Monday, September 15, 2008

Great White North Triathlon 2009

Alternate title for this post: Why I Am So Tired This Monday Morning...
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When I decided that I wanted to focus more on triathlons next year I wasn't necessarily interested in shooting for an Olympic distance as my goal. I wanted to do a half Iron and I found my goal race. When I first met with coach to discuss my plan she encouraged me to think about entering the Great White North half iron distance event in Stony Plain, Alberta. Stony Plain is about 40 minutes west of Edmonton, or about 3.5 hours north of Calgary. Apparently the course is flat and fast, and perfect as a first half Iron distance event. The small town really turns out to support the race, much in the way that the town of Penticton supports Ironman Canada. She felt that I could race GWN and have enough time to recover and still race my goal 70.3 event (which is not flat). This is also a big event for the team, and if I was going to have a bunch of teammates racing GWN I didn't want to be left out. Registration was supposed to go live at midnight and is expected to sell out right away. Since I didn't want to miss my chance at a spot I was going to stay up until midnight... This was a pretty big feat for me because I am pretty bad for falling asleep on the couch well before my bed time. Somehow or other I powered through and at midnight I ran to my computer...and registration was not live... I waited about 20 minutes to see if I'd be able to register, but no luck. So I fell in to bed at about 12:30 and when my alarm went off at 5 am it sure was a rude awakening. The website was up and running this morning though, and so it is official...I am signed up for my first half Iron distance event! The race is on July 5, 2009.

10 comments:

Sonia said...

what??? I thought you HAD NOT registered for Calgary 70.3?! Now you're doing 1 half Ironman in 2-3 weeks in between?!!!! YOU ARE INSANE MY FRIEND!!!!! (and I am totally Jealous! Capital J!)

What a challenging and rewarding year it will be for you =) I wish I had the foot to follow in your steps! I want the half iron distace challenge too!! One day soon!! (maybe if I get that foot amputated..... geez I shouldn't even be kiddin about amputation lol(

Sonia said...

I did mean 2 half Iroman with 2-3 weeks in between! (can you tell I just woke up from a nap and am in total shock??? lol)

Runner Leana said...

Sonia - no I'm not doing the Calgary 70.3. I have another race in mind that gives me 5 weeks between, I just haven't registered for it yet.

Tea said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU are going to have so much fun!

ShirleyPerly said...

How exciting! I find recovering from half irons to be much easier than marathons though I'm out there for longer. I think 5 weeks should be plenty for you and as soon as you finish your first one, I'll bet you want to do another one soon anyway :-)

Morgan said...

Woohoo!! That sounds amazing!

Sonia said...

Are you thinking about Muskoka 70.3??????

RoadBunner said...

Awesome! Good luck. I look forward to reading about your journey.

Before I'm 35 said...

That is awesome girl! Good luck and I can't wait to read and follow your half Ironman experience.

rocketpants said...

Wooohoo!! Triathlete Leana...here she comes.