Duathlon World Championships - Race reprot..wow were those folks FAST!

The short report:
2:50:03.5
M45-49 39/39
Men 297/219
PB on the first 10K, PB on the 40K bike, hurting on the final 5K.

The not so short report:
This was my first Duathlon World Championship and it was an incredible experience.  Being a part of Team Canada, participating in the Team events, meeting people from all over this country and the world who were all so positive and happy to be here and so down-to-earth too, some truly inspiring people and some awesome athletes.

Participating in the parade of Nations was one of the highlights for me, my family commented that Team Canada’s uniforms really stood out and more than any other country, we really looked like a Team.  Kudos to the Team managers for stressing the importance of everyone wearing the parade uniform since we were hosting, the pictures really drive home this point.

I have spent most of this season participating in events without any specific time goals, I’ve been participating with friends or family and going at their pace, or participating in events where I was happy to just complete.  In retrospect, that may not have been the best way to prepare for this competition. 

For those who don’t know, the Ottawa venue was announced late last season after Spain had to withdraw as host.  By the time the location was announced, I had missed all of the qualifying events however I was accepted onto the team via the special application process. 

In the lead up to the race, I wanted to be a part of everything that was going on downtown, but also had to try and juggle work and family responsibilities in there, in hindsight, I spent much too much time on my legs and walking around in the days and evenings before.  In short, I did not follow my usual pre-race preparations, not that it would have made a significant difference in the day’s results, but it may have contributed to my personal performance and I certainly didn’t feel “on my game”.

This is the first event where I had to check my bike in the day before, I kinda’ like the idea of not having to go through the full setup process on race morning, there were still all the last minute preps to do, air in tires, helmet on bars, shoes on ground…but having the bike in a pre-assigned spot was somewhat comforting.  Less comforting was the fact that until about an hour before the race, we still were not sure if there were traffic flow rules for the T-zone, turns out there were, but there were relatively simple and there were ample volunteers to make sure you knew where you were going…phew!

Before the race, I had been thinking a lot about a couple of friends (Khitam & Isabelle) who have been an inspiration to me over the last year, Khit is a two time cancer survivor who recently had another scare with the disease (Negative thankfully) and Isabelle is battling a rare form of cancer, both have been incredibly strong, courageous and positive throughout.  I decided that this race was going to be dedicated to both of them and that anytime I was feeling tired, lacking motivation or struggling in anyway, that I would draw on their strength, courage and positivity to pull me through; I just didn’t realize at the time how much I was going to need to rely on them.

The race itself was grueling!  I was way out of my league and I have a new appreciation for the speed and caliber of athletes competing on the World stage, they left me in their dust from the time the horn blew.  This is the first event that I have participated in where I was in last for the entire race.  I have worked hard on the bike over the last couple of years and can usually make up a few spots on the bike sometimes only to lose them on the final run, but nevertheless it was mentally tough to handle.  I found myself wondering on a few occasions why I got myself into this, I was obviously not on the same level as these athletes and as hard as I tried,

I just couldn’t make the body go any faster.  It was a struggle to stay motivated and not just go into cruise mode, but anytime I started feeling like I wanted to give up, or was feeling sorry for myself, I would turn my thoughts to Khit or Isa and how they would just LOVE to be in my place, (they are both runners, Isa has just bought a road bike so that she can stay active in spite of her low energy levels due to the chemo treatments and Khit has started doing Triathlons in the last couple of years too) and I was able to just keep the legs turning over, dig a little deeper and push to what I think were the very edge of my limits.

I was fortunate enough to have my wife and daughter, one of my oldest friends and my run and bike coach out on the course cheering and taking pictures their cheers also helped me to be able to find new energy and my smile (hey the camera captures everything!)

I came close to throwing up twice on the bike and twice during the 5K, so I'm pretty sure I was going as fast as I could on the day.  I managed to PB in the 10K run, PB on the 40K bike and then struggled through the final 5K.  I have no regrets! 

If you ever have the chance to compete at a World Championship as part of Team Canada, no matter how you get on the Team, I highly recommend it.  I met some incredible athletes from Canada and around the world and the experience was amazing!