Well let just say going into this race I didn’t feel rested not taper wise but more sleep deprived and mentally drained. My week before had been really busy. I have to be honest, the last month I have been tormented by guilty feelings of spending less time with my family and struggling with those torn feelings of is this all worth it. Not that I have to trade but the balance was off for me. My kids are getting at a great age and putting me first is not on the priority list. So going into the race I was confident in my abilities but I knew I would have to fight mentally in this race so that was the true test.
Getting to Stony Plain was great because it put me in race mode. It helped a lot to see everyone at the carbo load dinner and at the pre-race warm-up on Saturday. Thank you Angie as you prepare us well by going through everything. My swim felt good on Saturday so I was happy about that.
The morning of the race I woke up feeling tired b/c the kids were up late and the train that seemed to blow its whistle all night long. Nevertheless it was RACE morning and things had to be done. Mixed bottles of infinite, ate usual breakfast, toast and honey, and egg on toast. Got my cup of coffee from Angie Winkler (thanks) got all the gears going! Ok got my race bags in Richelle’s car and we off about 6:35 to race start. Quickly found my bike, pumped the tires (thanks Leslie for the pump), put my fuel on my bike, turned in my run bag, and got in the porta potty line. Finished sun screening myself …I hear Cindy teasing me from a far about “still getting sunscreen on Carla.” We always have a way of making each other laugh before a race only this time she wasn’t racing! Thanks Cindy! Found JoZ and headed to the beach to do a quick warm-up and find a spot on the beach. I had a great warm-up swim…long and strong is my thought for the swim. Got out and made my way through the timing mat and ran into Tara who was clearly nervous about the swim and talking about IMC. I am glad I was able to relax you Tara. The story of Cindy’s and I swim start at IMC last year is pretty funny. You will do well at IMC! OK race mode, found a spot on the beach left middle like last year and waited for the count down. My Goal for the swim was to swim smooth and be faster or on par with last year. Hit my Garmin on (yes I wore my Garmin after cursing myself for not at Wasa) and I was off. The first lap was choppy till the second buoy and finally I got into a rhythm. My plan of going wide at the buoys’ paid off as I didn’t get kicked or slowed down. First lap 20 plus minutes yes I was on course way better then Wasa. Second lap seemed to go faster and much smoother. I must say the guys were the worse swimmers of all. Sorry guys but geeze. Every time someone came into my space it was a guy ..green cap after green cap. I didn’t pick it up in the final lap as this was not my focus maintaining is a good word for my swim. I came out quickly glanced at my watch 41 min + great! Tried to get off the wetsuit and damn my arms got stuck! Finally got it off and ran off to find my bike.
My HR was actually lower then normal but I knew I didn’t push the swim... (thought) next race. Quick race belt, helmet, watch on bike, socks, and shoes and off only to be blocked by another racer WALKING in transition aisle. My thoughts “REALLY who walks in transition???” I say excuse me as a wanted to run her over with my bike b/c she hit me in the swim a couple of times trying to squeeze in a small space in the water. Ok get passed her mounted the bike and as soon as I got out of the main road, my race belt fell off ahhh I have to get that. STOP #1- infinite poured out my bottle, grabbed the race belt and off again. Got past the congestion of bikers and got into a good cadence…hmm cadence that wasn’t working either (thought) “not stopping.” Got to the awful railroad tracks boom boom there goes my profile bottle and 1 hour of fuelling gone. STOP#2 -I had to picked that up and probably almost caused and accident. Now I am thinking ok there goes a minute plus get the bottle back on secure it and thought now I only have 2 hours of fuel left. I knew I had gels for the run but I didn’t want to rely on those. (Thought)..plan B in place. Take all of fuel on bike. All I kept thinking it could be worse you could get a flat. At that point several TTL members passed me up asked if I needed help/fuel..thanks Tara. I think Caroline has the picture of all of us together. Ok finally I am thinking about what I am supposed to do. The first 30-40k went well I was watching my HR staying in a moderate mode. I knew I could go faster but my new mantra was to “be patient, conserve on the bike so I can have a good run.” I knew I wanted my run to be good so this was the plan and when I the lost fuel, I knew there would be a price to pay on the run as well. STOP #3 came in about 40k. I dropped my chain (thought..”rookie”) and did the ole trick of putting back in big gear it went on but locked. ..ok stop put it back on try to get my cadence sensor back working ..no dice…continue. Meanwhile Tracy (saw her with a flat earlier thought poor Tracy) catches up with me and ask if I need help. Ok I knew time had to be made up and this was the time and after the turn around it was game on zone 3 here I come. I had to pee and missed my opportunity on the one hill. I tried so hard but couldn’t. You were right Angie I passed a lot of people at that point. I even caught up with Leslie Anne with her fast swim. She screams “not bad for a small chic” and then “HAPPY JULY 4th!” I had to laugh as I thought of our conversation the day before. She thought I was from the Maritime’s J..”no” I say ..from Lousiana, USA. I was feeling good way better then last year at that point. I knew I was going to have a good run. I fuelled way better although I know I didn’t get in enough with the missing bottle of infinite. The last 10k thinking about T2 couldn’t wait to get off the bike and onto the run. I got my Garmin off and put on my arm worked like a charm with my quick release.
T2 screaming my number found my spot. Hat, shoes off/ruining shoes on, race belt I left it tied to my bike. I couldn’t fix it at that point. I started the run at first ouch but then I felt good again WAY better then last year. I went out fast and kept repeating too fast, too fast, slow down..oh there are the porta potties ..pee pee…ok there went another minute but oh well it has to be done. I saw Leslie Ann again…screaming “did you warm it up for me?” I say yes you bet! I knew she was having a good day! Turn the corner saw Kelly who I knew was also was having a good day give a quick pat and move on. I too was going to have a good day the run was my baby. I was holding a good pace for a while but I knew I had to get some fuel in soon. The infamous side stitch was back. So I slowed a bit and ran through it and it finally went away. Took in gel about 15min into the run…uhh yuck seem to just hang there in my gut. MANTRA for run “hold pace hold pace, no walking. I didn’t want to walk and I didn’t need to unlike last year…as the proper fuelling on bike has paid off. Hit the 13k mark ok need some more fuel this time I stop at the aid station to make sure I get enough water to wash that GU down. Yuck still hanging in my stomach and I actually felt nauseous from all the junk in my gut. I saw Alfred, Scott, and others. It was great to see everyone and everyone looked so good. I kept pushing and holding pace…and telling myself to hold on till mile 10 b/c I knew that when the fuel issues might come up and it did. Hit mile 10 and knew it was a mental race from here on out. I did slow down a bit from the second half but I was happy with holding my goal race pace. I did have that conversation with myself but I quickly shoved away and kept going I was almost there. I heard a girl say we have 10 min. left and she was right 10 plus minutes is nothing but something when your legs are begging you to stop. Grab a coke but worried with my gut was going to do but I was so close what can happen…push on. Saw the tri-life tent and everyone screaming. I hear Angie’s voice “go Carla.” I turn the corner and there is was on the clock 5:29.30 sec. I knew I wasn’t going to make my 5:30 goal but I didn’t care b/c I had a great day and for whatever reason the minutes I lost on the bike from stopping shattered a goal. No big deal. I know it had nothing to do with my ability to RACE. I took 12 +min. off my time from last year and I felt so good. My swim was not my fastest but fast for the year and for what ever reason I get faster in the pool it doesn’t seem to show in the open water. My bike was about 6 min plus faster then last year and my run was 7 min faster which was my ultimate goal!! I am learning to hold on the bike so I can race the run. Yahoo!
Thank you everyone we really do have a great team and I felt the support! It was great to cheer everyone on. Paddy and Trish you were so cute at the end coming in together. Now I am officially taking a rest week and happy. I feel good I actually feel like I could do workouts but I am notJ. I have a long way to go to Ironman Arizona! Good luck everyone with IMC training! Remember the toughest part is the training! Thanks JoZ we really had some good chats! Thanks for all the photographers’ and cheerleaders. I heard your voice Cindy and missed you out there on the course.
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