North Shore Tri

North Shore Tri was my first race of the year. I had a temper tantrum about UBC ("I don't wanna race in March!") and was sick for Delta so this was my only other in town option for a race prior to the Oliver half.

After being sick for so long in the winter/spring I was going into this race with low, low expectations. I decided I'd try for a PR swim as my breathing is okay in the pool, a decent pace ride as it's only the hills that kill me and survival run as that's where my breathing is the worst.

I biked to the race as my new abode is super close to the shore and I've now discovered the secret to riding over the Second Narrows (look ahead, if you look down at the sidewalk you'll get sick from the seizure-inducing strobe affect of the railing supports flashing by). I got to the race in good time and was happy to find out the only thing I forgot was a pair of pre-race shoes. Turns out that was nothing compared to other LETC'ers.

Club members and the things they forgot:
- Bronwyn - bike shoes
- Doneen - timing chip
- Stephanie - timing chip
- Natasha - bike helmet
- Dave - ITU legal aerobars
- Alan - lap 4 of the bike :(

The Swim - 740m
On the ride over I thought about a survival strategy for the swim. I tend to get ticked off when people are in my way, and a pool swim is all about people being in your way. I decided it would be swim-dodgeball and I'd lose points by being hit by other swimmers. Turned out that the swim wasn't that bad. It was still annoying but I've become much more comfortable with contact and more assertive in general in the water.

No other excitement in the swim as my lap counter got it right (or we both got it wrong), although I did lose a ton of dodgeball points.

Swim time: 14:17

The Bike- 20km
When I got to transition Stan was already at his bike. I whipped on my shoes and taunted him "You can't let me beat you out of transition!" Apparently he can.

Stan caught me on outward leg of the ride and I figured he'd disappear but I managed to keep him in my sights and eventually pass him. We ended up playing leapfrog the entire ride. The bike course is four (boring) laps of a 2.5km stretch of Mt. Seymour Parkway, one of my least favorite bike courses but chasing/being chased by Stan made it fun. I went super hard on the return of the last lap, my mantra being "Must. Beat. Stan."

I may have received a drafting penalty, I deserved it but in my defence it was right before the messy turn around that's also the course entrance/exit where everyone was getting squirelly on their bikes so I didn't really have anywhere to go. But rules are rules ...

Bike Time: 38:29 (includes both transitions)

The Run - 5km
I beat Stan out of T2 as well. He must have had a very slow transition - he's a super fast runner and he took a long time to catch me on the run.

The start of the run was tough, I haven't done any real brick workouts so far this year so I'm not used to running hard after a hard ride.

As I expected, the run was a challenge. I had to walk a few of the hills as my breathing was out of control but then I'd think "I'm NOT walking in a sprint" and I'd start running again. The last km was great as we lost all the elevation we'd gained in the first four or so km so I could pick up speed and breath easy.

Run Time: 26:27

Total time: 1:19:15*
*unless I got a drafting penalty

I think this is my fastest ever sprint. The last one I did was Delta in 2007 and that was 1:31:?? I'll take that!

Nest race - Oliver Half.