Calgary 70.3

What a fantastic race!! It was the first Ironman 70.3 race in Western Canada and Amber and I couldn't miss this one in our old stomping grounds of Calgary. We had a week of awesome bike training through the beautiful BC interior and I was anxious to see if it would pay off in this race. The week leading up to the event we took it fairly easy. I bought new wetsuits for both of us (it was about time) and although my swim wasn't the greatest I was happy I had it because I'm sure my time would have been even slower if I didn't. I hadn't done much work in the water since Great White North and it definitely showed.

I was up nice and early, 4am in order to get myself prepared. Thank God Amber woke up because I didn't hear my alarm go off. We slept on my Mom and Dad's couch so I must have found a moment of feeling comfortable and drifted into a deeper than normal pre-race sleep. The roads were completely empty at that time in the morning except for the dedicated few going to the race shuttle locations. There is always a feeling of "why am I doing this again?" as you are making your way to the start before the sun has even come up. However it's the feeling at the end that drives me to keep competing and keep training hard and I was sure I was ready to race today.

The air was cool but there wasn't a hint of wind, it was an absolutely perfect day to race. AD and I finished filling up our tires and dropping off the transition bags and huddled together to try and keep warm before our heats started. I was in the second wave start right behind the pros at 7am and Amber was 40 minutes later. The start of the swim is always a little nerve wracking with all the athletes joshling for position but having the race split up into age groups was great. I had plently of space and didn't feel worried about having someone get in my way or being in someone elses' way. I was hurting during the swim and my back and triceps were not happy. It was very apparent that I need to get in the water more often just so I can feel a little fresher as I start the bike. All the swim times looked a little slow so I wasn't too disappointed to be out in around 34 minutes.


The bike course was absolutely fantastic, rolling green hills through an incredible area close to Cochrane. It was definitely tough with a lot of climbing but so much fun to be hitting speeds of 50-60km/hr on the downhills. I paced myself appropriately this time and made sure I took all my gels, salt and fluids and came off the bike feeling great. The week of bike training definitely paid off and unlike GWN where my legs were so cramped up I had trouble shuffling let alone running, I felt so much better today.


Within the first 4kms of the run I had thought I caught everyone in my age group but there was one guy that was WAY ahead and ended up finishing in the top ten! Still I was finally having a good run and aside from a stabbing cramp in my side at the beginning of the run things were going well. I was picking off pros like crazy and I was very familiar with the course so I knew where I needed to hold back and save some strength. At the 17th km I felt a blister on my right foot break open and the final 4 kms were so painful that I'm surprised I made it without walking. I was determined to have a great race and it definitely lived up to all my expectations.


I'm going to use this experience as motivation to keep training hard for IMC in 25 days. I know I need to work on my swim and keep up with the bike training and get in a few more long runs but I'm happy with where things are at right now. Great work to my beautiful wife as well who struggled through her swim (just like me) but had a fantastic bike and good run to finish her season on a high note.