Here we go again! After three weeks straight of racings, this was to be the final venture for the next little while.
Like last week Amanda and I both traveled to Tremblant but this time to do our first triathlon of the year. We packed up the car on Friday and stayed in a B&B for the night.
The race course was located at the Tremblant race track. Conditions were cool, like most of the week. Both of us were not looking forward to the cold waters! This was our first open water swim of the year! May as well kick it off with a 1.5K swim!
So a layout of the course: Swim was in a small lake. We had to do 2 loops but had to get out of the water and run around a pole. The bike was on the race track. It was 4K with 1 moderate hill and 1 monster (12-15% grade) hill. The track was a lot of fun to race on! And the run was through a little town (out and back).
The field seemed small at the swim start. After the gun went off there was alot of kicking, swirling and water drinking. Amanda said she was constantly being swum over by two large men. I found things settled out in the first lap.
After the first lap I thought I should have signed up for the sprint! But once I got back in it wasn’t so bad. We both survived although Amanda couldn’t feel her feet till she got on the run!
On the bike I quickly asserted myself. The course started off fast. A long straight section followed by a short climb, then a cool S turn and then some more flat then the two stinkers. I had my tri spokes on and they were flying!
One problem did arise as my newly equipped tubular tire (thanks bro) started to come unglued from the grip. Every time I went into the S turn my back wheel started to slip out. I lost 5 seconds each lap because I had to ease up so I wouldn’t skid off the course. Doesn’t seem like much but 5s x 10 laps = me being first overall bike in the race.
Amanda was having a good time as well. She was racing her P1 for the first time. I got to see her twice, both time on the massive hill. We yelled encouragement to each other between huffs.
Exiting the bike I had no idea where I was in terms of standings. It wasn’t until the 4K mark of the out and back run that I saw the competition. I counted 1,2,3,4…. dang. Where did these guys come from? Turns out they are all ITU guys looking for points on the tri series.
At the 8K mark I again saw Amanda and she looked strong. I got a boost of energy and just finished out of the top 10. Amanda finished quite high in the woman results which is a plus for her.
We both agreed that last weeks trail race sucked a lot of mental power out of us. This race we were both content to just race instead of pushing our limits to the max. A week or R&R should fix that.
Looking at the results after we both tried to take positives away. Our bikes and runs were stellar compared to the field. Our swims…. Well they need work. I joked with her that we should be duathletes…
Below are some of the results for both of us.
Amanda Lohnes – 2:38:04 4/13 age group (PB in swim, bike and run!)
Cliff Worden-Rogers – 2:10:00 11th Overall. (4th bike and 7th run overall).
Thanks for reading.
Happy Trainin
CWR
great job!
i think its interesting that out of the top 11, only 2 were above 29. that doesnt seem to happen east coast, simply because i think triathlon is regarded as a more mature sport
Yeah.. it was kinda weird. It’s nice though you know. It means that there is always going to be competition instead of just being 1st in the 20-29 age group because everyone is out getting drunk.
but thats how our egos got built, through racing east coast style!