OTTAWA TRIATHLON RACE REPORT



C

Cam Wilson

Guest
OTTAWA TRY A TRI (TRIATHLON) RACE REPORT

Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Saturday May 24th, 2003
--

Oh happy joyous world! My first triathlon! I did it! (ok, I'd better calm down now.... naaawww)

My day started at 5am, with heavy clouds in the west, and some sun was peeping out in the east,
though a rosy red painted that horizon.... not a good sign according to the old sailor's saying "red
skies in morning.....". It was a touch cool at 10 Celcius, but nothing to worry about. The winds
were a bit strong at 20k/h. Nothing to fret about.

But the forecast looked somewhat promising. Maybe that imminent rain would hold off until after my
race. It did - barely.

I ate my race "fuel" breakfast, ran through my checklist of race necessities, packed up last minute
stuff, and did a short warm-up. Then I gathered up my bike and duffel bag and I was off to the
races. At the race site, I racked my bike, while chatting with anyone who'd chat back as we readied
ourselves. I got my timing chip and proceeded to the "body marking" zone. Once my number had been
written on my arms and legs, I truly felt like I was part of this very cool club. Here I was!

I had read plenty about bike rack equipment setup, but still watched some of the more experienced
racers to see how to best arrange my gear. With everything in place, and still wearing my warm top
and jacket, I went for a short jog to warm up, then did some stretching. Then the PA announced that
we should all head over to the pool. I stripped down to my swim shorts and nervously followed the
crowds to the university's indoor pool. One hundred and sixty one people crammed into a little
hallway can make a LOT of noise! It was that strange unintelligible murmur that people mimic when
they are background extras in movies. Here, we learned that swim caps were NOT required for the
Try-a-Tri event. I opted to wear mine, not because I liked wearing it (only ever wore one once
before), but because I thought that it might help to shave a few seconds off my time by cutting down
the drag of my very short hair
:)

On to the pool, where we checked a chart showing our heat number and lane number. Then we milled
about, assembled roughly in order of when we were to do our swim. I stretched a little more, just a
touch concerned about the foot cramping that I sometimes get while swimming. No need for that worry
though. At 8:00am, they started sending off the swimmers in waves. I was to go in the 21st heat. It
was a pretty good swim, though I forgot to time it... I was just so caught up in the excitement of
it all and was so focused on the task at hand. This was the first time I ever swam 50 meters before
touching a wall... 2 laps of that (for a 100m swim) and then I jumped out of the pool and headed for
the transition area. We were wet and stepping outdoors into 10 Celcius air with some strong winds
picking up - chilly! As I approached the Transition Area, I was greeted by the cheers of my
10-year-old daughter and some others, who were snapping photos and getting some video of me. Woohoo!
Grins all around.

T1 went like clockwork... thank goodness I had practised it a few times. Towel off a little, T-shirt
(which was just fine in this weather, given my exertion level), helmet, socks, shoes, bib number
belt... then outta there with the bike. At this point, I finally remembered to hit the button on my
watch to time myself. The bike portion was interesting for me, as I had never ridden in a race
before and was now for the first time concerned with drafting regulations (though probably not so
strictly enforced in this beginner race) and gearing up and down for hills, high winds, and U-turns.
I passed many people on the bike, remembering to go into low gear near the end and to do a few
pre-run stretches before the next transition. Always thinking ahead a few steps... get off the bike
at the Dismount Line, rack the bike before the helmet comes off.

T2 was gone in the blink of an eye. I simply exchanged my bike helmet for my running cap and was
off. The run was short. Really short. Boy, was it short. Did I mention that it was short? Within the
first minute or two, it felt like my hamstrings were going to cramp up... yikes! No, not now!
Instead of stopping to deal with that, I just shortened my stride a bit, but picked up the cadence.
That worked. A sprinkle of rain began to come down during the last half of the run. I passed loads
of people on the run and really burned rubber on the last half kilometer. I hit that finish line
with nothing more to give. I got some congrats and hugs from well-wishers and staggered around a bit
until I remembered to go dress warmly and to stretch and EAT.

I chatted with friends while I stretched, then we partook of the free pancakes and bagels. Not a big
spread, but it was tastier food than that at most events around here. Since there were no age group
or gender awards in this event, I didn't think it was necessary to hang around much longer for
anything. I felt good about my race, confirmed the fact that I was going to be hooked on this sport,
and just wanted to get home and into a hot shower. And eat more.

Some data for the fans of numbers:

overall time - 44:27 100m swim + T1 - 6:07
12.1km bike - 28:10 T2 + 2km run - 10:10 Gender Place/Total - 11/51 Age Group Place/Total - 4/10
(just missed 3rd place!) Place Overall - 27 / 161

Not too shabby for a first triathlon, I think. It was a real rush, demanding much focus on every
detail of the race, on what you were doing at the moment, as well as what was about to come up. This
sort of thing suits me to a "T". The only question now is: When is my next race? The legs are just a
little achey now, in a nice way... telling me I've done good work.

Thanks for reading,

Cam (11 hours after the race and STILL eating non-stop. *This* should be an event)
 
In article <[email protected]>, Cam Wilson
<[email protected]> wrote:

> OTTAWA TRY A TRI (TRIATHLON) RACE REPORT
>
> Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Saturday May 24th, 2003
> --
>
> Oh happy joyous world! My first triathlon! I did it! (ok, I'd better calm down now.... naaawww)
> overall time - 44:27 100m swim + T1 - 6:07
> 12.1km bike - 28:10 T2 + 2km run - 10:10 Gender Place/Total - 11/51 Age Group Place/Total - 4/10
> (just missed 3rd place!) Place Overall - 27 / 161
>
> Not too shabby for a first triathlon, I think.

Great job!! Congratulations Cam. Watch out.....these things become addicting. clm in sf

--
[email protected] cathy morgan, san francisco, ca REMOVE x x to email
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Cathy
Morgan) wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>, Cam Wilson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > OTTAWA TRY A TRI (TRIATHLON) RACE REPORT
> >
> > Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Saturday May 24th, 2003
> > --
> >
> > Oh happy joyous world! My first triathlon! I did it! (ok, I'd better calm down now.... naaawww)
> > overall time - 44:27 100m swim + T1 - 6:07
> > 12.1km bike - 28:10 T2 + 2km run - 10:10 Gender Place/Total - 11/51 Age Group Place/Total - 4/10
> > (just missed 3rd place!) Place Overall - 27 / 161
> >
> > Not too shabby for a first triathlon, I think.
>
> Great job!! Congratulations Cam. Watch out.....these things become addicting. clm in sf

Uh, your warning came too late.... I was addicted before I did the race! Thanks for the kind words,

Cam
 
Well done Cam....glad all your hard work paid off.....but you're hooked completely now :)
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"Hedgehog & Markarina" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well done Cam....glad all your hard work paid off.....but you're hooked completely now :)
>
>

thanks! yes, the training and all of the homework (reading and gathering of advice) sure made race
day go without a hitch.

as for being hooked, i think that was clinched before i even started the race. just having my race
number markered onto my arms and legs made me feel like this was the way it was meant to be. we'll
see how it goes from here.

Cam