BEN RUTLEDGE

Five kilometers into the bike I looked down at my front wheel I had noticed it was on backwards and not done up tight….I’m such amateur! I thought to myself, if I weigh 210 lbs and if I can keep enough weight down on it I should be fine…. I guess you will have to read on to find out. “They” say you need 10, 000 hours to really be a master of anything, currently I am running at, well, not nearly enough to be a master of triathlons yet. I’m not totally discouraged though because, “they” also say it’s the journey not the destination. If I may, I’d like to add my thoughts to this regarding a triathlon. To me, the destination would be the finish line, and the middle journey bit would be the running, biking and swimming. Now, during that middle bit I am in a whole bunch of pain, not exactly the fun journey they may be refering to.  And,  not until I cross the finish line ahead of a whole bunch of people would “it” be realized. 

It may be awhile till I really figure this stuff out, if at all, but I made a concerted effort to improve on my last triathlon. I managed to add some extra training into my schedule and buy some real triathlon gear. I have yet to buy the aero bars, but I now have the proper wetsuit (thanks Nineteen Wetsuits for your help and advise). As well, I have the speed laces and speed number thingy (I don’t know what they are really called but it holds the race number on the run). And not to forget the Triathlon suit, Speed Theory in Vancouver advised me on the best style for combination for a 6’5” triathlete. I can tell you the chamois in the shorts was an absolute joy 15 km into the ride compared to a pair of old rowing shorts.

Here are the details of the New Balance Victoria Sprint Triathlon. The start cannon went off and I was ready to go. I had the gear, I’d practiced my transitions and it was all up to me. That all being said, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to swimming in an open water pack. There just seems to be no real way to replicate hundreds of people swimming at the same time kicking and frothing the water. I’d imagine its very similar trying to swim away from a burning and or sinking boat, women and children first, but if I beat you all there I can be the captain of the safety boat…

Metaphors aside, the swim hurt and I will have to continue to practice breathing hard with my face in the water. Gills would have been nice I think. In my delirium from running up to transition to the bike I passed my friend Kevin Johns running the opposite way with his bike. He had just set a new sprint course swim record and was on his way to the bike portion, unfortunately he was going the wrong way and had to double back and lose most of the advantage he had from his amazing swim! Unfortunately I had no idea he was going the wrong way and couldn’t let him know!

It seems both of our pre race preparation was not up to the standard it should be, because after five Km into the bike I noticed my front tire was on backwards, not a big deal as well as not done up properly, big deal! Call me stupid, but I was not going to slow down anymore that I had to. That tire was either going to fly off and take me down with it or I was going to ride the rails and chase down the swim field. I chose option two…and I think with a little help from above I managed to get to the end of the bike with the lead two riders and a front tire still attached.

The next thing I knew I was throwing my helmet on the ground snapping my laces shut and running out on to the course I had run around so many times during my rowing career. Unfortunately the two guys with me were a bit quicker and I only lost time to them, but I felt I push my limit well and felt very uncomfortable most of the way. So when the finish line was in sight I was overjoyed that the “journey” was now over and I had come to the end ahead of most of the field!

The end result was I knocked one minute and 30 seconds off my swim and upped my bike average from 35km/h to 39 km/h and my run was nearly the same. As I had mentioned in my last post, I was doing everything I could to pass the older gentleman in front of me. Well this race I had the same mentality, but instead of my rabbit being a 40 year old it was a 16 year old… To be honest, pride was playing a large part of this race. I wish I had some better reason for motivation. But sometimes you have to adjust your mental state to get the best out of yourself. So to Christopher Sundby of Victoria I thank you for racing like a champ.

I would also like to thank the quick release on my front tire for not flipping over during the ride. If I had a good excuse I’d insert it here, but all I got is a lazy approach to the start and an “amateur hour” stamp on my forehead! Seriously who doesn’t check that stuff…well I’ll count my lucky stars and hope none have fallen from the skies for the coming races.

Here are the final results and I actually have some pics up on this thing now so enjoy. Till next time “keep fit and have fun” (Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod)