Squamish Off-Road Triathlon Race Report
In July 2017, I raced the Squamish Triathlon's first off-road event. Here is my race report and some on course thoughts.
In May, Canada welcomed us with open arms after our wild 6 month adventure across New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia. Shortly after touchdown we experienced a whole new chaos: Getting ready for our wedding and reintegrating into Whistler life. To add a little structure into my day-to-day, I decided to pick up an entry for a new off-road triathlon in Squamish, BC. I felt a bit rusty getting back into the swing of swim-bike-run training, especially with so little time until race day. But hey, I love a good challenge. Here's a little recap of the race:
Alice Lake Swim Start
Swim
All smiles coming out of the water
Athletes don't choose Alice Lake for the water clarity. But, despite the water having quite the muddy hue, it's typically the warmest lake in the area. As for me, I had an awesome swim. The course presented some interesting challenges, however. For example, some of the buoys were difficult to sight against and the docks near the start/finish bottle necked the swim a bit.
But gripes aside, no real complaints from this girl. Why? This was a breakthrough swim for me! I managed to stay with the pack, steering straight for most of the lap. As an admittedly average swimmer (I'm working on it - Thanks Kristian!) this was an absolutely stellar feeling. To track my distance and visualize the data after the race I regularly swim (bike and run) with a Suunto Ambit GPS watch. It's a pretty sweet tool that I've come to rely on heavily to track progress. I have it set to sync to other platforms including Strava and Training Peaks right after my sessions. Below was my effort synced over to Strava:
A quick transition onto the mountain bike course and I immediately noticed the power difference between a sprint and championship distance. This round, the sprint had my lungs at a consistent burn. Plus, my heartbeat reverberated into my throat at every gradient increase. Type 2 fun at it's finest. I didn't change the set-up of my Yeti SB5 other than locking out the rear shock and adding a faster rolling tire on the back. Friends at Arbutus Routes helped me out with a race tune and the bike performed exceptionally well. If you're curious about how my bike's set up, check out the post I recently did on the Tales From The Trails Blog. For hydration I wore my little EVOC Stage 3L. I stuck to plain water and kept an emergency gel for the back end of the course. I found I didn't need much fuel - total bonus of the short course! Below is my bike effort on Strava:
A woman a few seconds in front of me through the swim to bike transition was sporting a number on her calf that indicated she was in my age group. I locked in on her and chased heavily in pursuit. We started on a wide-open fire road climb shifted into a mostly flat flow trail that gradually dropped off into another flat(ish) rooty and technical section. We then climbed on vibrant singletrack back towards transition. Such a lush forest! Just as I had accepted that she would be too tough the catch, the elusive leader pulled off onto the championship course loop. A photographer shouted at me "first female". I was already riding on a wave of stoke about my mid-pack swim but this was just unreal.
Lush forest of the Alice Lake area.
Screaming out of transition I turned up onto the "Loop The Lakes" trail and into the green room. I may have been moving too fast to truly appreciate the gorgeous surroundings on the bike leg but on the run it hit me, that tunnel of tropical green plants was incredible. This area has to be one of my favourite stretches of trail on the planet.
More Squamish trail porn...
While I may have been leading off the bike, a new podium contender blew past me as if I was standing still on the trail run. We were just about to hit the biggest climb of the course. I pushed hard to chase her but she slipped away. Trying to close the gap I opened up my stride at the top and resumed chase mode. After corkscrewing around the undulating downhill of the course I ultimately discovered I wasn't strong enough to catch her. But I held strong, beating out the surprise appearance of the third place finisher. Number three had silently caught up and crossed the line only an arm's length or two behind me. Such a thrill. For the gear on this section I kept my hydration pack on and switched into my new trail running shoes: the Speedcross 4 - they're ideal for my foot profile and mega grippy. I carried over the emergency gel and cracked into it about 2k into the trail run. I tried not to leave anything on the course but it's tough to operate in a constant state of red line. When I finished the run portion I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to keep going. Probably my best indication that my optimal distance is longer. Below is my run effort on Strava:
The sprint distance finishes so much earlier than the championship. I actually had time to spectate. There were so many people out there racing their own race, going after individual achievements. It actually gave me the feeling of a communal bond with our local endurance athlete community. The inspiration and emotion is contageous.
(On the Left) Dear friend, Liz Francis and I at the finish line.
Before any results were posted I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I couldn't dedicate as much time to training as I have in the past, so many of my efforts were gentle mileage. A mindful style of balanced training. There's something beautiful about going slow to race your heart out in a competitive setting.
Results:
Motatapu Race Report
I signed up for the XTERRA Motatapu as a goal race to train for in my first “Double Summer”, back to back summer seasons. What seemed impossible, soon became a beautiful part of the journey.
Months ago, when I first arrived in New Zealand, I signed up for the XTERRA Motatapu as a goal race to train for in my first “Double Summer” (back to back summer seasons). I Imagined quiet hours of intervals in Christchurch, hammering out the work needed to get me to the start line. But when our plans to stay in Christchurch changed, I was faced with the challenge of training while traveling around New Zealand. What seemed impossible, soon became a beautiful part of the journey.
The crisp start of the openwater swim at sunrise.
Swim (2k):
I swam in beautiful lakes, oceans and dozens of pools, it’s a very cool way to train. Check out my other post about making the most of swim training on the road here.
Race Day: The swim is my biggest struggle. The gun went off, we stampeded into the water and I hammered through my first hundred meters. Panic set in strong. I either wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was or these racers were really fast. Either way, that was a slow, zig-zagged effort.
Hitting the Motatapu Trail
Mountain Bike (47k):
Of all disciplines I felt really strong on the bike. We bagged huge days in the last few months. From bike packing the Saint James Trail to the point to point Wakamarina, to Rotorua heaven, my legs felt strong. My only note for the coming season, I need to put more structure into training on the bike. Yep, Intervals…
Race Day: The Motatapu trail itself is closed to the public outside of the race, so I rode the 47k blind. Watching others do a fair bit of blind racing lately, (Kate, Shane, Shaun and Marissa - You have my utmost respect) this was by far the most fun part of the race. The terrain was fairly consistent, gorgeous and fast rolling. A serious highlight was the challenge of the river crossings. We did dozens of them. Some up to 50 meters long, some fork stanchions deep. Because my swim was so mediocre, I left everything out on the trail trying to gain back time on the bike. I passed so many people that I rode the last few kilometres on sheer adrenaline.
Crossing the finish line with a bonus photobomb to my left.
Trail Run (15k):
Training for the trail run, just as with the other disciplines, was difficult. In traditional training most sessions are some form of interval work but travel requires creativity. I turned most hikes into runs with scenic exploring missions.
Race Day: Shortly after I made the switch over to my trail runners, I rounded the corner out of transition, hit Tobin’s Track climb and suddenly felt awful. Legs were dead, totally out of gas. A few women passed me. There goes podium and here comes the dark moments of my race. Should I go on? Could I go on? I started to walk. I weighed my options as I slogged up the steep track. Pulling up the feeling of my first DNF, from a bike race last year, I decided to keep going - even if I had to walk the whole thing. I hated the idea of not finishing a race. From walk, to slow jog to decent pace, I tackled the full 15k. The views were just as stunning as the bike and the trail was significantly more challenging. On more than one occasion I used rope or railing to traverse the trail, scaled ladder-like climbs and of course sloshed through a second lap of deep river crossings.
Tears of joy. Finsihed!
Finish:
Sunburnt, soaked from river crossings and totally exhausted, I ran the last 1/2 kilometre with my dear friend Shaun (Frysie), nearly in tears of joy to be so close to finishing. He peeled out then Marissa and my partner Dan met me with open arms on the other side of the finish arches. What a stupendous support crew. The Motatapu was an incredible experience and has me hungry to try more like it in the future!
Off-Road Triathlon: 3 Beautiful Truths About Training
A few days ago I completed my first olympic distance triathlon. It was just my style, no roads involved. Off-Road Triathlons, also known as Cross Triathlons or by brand name, XTERRAs are a special breed of race. These races take competitors through a 1.5k swim with a quick transition into a 24k mountain bike ride, followed by a 9k trail run.
The race I participated in was in Victoria, BC, in and around Durrance Lake. The course has a reputation of being one of the most technically challenging on the circuit, perfect for a mountain biker from Whistler like me. As I transitioned from swim to bike to run, last Sunday, pushing my body harder than I'd ever done before, I thought about the countless hours of training I had undergone in the last 8 months. I decided I now know three precious things about training about Off-Road Triathlons, that I wish I could tell "past me" at the start of all that training.
First, there will be some high highs and really low lows.
Training is an experiment. There were times when I felt strong and capable but those typically only came out in the taper and on race day. With such a high volume of training I mostly felt sore and tired. But, it gets better and it's worth it. There were also a few occasions when I pushed myself too hard and physically couldn't motivate. Dear "Past Me", be prepared - training is hard work.
Secondly, food counts.
When I first started racing bikes, I wasn't really concerned with what I ate and when, but it really does make a difference. Depending on the effort and the food I've packed, I like to take in a gel or shot block every 30-45 minutes. The only times that I've been in a really dark place (read: wanted to end my training session or pull out of a race) I can blame my poor nutrition timing. I can't say that I have this completely dialed, yet. A work in progress!
Make a triathlon training plan for yourself, and stick to it.
I'm lucky enough to have found a an awesome coach (shout out to Jen Segger) and digital performance dashboard (Training Peaks) to keep me excited about recording workouts and sticking to a plan. Hello accountability and gamification! Pairing that with all the other fitness and social ride/swim/run groups and I could have easily done double the training and burnt out months ago. I found my success stemmed from sticking to Jen's plan and only adding in group training when it matched up with my prescribed workouts. That being said, there are huge benefits from group training so I forced myself out of my solo comfort zone once or twice a week to train with local legends like Munny Munro or Kristian Manietta.
If you're considering the wonderful, challenge of training for an off-road triathlon I have one last piece of advice, do it. Needless to say, I may not have brought home any trophies but the bond with my training buddies Liz, Marissa & Emma and the powerful new understanding of my limits will keep me coming back to compete year after year.
Want to see more snaps from the event? Follow me on Instagram.
A huge thank you to Dan Harmon for these lovely photos. Follow him on Instagram here.
