Binbrook Triathlon

I started my triathlon season a little earlier this year (June 7th), considering all the off season training I’ve been doing for other spring races (e.g. TYS 10km run, Ride for Heart 75km bike), I figured I was in good enough form to get back at it again.   

It was a beautiful Saturday morning for racing in Binbrook (near Hamilton, ON).  The weather was sunny, clear and warm, eventually rising to a temperature of 24C in the afternoon.  I was a little concerned about the water temperature for the lake swim (its still spring time in Canada after all), but it was a lovely 21C in the lake and absolutely perfect with my wetsuit on.   

The Binbrook triathlon course was a little longer than the usual sprint courses I’ve been doing the last couple seasons. This course had a 750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run.  The same swim distance as usual but added an extra 10km to the bike and 2.5km to the run. Making it more challenging and a good transitional race for those thinking of switching up to the olympic distance courses in the future.  

Here’s my race breakdown: 

swim 16:37 (T1 2:42) bike 1:06:53 (T2 2:13) run 43:59. 

Overall time was 2:12:21, placed 8th in my age group. 

I was quite happy with my swim time (as I was averaging 17:21 on my swim last season), my bike time was on par, but I felt I took too long in T2 (when I realized I forgot my compression socks for the run and had to stop to re-adjust them), and was disappointed in my run time, which I really wanted to be under 40min for that distance. 

Looking back, I realized that the additional 10km on the bike and 2.5km on the run really make significant impact on your body and endurance level by the end of the race, and I have to take this into consideration for my next triathlon.  I foresee more bike/run brick training sessions in my near future!  

On the positive side, I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made on my swim.  Looking back on my previous 750m swim times (avg/season: 2012 = 18:43, 2013 = 17:21, 2014 = 16:37) I can see that I’ve improved my swim time by a solid minute each season.  All that time spent in the water focussed on my front-crawl has really paid off.  

But I have to give my offseason gym routine some credit here too. I added in a couple swim-specific resistance drills in the weight room, which have helped strengthen my arms: 1) the 2-arm high-elbow cable pull, and 2) the 2-arm lateral raise and extension.  Doing both of these exercises in 3sets of 12reps, 2x/week has really helped my swim. I highly recommend this to other triathletes in addition to your usual core strengthening workouts. (Considering the swim is the only section of the triathlon where you really use your arms for propulsion you want to make them as efficiently powerful as you can). 

Overall, it was a fun day of racing and I’m super glad I made it out to Binbrook this year. I know where I’ve seen improvements in my performance (e.g. swim) and which areas require more work (e.g. run).  If you need me I’ll probably be found on the elliptical and treadmill over the next few weeks, prepping for my next race in July.  I will have a better run time in my next race you can be sure of that!