We set out on Thursday, June 23 in the morning after my night shift, to drive the 4 hours to Cape Breton. We already had to head up this weekend so Kirk could write his electrical redseal exam anyways, so last minute I decided to join my friends Hannah and Lee to run the tri the same weekend.
Finally found the fiddle! By the time I returned to the car, I had run around 8km and felt great. Kirk would soon be finishing his exam, so I headed back to the college to pick him up. After that, we headed to an amazing restaurant on the water together some well earned lunch. The restaurant was called Flavor and it was honestly the most amazing meal I've ever had. I ordered the 3 soup/salad combo and got to pick between a large selection, choosing the squash curry soup, black bean and mango salad and the spinach, dried apricot and almond salad. The spinach one was my favorite.. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Easily the best salad I've ever eaten. Kirk had the peanut butter burger and side salad, which he also enjoyed. And we both had a beer, of course!
Delish!
We relaxed for a bit on Thursday once we finally arrived and had dinner/stayed with his parents that night. Friday, Kirk did some last minute reviewing for his exam the next morning, and I was able to convince him to go for a quick 6km run along the water. It really helped to blow off some steam before he would have to write the next day.
"Dudeeee lets just run"
Views
Definitely the best buns in town!
Obstacle training on the rocks.
The next day was Kirks exam in Sydney, so we drove an hour to his sisters place so we could be closer in the morning (as it was an hour and a half from there, as opposed to 2.5 from his parents). We planned on camping Saturday night, so before we left we packed all our camping gear/my bike/our clothes/all my tri stuff.. Aka the car was PACKED!
Kirk had 4 hours to write his exam, so while he wrote, I went exploring! I came across a nice place to run in Sydney called the Open Hearth Park. It was a gorgeous gravel/hard packed trail close to the waterfront with multiple body weight exercises along to way (which I thought was super cool, and a great way to encourage physical activity within the community). My main goal of running this trail was hoping it looped around and connected to the big fiddle.
Entryway photo shoot
Run Forrest!
After that, we headed to Ingonish (about 2 hours away). I picked up my race kit at the Keltic lodge (gorgeous hotel, like a castle and with panoramic views) and then we headed to our campsite at Ingonish beach. We love camping and it was super convenient as our campsite was only about 500m through a trail in the woods to get to the start line.
Carb loading on s'mores the night before haha.
Chillin by the campfire.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to prepare for the race. I ate my oatmeal and banana, drank some water, put on my gorgeous new team HEXT triathlon top and began to bike through the woods to the start. Yes I biked through the woods.. Because unlike everyone else racing, I had a mountain bike haha. Upon arrival, I checked in, grabbed my timing bracelet, and set up my station in the transition space. Before I knew it, the race was starting and I was heading off into my swim!
Now, I haven't swam in years, plus didn't have a wetsuit like everyone else, so this was a little concerning. The swim was 750m long in a fresh water lake (I was doing the sprint so it is 750m swim, 23km bike ride and 5k run). I'm a decent swimming, however compared the the rest of the athletes racing, I was pretty slow. Finishing ahead of only about 10 people. Plus I think I drank half the lake haha. Swimming is hard when your adrenaline is pumping!
Next up was the bike ride. I'm a good biker, as I have strong legs for it. Again however, I was no match for the other athletes with their fancy tri and street bikes. I got passed quite a bit on the up hills by bikers who made it look effortless. The uphills were brutal and I was pushing it hard in the lowest possible gear and still getting nowhere. However, the route was absolutely breathtaking and I smiled my face off the entire time, while admiring the views.
After I finally returned after a struggle of a bike ride, it was time for the run.
Here's me laughing at how weird it feels to run after biking that far..
The run went decently, although there wasn't much of a way that I could gain placement, so I ran the best race I could, finished strong and stayed in second last.
As much as I was mildly disappointed in my placement, I also realized that I wasn't intentionally racing to win at all, I had simply registered last minute for something fun to do, to test my limits and complete something that's been a long time goal on my bucket list. The thing about racing is, not always are we going to have our best race ever, not always are we going to place in the top few people, and not always will we be 100% happy with how we did. For me, the most important aspect is never quitting, giving it my all, and having a fun time. I almost always enjoy myself during races, meet new people and improve myself in some way.
All smiles crossing the finish!
Kirk was waiting for me with my medal!
Some scenic after shots.
We finished off our awesome time in Cape Breton with a drive around the Cabot trail, stopping at the look offs along the way! It's completely different driving the trail during the day than it was running it at all hours of the night in the Cabot Trail Relay!
Beautiful sights!
Was perfect weather for a race, my favourite place in Cape Breton.
My legs were sore so thank god for Kirk driving!
Monday we drove home. We took a pit stop off the highway to Eastern shore, so we could do a quick shakeout run along the Salt Marsh Trail. Let's felt surprisingly good running after the race!
Plus we took some crazy pictures.
Overall it was a great weekend, and I'm glad I decided to register last minute! I'll probably be back next year to try to improve upon my time. If that's going to happen, I will have to practice swimming, and rent a tri bike!
For now, training continues for the Spartan sprint/super next weekend in Toronto!
Happy trails friends,
The Rural Runner
