Calgary 70.3

Wow, great race, well organized, especially for an inaugural event. I'll do this one again next year.

So - the gory details. Well, a huge accomplishment - I did not throw up! In fact my GI issues, while still present during the run, were minimal compared to last year. More details on this later. I did not really sleep the night before the race, maybe 1.5 hours tops. So I was worried about this, but it was fine.

The Swim:
I got in the water to find it surprisingly warm. What a treat. I had no dizziness, no freak outs. Honestly, I had a great swim. I got into a grove right away and just kept plugging away. The only tough spot was coming back in. The water was very rough and big waves (for me). However I was able to keep breathing only on my left and swallowed minimal water.
Swim time - 52 minutes. That is 6 minutes faster than Muskoka.

T1 - Pretty quick for me - 6:45.

The Bike:
I promised myself ( and Mark and Karen) that I'd push hard on the bike. And I did. I know my time is still slow in comparison, but I pushed up every hill and tried to kick it on the flats and downhill. I worked pretty hard. The spectators were amazing on the bike course and it was so beautiful. Too bad the haze hid the mountains. Yes, it was hazy in Calgary!
I was thrilled with the results, the bike was 95K (94 officially) and my spilt was 3:35. This is 50 minutes faster than my Muskoka bike time. I think my average speed was 26.5 KM/HR.

T2 - 3:59 minutes.

The Run:
The first thing I noticed was that my legs felt completely shredded and I had some GI issues. However the leg pain went away after about 2-3KM. My GI issues lasted a bit longer, but they were so much better than Muskoka. I did lose some time in the bathrooms, but that's okay. However, it was very, very hot. The run was challenging, I think mostly because it was so hot (33 degrees from what I understand) and there was not much in the way of shade. So I really blew up on the run, but I still cut off some time from Muskoka. Terribly slow run time though. Got to work on that!
Final run time was 3:07 -Ick! Only 10 minutes faster than Muskoka

I spent a few minutes in the med tent after the race, just to cool down. There were quite a few people in the same condition. They stuffed ice down our shirts and gave us snow cones. :)

So, overall, my time was 7:45 - 1 hour and 15 minutes faster than my last 70.3. So, while still slow, I am very happy with that result. But even more than that, I felt okay after the race, tired but I could eat! I did not go to Keith's as I was just done. I needed a shower and a nap in the worst way. :) Sorry I missed the party, though.

I am not sure if I'm ready for Ironman. I'd like to sign up, but maybe another year of experience is a good idea first?

Congratulations to everyone that raced yesterday! Especially to Keith, who knocked a bunch of time off!!

Thanks to my coach, Greg for all of those swim/bike/run workouts! :)

Leaha