North Shore Triathlon 2009

Event #1 - Kids 6-7 Relay

Mattias and his buddy Carter rocked this thing.  

SWIM:  Mattias was first out of the water - he took a few wallops on the head and got run into the side of the pool a couple of times but he distanced himself in the last 25m to emerge first out of the water.

BIKE:  Carter executed his mount and climbed up the initial hill almost all the way to the top without stopping...  very impressive for a 6 year old.  He returned having extended the lead, executed a perfect dismount and ran his bike through transition without a single issue.

RUN:  Mattias tore off to the legendary sound of Steve King's voice on the PA saying "Look at that young man climb the hill!"  A few minutes later he brought it home and even nailed my high-five over the fence as he sprinted down the finishing chute.

It was awesome!  Kevin and I were cheering like crazy and my camera sort of seized up...  I still have a few shots from others though. 

Mattias getting "rubbed out" against the wall...

Pulling even with a little backstroke...

And opening up for the finish....

Caulfeild Bombers - First Place Kids 6-7 Relay!  Carter (left) and Mattias (right).

Mattias was super stoked!

Event #2

After the excitement of Mattias' race it was time for me to try to calm down and race myself.  This proved to be a little difficult - I am used to just worrying about myself at a race and this time I was worrying about Mattias and all his stuff.  Like a complete scatterbrain I kept forgetting things - his crocs (at the pool), my goggles (in my bag), my towel (at his transition spot), pumping my tires (oh well), my timing chip (in my bag)...

SWIM:  All the farting around meant I started with a slower heat than I would normally have chosen.  By the time I fetched my goggles and got back into the pool I was with the 14 minute swimmers because the faster ones had gone off already (this swim is self-seeding).  In reality the "13-14s" are actually 15-17s.  Anyway, I laid down a super slow swim in high traffic - it's harder for me to be aggressive in a pool than in a lake - you just feel like that much more of an a$$hole when you swim on top of someone in a pool with 50 spectators 15ft away.  My swim was about 14:00 + 1 minute for hopping and putting on my leg.  

BIKE:  Four laps.  Small rollers, fast.  Lap 1 = out of sorts and feeling weak.  Laps 2, 3 and 4 felt pretty awesome.  My bike needs a few fit adjustments - the seat post needs to be cut, and a longer stem installed...  then I'll be rocking!  We didn't have time to do a proper fit for this race since I got the bike a couple of days ago.  If it didn't look so damn nice (and fast) I probably would have been smart and ridden my old bike.

RUN:  Felt really awful at the start and the end.  Middle was OK (and downhill...)  I have been doing almost no running so this isn't surprising.  I have to pick up the running or Escape from Alcatraz is going to be painful (and embarrassing).  My sole excuse (bad pun) is that I was also in fairly constant discomfort from this:

It took all of about 5 minutes of running to start forming.  I have had this blister about 4 dozen times...  It's almost a tradition.  Anyway, it's mildly annoying when your prosthesis becomes your "good leg".

RESULT:  I placed 11/31 in my AG.  I was particularly pleased with my bike which was 4/31.  Since I have been working pretty much solely on the bike this was somewhat validating.

In the end I was a couple minutes faster than last year but felt comparatively dissatisfied with my race this time around.  Don't get me wrong - I don't expect to run fast in a race without running in training but it still sucks to huff and puff, lumbering around a 5km course.

In non-me news, there was a strong Innovative Fitness contingent at the race - as usual.  Check out Kate motoring past the competition in what might be the best action photo I have ever taken:

Game face on.  Kate was hauling...

Team Innovative:  Kate Perry, Sasha Myers, Guy Demong, MJ, Ashley Perry

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