I’ve completed 3 MultiSport triathlon races (Welland Sprint, Gravenhurst Olympic and Bala Sprint) and I’ve achieved a podium finish in each of them.  I’ve very pleased with my recent accomplishments, and am now going to enjoy a recovery week after back to back races to allow my body to heal.

Tara finishing the 2011 Gravenhurst Olympic distance triathlon

I’ve completed 3 MultiSport triathlon races (Welland Sprint, Gravenhurst Olympic and Bala Sprint) and I’ve achieved a podium finish in each of them.  I’ve very pleased with my recent accomplishments, and am now going to enjoy a recovery week after back to back races to allow my body to heal.

I completed the Gravenhurst Olympic distance (1.5k, 40k, 10k) on July 15th with some challenges.  It was a hot and humid day which isn’t ideal for me.  I was feeling sluggish all morning, so I wasn’t expecting to do much that day except finish as this was my 4th time signing up and failed to reach the start line twice and only completed the swim last year (all due to injury or illness).  The swim started off OK.  The bike was a pretty and rolling course and with less than 5k to go I got a flat tire.  I decided to ride it flat back to the transition, but that meant that I had to slow down and be really careful with the turns and descents because I was now very unstable.  I made it back to Transition and started the run.  It was about 10:30am and the sun was quite hot already, over 30 C and the course was hilly and not very shaded.  I didn’t see anyone in my age group, nor did any one pass me on the run so I hoped I had placed well.  As it turns out I was 3rd!  Total time: 2:47:44

I raced Bala on July  24th with tired legs. Still my goal was to better last years time on this course.  It was a non-wetsuit swim because the the water temp was about 28 C.  I haven’t done an open water swim without a wetsuit since I got my wetsuit 4 years ago.  I’m not sure if the course was long or if the wetsuit has given me that much of an advantage, but I was 2 mins off my goal time.  Hoping on the bike a bit behind of where I wanted to be, I tried to make up some ground.  There was a tail wind on the way out, meaning a massive headwind on the return (though I wasn’t sure of that until the turn-around).  My legs felt like lead, but I managed to bike about 3 minutes faster than I did on the same course last year.  And I made it through the bike with no flat tire- yay!  The run in Bala is hilly with 3 turn-arounds that I don’t love, but it allows you to see your competition and know when you are gaining on someone, or if someone is coming to get you.  I fought hard to catch a couple people that passed me on the bike, and then in the last 1k picked up my pace to ensure I didn’t get passed in the finishing chute as someone was right behind me.  I took third place by 3 seconds. Total time: 1:52:36.  Bala was fun for another reason.  I had 6 of my half marathon runners come up and complete their first and second triathlons.  It was really great to introduce these athletes to the sport of triathlon and cheer them on in their competition.  Congratulations to Laura, John, Rob, Jamie, Gillian and Kathryn!