While picking up my race package on Thursday night, I noticed some lonely wetsuits hanging up on the Saskatoon Tri Club clothes rack. So inquired and discovered that they had been given to the club and they were selling them at an extremely low cost. It was mentioned to me that a new wetsuit would probably be a good idea, considering mine is a waterskiing wetsuit from many years ago that I acquired for free from an acquaintance of mine 6 years ago. I tried it on and the size small Orca Sonar wetsuit fit me perfectly!
Just having my new wetsuit made me feel like I was going to thrash on the swim. Between that and a fight I had with my spouse (he says I swim faster when I’m angry), I had my best swim EVER. The water, despite being chilly, seemed warm in my new wetsuit and it was way more buoyant than my other wetsuit. During the swim, I drafted the whole time, which definitely helped conserve energy. My partner couldn’t believe it was me emerging from the murky waters of Pike Lake in the top third of the group – he almost didn’t get a picture in time!
Once in transition, I saw my training buddy only a few seconds ahead of me, but I heard other people being announced as they came out of the water. I was astonished. Friends, training buddies, and fellow triathletes that usually beat me out of the water by MINUTES were behind me. So I got out of transition in a hurry to try to keep my lead, but I knew it would be short lived.
I love to bike so much and this race day was particularly wonderful for the bike. There was almost NO WIND and on the prairies that is almost unheard of. It was a partly sunny day with the temperature in the low 20s and I had my best swim ever. There was no way it was going to be a bad bike ride. My buddies that were behind me after the swim quickly caught up to me and passed me, but in the end they weren’t far in front of me. My bike was also a personal best for this race.
Onto the run. Oh, the run. After a cold swim and my feet being tensed up on the bike for over an hour, I could not feel my toes for the first quarter of the run. I walked up a hill because I wasn’t sure if I could make it without the feeling in my toes. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person with that problem. My run was on par with previous years and I ran 10km in 1 hour, as per usual (actually I was a little under an hour, but not by much).
Here is a comparison with this year to other years:
| Year | Total Time | Swim | Bike w/transition | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2:52:25 (65) | 26:56 | 1:26:12 | 59:17 |
| 2006 | 3:10:25 (60) | 40:33 | 1:28:01 | 1:01:52 |
| 2005 | 3:07:03 (61) | 35:29 | 1:31:32 | 1:00:02 |
*Note: last year they called the race off due to lightening after the bike.
**Note: Bike only stats:
Distance: 39.84 km
Time: 1:22:15
Average Speed: 29.1 km/hr
Max speed: 42 km/hr
I learned that despite me being faster, so was everyone else! All-in-all, I am very pleased with my race. I mean, how can I not be? I beat my personal best by 15 minutes! Maybe getting mad really does make me faster.
Photo Of The Day
