Thursday 25 July 2013

Taking over downtown Toronto (TTF Olympic Distance Triathlon)

Ever had the feeling like everything is going downhill in a domino effect???? Well, this was the sort of feeling that I was getting during the Toronto Triathlon Festival held last weekend.

For starters, Parichit and I went for one of our friend's wedding the day before the race. We had a great time and the food was yummyy.....which didnt help the next day in my race. I overate food that my tummy wasn't used to digest while im doing a triathlon. Well that was mistake no 1

Later, Parichit found a cut in my front tire the night before the race. We tried (painfully) to put on the new tire, succeeded only to find out the next morning (race day!!!) that the tube was punctured. Oh poor Parichit, bloodied his hands trying to take off the tyre and out it back on. In light of the quickly diminishing time, we decided to put back the old tire and hope to god it would last the race.

I arrived the transition area just in time, set myself up within the tiny space allotted to me and started looking for my sis and Parichit. Once the swim portion started (man the water was freezing.... ok maybe not freezing but very cold.... and Im not a cold water person), I realized how much I was sucking in the swim leg. The sun directly in front of us, we couldnt see the buoys ahead of us and it was a blind leading blind situation. Eventually I made it back to terra firma with record breaking slow time! Ran up to my bike, got out of my wetsuite (with some struggle) and ran off to the bike course. The head wind was nasty and demotivating but I kept my spirit up and tried to do my best. Every bump on the road would make my heart stop with fear of puncturing my tube...(luckily the tire was loyal to me!). My food from lat night was starting to make me uncomfortable (lets just say there we some burps involved)....my bladder was shouting and hating every road bump...basically a very uncomfortable ride. On the way back on the bike, I noticed both my ankles empty....holy shit...I lost my timing chip. I started thinking back and realized I must have dropped it during my struggle with the wetsuit. Ok...so no official bike time..great! And to make things even better, I seemed to be going much slower than usual...something was unsettling...do I have a puncture...who knows.

I made my way back to the transition......looked for a porter potty only to realize the long lineup there was (thanks to the next race's participants!). Ok..so no washroom break for me....I gotta run with a full bladder (bad idea!). I searched and searched for my timing chip and eventually found it. The run as you all can imagine was not very comfortable...  every step was hurting my bladder and my digestive system was not being helpful. I felt like there was no blood going to my legs....its was the easiest and yet the hardest run I have ever had during a race. I was running at a slower pace not because of my legs/ heart...but thanks to my discomfort. I had blisters on my feet from wearing the heels in the wedding (girls...this is a very bad idea!)...man I am just full of complaints today! I was glad to have Parichit around me with words of encouragement that fueled me during the run. My sister was a great sport and a greater photographer..who captured my crazy race!

Finally I reached the finish line, and the first thing I did was run to the washroom ....lol

My results as you guys can guess were not great: 25th in my AG 2hrs 55 min

PS: When I went back to the transition area, I realized that my rear brakes were hitting the rim....which partially explains my slower bike speed. Oh welll....what can you do, life goes on :D





      

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