this was without question the most fun that i've had at a race. the toronto islands race site was close by, the weather was spectacular, and the competition was top notch. coming over to the islands on the ferry in the morning only added to the uniqueness of the event and my hat goes off to the fine folks at the HSBC series. i like this series because they really try to make their events more than just a competition by adding unique venues like the toronto islands, as well as giving athletes an opportunity to do something a little different, such as the triathlon start on the Seguin Steamship in gravenhurst.
after arriving on the islands first thing in the morning, it was only a short walk to the race site. immediately i saw some familiar faces and after getting my transition area set up and my warm up out of the way, the race was set to begin. my pesky leg and ankle injuries were feeling pretty good, better after i'd warmed up, and it appeared that they wouldn't be too much a factor for me, but there was no way for me to know for sure until the race was underway. i'd been careful to eat enough food this morning because at my last race i was on the start line feeling empty, which isn't exactly the way you want to feel before your race begins. it was scorching hot out there in the sun - even at 8 in the morning - and proper hydration would play a key role in every athlete's race today. i was sweating while just standing so i'd been drinking water right up to the time i went to the starting corral. at the sound of the horn i took the early lead, holding it until the first of two turnaround spots, and was overtaken by omar hafez, a very talented runner that finished 4th in the first 10k leg of the provincial championships. knowing that we couldn't keep up with him, me and two other athletes, scott finch (a regular on the HSBC series) and damian walsh, a new face visiting from the US, held tightly to 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots. the three of us were inseparable for the first 4.5k run and many thanks go damian who encouraged both scott and me to keep at it. "c'mon... don't let him get away," damian said on course to scott and me as the other made a move. it's been a month since my last race and i didn't feel 100% out there in the early part of the race, my stomach feeling slightly off. in the end i made a bit of a break and came into transition in 2nd spot, scott and damian only one second behind me.
both damian and scott were faster than me in t1, damian getting way ahead. i caught up to scott exiting transition and he and i mounted our bikes at the same time, me getting clipped into my pedals and off the line just ahead of him. this 30k bike course started with a long no passing zone so our respective positions were held until we'd all found our cycling legs a couple of kilometres into it. it was in this no passing zone that i hit a pretty nasty bump, the mesh top of my aero water bottle popping off and all of my water spilling out along with it. fantastic, i thought to myself. all of my water is gone and it's the hottest day of the year and here i am racing. i'm pooched. water bottle problems aside i was making ground on omar and damian, the race leaders at this point, so i decided that since i was catching them so early into the bike leg, there was no need for me to expend extra energy by making a surge up to the front. i eventually caught up with and dropped omar, and damian and i were riding side-by-side by the end of the first 5k section (the course was split into two 5k sections, 10k in total, 3 laps of both for the 30k ride). in the closest, most enjoyable bike portion of any race i've been in, damian and i stayed together for the entire ride, each of us taking the lead from the other only to be caught again. "tag, you're it!" i said at one point as i passed him, only to be overtaken once again a few minutes later. the crowds became a factor as the day went on, the arrival of the ferries obvious as surges of people would show up here and there. i practically winded myself yelling ahead to make sure the people would be out of harms way from the athletes. "this is crazy!" damian said as we reached one of the turnaround points.
as the race wore on it appeared that damian and i were sizing each other up and preparing to use the race same strategy. i wasn't having trouble keeping up with him and was sticking to my "there's no point in trying to get away" plan. i jsut wanted to stay with him, not let him get away, and save my legs for a real break on the last 5k section. the heat was really affecting me because i'd only been able to sip on the scraps of water that remained in my aero bottle. i was feeling thirsty and damian was kind enough to offer me a couple of sips from his water bottle. that's how close we were for the whole bike portion. toe-to-toe every step of the way. once we were on our last lap of the bike course i took the lead early on, damian got it back again, and it appeared he was finally making a move. i held on and kept up with him but he didn't seem to be getting away like i thought he was going to. i looked down at my bike computer and we were at about the 26k mark so i decided to make my move. i dropped a gear and hit it hard. i'd passed him countless times by this time so maybe he wasn't expecting it, but i held on and kept pulling away. i was pounding on the pedals and looked back to see if he was keeping up but it looked like i'd dropped him and i was making some ground. i kept telling myself to hold this effort because i was so close to the end of the ride, and by the time i'd reached the very last turnaround before exiting to t2, i couldn't see damian behind me anymore.
the first thing i did in t2 after racking my bike was to grab the water bottle that i keep in transition area. i took a few big gulps, threw on my running shoes, and was off for the last 4.5k running leg of the race in first place, carrying my water bottle with me. my stomach was still feeling off. at one point on the bike i felt like i was going to throw up. i'm sure it was a combination of the effort i was putting in, the heat, lack of hydration, and the fact that i'd probably eaten too much food this time. i had food to eat with me on course but i definitely didn't need it. as i was moving along on the last run my stomach finally started to feel better and the water helped out, too. i wasn't feeling fast but i was moving. i had a pretty good lead now and there was no sign of any other athletes behind me and i started wondering if perhaps damian had taken a wrong turn coming out of t2. at one point i had a view of a couple hundred metres and there was nobody to be seen, and it wasn't until i looped back towards transition area the i found scott and omar in a tight battle for 2nd and 3rd. was damian a ghost? where did he go? was he alright? i made my way through the last running leg of the race, tired but strong, and came across the finish line in first place, super excited with a victory at my hometown race! i managed to come across the line about 90 seconds ahead of the other two athletes, and stuck around because it was going to be a close race for the next spot. although they were running side by side both times i saw them on the second run, omar ended up getting scott by about 10 seconds, still with no sign of damian, and neither of those two had seen him since the bike course. i waited around at the finish line until finally, about 15 minutes later, damian crossed the line. turns out he accidentally did an extra lap of the bike route along with another athlete.
sweaty, thirsty and exhausted i walked away from today's event with my third victory of the season. i got a better time than i was hoping for and am psyched with my results. i had a great ride as my cycling continues to improve and my splits get faster and faster. it was nice to realize that i'm able to push myself really hard when i have to so i may use that to my advantage in later races when trying to break away. i've had too many problems with my aero bottle so i'll be switching to something different, and i've almost got my pre-race nutrition figured out, the ideal solution falling between me eating too much for this race and too little at my last race. my injuries held up nicely and don't seem to be any worse so that's great news, and i'll take some more downtime to focus on getting those sorted out. i've only got a couple of races left this year and i'd like to make the all good ones with results similar to today's. racing at home on the islands was pretty fun and i hope that HSBC returns here again next year.
and i'd like to nominate damian walsh for sporstman of the year if i could. a very friendly, generous athlete that was just as concerned with the other athletes' races as he was with his own.
