Well, I expected this race to be tough, fast and a bit of an eye opener for me….and I was right on all three accounts!

The field for this race was a who’s who of adventure racers and multisport athletes from across Ontario. This included the former 2-time World Jr. Quadrathlon Champion (swim, kayak, run, bike), several of Ontario’s elite ultra runners as well as a few adventure racers that will be representing Canada in Portugal this November at the Adventure Racing World Championships. Needless to say it was going to be a very fast and competitive race.

Quite honestly the field was so tough I was feeling pretty out of it the night before the race. I hadn’t felt like this since my early days of adventure racing. Nervous to the point where I wish I didn’t have to race. I wasn’t a good feeling at all! I really just wanted to get the race started so I could stop thinking about it.

The evening before the race was spent out for dinner with several fellow racers followed by a few hours of getting gear ready at the race site – filling water bottles, planning transitions and trying to figure out what food I would try to force down throughout the race. Since the pace was going to be so hard I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get food into my system so I opted of a lot of Carb-Pro in my water and some gels/chomps to help when needed. With that completed all there was left to do was try to get a decent sleep in my dorm-style room (luckily I didn’t have a roommate to worry about) and wake up ready to go in the morning.

My alarm went off at just after 5 am. I wanted to be up early enough to eat a good breakfast and have time for it to digest before the start at 8. Since I was racing unsupported I also need to head down and set up my gear at the bike transition as well as load my kayak for transport to the beginning of the paddling leg. All the unsupported racers were transported to the start by bus just prior to the start giving us just enough time for a quick warm up.

The race started with 16km run. After a short 1km loop to help spread the field out the course headed up and into some spectacular hiking trails. The key word there was UP! The course had way more ups and downs than I was used to and ended up taking a lot out of me. I think I started a bit fast not really knowing how quick the leaders were going to be….it turned out they were going to be pretty damn fast! I ended up getting into my own groove about 20 minutes or so into the run. then, in the blink of an eye my race could have been over. Within the next 15 minutes I was stung 3x by a wasps or hornets. I am actually allergic to the stings of one or the other, but I can’t remember which. I still have 3 very large welts on my legs, but I am glad I didn’t end up having a much worse reaction.

Following the stings I paid close attention to ensure I wasn’t going to react and kept a steady…(read: not fast) pace. However after hitting the only aid station on the run about 10km in I began to slow down and lose a considerable amount of energy. I am not sure if this is the result of my immune system reacting to the stings or simply the hills. I plugged away and made it to the end of the run in 1hr40min (6:15/km)….the leaders were in at 1hr23min.

I knew I would be fighting a deficit after the run and was hoping I could make some of it up in the next 14km of paddling. I transitioned fairly quickly, throwing on my PFD, grabbing my map and water bottle and pushing off the beach with a few boats still in sight. I started to cruise and try to catch my breath from the run but my shoulders began to feel it after only a few minutes. It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was going to hurt either way, so I started to push hard and pick up the pace. I caught the first competitor within the first 5km just before the first portage. I had run with him for a while before I started to slow and we have known each other since I started racing 10 years ago. It was nice to chat a bit here and there to help take my mind off the pain and suffering of the day.

The rest of the paddle consisted of moving through a series of lakes connected by several portages ranging from 100m-850m. I think there was almost 1800m in total portaging. I kept up a good ace through this section and manged to catch a few more competitors before reaching the final transition to the bike. I am not sure of my placing here, but I am guessing it was somewhere around 5th or 6th with 3-4 other racers in transition with me at the same time.

I took a bit longer in this transition but 1 racer headed out just before me. The bike leg started with some cross-country ski trails that were a mix of grass, mud and sticks. I was caught again on the first hill and had one other rider right behind me. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I didn’t have much strength in my legs…and I was not impressed! I knew the ride was going to be challenging, even more so with little to no gas left in my legs. I am not sure why I felt like this but I knew the next 45km was going to be tougher than I had imagined.

The trails continued to be soft and muddy (it rained for a good 2-3 hours the Friday night) for the next 10-15km. Then it went from bad to worse…snow maching trails cut through raspberry bushes for 5km. It was tough to ride much more than a few 100m at a time without having dismount for one reason or another. I just wanted to ride!! Eventually the trail ran into a dirt road that brought me to the final aid station and just over 20km or so to go.

At this point I had been passed a few more times and wasn’t in a very good place mentally. While my legs had no juice I also had lost my desire to push hard and be aggressive….honestly I didn’t have this from about the 5km mark on the ride simply because I knew my legs couldn’t deliver what my mind wanted. This is where racing solo is tough. You have no one to help get you through those tough times and give you the little push that you need to help get your ass to the finish! I had some pretty depressing thoughts on the ride to the finish….thinking I was ready to call it quits and that I had way to much work to do to be competitive again.I was not a fun time! I think about this now and I am pretty disappointed in myself that I let my confidence slip so low so fast.

Of course once you finish things feel a bit better. Although I am still disappointed in my overall finish I am ready and willing to work at it rather than throw in the towel. With two more races this month I need to take these in stride and focus on some key areas where I can improve during each race. mostly staying fueled and mentally focused. While I am not sure why I bonked the way I did I on the bike I know that my mental state only made it worse. It’s easy to have a killer instinct when you feel 100%, but digging deep when you know it’s going to tough is what really makes a difference…and that is something I know I didn’t do in this race.

Final Stats for the race:

Run 16km – 1hr40min
Paddle 14km – 1hr43min
Bike 46km – 3hr
Total – 6hr23min

I ended up finishing 10th solo male and 14th overall. The winning time was an impressive 5hr27min!!

No time to rest (or barely recover) – Storm the 10 This weekend. We will be getting the breakdown of the course on Wednesday so I will post a brief pre-race report then.