What an incredible race! I forgot how much fun a sprint race can be and I had an amazing time. I basically strong-armed all my friends into doing this race and I'm glad I did, there were 8 guys that beat the time of last year's winner. There was such a stacked field that all the race organizers were blown away by the times and the competition there. I knew going into it that I wasn't going to be able to bike as fast as Joe and I was right he easily put 2 minutes on me which is impossible to make up in a sprint. It was great to have him there he kept me focused on the bike and pushing the entire race. I set a new PR for a sprint which is all I wanted to do, I beat 36 year old me which I thought was impossible after turning 40.
I don't think I've ever devoted so much time and energy into training for and racing a sprint but all my buddies were so excited for this race that it became contagious. We did two swim- bike- runs all at the sprint distance on the Saturdays leading up to the event and training seemed to be going really well. Unfortunately we woke up on race morning to spitting rain and wet roads... ugh. Well you can't control the weather so I just packed up and headed to the race start. I have taken a spill on a rainy race before so I was very cognizant of staying under control through all the turns on the bike.
The swim was really great, I led our heat and had an opportunity to keep the pace high and managed to lap the other 3 guys once or twice in the 750m. I was quite surprised to find out later I had the 2nd fastest swim of 11:27 behind a really fast young guy from Ft. St. John who swam a 10:03. I couldn't believe I beat the times of some incredible swimmers from GP, Steve, Joe, and Richard have always swam faster than me so it shocked me in a good way.
When I started riding I could tell something didn't feel right immediately. I was holding a 162-163 HR and my power seemed to be okay but I just wasn't getting the speed I should have been for that type of effort. I'm not sure if it was the cooler weather or not warming up the legs beforehand but I didn't have the ride I was hoping for. I took a look at my Garmin data afterwards and I was pushing hard the entire ride, there really was no where I could have gained any additional time so I know I gave it everything I had. I saw Joe pass me about 3/4 of the way through the first lap and I tried to keep him in sight for as long as possible. I could see him in the distance for most of the second bike loop which helped maintain my focus. My average power was 247W which is very high for me any higher and I wouldn't have been able to run after. I had the 2nd fastest bike time of 31:39 at an average of about 38km/hr.
I started the run and my legs were absolute concrete, I was running but felt like I was just shuffling. I could see Joe in the distance making the first turn so I was pushing as hard as I could to catch him but we were running at pretty much the same pace. When I thought I was gaining on him it was only a few meters and it was too late, my legs didn't start coming around until 2.5k and I knew that he had me. That being said my goal was to beat my 2009 time of 1:02.17 which I did by 1:20 giving me the fastest run time of 17:52 and a total time of 1:00.57. Fantastic race for me and I'm glad I had a group of great guys keeping me pushing hard for the full hour. The nice thing about a sprint is it's over by 10am and we had time for coffee and lunch before heading back home.
Well that wraps up my 2013 season, great to have completed an Ironman, 1/2 Ironman, and a Sprint race all in one year. I'm looking forward to spending more time with Amber and Ryder next year so I might just keep it short distance. The training isn't as time intensive and I can still feel like I'm active and healthy which is one of the things I love about this sport.
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