This was the first race where I really got to implement my new DIY nutrition plan, using homemade energy/electrolyte drinks. Basically: a cup of green tea an hour before the race; around 300ml of water/lemonade/maltodextrin 20 minutes before the race; and around 425 ml of water/lemonade/maltodextrin/nuun tablet on the bike. No gels. No nutrition after getting off the bike. And it worked well. I never felt lacking in energy, and I didn't have any GI distress. It didn't end up being as hot as I had thought it might be, so if anything I could have consumed less fluid on the bike I think and still been fine.
As the swim is in the river, there is a current. In 2015 the current was pretty strong - everything felt fast and easy on the way down, but after the turnaround it was a struggle just to make forward progress. In 2016, water levels were lower, and the current wasn't nearly as noticeable. With the spring we've had this year however, I was anticipating much higher water levels and a return to the strong current of 2015. Getting in for the warmup proved this assumption correct.
Swim
This was the most congested swim I've ever done. Part of this may be because I didn't start in the front row, and so had to swim through quite a few people over the first few hundred meters. But I never really go into clear water. I'm used to finding some feet to tuck in behind, but each time I did this, I'd get boxed in on either side, squeezed in, or cut off. It was hard to get into a good rhythm with the constant body contact - colliding arms with people, getting whacked, having my leg pulled, etc. - as well as having to constantly poke my head up in order to make sense of what was going on around me and see if a) there was any clear water nearby and b) are we even heading in a straight line to the next buoy? I don't even really know how straight a line I swam - I couldn't really keep focused on the next buoy, and in any case was unable to adjust my trajectory as I was boxed in all the time. I felt like the exertion level was where it needed to be, but the technical side (drafting, sighting, maintaining good form) suffered.
The result was a significantly slower swim than last year (Swim + T1 this year was 12:11 to last year's 10:26). Now part of this is definitely the current - sure it helps you on the way down, but you lose more on the way back up. Swim times were down across the board. Here's a look at some comparison times from guys who did both years.
| Swims | 2017 | 2016 | slower by |
| Brock | 0:11:28 | 0:10:00 | -14.67% |
| Jeff | 0:12:22 | 0:10:55 | -13.28% |
| Markus | 0:11:26 | 0:11:13 | -1.93% |
| Me | 0:12:11 | 0:10:26 | -16.77% |
So yes, everyone was slower. But I did worse than average. So while probably the majority of my slow swim is due to the current, some of that is on me and my inability to properly manage the congestion. Note that Markus put about the same amount of time into me out of T1 (about 45s) as I put into him last year.
Swim + T1: 12:11
15/90
Bike
Out onto the bike course I was passed pretty early on by Jeff, who I then passed back while he seemed to be making some adjustments, only to be passed back by him again for good within a couple of minutes. He wasn't going that much faster than me, but was slowly building a gap. In retrospect I really wish I had of made the effort to stick with him - not to draft off him but to keep him within striking distance. I knew that I wasn't going to have gained any speed since Perth 3 weeks ago, but I still had a wattage target in mind - roughly the same as last year. Unfortunately I still fell short of this target, and ended up with pretty similar power numbers to Perth (where I also fell below target). Looking back I know I could have/should have held my target wattage, but I was second guessing my RPE and was too worried about getting to the run with overcooked legs. Entering T2 Jeff had put 22s into me. I don't think it would have taken a whole lot extra out of me to stay with him, but I'll never really know.
Bike: 31:52
7/90
Run
Here's where it gets interesting. I headed out onto the run in 9th position. The cool thing about the run course in Smiths Falls is there are two out-and-back loops, the first one being 1km in, and the second with about 1km remaining. As you approach the first one, you'll see the race leaders running back the other way. You see who's in front of you, by how much, and what they look like. Some guys are flying, and you know "No way I'm catching that guy." And in previous years, I never really thought I'd catch anyone anyways. I was always more worried about seeing who was coming up behind me after the turnaround, because as a weak runner, I was the one being passed. But as shown in my performance at this year's Perth Triathlon, my running has come a long way. So while I was still worried about being passed by some fast runners, I also held out some hope that I could reel in some of the dudes ahead of me.
Within the first kilometer I had already moved up a position. Jeff was moving up too, and as he passed me going the other way at the turnaround, I wondered if I might be able to catch him. Is he a fast runner? We'll find out. In the meantime I had two other guys to pass (including Markus, whose lead I had cut to 20s at the start of the run). After the turnaround I got within sight of them again just before the halfway point. They were pretty close together, and slowly but surely I made up ground on them, passing them in quick succession. The two of them ran together for pretty much the rest of the race, and glances over my shoulder showed them to be holding an uncomfortably close distance. At the final out-and-back I saw that they were still close enough that if they had saved anything in their legs for a final sprint, they might catch me. That provided some good motivation for me to give that last kilometer a solid final push. In the end I finished about 25s ahead of them, and about 45s short of Jeff.
T2 + Run: 20:58
7/90
Now if I had gotten off the bike with Jeff, that 45s would be down to 23s, and if I could have then run 4.5s/km faster than what I did, we'd have been in a sprint finish together. I'd like to think that the motivation of having him right there would have encouraged me to put myself deeper into the hurt locker and run that much harder. In the end I didn't suffer as much on the run as I often do, so I think I did leave a little time out on the course. Ultimately I came within 7 seconds of breaking 20 minutes off the bike, a milestone I'd really hoped to achieve this year.
Final Time: 1:05
1/3 M35-39
6/90 Overall
1) Race tactics. You can do the race as an individual time trial, but that's not what the pros do at any distance. They adjust their pacing based on what their competitors are doing. Sometimes that means going harder than you had planned, but this can bring out strong performances as you get pushed to dig deeper. Would I have blown up trying to stay with Jeff? Maybe, but in retrospect I wished I had tried. I think I'd regret blowing up and finishing in 8th less than I regret my more conservative 6th place.
2) The bike leg in a sprint tri should not be comfortable. Push the effort level.
3) Starting the swim in the front row can be quite advantageous.
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