BINBROOK TRIATHLON

i recently raced my first sprint distance race in two years. ideally, i would have liked an olympic distance event as a warm up for next weekend's 70.3 race, but the race scene being what it is in ontario, there were none available. so i chose one of these weird, in-between distance races that my part of the world seems famous for. 750/30/7.5. not an oly, not a sprint. sort of a sproly. wtf?

i chose the re-charge with milk series binbrook race because i had good memories of doing it two years before. their races are user friendly, well organized and have a "fun" and friendly feeling about them (as much as that is possible with 400 type A primo's lined up to "race" each other). and the competition these days is every bit as stiff as the subaru race series, which has traditionally been where you went in ontario to find a tough field to race in. 

i don't look like it here, but i was having fun on the bike

i have nothing inspired to say, so in the end, i am unsure as to why i am even blogging about this one, except it gives me a chance to post a couple pics of me in one of my new orange theme desoto race kits.

i placed 6th in my AG, posted a time that would have earned me a podium spot one year earlier at the same race. (ok, i admit it, i also chose this race hoping for  an "easy" shot at a podium spot.)  the whole experience consolidated a few things for me:

-it is ok to use a race as training and still feel competitive . and i think i understand what that means now more than ever
-the amount of pain you experience is no indicator of how important a race day is on your calendar.
-short course certainly is a completely different beast than 70.3 and up, but i think it has a place in the long course athletes' schedule, particularly, it is a good threshold workout early in the season. (and, i hope, a good tune up a couple weeks out of a 70.3)
-running "fast" for 90m and running "FAST" for 30m are totally different skills
-your race goals really should never be focused on a particular time, or place in your category. you only have control over your own race. you can never control conditions, or who else shows up.
-i am not a short course guy (it just doesn't capture my imagination for some reason)...would i do one again? hell ya!

running on grass sure taxes the calf muscles