INTRO

This event marks my 1-year anniversary of Triathlon. And it will forever hold a special place in my heart. I pushed myself into very new uncomfortable, and to be honest quite terrifying zones.  You may recall my first ever experience with open-water swimming (OWS) at TTF Sprint last year. And how I bought and “taught” myself to ride a bike just 3 weeks prior to that. I’ve been running for about 2-years. And basically had to teach myself how to swim and bike. There’s just something really intriguing and exciting about the sport of triathlon. For some reason I keep pushing forward. 

PRE-RACE

I had to keep reminding myself that I only just did IRONMAN 70.3 Muskoka 2-weeks before. There was some residual fatigue, but for the most part, I felt pretty solid going into TTF. It will have been my first Olympic distance triathlon. I hear this is a favourite, as it’s a good balance of speed and endurance. 

GOALS

Have fun and make the most of this amazing local urban race. 

SWIM (1.5KM)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2551190210

I know it’s only been a few weeks since Muskoka, but I got a lot of good feedback on my poor swimming technique. So at least a had a wee bit of time to try implement some new skills. Despite the weather being really hot, the waters of Lake Ontario was still really cold. I felt like it kind of affected my breathing, but I managed to stay calm. I swam freestyle continuously without stopping, panic, or backstroking. In the last quarter, my left goggle got flooded, so that made sighting hard, and overall slightly annoying. Out of the 4 triathlons I’ve done, this is my best pace of 2:56/100m. Despite this, I fell like this was actually harder than Muskoka for some reason. 

BIKE (40KM)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2551195078

Finally, a relatively flat bike course for me! This is a fun out and back on a totally closed Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner. Free of traffic. My dream! However, I felt like I lacked power on the first half. I think I was pretty drained from the swim or possibly still experiencing some fatigue from Muskoka. But after the turn-around, I absolutely loved the ride back. This is also the longest i’ve rode without dismounting for any reason! I still need to work on my arms and hands getting numb though. Also, my PowerTap P1 pedals weren’t responding so I couldn’t track my wattage. I’ll check them out and see if the batteries were dead. 

RUN (10K)

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2551121753

This was a hot and humid run to say the least. There were no large trees like in Muskoka to shade athletes. So, we had the sun beaming straight on us. I dug deep and pushed through 2-laps and almost PB’d my 10K. 

POST-RACE

After getting my silver donut-shaped finisher medal. I enjoyed a nice big veggie burger. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Hello post race delicious veggie burger ?? Had a blast this fine and hot Sunday at @TorontoTriathlonFestival! Met up with so many awesome IG Tri-buddies like @pacing.and.racing, @mrtdoespe, & @pkperformancecoaching ??Had a nice swim, though Lake Ontario was still pretty cold. I really need to work on this part of Tri. But swam continuous without panic attacks or backstroking. Glad to get onto a flat bike course. However, I felt pretty drained from the swim, and my legs didn’t want to pump out the power I wanted to on the first 20KM. Not sure if it’s residual fatigue from Muskoka 70.3? Anyways, things got a lot better on the second half of the bike. I love cycling without the fear of traffic on the DVP and Gardiner! This 40KM ride is actually the longest distance I’ve gone without getting off the bike for any reason. And as usual, I was stoked to get to the run. I actually almost PBed my 10KM too! It was a hot sweaty run, but I pushed through to the finish chute. Thank you so much to all the phenomenal triathlete community, volunteers, and organizers for another epic race in the heart of downtown #Toronto! #NOLIMITS #TriathlonTO #TTF2019 #TorontoTriathlonFestival

A post shared by Sean Chin (@seanchin) on

LESSONS

Figure out why I couldn’t put out the power I wanted on the first half of the bike leg. 

THINGS-TO-DO

  • Learn to use clip-in pedals
  • Get a true bike fitting with Saddle pressure mapping
  • Invest in an actual Triathlon bike
  • I need a real triathlon watch 
  • More outdoor riding to get bike-handling skills 
  • Learn to take hands of bars and eat/drink while riding
  • More Open Water Swimming and add speed
  • Get stroke analysis and improvement 

CONCLUSION

TTF 2019 is my final triathlon of the year. So, as of now, I’ve done 2 sprints, an olympic, and a 70.3. I can’t wait for my next season of triathlons in 2020! 

For now, I will continue improving my swim stroke efficiency, and road cycling skills. 

And my training build to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October resumes.