20 year old Kyle Jones trains at the National Triathlon Centre in Victoria:
Last weekend I traveled to New Plymouth, New Zealand to compete in my final triathlon of the 2005 season. It’s been a long year and I wanted to finish off the season with a strong performance. I didn’t originally plan to race in New Plymouth but due to my position on the world rankings I decided to make the trip in order to qualify for the 2006 Canadian National Team.
After my 9th place performance at the U23 World Championships in Gamagori, Japan I was ranked 124th in the world. In order to make the National Team I would need to remain in the top 125 to secure my spot. I had planned my season to optimize my accumulation of points. I had placed well at 2 ITU points races during the summer and left myself with both the Cancun and Rio World Cups during the fall. Unfortunately, at the end of August the ITU announced the cancellation of the Rio World Cup due to lack of sponsorship.
When I returned from Worlds in Japan I was confident I would be able to maintain my ranking as I still had the Cancun World Cup to score points. I took 2 weeks of active recovery when I got back from Worlds. I did some light training, registered in my courses for school, and took a nice mental break. Once I was all rested I got right into my preparation for the race.
My training went very well leading up to Cancun. I was swimming and running faster than ever. I couldn’t wait to race! With about a week to go, hurricane Wilma hit the Yucatan Peninsula. Strong winds and heavy rainfall damaged much of Cancun’s resort area forcing the ITU to cancel the event.
Unbelievable- both my planned World Cups cancelled!
At this point, I was left with a tough decision to make. Having not raced since early September, my ranking had now fallen to 126th. I could either accept my position and wait until next year to make the team, or I could spend some money (well, a lot of money) and travel to New Zealand for the final World Cup of the season. Since my training was going so well and my motivation was extremely high I decided to bite the bullet and go for it!
I maintained my focus and with help from my coach Lance Watson, adjusted my training for 2 more weeks of work. I traveled to New Plymouth on the Monday prior to the race in order to acclimatize and adjust to the time difference.
I felt good and rested all week.
Unfortunately, the race didn’t go quite as well as I had planned. I wasn’t able to get in with the main group on the swim and ended up in the 3rd pack.
Although we had lost about a minute heading out onto the bike we were motivated to catch the groups ahead of us. We quickly picked up riders on the first loop of the course and formed a pack of about 12 men. We rode very well for the remaining laps, holding pace with the leaders for much of the bike portion. As we approached transition I knew I was still in good position. With a strong run I would definitely place myself within 5% of the winner’s time (which is necessary in order to score points). However, within that final bike lap the skies opened up and the rain came down HARD!
We were very careful cornering, especially making the last turn into transition. When I dismounted my bike all I can remember is watching the 2 athletes in front of me slip on the mat and fall in to each other. The next thing I knew I was doing the same and went down hard on my knees. I was slow to get up as both of my legs had cramped and seized up when I crashed.
I racked my bike and headed out for the run already having lost 20 seconds.
I put in a strong effort but my legs just didn’t have anything. I usually look forward to the run as it is my strength but the cramps never went away.
I knew it would be close (to be within the 5%) but in the end I missed it by only 15 seconds.
Looking back on everything, I have no regrets. It was an awesome experience and although I wasn’t able to race my best on the day, I have the confidence to know I can compete at the highest level. I now look forward to a hard winter’s training. I’ve set some big goals for the 2006 season and can’t wait to race again!
Thanks for reading!
