Preview: Muskoka Triathlon (Long Course)

Next weekend I'll be doing the Muskoka Triathlon (Long Course)

2000m swim
55k bike
15k run

Swimming

This race has more emphasis on the swim than most triathlons, usually a bike and run that long would be matched with a shorter swim.

As preparation, I went out with the local triathlon club for an open-water swim in Lake Simcoe. It was a short swim, water was a bit cold and very choppy. I'm hoping the conditions are better next Sunday, as it was very hard to get into a rhythm when every second breath gets a mouthful of cold water!

Goal: sub-50:00 swim, save enough energy for the bike

Biking

55k isn't a challenging distance so it's all about speed. I managed a 30km/h average today over 50k with a medium-hard effort over fairly hilly terrain and strong wind. I know this course is quite hilly, so I'm expecting a lot of tough climbs and recoveries.

Goal: get close to 30km/h, save something (what?) for the run

Running

If there's one thing I've learned from previous tris is this:

Running after swimming and biking is hard.

15K on its own would be a nice run, 15k after you've pushed even a little for 2+ hours before it is going to be tough. My overall time for this tri will be around what it took me to run my full marathon, so I'm going to start around that pace (~5:40/km) on the run and see how it goes. If I find I have more energy I'll pick it up.

The Fuel

A gel before the swim, and then Gatorade and gels to the end. I'll target 300kcal/hour on the bike, that's worked for me well in training. And I'll play it by ear on the run, probably all Gatorade by that point.

The Goal

Realistically I see myself in the 4h-4h15 range. That puts me pretty far back in last year's times, but this race draws a lot of great triathletes (it's an Ironman qualifier!)

Swim: 45-50 mins (based on pool pace - wetsuit helps, open water hinders, so who knows)
Bike: 1h50-2h00 (@30km/h or slightly less)
Run: 1h20-1h30 (@5:30/km or so)

Add in transitions and I'm guessing a 4h11 finish. That's more of a guess than a goal, all I really want to get out of this race is experience.