Studio YVR

First the statistics:

My swim time was about the same as last year which is amazing to me because I went so far off course this year since the morning sun on the lake had completely blinded me.

T1 was a bit faster which I would largely attribute to my aging wetsuit which has finally stretched out enough that I can get it over by big dumbass calves without shredding the suit.

The bike was 9 minutes faster this year despite my having to stop after having collided with a dog (the dog was ok).

T2 was exactly the same as last year (spooky!).

My run was about 9 minutes faster than last year which is a healthy improvement.

So overall I was 18 minutes faster but finished in 3rd place in my age category this year rather than 2nd.  Which just illustrates how competitive the 50 – 54 year old age group is.  In fact, I would have won 1st place if I had been in the 45 – 49 age category.   Not that I am unhappy with my race or my placing, not at all.  I am very happy with the entire day, I just find it ironic that the younger age group was so much slower than mine.

Race day started off early as usual.  I was up at 4:30 am and quickly began prepping to leave my motel and drive to the race.  I was a bit tired because there had been a noisy wedding at the motel which had kept me awake for most of the night.  I was also a little fatigued from having to get up early the day before because I had been volunteering at the Lees Trail Triathlon.   I drove to the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre where I parked and then caught a shuttle bus to the race site.  It was a beautiful sunny spring warm morning and all the other athletes seemed to be in good spirits.

Race Morning

img src = Meyrick Jones

I found my bike in the transition area and where I also ran into my buddy Mikey T. Ross.  This was Mike’s first Half Iron distance race and so he was a bit nervous.  However I had no doubt that he would rock the course because he had been doing so well in short course triathlons.  I also ran into Mark Shorter who is an accomplished triathlete who has competed in the Ironman World Championships on several occasions.  I knew that it was going to be a very competitive day since both Mike and Mark were in my age category.

The cannon fired and the swim began.  As I mentioned earlier, the sun was shining directly in my eyes and I could not see any of the buoys that marked the swim course.  Therefore I just tried to follow the other swimmers and hope that they knew where they were going.  There was plenty of jostling in the water however everyone was pretty well behaved.   I was swimming pretty much on my own after the first loop which really concerned me.  Usually that means that I am either in last place or I am totally off course.  It turned out to be the latter which I only discovered after a friendly kayak began to shepard me towards the course.

As I hurried through the transition zone, I heard Steve King announce that Mark Shorter was heading out on the bike and was currently in 3rd place in my age group.  Doh!  That meant that I was already way behind both Mark and Mikey.   Clearly I was going to have to work hard on the bike in order to make up the time that I lost during the swim.

I was still on my first loop (of 4) on the bike course when I collided with the dog.  The dog had been playing on the left side of the road with a group of adults.  Then some children on the other side of the road began to call the dog as I approached.  I yelled out to the kids to warn them however it was too late, the dog was crossing the road and I was going into a full skid and heading for the ditch.   My heart sank as I the dog collided with the side of my front wheel and let out a yelp.  The dog then ran off and I found myself standing in the ditch, shaken but managing to unclip my pedals before I fell over. Everyone seemed to be concerned about me and all I could think of was the poor dog.

I passed Mark Shorter on the 2nd loop of the bike.  It was at this point in the race when things changed from playing catch-up to a feeling of running scared.  I know that Mark is a very fast runner and therefore I would have to build up quite a gap between us on the bike if I was going to beat him to the finish.   I managed to build in a 4 minute cushion when I finished the bike and headed out on the run.   I hoped that was enough of a lead but was not feeling too optimistic that I could hold off Mark because he had beat my by 20 minutes on this same course last year.   Well, I was not going to give up easily so Mark was going to have to work hard to make it past me.  I managed to hold him off until about the 10 km point and then he powered by.  I gave him a big smile, mouthed out some words of support and then tried in vain to keep up with him.

It was a great day for me.  I finished 3rd in my age group and 33rd overall with a PR time of 5 hours & 55 seconds.  The day was made that much more enjoyable for me because I had so many friends racing with me and also had my family there to cheer me on.   Congratulations to everyone that participated in this very well run event.

Here is a pre-race photo of my tri-buds from the English Bay Triathlon Club.

Stylin Triathletes

This is photo of me running for the finish line.  Looks like I have some weird torqued out thing going on with my left quad.  Freaky!

Shawnigan Finish

Yup,  I am certainly showing my 50 years in this photo.  Oh well, 5:01 is a pretty good finish time for a Half Iron distance race so I guess I can afford to look so tired.

Running Scared

• May 29, 2009 -- Shawnigan Lake Half Iron – Story by Photos
• May 25, 2009 -- Shawnigan Lake Half Ironman
• May 30, 2010 -- The Weekend That Wasn’t
• May 24, 2010 -- Times Like These
• July 17, 2009 -- The Big Picture
• July 14, 2009 -- More Photos – Subaru Vancouver Int’l Half Iron
• July 14, 2009 -- Crash and Win