saturday morning just before 0500hrs and made a
quick trip to McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin and a coffee. I topped off my
breakfast with a banana and then grabbed my gear and walked to transition for
just before 0700hrs. We stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham in Midnapore which is
literally a 5-10min walk from the race start and finish - that was pretty
awesome. I setup my bike and gear, got my body marked and then got set for the
race. Claudia and the kids showed up
just before the race start, which was awesome.
Swim
Ok, seeing being in Alberta in June you expect the water to
be cold and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure of the actual water temperature but
after a quick warm-up the water felt fine. I actually think Midnapore Lake was warmer than
Ghost Lake at the end of July. (Ghost Lake is the Lake that is used for Calgary
70.3) Seeing as it was a pretty small field ~150 athletes, the swim start was
very calm. By the time we hit the first buoy ~350m out the field had already
spread out and I was swimming on my own. Probably not ideal to be swimming the
course alone, but hey it allowed me to just focus on a long stroke with a
powerful pull. I finished the first lap
rounded the buoy and headed back into the water for the second 1km lap. Just like
the first, the second lap was uneventful and I didn’t pass a single person nor
was I passed. I exited the water and was happy to see 33:0X on my watch. This
was the first time I had swam faster than 1:40/100m in a triathlon.
 |
| Heading back into the water for the second loop. |
 |
| Coming out of the water on the second loop. |
 |
| Removing my Nineteen Rogue |
Bike
Through transition, where I put on Compressport Bike Socks,
Specialized S-works Road Shoes, and my Louis Garneau Vorttice Helmet, I grabbed
my trusty Argon 18 E-118 Stealth Steed and headed out on the bike. I had just started
to find my groove on Highway 22X as I crossed an intersection patrolled by two
police officers. The officer on my side of the road motioned that it was safe
and blocked the road, however the officer on the opposing side of the road didn’t
realize I was coming and let an extra couple cars through. Thankfully I was
paying attention and barely avoided getting T-boned. I shook off the incident
and pressed on. At around 44kms into the bike I saw the lead male, Grant
Burwash (a Cdn Pro who resides in Calgary) coming back the other way. I figured
I was about 10-15minutes down to him and then made sure I counted the athletes
coming back. I realized I was in 5th at the turn-around with Kyle
Marcotte (another Cdn Pro who resides in Calgary) in fourth probably only 4-5
minutes up the road from me. I didn’t recognize either of the guys in 2nd
and 3rd.
On the way back into town the Olympic distance athletes
merged onto Highway 22X with us. It was a disaster. I was passing people continuously
for the last 20kms and it was clear this was the mid to back of the
Olympic athletes pack. Instead of riding to the right of the road, they were staying
to the left. I think I called, “to your left” almost continuously that last
20kms. This was a big safety hazard in my opinion -you had athletes cycling at
40+km/hr riding up from behind on athletes doing 20-25km/hr and attempting to
pass on a very narrow shoulder. When you
are closing the distance that quickly even yelling "on your left" doesn’t really
help much. The remainder of the bike was uneventful with the exception of
getting cut-off by an SUV as I crossed Macleod Trail…thankfully my hands just
happened to be on my brakes at that instant. I was happy to be off the bike at
~2:34 and I considered that not too bad for 96km and ~860m of elevation gain.
The bike was probably only slightly easier than St George.
Run
Through transition, where I slipped on my Brooks Pure Connects (with Xentex laces compliments of Jonathan Kisiloski - I have to say I am now a Xentex fan), applied sunscreen and
hit up the blue rocket. And then it was onto the run course, my favourite part
of the race. I was aiming for 1:20 so about a 3:48/km pace. I started out a
little faster for the first couple kilometers and then started to settle into
my pace. At the first out and back I saw the 2nd place athlete,
Simon Schaerz, and 3rd place athlete Jason Kincaid, and then a
little later on the out and back Kyle. I rounded the out and back turn and
quickly reeled in Kyle. Kyle told me that 3rd place was about 4:30
ahead. I knew 2nd place wasn’t much further because I had seen them
both. I was pretty confident I had fourth in the books and thought I had a
chance at reeling in 3rd and perhaps 2nd place. I
finished the first loop and saw 40:13 on my watch and knew if I could hold my
pace I’d be close to my goal. The kilometers clicked off quickly and thankfully
the run course was well marked. I finally caught Jason at about 17kms and just
hoped that he didn’t try and stay with me. I started the out and back and about
100m from the turn-around I saw Simon coming back the other way. I don’t think
he knew I was coming. He started really picking up his pace. I had him down to
about 100m at the start of the big hill and with about 2kms to go. He managed
to open the gap a little on the hill and then I quickly started to close the
gap down. As much as I tried he seemed to have more left and at the finish our
delta was 9s. I was content with a 1:21 for the half-mary but the 1:20 and
second place would have been nice.
 |
| Heading out on my first loop. (#350 is doing the Olympic) |
And for the awards, well I know I got 3rd Overall
and 1st in the M30-39 Age group, but I have no clue what the awards are
or how many dollars I get - I don't really care, it's really just a nice bonus that'll hopefully cover the race entry fee and maybe a couple extra dollars. (The total prize purse is $5600) We were told to
stick around for the awards at 1300hrs which we did. Then at 1330hrs the awards
started. They did most of the Olympic division awards and then stopped. When we
inquired when the Half awards would be, they said later and after everyone was
finished the race. They also said that they would find a way to get the awards
to us if we didn’t stay. I went back later in the afternoon and helped tear
down most of the finish/transition area and there was still one person out on
the course and no awards. So I guess I’ll wait for a couple days and see if I
get an e-mail from the RD. Least to say I was not impressed.
 |
| Post Race Picture with Kyle Marcotte |
So will I be back to tackle the Chinook again...we'll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment