First thing, apologies. Not for being silent (that happens), but for writing this post in English.  If you know me, you're probably wondering why a French Canadian is writing in English, especially if he's writing about Canada's biggest winter event held in beautiful Quebec City, where the majority of the population is French speaking. Yes, I was born from very Québécois parents, but my parents wisely decided I should learn English, so since kindergarten I've learned to put words together with the English alphabet. I could write this in French, but it would take me a French dictionary, grammar guide, conjugation database, lots of patience, and a reviewer to get anywhere.

So what is this, the Pentathlon in one sentence? The coolest competition you can imagine in a Canadian winter! The long distance solo category, in the following order: 15 kilometers cycling, 6 kilometers run, 9 kilometers ski, 9 kilometers skating, and 6 kilometers snowshoe.

I've being participating in this event for many years, since its modest beginnings in Lac Beauport. Now this has become the biggest winter event in Canada with serious competition including elite and Olympic athletes, while still having a very friendly atmosphere.

Winter is not my season, but this year I made a special effort. I conquered my sweet tooth for two months to find my racing weight, managed to get 6-10 hours of training per week (which is a lot for me in the winter) during a period while I was chasing my shadow with so many other things. I set my goal, a top 10 overall finish. So in the mornings I'd work on my running, and in the evenings I'd be either skate skiing/cycling on Mount Royal, or skating on outdoor rinks. Not easy training for five sports in the winter.

And I had to think about the optimal equipment and different options for clothing as the weather can vary greatly at this time of year. For the equipment, this year I had it covered! I finally got a cross bike last year and even built myself some sweet 1300 grams wheelset. I had dependable egg beater pedals and mountain bike shoes with speed laces. My running shoes also had quick speed laces. I had lightweight racing snowshoes with racing flats already attached with speed laces too. I hot waxed my skate skies with high fluorinated wax. And finally, I got my nordic skate blades that attach to my ski boots sharpened the day before the race. I always freeze my fingers and toes in cold weather so I had "hot shots" on standby for all my fingers and toes.

Choosing the equipment was a challenge in itself, but the race strategy is even more difficult to figure out. I knew winner would be done in about 2 hours, so I estimated my effort at about 2:15. With such duration, it's possible to keep a very high intensity near threshold, so that was my goal: Go all out and try to go as fast as I can at every single moment until I drop.

The start is actually the most technical and critical aspect to doing well in this race. There is a start zone of about 200 meters where all bikes are lined up on racks. It's a mass start, everyone runs to their bike, and must stay off the bike until passing a line that demarks the end of the start zone. The problem: if your bike is not stationed in the top 10-15 bikes, you end up in a huge funnel waiting while the leaders are already attacking the bike course. And worse this year, the bike conditions were very technical, with lots of ice patches, and pretty much only one single track as a viable option in many sections.

I thought I had it figured out. First thing after stepping outside of the Loews Hotel I go setup my bike in the start zone. A volunteer tells me I must first go the transition zone with my bike. By the time I finish listening to the race instructions and get back to the start zone, there is probably more than 50 bikes in front of me. That really messed up my plan.

So I try and do the best of it, on the gun I sprint as fast as I can, but everyone is doing the same obviously, so when I take my bike off the rack, I'm stuck in the funnel, people are tangling up and falling in front of me. By that time Pascal Bussiere (last year’s winner) and a small group are already taking a good lead.

Then worse, because I'm not in the faster group, and more than half the bike course is effectively single track with few passing opportunities, I'm stuck riding a pace quite below my threshold. Good news, at least the chemical warmers are keeping my toes and fingers nice and warm in the -17 degrees Celsius on the windy Plains of Abraham.

The bike leg should have been one of my strengths. I had even practiced getting off and on the bike quickly à la cyclo-cross style, as on every loop you had to get off the bike, run across the transition area, then hop on the bike again. The bike portion ended up being where I lost the most time on the leaders. It took more than 5 kilometers before I was out of the traffic :(

The mental game already kicks in, with my mind swimming in thoughts like, "things are fine, just go at a comfortable pace".  But some other corner of my brain is telling this is a race, and I should be racing, rather than looking at the scenery.

The bike-run transition went very well. With speed laces on both my mountain bike shoes and my running shoes I was out of the transition zone quickly. I was soon passing a lot of runners, and had very few runners pass me. Although I do remember one runner passing me like if I was simply not moving. At the end of my second lap, Joel Bourgeois, an Olympic steeplechase athlete takes a lap on me and is just about to start the ski leg. Wow! He was moving! And the mental is playing tricks on me again, telling me I should just be enjoying the scenery yet again.

On my third and final run lap my feet are on fire. Not because I'm running particularly fast, but the "hot shots" between my "doubled" socks are generated a little too much heat. I'm just looking forward so much to the run-ski transition to get those warmer pouches out of my socks.

The run-ski transition is the slowest. You sit down, pull the running shoes off, and get the ski boots on nice and tight. And if your feet are burning, you remove the "hot shot" pouches. I knew ahead of time, the ski was going to be a major challenge because I never really worked on my skating technique. I get on the loop, and after a few minutes pass a skier. That's strange. And indeed it was temporary.  Soon I have plenty of skiers "tracking" me. Endurance athletes in the Quebec City area are spoiled when it comes to ski centers, so skiing for anyone that is athletic minded is second nature.

At this point it is just difficult to keep a focus and remind myself that I'm in a race. It feels more like I'm in vacation in Quebec City, enjoying the beautiful views on the St-Laurence.

Finally, the ski is done now with a clock that is running considerable late. But the ice skating is next, and I'm a fish in a country lake when I attach my long blades to my ski boots. I learnt skating as a figure skater decades ago, but I've always been more of a speed skater than a ballerina on ice. I'm flying on the ice. I soon catch up to the train of the leaders. This is drafting at its best on the windy Plains of Abraham. I decide I'm not going to work at all - what's the point, on my own I wouldn't be going much faster and would be working so much harder. And I'd probably be the locomotive for others. Since the leaders have probably 10 laps (of 18 total) on me, the train becomes smaller and smaller. For me this was the easiest leg, and I kept some energy for the last snowshoe portion.

With my shoes already attached to the ultra light snowshoes, I'm quickly on the well packed snowshoe trail. I'm certainly not as fresh at this point, but compared to the previous years I feel very good. On the snowshoes I was more often passing then being passed. On the final lap I do a long sprint up the final steep hill to pass one last competitor. I finish 17th with a smile, yet with a little left over energy thirsty for more.

The Pentathlon is certainly the most fun multisport event out there. Although I was highly motivated and had a determined intention to go all out, it such a fun and beautiful event that it is easy to forget you are racing.

I spoke to Charles Perrault after he won the race for a second time. Chuck is always in exceptional form. In the last couple years, in every event I have seen him, whether it's a bike race, triathlon, or pentathlon, he digs deep to come up with the victory. He told me "you can't imagine how hard it was". In every sport there are a few athletes who force the pace, like Pascal Bussiere on the bike or Joel Bourgeois on the run. Charles had to continually battle and was completely lost as to what strategy to adopt because in every discipline there are always a few experts that make you question your ability to be competitive. Finally Charles was able to take the lead on the 4th leg, on the ice skates, and he had to continually race threshold (and some) until the end to stay in the lead. That is deep determination.

For me a top 10, maybe even top 5 was realistic, but I didn't have the confidence that even if there were exceptional and Olympic athletes always pushing the pace on different legs, one has to stay in one's zone and keep the focus.

That's the magic of the Pentathlon de Quebec. It requires endurance, speed, intelligent equipment decisions. It is also highly technical with many disciplines and many transitions. And you get to spend some time in beautiful Quebec City. Are you up for it in 2012?

(a few more pictures here)