Joel Maley: CAF Triathlon Championships 2015!

So I once again headed to Ottawa for the CAF Triathlon Nationals. It’s a great opportunity to race with the best short course athletes in the CAF, a great opportunity to see the CAF triathlon community, and an even better opportunity to visit family in Ottawa.

On Saturday morning I was up at 0430 for a quick breakfast of eggs, toast with jam, and a coffee in preparation for my Olympic (Standard) Distance Triathlon. I headed to Lac Leamy at 0530 with my parents and oldest sister Kelly for a 0700 race briefing and a 0715 race start. Compliments of the cooler weather over the last week it was a wetsuit swim…thankfully for me. My swim has not been great this year, but that is most certainly my fault for not being consistent enough in the pool.

As the horn went off at 0715 I did not get a very good start and did not catch a pair of feet. So I set out alone for the 2 x 750m swim course. The first loop felt good, but as I exited the water and re-entered for the second loop it was as if my head started throbbing, my heart rate skyrocketed, and I could tell I was overheating. I settled into an easier effort for a couple hundred meters and then slowly picked the pace back up. I managed to find a set of feet for the last couple hundred meters of the swim into shore. I saw 23:30 on my watch as I exited the swim (mat time 23:51). I knew the rest of the CISM guys were probably 2+minutes ahead of me.

A quick transition and it was onto the 8 x 5km loop bike course (not a very exciting course). I felt terrible on the bike during the first loop and was not overly impressed when I saw 8:30 on my bike computer as I completed the first loop. I ignored my power meter and race by feel. I pushed the second lap and was much happier to see 16:00 on the completion of the second loop. I figured I would do what I could on the bike and try and make up ground. I managed to reel Dave Dallin in after the 5^th loop, saw Alex Boule on the side of the road on the last lap (he had a flat tire) and then managed to reel Eric Travis in just prior to transition. Official Time 1:03:55 (includes both transitions). Actual time was closer to 1:02. 247W Average, 255W NP. Best power output in an Oly Race to date.

Onto the 4 x 2.5km run course trailing Marc, Phil, Martin, Dave Simpkin, and John. I knew I could reel in John and Marc but figured it unlikely that I could reel in Dave or Martin. Phil was running very fast and was putting a little time into me each lap. I managed to reel John in during the first lap, and finally caught Marc on the third lap. To my surprise I was making up serious ground on Martin. At the start of the last lap my Dad told me that Martin was just up the road. By the time we hit the turn-around Martin had a very small lead and I thought I had a real chance at catching him. With about 500m left I caught Martin and made sure to put in a big surge…I did not want to have to try and out sprint Martin. Dave on the other hand ran a strong race and held me off. Run time 35:36. A new Oly 10km run PB – surprised to say the least.

Final time 2:03:21. 3^rd in the CAF, 2^nd in M30-34, and 4^th Overall. Not my fastest time on this course, but considering I had estimated best case effort was 2:04 I was ecstatic with the result. A huge congrat to Phil Reynolds for pulling off his first CF Triathlon and Gatineau Triathlon win – well done buddy!