Cyswog'n'fun Nelson Tri

[kiwichris]

Raided the Nelson Tri this weekend -a whirlwind tour to the Kootenays!! Worked in K-Town till 5pm - drove over and slept on family floor - then woke to torrential downpours and lightening storm - FUN FUN FUN.

Luck had it that the weather improved and we had a great cool day to race. Martin managed to injure himself mid-week and was unable to ride in aero - so he made the right call and pulled pin to rehab before his major race in a month.

The swim was in the river and it was choppy!! I was expecting a little more current but all was good and I came out of the water in 6th. Swim felt OK - the water was colder than we are used to and my breathing was a little restricted for about 5 minutes. Sighted well and managed to find some feet to make things a little easier to the beach.

Passed some people in transition - and started the very wind affected bike. Swirly winds kept things interesting - and I just settled in and ground away - HR varied from BP +15 to BP +5 - respiration felt great - my time on the bike has been limited recently and this has affected my high end speed - with some speed races approaching I will need to focus on some functional work to give me a boost for the next month or so. Some higher cadence work is also in need. Nutrition was OK - had about 350 calories and 1 bottle of water - should have had some electrolytes in there as I was feeling a bit crampy coming in the T2. I came off the bike strong and passed some more people in transition - headed out onto the run in 11th I think.

The run felt great today - cadence was good straight off and I settled in to 4.30 ks - knowing that the run was extremely hilly. At 3 km the rollers start - BRUTAL - all my stairs work has helped and I felt strong on the hills with fast cadence. I had to really control my breathing - 2 and 2 on the ups with HR BP+10, 3 and 3 on the downs running at BP. Passed some people about midway and this kept me going motivation wise. Coming home it was great to see who was chasing me - another kick to keep me on track - I worked hard to the 8k mark and then stepped it up one more notch. Caught 2 more people in the last km moving me up to 9th overall. 45 min 10k on a tough, tough course - very happy with this. Cadence was good all the way and I managed some cramping on the run through good nutrition choices and some technique modification to unload quads when I need to.

All in all - very happy to have made the raid - lots of driving and not alot of rest leading in the race I was unsure how it would go. All the structural work is continuing to allow me to improve at this distance. Now I need to transfer this in to a strong half-iron race - just as well I just got accepted in to New Zealands biggest half in Jan!!!! Time to put the head down and keep working!!!

Thanks for reading

Chris

[Andrew]

GREAT comeback after a disappointing race in Osoyoos!

Looks like everything came together, on a really tough course.
Were you able to record cadence on the run?

Sorry to hear Martin didn't feel up to racing, hope he is on the mend. Good decision to skip this one in prep for the Apple.

[kiwichris]

My awesome Polar cadence sensor does not mount on those race shoes - I have been able to hold 100-104 on the track comfortably - it felt more like 94-95. Still a big improvement over Osoyoos and goes to show that neurologically I can not ride 90km hard and run well - YET. Continued work on high cadence riding and bricks will help over time.

[Matt]

Nice work Chris!  You know who to call if you want to get a few more rides in:)
M

[GinnySellars]

Great report Chris!
I hear that course is WICKED!! Nowhere to hide with constant vertical.
Great to see you pounding the run again.
Gin

[MartinC]

Chris looked really good out there. Completely composed after a great swim dealing with both current and a stiff wind that blew up after the race started. His sighting must have been spot on as it looked like a number of other swimmers took round about routes across the river.
Coming off the bike he was looking strong and it was exciting knowing there were runners ahead who were looking not nearly as powerful, in fact a couple of them looked like they were all in after a difficult ride in windy conditions. (Last years winner average 2kph slower this year)
The run is a bit of a brute with a middle section of about 6K which doesn't have a flat section in it! Either up, down or false flat. I think that the degree of difficulty would add about 4 minutes to a flat 10K.
This is a great race on a tough course with a real local flavour! A lovely spot for a family long weekend with the race thrown in and it is certainly somewhere I want to return to.
As for me, it was frustrating not being able to race after injuring my ribs surfing in Tofino earlier in the week. They seem to be recovering slowly but have certainly affected my confidence with Kelowna and Budapest coming up.

[GinnySellars]

Hey Martin
Andrew bruised his ribs surfing in Maui right before XTERRA worlds. I only mention this because although it bothered him alot during the week leading up and messed with his confidence, he didn't feel it much or all during the swim due to high adrenaline and excitement. I hope the same turns out to be true for you!
p.s. don't you know you're supposed to be wrapped in bubble wrap prior to Budapest?