St. Albert Road Runners Triathlon

I’ve done this race a few times before. In 2008 I did it in 1:42:08 (on a hardtail mountain bike), in 2009 I did it in 1:27:55 (on a cyclocross with nobbies) and in 2010 I did it in 1:22:20 (I think I had my road bike by then). This year I did it in 1:16:24. Nice! A 6 minute PB is always a nice feeling.

I’ve done this race a few times before. In 2008 I did it in 1:42:08 (on a hardtail mountain bike), in 2009 I did it in 1:27:55 (on a cyclocross with nobbies) and in 2010 I did it in 1:22:20 (I think I had my road bike by then). This year I did it in 1:16:24. Nice! A 6 minute PB is always a nice feeling.

The race:

Swim: 750 meter pool swim (25 meter pool – 15 laps or 30 lengths). Bike: 20km out and back city street and country road course (drafting is not permitted). Run: 5 km flat run (but some of it is through grass).

I purposely put myself in a slightly faster swim wave than I am comfortable with so I would have to push myself a harder than usual. I find it easy to relax in the open water races but I thought that in the pool I would feel the pressure to not get passed by the other swimmers in my lane. Didn’t work… there was only two of us in my lane and the other guy suggested we pick sides and stick to them (rather than swimming in a circle and having to pass each other). Rats! I still had a decent swim split (14:25 including running gingerly across the pool deck, in and out) but it was not quite the 12 minutes I was aiming for.

The bike was fine. There are some hills on the course, the steepest one being right at the beginning (down) and again at the end (up) but it was nothing compared to Syracuse and after all, it’s only 20km! My bike split was 40:57 (including T1 and T2).

The run was great. I got my feet under me pretty quickly and held a decent 4:16/km pace. There were a bunch of youngsters from a tri club that served as some good motivation/inspiration. They started the wave after me in the pool and didn’t catch me until the last km of the run. I was pleased with that. My run split was 21:03.

Prep:

The day before the race was a travel day. I flew from Toronto to Edmonton and I spent the rest of the day relaxing with my mom and playing with my niece and nephew. We had a good dinner of sweet potatoes, beets, steak and some blueberries and chocolate for dessert. Just the way I like my pre-race dinner!

Nutrition:

I’m not currently taking any regular supplements aside from D3 and Fish Oil capsules (when I remember) and Magnesium occasionally (to help me sleep). I brought none of them with me on this trip.

Breakfast was the usual 3 scoops of Living Fuel Superberry and a Banana. I only add enough water to the Superberry to make it into a paste and then I put the banana on top. It’s is quite tasty!

During the race I took one Gu Roctane 10 minutes before the race, one more at the beginning of the bike and one more near the end. This is more fuel than I needed… but I am trying to keep in practice for the longer races. I sipped water on the bike and at one of the aid stations during the run.

Next:

The Alberta Challenge Olympic distance triathlon is only a week after this race so – back in the saddle right away! Staying at my mom’s house, working in an unfamiliar office and eating out while visiting with many friends and family is not the way to set yourself up for racing success… but we do what we need to do! Ha ha! Bring on the coffee, beer and snacks!

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