Chinook Half Ironman: Tough race, good experience

I could have gone with some icecream this weekend.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning at Lake Midnapore in Calgary AB. The lake was a balmy 19C and looked like a clean sheet of ice. Calm winds and sunshine prevailed.

Hey, I get to do an open water swim (my first!) .. in my new wetsuit to boot!!


As we set out on the 2.2 km swim, my mantra was just "relax and have fun today" . Yeah the swim course was a tad long made longer still by fact that I forgot to sight during the first 5 min and was WAY off course LOL.



T1:
This had to be the most enjoyable transition I've ever had in a Triathlon.. It was also the longest LOL... 15 min. Sat down, had a chat with some friends who came to watch us race then waited for Carm and steve to get set up for the bike. We all mounted our bikes at the same time in mutual comradery and support.

This is where things fell appart for me.

Bike Leg:

First let me digress and say that I've been very sick during the month of June and only had two days of training (weights and 1 run) since June 4th. I also had a minor surgical procedure done last week and was still recovering from that.

It was apparent from the get go that I wasn't physically ready yet to compete. I made a decision to just enjoy the beautiful day on my bike and retire after riding the 96km route.

This was very hard being a man and all with my ego and shite to allow people to pass me left right and centre LOL.

It was a very humbling experience and after shedding a few tears from the physical pain I was enduring (yeah I still hadn't fully recovered from the surgery) I came to a state of grace and just enjoyed the beauty of the day and being on the bike again.

God it felt SO good to ride again! Pain and all! LOL

I didn't make the 4hr 15 min bike cut off time and was officailly DQ'ed but it was a good experience having an open water swim under my belt and a wonderful day spent with friends.

Carmen totally kicked ass finishing 3rd in her AG and 26th overall. Steve overcame a very tough and painful run and managed to complete the course. He will do well in Aug at IMC.

I could be disappointed with my performance but I'm not. It was a really good learning experience and I can apply the lessons learned to my next race (which I just registered for last night!)

.... The Prestige Half Ironman on July 30th!!!