A couple of weeks ago I raced in Adelaide, Australia at the ITU Duathlon World Championships. I qualified for this race way back last September, so for the past thirteen months I’ve been training and working towards Australia for that one day of racing. For more than an entire year, this race was in my head, nagging me. If I missed a day of training I’d feel guilty and tell myself I wasn’t working hard enough. Many of my daydreams consisted of the race and the possible outcomes. I would often find myself imagining what it would be like to come down the finishing chute in first place, hearing the crowd going wild and lifting the banner above my head at the finish line. I knew I wouldn’t win the race, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about what it would be like if I did.
A more realistic goal, I thought, was to earn a spot on the podium for my age group. I didn’t care what colour of medal (although if I could pick, gold would’ve been my first choice) I just wanted to cross the line as the first, second, or third placed 18-19 year old guy. Eventually, though, I began to doubt that even this was a realistic goal. I knew what kind of race I was capable of running, but I had never been to a world championships race before so I had no idea what to expect. For all I knew, every other guy in my age group could've been budding multisport stars on their way to professional careers in the sport. So, I eventually told myself not to worry about my result in the race. If I had a good race based on my standards then I promised myself I would be happy.
My last race at this distance (10km run, 40km bike, 5km run) was in Bracebridge and it was awful. I had a decent first run but everything fell apart from there. I struggled to get through the hilly bike course and hobbled my way through the final five kilometre run. I crossed the finish line in lots of pain and feeling very disappointed in myself. In the weeks after this race I began to feel very nervous about the Worlds. I knew that I was capable of running a fast 10k and 5k and biking 40k fairly quickly, but only individually. I had yet to prove to myself that I could run a hard and fast 10k then follow it up with a powerful bike and still have enough gas in the tank to not only make it through the final 5k run but to make a decent surge for the finish.
For the remainder of the summer and the month of September I had newfound motivation for my training — Don’t blow up like you did in Bracebridge. Whenever I didn’t feel like training and I heard a voice in my head say “Take a day off,” I would remind myself of Bracebridge and that would be enough to get me up out of bed and onto my bike or into my running shoes.
After so many months of training, it was finally time for the big moment and I was on the starting line in downtown Adelaide, ready to get going. In the week leading up to the race my legs had felt pretty heavy on the bike and on runs I felt like I was wearing ankle weights and just dragging my feet along with me. Also, it seemed like every day I would wake up and a new part of one of my legs would hurt. The next day, whatever had been bothering me the day before would be gone but something new would be there to replace it. It wasn’t until Saturday, the day before the race, that my legs felt perfect. No pain at all. I just hoped that they’d stay that way for the race. Well, on Sunday morning as I was standing at the start with the first wave of racers, I found that my legs felt great and ready to go.
Run 1 — 37:21
I had lined up behind a group of British guys from my age group at the start. I decided I’d try to stay with them for the run and then work on getting away from them on the bike. I abandoned this strategy immediately, as I found that most of them weren’t going out fast enough as I’d expected them to. I stuck beside one British guy, Dan Bluff, for the first 4k or so, and we ended up catching one of his compatriots around that 4k mark. At that point Bluff began to slow down so I took the opportunity to put some distance between us and I picked up my pace a little. I can remember thinking to myself, That British guy went out faster than he should’ve. I guess I called his… Bluff. I was working hard and I guess not enough oxygen was getting to my head, because I found this joke very funny while I was running. At the beginning of the second lap — the 5k mark — I caught up to an Australian guy who was my age and ran beside him for a while. He eventually pulled away, but I made sure to keep him in sight and I ended up getting into transition only about 10 seconds behind him. After the race I was very pleased to find that I’d run the 10k in 37:21 (the fastest 10k I’ve run, I think) but during the race I barely took note of my time as I was too focused on catching that Aussie on the bike.
Bike — 1:07:22
I was hoping for a faster ride, but there were hundreds of other people racing and the bike course was only around a 10k loop, so the roads were extremely congested. I would get into a good groove, pushing hard, but then I would get caught behind a big group of racers and I’d have to slow down and wait for an opportunity to pass them. I was terrified of getting called for a drafting penalty, so I made sure to stay well back of any big groups of riders so that there was no chance anyone could think I was trying to draft. In the end, I can’t blame anyone else but myself. Everyone else on the course had to deal with the same amount of people and the same drafting rules, so it was all fair. I’ll be ready next time and I’ll be sure to prepare for the more technical side of things and not only for the physical aspect of the race.
I caught up to the Aussie from my age group at around the halfway mark of the first lap and passed him on my way up the course’s only hill. He caught me later on in the second lap, but I quickly passed him again in the same spot as I had on the first lap. This time he didn’t catch me. The course had a lot of 180 degree turns, which I wasn’t happy about before the race, but during the ride I came to appreciate the regularly spaced turnarounds because it gave me an opportunity to have a look for my fellow 19U age grouper and see how big the gap was between us. At some point the British guy I had been running with — Bluff — caught up to me and blew by. I tried to stay with him, but he was too fast so I let him go and focused on staying ahead of the rest of my age group. I got off of the bike happy with my performance and still feeling like my legs had another 5k in them for the run.
Run — 21:10
This run hurt. I knew it was going to, but that knowledge couldn’t help me prepare in any way. I just had to be strong mentally and constantly remind myself that I was almost finished and that soon I would cross the finish line at the World Championships. I was hoping to go sub-20 for this run, but in retrospect that might have been a little too hopeful. My legs were doing all they could for me, so I’m 100% okay with the 21:10 that they got me. I was pretty sure that the British guy who had passed me on the bike was way ahead of me, so my goal was to just stay in front of anyone else in my age group. I had no idea what place I was in, but whenever I felt like slowing down or taking a walk I told myself, “For all you know, you’re in second place in your age group. If you slow down you could lose a medal.” I’m sure glad that I told myself that, because soon enough I crossed the line and got to hear the announcer say my name and that I’d come in third place in my age group. That was worth the pain.
Overall Time — 2:08:39.
My goal had been to finish in under 2:10, so I was very happy with this result. The bronze medal was just a bonus. Now I’m just happy to be done for a while and to have some rest. But even now as I’m writing this I feel ready to get started with next season. I improved a lot this season and I know that I can keep getting faster, so I’m excited to get to work so I can have an even faster year in 2016.
I know that this is such a long post already, but I’d like to say a few more things. Firstly, I need to thank my sponsors (it feels really cool to have sponsors): Durham Financial, My Planet, the Bagwaating Community Association, Impala Bicycles, Coldwell Banker, and the Township of Scugog. Without these businesses I would not have been able to get to the start line in Adelaide, so a massive thanks to them.
Next, my coach, Alex VanderLinden. Before I went to Western and met Alex in the triathlon club, my training consisted of me swimming, biking, or running whenever I felt like it. I didn’t have a structured plan or any knowledge of how to workout in order for my body to have the maximal opportunity to grow muscles. I would just get on my bike, in the pool, or in my shoes and go as hard as I could for an hour. Now, thanks to Alex, I know that that is not the way to train. I improved a lot this season and a lot of that is due to Alex and his coaching. Thanks Alex, hopefully you’ll stick with me for another season.
Finally, I need to thank my family for all of their support and help throughout my triathlon career. For driving me to the pool or races long before the sun has even begun to think about rising, helping pay for my gear when I was a little bit short, and just standing at the finish line — even when it’s cold and rainy — and waiting for me to cross it. When I told my parents that there was a qualifying race for the World Championships in Australia they didn’t even hesitate to let me give it a try. When I qualified they said we needed to talk about the race. I thought this meant that they weren’t going to let me go all the way across the world to run in a duathlon. Instead, they immediately said they were all for it and that I had to go to Australia and take such a great opportunity. My brother and sisters are just as supportive, showing up to so many of my races. My brother comes to a lot of my races, many of which are three hours away, meaning he has to get up at some ungodly hour like 5am. I don’t know why he does that to himself, but it’s always nice to see him at the finish line. He’s a good kid. And my dad came thousands of miles to Australia to watch me race. It’s a good thing he was here, because there were a few technical difficulties along the way and he helped me fix all of them to make sure I had a great race. And even though she was half a globe away, my mom heard about these technical difficulties and would text me right away and help relax me, also helping me get prepped for the race.
Okay, I’m done. Thank you to all of the people mentioned above once more. I wouldn’t have been able to race without all of your help. And thank you to Nike, Gatorade, and Specialized. They haven't done anything, but maybe if I mention them they’ll sponsor me.
