Kelowna Senior and U23 National championship Race Report

This season has seen a constant progression from one event to the next, learning from each event in order to get to that perfect race. Although this past weekend was not perfect it was however a personal best. About 45 of Canada’s best put their foot to the edge of the warm waters of Kelowna’s Lake Okanogan for the Senior and U23 National Championships. Again what a course, what an atmosphere! The course was completely lined with cheering crowds and encouraging voices. Although it is a good 3hour drive + Ferry trip away, I do feel I am racing in front of the home crowd. I went in ranked 5th behind Simon Whitfield, Brent McMahon, Paul Tichelaar and Kyle Jones. All very accomplished athletes at an international level.

The event began sprinting into the water. I quickly moved to the front and set a steady pace forming a gap that I would hold to the finish of the swim. I exited the water with a time of 17.52 with a 38 sec buffer to the next athlete out of the water. This allowed me to stay calm, have a fast transition and warm into the ride. I rode up the first climb comfortably keeping an eye out for Simon, Kyle and Andrew Russell. I jumped in with them on the descent. With the first of six laps finished, we really got rolling smooth hard pulls to keep the pace high. Paul Tichelaar and Brent McMahon joined us on the third lap for the remainder of the ride. From then on there were no attacks on the climb just a mutual agreement to keep or increase our lead. Our gap remained hovering around a minute and would dismount with a minute and twenty second lead. My transition was decent and the 6 of us exited transition within a second or two of each other. I began the run quite conservatively setting a pace that I believed I could hold. I felt strong springy and fast so I went with it. Simon had quickly gapped out Kyle, Paul and Brent while I held a 15-20sec gap behind the three of them. On the final lap I did let the gap slip up to about 35 seconds to finish in an all time 10km personal best of 32.15 off the bike, earning me a close 5th overall and the U23 National Championship title.

Full Results can be found Here. More photographs coming soon.

In spite of little taper and nervousness, I am very pleased with the result. It is the perfect motivational boost leading into the U23 World Triathlon Championships on September 11th. I feel nutritionally, I am just about spot on, tactically, I am getting much wiser and most importantly my confidence in my capabilities and ability to perform under pressure has increased.

Ok the final count down; just over 3 weeks left till the big race of the season. I will allow myself a couple of days of soft pedal but come Wednesday we are back at it in full force. I am lucky to have the entire national team going to Australia (and more) join myself and team mates for a Training camp here in Victoria. This will be great! It will be an opportunity to bond with and prepare one another for Australia. We are now not so much competing for spots, as attempting to put the best foot forward for Canada. It should be an awesome 3 weeks of training. Looking forward to it.

Ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney
No Cotton Wool