YeeHaw!

What a race! The inaugral Ironman Calgary 70.3 was yesterday and was a success! The weather and course were fantastic! Great job to all those who organized/sponsored/volunteered/raced this weekend!

The swim start:

Now, my race: The swim, not so hot, I'd wanted to be with the front guys and get a solid lead out of the water. Instead I got stuck in the second pack with my own teammate (a boy who will remain nameless...don't worry--I didn't take it personally!) knocking my goggles off my face not once, but twice and a few of the other girls were able to hang on since our pack was not very organized! But that's the way is goes in the open water sometimes!

Onto the bike, I was out of transistion first but the lead didn't last as Mirinda had a great swim and passed me pretty quick. I struggled for the first 20k, high HR and low Watts, but somehow turned it around and finished with a solid bike split (my fastest over 90km on a tough 94k course), and came off the bike in 3rd, only 1 min down from Magali.

The run is where it got a bit ugly. I had a quick first few kms, closing the gap to second place to ~40seconds, but my legs were not happy! In fact my left foot was numb for about 14k! Not sure what that was all about. Anyway, to keep this short, I fell to 4th place and was in danger of getting passed when my legs (and mentally I told myself to suck it up!) felt a bit better and I was able to hold a faster pace (I negative split the run!) and kept my 4th place position. I had wanted to be on the podium but in the end, with the limited training I was able to get in after my whirlwind travel and racing last month, it was a decent result against a strong women's field. Plus, I got my Clearwater 70.3 World Championships spot locked in now!!

Me on the bike course, coming into T2:The really-cool finishing metals...They are belt buckles, don't get much more Calgarian than that! Can you say Yaaa-Hooo!Now, a short trip to Winnipeg to visit family and friends and hit the beach (if the weather cooperates). Then back to business. I'll update later with the latest plan once I return from our trip.

Cheers,

Lisa