Race Report: 2018 Guelph Lake i Olympic
Looking over Guelph lake this morning, I realized my only goal for the day was to “send it” and hopefully hang on for as long as possible. Figuring that didn’t give me too much to build off of, I quickly made a few in my head.
To take those goals a bit further, I decided to dissect the race so that future me (and present you) can learn a little bit about what to expect from the course.
Targets (and results)
1500m swim… <30:00 ✅ (25:07)
40k bike… average >32km/h ✅ (33.2km/h)
10k run… <45:00 ✅ (44:27)
Race time: <2:30:00 ✅(02:25:25)
Prerace
Pleasant drive from Mississauga to Guelph took about 60 minutes which put on site at 0630 when the bulk of people were starting to trickle in.
Breakfast looked like 5 eggs scrambled w/ 2 tbs of butter and 4 pieces of bacon. Knocked back 2 espresso shots, and 40 oz of water.
Note that 90% of my training is done either fasted or on a very low carb diet so my body is use to using the fat over carbs. Really important to a) get into a place of fat adaption and b) know your anaerobic thresholds or your body will be searching for carbs where none are to be found.
Swim
The swim takes place in Guelph’s aptly named lake.
The water was sitting just north of 68 degrees (freedom units), which made it a perfect temperature a wetsuit. Originally two short laps, the swim was modified into one large rectangular out-over-and-back swim the morning of (this tidbit of information was poorly communicated to athletes). The water was calm and visibility was good despite some of the classic sunrise glare that made sighting difficult on the way back into shore.
The water was rather cloudy and sadly no fish could be seen.
Performance wise, I went out hard in the front pack and took a poor route to the first buoy. For an early season race, I wanted to focus on breaking out early then settling into a tempo pace, and keep good catch form throughout.
I came out of the water 5/39 in the 25–29 age group. Colour me shocked.
Bike
The bike course is an out-and-back that takes you north out of the Conservation area towards the community of Fergus.
Get Nico DiPlacido’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
The course is known for rough patch of road at the beginning (and end) of the course. The 5km patch is so rough that the organizers warn you about the conditions in the pre race email. Thankfully, the remaining bulk of the 40km course is silky smooth.
Following my general theme of “sending it”, I was extra eager to get out on the bike. So eager, that I left all my nutrition in transition. Woops. ☹️
Overall the bike was smooth with very little wind and mild overcast conditions.
While the OPP were controlling the major intersections, there were more cars than I would have expected on the bike course with many making rather aggressive moves past large groups of athletes. On my way back in I noticed the OPP had pulled over a man with a large trailer. Rumours after the race noted that the driver potentially made contact with an athlete.
At the dismount line I was having some troubles getting out of my new cycling shoes which lead me to overshoot the line and take a 10 second penalty. Then I unclipped my helmet before racking my bike, which cost me another 5 seconds. But then again, there are no medals on the line for me so I’m happy to give the officials something to write home about.
Run
The run course weaves through the conservation area roads and campsites composed mostly of paved road with a few gravel paths and field tracks mixed in.
I always feel wobbly off the bike, so I focused on keeping my foot turnover high for the first km before I could really understand the damage the bike had done to my legs. Turns out they were doing okay — holding a 4:30/km pace quite well.
Mentally I split 10km into two 5km chunks:
The first is a tempo effort aiming for 20–22 mins.
The second is a do or die dash to negative split the first time.
I was able to hit the negative split by trying to hold the heels of a few athletes who were clearly far superior runners than me.
This strategy let me claw back in 11 of the 30 gender spots I had dropped on bike. Despite this I held the same spot of 9/40 in my age group.
Summary and Future Recommendations :
Great race. Would do again.
9/10 (-1 because of the bumpy road on the bike course)
Recommendations:
- Be at the venue for 630am.
- Definitely a race for PB’s (relatively flat bike and run with forgiving hills)
- Take your time in transition. Don’t forget all your food.
See you next time at Toronto Triathlon Festival. 👋
