2019

Haven't done one of these in a while. The 2019 season triathlon season has ended, and I decided to put out some thoughts on how it went for anyone interested.

I must throw out some honorable mentions to everyone who helped make this summer possible. Firstly, my Dad, who was at every race and helped make travel, accommodations, and all that stuff way easier than if I was a solo lad. As well for just making good memories that will last forever. My Mom who held down the fort but was also able to make it out to races that worked with the good old work schedule. Finally, my Coach James who kept me consistent throughout the season and ready to rip (aka race) almost every weekend this summer.

My season started in May down in Richmond, Virginia. I always find the timing of this race to be a tough one due to just finishing exams in April, which tends to compromise training and not allow for the best of lead ups. However, I felt I handled everything well heading into this race and was ready for a solid performance. This was my third time racing here and I had yet to lay down a result I was proud of. I managed a solid swim, roaming around the back end of the top twenty. A group of eight athletes got away but we were able to reel them in around the 15k mark of the bike and made a group of just over twenty athletes. The chase pack was never too far from us and I knew there were some solid runners who would likely run me down. Dismounting lead pack and starting the run top fifteen was good and I didn’t have a great run, but still a decent one holding onto seventeenth place, one of my best Continental Cups finish to date.

After a solid training block, a massive racing block approached from the end of June to late July. The first race of this block was a local race in Guelph where I was able to put out a solid all-around performance and sneak a win. This was a good tune-up heading into the most competitive Continental Cup I had raced to date in Montreal. Many strong international athletes came to this race, likely due to the string of Continental Cups that were to be offered in Canada following this race. I knew I was fit heading into this and raced quite well here. I swam well and made the main pack, there was a breakaway of three athletes off the front followed by our massive pack of over thirty. The bike course was on the streets of old Montreal and was very challenging to race in such a massive pack. The number of surges out of corners and U-turns really crushed the run legs, but this made positioning within the pack that much more important. I felt I did a bad job at this and need to race more confidently around these guys or else I’ll just get pushed around and moved to the back like I did in this race. The run was a battle from the first step and I’ve never been in such a close race where I finished twenty-seventh, which I was pleased with giving the depth of field, and could see twelfth within a minute of me after almost an hour of racing.

Up next was Nationals in Kelowna, British Columbia, which was a two-day format of super sprint semi-finals followed by finals the next day. Heading into this race I was quite a happy little lad, where all three of my races thus far had gone quite well. Unfortunately, I could not make it four. I have no excuse as to why this weekend of racing went so poorly. I simply was flat on both days, potentially due to the fatigue from travelling out west and the race from the previous weekend, but I need to handle that better if that was the reason.

Moving past this disappointing weekend, the reset button had to be pressed asap, another Continental Cup in Magog, Quebec was on tap (the following weekend). This was another loaded field and I’d say it was very similar quality to that of the Montreal race. As Kelowna was, it was a two-day format, where the top nine from the three heats and the next three fastest times would make up the thirty man ‘A’ final. I knew this would be hard, but I felt it was a realistic goal and I was able to make it in. Was super stoked on this and had my best run off the bike in ages in the process. Making ‘A’ final guaranteed me ITU points which was another goal I had for this race. In the ‘A’ final I had a decent swim and was going to make the second group on the bike. But once I hopped on my bike, I realized my front tire was flat, I tried to make it to the wheel station but crashed on the U-turn before it and was at the back of the field by that point. Tough pill to swallow for sure, but sometimes these things are out of your control and all you can do is move on. I was happy with my first day of racing here and knew I did all I could.

To finish off this racing block I did the Ontario Cup Series race in Toronto where I took second and had a strong race, but just couldn’t hang with the leader on the run for very long. The day before this O-Cup I was on the Loaring Personal Coaching relay team where we were able to win the Club Relay Provincial title.

Following this block of racing my focus shifted to Provincials. This was a big race for me, despite the smaller field and it being less competitive relative to racing Continental Cups, it’s still a very important race to perform at. The main reason for this being that this is a race used for Quest for Gold funding and a solid result here sets you up nicely for receiving this funding.

Prior to Provincials I was lucky enough to get to do a mini training camp in Collingwood with some LPC teammates (Ben Rudson, Jackson Laundry, and Stephen Blankenship). The camp went well, and the body was ready for the final few races of the season.

I competed at the Provincial Club Championships in Wasaga Beach and was able to snag the win there, as well at the Provincial Aquathon Championships. Both these events were good tune-ups heading into Provs. I was confident and knew I was ready heading into this. The race started ok; however, I allowed a gap in the swim to open unintentionally. I was swimming in fifth place and thought I was lead pack, but one athlete got off the front starting the bike and stayed away throughout the ride. Our group of four athletes got caught by the chasing pack and the ride was relatively un-eventful following this. I was happy with my positioning on the ride, where I managed to stay near the front on all U-turns, saving a lot of energy for the run. Beginning the run, I had a bad T2 and got a penalty (bike fell off the rack) and had to work hard to bridge to the lead athletes. I got myself into third and was feeling good. I then got dropped by the lead athlete about 2km into the run and was running with another athlete, fighting for second. I was able to drop this athlete and was firmly in second. The athlete leading the race is a much better runner than me to be fair and an athlete I have a great deal of respect for. I tried my best to keep him in range in case he blew up, but there were no signs of this, and I came home in second (served my penalty and had enough of a gap to hold on). I was stoked on this result and it was a great way to end the season. I was top U23 across the line and second overall. Vibes were good.

To wrap this up, I’m happy with how this season went and the consistency it brought with it. It’s a big step for me and I look forward to a little off-season time and then to start building into the 2020 season where the goals will be similar, the main one being to have a good time trying to be better every race.