North Shore Sprint 2025

I was originally scheduled to race Victoria 70.3 but ended up withdrawing. Life was getting very busy and we decided as a family it would best for me to focus on just one big race this year. This would allow for a longer, safer, healthier, and less stressful build to Washington 70.3 in September. This also meant I had a free May to slot in a smaller, local race. So I entered the North Shore Triathlon.


I had done this race once before, but it was during COVID protocols. This time around it was the May long weekend and a full field of over 600 athletes. The swim was shortened to 300m and transition was in a different spot, but other than that, it was the same race.

Oh. And the weather. The weather was definitely different.

But let's back up to the Sunday before the race. The weather that week had been a mix of overcast and raining, but Sunday was a perfect day. I had been riding my TT bike more often and took it out for a short ride to test out the latest setup and my new aero helmet. After UBC I was done racing on my gravel bike.

After my ride I put my race stickers on the TT bike. I was being optimistic that the nce weather would spill over into race day on Monday. I was being VERY optimistic. It did not even dawn on me to wait to put the stickers on until I saw the weather. I could have opted for my road bike.

As I was packing my gear, I thought about bringing both my road and aero helmet and making a decision on race morning. I decided that for a sprint, the aero gains would not be enough to warrant the fancy helmet and just packed my road helmet

I did pack both clear and sunglasses. Again being overly optimistic. I also packed my cycling gloves. The plan being to only use them if it was raining. Again the under 18k bike was short enough that (weather permitting) the gloves would serve no added benefit and be a time waste in transition.

I also bought a new hand-held bottle for the run. Again, most of the gear I owned lent itself to longer courses and seemed overkill.

I woke up early on race day knowing parking would the biggest challenge of the morning. I loaded the car and stopped for some coffee. After the coffee I returned home to grab my long sleeve thermal. This was a great call.
It poured rain the entire drive to North Vancouver. And just like at UBC, I had to mentally prepare myself for some good mental training. At least it was warmer and less windy than UBC. A silver lining... I guess.
I managed to park almost exactly where I parked in 2021. I made my way to transition but was too early for the adults to check in and had to wait. I was able to catch a bit of the kids/youth race. They seemed about as enthused about the rain as I was.

At 7:30am, the officials let us in. I found my spot and setup my transition. I was less concerned about keeping things dry, but did want my socks and shoes to be someone dry. I put those into large freezer bags. I saw people covering their handlebars and saddles with large plastic bags. I found no point in covering my bike. I knew we would be soaked from the swim and if the rain continued it would not matter.

I met and chatted with several people; My transition neighbors, Swim Smart clients, Train Smart clients, and even some old teammates from my Coach Powell days.

By the time I was finished setting my transition area, Jen and the boys had arrived. After helping Jen navigate the stroller over some mud, we hung out at the playground area.

Soon after, Thomas informed me that he had to use the bathroom. So we waited in the long line for our turn. If you know anything about 4 year olds you know that if you want them to do something quickly, it will take FOREVER. It did not help that Thomas had to go poop.

I tried to stay calm. This was just parenthood. If it meant I needed to start in a slower swim wave, then so be it. I stayed focused on the fact that my family was here to support me and I stayed positive.

Once Thomas was done, we went back outside. I asked several people if they knew what swim wave was called and no one could give me an answer. So I said goodbye to my family and went inside.

I dropped off my dry bag and went up the line of athletes asking for their swim times so I could line up accordingly.

My original plan was to start in the front of the 7:30 swim wave. While I know I am faster than this, it would at least give me open water to swim in. But it turns out, all the other athletes got antsy and just started lining up themselves. I guess the race organizers saw this and just abandoned the wave starts. Now we were in self-seeded, rolling start. Not ideal for my race plan, but out of my control.

I lined up right where 7:30 met 8:00 and we waited for the line to move. I chatted with a few people who nervous about their first triathlon. I gave them some pointers, but mostly told them just to enjoy the day.

The Swim

Soon we were in the pool area. The race official told me to go, but I waited a bit. I knew if I went right away I'd be swimming over the person in front of me. I got in nice and slow. I remembered from last time how shallow the water was.

Normally, I would use the wall at the turns to get a strong push off, but for this race I had to take them nice and slow. If I did my normal push off, I'd run right into the swimmer ahead of me.

My love-hate relationship with pool swim tris has been stated before. I love that it attracts new people to the sport, but hate how most of them do not read/know the rules. Luckily, the 3 swimmer ahead of me did, and when I tapped their toes, they all let me pass. But for the last 100 meters, the swimmer in front would not let me pass. So I just stayed on their feet and finished the swim.

I walked up the steps and along the pool deck to the outside. It was cold. I was really happy I had a long sleeve waiting for me at my bike. I got a good cheer from my family as I made my way to my bike.

I took my time in transition. The weather was lousy and I knew this was not the day for a fast transition.

The bike start was different than in 2021. It started with a hill out of the parking lot. My bike was already in an easy gear so no worries there.

The Bike

I took the hill nice and easy, took a left hand turn at the top, then a right hand turn before hitting the main portion of the bike course.

The bike course was four laps, out and back. The way out was pretty much uphill or a false flat. I did my best to keep my power and effort in a good spot.

The rain had lightened up, but the roads were very wet and the course was crowded. Given these factors, I never felt comfortable enough to get down into my aero bars. I was still getting used to being back on my TT bike and these conditions did not help. I felt good being up on the basebars and felt in control.

 

At one point I thought I has a flat, but had to remind myself that I was running wider tires now (28s up from 23s) and that I was using my race wheels (which are stiffer than my plain box rims).

All in all, I made the right choice choosing my TT bike.
I took the first lap nice and easy. More of a 'reconnaissance' lap. On the second lap I made sure to hydrate and fuel. I was able to push a bit harder on the downhills, but still conserved energy on the uphills.

On lap 3 I was pushing too hard on the uphills and dialed back. However I was able to push harder on the way back with the downhills.

On the back half of lap 4, I pushed hard on the initial downhill and was able to ride that momentum all the way to the turn around spot. I stayed left to avoid the turn around and take the exit back to transition.

It got a bit sketchy as I was still carrying alot of speed, the roads were wet, and my TT bike has rim brakes. Luckily I was able to keep it all under control.

I dismounted and made my way to my transition spot to pre for the run.

The Run

I once again took transition nice and slow. The rain had stopped but I was still soaked. I had all my run gear (sans shoes) in a bag. Normally, I would just grab that bag and pull stuff out on the go. Today I opted to just take my time and fully prep in transition.

The run started with the same hill the bike did. I walked that hill and started my run at the top. I knew this course was hilly and wanted to conserve energy.

The run has always been the weakest of the disciplines for me. And getting back into training/racing after some time off for family and more time off due to injury (bike crash in 2024), meant it was going to be a long road ahead for my running.

Currently I am dealing with 3 issues with my run. First, back in November, I got pretty bad plantar fasciitis in my right foot. With some physio, new shoes, and foot strengthening exercises, that is almost entirely healed.

Second, there is a slight imbalance of strength in my left leg. This does not sound like much, but it is causing my right leg to not push off the toe as strong which (at the end of a long chain of muscle correcting) causes my ankle to seize up. This usually loosens up after about 30-40 minutes. But if I am running a 5k, it just means I have to deal with that ankle pain for the whole run.

Third, I am much heavier than I was in 2022. Life, work, 2 kids, it tends to happen.

What am I doing about all this? Well Issue #1 is pretty much solved. Issue #2, I am continuing to see my physio and am working with my strength coach on more single leg work/stability. I am also seeing a Exercise Physiologist for a run/stride assessment in June. Issue #3, I have received a referral from my family doctor to work with another doctor who specializes in weight lose.

I will update my readers on all 3 as updates are available.

We ran past a school before there was another uphill back to the main road of the bike course. I had to walk up this hill due to my ankle. Once on the main road, I started to encourage the athletes still on the bike course to distract myself.

It was a long run up to the turn around. On the way back down, I started to encourage those on the run course behind me.

The course then took a left turn and a downhill into the a residential area. It was here that I realized the rain had completely stopped and the roads were starting to dry. There was even some (very brief) pockets of sunlight.

Soon the course took a climb back out of the residential area and back on the main road. After a short section on the road, it was back down towards the school.

After a short section on the track, there was a steep climb before the home stretch. This was on a trail so I was sure to watch my footing in the wet conditions.

I ran past the playground area where Thomas ran out to give me a high five. At the last second he pulled away to be funny.

Later that night, he could not sleep. He kept crying saying, "I'm sorry I missed your high five." After about 20 minutes of consoling, he finally feel asleep.

All things considered, it was a good day. Several things happened with the swim that were outside my control, I could not control the weather on the bike, and I did what I was capable of on the run.

I will continue to progress in my training, I'll keep riding the TT bike to get my old comfortability back, and I'll what resources I have available to help my run progress.

Swim: 7:24 (for 300 meters and a 50m walk on deck)
Bike: 0:51:30 (included both T1 and T2)
Run: 0:46:06

Later that day my dad texted me and asked if I had a race. After I said yes he asked, "Did you do well? Did you have fun?"

I just replied, "I had fun. That means I did well."

Thanks for taking the time to read my latest update. Keep an eye out for the next race: Ironman 70.3 Washington. No, not that one... A new one.

2025 UBC Duathlon (and other updates)

Before getting into the race report, a quick update on other "smaller" events that have happened between last fall and now.

On October 26, 2024 I ran the Great Trek 10k. This was originally planned to be my last half marathon of the year, but the bike crash in April derailed this one as well. But I had a decent run in 1:26.18

On November 2nd, 2024 I swam in the Winskill Otters' Ottermania Master Swim Meet. I had not competed in a meet for a few years and wanted to get back into it. However, this was probably not the best meet to get back with as it was a long course meet (50 meter pool). I arrived early to help count laps for a fellow swimmer doing the 1500m event.

I competed in the:

100m Free with a time of 1:41.86, coming in 4th in my age group and 7th in my heat.

100m Breast with a time of 2:11.27, 2nd in my age group and 4th in my heat

50m Back with a time of 1:05.81, 3rd in my age group, and 7th in my heat. 
50m Free with a time of 40:.72, 8th in my age group, 4th in my heat

I did the 100 meter Breast in our 400m Mixed Medley relay with a time of 2:10.47 and 100m Free in our Men's 400 Free Relay in 1:42.88.

The Men's 400 relay was the last event of the day and all 4 of us were exhausted. The good news was that we were the only team in our category. So as long we did not get disqualified, we would come in first and get maximum points.

Then on February 8th, 2025 I swam in the EBSC's Love to Swim Masters Swim Meet. This was a short course meet and I had actually been training for it. 

I competed in the:
100m Free in 1:32.61, took 6th in my age group, and won my heat!
50m Freein 38:50, 9th in my age group and won my heat! 
100m Breast in 1:54.35, 5th in my age group, 2nd in my heat.
200m Free in 3:24.72, 2nd in my age group and 2nd in my heat.

I did the 50m back in our relay in a time of 1:02.27 and the 50m free in another relay in a time of around 40 seconds. There was an issue with the official results 

I was feeling really good that day and set several personal bests. I paced the longer events better than I ever have before. 

On January 12th, 2025 Thomas, Henry, and I ran the IceBreaker kids 1k. And Jen rain the 8k. 

Now onto the main event. 

I arrived at UBC earlier than I needed to be there. I wanted to get setup and watch some of the swim. I have stated in the past why I no longer do the triathlon at this event.

I took time to walk transition as I always do before a race, and even went back and moved my bike to save me those precious millisecond. All sarcasm there. But I did move my bike. 

I went inside and watched some of the swim until it was time to get ready. I walked to my car, geared up and met at the designated spot.

After a bit of stretching, it was time to line up according to run pace. I turned around and walked directly to the back. I met a fellow runner name Miriam. We chatted for a bit and decided to run together. 

As we made our way out to the start, I saw my family and got a quick picture. 

We walked to the start line and waited for our makeshift waves to start. This year we started at the bottom of the hill.

Run 1

I started the run off nice and easy and chatted with my pace buddy, Miriam. We chatted away about our motivations and goals. At one point we were asked if we were a Mother-Son team. We said no, just new found friends with the same run pace.

Once we got to the Rose Garden my ankle was acting up, so Miriam went on ahead. The course was 2 laps with several out-and-backs, so there was was plenty of encouragement given and received. 

At the end of lap one, my oldest informed me that he had some cookies. I joked and asked him if he saved me any. I looked and saw my youngest fast asleep in the stroller,  After a high-five from my oldest, I was off onto lap 2.

I picked up the pace on the second lap, but still kept it in control. I knew that even though the distances were relatively short, the mental game would be a tough one. 

Bike

I found my bike and took my time gearing up. I had placed my bike shoes in a plastic bag to keep them dry and placed my running shoes in the bag. They were already soaked but I did not want them waterlogged.

I had put a swim cap on the seat to keep it dry (again, it made no difference) so I ripped it off and made my way to the mount line.

When I got to the mount line, I saw the swim cap on my pedal. I reached down, grabbed it, and stuck in my leg pocket. I am not sure what the penalty was for littering on course, but I was not about to find out.  

The bike was an absolute SLOG. 

It was cold. It was pouring. It was windy.

At first I tried to avoid puddles to keep my feet as dry as I could. But I soon learned it was pointless and just rode. 

Even though it was cold, I forced myself to drink. It is much easier to remember to drink on hot days. During cold races, I find it harder to keep on top of it.

I kept a good pace on the way out knowing the way back was a long false flat with a hill. I had no power meter on this bike as I opted to ride my gravel bike (with road tires).

I climbed the hill at 16th and mad my way onto the second lap.

Now I was COLD.

I began to have thoughts of not doing the last run and dropping out. I told myself to at least start the run. I had good experience with the whole "Just start and see how you feel" thing a few years ago.

I saw several other athletes from our Train Smart and Swim Smart groups as the Standard Distance race was now under way.

Soon the second lap was done and I was racking my bike. But not before throwing away the swim cap in my pocket.

I took my time in transition due to the fact that I could not feel my feet. 

Run 2

The second run was tough. I was feeling good physically, but mentally I was beat. 

Luckily, this was remedied by the fact that even more Standard Distance Athletes and now Sprint Distance athletes were out on the run course. The encouragement received and encouragement given  bolstered my mood. 

Once again, I saw my family at the end of each lap. My kids were always excited to see me.

When I once again reached the Rose Garden, I pushed a little harder. My watch alerted me it was time for a walk break, but I wanted to be done.

I turned left down the hill and left to the finish.

After the finish I knew I was going to get cold, so I immediately went back to the car and got into some dry clothes. I then met up with my family, had a coffee and a cookie, and played with my kids a bit. 

Not a bad race considering I am just getting back into the swing if things.

Since I started writing this entry I bought a new (used) road bike so I don't have to race on my heavy gravel bike with no power meter.

I've also been riding my TT bike more and getting the hang of that style of riding again.

 
Thanks for taking the time to read this entry.


Coming up I have the Northshore Sprint Triathlon and Ironman 70.3 Washington.