Gravenhurst Olympic Triathlon

First ever attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon. And first ever DNF! How exciting!

Photo c/o segwun.com

The defining feature of the Gravenhurst races is the swim start from the Muskoka Steamships, a pair of tourist boats that cruise the Muskoka lakes. You jump off the boat 1,500m off-shore and try to swim back. It's kind of a neat idea, although it does not allow for any swim warm-up, as waves of racers get forced off the boat in quick succession. And because ladies always start last, we really felt quite rushed - like they were making us walk the plank at sword-point. I was in the water for about 20secs and barely paddled to the start buoys before the whistle went off.

Garmin Tracks

The swim was long and tedious for me. I felt really sluggish, and I had a hard time seeing the buoys. Seems I put on a helluva extra distance. The wetsuit really didn't help. The run to transition was quite long, through the marina buildings and across the main road. I was re-energized to get on the bike, though, for my first 40km race, and on a challenging course too. It was after 9am at that point, but the day was already stifling hot and muggy.

I started running my bike out of the TA, but I heard this awful squeal. A volunteer asked me to check my breaks, but they were totally fine and well-adjusted. I kept going, passed the exit gate and did a perfect flying mount onto my clipped-in shoes. Unfortunately a couple of revolutions in, the squealing from my rear tire became unbearable. I got off, pulled the bike to the side and started to investigate. Turned out that my rear wheel had sunk deep into the profiled seat tube, and there was no space between them. I took the wheel off, put it back on, repeated a bunch of times, but it was no use. The mount line crossed the swim run-in, and the RD was standing there cheering people on, so I approached him. I was hoping he could authorize some official assistance, but all he said was, "Oh, it's your set screws. Looks like your bike is done." I didn't even know what that meant until later, or how easily I could have fixed it right then and there. I asked him if I could still do the run unofficially, and he told me to hand in my timing chip and wait till the run course was opened before heading out on the run.

My sense of humour - tracks for milling about the TA

Handing in my chip to the Triathlon Ontario official was a real bummer. I re-racked my bike in the lonely TA, put on my run gear, grabbed my food and drinks, and went off to find some shade. What followed had to be the most boring 60-90mins of my life. There was quite literally nothing going on at the race HQ. It was now oppressively hot, and all the friends and family, volunteers, merchants, and relay team members were huddling under any piece of shade they could find, unable to move. Once in a while, the race announcer would make a lame attempt at a break with monotony, but really she was speaking to no one. Now I understood how my race buddy ML's girlfriend felt when waiting for him at the Wasaga Oly last year. A courageous woman.

Aaaaand my speed during what should have been the bike ride.

I had calculated that I could safely get out on the run course at about 2:00 into the race so that I wouldn't interfere with the dynamic of my AG. I also rightly guessed the approximate times when the winners would go through, and when ML would show up - right on time despite the conditions! I decided not to cheer him on, as he'd probably be perplexed and worried about what the hell I'm doing in transition.

I had been hydrating like crazy the whole time, which was a bit of a mistake. I started out on the run and immediately earned myself the worst stitch ever. I hobbled and walked until at least the 2km mark, which was really like getting kicked when you're already down. Finally started running again when my club-mate SC caught up to me. She had been faster than me on the run at the Woodstock Sprint, so I didn't want to mislead her by taking off at a faster pace; I told her I skipped the bike ride so she shouldn't let me pace her. At this point, I had much respect for anyone who could do this 10km run after the sweltering hilly bike course. Up to the turnaround, I still felt fine, but on the way back I really started to fall apart. I just wanted to finish this run because my next attempt at an Oly would be in Bracebridge, also a hilly Muskokan area, and quite possibly just as hot. I had turned this into a training run.

I got some praise from ML for continuing on the run even though it was unofficial. But I just wanted to get as much of my money's worth as possible, and I couldn't shy away from the difficult conditions if I wanted to do a good job in Bracebridge.

Swim: 34:53 / 2:20
T1: 2:51
Bike: -
T2: -
Run:  59:26 / 5:57

The times are quite dismal; kind of glad they are unofficial!