Trevor's 2010 Calgary 70.3 Race Report

THIS AIN’T NO GWN
I was not doing this race this year. But then I realized I can’t/won’t next year, so I did a last minute sign up and ponying up the big bucks to do it. After a great GWN, I think I underestimated what this course could do to me.

Wow, what a difficult day.
Waking up at 2am with the thunder was not a great start to the day. Then very shortly after up with the alarm at 3:30.

Got out to Ghost, got marked/set-up then back into a friend’s car until wetsuit time. Rain was starting to let up a bit, but it was kind of gross out there. Was cool seeing Mirinda Carfrae doing these swimming moves with an elastic band on the T1 fence.....and of course Linsey. I heart Mrs. Corbin. Just saying.

Anyhow, pros go off, then time to quickly get wet. Not too bad out anymore. Saw a few team peeps before the gun. Kelvin,Sarah, Johnny B,etc.
( side note- I love this team! When you are feeling down and grumpy there is always someone hollering your name. )

Swim was uneventful. Bumped around a bit, but was happy with the time. Got out of the water grabbed my T1 bag, and ran and found a rock. Funny- I sit down, recognize the guy next to me, chat with him, then Kelvin and Mikey Howard come out as well. 4 of us sitting on the rocks chatting putting on the gear. Wow was it wet in T1.

Bike was good. Fast out of the Ghost Lake area, then the slow rough part of Grand Valley Rd. I was feeling like of yucky at the end of Grand Valley, but knew this awesome aid station was going to be around the corner. Got there, tried to grab some water, dropped it, then successfully teamed up with Tara to get some H2O. Really enjoyed the whoops and hollers from everyone shouting my name. Definitely got be back into the mood of riding a bike in the rain. Of course by then, yes the rain started again and was pelting that little bit of exposed skin on my shoulders. Feet were getting soaked and cold, but on we went. Climbed out of Cochrane and heard Ken holler my name. Got chicked on the road by Springbank airport, she was wearing a nice little white half-shirt. You go girl! Coming down Lower Springbank road I was ready to be done. Wind,rain,cold,wet you name it. But then I heard my name again and it was Kelly and Mitch. So couldn’t stop now. Came around the casino, and saw some guy a few hundred metres in front of me and realized it was Mikey H. who had passed me way back on Grand Valley. So about 300m from the dismount I came roaring by him to get off the bike first. Wow Trevor competitive much? I’m sure all the spectators around were wondering why I dismounted to fast.
Side-note: So many tubular flats out there. I bet I saw 10, and I was in the first wave.
Got into T2, and decided to put on dry socks. I needed the kid to hold me up or I would have tipped for sure. My feet were numb.

Ran out of T2, and could tell things were not ‘right’. Mike and I started off running together, but I had to let him go as I was getting a stitch. I never seemed to be able to shake it either. So I ran a bit, walked a bit. Not sure if the Infinit on the bike was too much for me, but my tummy was not agreeing with calories either. So then I made a really smart decision(read:not) to try some pepsi. Felt good going down, but it almost came back up as quick. Enough said, run wasn’t great. Still had lots of support out there. Saw a bunch of random people calling my name, and I was trying to place how I knew them when I realized my name was on my bib. That is when I knew things weren’t going great. Saw Steve coming back on my way out. Your 44? Aweome. Rena comes blowing by me. Holy crap girl!! And then Kelvin. We chatted a few times on the course. I could tell he wasn’t having that much fun either, but I also knew he hadn’t been training much lately. I do have to apologize to Kelvin, as I’m sure there were times that he was yelling at me and I failed to acknowledge. I just felt so crappy out there.

After all was said, came up Weaselhead, heard all the TTL cheers again, and thought I could still break 6hrs. Damnit why make me go another 4k when I get to the top. Let me finish already. Demoralizing to have to run past everyone and then go again for another 30 minutes.
Danielle picked me up a few hundred from the line and made me run with her to finish off strong in just under 6hr 3minutes. I was pretty beat up at the end. Felt like garbage. Kelly/Christine/Ally everyone picked me up, but I just didn’t feel that good. Tummy/head did not feel good at the end of the race.

Tuesday Reflection
It was a long season for me. I started really early with the ½ iron in Texas in April, which made for a season which really started to build for me in December.
I am totally psyched about getting out to Pentiction to catch all the crazie at the finish line this year, and get up early Monday to sign up for 2011!
For my 2nd season I am stunned - I did 3 ½ ironman’s this season!! I need to be proud of that. So what if my execution and body let me down on this last one. A year ago, I thought maybe I could do one ½ to end this year, not 3 in a season. I had a really good chat with Angie a couple hours after race. I can not be disappointed in what I accomplished the year, and I do know that. It’s hard though sometimes when your body but moreso your mind lets you down. Expectations can be a biatch sometimes!!

I am soooo much stronger physically now, and I am starting to get there mentally as well. Slowly though. I have a marathon on tap in Vegas in December. I really feel that I need to run this marathon, to finally prove to that little voice inside my head that I am a runner. Whether i run it in 4hrs or 8hrs, I am an athlete again. I will do this.