Toronto Island Duathlon Race Report

Race: Toronto Island Duathlon
Date: Saturday August 18, 2007.
Location: Toronto Island, Ontario
Description: Duathlon 5km/30km/5km
Website: www.multisportcanada.com

This race was used as a final tune-up for Ironman Canada and I didn’t care much about placing anywhere. So I will try and talk about the new course, my prank on Angus, and my mishaps.

The Race

The Run (5km) – As I mentioned in my last report, my buddy Angus Kim (Team RF member) got married last week. So my plan was to decorate this bike with Just Married stickers, and signs that morning. The only obstacle in the plan was that he did not leave the transition area until a few minutes before the start of the race.

When he finally left, I got to work with my decorating. Unfortunately for me the horn went off to start the race and I was still in sticking my stickers on his bike and hanging signs on the racks. Since I didn’t care much for today’s result I finished my decorating and ran out of transition to catch up with the rest of the 1st wave. I was a little over 3 minutes behind at that point. I was not going to kill myself to get back into the thick of the field (I have IMCAN in a week) so I just ran steady the whole way. I somehow still ran 25:16 for the 5 km. My Avg. HR was 155 bpm.

The Bike (30 km) - My Litespeed Saber is being shipped to IMCAN so I brought out my Litespeed Siena for this one. I love flat courses so I was looking to kicking some butt on this one. After the first lap of the bike I was feeling cruddy. I was pushing fairly hard but was not passing anyone, and people who I usually pass by time on the bike were gaining on me. I was severely puzzled. Yes, it was windy but not that windy. Could it be fatigue or overtraining? I was thinking that this is not a good thing heading into Ironman Canada. It felt like I was doing a spin class with a tension of 10.

At the 15 km mark I was still struggling to hold 27 km/hr so I decide to flip open the latch on both of my brakes just in case they were rubbing. Eureka! All of a sudden my speed kicks up to 37 km/hr and I maintain 35 km/hr or higher for the rest of the course. This is going to mean a not so stellar bike split but I was relieved to know that I was still in good form heading into IMCAN. I did the bike in 54:34, averaging 33 km/hr, and with an Avg. HR of 165.

The Final Run (5 km) – I was so far behind any of the top age groupers so there was no need to kick it into overdrive and catch anyone. I kept it controlled (avg. HR of 159) and finished the final run in 23:45 - a negative split by 90 seconds (of course this was due to my delayed start). My legs felt great during the run and I hope it is a sign of things to come in one week. My Avg. HR for the entire race was 161 and I burned off 1818 calories.

The Stats:
5 km Run - 25:16
T1 – 41 seconds
30 km Bike – 54:34
T2 – 41 seconds
5 km Run – 23:45
Total Time – 1:44:55

Other stuff

Multisport Canada did another great job putting on this race. Despite the swim being cancelled (the water was 56 degrees), they staggered things fairly well to ensure that the bike course was not too crowded. A few things need improving (areas where the run course and bike course are too close to each other, line-ups for race kit pick up and ferry service, even more of a stagger to the waves). But John Salt of HSBC already mentioned improvements to all of these things at the post race awards so things should be perfect for next year.

During the bike leg when I was not feeling all that jovial, I was sure that I would not return to race here. But sitting and writing this hours later I am thinking that I will. It is a nice setting, I like the mix of asphalt, grass and trail on the run, and the bike course is tight in certain areas but flat (which suits me perfectly). The only real negative was the fleecing on parking fees in the area (not Multisport Canada’s fault), and the line-ups for the ferry and race kits. Hopefully this will be rectified by next year.

Mike Leader - thanks for unintentionally providing a distraction so I could decorate Angus’ bike before the race. You came by at the right time. Well, maybe a few minutes earlier would have better since I could have started with my actual wave. Nice race by the way.

Angus - Thanks for being a good sport and keeping that big “Just Married” sticker on your bike the whole day (even on the ferry ride back to Toronto).

Up next: Ironman Canada on August 26th.