Race Report: Woodstock Sprint Triathlon

I decided to begin my 2016 triathlon season at the MultiSport Canada Sprint race in Woodstock! And it was such a great day - the rain stayed away and the sun was as bright as ever, highlighting the energy of this awesome event. For my race reports this year I will be changing it up a bit. It will be broken up into 5 sections:

1. Pictures
2. My top 3 to 5 highlights of the day (and learning points if there were any!)
3. Interview with another participant (I will be finding one other participant to feature in my blog for each event I am part of)
4. Course map with all relevant information for interested participants
5. TrainingPeaks/Quantitative Race information for those interested
(& Other notes, thank-you)
Look for this format after all my races, and if you would like to be my featured participant, find me on race day!!!

----WOODSTOCK RACE REPORT----

1. Pictures:

Ready to go! Woodstock was only 1hr15min drive from home

Getting set-up - I was a bit of a scatterbrain before my first race of the year!

Team HighRock Capital!
(Sara is a mum, teacher, she goes to school part-time and still finds to train - even at 4:45am sometimes)

Big hugs!

More big hugs!

Bike warmup

Contemplating the swim strategy.
(How can I be less than 1 minute down from speedy Angela Quick?)

I had a good swim, I stayed right with fellow Pros, Lionel and Mikael - I was consistent and strong. This felt great!

I didn't feel too great on the bike. The past two weeks I have quadrupled my bike volume and thrown in a few time trials, so this was quite expected. I think I should have pushed myself a little bit harder - but I tend to talk myself out of going hard on the bike sometimes, which is something I'll need to work on.

I could definitely feel that it was the first race of the season when I started the run - the fitness wasn't there yet! But I rallied and gave a good strong effort.

Lots of athletes out on the run - we help keep each other motivated.

Ahh, post race relief! Sprints can be harder than Ironman!

Ya, chocolate milk at the finish line! Good protein, fluid to re-hydrate and very yummy!

2. Highlights:

- Running my way to just 18s behind the leader, after being down 90s after the bike
- Seeing my sister, Sara, finish 3rd in her age group and run her fastest pace ever! (We've worked so so hard on getting her run faster than and it's nice to see her hard work paying off)

Awesome work, Sara!

- Getting to swim and stand on the podium with Lionel Sanders - I don't really get star-struck, but I find it amazing how determined and disciplined he is

A bit star struck standing beside Lionel

Learning points:
- Practice transitions in training! I lost 30-50s because I couldn't get my wetsuit off, had difficulties with my helmet and couldn't get my foot in my shoe at the start of the bike. That time cost me a win.
- Don't let negative thoughts in when you race. If you start to think negatively at all, stop those thoughts and think positively.

3. Interview with another participant:

Q. Name (first name only is fine), Age (or age group), One word to describe yourself?
A. Heather Crisp - I'm 62. I'd describe myself as "enthusiastic".

Q. How long have you been doing triathlons?
A. 12 years

Q. What was one highlight of today's event?
A. It sounds silly, but I had the fastest bib pickup ever. Thank you Multisport Canada!

Q. What did you eat for breakfast?
Two huge mugs of coffee and a hot cross bun with peanut butter and apricot jam.

Q. What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you in a triathlon?
A. I was congratulating myself on a fast T1 and wheeling my bike to the mount line when a woman beside me said "I'd have trouble riding 40k in a wetsuit". Geeze!

Q. What did you think about on the bike today?
A. I went sideways at one point - it was challenging to keep upright.

Q. What is one of your top achievements, either in triathlon or in the rest of life?
A. In my first race, I won my age group and Lisa Bentley gave me my medal. That was special.

Q. When is your next event?
A. Welland long course on June 26th. It's my first race longer than Olympic distance and I'm excited about that.

4. Course Information

5. TrainingPeaks/Quantitative Race information for those interested

WARMUP: 12km bike on the course, with 6x10s HARD, the rest was easy, 2km run with some strides, 650m swim warmup with 3x40 strokes fast

SWIM: 836m, 10:32:47 (1:20/100m), ~ 38 strokes/min

BIKE: *forgot to hit lap, so this data is for the last 7km of the bike* Speed - 36kph, NP - 193W (3.6W/kg, 94% of FTP), Avg Power - 178W, Avg HR - 176bpm, Avg Cadence - 90rpm (yes, I think I was tired!)

RUN: 5km, 20:09 (4:01/km), Avg HR - 182bpm, Elevation gain 53m

Thank-you:

- All my readers for their support and for following me in my triathlon endeavours
- MultiSport Canada and all the volunteers
- Fellow athletes at the race and training partners, especially those at WattsUp!
- My coaches: Adam and Kim (and Nigel for letting my tag along on his Wednesday rides the past 2 weeks)
- My sponsors: High Rock Capital Management, WattsUp Cycling, MultiSport Canada, The Urban Athlete, Fitt1st Bike Fitting


Next up: Welland Long Course on June 26th! Join me - let's get the number of female participants at these races near to the males!