Ups and Downs

More than half way through the season now and decided to throw out a quick blog post. This season has had quite a few downs with a couple major disappointments, but after the biggest L of the season I feel things are

back on track, as I've been quite happy with how my last two races went.

I started out the season in Richmond, Virginia. This race was my first ever CAMTRI/U23 race and was just looking to gain experience. I went into the race with a bit of a hip problem and was just hoping it wouldn't flare up. I've never been in this situation before, as I've been fortunate enough to have not ever had a significant injury. The swim was a shocker where it felt like the pace never slowed, as it had in my past junior races and I came out of the water further back than expected, but still made chase pack on the bike. As soon as I dismounted though I knew today wasn’t my day and made the decision to pull out and not run the risk of worsening my hip. Immediately after this I made sure to go to physio and I’m now on a strength program that has helped with this problem significantly and have had no further problems with my hip.

Next race was a Quebec Grand Prix in Joliette, where I was hoping just to put everything together more or less. The swim started off perfect where I hopped onto to training mate Garrick Loewen’s feet and was in fourth, however the lad in second (just ahead of Garrick) didn’t follow the course and Garrick, myself, and a few others did stay on course, but this was the longer route and cost us a lot of positions. We exited the water and were left to chase. It ended up that I made the pack I would’ve but had to work a lot harder to do so. The main thing was that I feel our pack could’ve been much smaller as we were likely to come out at the sharp end of the race and Garrick being one of the strongest riders in the field may have been able to get a smaller group of us away. We dismounted in what was essentially the lead pack with one wild man off the front (Alexis Lepage), who is a class athlete. The run was rough, legs didn’t agree with me, and made my way in, but not exactly fast. Finished 12th with a disappointing run, but good swim and bike.

This year Nationals was in the nations capital (Ottawa if you don’t know). Was not a huge fan of the format, where day one was a super sprint in heats format (300m swim, 7km bike, 1.6km run), and if you qualified for day two it was a sprint race. Felt ready to race and was keen to rip with some fast fellas. The first swim turn buoy was only about 100m away from the start and let’s just say that it was physical. A lot of guys in the heat hit the buoy at the same time and I didn’t handle things well. My heart rate felt out of control and stroke frantic. I came out of the water behind the small front group, but ahead of training mate Jackson Laundry (he can ride a bike fast). I hopped on Jack’s wheel once he caught me and held on for about 5 of the 7 kilometers, but unfortunately just didn’t have that high-end pace to hang in. Once dropped I knew I was basically screwed. There was no one to bike with and I was completely drained with nothing to give in the legs. Still ran ok but didn’t qualify to race the next day. This was potentially the toughest day I’ve had in triathlon in terms of how disappointed and frustrated I felt post race. Training had been going well leading into this race and I was hoping for big things and didn’t execute at all. Confidence was feeling low after this race, but I just got back into training and kept things rolling till the next go.

I decided to do a local race in Welland, where a couple fast guys were racing and I was just using this race as an opportunity to execute a good race. The swim was perfect as I swam at the front with one other guy and came out right with him, exiting T1 in second and rode in that position till about 5k where Mike Lori caught me and we rode near each other (non-draft race) till about 17km where he gapped me, as I thought he would. I dismounted after a successful bike and ran the best I have all year. The run just clicked and this was a big confidence boost heading into an important race.

Des Moies, Iowa was a huge focus for me this year and I really needed to have a good performance to keep the vibes strong. Let’s just say it was a hot one. 37 Celsius at race start made the swim a little muggy, but still swam ok and made chase pack, which I was happy with for this quality of field. The lead pack was tiny as there was a crash that took out a few guys who were likely to make lead pack. The bike was good and the focus was to pull my turns and keep cool, as every lap I poured water on myself. The run was insanely hot with no where to hide. I was stoked with how things were going until about 3km. I was in 15th place I believe at this point, which I was super happy with and if I could maintain it I knew it would be an awesome day. Unfortunately, I blew up bad, the heat was too much for this little fella and the last 2k were not pretty. This racing is so close that I found a way to lose 7 places in 2k. Finished 22nd which I was still happy with regardless. Overall this was a successful trip and really gave me confidence that I’m able to race with these lads and I look forward towards future opportunities racing at this level. The main focus in these big races at this point is just to gain experience and learn for future opportunities where I can get the chance to improve upon past performances, and I feel I was able to execute a strong race here and identify major areas to focus on and improve upon.

My next race is an Ontario Cup Series race in Toronto on July 23rd. The last two races have been solid and training is going well. The group I’ve been with is full of awesome mates and I’ve learnt a lot from them and look forward to continuing the process with them. I’ve split my training between training with this group (LPC Hurdle Project) and myself in Durham. It’s not ideal training at home by myself, but that’s how it is right now, but I try and come to Guelph as much as possible.

Will be posting soon on how the next few races go. Thanks for the read.