Victory Is Mine....

After another solid week of training out in Victoria that involved a bike TT, a ton of swimming, running hill repeats, a long run getting lost in the woods at Thetis Lake, and finishing the week of by racing the Subaru Shawnigan Lake Triathlon put on by Lifesport Coaching. This was my second half-ironman of the season!

To start the weekend off, Katya and I were given a brand-spanking new 2010 Subaru Forester to cruise around in for the weekend, courtesy of Saunders Subaru in Victoria, a title sponsor of the race series (nice wheels, hey Clarice!)! Thanks Bob and Edie for hooking us up!
The car was literally off the boat...when we picked it up it had 20km on it, I snapped a picture at 47km...sooo nice to drive!!!

Back to the race...after having 'plenty of recovery time' according to Coach Paul (that equated to friday and saturday before the race), it was up to beautiful Shawnigan Lake (~40' outside of Victoria) to race a Half ironman distance triathlon. Since the Rev 3 race is in 2 weeks, this was a good chance to see where my fitness was at. My race plan was to have a solid swim-bike and then run a 'tempo' half marathon(or zone 3ish heart rate, so at a good effort but not race pace).

The water temperature was quite pleasant, ~16/17 degrees, nice for this time of the year. I managed to swim the whole thing solo and go a bit off course, so it wasn't my quickest 1.9k ever but it was enough for a new swim course record! Onto the bike, a rolling 4 lap course with one climb, I had a few 'soft spots' where I let me mind wander and my HR drop, but it was a great improvement from my Oceanside bike! Once I rest my legs, I think I'll be good to go for the next half! I was passed by Vancouverite and great cyclist Rachel Keirs (last years winner) on the final lap of the bike-I think she got about a minute on me going into the run. Onto the run, which was on a rolling gravel trail, I re-gained the lead within ~2k and never looked back. Just ran a solid half and finished off for the win!

All and all a good day out at the races. It was a beautiful day on a fantastic course, can't ask for more than that!! Here is an article that was in the local paper, the Times Colonist.

A pic of me on the bike, not from the race, I'm working on getting some of those, will post once I find some!

Up next? A few more hard days of training and then resting up for the Rev 3 Triathlon in Connecticut on June 7. More info on that race to follow, it's the launch race for one of my supporters, Trakkers--you'll be able race along with me on the course!!

Lisa