Wasaga Beach Triathlon 2015

The annual Wasaga Beach triathlon is a race I have mixed feelings about.   In theory, this race is scenic and strategic in location, but the time of year (early Sept, late summer) it has been held sets it up for bad weather.  Indeed, the last two years I’ve signed up for this race, storm systems had moved through either the night before, or during the actual race itself, and the wind and rain wreaked havoc on the course.  The swims were cancelled and triathlons modified to wet and windy duathlons.  After last year I swore I’d never do this race again.   

Contrary to my last sentence, I ended up competing at Wasaga Beach again this year, as 3 things had changed.  First, the organizers changed the race date and moved it a week earlier so it was held Aug 29-30, instead of Sept 6-7.  Second, I decided to wait until I could confirm that the weather forecast would be decent before registering (I’d honestly rather pay the late registration fee than face the possibility of monsoonal weather conditions and duathlon).   Thirdly, I was motivated to get one more race in this particular series (MultiSport Canada) as I recently discovered I was third in my age group for overall points this season (http://results.sportstats.ca/res2015/msc/triathlon.htm).  This would have been my last chance to rack up more points in an attempt to secure my position.  Alas, I ended up racing at Wasaga Beach again this year.  

It was cloudy and overcast on race morning, but mercifully winds were low and the brief threat of rain passed without incident.  I would swim at Wasaga Beach for the first time in three years.  It was an odd swim course as the beach was so flat it took quite some distance for the water to get deep enough to actually swim in. The green start buoys were positioned offshore several hundred metres into the water.   The water was calm but it was an awkward swim back to shore, as sighting the exit arches on the beach was difficult due to their colour pattern and the blur of the bustling shops along Beach Drive.  Also, at the end of the swim course we had quite a long run though calf and ankle deep water to reach the shore and transition zone.   I can’t say I really enjoyed this swim course, I didn’t like the lay out.  I prefer a shoreline with a steeper grade that more precisely defines the point where you switch from swimming to running, instead of that prolonged awkward transition.   But at least we got to swim, so thats a small victory right there. 

I enjoyed the bike course much more this year.  I suppose it has a lot to do with not fighting the headwinds I’d encountered the previous years. That and still having fresh legs from the swim as opposed to not having my legs already tanked from the first run of a duathlon (the last 2 years the course was modified to a run-bike-run course which is really tough on the legs if you haven’t trained for it specifically, trust me).  There were a few parts on the road where racers had to be careful to avoid clumps of sod that had fallen off farm trucks, but other than that the road conditions were good.   It’s actually quite a nice course to ride when not cursing the weather or battling fatigue.  It was fast, flat with some gently rolling hills to prevent you from being complacent.  I ended up keeping an average pace of 28.9km/h on the bike course this time, a big improvement from last year’s pace of 23.4km/h.

The transition from bike to run (T2) went much smoother than the transition from the swim to bike (T1).  I didn’t have any problem finding my running legs, and I blew past two women in my age group right out of T2 as they were still getting their feet under them.   Running is my strongest of the 3 disciplines and I knew I had to lay down some speed after the awkward swim I had.   With this being a shorter run course (only 5km) I tried to be strong coming right out of the gate.  Just as the race organizers say to promote the event, it’s a fast, flat run, finishing on the beach.  I had a decent run, pacing 4:51/km.  I ran past several of my friends on the course, I saw Bala Falls Brad again, who I’m happy to say ran the entire course this time.  I also ran past my ultimate friends Marianne and Olivia who also put in sub-90min overall times at this event.  Its always nice when you see your friends at the finish line to celebrate after a hard run :)  

Overall, I finished the sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) in a time of 1:26:21, placing tenth in my AG.  My specific race stats are as follows: 750m swim 16:57, T1 (2:10), 20km bike 41:34, T2 (0:55), 5km run 24:15.I haven’t competed in this distance category (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) since 2013, when my best time was 1:31:56.  My goal for this race was to run a sub-90min sprint triathlon.  And I managed to shave more than 5min off my time at this event - 1:26:22.  I have gotten faster!!