Post-race Chatter and Reports from Kingston

Check out some of the post-race buzz from this past weekend in #MSCKTown #MSCKingston.

Media Reports

CKWS TV – 33rd annual K-Town Tri takes over Downtown Kingstonckws

The Whig-Standard’s Article – Ottawa Triathletes Conquer KTown


Athlete Race Reports

https://twitter.com/jmonnink/status/760292209014902785

https://twitter.com/GlitterRobyn/status/759855615669854208

MultiSport Carnival – The Kingston stop

It took some time for the Welland dust to settle. A near capitulation on the run had dented whatever slight confidence I possessed.

I travelled to Muskoka a few weeks later, cautiously. In the back of my mind I wondered what the 21 kilometre run course up there would do to me, and part of my brain longed to back out.

I plugged ahead, though, and something significant seemed to happen that day. The Welland experience informed how I raced. I didn’t push the run in Muskoka, I didn’t jeopardize the race with a spiked bike ride, I didn’t over-think things. I relaxed into the race and came out the other side with a performance I was very pleased with.

Welland also informed Kingston this past Sunday. In the rising June heat of Welland I forced my run. I tried to make it happen instead of building into it.

I wished to ensure that didn’t happen last Sunday through the streets and coves of Kingston, a town that I’d never visited before, a town that’s got character like an East London neighbourhood. (Without this race it’s likely I would never have visited Kingston. For some reason it’s spoken of in the same terms Americans speak of Baltimore, or Oakland. For the record, it’s got far more to offer aside from the Hip and the Pen, and we’ll definitely be back.)

Anyway, throughout last season I nagged my coach, Alex VanderLinden, with one fairly consistent theme: How do I know how hard to push on the bike to allow a decent run? Race more, he said.

I must have asked that question a dozen times, thinking that he had some kind of elixer he was holding back. He’d simply look at me, straight-faced: race more.

MultiSport Canada allows us to do that. It allows us to take those race performances – bad or god – and learn from them, put them to use. We don’t need to wait months or seasons to find the silver lining – if there’s not a MultiSport race this weekend, then most likely there will be one the weekend after.

It’s something that’s easily taken for granted around here. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be exiled in northern Alberta, where we regularly drove five hours each way for a running race.

Once, we drove the ten hours south to Banff on a Friday night, raced on the Saturday, and packed our bags Sunday morning for the long haul home.

We’re blessed with choice and variety here in this part of the world. We don’t need to do the long haul thing.

Kingston was my fifteenth triathlon in total and many more finish lines need to be crossed in order to gain the experience Alex is talking about, but it’s slowly coming. I raced five MultiSport events last season and three so far this season, and the cumulative impact of racing regularly – the positive cumulative impact – is beginning to show.

For an age grouper with a deep interest to learn more about this sport, that kind of doorstep resource is invaluable.

Back in Kingston, as I rounded the half-way point on the run, the pain and discomfort of racing down the back end of a long course wasn’t any less because of those previous experiences, but it was expected. It was, in some ways, more manageable.

Alex was right. There’s no magic elixer, just work to do, races to be race, lessons to be learned, finish lines to be crossed.

The MultiSport summer carnival allows all of this to happen. It allows us to grow.

K-Town Duathlon Report – By Tim Doris

2010 was the last time I had raced the duathlon in Kingston. This year, in order to get ready for the race, I went and found my old racing journal and my report from that year on the Kingston du. As I sat and reviewed my notes, two words were repeated over and over:  wind and hills. Training in Northumberland County, we have plenty of hills and the wind is a factor on most of my rides.   With this knowledge on what to expect on the race course, I loaded up the car and began the drive to Kingston.

The weather forecast in the week leading up to Sunday’s race was 30 percent chance of rain.  That would definitely bring its own challenges to the race. Driving down to Kingston on Sunday morning, I could not believe how lucky we were; the temperature was ideal for racing. The drive on race morning gave me time to go over my race strategy for the day and just enjoy the sun rise.

I arrived at the race site with plenty of time to spare before the 9:00 a.m. duathlon start. Once again, it was a very easy process for registration, thanks to the time and care that Multisport Canada puts in to making registration fast and stress free for the veteran racers and rookie athletes. Armed with my timing chip, race t-shirt and grab bag of goodies,  I set up my bike in transition. I was impressed by the number of racks and space that was allocated for the duathletes and triathletes. It is always great to see some familiar faces in transition. Kevin Gallagher and myself had raced the previous series race in Gravenhurst and will be racing together at the ITU World Championships for the standard distance duathlon in Penitiction in 2017. We discussed traffic issues on the way to Kingston, training, and future racing plans. Kevin’s passion and enthusiasm for this sport is evident, he also willingly shares past racing experiences and training ideas. I appreciate his openness and am very glad to be racing with him next year. Adric Heney from Peterborough was another familiar face. I have raced Adric at a number of Peterborough area multisport events and this young, talented individual is always friendly and approachable.

Run 1 -4km

We were given our last minute instructions and counted down to one. The horn went and we were off. I do not consider myself a sprinter or very fast off the start line, but for some reason I found myself setting the pace with the pack following behind. Immediately, I tried to find a nice steady relaxed pace and began to work on controlling my breathing. The run was a short out and back on a combination of road and waterfront trails that were very clearly marked for everyone to follow. Coming back into the bike transition, we went past the finish chute and entered the transition area. Aero helmet on, cycling shoes (I forgot to open the laces, so took a few extra seconds) and I was out to the bike mount line.

Bike- 30 km

I used the first 5 km to warm up the legs and get into a comfortable aero position on the bike. My legs did not take too long to loosen up and then it was time to attack the first of the hills on the course. The road had a nice paved shoulder that was well marked to ride in. I used the first 15 km of the bike course as my warm up, focusing on attacking the hills and making sure that I was keeping a nice steady cadence. The wind was not constant, but added to my need to focus and work on staying relaxed and aero. I tried to take in as much fluid as possible on the way out easily finishing one water bottle and switching to my other on the bike. Once I hit the turn around, I treated the back half of the bike as a 15 km TT. This is the distance our cycling club rides on Tuesday nights. I continued to work on my cadence, looking over to see the stream of riders riding out to the turn around.  I noticed Kevin Gallagher riding well. This gave me a little more motivation to ride stronger to the bike dismount line. As I got off my bike, I felt a small pain in my right hamstring.  I realized then that I did not take any fuel into my system, so the last run could prove interesting. Bike racked, helmet off, cycling shoes off, running shoes on and it was time to see how much I had left in the legs.

Run – 7.2 km

Coming out of the transition area I tried to really focus on form and fast turnover of the legs to loosen them up. About half way into the first km I had a small cramp in my left calf, I back paced off just a little and it went away. This twitch was a sign that I did not follow my hydration strategy very well, so I knew every water station would be important. Luckily, on the course, I did not have to run more than a km or two to get to a water station. Heed and water would be in order, on the way to the turn around. I continued to focus on my form and trying to keep the pace steady. Running back down from the turn around I took a quick look to see the other duathletes coming up to the turn around. Only one runner was in front of me. I continued to focus on form down onto the flat knowing that I had only 2 km left to the finish. I continued to take in water and heed, turned the corner onto King Street and could see the finish chute in the distance. Just 2 blocks to the end. I kept my pace and ran across the line to hear Steve Fleck announce my name and a congratulatory hand shake from John Salt. I stayed in the finish chute to congratulate the other athletes as they crossed the finish line. The energy at the finish line is always electric, lots of high fives and smiles for a job well done. I was happy with my race and results finishing second overall and winning the 50-59 age group.

Thank you to John Salt and the entire MultiSport Canada team for another great race and venue. Recharge with Milk team for helping to recharge my tired muscles with the cold chocolate milk. Steve Fleck for your tireless announcing and your enthusiasm which starts upon your arrival at the race and continues until the last racer crosses the finish line. To the countless volunteers not only cheering on the participants but calling athletes by name.


Social Media Buzz

You can share your experiences on your favourite social media outlets. Use the hashtags #MSCKTown #MSCKingston


Photos are available at Zoomphoto, and results at our Results Page. If you have any issues or corrections with the results, please contact Sportstats.

Our own Post-race Report will be published in a few days, stay tuned.