Edmonton Age Group World Championships-DNF

I'm just getting settled back at home after a week in Edmonton for the Age Group World Championships.  I had been planning on doing this race since July 2013 after my 2'nd place overall at the Toronto Triathlon Festival.  Edmonton was my first "big" race, meaning my first ever out of province race, and my first ever World AG Champs.  I was really hoping for a great race, and my build and taper going in were solid.  Unfortunately this race gave me another first; my first ever DNF.

Pre-Race

I flew into Edmonton a week in advance of my race (to adjust to mild altitude and surroundings) with the rest of my family coming along as well.  We stayed at a recently renovated truck stop (Yellowhead Motor Inn), which was clean and very affordable (although being right beside a highway and train-yard was a bit annoying).

I had a pretty relaxed week heading into the race.  I did a few sessions in the awesome Kinsman pool, checked out the race site, watched the mens pro race, and took a lot of public transit, which was free for athletes (and also super sketchy).

Race-Day  

Race morning was early (got there at 5:30am) and was kinda cold (you could see your breath).  I wore my recently acquired Mexican vest (flashy pink) as I went through my pre-race routine, and was ready to go at 7:30am for race time.  

Swim: I lined up to the middle left of the pack (which I thought was a good spot).  I went out hard off the gun, but ended up getting run over by a ton of other swimmers.  Coach Brent wasn't kidding when he said I should be prepared to battle (quite literally).  After nearly drowning on the first lap, I finished the swim (kinda far back), and made my way to the bike.  

Bike: I had to make up some time, so I went out pretty hard (and kept up the effort).  The course was suited to my riding, and I managed to put together the days second fastest ride (and get back in the race).  I had passed about 20 people, and got myself up into the top 10 (may have been top 5).  

Run: I was starting the run with about four other guys, and was going at an ok pace.  I wasn't feeling great, but I really ran into trouble about 1km in.  It started as a small cramping pain in the lower left abdomen, which quickly developed into a large cramping pain (which I couldn't shake).  This then spread up into the chest, and pretty much spelled disaster for my race.  I hobbled through the first lap of the course (getting passed by almost everybody), and decided to call it in at the turnaround point.

Calling it a day

Post Race

With this being my first ever DNF, I'm not too upset (maybe a bit disappointed, but not super upset).  I did everything right heading into the race, and ran into a totally unforeseen issue (at this point I'm saying it was the cold). I'm not left injured or burnt out, and this will totally give me some good motivation to train hard for next season.

Big thanks goes out to my family who travelled with me to Edmonton, my coaches (who kept me in check going into the race), Multisport Canada (who I have been racing with all summer), eLoad (for keeping me fuelled), and of course to all my wonderful blog readers (THATS YOU!!! if you made it this far :)  
I am planning on tossing in a few more MSC races this season to finish the tri season, and then transition to running cross country with York in the fall.  Thats it for now...thanks for checking in.

The Danosaur in action