The pro race started at 6.10am mountain time with the sun not yet over the horizon. Even on a beautiful summer's day, its still cold at 6.10am in Alberta! I kept warm by hiding in one of the race buses while i put my wetsuit on, then did a longer dry-land warm up than usual followed by a short warm up in the water. On the start line i was cold but ready to go. I tapered more for this race than my other races this summer and i felt ready to "unleash fury" as Clint would say.
The swim was ok. I found myself in a small group of pro men who i later noticed were friends Trevor Wurtele and Kyle Marcotte. Thanks for the draft boys! I was the 2nd woman out of the water and was pleased with that even though i lost 1min 47s to Tenille. T1, however, was a gong show. I was so cold coming out of the water that i stumbled and fell right there on the boat ramp. I still wonder if the TSN guys caught that graceful moment?! And that was only the beginning! My hands wouldnt work, so i couldnt get my wetsuit off or put my sunglasses or bike shoes on! It was a bit of a comedy show. Check out the photo below... I clearly have no blood left in my face or hands. I recognize that it was the same for everyone, but it was pretty funny!
Out on the bike course I was all alone. Three pro men passed me and i didnt see anyone else until Mackenzie overtook me with 10k to go. I had a solid bike ride, made good use of the mental skills i have been learning from Bob and treated the solitude as good practice for Ironman Canada. I rode strong and solid and felt good about it. The only other mishap was that i punctured coming into T2. 37th street needs to be repaved! After such a smooth ride, it was a bit of a shock to have to deal with brutal road surface, especially riding on my rim!
Starting the run i was in 3rd place, almost 9mins (gulp!) down on Tenille and just a minute behind Mackenzie. I knew Mackenzie was a good runner, so i had to think tactically. I ran solidly but made sure i had a little in the tank. I approached her slowly from behind and as i passed, listened to her breathing and could tell she was working quite hard. I moved past her hoping that would force her to run at my pace instead of hers. I am not sure if it worked, but i do know she held strong and with 4k to go was still just 50m or so behind me. I tried to pick up the pace but had very little left at that point. As we approached the finish, i felt certain that second place was mine. Then i saw her. Tenille. Suffering. I rallied whatever energy i had left and ran harder. As we got closer to the finishline i started to sprint, but it was too little too late. She won by 6 seconds.
6 seconds. Yes, 6 seconds after 4.5 hours of racing. It really puts a little perspective on things. I sat down and wrote a list of all the times during the race that i could have saved 6 seconds. I came up with 10 times. That's 1 minute total. I've never looked at a race like that before, going over every single detail in my head, looking for 6 seconds here, 6 seconds there. It was an extremely valuable learning experience that i will take with me to future races.
I want to note further that there was lots of talk about my close finish with Tenille, but that until about 100m to go, Mackenzie had also been running strong and pushed me all the way to the finishline. Also, Danelle Kabush, a mother of two herself, had the fastest run split of that day finishing 4th. These girls deserve much credit.
There are many many people to thank. My mom let me sleep on her floor all week. Her and my sister fed me every evening and got up early on race morning and cheered their heads off in the their matching "team gross" t-shirts! My sister's son Oliver (picture below) was also part of the cheering committee. My BFF Carrie and our Mercury Rising Team were out in full force. In the women's race we took 3 of the top 10 spots! Carrie is the best BFF a girl could ever ask for and she was smart enough to marry a guy with the skills to take beautiful photos like the ones shown. Thanks Kaz! Thanks to Zoot who have supported me for years and also ProCityCycles. Rob Hasegawa from Cedar Hill Sports Therapy has been keeping me injury-free for many months. His help is irreplaceable. My husband Clint and daughter Rosalee couldnt make the trip, but without them, none of this would be worth the trouble. Clint keeps me consistent in training (not to mention sane), and i couldnt be more grateful.
My post-pregnancy return to racing has been a great adventure so far and i look forward to more. If you want to watch my close finish with Tenille, the race will be aired on TSN on August 31st, time TBA, probably in the evening.
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