Under the excellent - but often merciless! - coaching of Tommy Ferris Team Ignition Fitness, we targeted the Binbrook Triathlon as the first tri of the year.
Having raced this event for the last several years, it is a great season opener to shake off the rust and get back into the game. John Salt, Jason V and the team at MultiSport Canada put on a fantastic series of events and this one is one of my favs - warm lake, flat bike on beautiful country roads and flatter cross country run: perfect for me!
So with more swim/bike/run miles on my aging and pretty creaky body than last year (thanks Coach!), I was pretty excited about how going from the long tempos of Boston training to the "seeing red from hurling blood" fast shite would play out (and of course, there was and is the great unknown: my wonky hip - but more on that later).
Race day started with the usual bad sleep - you would think after nearly 25 years of racing every summer I would have this dialed in, but nope, still get those butterflies and nerves, which I suppose is a good thing?!
Arriving and setting up in transition was like old home week - all the old farts in my age group [50 plus...] were there: Brett, Alfred, et al - really great to see all the gang back, and they are as competitive as ever!
The race - well, suffice it to say I made the usual "early season mistakes" - but overall I was pleased with the whole race.
My swim was quick - and thankfully the water was quite warm [relative to Lake O!]; out 3rd, as usual I was passed on the run up by what seemed like the entire 11th grade of a local high school! Great bike - pushed up and stayed in 3rd - which is where I started the run about 300m back from the 2nd place runner.
I think we have all had those internal chats with ourselves during a race: "Hey John, it's your legs - this pace is too hard! Settle back, go easy, no shame in 3rd, pal - 3rd is better than 4th - so relax, and stop hurting so much..."
You know what I mean - the dark demon of mediocrity!
But as Jens Voight [he of TDF fame] is known to say, "shut up legs".
And so, I sucked it up, and while I knew this was going to hurt - a lot - I began to try and run down the two guys in front of me.
And it was a good day - and I was able to somehow put together the turnover to catch Roman, who was battling hard to stay up front - and take 1st overall.
*ya, I did the "hands on knees and drool" thing at the finish line. nice.
The better news was that I although one year older and thus should-be-slower, I actually had a better swim, bike and run time then last year -and shaved over a minute off my ridiculous "are-you-kidding-me-how-slow-that was" transitions (seriously - I freakin' hate transitions - since when does it take a minute to take off a bloody wetsuit> For god's sake, when I was in university living in my frat, with the right sorority girl, I could make 2 martinis, get completely undressed and throw on some sexy tunes in less time than that!)(...if my wife is reading this, kidding!).
My teammates from Team Ignition Fitness also tore up the course - with Jesse, Cavin, and Keith having stellar races (man, if I could run like Jesse - and ride like Keith - I would be SuperHero fast!).
And: my training partner also podiumed - in only her second full tri [awesome job Mits!] so it was a good day all around.
After I finished, I went for a nice easy cool down run on the country roads - and yes, like a total idiot, I missed the awards - so there are the two podium shots: overall winners, with me absent, and then me, hopping up and getting a solo pic (big shout out as usual to Mike Cheliak and his team for their usual excellent race pics!).
So there it is: 2013's race #1 under the belt.
See ya in Welland.
Johnny Boy
ps: go 'Hawks.
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