Esprit Duathlon Race Report, part one

Posted In: ChiRunning | Me | Running | Triathlon September 13th, 2011 divider 1 Comment »

So I headed up to Montreal on Friday to have dinner with the family and race Esprit on Saturday morning.  The Esprit day is something to see. You have a bunch of races going on at once, sometimes a few hundred people on the Formula One circuit, all trying to maneuver their bikes like race cars!

Esprit has a special place in my heart since I did my first Iron distance there a few years back. I try to head back there every year that I can and I’ve now done almost every race now.

It was a nice morning, sunny, cool and windy. Almost perfect for triathlon except that wind is a big factor at Esprit due to the layout. If you get the wind in your direction, it’s one of the fastest races in North America!

After setting up my bike and getting some air in the tires (thank you Olivier!), my brother and I went for a short warm up jog. We then listened to the confusing intro session (pass on the right?) and got ready on the start line. Then the horn went off!

I was determined not to go out too hard so I tried to find a pace that felt quick but not too quick. The first 5k felt great and according to the watch it was one of my fastest 5k’s ever. I settled down a bit in the second 5k and headed into transition.

The bike wasn’t lightning fast due to that nasty wind I was telling you about. I think it was the first comment I heard from all my friends who has just finished the race. It was rather chaotic but felt decent bodywise and I was hoping not to lose too much time to my brother who had his Cervelo all pimped out for the race. I actually beat him back to transition so I knew something was up…

I then headed out for the last 5 k trying to run something quick. The sun was really starting to beat down but the breeze helped. I felt good throughout most of the run and was doing decent splits so I try to keep up the pace.

All in all, a good race to end the multi-sport season. More about it later this week!