Rob Eakin Triathlete

Race Report – Squamish Triathlon

Keeping perspective in triathlon can be tough sometimes. Withthree sports to try to master, it is rare (maybe even impossible), to be on top of your game withall three at one time. So post race there is almost always something to be happy with and something to be disappointedwith.

The battle then is being able to take confidence from the positives but also use the negatives to motivate. Rely too much on the positives and you risk becoming complacent. Dwell too much on the negatives and you can find yourself unmotivated.

In spite of the 9:30 start time, it was still an early morning as it was longish drive out to Squamish. Add to that the complications of two different transition zones and I wanted to make sure I was there in plenty of time to make sure I had everything sorted out.

Had a good full warm up and was ready to race in plenty of time (for the first time at a race this year). Watching so many others scramble due to small mishaps (Choppy breaking his goggles, Jeff forgetting his timing chip in transition) I realized that after a couple of years doing this it's all old hat and can hit the start line relaxed and focused on the race.

Lined up for the swim start with Facundo andDave, not expecting to stay with them but hoping there might be some open water around them. Sure enough there was and I was able to settle in nicely to the first buoy.

Overall, the swim went very well as I was able to keep a good pace and pass a number of swimmers who had apparently taken it out too fast. I also did a good job of simply being aware of where other swimmers were as I was able to pick up the pace a couple of times to bridge gaps up to swimmers ahead.

Came out of the water just over 23 minutes in 13th. Not a great swim in terms of time (you can never be sure the swim is exactly 1.5 km) but came out in front of Ricardo and Curtis so I knew I had a good swim.

Had an easy T1 and was out on the bike. In hind sight I may have taken the first 2 km or so a little too easy as Curtis quickly caught and passed me as we passed T2 for the first of four laps.

Knowing he was about the same speed (if not a little faster) as me on the bike, I decided to simply make it my mission to stick with him for the entire ride. So it was a delicate balancing act of staying close to him but not to "draft". This wasn't a problem on the 2.5 km uphill on each lap but the long downhill most of the rest of the lap was an adventure. This was simply due to the sheer number of other riders (~300) on the course (a ~8 km loop). So it became a test of bike handling and staying aware at 50-60 km/h.

Did stay with Curtis the whole way and passed a number of riders along the way. Finish the bike (~37 km) in 59:44 (which actually included both transitions) good enough for the 5th fastest time of the day. The best part was I felt as though I hadn't pushed at all on the bike and would have lots left for the run. That is until I actually starting running.

I started the run in 5th (having passed Curtis in transition) but could hear the footsteps behind me in the first km. Unfortunately I just didn't have any legs and was passed by three runners in the first kilometre or so. It felt like a struggle to just keep moving forward but knew Curtis and Ricardo were both still behind me and I made it my mission to hold them off.

Near the end of the first of two laps there was an out and back section where there was a chance to see who was behind me and how far back they were. There was a runner coming fast just behind me (who would pass me just as we finished the first lap dropping me to 9th) and then Curtis behind him maybe a minute back and no sign of Ricardo (meaning he was at least two minutes or so back).

I took some solace in that and found myself finally feeling half decent. Did my best to keep up my pace (as slow as it was) on the 2nd lap and found when I hit the out and back that I had put more time on Curtis and there was still no sign of Ricardo (or anyone else who might catch me).

Knowing I had my place pretty much locked up, I slogged my way to the finish line with a brutal run of 44:32. I'd have to check but I haven't had a 10 km run that slow in over 2 years. It wasn't the fastest run course as it was some rocky and windy trail running almost the entire way but it was still disappointing.

Overall though I finished 9th in a time of 2:07:53, breaking 2:10 in an olympic distance race the first time (with an asterisk as the bike was short of 40 km).

So keeping perspective. With a month and a half until Nationals I'm exactly where I want to be with my swimming and biking. All the time spent this winter and spring on them has paid dividends almost exactly as I expected.

My only fear at this point is that I've left my running fitness until too late and wont be ready come Nationals in August. But this was my plan and it's worked almost to perfection in swimming and biking. So I just have to trust with more work in the next while that it will come in time.

Race Report – Iron Mountain Triathlon

After completing only two olympic distance triathlons last year (with the DNF at Cultus and Worlds turning into a Duathlon) I was ready this weekend to remind myself what 2 hours of hard work was like again.

Race morning was early (4 am wake up) but normal. Butterflies in the stomach on the drive out to (nearly) Mission but once I was there it was all business. Package pick up and body marking took a little longer than expected which meant a run warm up but no bike warm up (which would come back to haunt me twice). Felt really good and light on the run warm up even on the couple of hills out there (which I would find out later were only the beginning of the hills).

Swim warm up went well as well managing to get far enough out to get all of my sighting points for both the swim out and back in. I had some big expectations for the swim after consistently swimming 1:24's in my wetsuit the day before at Kits Pool so my plan was to do my best to get on Dave's feet off the start and hang on for dear life.

I lined up next to him and when the gun went off I managed to stay next to him for 100 m or so but in the congestion of swimmers I lost where he was and ended up settling in behind another swimmer. Felt completely under control but still pushing it slightly for the whole first lap.

When I came out of the water before jumping back in for the second lap I checked my watch to see that I had done "750 m" in 10:20. Getting a little excited I sprinted back into the water only to be completely out of breath when I dove into the water. After about 30 seconds of panicked breathing I got back into rhythm and on the feet of the same swimmer in front of me.

The second lap was definitely tougher but I continued to push. As I was coming back into the beach I started to visualize my transition and realized I had made a rookie mistake. Because I hadn't gone for a bike warm up, I remembered that my bike shoes were on my pedals but the straps were done up (is it strange that would I think about and know this for sure in the middle of a race?). I usually finish my bike warm checking where I want to take my feet out of my shoes and dismount when I finish and then leave the shoes unstrapped. No bike warm up meant not unstrapping my shoes. Ooops. Would just have to go with it.

When I finished my swim I was happy to see that I had only slowed a bit on the 2nd lap finishing just over 21 minutes (21:13 after a run up the beach into transition). Looking at the results I'm guessing the swim was a little short (maybe 100 m) but still my fastest 1.5 k swim in tri by a long shot (24:26 in Cranbrook last year). Most importantly instead of being in the middle of the pack I was 11th out of the water (and only 3 seconds from 9th). Huge difference.

So I was in and out of transition uneventfully (with the 3rd fastest T1 I might add) and up into 8th (see what a fast transition can do?). But once I was on my bike I had to deal with my shoe issue. In the end it wasn't a huge issue but it meant taking an extra couple of seconds getting up to speed. Here is where no bike warm up may have cost me too. The first 5 km or so felt like hell on the bike. It may have been no warm up but it may have been the terrain as well.

Looking at the course profile it was obvious that from 5 - 10 km or so was a big downhill and from 25 -30 km or so you climbed it all back. What it didn't show was the constant up and down for the first 5 km which made it impossible to get into a rhythm after the swim. So after some struggling I hit the long downhill (which turned out to be fairly technical considering the wet roads) and finally got going. It wasn't until the half way point of the bike that I finally felt decent. Just in time to hit the hills. And we're talking grinding, out of the seat in the easiest gear type hills. Guess they call it Iron Mountain for a reason.

By the time I finished the 40 km I had moved up two spots to 6th and finished a rough ride in 1:08:56 (4th fastest). Coming back into transition though I had another little mishap. The dismount line was in the middle of a gravel path and as soon as I came off the bike (at probably about 20 km/h) I slammed my left heel down hard on the rocks. Wincing a little, I ran the rest of the way into transition a little gingerly. To be honest I didn't think twice about it until that night when my heel started getting really sore and I realized what it was from. Luckily an easy day with no running yesterday and it's feeling way better today.

T2 was good minus a quick shoe adjustment (still good enough for fastest T2). Coming out of transition I could see 5th place maybe 30 seconds ahead of me. Watching him ahead I was confident I could catch him so the question was whether to go after him right away or just reel him in slowly. But then I realized there was another runner just ahead of him and the vision of catching him too danced in my head (I would later figure out that was Dave and catching him was a bit of a pipe dream). So feeling good I pushed a little and closed that 30 seconds inside of 2 km. In hind sight, a bit of a mistake. I tried to get away from him but by the time we came back to transition and the 5 km mark, he was still within 5 or 10 seconds and I was done. The lack of olympic distance racing caught up to me as I had done the first 5 km in about 19 minutes but was quickly slowing (good oxymoron). He would pass me less than a km later and after a short effort to stay on his tail I dropped off.

I would do the final 5 km in almost 22 minutes (yikes) and finish in 6th in a time of 2:12:01 (though there is a finishing picture to prove it was under 2:12 ). Overall, a good race but not great. Some positives to take away but still lots of work to do (ahem running to do). One of the best parts though was after the race hanging around the food table, recounting the race with the boys (Facundo, Dave, Ryan (who was the one I was running against), etc). Even though a couple of them beat me handily, for the first time I felt like I might actually belong with them. Definitely a confidence booster.

So after an easy day yesterday it was back in the pool this morning and a Tuesday night crit tonight. Looking for a repeat performance from last week to keep moving up the points standings. Then to the track tomorrow morning to work on that ahem "run".

Race Report – North Shore Sprint

Coming soon. I swear.

Race Report – Kamloops Sprint

So the triathlon season finally begins. After a fall of running, a winter of swimming and spring spent biking, it was time to try them all at once for the first time in 2009.

Going in I was expecting to swim 9 minutes for the 600 m swim (1:30 100's), somewhere between 30-31 minutes for the 20 km bike, and, without much running lately, to be at about 19 minutes for the 5 km run. And I was pretty much bang on.

Also on the line though was pride and a post race burger as Martina was also toeing the line. Knowing that she was the stronger swimmer and that I was biking faster at the moment, we knew it was probably going to come down to the run to see who had to buy lunch.

Was the 5th swimmer in the water and was the 4th one out right behind 2nd and 3rd (Martina was probably out of transition by this point). Finished the swim in 9:14 which was good considering we had to get out of the pool and run back to the start at the 300 m mark and getting slowed down by a slower swimmer who had started in front.

Had an uneventful T1 (the best kind really), moved up into 3rd and headed out on the bike right behind 2nd place. After getting up to speed and into my shoes I moved into 2nd pretty quickly leaving only Martina somewhere ahead to chase down.

The bike was 4 laps of a 5 km loop that was mostly north/south with a solid wind coming from the south. The meant a long stretch into the wind and then a long strech back with the wind. I decided to try to keep myself in the same gear in both directions so that I worked hard into the wind and then could spin a little faster with the wind.

It seemed to work perfectly as I felt fast but was also fairly relaxed by the time I came back into transition with a time of 30:19 on the bike (which would turn out to be over a minute faster than anyone else). Unfortunately there was no sign of Martina until I came into transition where she was also.

Another uneventful transition and off to the run with Martina just ahead of me. With her starting 25 seconds ahead of me in the pool, it looked like we were neck and neck in overall time (it turned out after looking at the results we were exactly tied starting the run).

So my goal was simply try to hold that gap to start and hopefully close it a little later in the 5 km. Unfortunately, my lack of running lately caught up to me at the about the 2 km as I started to feel the pace. Then at the turn around she saw how close I was behind her and she found another gear which I couldn't match at that point.

By the time I crossed the finish line she had put 27 seconds on me and I had finished in a time of 58:44 (a 18:54 5 km). So it was my first ever win in the men's race but not an overall win.

While I had to buy the post race burger the race was a confidence booster to see that the hard work in the pool and on the bike was paying off. The run was a little faster than I had expected but I still need some work there. That's ok though because the plan all along was to start putting in bigger run efforts starting in a couple of weeks.

Next up is the North Shore Sprint where I'm hoping to break an hour again (a little tougher with a longer swim and hillier course) and hopefully pick up a top 5 finish (being it will be probably be a stronger field).

Race Report – Race the Ridge

This past weekend was my first stage race on the bike. Race the Ridge was a three stage, two day race in Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows. Saturday was a 50 km road race followed Sunday by a 16 km time trial in the morning and a 30 minute crit in the afternoon.

I went in expecting a good challenge as I would be racing with category 4 racers (being only a category 5 myself) but thought that my riding was coming along nicely with lots of time on the bike and some experience in the EV Spring Series.

However, the Saturday road race didn't go very well. As soon as I warmed up something didn't feel right but I did my best to brush it off as just the warm up. But the past week of training was still with me...

As soon as we hit the first climb about 2 km in I was to the back of the group and a couple minutes later I had lost the group. What should have been an alright pace was just taking too much effort for me sustain.

Riding Solo

So there I was with 48 km to go knowing the race was over. So I did what every triathlete does best, put my head down and slog out a 50 km time trial.

Every once in a while I'd come up on someone else who had been dropped as well but none of them wanted to work hard so after about a minute of riding with them, I'd look back and find they were gone.

At about the 30 km mark two guys I'd passed caught me as they were actually working together. So the three of us worked together for a bit. But again they didn't seem to want to push the pace to catch another group of three ahead so I rode off on them, never to see them again.

When I did catch the next group of three, I finally had a group who was willing to work a little bit. But by this point I had nothing left (not that I had much to start with) and so with 5 km to go they dropped me. I then rode to the finish solo. Finished 37th out of 52 who started with a time of 1:37 (about 13 minutes back of the leaders).

Sunday morning brought the 16 km time trial and hopefully a chance for a little redemption. Still didn't feel 100% but during warm up things were definitely better than the day before.

With 30 second gaps between riders, I was hoping to catch at least the two riders in front of me (we were starting in reverse order from the road race finish). Feeling strong, I caught the first rider well before the half way point but the rider in front of him didn't start so there was then a minute gap up to the next rider.

I didn't think I had a chance to make up 1:30 on anyone but I caught sight of  the next rider with about 3 km to go and passed him on the final straight with 1 km to go.

Finished in a time of 23:54 (average speed of 40.2 km/h) which was good enough for 20th this time around. I feel like it was a much better representation of where I stand with category 4/5 riders but I know .

I ended up opting out of the crit in the afternoon since 1) I wasn't even close to the overall lead 2) I figured an afternoon off before another hard week of training would do me good and 3) the critcourse was half gravel which I didn't feel like dealing with:

So now it's another tough week of training before this weekend when it's off to Kamloops for the first triathlon of the year...

Race Report – Cunningham Seawall 9.5k

Today's running tip: Play Rock Band, especially drums, the night before a race as it strengthens calf muscles.

Yesterday I laced up the racing flats again for round 2 of 3 of my fall running season at the James Cunningham Seawall Race.

I took a much more controlled approach to the start than I did at the Turkey Trot. Looking back at my heart rate data, it took until the 2 km mark to hit 170 bpm (as opposed to 1 km at the Turkey Trot). As usual, most people went out like gang busters off the start but by about that 2 km mark I started picking them off one by one.

I spent a good majority of the race (2 km to 6 km) simply focusing on the runner ahead of me, reeling them in, passing them, and then refocusing on the next one. It was a great mental space to be in, never looking at my heart rate to check effort and only occasionally checking my pace at the km markers.

That is until the runner I passed at about the 6 km mark stuck with me. I could hear his footsteps behind me and did my best to drop him but by the 7 km mark I was starting to tire. At 8 km I had slowed enough that he passed me, along with another runner who had caught us and I simply did everything I could do to hang on behind them.

At the 9 km mark I was done mentally, having dropped well behind the two who had passed me but a quick kick in the butt from Alan and Martina who stopped by on their run got me moving well again for a couple hundred metres. Then the I saw the clock at the finish line and saw that it was still possible to get under 36 minutes so pushed it right to the end with 35:59 on the clock and my watch at the finish.

Officially I finished 31st in a time of 36:01 (equivalent to a 37:50 10 km). While it was a different course from last year, that's still nearly 3 minutes faster and, taking the 10 km time, over 1.5 minutes faster than my 10 km PB.

KM Splits

I went into the race hoping to break 37 minutes and managed to almost break the 36 minute mark (officially) so I'm pretty pleased with the way the race went. I think a little more work in the next couple of weeks will let me hold the 3:45/km pace over the entire 10 km and mean a sub 37:30 at the Fall Classic. Here's hoping.

Race Report – Turkey Trot (10k)

Was back at the races yesterday with the first of a number of run races this fall. The Turkey Trot was a 10 km which started at Granville Island, went over the Burrard Street Bridge and then around False Creek back to Granville Island. And after a beautiful Saturday and Sunday, Monday, of course, brought rain.

Knowing that I had limited race fitness at this point, my plan was to take the first 3 km easy (which took me to the top of the bridge) and then start to pick it up the rest of the way.

Everything went according to plan, stayed relaxed until 3 km and then picked it up a little allowing me to pass a number of runners. Unfortunately at about the 6 km mark I hit a bit of wall (read: lack of fitness). I cramped up in my side and it was a struggle to just keep myself moving.

Luckily, a woman who I had passed at about 4 km, passed me back at 8 km and kicked me back into gear. I decided to try and stick with her and hope for the best. The best was I got back into a rhythm and tried to get back past her a couple of times only for her to fight back. I finally made the move stick with a couple hundred metres to go.

Ended up 17th in a time of 39:50. My splits...

KM Splits

All in all, a good start to the fall running season. While I was off a PB by 20 seconds, it was a tough course and at a time when I'm no where near my peak running fitness.

So no where to go but up.

Race Report – Kelowna Apple (Nationals)

"The route to personal excellence and meaningful self-growth is full of ups and downs; progressions and regressions; great leaps forward, backslides, and plateaus. But as long as the overall direction is up, you will ascend the mountain-and there are many mountains to climb in this life, all of different textures."

- Terry Orlick (In Pursuit of Excellence)

So where do I start? The race was a disaster. A complete and utter disappointment. As close to falling on my face as is possible without actually doing so. I could go on but I won't.

69th overall and 10th in my age-group in a time of 2:20, 10 minutes off my goal time. Sure, I had to swim without a wetsuit for the first time in a race, the bike course included a significant hill to climb each of the three laps, and it was probably the hottest weather I've ever had to run in (even with the cloud cover) but none of that was (or is now) a comfort.

I know what made it so difficult to deal with was the fact that, with the time away from school, I had dedicated the past month and a half completely to training. So much of what I did revolved around workouts, or getting ready for workouts, or recovering from workouts. I had become a full time triathlete.

And I was seeing improvements. In the past month I had smashed PB's in a 1.5 k swim and a 16 k bike time trial, and was running paces at the track that I had never dreamed I could do. So falling so short of expectations was a complete shock. Sitting at the finish line I just couldn't wrap my head around what had happened.

"You task is to make the journey from immediate loss to eventual gain as rapidly, smoothly, and comfortably as possible."

So the challenge, as is the case so often in racing and life, is to find a way to make that journey.

What makes it easier is to have those around you who each do their little parts in getting you through that transition. Thanks Mom, Dad, Martina, Alan, Steph, Brian, Amy and the whole rest of the LETC crew. For a chance to just sit and talk, for just asking how things went, for leaving me alone when I needed it, for not pushing when I didn't want to talk about it, for listening when I did, and most of all, for knowing when a smoothie would make it all better. Thank you.

So where to now?

"Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question: Does this path have heart? All paths are the same. They lead nowhere. They are paths going through the brush or into the brush or under the brush. Does this path have a heart is the only question. If it does then the path is good...if it doesn't then it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere, but one has a heart and the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it you will be one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong, the other weakens you."

I think the fact that, after a short swim in Okanagan Lake yesterday morning on my own, sitting on the beach I was brought to tears at the thought of how disappointed I was answers the question for me. If this path didn't have heart I could've walked away from the finish line indifferent and unaffected. And to some maybe that's a more palatable option but that's not me. Sure it hurt to fail but that's what happens when you risk something.

"The pursuit of balanced excellence is both challenging and fulfilling. Relish its intensity, cherish its beautiful moments, and accept its risks. Many lives lack this sense of passionate absorption and personal meaning, the charged-up feeling, the flow of adrenaline, the body telling its master, I'm ready...let's go."

So let's go. Vancouver Triathlon in less than two weeks.

Race Report – Kits Challenge

First, I barely made it to the race. In spite of being off work, the past couple of weeks have been tough for a variety of reasons and, other than a couple of training camps, had put in more training hours than I ever had. So a Sunday morning on the couch with the Tour de France and the British Open on TV was unbelievably tempting. But a competition was calling and I can't say no to a race.

And good thing I did go.

After a short warm up, got out to fairly sub-par start. Positioned myself behind another swimmer but slowly realized that she was slower than I should be going as you can see by the "lazy" start in my heart rate data (the race is between the 1 and 2 at the bottom).

After the first buoy, with a couple of swimmers on our right, moved out to the left and picked up the pace. By the time I hit the second buoy, I took a peek behind to find I left them all behind. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight in front of me. So I settled into a good pace and made sure to stay on course this time around.

Two things I noticed in this race for the first time both of which have come with more time and experience in the water.

1. I actually had some idea where I stood in the race. Being newish to swimming, every time I hit the water it was all about what I had to do to survive the swim. For the first time yesterday I was able to keep track of who was around me (although I was by myself for the latter part of the race) and gauge how strong they were.

2. Which brings be to number two. I was able to use that information and actually change my pace. Up until now it had always been just go and hold on for dear life. Yesterday I recognized I was too slow, picked it up a notch to pass and even had another level for the finish.

So yeah, it was a fairly lonely swim the rest of the way (the swimmer ahead finished almost 2 minutes ahead and the swimmer behind was over a minute behind me) but managed to motivate myself to push coming around the final buoy to the finish knowing it was just a race against the clock at that point.

Finished up in a time of 23:50, almost one minute faster than my fastest 1.5 k swim. So slowly that better feeling in the pool is translating into faster times (it's about time). Finished as the 3rd male so another ribbon to add to the collection as well.

While still tired today, two fairly successful weekends in a row have me looking forward to some more hard work this week as I get ready for Nationals in Kelowna in August.