Monday, May 18, 2009

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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9 comments:

rUntoNamAste said...

Congrats Carter and Mattias! I wish I could have seen them in action!

And congrats to you too! I can't imagine having to pull myself together to race after tending to a child. The amazing phenomenon of parenting. You go boy! :-)

Vincent said...

Hey, good job at the race, sucks about the swim and blister though.

I wanted to come watch but a friend from Montreal called me up Saturday saying she had a 5 hour layover in Vancouver on her way back from Thailand so I hung out with her.

Hopefully I'll get to watch the next one.

Gotta Run..... said...

Wow... congrats all the way around. Greta post!! Carter and Mattias rocked it. I love it.

I have been putting in tons of saddle time and VERY little run time these days. last week I headed out for a 3 miler and was surprised that my time was pretty good. I must admit it hurt more than it should have for 3 miles. :))

Unknown said...

Man, that is one mean looking blister. I guess you do need to get back out running.

Jo Lynn said...

You are a very proud poppa and definitely have every reason to be. We love seeing our kids succeed, don't we?

Congratulations to you, Mattias & Carter!!!!!

Ulyana said...

You are a great dad!

Good job on the race to you and your son!

Isabelle Julien said...

love the blister!!!!

Nicola Gildersleeve said...

Have you tried putting body glide or even better "sport sheild" on the area where you get the blister prior to the race?

Nicola Gildersleeve
http://www.ngildersleeve.blogspot.com/

beth said...

an awesome day for the family! i love that the boys crushed it...they've got quite the role model- i'm not surprised.

you sacrificed a couple minutes of your own race for a good race for your son- a great trade off!
do dad!