Triathlon Trois Rivieres - Race report

Today was my third Triathlon of the season, I woke up around 5AM to start the day. Prepared myself and grab some toast and oatmeal for breakfast. After that I finished packing the car, stopped by a coffee shop and then we drove 1h15 or so to the race.

Once there I stopped to get marked and grab my goody bag. Then I found a nice spot in the transition area and started getting ready slowly. It was still early, probably two hours to go before the start of the race so I was in no rush. Unpacked everything and I went inside to change into my racing clothes.

After that I went for a test drive around the track to see which corner were tricky and where I would have to push hard. I was a bit in a rush at that point because they were about to close to bike course because the Duathlon was starting an hour before us.

After my quick ride I went for a warm up run, and then headed to the pool, yeah the swim was in a huge outside pool. The pool was 100 x 50 yards, with the buoys inside it was probably something like 90 X 40 yards. We had to swim 3 times around the pool plus one length of 90 yards. that should give around 750 meters they said ;) According to my calculation it was more around 820 meters or so. So I went for a warm up, I did one lap around the pool. The water was not that warm, probably 68-70 and it was a no wetsuit swim which made it interesting.

After that I went to chat a little bit with my wife while watching the duathlon until the race director called us for the pre race meeting. Once we got there he gave us some explanation about the swim, bike and run courses and then we had to get ready. There was three waves of swimmers, but because it was in a pool they decided to wait until the women and relay finished their swim before letting the men start. The 34 and lower started first and then we jumped in the pool 2 minutes later for our start.

The swim was like most of my swim, by the time that I got out of the pool there was not that many people still in it, I would say 5 others swimmers were still in there to make me feel better about myself ;) Here's a proof of it, not like I think I need to prove that I almost finish last on my swim though ...

The run from the pool to the transition zone was long, according to my estimate I would say 200 meters or so. Once I reached my transition spot it went really fast. I was in and out in a couple of seconds, since I didn't have a wetsuit it really helped with the length of the T1. Got to my bike, put my glasses and helmet on and I was gone. I decided to let me shoes on the bike one more time to try and get better at it. It went really well today to be honest, I guess that practice finally give me some results.

After that I hammered the bike as much as I possibly could, the course was speedy and I knew that it was my place to gain some spot back. I don't think I got passed more then three times maybe. There was no hills at all, it was flat course with only one turn where we had to slow down more than the others. So I rode as fast as I could without even thinking about my legs for the run. It worked really well because I gained a ton of places on the bike. I had my new wheels on the bike and I can tell you that either they are really fast, or it's mental and it really works ;)

We had to do 8 laps on the track, which was around 21km from my bike computer. the race director said that it was 22.5km but I don't believe him ;) I was so fast that even the camera couldn't get a clear picture of me ...

I didn't see any incident but my wife told me that she saw three crashed on that turn, people were trying to gain every second possible there but it was not a good idea.

When I was about to finished the bike portion I removed my shoes on the bike and dismount right when we were entering the transition zone. One guy in front of me lost one shoe right there and he had to stop to get it. Transition 2 went really well too, I ran to my transition spot racked my bike, remove my helmet. Grabbed my 305, my race belt and a bottle of Cytomax to drink on the run and I was on my way to run that 5km to finish the day.

The run was four laps of 1.25 km each, easy run all flat. I had my fluid bottle on me so I didn't stop by any aid station except for one time to put some water on my head because it was getting hot out there. The run was ok, not my fastest but I gave everything I had left after that super bike leg.

For the entire duration of the competition I was sure that we would have rain, but it held up until we were done. Sadly for the other competitor who were racing later today the rain really started to get stronger after that we left.

Overall I am happy with what I did, I knew that the swim wouldn't be my best event but I am still happy with what I did. I really kicked ass on the bike, this is mostly where I am strong but today was better than any other competition I did so far. As for the run, the fact that I have been injured the last 6-7 weeks didn't help me. I guess I lost some speed if I compare with my results from earlier this spring.

Now I got to get ready for next week 90km ride on my relay team :)

Swim 750 meters / 820 yards : 15:27
Average : 2:04/100 meters
99/120 Overall - 9/10 Age group

Transition 1 : 1:14

Bike 22.5 km / 14 miles : 33:40
Average : 40.1 km/h - 24.9 mile per hour
14/120 Overall - 3/10 Age group

Transition 2 : 1:22

Run 5 km / 3.1 miles : 22:42
Average : 4:32 min/km - 7:17 min/mile
63/120 Overall - 8/10 Age group

Finish time 1:14:25
45/120 Overall - 7/10 Age group