under almost ideal racing conditions, i pulled off my second victory of the season and my first victory of the HSBC series at this weekend's race in welland. this was a HUGE win for me because i've taken the last month off to sort out an injury, and i was concerned that my fitness level was going to be affected by so much down time.
as far as a detailed report of the race goes, there's really not too much to say. the running and cycling portions of the course were straight, fast and flat with no hills or climbs whatsoever, there was no wind to contend with, and with clouds and light rain to help cool the athletes, the race was over pretty quickly.
the distances of this race were 5k, 30k, 5k, and i took the lead right off the start line. i reached the 1k mark at a time of 3.15 and settled into a pace that got me into the first transition only 12 seconds ahead of the next athlete. i competed in this same race last year so i knew that the bike ride was going to be flat, and was concerned because i tend to do better on courses that have significant climbing portions. i'm tall and lean, not built like powerful cycling sprinters who normally dominate courses like this and tend to be shorter with more muscle mass. i didn't have a huge lead after the first run and was sure that i was going to be overtaken on the bike, so i went out there pedaling hard. i had a fantastic ride on the wet, slippery roads, keeping my average speed over 38km/h, my fastest performance in a race thus far. the rain became a factor on the two or three sharp turns because you really had to slow down and take the corners fairly wide. you also had to keep your eyes focused on exactly where you were riding. puddles of water had formed on the road in the grooves created by car tires, so the fastest sections of the course were off to the side approaching the shoulder.
struggling to get my feet in the pedals after T1.at the 15k bike turnaround i had a lead of about 1 minute but kept pushing the pedals. feeling like the people behind me were breathing down my neck, i came into transition 2, racked my bike, and headed out onto the second run. as always, the pace of my second run was slower than my first but i still managed to hold a good enough speed to maintain the lead. i came across the finish line with a time of 1.25.32, ecstatic and absolutely thrilled with my win.
coming into transition 2 after a wet, rainy ridewhether or not i'm good enough to qualify for the national team is still up in the air because there are a lot of talented athletes out there i've never competed against, but i wanted this win badly. i wanted to come back after a month of downtime feeling better, fitter, faster and stronger. i wanted a victory on the HSBC series because i feel that with a strong performance and a win at one of ontario's premier multisports series races, i've claimed a spot as a serious contender on the age group duathlon circuit in ontario.
