Race Report: Milton Sprint Triathlon 2019
Howdy! Well today was an interesting experience at the Subaru sprint triathlon in Milton, ON. Long story (it will come later) short, I finished alive in one piece. This was my second Sprint. However, Milton was slightly longer than usual as it is a 750m swim, 30km, and 7k run.
The Swim
I improved a bit in the chilly open water swim. Only had to resort to backstroke a little. Maybe I’ll practice with the wetsuit in the pool and definitely get more open water swimming experience at local lakes.
The Bike
Crashed 3 times on the bike and got mechanical service twice…big cuts and bruises on all 4 limbs. Was asked many times if I was able to finish…still hit the run, and I was certain I was the last person, but still ended up passing a handful of runners. A bunch of lessons learned. Need more practice bike handling and doing actual hills. My poor bike absolutely needs to get repairs. Anyways, I live to see another day, however that was the most painful shower I’ve ever had. Milton bike course is actually ranked one of the hardest climbs in Canada. And of course I decided to pick this race. Well, the Rattlesnake Point has a 8% average incline with a 16% steeper one. I crashed twice, fortunately no one else was hurt. Once trying to power my way up the hill, that didn’t work and I crashed to the right side of the road. What goes up, must come down. I totally was not ready for that mad descent back down and panicked and bailed out. Both times required mechanical assistance which took 20 mins off my time. But at that point, I just wanted to finished. I was asked several times if I was sure I wanted to continue the race. I didn’t hesitate once and said “let me keep going”. Essentially what I learned from this is that indoor training on the smart trainer is fine, and is great for time effective workouts. But nothing beats getting the real on-road experience of handling, balancing, and braking, specially for someone who just picked up cycling. My good friend Iain said “You aren’t a real cyclist until you’ve had your first crash”…I guess I’m in the club! Bike needs to be taken into the shop for repairs as well. But she’ll be fine. What’s kind of messed up and funny is that even after yesterdays bloody mess, I actually have no demotivating feelings on cycling. Really surprised I didn’t come in last! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right? My mind is looking forward to healing up, getting my bike fixed up,
The Run
The run to the finish was fine. I was just so happy to get to this segment. Aerobically felt fine, but I was still pretty shook up from the bike leg. All my limbs especially my shoulders were stinging from the ripped skin, so I wasn’t able to use my arms for optimal momentum to hit my full desired race pace.
Aftermath
Lessons Learned
- More practice in wetsuit
- More practice in Open Water
- Work on bike handling/braking
- Work on bike climbing
- Work on bike descending
Conclusion
THANK YOU to all the awesome volunteers, road side bike mechanics, medics, and organizations. It was a beautiful event nonetheless.
I see races as a metaphor for life. No matter what happens, always keep a positive mindset, and finish strong.