My triathlon season has come to an end for 2009, and the final race was fun but the result has a mixed bag of emotions associated with it. Following my last triathlon in June I put a big focus on improving my run speed, endurance, and confidence. My swimming had been going well and I was pretty sure that I had selected bike workouts for this final prep period that would maintain my speed and power but would still allow me to focus on the run. I did exactly what I had prescribed for myself in training. Finishing those three hard weeks of training I began a 12 day taper towards this race full of confidence that I had brought my running to a new level and I was ready to take a reasonably safe shot at what I would consider an impressive run split for myself, somewhere below 1:35.

The race weekend arrived, 9 members of the University of Alberta Triathlon Club would be racing and 9 more friends from Edmonton would be alongside the road on race day to add their cheers to the mix. Race morning began for myself at 3:45 when I woke up before my alarm set for 4:00 am. Simmon and myself chowed down on breakfast in the early morning darkness and then made our way over to the casino parking lot and hopped aboard a school bus for a ride out of Calgary to the race start at Ghost Reservoir. Off the bus we came bleary eyed but excited and I prepped my bike for the race with drinks, food and air in the tyres. I stashed the other gear in appropriate places and skipped the 800 person lineup for the toilets and watered a tree instead.

All that was done before the sunrise came over the horizon, and a beautiful sunrise it certainly was. The professionals got going at 10 minutes before 7am to the cheers of a lot less other athletes than you might have guessed, they were all standing in line for the toilets. Every 10 minutes another set of age groups would set off into the lake. I waited around on the grass trying to stay off my feet and not get too excited for the next hour before hopping into my wetsuit and giving up on staying calm, some more spectator friends arrived at the lake and helped with getting into wetsuits but did not help with keeping the adrenaline down. Finally it was time to go, an hour and a half after the pros had begun I hit the water and bobbed around waiting for the start. Things started rather smoothly and I along with about 100 others in my wave start made our way onto the swim course and the stunningly blue waters of Ghost lake.

Despite all the hype about how cold the glacial fed lake was going to be it was rather warm and the course took us down a sheltered arm of the lake away from the waves (for the most part) and under a bridge jam packed with spectators. I felt like I was swimming exceptionally well for the first 1.5 kilometers at which point things started to feel like a motor boat was driving circles around me. As we had moved to less sheltered water the waves had picked up and would remain as such for the remainder of the swim. I may have swum further than necessary due to tough sighting for the finish line but in the end it wasn’t totally outrageous, I started sighting off the wrong sailboat for maybe 50 yard but it was generally in the right direction. Out of the water Pat shouted “Stefan is 5 minutes ahead”. I was still confident that I’d had a good swim and Stefan must have had a great one, still feeling good I headed for my bike with a smile on my face. The numbers I’d receive later suggested my swim wasn’t stellar but everyone’s times were a bit longer than I might have guessed so either the waves made a difference or the course was a bit long, or some of each.

A fair transition for 1700 athletes requires more running than a fair transition for 200 athletes, it also means that it’s a good chance to make up time on the competition if you move quickly. I did well but got caught running on the carpet behind a rather large lady, it gave me a chance to give Pat a thumbs up as I went by.

Onto the bike the gentle wind that had begun to bring up those waves was about 3/4 of a tailwind and I moved quickly, passing dozens and dozens of athletes. The first 11 kms was pancake flat and I cruised along at 58 kms per hour in my highest gear. Next year I’ll need a cassette with an 11 tooth ring for racing! We turned left and began a long gentle climb and what felt like I was passing dozens of athletes turned into passing busloads. I saw Simmon in the distance and gradually reeled him in, we had a brief chat and I moved on. Before reaching the top of this long gradual climb there were two steep rollers to add to the mix. 26 kms were done and it was time for and aid station. I took on a bottle of powerade, a bottle of water which I drank half of and dropped and a banana. Out of the aid station I was passed by my first person as I ate my banana. I stayed near him and as soon as we turned south again (and downhill) I took advantage of my mass and took back the pass. The downhill was exceptionally fast on great pavement and I kept things totally controlled effort wise while pulling in many more people. The handling skills of the average triathlete in the aerobars at 50kph is not very impressive and on more than one occasion I was a bit scared by the weaving and wobbling of someone I was passing; luckily there were no incidents. Another person I passed (Pete Dean – would go on to win my AG) re-passed me on the downhill but he looked to be expending a lot of effort for a downhill section so I let him go. Off of Horse Creek Road I made my way through some narrow sections of shoulder on the way through Cochrane and onto ‘The Hill’. The grade out of Cochrane heading south is nothing spectacular but it is the biggest hill on the course. It doesn’t end, it just moves onto a false-flat after a short drop so I was careful to not overdo it and need to slow down on the long gradual climb that followed. Nonetheless I wound up passing another bus load of people on the ascent planted in my aerobars while people spun their easiest gears with some false assumption that this hill was steep and difficult just because it was the biggest one. Off of the main climb I put in a solid effort along the false flat and reeled Pete Dean back in and took over what I would later discover was the lead of my race.

I reached the second summit of the course and made a hard left at 60 kph through a traffic jam onto the springbank airport road. I recognized Mom, Dad and Karen all cheering there and set off over two short and steep rollers before a bombing downhill to the second aid station.

Whoever put the aid station at the bottom of the hill made a mistake, I came upon it doing 65 kph and had to really hit the brakes because I wanted a water bottle. After letting off the brakes I coasted as I regained speed and squeezed through a tight hole next to one other athlete and the centerline. I then realized they had bananas but I didn’t want to scrub off any more speed so I just shouted ‘BANANA’ and reached out my hand at 50 kph and grabbed what was held out. I managed to get a two halves and got down in the aero position and tried to keep my speed up as I flew down the rest of the hill and ate.

The rest of the bike course was nothing special, my focus was to stay aerodynamic and keep the effort level up. The route was generally flat with only minor rises and descents and I tried to stay comfortable and was successful at that. Compared to Stefan I rode the first 55 kms 2 minutes faster than him and the last 55 kms 2 minutes slower so I likely did fade back a bit during this section of the ride ‘effort wise’ even though my speed was still very high. Previous races I have chosen to go easier on the first half and harder on the second, presuming that this leads to a more evenly paced and efficient ride. This course however seemed like it would be dangerous to try that strategy because missing effort on the first long gradual uphill would really detrimentally affect my overall time. I opted to try and distribute effort evenly, I don’t know what Stefan’s strategy was.

Entering transition I hopped off my bike and scooted down the aisle to see only two or three other bikes racked at places with higher numbers than mine (I was almost the lowest number in my wave start). I didn’t look closely but knew Stefan was one of them and I presumed one was probably from my AG so I was running in second place (I was actually first). I was happy with that and set off through Glenmore Park capitalizing on the very gradual downhill. The first kilometer was done in 4:15 and I felt a million times better than the beginning of my run at the Chinook Half race where I had suffered from serious cramping in my vastus medialis on both legs. I watched Lisa Bentley run by going the other direction in her last kilometer and gave a big cheer. The great feeling lasted one more kilometer (4:15 again) and then the gradual uphill began and I remembered that this was going to be hard work. This realization reminded me to get some salt in and I cruised up the gradual incline posting two more kilometers at 4:25 each. I was really working and could feel that I was getting hot here and at the next aid station I decided to slow to a quick walk to give me more time to drink and pour water down my racing top. I would walk every aid station after that. Down Weaslehead hill I went and set off across the bottom. I was still unpassed since the swim start at this point but the crowd of SMTs was thinning out. There were basically only quick people left out ahead of me and it felt like I had rather abruptly reached the ‘front’ of the race. I don’t know exactly what the reason was that this occurred here but regular checks with my watch ensured me that I had not yet split any kilometer slower than 4:30 by the time I had hit 9 kms including one with a quick pee and the ascent of the hill on the south side of weaslehead. The trees were now gone and it was getting hot. I now faced two short out and back sections before re-entering the trees and retracing my steps back to the start. Stefan came by in the other direction and I gave him a cheer at the top of my lungs with both hands in the air “Go Schreiber!”. Stefan might have smiled a bit but he looked like he meant business and all I got was a low five. Bridget followed closely at this point and gave a little cheer and a big smile. My entertainment was soon over though as I faced a gradual climb and was baking hot. I could tell I was slowing down but my effort level was not fading, it was hovering around threshold considering I wasn’t yet halfway. The turnaround came and was followed by an aid station serving hot water and hot powerade… mmm mmm.

The run back down the gradual incline I let myself push a little harder trying to stay on pace. I saw Dad on the side of the path and Bridget came by again in the other direction, Stefan was long gone ahead. The next turnaround was followed by some lukewarm water to drink and hot powerade. I did get a cold sponge with water in it but I wasn’t about to squeeze a sponge that had been soaking in a garbage can into my mouth. Onto the head and down my shirt instead.

I continued along and was passed by the first guy who I wouldn’t later re-pass. He was 40 and had started well ahead of me but it meant I was slowing and I knew it. Soon there was another pass, another aid station and a downhill that finally hurt the quads but I was still running. My legs felt fine, I was getting the feeling that my fitness was actually what was limiting me from keeping the pace not my muscles. I started wondering if that was possible, and as I wondered I started to be able to feel my pulse in my temples because I was thinking about it. My heart was absolutely flying. I think this is when I realized I was not doing so well. I came down into the weaslehead and had 6 kilometers to go, the flat running let me zone out a bit and I had someone right in front of me to chase down. I got to the 5 km to go mark and checked my watch. I needed to run 4:10 kilometers and I could still make it in for a 1:35 half marathon (21.5 minutes remained!). That was going to be hard, but I knew I had biked 2:20 and at this point I still presumed I had had a fast swim which I thought was about 33 minutes. All added up I thought I was still in striking range for a 4:30 race time (I wasn’t actually in striking range, my swim had been 37 minutes and I had underestimated the time for T1 even though I had a fast one relative to the field). My run pace thus far I calculated was somewhere between 4:35 and 4:40 but If I really really dug deep I could make it. I was at the bottom of weaslehead hill and I decided I was going to give it a shot. I ran my next kilometer including weaslehead hill in 4:20, my fastest kilometer in the last 10. I got to the top, poured three cups of water on myself, drank two and got running again. Mom was at the side of the path and cheering, I felt miserable.

The next two kilometers were downhill but I started having little shivers in my legs and arms. I was absolutely boiling hot after running up the hill as fast as I did and basically switched from trying to run that 4:10 pace to trying to keep running. My legs felt fine but I was done. I got to the last aid station and poured warm water on myself, drank two cups of hot powerade and tried to get moving again. It wasn’t much of a run but at least it felt like a run and not a jog. Turns out I would average more than 6:30 per kilometer for the last 4 kilometers after my attack on the hill on my way to the finish. I don’t regret doing it because it probably didn’t slow me down all that much. I was going to come out into full sunshine anyways and waswell on my way to heatstroke before the hill anyways. It was my opportunity to put everything on the line for this season and I didn’t hold back and because of that I’m happy.

The kilometer 20 marker came and went and then I was passed by Pete. I recognized his tri suit from our little exchange coming down Horse Creek Road on the bike. He was in my age group but I couldn’t race him to the finish, I was trying to just keep running. Soon enough another guy came through, UCLA on his tri-top, and age category 18-24 on his calf. I couldn’t follow him either.

The run down the finish chute probably would have been exciting if I was a bit more coherent. I saw Pat and gave him a thumbs up, I heard Mom but couldn’t see her and then as I rounded the bend I saw 6:14:XX on the clock, I was close to going under some increment of 5 minutes but I didn’t know which one. I got a bit of a boost and ensured I made it and then suddenly I was done and sitting on a chair and Stefan was offering me a banana and a water. I poured the water on my head and a lady came over and put ice on my neck. They asked me how I felt and I was honest and said not very good so they took me into the medical tent. They got me to lay down on a bed but I was too heavy and ripped a hole in it and was laying on the asphalt. The lady took my blood pressure (106/60 FYI) and another one was putting ice down my shirt and trying to dry me off with a towel because I felt so cold (heatstroke – now I know the symptoms!). They gave me one of those foil blankets and after a while I started to feel better.

Having put together the training to have a fast run and then have that taken away by the unfavorable conditions on race day with the heat was a disappointment. One of the reasons I love the sport is that it is largely a contest against your own personal limitations and not as much a race against everyone else. Whether that put me at 47th place overall or 347 place overall I wasn’t all that concerned, but I had confidence in my running abilities. I even had confidence in my running abilities in warm temperatures, I had done lots of work in the mid to high twenties but when the thermometer was over 30 the story was different. The extra energy that I need to burn to move my larger body makes it just that little bit less able to stay cool when on the run. What this means for training for Penticton next August requires some research.

All told I wound up third place in my AG by 1:15, both of the guys passed me after 20 kms in the run. Originally there was only one slot designated for our AG to qualify for the world championships and it went to 2nd place after Pete declined it. Following reallocation another slot was given to our AG and I declined, it would roll down all the way to 8th place. Stefan finished second in his AG and qualified for Clearwater. Bridget placed third in her AG and after a slot reallocation also qualified for Clearwater. Dave Roberts also declined a slot to the World Championships.

The other results from the club included Simmon sticking it out on a tough run with bleeding feet after putting together a very solid swim-bike combo. Laura Whitehead finished her first ever Half-Iron distance with a consistent showing in all three disciplines, probably only her, Bridget and Stefan can say that of their race. Pete cruised in with a smile on his face after a tough run following his excellent bike ride. Tara put together a similar race to her GWN north result on a significantly hotter and hillier run course. Dave Roberts had a good swim, fast bike ride and painful run… but after all the talk of the dodgey IT band was happy to be able to run at all and probably was happy to finish the run in under 2 hours just so he didn’t have to be out there any longer than that. Bridget, racing her second triathlon ever and first half iron was a mark of consistency and set herself up with a probably safer and less testosterone charged bike leg to have a good showing on the run course. Jan also completed his first ever half with a good swim, bike and determined run. Stefan was the huge success story of the day though for the UofA Tri club, nearly swimming as fast as Simmon and then posting the fastest bike split at more than 40 kph and blistering run at slightly more than 4:30 per kilometer pace. Holding things together like that in the heat bodes well for success at IM Canada in four weeks and with any luck he’ll recover well and be able to put in some speed focused sessions before lighting things up at the world championships in Clearwater in November.

Histograms of my performance relative to the AG field: SWIM | BIKE | RUN

Full gallery of the day is here.