Getting “Schooled” At The Worlds

Sept 12, 2018 – World Championships – Gold Coast(Surfers Paradise) Australia

Getting “Schooled” At the Worlds

As most of you know, this past week I participated in the World Triathlon Championships in Gold Coast Australia. When I race locally and in Canada, I always plan on finishing on the podium(1st, 2nd or 3rd) and I am disappointed when I don’t. Although I have participated in the last 5 World Championships, I once again know why it is called the “Worlds”.

I had my fastest swim and bike ever and still finished in the bottom of the pack. It is a very humbling experience as I came in thinking I would do well and although I raced very well(other than my run), I still finished the bottom of the pack. Bottom line is that I “got schooled” by some of the best Triathlon racers on the planet. 

I thought this week I would share my World Triathlon experience as I have had many of you ask me to share.

Pre Race and Family Motivation

Since I was landing in Australia less than 48 hours prior to my race, I needed to ensure I had a restful flight and was able to sleep on the plane. If you missed last weeks blog on Feeling Fresh after 30 Hours Of Travel,  you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/secrets-for-feeling-fresh-after-30-hours-of-travel-to-worlds/

Following our flight, we arrived in Gold Coast around 1:00 on Tuesday and my race was first thing Thursday morning. Upon checking in we were exhausted from 30 hours of travel so we had a nap that ended up lasting about 4 hours. We basically woke up around 7:00 pm, went for dinner and went back to sleep for the night. I then woke up around 5:30 am Wednesday and was wide awake.

Wednesday – Race Prep Day

Wednesday was race preparation day as well as registration. I met the Canadian team at 8:30 am to do a dry run of the cycling course. Upon putting my bike together and riding to meet the other Canadians to do a dry run, I noticed my gears were not shifting normally and my brake pad was rubbing against my wheel. In addition, when I started cycling with the team, my pedal fell off while I was cycling. Talk about a tough start to the day! 

The Canadian team was then going for a run on the running course however with my torn hamstring injury, I thought best not to run the pre race as I was hoping my hamstring would be better on race day and didn’t want to injure it any further.

Following cycling the course, I took my bike to one of the mechanics and left it with them as at 11:00 am we could swim the race course. The water was quite warm and I had an easy swim warm up which allowed me to feel very comfortable going into the race the next day. Following the swim warm up I needed to pick up my race registration package and after this I picked up my repaired bike. It turned out that my shifter was bent which they repaired along with fixing my brake pad. 

With the pre race bike and swim, along with registration it was 4:00 before I got back to the room so it was a full day. 

That night, Barb and I went for an early healthy dinner. We found a plant based restaurant which was great as I needed to fuel myself for race day. Following dinner, I went through my pre race checklist and laid everything out for race day which included my clothes, my gear as well as my supplements.

In order to motivate myself, I read the blog I had written earlier in the summer prior to a World qualifying event at TTF in Toronto. If you need motivation prior to a race or missed it, you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/getting-better-as-i-age-3-mental-hacks/

The night before a race, I usually take a few minutes and review what my key thoughts are going to be on race day as well as my goals for the day.

My mental notes prior to race:

Here are the exact notes that I wrote the night prior to my race for motivation and goal setting.

Swim

go out hard in swim

race each set of buoys that are 250 meters apart

treat each buoy as a separate race

pull hard, deep and slow

race smart. – if can, draft behind good swimmer

goal – 1:30 average on swim

feel good going into swim — make it hurt

Bike

Race transition to bike as part of race

get out quick then get on bike and have great bike

try to hook up with quick group for drafting

if I can, then average 37 – 38 km/hour or faster

look at each 5 km as a race

lay it out

Run

make it hurt

all my training now is where it counts

brace myself — is going to hurt

break 4:45 per km — goal

So goals

swim 1:30 av

bike 38 km/hr

run – 4:45/km

Thoughts going into the race

Have trained hard all year

now is the time to reward myself

the Race is the reward — enjoy it

brace myself — it is going to hurt — make it hurt — only 5×1 km race

Honour my training

don’t give up in the race — treat it all as honour all the training I have done

won’t race again until next year

make it count

Lets have an amazing day!

weather great

done the training

Now its to show time!

Race Day

I was scheduled to race at 10:15 and was in the third wave. I woke up early(prior to my alarm) and had lots of fruit and toast with almond butter(which I brought from home) about 3 hours prior to the race to allow for proper digestion. I also had a couple of Americano coffee’s in order to get some caffeine in my system. 

I arrived at the race venue at about 8:00 which gave me plenty of time to get my gear organized and get familiar with the swim, bike and run entries and exits. Prior to the start, I did some lengths in the ocean to get warmed up and also shake some of the pre race stress. Prior to race I reviewed my thoughts from the night before – The Race Is the Reward for all my hard training, make it hurt as if it doesn’t hurt I am not pushing myself to max, it is the last race of the year — leave it all out there. 

Summary of Race

Swim

It was a crazy fast and aggressive swim start. Everyone went out super fast and I had my share of bumps and fist hits during the start of the swim.  I went out about as fast as ever and realized there were a lot of other very fast swimmers with me.  Typically I am one of the fastest swimmers and although I went out fast I noticed that I was part of a pack with lots of really fast swimmers.

In no time, we hit the first buoy at the 250 m mark and things started to settle a bit but was still full on. I felt strong and had a good swim until the end. Although I ended up with one of my fastest swims ever and averaged 1:24 per 100, I still finished about 20th on the swim which shows the high level of competition. 

Ride

Coming out of transition, I managed to hook up with a good group of cyclists which was largely made up of Brits, Aussies and Kiwi’s. Thanks to the group working together for the most part, we had a good bike leg. I averaged 37.8km/hour which I was really pleased with. Once again, even with this being one of my fastest biking segments of the season, I still finished around 25th overall.  

Run

I knew with my torn hamstring that my run was going to be difficult however I was hoping and praying I would feel better on race day.  From the very first step I was in pain and I must admit that the entire run was a grind to say the least. It was a refection of the season I had as I could not run fast the entire season due to my injury. I know that I went as fast as I could but it was a very painful run. Barb said that she could tell I was in extreme pain the entire time. To top it off it was very hot out and I had nothing left for the run. I knew I was slow as I did not pass one competitor and likely had over 100 pass me during the run which was very demoralizing. I think overall on the run I was 67th so as a result my overall results reflected this. Typically the fastest Triathletes are the fastest runners and this was my weakest link on this day.

Overall

Overall I was pleased with my race other than the run which I was prepared for due to my injury. I managed to finish 2nd amongst the Canadians and I had my fastest bike and swim of the season and felt really strong on those events. I believe that if I was able to match the same effort on the run I would have finished in the top 20 overall.

Now it is time to recover, get my hamstring fixed and focus on strength training the next few months in order to prevent injuries next year. It won’t be long before I will begin training for next tri season and the Worlds next year which will be held in Switzerland. However now, it is time to rest the body, have some easy cardio workouts and focus on muscle building and repair thought strength training. 

Pre Race Motivation – My biggest fans

Thanks to so many of you that wrote notes, sent me emails, called me and sent “positive vibes” my way for Race Day at the Worlds. It is an amazing experience and humbling to compete with the best in the World in your sport. 

Thank you also to my family that continually inspire me through their own commitment to health and fitness. Thank you to Barb who is my biggest fan and supporter that was there with me for all aspects of the Worlds to cheer me on and give me motivation prior, during and after the race. XO Barb

Pre and Post Race Texts from Family

Matt

Good-luck dad! Give it your all, you have a longggg offseason ahead of you, might as well leave everything you have out there today!

Amazing Work dad!! So proud of you! We will get that hammy tuned up and get you running faster! Take a week off now and enjoy the land down under!

Tim

Good-luck dad! Game time! Lay it out.

Congrats dad, awesome summation to one of your fastest seasons. Too bad about the hamstring but the good thing is it will heal for next year.

Lauren

Good luck today dad!!! As you say “the race is the reward”. Leave it all out there and enjoy racing with the best views in the world!

Congratulations dad! You should be so proud!I am very proud. Finished strong and could tell you were hurting at the end! Laid it all out

Wishing you a happy and healthy day, Kev