Rob Eakin Triathlete

Race Report – Subaru Vancouver Sprint

Maybe a gong show is what I need for a good race.

After dropping off my bike the night before, showed up an hour and a bit before the start of the race to find a number of things. One, they had closed transition until a half hour before the race as they wanted it clear for the tv cameras as the half iron athletes who started earlier came through. Luckily I convinced officials to let me at least drop off my gear so I could go for a warm up run.

Lucky because when I got to my bike I found interesting tidbit number two. My front tire had gone completely flat. So again, I had to convince officials to let me take it out of transition so I could replace it. No problems doing that but now it was 35 minutes before the race, none of my gear was set up, I had yet to warm up and I still wasn't allowed into transition.

So I left my bike with the mechanics who were there and headed out for a quick 10 minute warm up run. Back with about 20-25 minutes until the start, got into transition, scrambled to get set up and managed to start walking to the beach with about 10 minutes to go. Hit the water for a quick swim warm up which was more about getting focused on the race finally than actually warming up.

After a quick talk with Alan, lined up for a beach start and started running when the gun went off. The swim was fairly uneventful. For a change, was near the front of the swim so things were a lot less hectic. Came out of the water in 10th after a long run up the beach to transition and good transition, had moved into 6th.

I stuck to my game plan when I hit the bike course and pushed hard everywhere I could. Passed one guy coming up Spanish Banks hill and then another two at pretty much the same time coming down SW Marine Drive. At the first turn around then passed another guy putting myself in 2nd (though not completely aware of it at the time).

Feeling confident at passing so many guys I hammered back up SW Marine Drive and into UBC. A quick peek back and I saw one of the guys I had passed was hanging on behind me. He managed to pass me (it turned out it was Lance Watson, former coach of Simon Whitfield) just before the second turn around on Marine Drive but I went back passed him soon after.

Finished the bike and came into transition to a sight I wasn't used to (though hopefully will be more often). There was only one other bike already in transition and I realized I was in 2nd. With a small hiccup of direction in the transition zone, got out on the run course with about a 5 second advantage (accoarding to Steve King) on Lance.

Despite wanting to desperately get some breathing room, I stuck to my game plan of staying relaxed early in the run and didn't push the pace. About a kilometre and a half in I snuck a peek back and saw I had put enough time on him that I wasn't going to have to worry about being caught. I then turned to see if I could find whoever was in first but never saw him until I crossed the finish line in 2nd.

All in all, a very good race. Both the swim and run could have been a little better but it was definitely the best bike of the year. And while the field wasn't very strong, that was the point. After a number of races with some incredibly strong fields, I needed a good result (and not just in terms of time) to pump up the confidence again. So mission accomplished.

Time for some relaxation tomorrow and then back to a tough week of training on Tuesday including the regular Tuesday Night Crit.