Thursday, September 17, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Race-Report: Triathlon Olympic Esprit of Montreal 2015
Once again this year I finish in the top 5. Triathlon Olympic Esprit de Montreal, was
just a testing race. A race that had for
goal to get the speed in the legs for shorter distance as I am use to long
distance triathlon. The reason for that
is the fast approaching of the World Military Games coming up in October in
Korea where I will be participating to the Olympic Drafting Legal
Triathlon. This race will bring together
all the fastest soldier on the planet.
Everyone’s goal is to have the fastest team mate on the podium.
That being said, the plan to get the speed in the legs
worked well. I was expecting fast, but
not that fast. I had told few people
that I was shooting for sub 2 hours tri, but I felt like I was over reaching, not
because I couldn’t do it, but just because I felt like I wasn’t in the best
shape for it NOW.
Well I travel to Montreal on the Friday and get set up with
my race registration and athletes check in.
Then I did a quick activation on the race course. My bike speed was there, I had reach some incredible
speed and power output. The swim speed
was there too. And the run felt light.
So I packed up my stuff and moved to the accommodation arrangement.
On Saturday, the weather wasn’t super, the rain made for a
dirty bike crse and I had arrived a little early, so I decided to do something
real quick, for a total of 45 mins activation only. The plan was to do at least one hour maybe
more. But I felt like I was in the way
and it was cold and wet. I just didn’t really
felt like it.
On Sunday, I got to the race site super early so I could get
a good parking spot. For me the wake up
time still wasn’t too bad since I get up at least one hour earlier for the long
distance I take part of usually. So you
can call that sleeping in if you will.
Once I got my truck parked, my family and I proceeded to the
transition. I set my bike with the scrutinizing
eyes of my 4 years old daughter, in the transition. There was so much space it was quiet
unusual. I did a transition recce and
visualized my way in and out of the transition couple times. Once that was done, I got out and spend some
valuable time with my wife and daughter while I got some warm-up exercises and
stretching done.
As I was waiting there, getting my wetsuit ready, the announcer
indicated the race was none wetsuit legal.
See, there is multiple triathlon organization out there and everyone has
rules that resemble each other, but there is always one or two things different
from one another. The wetsuit temperature and the wear of a speed suit. Well I
was ready for a “none wetsuit” race and I brought with me a speed suit. I was fortunate enough to have a local vendor
telling me I wasn’t aloud of those either.
Thanks god someone told me, otherwise I would have gone with it and get
disqualified. After such a great results
the last thing you want is a DSQ beside your name.
So after few more moment, the race started. I was in the front most of the swim, one
other strong swimmer had spent most of the swim in my feel and I felt like it
was my time to rest a little so I slowed down a little to let him past me and I
drafted the last 500 meters. Just enough to
catch some rest before the bike. So after a solid swim which took me a little
less than 21 mins I passed him in the transition and never looked back.
The bike part was challenging, it rain hard and there was a
lot of competitor on the course. Cornering
was stressful as you can’t predict what the other will do and the road was
extremely slippery. I still managed to
have a super strong bike split with just a little more than 57 mins.

This was the best results I had even have in Montreal,
ever. I also finished 4th
overall and 2nd in my age group. Two teammate
from the Canadian Armed Forces Triathlon team passed me at the very finish, but
it didn’t matter because I am getting closer. Those guys have the habit to beat me by
several minutes over this distance.
Making it hard for them just made me happier. Their sportsmanship was also very good, they
encouraged me and congratulated me for my improvement. I couldn’t ask for better friends.
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