Ottawa and Coteau du Lac

So since last time i have done 2 races. I did the Ottawa Riverkeeper in Ottawa and the ITU Premium Pan American Cup race in Coteau du Lac. The rierkeeper went well despite a heavy load of training and no Taper. For the ITU race, there is another story.

Overall i think the race went well. A nice sub 2hr time and an overall good feeling of what is to come. At the start of the race we all line up on a wooden dock stretching almost the width of the river and stand in a marked spot 15cm across. We wait and dive in when the horn blows. Then ALL HELL breaks loose when 40+ men start to make their way to the first buoy. The pack was so tight that there was no real definition to it until 500m in. The swim went well despite being kicked in the head twice and grabed at the feet (he got a nice kick in the head too! ). I got out of the water and managed to make the second pack. There was no communication between then people in my pack and most of them decided to hae a free ride, sit back and let myself, and 2 others work to try and bridge the gap to the lead pack. We did not bridge it but we also did not let them get far ahead. If we ALL did some work on the bike at the beginning of the bike, we may have been able to catch them! By the end of the bike my legs were tired. got into transition and left for the run. By now my legs are screaming! and inside i was screaming when the people who did no work on the bike spead ahead as they had a 1 hr break. I managed to catch a few and hold them off. My run was slow but i managed a 17th place finish. Now i need to work hard on my swim and make the lead packs and have a good shot at some money!