Guelph Lake II

Yesterday was my final triathlon of the season and the goal was to A) have fun and B) finish the year with a win on home turf. I was pleased with my 4th place Canadian finish at Canadian Elite Nats two weeks ago and CoachCT and I decided that Guelph Lake II would be the final race. My bro Pre won Guelph Lake I earlier in the summer. So he put the pressure on me yesterday and said that the Guelph title must remain in the family. I consider both Guelph and Windsor my hometown races. I have never won either--despite more 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th finishes then I can count on 2 hands.

Yesterday brought fabulous weather and over 1000 participated in the sprint tri, sprint du, and tri-a-tri. It was just an awesome day to be out at Guelph Lake Conservation Area.

I had a great swim and emerged 40 seconds ahead. I had to take it out hard in the first 50 meters as I couldn't risk an accidental blow to the nose by one of my fellow competitors. Two weeks ago, at Canadian Nats, I suffered a brutal elbow to the nose in the first 100m of the swim. I still had a great race, but certainly the biggest nose ache I have ever incurred in a race. Yesterday, the nose was still extremely tender from the break two weeks prior.

I love the Guelph bike course but had some hydration issues. I went to grab my first sip of water 2mins into the bike, only to discover that my bottle was not in my cage. I later found out it had popped out of the cage on a speed bump in the first 30" of the ride. So that meant zero fluids for the entire bike. I didn't panic and just kept a solid tempo. If I 'pinned' it, then I would have risked muscle cramps early in the run. So I kept a solid tempo pace, and fortunately it wasn't too humid out yesterday morning. I arrived at T2 feeling good despite a mouth that felt like chalk. All I could think about was WATER. Finally at the 2k mark of the water--there was an aid station. What a great feeling to clear the dry mouth--it had felt like I had been in a desert for hours. I enjoyed the run, had zero cramping issues that I greatly feared might happen during the bike, and started to think about how great this year has been. I reflected on how busy the past few months have been, but how amazing and rewarding they have been. It was nice to have lots of friends and family cheering me on out on the course. Home course advantage always helps. I was greeted by my beautiful wife at the finish line. And some chocolate milk.



It was great to see Brian, Tim, and Shauna all have excellent days. Travis was still recovering from a bike crash at Junior Nats two weeks ago, but he still went out there and gave a good tempo effort. Brian used the race as a final tune-up for Muskoka 70.3 in two weeks time. I can't wait to cheer Brian, and Team LPC, on Sept 14th in Muskoka.

And props to Karsten Madsen with a solid 5th place finish (first junior). Karsten used this race as a platform to raise funds for the Sunnybrook Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Perinatal Research Fund. It is awesome to see so many talented (and nice and thoughtful) juniors on the race scene here in Ontario. There is a large crop of junior studs (like Karsten and Travis) who will certainly be giving me a real go next year. If I can't beat them in a race--then I will try to 'beat' them in a fund-raising effort :-)

I just love this event and look forward to supporting it in some way/shape/form, for years to come. Dave--the torch is in your hands when you toe the line at Guelph Lake I in 2009.

Results here.

So what is next for me in terms of racing and training? I will have two weeks of zero training (other than a evening walk with Bre and Mav in our backyard forest) and then start back ez at the PTC. I will do two running races later in the year, the Jingle Bell 5k in Essex, and the Canadian Cross Country Champs only 3k from home on Nov 29th.

I have written this while following the online coverage of Ironman Louisville. Go Shelley, Ralph, and Rob! Go Team LPC!