RR - Squamish Triathlon

Race Report

The days before the triathlon found me at physio appointments. Not exactly encouraging but I was doing what I could to get my calf and other leg issues fixed. On Saturday I tried to run and it was pretty damned painful. Every step hurt like hell. I panicked and asked someone if they could do the run for our relay team because I was so positive that I wouldn't be able to do it. Thankfully that person politely declined. Then I went home and cried about it. Then I put myself down for a nap and when I woke up I felt much better and a little more optimistic. Yes I missed my nap and I was cranky.


On race day I got up, had half of a bagel and a latte from Starbucks (coffee on race day is very important!) and off I went to Don Ross to meet up with my cyclist and to get myself checked in. I saw lots of people that I knew and met up with KM* who was good enough to drive up from Vancity to ride the bike portion of the race. She and I took the last bus up to Alice Lake where I made my way to the bathroom and crammed myself into my wetsuit and headed over to the lake with a few minutes to spare. My cousin spotted me and gave me a hug and wished me luck before the race. It was good to see a familiar face and hear some encouraging words from a family member who also happens to be a triathlete! She asked if I wanted some Bodyglide for my wetsuit and though I hadn't been having problems the week before I also hadn't been swimming for a solid 1/2 hour in the suit. I did get chaffed and man did I regret not lubing up. Lesson learned.


The relayers were the last group of swimmers to enter the water and off we went. I took it easy. Really easy. I didn't push myself much if at all. I really wanted to conserve my energy as I was anticipating a brutal run. I came out of the water just shy of 31 minutes. I'm confident that I could beat that by 4 minutes. Maybe next time I'll be in better shape and I will! AT suggested that I be careful to not set the bar too high....she called it her sandbagging theory I think...I like it, good plan AT!


So after the swim there was a whole bunch of waiting around for the bus to take us down to the bike run transition. That's one challenge with this race, that the transitions are in different locations. I happened to run into my physiotherapist after the swim though at the time I didn't know what wonders she had worked on my calf so I didn't think her. I will next time I see her!


I got to see K ride by to do her last lap of the ride and she heard me shout. She had a great ride, I was really impressed. As soon as she racked her bike I grabbed the chip and fastened it to my ankle and off I went.


Up and over those stupid stairs and up the trail to the right. Immediately I was breathing really hard, but I always do that at the beginning of a run. About 5 minutes into the run I realized that my calf wasn't hurting at all. I was surprised and really relieved. I wasn't sure if I would remain pain free for the entire run but I was hopeful. The first 3km of the run felt good, I was feeling just fine. Then nearing the start of the 2nd loop I could really tell that I hadn't been running properly for the past month. My body was just tired and my muscles, all of the muscles that you use for running, were really fatigued. They wanted to quit right now. I was not happy for the second lap and I just wanted the run to be over in the worst way. I kept telling myself that it was only February that I had run twice the distance and I didn't need to walk any of that. Though that was 5 months ago and that's more than enough time to lose significant fitness. So I made it to the end...onto the track and across the finish line. Done and Done.


I counted that I drank at least 6 times during the 10km run. I thought that 6 times was excessive given that were it a 10km training run I wouldn't drink at all unless it was extremely hot. I last peed before 9am and then not again until 2pm. Hmmm....I was probably a little dehydrated so next time I'll drink more before the race.


So that's done and over with. On to the next race/event.


*KM and I both had big dreams of doing the entire tri by ourselves. Our dreams were dashed when she confessed that she "really sucked at training for the swimming and running" and I decided that I couldn't bike and run on consecutive days because my legs felt like lead when I did. We both saw that we would make up the ideal relay team. I wanted to swim and run, she wanted to bike! A match made in heaven really.