Everything has been going well since Belle River. I
recovered very quickly from the sprint distance race and went straight into a
good block of training before the Magog CAMTRI Triathlon.
My swimming was only feeling okay for the past few weeks but
my riding was feeling the best it ever has and my run has been coming along
nicely. Andrew Beardsall and I traveled to Magog with his parents on Wednesday
to keep the traveling as smooth as possible. I started feeling amazing in the
water once we got to Magog. One of the best prep sets in the pool I ever have
done was on the Thursday leading into the race! My biking was also feeling
really good; I even managed to crack my highest wattage ever while pre-riding
the bike course. I even had one of my best tempos running on the Tuesday
leading into the race.
Race morning was very relaxed for me. I felt more prepared
than I ever have going into a race. I really nailed the taper for the first
time in a while. It was a really good confidence booster and made the nerves
almost none existent the morning of the race. I got up super early as I always
do so that I could be alert and ready to race. My warmup went really well, and
I actually had enough time to get a solid swim warmup in which is always a huge
bonus.
PHOTO CREDITS: Maddy McMillan
The swim was okay for me. I had a pretty bad start, and I
really don’t think I could have come out of the water where I did if the race
had been another sprint. I didn’t make up much time until the last quarter of
the swim.
PHOTO CREDITS: Maddy McMillan
As I came out of the water I could see that I was right with
the leaders. I sprinted through transition, put my helmet on and got ready to
hammer the bike. Fortunately I was in lead pack before I knew it! It was a
pretty relaxed bike once our pack was established. I spent a lot of time up
front because of last year’s fall on the same course but I’m very pleased with
how my legs felt going into T2 even after working so much on the bike!
PHOTO CREDITS: Maddy McMillan
My T2 was really the only bad part of my race. I ended up
going down the wrong row and then my bike fell over, not once but twice.
Knowing it wasn’t going to stand up no matter what I did, I decided to leave it
hoping that the officials saw the effort I put in. I didn’t end up getting a
penalty so I’m happy I decided that after a second try it was no longer worth
it. Because I lost so much time going into transition I hammered out onto the
run course. I had to calm myself down and settle into a good pace hoping that
some of the people in front would come back to me. I tried to hold my form together
and hung tough for a 21st finish in a very competitive field in only
my second Olympic Distance race! I can’t confirm this but I believe I was 13th
overall in the Elite Men’s Nationals with this result and 10th in
the under 23 nationals.
PHOTO CREDITS: Maddy McMillan
I’m very happy with this result and I really look forward to
racing even more Olympic Distance races. This weekend I’ll be racing the
Ontario Draft Legal Provincials as a New Brunswicker. It should be another good
race and I really look forward to it.
Thanks to Andrew Beardsall and his parents for their
hospitality and for putting up with me all week. I’d also like to thank my
parents for coming out to watch me race for the first time in 2 years! Racing
at this level would not be possible without their support and the support of
Nineteen Wetsuits, Triathlon New Brunswick, Human Performance Centre, C3 and
Aberdeen Subaru.
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