I just checked the donations webpage and in total, our Suncor Triathlon team raised $4876.01 which will be matched by the Suncor Energy Foundation. A few non-Suncor athletes joined in raising money so in total we've raised $10 452.02!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to all my co-workers and friends who generously donated.
Now for the race summary starting with some stats:
Total time 6:02:13
1900m swim 45:13
Transition 5:36
94km bike 2:59:19
Transition2 1:40
21.1km run 2:10:26
The entire year I heard about how cold Ghost Lake would be but it was pretty much perfect! I didn't even need the thermal cap and there was no need to double cap. I started near the center of the pack which was a mistake since I got passed by a ton of people. One person kicked me in the face. Luckily they missed my nose and teeth. All I had to do was tread water for a bit as I drained the water and repositioned the goggles. I settled into my pace pretty quickly. I had troubles swimming straight on the way BACK since there was a good 600m between the two buoys. At one point I looked up and saw the kayak right in front of me, the girl pointed to the left which was the direction that I SHOULD have been travelling. Many people said their swim times were about 3 minutes long....but i'm stil happy with finishing a 1.9km swim! I had many doubts throughout the year and honestly didn't believe I could swim the entire distance. Next up is the Philippines which will be a NON-wetsuit swim which will be the REAL test to my swimming abilities.
I forgot to pack a towel, so I could get all the grass/dirt off my feet before putting socks and shoes on. It felt like a smooth transition.
I executed the bike portion as I had planned. the first 20 minutes was easy spinning until the bottom of the Grand Valley Hill. I kept the heart rate under control and also began eating and drinking fluids. The hard work on the hills (golden triangle and sylvan camp) paid off as I passed quite a few people. I looked back to the heart rate data and the only time i went above my Ceiling was coming DOWN horse creek road! I guess the fresh pavement and downhill got to my head and I hammered a little too hard.
Highway 22 Hill went really well. Honestly it was a blur and I can't remember the details. I do remember cars lined up on the right side since we had a left turn onto springbank road. As I passed one cyclist, he looked over at me. At that moment, his rear tire popped. I wonder if he thought it was my fault for making him move over to the right.....who knows.
I started to feel a little tired after the 2nd aid station and a bit of a cramp on the left quad. It wasn't because of dehydration since I had to pee a couple times. It was possibly because of electrolytes since I dropped my NUUN drink in the first 20km of the bike.
The first 10km of the run felt great and I thought I was on pace for my 1:45 half marathon. However once I was in Weasel head, I knew I would have to slow down. I felt a cramp coming in the back of my knee. Once again i'm not sure the reason why. I wasn't overly hot, was drinking ALOT. My suspects include lack of Calcium, bad positioning on the bike, not wearing compression shorts...
I saw my support crew at the 16km mark which helped get through that km. but 17-21.1 included ALOT of walking. I didn't know how i'd feel crossing the line...I wasn't super emotional, just tired. It's funny because I was more emotional on the bike, thinking about the finish than I was at the ACTUAL finish.
Thanks to Ken and Celine for the awesome photos!!
