For the two duathlons I've entered prior to this race, I've come in with the expectation I'd be racing for the chance at the overall win. I knew what sort of times I could put up, and knew based on the previous year's winning time that I was capable of eclipsing that. And in both cases, while I did deliver what would have been a winning time, a superior athlete showed up and absolutely schooled me. In this race however, I held no illusions that I'd be competing for the overall win.
I knew it was pretty likely defending champ Adric would show up, and after racing him in Sydenham knew that he was on a completely different level from me. Beyond that I had the general expectation that an MSC race would attract an overall higher caliber field, with people coming up from Southern Ontario and the GTA to race. Once Sportstats published the start list, I saw that this was true. Elite level racer Billy Bostad was on the list, and seemed to be the odds on favourite for the win. Other fast racers from the MSC series like Tim Doris (consistent podium finisher who can rip a fast bike and run in the 3:40/km range both before and after) and Randy Cornelisse (who is literally never off the overall podium), as well as a host of other dudes who are used to competing in more competitive races than me. Other than Adric, the only other name I recognized as competing against in the past was Jeff - who beat me at the Smiths Falls Triathlon last year and I really lamented playing it safe rather than racing him (you can read that race report here). Jeff, who won the Smiths Falls Duathlon this year, is also in my age group, so not only would he be an interesting benchmark, but I would be racing him for the Age Group win.
Sydenham had not been a satisfying race for me. I left time on the table, and even though executing a perfect race wouldn't have put me close to contending for the overall win, I didn't perform to my best, and that stung a little. It's frustrating when your head lets your body down. Granted, I hadn't really tapered into that race, so I wasn't in peak fitness, but still, I know I could have done better, and that was more due to execution than to fitness.
For this race, there was some pressure off since I knew I was not competing for the overall win. All I really wanted to do was race the way I knew I was capable of. A few years back at the National Capital race, then OTC head coach Geordie McConnell was delivering the orientation speech and said something along the lines of "you've put in the work in training, the difficult part is behind you, now is the time to express your fitness". That speech resurfaced in my mind as this race approached - I wasn't going to do this race in pursuit of a particular result, I was going to do this race to express my fitness. The result would be what it would be, and whatever that was I would be happy as long as I knew that I had raced my best race.
Run #1 (4km)
My goal going into this leg of the race was to hold at least 4:00/km. This was something I had failed to do in Sydenham, despite that run being half the distance. Having run my last open 5K road race in 19:16, I know I can hold 4:00 kilometers, it's just a matter of having the confidence to run that fast when you know you still have 30km of biking and another 7.2km of running to do after that. When the race went off, as usual, a pretty significant number of guys went up the road right away. I ran what seemed like a comfortably hard pace, but after about 300m I checked my watch and saw I was running at 3:30/km pace. Despite this, a good chunk of the field, including Jeff, was running away from me. 3:30/km was not in the race plan, though, so I dialed it back. The course had a couple of little ups and downs before turning onto a path along the waterfront, so it took a while to find a rhythm. By the turnaround, holding my goal pace started to require focus, but I concentrated on form and breathing and stuck with it. Entering the final kilometer I noticed that Jeff had come into view ahead of me and I was gaining ground. We ended up coming into the t-zone together, behind about 6 other guys. I ended up pacing the run pretty consistently, averaging 3:57/km. Goal #1 accomplished.
Time: 15:50 (7/42)
Bike (30km)
After a sub-minute transition time (another goal) I was out onto the bike course. The pavement was a little bumpy to begin with and by the time I got into my shoes and finished fumbling with my bike computer, the causeway bridge was upon me. The race organizers had warned that this metal grated bridge should be ridden with extreme caution, so I sat up and coasted across.
Once on the other side, the race began. Lots of other athletes in other races out on the course, so as per usual I must have yelled "on your left!" at least two dozen times. The pavement was nice and smooth with a wide paved shoulder, and the course was open to traffic, so there was no dealing with groups of people riding abreast. The race briefing had been pretty clear about drafting and blocking penalties too, so in general people were well behaved. The course had its share of hills - there really were not that many flat stretches. Some of the hills were pretty significant too - once again I used every gear in my 1x11 drivetrain.
My main disappointment with Sydenham was not pushing hard enough on the bike. I kept repeating the mantra of "push the pace" and kept things a step beyond comfortably hard. As with Sydenham, it was hard to focus on holding a steady pace with all the hills, and I did have a few softpedalling situations resulting from interactions with other athletes, but overall I kept my foot on the gas. I held more power (and over a longer distance) than Sydenham, though I still didn't hit my target for average power. I didn't feel like I left much time on the table, however, as I really was pushing it, and I think this was the probably mainly due to the hard 4k that had preceded the bike. I've done lots of runs after a hard bike ride in training, but I've never actually done a bike after a hard run (other than in races) so maybe I should incorporate that into my training. In any case, towards the end my legs were feeling it and I was wondering how I was going to run after this.
With so many other athletes from other races out there, I really didn't have much of a sense of where I was position-wise. I knew I had passed one or two duathletes, and as it turns out I was in 5th off the bike. While the power wasn't quite there, the RPE was, so I was satisfied with my execution. I delivered the 3rd best bike split behind only Billy and Adric, so I'll take that as validation of a solid performance.
Time: 50:37 (3/42)
Run #2 (7.2km)
By this time I had been redlining it for over an hour, and the temperature/humidity was getting up there. There's an interesting mix of "only one more leg to go" and "holy smokes this is going to be rough". Once out on the run I was immediately hit with the feeling of super heavy legs - "ah yes, there's those duathlon legs I was missing in the last race." So another sign that I had been racing the right way so far. As I pushed out onto the run, I reminded myself of two things: 1) the legs will come around and 2) don't worry about the pace you're holding, just do the best you can. It was around this time, less than a kilometer in, that I passed Tim, who was stretching out a cramp on the side of the road. I knew Tim could really easily outrun me, so I was wondering if he would get going again and pass me. I had pencilled him in as the third place finisher before the race, so I acknowledged the chance that I was now running for third place. With brutally hot/humid conditions and some hills to contend with, it definitely got tempting to ease up a few times but the notion that I might have had a top-3 finish and let it slip away kept me pushing through. I wasn't going to finish this race with any regrets.
By now I know my body well enough to know I can't really consume anything on the run. I had consumed plenty of fluid/calories on the bike, so as usual the aid stations were for water on my head. Through the first half of the run, I passed a few runners, and a few passed me, though no one in the duathlon. I had seen Billy and Adric coming back the other way, but so far no one else. As we came down the hill at the prison, just before the final turnaround, I saw Randy coming up the hill. Once I hit the turnaround and the final aid station, I knew I was running in 4th. I saw how fast Randy had run that first 4k, and I had been averaging like 4:40/km up until that point, so did not feel like catching Randy was going to happen. I took a shot of Glycodurance at the aid station anyways to hopefully give me a little boost for the final 3.6km. Not necessarily all that smart considering a) I've never tried this product before and b) I already know my stomach shuts down during hard running. But it was a very small amount (literally a mouthful), and I figured I could use the carbs. Turns out it was pretty light and relatively flavourless, and caused no stomach issues, so it all worked out well.
Coming up the hill I saw Tim, right around the same place Randy had passed me. "You going to catch me?" I asked, and he chuckled. It wasn't a big gap - a few hundred meters, and Tim was easily capable of making up that gap over a couple of kilometers. Fear can be a good tailwind, and the approaching finish line lets you turn up the dial on your suffering since you know it will be all over soon. I ran the last 3km of the race all under 4:20/km, passing back a few people who had passed me in the "out" section.
Here you can see my heart rate graph for the run and that I really did turn it up in the second half. I finished strong and came in for a fourth place finish.
Time: 32:35 (5/42)
I was pretty gassed at the finish line. It was a tough day out there, and, as with the first two legs, I didn't feel like I left any time out on the course. I averaged 4:30/km for the second run, which is not that fast, but given that a) this was after 67 minutes of hard biking and running b) the humidex was over 40 degrees and c) the course was far from flat, that's an OK pace. Adjusted for the heat/humidity, that's more like a 4:15/km pace in normal conditions anyways. So goal #3 accomplished, and a successful race overall. I had hoped to break 1:40, but given the nature of the weather and the course, I'll totally take 1:41.
Final time: 1:41:00
4/42 Overall
1/4 AG
I was very happy with my race. My mental game was on, and I raced confidently. Two interesting benchmarks in the form of guys I've raced before. The first was Jeff, who both outbiked and outran me in Smiths Falls last year. I flipped the script on that in this race, so nice to get some redemption there. The second is Adric, who dominated the Sydenham Du a month ago. Here's a look at those two races, head-to-head:
So, at least in comparison to Adric, a much better performance from me in Kingston. A solid way to end the season.
Lessons learned:
1) The difference between "training through" a race and tapering can be significant
2) Racing short course multisport is a balance of racing each leg fearlessly, but also properly pacing
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