Lethbridge Tri

Last weekend was the Splash, dash and Gasp Triathlon held in Lethbridge. The day before was amazing. In the 20's, blue sky etc etc... Race day was another story. High of 6, rain and wind. This would have been a good day to sleep in.

The swim was fun. I kept getting lapped by the leaders again and again. This was no big deal as I knew most of them. Tim was kind enough to say sorry at one point. No worries!

My lack of swim training showed. Shane however had a great swim. A pr = low 23 min. He was followed by Tim and then Maureen. Once at T1, Shane and Tim were no where in sight. Maureen and I laughed about all the gear we were putting on. Booties, pants etc...I wanted to be warm today. We were both glad we took the extra time as my feet were numb after about 2/3 of the bike. At about the 2 or 3 km mark I saw Shane on the side of the road. I stopped and asked what happened. He blew a very big hole in his tire. His race was over. Sorry Shane.

I then set my sights on catching Tim. He was further up the road and I slowly caught him. He was trying his new tri-spoke wheels today. I wonder how they handled in the strong winds. After passing Tim my next focus was on where the turnaround was. It did not come fast enough. I was near the top 10 during the bike but I was struggling with the wind and rain. My speed never really came and all I could do for motivation was to sing my latest new mp3 songs in my head. It helped but I was sure glad to see T2.

At T2 I saw Katie and asked her how she was doing. She said that she was unable to undo her strap to her helmet as her fingers were frozen. I went over and undid it for her. I thought for sure she would let me beat her after a gesture like this. No such luck. Shane joined me on my run and it took about 2 km for my feet to thaw. It was nice to have a partner to run with. Near the bridge I picked up the pace a bit and Shane and I were separated. The run was hard and I was over dressed with my jacket and pants. At least I was not cold. I started to struggle near the 6 km mark and I focused on my rhythm and feeling good. I could feel a blister starting to form on my left heal. Just before the hill. What luck. This year I ran (or shuffled) all the way to the top. Everyone I coached, also did the same. That is not easy to do, so pat yourselves on the back for that effort.

I was very happy to finish and Johnny was there to give me a great big hug at the finish. Nice.

I was fortunate to come in 14th overall, 5th in AG. Tim came in 21 OA, 6 in AG.
Maureen won her AG and came in 22 OA.
Dawn came in 2nd in the same AG.
Marnie came in 3rd in her AG, 35 OA.

Richard was the only No Limits athlete running in the sprint. He was glad to have switched spots with Maureen as he has been working over in Russia. Richard finished the sprint in 1:40.

Bruce was taking part in his very 1st triathlon ever and he choose the super sprint event. He rocked it by winning his AG and 7 OA.

Congratulations to everyone who braved the cold and dared to tri. This will be a race that I will not forget for a while.