So I did my 2nd Oly distance race this past Sunday, after a 5 year layoff from the sport. It was the Mountainview Triathlon in Hinton, AB (just outside Jasper).
The weather had called for showers, but we woke up to sunshine and general loveliness! I decided to try the same approach as I did in the try-a-tri I did last weekend - oatmeal and coffee for breakfast as it seemed to work for me. I was also trying out my aero helmet (Lazer Tardis) for the first time, so was excited to see how it felt.
I got the transition early to get a nice spot near the bike exit, and tried to keep things simple as far as what I put in my spot. I put my helmet, sunglasses, and race number belt on my bike, and my fingerless gloves and cycling shoes on the ground in front of my bike. I had 1/2 bottle of gatorade on the bike to have during that leg of the race. For the run, I had running socks and shoes, and my cap.
Swim was okay - it was a pool swim so it was rather boring. I was sharing my lane with three guys, who were all slower than me. Two of them were good with me passing them, they would either slow down, move over, or stop at the end so I could crunch by them. However, there was one fellow who did not want me to be ahead of him. I would tap his feet and he would speed up, then slow down again, and I managed to pass him a few times, but then he would really speed up and just pass me again, and slow down. I found it really difficult to find a good rhythm. So I spent the last half of the swim just drafting off him because I didn’t want to stress about trying to pass him/get passed again. Swim time: 29:38 (1:59/100m). I think I could have gone at least a minute or two faster.
Bike was awesome. It was quite a hilly course, but I was able to stay in my big ring for the majority of the 40km - minus a big climb out to the highway, and a big climb at the halfway point. I was not passed by any other women, but was passed by 2-3 guys. I think I passed a few folks out there, but it’s quite a small race and the swim had multiple heats so it was pretty wide open! Totally sweet! I didn’t drink much Gatorade, I think I mixed it too strong and it didn’t taste very good. Loved the helmet though!! Super comfy, good ventilation, and very light. Bike time: 1:17:29 (31km/hr) which was 3rd fastest out of the women.
Run was not great. I have not yet found my running legs yet. The reason I had such a long layoff from sport was knee problems associated with long runs, so I have been trying not to get re-injured. My running has not felt good yet at all this season, so I wasn’t expecting to have an awesome time out on the run course! Anyway, the course begins with about 500m flat on a paved trail, and then turns up this huge hill for the next 2 km. After that, it is tons of ups and downs through the woods on a gravel trail. Way more difficult than I thought it would be. At the 3k mark, I began to feel okay and settle into a rhythm. At the 5k turnaround, I started feeling a little sick in the belly. I was passed by three women, but caught up to one in the last 2km. I also passed a guy about 1km to the finish. But I felt really crappy, and kind of dehydrated (I think). At about 500m to go, I started getting chills/goosebumps which led me to believe I was dehydrated. Does that sound about right? Run time: 1:03:50 (6:23/km).
Overall time: 2:50:56. As a point of reference, my time back in 2005 was 3:03:xx. I took about 4 minutes off the swim, 15 minutes off the bike, and lost about 6 minutes on the run compared with 5 years ago. I was pretty happy with that! And I was feeling a lot better after this race was over, whereas in 2005 I apparently looked like death. Yay!
Two more races left for the year (a half iron and IMWI) so if I can finish them, I will have a comeback season of PR’s!! 
If any of you guys are near Hinton, I highly recommend this race. It’s challenging and fun, they give bottles of wine away as prizes, it’s a small field so not really crowded, and it’s really well organized. I think it only cost about $50 for entry or something around there. They have the Oly, a sprint, and a duathlon.