C
Cam Wilson
Guest
event: Ottawa National Capital Triathlon and Duathlon my race and distances: sprint triathlon: swim
750m, bike 20k, run 5k where: Ottawa, Canada, swim in Mooney's Bay, bike and run beside the Rideau
Canal when: Sat. July 19, 2003, 9am weather: started out as a gray day, but just before the race,
the clouds parted, blue sky appeared, angels sang, and somebody started playing some Beach Boys
music. rawk on.
the alarm clock was set for 5am. therefore i woke up at about 2am. ack. and couldn't get back to
sleep. only about three hours of sleep! what to do in the wee hours of the morning? read a book, and
then got started on last minute race prep early. got a good oatmeal and toast breakfast into me a
few hours before the race. got there early, racked the bike and set up my stuff in the transition
area, got body-marked and picked up my timing chip, met a few new people and chatted, sipped on
sport drink. was actually feeling hungry an hour before the gun, so i ate half a banana. that did
the trick.
then we all convened at the swim start... where we learned that the swim would NOT start there, that
instead we were to swim about 100m out to a buoy in the middle of the bay, and THEN they'd sound the
horn to begin the race. crazy. but we did it. since i anticipated being among the slowest swimmers i
stayed to one side of the pack, so i wouldn't get caught in the crush. that strategy pretty much
worked. without going into a lot of details, i was bumped and elbowed and kicked a few times, but
nothing terribly violent, so i managed to keep on course. the trip to the first buoy seemed to take
an eternity, but from there to the end it only took ANOTHER eternity. yes, i'm slow slow slow at
swimming. but i did it. two years ago, i couldn't swim 2 meters... today i swam
750m... and in open water (oooh, scary stuff, kids!).
after a couple of folks helped me out of the water and onto my feet, i wobbled around a bit, then
staggered in the wrong direction, listened to some kind folks pointing and screaming to go THAT WAY.
fine. a very dream-sequence-kinda thing for me. musta been the water in my ears
then my daughter
came into view, and she held up her home-made sign and cheered me on. a couple of friends also
appeared and shouted their encouragement. yeah, easy for them to say.
into transition: drank some sport drink, threw on my shirt, helmet and sunglasses... plunked down on
the ground to dry my feet and pull on my sox and shoes and bib belt. i did all of this at a very
leisurely pace. not out of choice - i simply had become a slow-motion special effect. grabbed the
bike and set out. drank a bit on the bike, and stretched out the legs and back and hips
periodically. the hamstrings were bugging me. they were actually bugging me right near the end of
the swim. i wonder why. the bike was pretty uneventful and went fairly quickly for me. i just
powered thru the 20k as best i could.
into transition 2: dropped off the bike, traded my helmet for my running cap, then aimed for the
nearby exit.... "THE OTHER WAY", some goomba shouted at me as he pointed at the exit/entrance at the
other end of the TA. fine. i jogged down there and out through a confusing mess of wires and mats
and across the finish line - in reverse. ok, now this was looking weird to me, but nobody said
anything to the effect that what i did was incorrect. but i knew i had to cross a mat *somewhere* to
register the start of my run. so off i went.
the beginning of the 5k run was all about me assessing the condition of my hamstrings. just how fast
can i go without triggering a cramp? ah, that's how fast.... so i'll just do that til the end of the
race. nice, thanks. i was moving along well enough, keeping excellent form (Ozzie would have been so
proud!) to avoid problems. nearing the halfway point of the run, i began to catch up with some
people. i passed some folks, offering my encouragement if i could find the energy to exercise my
vocal cords. at this point in time, it was all i could do to just focus on making my body run in a
smooth and rhythmic way that would get me to the finish in one piece. i found a little bit of extra
energy in the last few hundred metres and picked up the pace. no sprint, but it was a reasonable
attempt at a high octane jog. across the line, and i am ready to lie down on a soft bed and let the
nurses spoon feed me ice cream. uh oh, the dream sequence is kicking in again. just tired beyond
belief, but no cramps or pain to make me drop to my knees in agony.
but i did it. friends got photos of me in action, so i'll post something later on. the pix will be
entertaining, i'm sure. according to one kind soul, i looked like death warmed over, due mainly to
to my lack of sleep that night. i passed on the salad bar the organizers served... how wimpy can you
GET??? instead, i saved my appetite for a nice big fish and chips meal shortly thereafter.
my overall time was approximately 1:42:00, not at all fast, but i met all of my goals: to finish the
race, to finish on my feet, and to crank out at least a 1:45. that kabobble at T2 caused a timing
chip error so that no run time was registered in my results. the organizers will hear from me about
THAT. i was able to calculate a rough idea of my run time: an astounding (approximate) 22-23 minutes
AFTER that life-changing swim and the scintillating bike ride. and my 5K PR is just over 22 minutes,
so i am flabbergasted.
later in the afternoon, i actually took a nap... and i NEVER take naps. glorious. i shouldn't even
be awake right now as i write this (Saturday at 11:30pm), really, but my faithful readers expect a
report and NOW i feel like i really earned the title of triathlete. a great and challenging day,
but please don't ask me when my next race will be - right now, i don't even want to go near water.
thanks for reading!
Cam
--
Not every race can be a perfect experience, but every race can be a learning experience.
750m, bike 20k, run 5k where: Ottawa, Canada, swim in Mooney's Bay, bike and run beside the Rideau
Canal when: Sat. July 19, 2003, 9am weather: started out as a gray day, but just before the race,
the clouds parted, blue sky appeared, angels sang, and somebody started playing some Beach Boys
music. rawk on.
the alarm clock was set for 5am. therefore i woke up at about 2am. ack. and couldn't get back to
sleep. only about three hours of sleep! what to do in the wee hours of the morning? read a book, and
then got started on last minute race prep early. got a good oatmeal and toast breakfast into me a
few hours before the race. got there early, racked the bike and set up my stuff in the transition
area, got body-marked and picked up my timing chip, met a few new people and chatted, sipped on
sport drink. was actually feeling hungry an hour before the gun, so i ate half a banana. that did
the trick.
then we all convened at the swim start... where we learned that the swim would NOT start there, that
instead we were to swim about 100m out to a buoy in the middle of the bay, and THEN they'd sound the
horn to begin the race. crazy. but we did it. since i anticipated being among the slowest swimmers i
stayed to one side of the pack, so i wouldn't get caught in the crush. that strategy pretty much
worked. without going into a lot of details, i was bumped and elbowed and kicked a few times, but
nothing terribly violent, so i managed to keep on course. the trip to the first buoy seemed to take
an eternity, but from there to the end it only took ANOTHER eternity. yes, i'm slow slow slow at
swimming. but i did it. two years ago, i couldn't swim 2 meters... today i swam
750m... and in open water (oooh, scary stuff, kids!).
after a couple of folks helped me out of the water and onto my feet, i wobbled around a bit, then
staggered in the wrong direction, listened to some kind folks pointing and screaming to go THAT WAY.
fine. a very dream-sequence-kinda thing for me. musta been the water in my ears
then my daughtercame into view, and she held up her home-made sign and cheered me on. a couple of friends also
appeared and shouted their encouragement. yeah, easy for them to say.
into transition: drank some sport drink, threw on my shirt, helmet and sunglasses... plunked down on
the ground to dry my feet and pull on my sox and shoes and bib belt. i did all of this at a very
leisurely pace. not out of choice - i simply had become a slow-motion special effect. grabbed the
bike and set out. drank a bit on the bike, and stretched out the legs and back and hips
periodically. the hamstrings were bugging me. they were actually bugging me right near the end of
the swim. i wonder why. the bike was pretty uneventful and went fairly quickly for me. i just
powered thru the 20k as best i could.
into transition 2: dropped off the bike, traded my helmet for my running cap, then aimed for the
nearby exit.... "THE OTHER WAY", some goomba shouted at me as he pointed at the exit/entrance at the
other end of the TA. fine. i jogged down there and out through a confusing mess of wires and mats
and across the finish line - in reverse. ok, now this was looking weird to me, but nobody said
anything to the effect that what i did was incorrect. but i knew i had to cross a mat *somewhere* to
register the start of my run. so off i went.
the beginning of the 5k run was all about me assessing the condition of my hamstrings. just how fast
can i go without triggering a cramp? ah, that's how fast.... so i'll just do that til the end of the
race. nice, thanks. i was moving along well enough, keeping excellent form (Ozzie would have been so
proud!) to avoid problems. nearing the halfway point of the run, i began to catch up with some
people. i passed some folks, offering my encouragement if i could find the energy to exercise my
vocal cords. at this point in time, it was all i could do to just focus on making my body run in a
smooth and rhythmic way that would get me to the finish in one piece. i found a little bit of extra
energy in the last few hundred metres and picked up the pace. no sprint, but it was a reasonable
attempt at a high octane jog. across the line, and i am ready to lie down on a soft bed and let the
nurses spoon feed me ice cream. uh oh, the dream sequence is kicking in again. just tired beyond
belief, but no cramps or pain to make me drop to my knees in agony.
but i did it. friends got photos of me in action, so i'll post something later on. the pix will be
entertaining, i'm sure. according to one kind soul, i looked like death warmed over, due mainly to
to my lack of sleep that night. i passed on the salad bar the organizers served... how wimpy can you
GET??? instead, i saved my appetite for a nice big fish and chips meal shortly thereafter.
my overall time was approximately 1:42:00, not at all fast, but i met all of my goals: to finish the
race, to finish on my feet, and to crank out at least a 1:45. that kabobble at T2 caused a timing
chip error so that no run time was registered in my results. the organizers will hear from me about
THAT. i was able to calculate a rough idea of my run time: an astounding (approximate) 22-23 minutes
AFTER that life-changing swim and the scintillating bike ride. and my 5K PR is just over 22 minutes,
so i am flabbergasted.
later in the afternoon, i actually took a nap... and i NEVER take naps. glorious. i shouldn't even
be awake right now as i write this (Saturday at 11:30pm), really, but my faithful readers expect a
report
and NOW i feel like i really earned the title of triathlete. a great and challenging day,but please don't ask me when my next race will be - right now, i don't even want to go near water.
thanks for reading!
Cam
--
Not every race can be a perfect experience, but every race can be a learning experience.
