Lowell's Olympic Triathlon Race Review

ITU World Cup Olympic Triathlon

Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, Alberta
Sunday July 9, 2006

“WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?”

That was the thought that was going through my head from a few hours before bed the night before the race until I crossed the finish line and the friendly volunteer took off my timing chip. I am done now and I am glad that I was able to push through training and the race. I will now give a review of my race experience. If you are looking for a well written and concise race review, please read Julie’s Race Review below or watch the video, this might take awhile. *grin*

Race Day Arrives:
Julie and I woke up early so we could relax, hydrate and eat a breakfast fit for a triathlete. We then headed to the University where we were the last ones to get on the bus full of other competitors. All the roads into Hawrelak Park had been closed for the race. Upon arriving at the transition area where our bikes had been placed the day before, we filled up the tires with air and set all of our race items beside the bikes so we would be able to put them on quickly. After we had the best set up we could as amateurs, we headed off to watch the Junior National Championships that were just starting. We watched them as they swam, biked, and then started their runs. It was very motivational. These junior athletes (under 23) were amazing. After this time of relaxation we headed to the gathering area for one last pee before the race. It was a very important part of the morning.

The Swim:
My heat was called and then we were escorted down to a little pen in front of the lake. Here we were left to be nervous and get very hot. There was no shelter and the sun was very warm. I was not wearing a wet suit as I had only recently been given one (thanks Craig) but I had never practiced with it. It was also very warm and I did not want to overheat. Wet suits make you more buoyant however and so it makes the swim easier. That is my excuse for the others being faster than me anyways. We lined up on a matt in front of the lake and then a horn blew and we ran, jumped, and then fought each other for best position. This was my first open water swim and I really enjoyed the start. Legs and arms were everywhere. I was not kicked in the face, but I think I may have hit the guy behind me. The pack spread out, or shall I say, I fell behind, quite early and so I found someone to follow behind to make the swim a little easier. I reached the end of the lake from my first loop and I wanted to be done. I however had entered the Olympic distance and we were required to do it a second time. So I reluctantly ran up the beach a little ways, around a tree, and then dived back in the water for lap 2. This is where things fell apart for me. I had passed the guys I was following and so I was on my own. I thought I would be able to go faster, but I ended up all over the lake. Not having anyone to follow was a bad decision. I would look up and see that I was a long ways from the buoys. At one point my hands even hit the bottom because I got so close to the outer edge of the lake. This wasted a lot of time. I swallowed a lot of lake water and swam through a family of ducks, but I finally made it to the end, got out and ran towards the first transition. Already I was tired.

Transition 1 (T1):
It was a fair distance from the lake to where the bikes were. I ran as fast as my soggy jelly legs would let me until I saw my beautiful bike. I just bought her this spring and am still in the lovers stage of the relationship. I quickly put on my singlet, GPS watch, helmet, sunglasses, and then my biking shoes. I ran my bike out to the mount line and was on my way. This was a much faster transition than my extremely slow T1 last year. I can improve a lot, but I was happy that I had practiced as much as I had.

The Bike:
I felt fast. I started out on the course and went up the first steep hill and then down around the first long hill. I was passing a lot of people. I thought this was a sign that I was doing really well, but looking back, it must have been that I was just passing all the tired people from earlier heats that were on their last laps or the beginner Sprint triathletes. The whole time I was hoping I would pass Julie or Ben. They however were not too be seen on the 10k loop. The ride was uneventful as I tried to go as fast as I could both up and down the hills. At times I would pass people like they were out for a leisurely ride, and then other times I would be passed as though I was standing still. There were some amazing bikes and some incredible cyclists in the race. The last lap was very hard. The hills felt a lot more steep and there were not many people on the course which didn’t make me feel very confident. The wind had also picked up a great deal during the last two laps which made it hard to go fast. Unlike Julie, I drank a lot on my bike. During the four 10km loops I was able to drink 1 water and 1 gatorade bottle. During the first loop I ate a Cliff bar. It is a tasty power bar loaded with 250 race winning calories. On the forth lap I downed a Hammer Gel which is packed with 100 calories. It was very gooey and hard to swallow. I washed it down with my remaining water and then cruised towards the transition area. I had wanted to finish the bike in around 1:20:00. With the transition included I ended up finished in 1:22:24. So I was happy with that although I know I need to do much better in future races.

T2:
After hanging my lovely bike back onto the racks by the seat, I kicked off my bike shoes, put on my socks, running shoes, and my hat. Then I was off and running towards the next stage. This is always a very fast transition. It was a little slower this year as I had to change my shoes.

The Run:
As I left the transition area and started on the 10kms before me, I started to hear cheering. I looked over to my right and there was a large section all yelling “GO LOWELL,” and, “Run Lowell Run.” It felt really good to have people there to cheer. I saw Julie there. She had finished the race. That made me feel great as I had been the one to *strongly encourage* her to enter. I ran at a 5km per minute pace. I could have gone faster but I did not want to run out of fuel by the end of the race. I took water at almost every water station along the way. Sometimes drinking just enough to wet my mouth and thought and other times almost downing the whole thing. On one of my times past my cheering section (consisting mostly of Julie’s friends), Julie came beside me to run by me for a little ways. I did not know what she was doing, and I had just finished with my desired amount of water from the last station and was in need of a way to get rid of the rest of it. So I did what any caring boyfriend would do in this situation. I sprayed it at her. She looked hot, what can I say? I am sorry Julie. =) It would have been fun to have you run alongside me. Oh, what am I thinking, you would have been too fast for me. I slowed down for the 6th and 7th kms. I was starting to feel the effects of the long race. I knew I had to pick it up at the end so I did just that. I saw another guy in my age group a ways in front of me. So for the last 3k I chased him down. I ran beside him for awhile and I told him our pace and that we would be done the run in about 50min, and then I poured it on even more. I wanted to put a good distance between us. About 500m before the finish line I heard someone behind me say “wow, you really have picked it up” and when I looked back it was my friend. Both of us were holding our shirts away from our nipples as they were very painful from the rubbing on our shirts. He had started to gain on me now. I started running faster. Now we were 200 meters from the finish line and he started yelling. “COME ON MAN! LETS DO IT! GO HARD!” I tried to keep up but I was too tired. He passed me and crossed the finish line 5 seconds ahead of me. That was too bad. It was an exciting finish to a really fun race. I felt really good after the race. I was not as tired and sore as I thought I would be. I guess that shows that I could have pushed harder.

Final Thoughts:
This was an amazing adventure. The training, the preparation, and the race itself. I am so glad that I decided to do it. I have come a long ways physically in just a couple years and I am excited to see where I will be in a few more. Having never run more than 1km straight in my whole life just 2 years ago, to finishing a 2 hour and 45 minute race where I never stopped seems almost too good to be true. I know that if I set my mind to something I will be able to achieve it. With a lot of hard work and determination I will be getting my race time down to 2:15:00 next year! That is my goal. You heard it here first.

It was also great to experience this with Julie. I knew she was getting sick of me always talking about triathlons so I thought it would make it better if she was talking about them too. So I got her a first time triathletes scholarship from the Get Your Geek On Podcast (itunes) and entered her in the Sprint. I knew she would do great, but I didn’t know that she would be such a contender her first time. She has a great future ahead in the world of Triathlon. I am proud of you Julie!

The race day was beautiful and the volunteers and staff did a tremendous job of making it all run smoothly. I highly encourage anyone to enter this race! You can do it, and you will not regret it. They also had a lot of great food to eat after the race was over. mmm, bagels and fruit!

Thank you for taking the time to read my novel and for your support! I hope to race many more times in my life, so maybe I will get these race reviews a little shorted by the time I am done.

The Results:
Age Group 25-29

1500m Swim: 30:39 10/12
40k Bike: 1:22:24 11/12
10k Run: 52:03 8/12

TOTAL: 2:45:06 11/12

Click to view Full Male Olympic Race Results

Pictures!
(click to view larger images)

I was too speedy on the bike and no one got a picture of me riding, so I decided to put myself on my bike for a picture. It looks really weird, but I thought it would be good to have a biking picture on the blog. =)