Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part II

Sorry I left you guys hanging on the race report.  I had to hit the road yesterday morning!

TRANSITION

I tried to be purposeful.  Blot the feet with a towel.  Put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and get out of there.  There were even still bikes on my rack – yay!  I thanked one of the triathlon officials for being there as I ran out and took off!

THE BIKE

I felt great leaving on the bike.  I stayed in an easy gear to spin the legs out and get the heart rate down.  Traffic control was great on the course as the first few intersections we went through were quite busy.  The folks did a great job of making sure we were safe.  Soon after coming out of transition was a big hill.  I pedaled and pushed, the heart rate rising.  I could hear someone behind me but they were obviously waiting for the downhill to make their move.  After the hill I was able to gear down and pedal with a bunch of power.  I passed a few people, a few people passed me.  I downed one gel about 20 minutes in, as per my plan. There were some nasty clouds in the sky that morning and I really hoped we wouldn’t get rained on.  So much for wishful thinking!  It began to rain as I turned the corner on to Highway 97.  This is the part of the course that is perfect for getting in aero and just going.  With the rain I was definitely feeling more cautious.  I was sitting up more.  Perhaps not picking off people ahead like I would have liked.  In Calgary it is either sunny or it snows so I don’t have too much experience riding in the rain.  Shortly before coming into transition the rain stopped.  I downed my second gel about 10 or 15 minutes from transition.  Despite riding more cautiously I still rode a few minutes faster than last year.I like this picture.  My parents were out on the course and found a couple of spots to take pictures at.  My mom spotted me and she was walking towards me to get closer for a picture.  I told her she should hurry up or she’d miss me and this was the picture…  Guess I was riding fast!

Bike – 40 km + T1 +T2 – 1:22:04
Garmin Bike Time – 1:18:27
Overall 84 out of 143

THE RUN

I tried to act quickly in transition.  Unfortunately I have no way to figure out what my T1 and T2 times are though.  I racked the bike, took off the helmet, changed shoes, stuffed a gel in my pocket and took off with my visor and my Garmin in my hand.  This year I used my Garmin Edge on my bike and the Forerunner on the run, where as last year I only used my Forerunner.

Ugh, my legs felt heavy…  I have definitely not done enough bricks yet this year!  Soon after coming out of transition was an aid station and I grabbed a water and a Gatorade.  I tried to dial back the pace a bit because of my plan to even or negative split.  The course is two loops with plenty of rolling hills.  Last year it was so hot and sunny on the run course.  This year it stayed overcast pretty well the entire time which felt great.  I chugged along on the run, debating when to take my last gel.  At the aid station at 2.5 km or at 5 km?  I’m not really sure why I settled on the 5 km mark, but that was the one I picked!  Although I had hoped to run consistently, what I was doing was consistently slowing down, just a little bit.  I kept moving though, only walking at the aid stations to down fluids.  Some folks just blew past me on the run like I was standing still.  I tried to see where the girls in my age group were at.  I knew I was ahead of a few, but I couldn’t tell how many were in front of me.  Oh well, not much I could do about that!

With 1K left to go I felt something loosen around my waist and my race belt fell off.  The elastic end came loose through one of the buckles.  I turned around to pick it up.  Rather than fiddling with it I just crunched it up in my hand and carried it.  Then finally…the finish line was in sight.  I had no idea where my net time was in relation to last year’s until then. I saw that I could squeak in under 2:56 so I took off down the hill to the finish.

Run – 10 km – 58:16
Overall 99 out of 143

Final Time – 2:55:37
Overall 99 out of 143
34 out of 61 Women
Women 30 – 34: 4 out of 9

The number 3 girl in my age group beat me by a solid 11 minutes so there was no contest for an age group prize.  The girl who came in first was also third female overall.  If they separated out top 3 overall from age groupers I had a shot at an award, but it was not to be.  Oh well, I cannot be disappointed in my day at all, swimming, biking and running strong and improving over last year’s time on the same course by 3 minutes.

I changed soon after finishing and grabbed some food.  They were cooking up burgers for us, plus they had some potato and bean salads, cookies, fruit and chips.  A great spread!  Family members could eat too by donation, which is a nice touch.  I stuck around for the door prizes and awards and that was that.  I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from the day!Hey…look at that, I forgot to turn my Garmin off…oops! 

And by the way, thanks so much for all of your great comments on the blog or on Facebook.  You guys are great!!!!!