I have raced in Wasaga the past three years, and this was to be my fourth year at the event. My first ever race at Wasaga was a picture perfect day: the sun was shining, the water was flat...a bikini contest was going on...things were good. Unfortunately, the good times could not last, and we have had three straight years of bad weather for the event. There was the monsoon two years ago, rain last year, and no swim this year (wind). So considering that the sun was out on Sunday, I wasn't too upset that the swim was cancelled, because honestly, there has been worse situations.
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| Wavy Wasaga-NO SWIM |
Pre-Race
After my race in
Edmonton (where it has since started snowing), I was ready for some down time. I took the whole week leading into the race off training, and also did some other things that I don't always have the energy for in race season (like play a round of golf Saturday night...followed by some badminton). Probably not the best thing to do before a race (my back was kinda tight), but I was taking a pretty relaxed approach to the whole thing.
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| Golfing in style |
My brother Dan (the original Danosaur) was also out racing again this weekend. He is getting more comfortable with the sport, and he always seems to be having a good time.
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| Danosaur's can't fly, but they can jump |
Run 1
I've only ever done one other duathlon (2 years ago in Wasaga), where I made the mistake of going out way to hard on the first run. Du's are kinda tricky because it's way too easy to go out hard (since the legs are fresh), which results in a miserable bike and second run.
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| Leading out the run |
I lead out the field, and set the pace at a steady fast tempo (at least for me...the other guys were breathing kinda hard). I kept things in control, and didn't try to run away from anyone (since my only real goal was to cross the timing mat first). I put in a bit of an acceleration to cross the mat ahead of Aaron De Jong, and then trotted off to transition.
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| Just a small acceleration |
Bike
Aaron actually beat me out of transition (I was definitely slacking), but I passed him at maybe 400m into the bike. I went by him pretty fast, which is probably why he shouted over he would see me at the finish (I must look pretty intimidating on my bike). I just road steady (steady as in 40km/h average speed) and didn't put myself under any pressure to ride any harder.
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| My "I'm coming for you" face |
Run 2
I came off the bike feeling pretty fresh, and had one final duathlete to chase down (the actual duathlon started 3 minutes ahead of the triathlete duathlon). I passed Scott Finch maybe 500 metres into the run (and reassured him I was racing the triathlete duathlon).
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| Smooth sailing |
It was then smooth sailing all the way to the finish, where I crossed the line first and collected my second overall win of the season (Yaay Andy)!!
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| Here comes your overall winner |
Post Race
After the race, I got the pleasure of meeting
Andrew Yorke (4th place finish in triathlon at the Commonwealth Games), who was at the event watching his girlfriend race. He was super nice and great to talk to. Cool guy! (I didn't ask for a photo though...next time).
So overall my second ever duathlon went much better than my first, and definitely left a better taste in my mouth that the last one (although I won't be intentionally signing up for one any time soon). This was my second to last triathlon (well duathlon) for the year with one more race out in Lakeside to finish up the season (although that one will also be a pretty chill race for me).
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| Podium |
A big thanks goes out to
Multisport Canada, who as always, puts athletes (and their safety) first, and always puts on a great race (despite the weather). Thanks also to
eLoad for keeping the throat wet on the bike, and also to my friends at
Mettle Multisport for the lift up to Wasaga (great club by the way). Thats it for now, thanks for checking in :)
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| With Christine and Susan |
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