June is the start of the race season for me. Four races this month, with only one weekend off.
The first race
The first race of the year took place in Joliette, Quebec. The water temperature was freezing, and the weather abysmal! With little practice in cold water, I jumped into the 16 degree river outside of the Joliette Cégep. . My sister, having just completed her U15 race, didn’t have any reassuring words and with 13 degree air temperature, there was no warming up . At the sound of the gun I took off along the current. Everyone was clawing forwards, hoping to exit the water and warm up on the bike (not sure how that would work!) which made the swim very rough. After finding a clearing and drafting off another swimmer, I exited the water with a respectable time (I’m no swimmer) and proceeded to struggle, with frozen and unresponsive limbs, to take off my wetsuit.
It was a rough first race. I made a few mistakes that cost me some time, but I’m happy I was able to persevere through the rough weather and start the season with a respectable race. My bike was very strong, my run not so much but I felt truly burnt in the end!
Upcoming races
This coming Saturday I’m racing in Drummondville. The format of that race is new to me and will definitely be interesting. Starting off with a time trial sprint race (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) racers will find their ranking for the final super sprint race later in the day. That race will be half the previous distance, but as an all out battle for first. No one really seems to know the specifics of how this is going to work, so it will be fun to figure that out the morning of!
Next up is a nice sprint race in Sherbrooke. It will be my first time racing this location and I’m excited to see it.
With a week off to recover a bit, the month ends with the Montreal International Triathlon in the Old Port. Taking place on the 29th, this race is always a blast. In a great location and with the pro’s from the world circuit putting down crazy times in the afternoon, it is definitely worth going to see if you’re in town!
You can take a look at my full race schedule here.
