Binbrook Triathlon 2013 Race Report

Ok, So I'm still behind on posting my Ottawa half marathon report and my Ride for Heart post, but I thought I would get caught up with my Binbrook Triathlon Race report today!  This past Saturday I raced my first triathlon of the season and it was an amazing day!

Barry and I left Toronto with plenty of time and arrived at the race site early.  I quickly grabbed a great spot on my designated bike rack and headed over to the bib pick up and body marking.

racked on the X-wing so I could just pull my bike toward me and the bike out was 8 feet away!

As expected with Multisport Events, everything was very efficient and I was back in transition getting set up before I knew it.  This was my shake-out race before Mt. Tremblant 70.3 so I just focused on setting up my transition in the best fashion I could.  I had lots of time to spare until it was time to move down to the swim start at which  point I had to ditch my flip-flops and the cold ground came up through my feet and I caught a chill.  My feel remained numb until 5km into the run!

Barry heading to the Du start line and I'm heading to the swim start

The water was chilly but not too bad.  I swam out about 50 meters and then back again for a little warm up and was reminded what a murky swim this would be.  First wave went off at 8:15,  I was in the third wave at 8:23 so I stood at the lake edge shivering uncontrollably.  I was ready to get in the water and get this race started.

Boom - my wave was off.  I felt like I had a great swim - I stayed on a straight line to the buoy and was able to draft off feet for most of the first stretch to the turn buoy.  Like every swim, it was a little hectic at the turn but really, this was one of the least crowded swims I have done.  I exited the water with quite a few people from the wave ahead of me so I felt like I had a good swim.  Sportstats says 16:25 and that includes the run up to transitions.  I don't swim with my Garmin so I'm not sure what my real swim time was.  I was 5th of my age group out of the water.

always happy to be out of the swim!

I got to my bike and there were still many many bikes on the rack - this is always an uplifting feeling.  I struggled a bit getting my wetsuit off and then getting my helmet on so my T1 was as quick as I would have hoped but given it was my first race of the season I'll take 1:34 and know I have to cut 30 seconds off for TTF.

Leaving T1 - being chased by a fellow TTCer!

I like this bike course (it's flat and fast) but I was confused because the course was different from last year and different from the course maps that I had seen.  There are many turns in this out and back course which of course slows you down.

Bike Course - 19 turns for a 30k ride!

I felt great on the bike, I passed many and was passed by only a few (and no one in my age group).  I don't remember passing anyone from my age group but I must have since I was 4th in my age group on the bike. I came into transition and again had the uplifting feeling seeing a very empty bike rack with only 2 - 3 bikes.

another turn - out of aero and on the breaks

My official bike split was 53:58 (33.4kph).  Again I had a bit of trouble in transition.  I had decided to wear my favourite Zoot racing flats, but I hadn't worn them since Muskoka back in September and I had some trouble pulling them on - and it didn't help that my feet were still numb from the cold.  I spend 1:06 in T2 - again lessons learned, kinks being ironed!

My legs felt a little wobbly as I made my to the run course but I was determined to run that 7.5km course the best I could - I knew there was a small chance I could podium and I also knew my run has been very strong lately.

starting the run - checking the garmin

heading up the trail - that's a real smile

 It was a bit painful as my feet were still numb and running on numb feet is not a nice sensation.  It was the same course as last year so I knew the start was on a rocky/muddy trail leading up to the top of the dam and then we would be on paved roads.  I made good work up the trail and onto the paved roads. I had forgotten the extent of the rolling hills but I was able to keep my pace up.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	36:24.6	7.85	4:38
1	4:42.8	1.00	4:43
2	4:41.7	1.00	4:42
3	4:45.0	1.00	4:45
4	4:41.7	1.00	4:42
5	4:25.9	1.00	4:26
6	4:31.2	1.00	4:31
7	4:29.9	1.00	4:30
8	4:06.4	0.85	4:50

I pushed through the first 4 km, keeping an eye out on the women coming back and the women in front of me.  My feet were slowly coming around and the pins and needles came and went sometime before the 5th km.  Then, somewhere in that 5th km I saw a lady in front of me and I thought her leg read "44" so I started to push but when I got to about 10 feet behind her I noticed it was "34" so I settled down a bit.  I had caught up to a gentleman who I had chatted with earlier, he asked how I was doing and I told him what I had thought about the 34 on the lady in front of us.  He chuckled and said "she's not but that one up there says 44".  I started another surge and passed both of the woman. At this point I was pretty sure I had a good chance to hit the podium, but you never really know and truthfully I was just hanging on, I couldn't have run any faster at that point.  I came up on Mike, a club mate, and he asked how I felt and I said "like I'm going to puke".  But I only had to hold on for a few more minutes.

coming back along the dam trail hanging on - hadn't seen the camera man yet

Oh, there's the camera man - better smile!

As I came back across the dam I could see and hear the finish line.  I just held on - it wasn't pretty - but I got her done.  It was so nice to see a large group of Toronto Triathlon Club Mates, including Barry, cheering me on as I rounded out the run into the finishing chute.

I told you it wasn't pretty!

Finished!  They didn't capture my feeble attempt to jump across the line

Sportstats  says I did the run in 36:05 with an average pace of 4:49 not sure why my Garmin splits are so different.  I had the 3rd fastest run split in my age group!!!    Of course when I finished I wasn't sure what the results were going to be.  Initially I looked on the duathon results and was disappointment to see that there had been 3 finishers in my age group and my results hadn't been posted yet.  But then I was informed I was looking at the wrong results.  I was elated when I checked the results and saw 3/15 next to my name!  I didn't even bother to see my time or my splits - I was just overwhelmed with joy - because while I have won many awards in my life - I have NEVER won, or even come close to winning, a sporting event ever!

First place beat me by nearly 7 minutes, second place by 5 ... I've got work to do!

So I shaved over 4 minutes off my results from last year (you can read about that here) and got my first podium.  I finished 117 out of 298 overall, 20th out of 109 woman and of course 3rd out of 15 woman 40-44!  I fumbled a bit in the transitions but felt great about all three events.  I would say the day was an all around success and I hope to race it again next year!  Many thanks to John Salt and his crew at Multisport Canada - they always put on a great race!  And to the many volunteers (especially the kids!) - Thanks so much - these races wouldn't be possible without you!

 Next stop - Mount Tremblant Ironman 70.3!

And just as a note, I have purchased the digital download of all the My Sports Shooter photos, they just haven't arrived yet!