What an interesting day July 13th turned out to be. Whether it be the unlucky omen of the number 13, or just pure misfortune, the morning of race day definitely hadn't gone as planned. In the days leading up to the race, everyone was keeping an eye on the weather network, praying and hoping that the forecasts would change in our favour. And waking up at 5:00 a.m. race day morning and looking out the window, things seemed hopeful. I was even so optimistic as to pack along my disc wheel in addition to my 3Sixty5 race wheels, in the event that I was 100% sure I would not get rained on. I have used my disc wheel a grand total of one time in the last 2 years because of unfavourable weather and course profiles... I even had it freshly decked out!
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| Hey @3sixty5c, I see a few good spots for some new decals!!! |
As we were driving down to Ontario Place, I was becoming even more hopeful that the rain would hold off. Clear skies as the sun broke the horizon welcomed us into the city. When we got to transition, I began to unpack my bags and set everything up in my tiny foot and a half wide section. Everything was set up perfectly (thankfully I had remembered to bring everything this time unlike Welland) and decided to make one last trip to the port-o-potty. When I exited the outhouse, however, I was absolutely gutted. In the time it had taken me to do my business, the sky had completely opened up and torrential downpour flooded transition. I rushed back to my gear at slot 260 to find my meticulously placed equipment fully drenched. I had never raced in unfavourable weather, so to have this first in this hurricane like weather was definitely an interesting experience. With the announcer informing us the first wave was to leave in 15 minutes, barring lightning, I had to think FAST! With a little improvising and a lot of hoping I rearranged my stuff as best I could given the situation. My biggest worry was my running gear. I flopped my shoes upside down and shoved all of my gear into them. Figured the rubber soles would partially keep my GPS watch and socks dry. It turned out to do the trick.
At the race briefings the previous day, the presenter mentioned the water temperature was in the low teens (12-15 degrees Celsius). I didn't think anything of it and thought since I had my wetsuit I would be fine... I. WAS. SO. WRONG.
Water temperature on race day was between 13 and 15 degrees Celsius and as the waves before me hopped into the water, the inhumanly noises that came from them got me worrying. It was like an ice bath - even worse because normally it is just your lower body being exposed to the frigid water. I have circulation problems as it is - my fingers, toes and lips turn an unhealthy shade of purple in the most slightly chilled environments, so this polar bear plunge was a real shock to the system. Within the first 10 minutes or so of the swim I was battling the deepest urge to drop out. The coldness was overtaking my body and I could not breathe. My lungs were constricting and my chest refused to expand to inhale any air. To make matters worse, the waves were pretty rough, often getting right in my face at every attempt I made to breathe. It was like I forgot how to swim. It was just a battle to stay afloat and with around 100 other athletes swimming on top of you, beside you and clawing at your feet all fighting to get a good position into the first buoy, it was not a fun place to be. I later learned nearly 30 athletes were forced to drop out of the race due to hypothermic symptoms from the icy water. After the initial shock in the first 10 minutes, I got into my rhythm and "warmed up" so to speak. I had finished the swim in 29:40. Much slower than I would have liked but given the circumstances, I was just glad to have made it out.
I think the look on my face exiting the water says it all. Not much you can do about it but laugh it off and focus on the next task at hand.
By T1, the rain had stopped, thankfully for the rest of the duration of my race but the damage had been done. The course was slick and wet. The puddles on the Gardner and DVP concealed the massive potholes within, leaving you to tuck and pray that the puddles that you did hit were just shallow bumps. Luckily I ran into no mechanicals and manoeuvered the slick course without a hitch. I did run over some gnarly potholes and bumps in the road, but my trusty 3Sixty5 wheelset got me through safely.
The only real impact the rain turned out to have on my day was the use of my cycling computer. I recently purchased an iBike Newton power meter. It is an all-in-one head unit that uses non-direct measurements to calculate power output. The major contributor being opposing wind forces. I absolutely love it and swear by it. The drawback to this device is unless you purchase their proprietary external wind sensor, rain may damage the built in rain sensor thus destroying your $400 device. So when the rain fell in buckets before my race, I quickly removed it and tucked it deep into my bag for safe keeping. This left me without any indication whatsoever on my performance on the bike. Much like my Welland run, I was going into this leg of my race blind. Also like Welland, however, it turned out to be another personal best split. Over the 40km, I averaged 37km/h finishing in a time of 1h04min, beating my split from the previous year by ~4 minutes. I had the fastest bike split in my age group. Maybe this technology-free racing is the way to go?
Glad to have made it through the bike in one piece, a quick transition into damp socks and I was off to make up the ground I had thought I had lost in the swim and bike. It is a race, so I always look to find fellow athletes in my age group from the markings on the back of their calves. Given my swim, I wasn't surprised to see how many were ahead of me on the bike and run. I passed a few on the bike, and even more on the run. I wasn't sure of my position, or even how many people were in my AG, but I gave it all on the run.
I came in with a total time of 2h21min with a 42:22 10km run. Knowing that so many of my AG competitors were on my tail kept me on edge. I had the second fastest run in my AG which I was pretty pleased with as well.
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| One of my favourite action shots- shows the real suffering by the end of a tough race |
I finished 50th overall out of ~530 entrants which was good enough for 2nd in the 20-24 AG. It was a pretty good result considering being 20 y/o myself, marks me as one of the youngest. If I had had a better swim and been able to adapt to the elements a little quicker, 1st place was definitely within my grasps. But shoulda, woulda, coulda right? I have my goals set on next year for a top 30 overall and to win my AG.
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| We got flowers! Fancy! |
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| Of course when its all said and done, the sun comes out and not a trace of rain |
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