National Capital Sprint Triathlon 2015

I knew I wanted to include this race as part of my tri season since there was an element of "unfinished business" - the National Capital Triathlon was my first multisport event last summer. A knee injury kept me from running, so while the swim-cycle event was fun and instilled a love of multiport, it did leave me wanting to do the proper triathlon.

The weather had been really hot, and there was a chance of thundershowers in the forecast, but thankfully the heat wasn't quite as stifling as it had been earlier in the week and the rain clouds never materialized. On the contrary - I have a nice sunburn pattern on my back left by my tri-suit to attest the sunniness of the day.

Awesome once again to have my girls on hand to cheer me on. They are the main reason why I do this and it feels great to hear "Go Daddy!"

This is a very big race with Olympic, Sprint, Super-Sprint, and Try-a-Tri events, plus various relays, Duathlons, and running races. The T-zone is huge. Lots of great energy though and tons of first-timers in a very supportive environment.

The swim course is really nice with the start and exit on a sandy beach. The water was very warm, though I still wore my wetsuit as I'm significantly faster in it. As with Smiths Falls I went out front early on to avoid any traffic and found myself in the lead pack heading to the first buoy. I got to work on drafting which was cool, though by the time we made the turn the two guys in front had pulled away and I was on my own for the main stretch. About 3/4 of the way through I felt hands on my feet repeatedly, so someone had been drafting me for a while. They eventually made the pass along with a couple of other people, so I got to draft off them all the way to the finish.

The timing mats are at the exit of T1 so you don't tend to get a swim split at these events - your time on Sportstats gives you the swim plus T1. So far I've always wondered what my swim splits were and have had to estimate them based on what I think my transition time was (I don't swim with a watch on). At this event though there is a volunteer at the swim exit calling out your time, and my time was 6:17! Super happy with that time as it equates to a 1:16/100m pace, proving how much faster I am in a wetsuit (and perhaps the benefit of drafting).

T1 went well but I had a terrible time getting clipped into my pedals at the mount line. I don't know what happened by it was brutal. The bike course is okay - two 10km out-and-back loops down Col. By which has a few cracks and bumps but is decently smooth. The course is closed to traffic which is great. I had forgotten from last year just how busy this course can be though. With so many events going on simultaneously, and so many first-timers, things can get a little sketchy. Packs of middle aged women on mountain bikes, though technically "drafting" doesn't bother me, but when they ride side by side, or on the left side of the road, then it becomes a problem to safely pass them. One particular turnaround was very congested - it's nice that this event is so easy-going and welcoming, but it's frustrating for the minority of people who are actually racing the event rather than simply participating.

I wasn't all that happy with my bike ride - it went okay but the traffic and turnarounds meant I never really found a rhythm. At the end of ride I felt like a could have pushed a little harder - my time was significantly slower than Smiths Falls - which may have had to do with my less-than-ideal taper week.

T2 went well and the run was what it was - a 5km effort is not fun, and I'm pretty sure I didn't break 22min which had been my goal. The run course is nice enough, almost half on paved pathway through the park then a mix of sidewalk and roadway. The congestion wasn't a problem like it was on the bike since it was easy enough to run around people doing the side-by-side thing.

Overall it was mixed day - I was very happy with my swim, not so happy with the bike, and although I missed my goal time for the run, I gave it my best shot and couldn't have run any faster. I also fell short of my goal to beat my overall time from Smiths Falls, but I realize that every course is different - the bike course was definitely slower on this one, for example.

Goals:
1) Improve upon PB time
2) Run under 22min
3) Place inside top 10

Time: 1:11:57
Rank: 1/13 AG, 7/169 OA