Calgary 70.3 Race Report-July 29th 2012

This is my 6th year doing triathlon, so I can easily say I know how to execute an Olympic distance triathlon, and yes after 6 years this was my first half ironman race. I felt very ready going into this race, I was healthy (with the exception of burnt lips), had no injury issues and had put in some solid training. I really like to hammer hard in an Olympic distance race so for me key in this race was going to be execution. Angie and I had talked it to death and I had a plan. The last thing I did say to Angie Saturday night was my biggest fear wasn’t blowing up on the run, it was underperforming on the bike….

The swim went really well. I had a great start and found fast feet by the first turn. I stayed on the same feet for almost the entire race. It was hard to sight so far to the turnaround buoys so I did rely on the swimmer in front of me and we seemed to hold a decent line. Coming back under the bridge I heard a whistle I couldn’t mistake and on a breath rolled onto my side and offered a wave to my gear mule for the day, my biggest supporter, my rock, my husband Marty. He saw me and I saw him…so nice to connect in such a long race. In the last quarter of the swim I did feel myself tiring and was falling off her feet. I told myself I had two choices. Slow down and swim alone or speed up and catch her feet again and probably end up exerting the same effort with the draft than I would alone. I sped up. At the last buoy things were getting very congested with us catching up to the men’s heat. Around the corner I lost her with swimmers everywhere and the sun in our eyes. I went way wide and swam a bit farther than I needed to but managed to get around quite a few men without getting kicked. My swim time was 31:31, slower than I thought I would be but not too bad.


T1 was fast and I was out and on my bike in 1:59. Once on the bike I reminded myself that until I hit the top of grand valley that my job was to ride like a tourist (unlike my mantra in an oly distance race which is to tell myself this is no vacation….). My chain fell off somewhere going up grand valley, tried to get it on without getting off but couldn’t manage so pulled over and fixed it. On the bike I was passed my 4 females (including Sheila Croft and Tanya Saloman-no surprises there) and passed 2 myself. I kept my hr in a target that I thought would be good over the 94km distance, 10 beats below what I hold in an oly distance race. I did enjoy this ride, it felt good from start to finish. Marty surprised me in 2 spots on the bike it was great to see him out there, ringing the cow bells for me! There were some other familiar faces out there as well, some TTL’ers, Tri-It staff (Madi and Rose) and my fav preggo triathlete gave me a high five coming up Cochrane hill (thanks Richelle). I got lots of cheers from people stuck in traffic on the 22 including these 2 girls in a convertible that I saw 3 times on the bike course and gave me the hugest cheers….thanks ladies! I took in all the fuel I had planned to take in and by the time I came off the bike my stomach was settled and ready to tackle the run. Bike time was 2:44:14, definitely what I thought I would be, BUT, with winds out of the west I should have been faster. I won’t over analyze the bike here, but I will say that I now know I can push harder on the bike over this distance and definitely hold a higher heart rate. So for next time….no more riding like a tourist!

Reaching out for a high 5 from the boys!

I am not sure how he made it but Marty caught me coming into T2. He gave his best transition cheers (he always knows how to keep me moving fast) and I was out on the run in :57. Once I started the run my body did what it always wants to do off the bike- go hard! I actually said out loud to myself to slow down. The first 18km of the run went very smoothly. I was a little slower than I thought I would be but the pace felt right and I was using RPE to judge effort on the run. I took in as much as I could at each aid station took the downhills slowly to prevent those quad cramps that have hampered me in the past. Got to see Steve W. on the out, it was so great to high five him as I went by, he looked so strong! Climbing up weaselhead on the way out I could actually hear the TTL aid station before I could see them. As soon as I came into view they went crazy! I almost started crying at the emotion of so much support! I was so choked up that I had to keep my head down and waived the cheers off just to keep moving forward! What a rush to go through that aid station! Angie ran with me and gave me some good advice and I was on my way again. I high fived the marshal at the turnaround and was pretty excited that the run was halfway done. Back through the TTL aid station where I think I had more composure and back down the hill. I saw Leslie-Anne here and again, that high five was awesome! The climb back out was hard, but not too bad and I was still feeling good. I saw my family at the top of the hill and got some good cheers and high fives from my son and his friend Jacob. And then….3km to go….and it got hard! The same kind of muscle fatigue that you feel in a full marathon! What?! Those last 3km were so tough, my legs hurt so much and I just couldn’t get them to go any faster! Again Marty and the boys showed up at just the right time and the boys ran along side me as the finish area came into view. My daughter Ayden and her friend Layne were there yelling as I came into the chute to cross the line. Run time, 1:41:36. A little slower than I thought I would be but still within my goals so was happy with that. Total time was 5:00:17.

I was 7th female overall and 2nd place in my age group.










In retrospect, I think I could have been alot faster on the bike but that is water under the bridge. It was my first half ironman and I had no idea how my body would react to racing this distance.  I will definitely be tackling this race distance again in 2013....Just like in olympic distance racing I want to see what I am capable of, I want to challenge myself!!

Me, Coach Angie, and Leslie-Anne (2nd in her AG too!)