Kal RATS Sprint Triathlon

[Andrew]

HereCongratulations to Joel on his first place finish at the Kal RATS sprint triathlon today in Vernon! An amazing time for this event, and some great insight from him today on what is holding him back in the future. His training over the next few weeks will be designed to address these issues, and we will hopefully be able to post his changes to LBP and race speed in the near future, as he now prepares to race Lake Steven's Half Ironman in August.

Great work also to all those athletes who raced for the first time, and for a number of BPR athletes who went out to support their friends and family!

[Joel J]

This past weekend I raced the Kal RATS sprint triathlon in Vernon. I was hoping to beat my time from the Oliver sprint earlier this year which was 58min. And although was a little tired from a big training day on Wednesday I was still confident that I could achieve my goals.

I started my day out with 30min of easy biking and running before setting up my gear in transition. I then headed out into the warm clear water of Kin beach for my 15min swim warm up. Standing at the start line I was very confident because of the great warm up I had just done.

When the gun went off I was grabed from behind and pushed under water by another swimmer and my goggles filled with water. After a shakey start I managed to claw my way into 3rd position and drafted of a couple guys until the first buoy. I then went off the front and opened up a few meter gap on the guy in second. I maintained a steady effort, fast turnover and was able to hold great form in my new Blue Seventy helix wetsuit. I came into t1 in first but I was passed after some technical problems.

Out onto the bike I quickly took back the lead and tried to distance my self from the rest of the field. I went out hard but I just didn't seem to have much power in my legs. I started to cramp a bit in the first half but I felt better after I took in some e-load. When I saw the first group of guys chasing me after the turn around I was able to push just a little bit harder. I rolled into in t2 knowing I had a couple fast runners behind me.

Starting the run I went out smooth and just built my cadence as usual. I was feeling fantastic running in my 904's from New Balance so I went hard on the first hill and I just tried to let loose on the down hill. My respiratory system was the only thing holding me back (Diaphram cramps and weasing). At the turn around I saw Nathan running well and I knew I had to keep a steady effort if I was going to win. After hammering up the last hill I got my breathing back under controll and picked up my cadence. With one km to go I realized he wouldn't catch me and I was very happy with my run time of 17:50 on such a hilly course. And happy to have finished in a PB time of 57:30 on a challenging course.

Congratulations to every one else who raced this weekend and thanks to all the voluteers who made this great event possible.