This race went well. The swim was ok, not slow but not fast either. With the mass start the first lap was slow, almost coming to a stand still while rounding the buoys. The second lap was better. I wasn’t able to find feet for drafting, I managed to draft of the hip of a few people but too many people swimming crooked and not worth following. Kelly came out of the water right behind me, the two of us should try drafting off each other during a race.
My T1 was decent, I wore a tri top on the swim then pulled on a bike jersey because it was raining and cold. I liked the idea of this as then I could carry a second bike tube in case of emergency. I put on socks and pulled on sleeves just to my wrist as well as gloves, once I was off on the bike I pulled the sleeves up to save time. As the start was uphill I didn’t worry about attempting a flying start.
The bike was good, I was very happy with my time, 3:52! Under 3 hours which was a goal for the race. I did find myself biking a bit too hard about 25-30 k or so into the ride as a big group of people were drafting and then blocked me in, they would catch me on the downhill then slow down on the uphills. So I ended up working pretty hard for a while to try and lose them. It worked finally though. They were riding so dangerously not in any lines and taking up the whole road so I didn’t want to hang out anywhere near that group, they also would have slowed me down in the long run. One of the guys in this group touched wheels with another guy causing him to veer off into the opposite lane where he wiped out and smacked his head on the road. In this effort I passed Tara, so I knew I was over-biking a little. I don’t think it was too bad as I tried to slow it down a bit once I got rid of them. Tara ended up passing me again so I knew I had backed off a little. I did some leap frogging with Kelly and another TTL rider called Carla. I may have taken it a little too easy as I headed back to town, I knew there was about 6-8 km from the final turn but I wanted to give my legs a little spin.
My T2 felt slow as I changed shoes and moved my orthotics to my runners. I kept the bike jersey and sleeves on as it was raining. Grabbed the gels for the run and off I went. My heel was sore right from the start, although this was not surprising as it has been sore for the last week I think. I wore my zoots for the run.
My aim was to run about 6min kms for the first half and then see if I could pick it up a little. I was running a little slower than this but not too bad, the first 5 k felt good except for my foot.
At the 5 km mark I stopped to stretch my foot. It rained for about half of the run which was ok as it kept it cool. The second 5km wasn’t bad fairly close in time to the first 5k, the 3rd 5k was tough, it stopped raining and the sun came out so it was a bit warmer. I didn’t know the run course at all which would have been a good idea I was confused at the beginning, as there are 2 out and back sections. I told myself not to worry, I wanted to run a solid last 5-6km and although I wasn’t going to make it in close to 2hrs or under as I’d hoped I was still doing ok and had a shot at finishing the whole race in under 6 so that became my new goal. I stopped again at 15 km to stretch my foot, I had developed a new foot pain by this time, the hot spot I’d had at the BMO half only worse – it was in fact a huge blister! Likely from wearing wet socks and wet orthotics on the run – BAD!
The last 5-6 k went well, hard in spots but knowing you only have ~30mins to go makes it seem easier and you can make yourself run harder so that’s what I did. It was also really great fun to have so many TTL people on the course high fiving each other and wishing each other well, even ones I didn’t know. I’ve never done a race with a team before and it certainly helped in spots to have the support and distraction of all the TTLers out on the course. It was fabulous to see Paul in a few places, as I did the final out and back section I tossed Paul my bike jersey, I had taken the sleeves off a while earlier – so much cooler. Seeing Angie, tara and the TTL tent as I ran up the street to finish was great. Angie was cheering that I was doing great and I’d make it in under 6 – something I was trying hard to do and it made me smile! Angie’s enthusiasm is amazing and infectious. I saw the clock counting up towards 5:56 as I came around the corner so I boogied to try and make it in under 5:56 – I just missed it but my legs cooperated in my effort. Whew -happy to stop and I really needed to take off my shoes! I drank a Hammer recoverite citrus and cheered on other TTLers at the tent as they ran up the street.
Jacque-Lynne Johnson
Great White North Half Ironman, July 1, 2012
Total Time - 5:56:03 (392 overall/ 46/104 in AG)
swim – 40:18 2:01 (297 overall/33 in AG)
Bike – 3:00:23 29.9 (322 overall/ 32 in AG)
Run – 2:15:22 6:25 (471 overall/ 69 in AG)
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