2009 Guelph Lake 1

A long and never-ending spring with less then appealing weather conditions this weekend, the Guelph Lake Triathlon is happening. Now after the fact, the weather conditions were actually very pleasant, a bit wet beyond the swimming part, but at least no pouring rain.

My time was 1:42:45 and the time splits were within my expectations.
About an hour before race start, I laid out the helmet, running shoes, towel, drink, bib and whatever else I need when changing from the swim to bike and then to the run. This year I started in the Men-55 category, so the bike rack was not as crowded as other age groups. I had all my gear ready for the transition, stepped back and mentally went through the process. I was pleased with everything and expressed it with a "Now I'm ready for the race". A fellow racer looked at me with a big smile and said: "You know, in our age group we shouldn't be that excited anymore about the race!". Based on appearance, this was not his first race - and he looked as if he is in great condition - and is having fun.

I finished 13th out of the 19 men in my age group or in 454th place of the 542 competitors. Just out of curiosity, I check the results how I would perform with the next age group (Men 60-64) and it's nothing to look forward to. 6 participants, 5 finished well before my time and my chances don't grow in the higher age groups. With these results in mind, I think I know what my fellow racer was referring to before the race.

Hey, I enjoyed the race - I finished within my expectation - I got my T-shirt, what else can I ask for? Well maybe that a few years down the road I can still participate and finish the race.