Bridgetown Triathlon by the Numbers

I had been looking forward to this race for a long time: Bridgetown Long Course (Swim: 2K, Bike: 94K and Run 20K).  At Christmas time I asked my parents if they minded me coming back to the farm; both to paint their house (no problem with that) and to do the race.

After taking 10 days off from structured training and a week long vacation in Nice, France, I was back to the “grind”.  My preparation for Bridgetown was less than ideal.  After returning to Ottawa for 3 days I was on a plane to Halifax to stay with my folks and fulfill my commitment to paint their domicile.

In the little training I did, I was happy to not feel too sluggish.  There is a local TT on Tuesday nights here,  a 10K which showed me that my “form” was okay to compete.

Fast forward to the race.  It started off early, 4am early, as we made the 75 min drive.  On the way Dad drove like crazy and killed a porcupine on the way but we go there in an hour!

Race start was supposed to be at 6:30 am but with a heavy fog on the river, it got pushed back to 7am.  This was to be a foreshadow as I was prepared nutritionally for the original start but the extra 30mins was to play havoc later…

Swim was… interesting.  The Bridgetown River is tidal, meaning its current can go either way.  On Sunday we had to swim into it; HARD.  It was quite comical to throw sticks in and watch them float down at warp speed.  When the horn finally went we were off to fight our way up stream like a bunch of salmon at breeding time.

My swim went ok.  I missed a lead pack and had to swim the majority by myself.  The fog was still prevalent so it made sighting even more important.  I just followed the group that was 25m ahead and hoped they knew where they were going!

At one point during the swim, we made our way under a bridge.  I took a couple strokes then sighted only to be surprised at how little ground that I had made!

Coming back down the river really wasn’t that exciting.  I wanted it to be like riding a wave but to be honest, it didn’t feel any faster than going up.

There was one last section of the swim which was everyone’s least favorite.  You had to swim down past the exit point then swim back up to the water exit.  This is where you really felt the current.  It felt like swimming in molasses.

Exiting the swim I muttered a few choice words as I saw my time.  Luckily for me, everyone felt it!  I was in 4th but exited T1 in 3rd.  The race was on!

My bike had been strong before the break so I was curious to see how much fitness I had lost.  Traveling home I didn’t bring any of my time trial equipment (helmet or wheels) so it was just a stock P2SL for me.  I did however, bring my powertap.  Since this race was really meant for training, I wanted to see what my numbers were like.  Here is a snippet:

Average Power = 227 W (quite low for me)

Average HR = 170

Work = 2071 kJ

Cadence = 85 RPM

The graph of the data was very telling: I went out a bit too hard!  My average through the first half was almost 40km/h.  This fell down in the second half due to a couple of things.  The first, I needed some more racing (it’s been over a month since my last one).  More importantly, I lost my water and gels with 20K to go.  This left me in a real bad state…  I was hitting the wall slowly and my power was suffering.

My first lap I had made my way to second.  On the way back from my second lap I was within passing distance of first when I dropped my bottle and gel.

After coming into T2, my deficit was doable but I was worried about my empty stomach.  I took extra time before the start of the run to have something to eat.  This seemed to help as my legs found an adequate rhythm.

Run Numbers

1:08/1:20: (turned the Garmin on late) AHR 168

You could feel the heat pouring down now as it was almost midday.  There was little shade and my body felt it.  I tried something new in this race and brought water along.  It seemed to help as I moved into first place within the first 4K.  After taking the lead I just put it on autopilot making sure to drink and eat on the way.

I knew I couldn’t slack as the other athletes would be strong on the run.  Luckily, I had what it took and took 1st.  The race took a lot more out of me then I planned on but it was worth it!

Great job to the other BTC athletes!  It was great to win in my home province.

Next up for me is a house to be painted.  As for racing, it will depend on what happens in my future.

Happy Trainin

Cliff