This past weekend was the first race inthe Canadian Junior Triathlon Series and it was held right here in Saskatchewan! It was awesome to finally have a race at home.
After my strong race in Dallas I was feeling pretty confident heading into this race. After two weeks of solid rain, the weather finally cleared up just in time for the race and it was a hot day at Pike Lake.
It was a beach start; my favorite kind of start! I had a great start and lead all the way to the first buoy. After the turn, I got on Hilary Willie’s feet and was able to stay there for a good portion of the swim. I came out of the water in third, just a few seconds behind the leaders. I had a strong run up to transition but then disaster struck! My helmet wouldn’t do up! I’ve never had this problem at a race before. I stood there, struggling with my helmet for a few seconds until I finally got it done up… or so I thought. I started to run with my bike but, after just a few steps, my helmet came undone again! The strap had gotten caught in the buckle. I immediately stopped and did it up again but the damage was done: I’d touched my bike without my helmet done up.
Because of the fiasco during my transition, the other three girls that I’d come out of the water with were already on their bikes and biking away from me. I jumped on my bike and sprinted after them. I was able to catch them fairly quickly but it took me some time to get my feet into my shoes due to surges in the pace. After about 4 km I finally got my feet in and was able to help push the pace for the rest of the bike. Hilary, Amelie and I were able to put quite some distance between ourselves and the rest of the field during the windy ride.
I had a good dismount and was first going into transition. I also had a good T2 so was first out of transition as well. As I began my run, I heard my coach yelling at me that I had received a penalty because of my helmet problems in T1. I stayed calm and decided to worry about this a little later in the race. I lead the first loop of the run and it felt fairly relaxed and comfortable. I was able to get into a good rhythm. I decided to take my penalty after the first loop of the run. It was the longest 10 seconds of my life. Amelie got quite a ways ahead of me during my time in the penalty box. I tried to get back into a rhythm during the second loop of the run but never really got my momentum back. I finished the race in second place.
I have mixed feelings about this race. I feel happy about my race because it felt strong and relaxed. I was also able to keep calm despite all of the things that went wrong during my race. On the down side, I’m really upset about my penalty. Although the penalty was only 10 seconds, it definitely cost me more then that. In serving my penalty I lost all of my momentum. I also got behind Amelie so I no longer had anyone to run with. It’s definitely a lot harder to run hard and fast when you’rerunning alone. Despite being disappointed about my penalty, I think that it will help me during my next race. This penalty has motivatedme to go even faster and harder next time. I am mad about the penalty and this anger is firing me up for Edmonton in two weeks. I am going to kill it in PATCO!
I want to end this post my thanking Genki Bar for their support… it is much appreciated!
The full results from the race can be found here.
