Here's my race recap for the Dallas CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon, that actually ended up being a duathlon. I knew I was going to be racing in Dallas ever since the schedule came out in January. With only a few North American races this year it was a given that I should be racing here in Dallas. Unfortunately when I flew in on Wednesday I found out right away that there had been some issues with the lake we were supposed to swim in. Texas had experienced some really bad flooding leading into the race, which caused some raw sewage to go into the lake. This made the race directors and ITU officials change our race to a 5km run, 20km bike and a 2.5km run. Although I was more than ready to race a triathlon, a duathlon seemed to be a new challenge leading into the race. I've never officially raced a duathlon (that being said I'm not sure I've raced an unofficial duathlon either), so I was pretty nervous going into the race.
The last few days leading into the race I was feeling very good about my swim, bike and run. I wasn't sure how a run, bike, run effort would play out but I was sure I was going to give it my best. I didn't really change much leading into the race and I still felt good when I toed the line. After a good, very hot warmup I felt ready to race as hard as I could.
As soon as the run started it felt like I could barely hang on to the whole field. The first mile was fast but everyone seemed to be together so I was trying to not let them pull away. This was really tough but I gave it what I had in my legs, which unfortunately wasn't enough to make lead pack, or even chase pack. It was hot and humid and with the excitement and dehydration, I think I threw my water bottle past the littering zone which ended up costing me 10 seconds after the bike.
When I got onto the bike I tried to work with the few athletes I was riding up to but eventually just rode away from them and solo'ed the majority of the bike. It was very difficult to push the power I can normally push when I get out of the water after that first run. Fortunately, it was pretty uneventful on my part, just a very hot ride. I used my power meter more than I ever have in a draft legal race but I was very thankful to be able to pace with it!
When I hopped off the bike I just tried to run within myself catching up to one or two people during the run. I didn't want to let the heat get to me but the penalty almost took a placing. That being said, I sprinted past them in the last 200m after the penalty box and my body locked up as soon as I crossed the line.
I'm not super pleased with the result but considering there was no swim and I had no one to work with on the bike I'm glad that I still ended up placing 24th. I know that I still have a lot of work to do on the run and this race definitely reaffirmed that. I'll be back in Hamilton on Monday night, and ready to get back to training hard.
Thank you to my homestay here in Texas! Morgan and Read Hoffman have been great to me while I've been in Texas. I've enjoyed my stay here and I hope to come to race in Dallas again. I also got introduced to Snow Cones which are the most amazing cold snack when you're dehydrated! I would also like to thank everyone at Playtri who organized the race. I know it must have been really hard to deal with the water problems and the race still exceeded my expectations!
Thanks to Nineteen Wetsuits, C3, Triathlon New Brunswick, Human Performance Centre, Aberdeen Subaru and everyone else that has supported me in 2015! I look forward to racing again soon and appreciate your support!
