Oliver Sprint Triathlon

[Joel J]

Last weekend I headed down to North Vancouver for the North Shore Triathlon. I carried with me some lofty goals for my first ever junior elite race. Anyone who has talked to me since North Shore knows that it didn't quite go according to plan. I had a fast swim but did an extra 75m lap and missed the lead pack on the bike... whoops! I then procceded to chase down the lead bike pack. Near the end of the bike I missed the turn off and did an extra 5km lap of the bike course. AGAIN. WHOOPS! With these disapointing mistakes on my shoulders I headed out on the run and finished my day off with a disapointing run.

After that race I was very discouraged, but even more so embarrased! But the most important thing is to learn from your mistakes and I was already studying the Oliver Sprint triathlon maps.

One week later, I awoke to a very windy morning at a beach in Oliver, I was still steeming after my unfortunate experience 6 days prior. I intended to harness my anger to put a number on these years of trainning I have put in.

After a swim warm up, which was way to short as usual, I stood on the beach, hungrier to race than I have ever been. When the gun went off I punched it to find some good feet to swim on while dogging the Olimpic dst straglers. As I swam the wetty I had borrowed filled with with water in the arm's which added another element to the swim. I came out of the choppy water slower than I had hoped, but I was tied for second and less than 30 sec back from the leader.

After glidding through t1 without any mistakes I headed out on the bike feeling grate with my new Leo TT bike from Olympia. It fit like a glove thanks to Luke Way who fit me one day before the race! I rode into second place before I even had my shoes straped on. The ride was going great and I was cutting through the wind with ease and I had my breathing well under control. After keeping a consistant efort through the bike I hadn't made up any ground on John Rapp who had the fastest ride at Wild Flower this year. I was still stoked to ride 28:02 on a windy day.

Although I was a minute back starting the run I intended to run my self into the number one spot no matter how bad it hurt. I started out jogging for a few strides and gradually increased my cadence. I was feeling alot of pain for about one km, but I looked at my watch and the numbers were encouraging and gave me new legs! So I kept ramping up the cadence and I just chased the man ahead of me. km2... km3.... km4.... pain...... I saw the finishing chute and I was going to finish with the fastest run (17:56) Second overall in 58:06... 1:20 back from Bike Superstar John Rapp.... I had finally redeemed myself and the weight was instantly lifted from my shoulders.

Congrats to everyone who made it past the head wind this weekend!


Joel Johnson
Balance Point HP team member

[Dana]

You are truley amazing Joel!  Great job.

My race down in Oliver (Olympic distance)was not as spectacular as yours, but I did also have a great day, concidering the choppy swim and head winds.

Was hard to find my place in the swim.  felt like I was continually popping my head up to find an opening.  I ended up going to the inside of the course and finally found my space.  Just tried to focus on long smooth strokes...not on getting motion sick from the waves!  28:52 for my swim - I was happy with that.

The bike was very windy.  I resigned myself to just do my best  - and made sure I took a look around at the view.  Why do a race if you're not enjoying the beautiful environment around you - sunny, beautiful day.  Love it!  Was having quite a bit of trouble with my Adductor muscle by the last half of the bike...trying to get comfortable was a real challenge and I was worried about my run.  1:22:44 for the bike.

The run was tough, as usual, for me.  Not my strong point.  And with the added pain in my leg from the bike ride, I felt slower than usual.  I walked thru an aid station, but the pain was so intense, I went back to running right away.  One lap down, one more to go - was hard turning around at the finish line to go out for another lap!  But I was happy and enjoying the day - thinking that in about 30 minutes the race would be at an end.  Ginny's words of wisdom from the previous training weekend were fresh in my mind....quick steps, just keep going.  So that's what I did!  1:03:12 for my run.

I had a wonderful day - was great to see so many familiar faces in the race.  No flat tire always makes me happy too!

Cheering eachother on and just enjoying the experience - that to me is what it's all about.

Great racing everyone!
Dana

[GinnySellars]

Great race reports Joel and Dana!

It sounds like a really challenging day with chop and wind.

Joel, I love your intensity and focus. That is incredible to be able to give Rapp a real race. He was probably scared shitless that a 15 year old kid would beat him. Way to rip it up!

Dana, I hope you recover quickly from the pain in your adductors. Weird how stuff comes up unexpectedly on race day sometimes. Good for you for persevering and having a very solid race.

Thanks for warming up the lake for us. We'll try and give that course heck in 2 weeks!

[Andrew]

My congratulations to Joel, Dana, and all the other BPR athletes in Oliver last week-end. I hope we can read a few more details here soon.

From a coach's perspective, Joel's account of how he approached fixing his mistakes from North Shore is exactly what I wanted to hear. The speed he completed the race is astounding, but the maturity with which he approached it was the biggest factor in his success. I know from his testing what he is currently capable of, and think I could have predicted his potential for this time to within a few seconds. The question is always, "Is the athlete ready to allow his body to race unhindered when it really matters?". This is what Joel has been working on each time he toes the line. He learned a lot in North Shore about the value of knowing the course, and being aware of his surroundings, which will help him a great deal in the future.

We all have an opportunity each time we race to do our best. I believe Dana did the same last week-end. She only began training in earnest last summer, and has already completed a number of challenging events. It is fun to hear her quote Ginny as she moves through the run course, and I believe it is keeping mindful of the positive training ideas that can really pay off on the big day.

So great work again, we look forward to more reports from everyone out there who is racing...