Finishing up my first full tri season

So the National Capital Tri went well last weekend (race report is up). In any race there's positives and negatives, and this one was no exception.

The positives:

• Really happy with my 6:17 swim time
• Improved on my best overall position (got into 7th place)

The negatives:

• The plan it take it a little easier on the bike in an effort to improve my run failed
• I had a relatively slow bike time and my run was pretty much the same as last time
• Didn't seem to make any significant improvements on my run
• Overall time was considerably slower than previous best

Now, every course is different, and every field of competitors is different too. So improving my overall placing could just be a reflection of a weaker field, or my slower overall time could be a reflection of a slower course. Both could be true - the Olympic distance event would likely have drawn some of the stronger racers; the bike leg of the course was indeed slower (traffic, turnarounds, and longer from T-zone to mount line than Smiths Falls). Comparing times with people who raced in Smiths Falls, everyone was slower on the bike.

The run is what it is though. Disappointing that I didn't seem to fare much better in this race, given that I am feeling stronger in training and came in (relatively) injury free. The 10K at next weekend's Oly in Brockville will be interesting. If I put 22:30 down for my 5K time, the McMillan Running calculator seems to think I can do the 10K in 46:44. That's running 10sec/km slower, which doesn't seem like much of a change of pace. And I will be coming off 1.5km of swimming and 40km of bike riding, so we'll see. If I come in under 50min for the 10K I'll be happy.

I'll be back to a normal taper routine this week after the fiasco leading up to the National Capital event. Looking forward to getting to this last race of the season fit, rested, and ready to test myself at the Olympic distance.