Great White North Triathlon (half ironman)

Well, the great white North half Ironman is over. The day was good for racing. The bike was a bit wet early on but not too bad. No snow so I figure the day was good! We had quite a few athletes racing today including myself. My goal was to grab an IronMan spot. Here was my plan: Draft off Lyndsey on the swim, keep her in sight on the bike and then run with her as much as I could and this should give me a good time and hopefully an IMC spot. Well the swim started well. After the 1st loop I got out of the water and sure enough Lyndsey was right in front of me. I patted her on the back and then we dove back in the water. She went one way and I chose a different line (believing mine was shorter). Well she beat me out of the lake by a min or so. After a quick T1 we were once again side by side at the mount line. I passed her and after a smart remark by the coach I was 1st at the top. I assumed that she would quickly catch me so I never looked back. The next I would see of her would be at the turnaround. Still behind me. I must be doing OK. The next 30 or so Km for me would be a struggle. My fitness was starting to show and I felt a bit flat. After finishing the bike I had my classic dismount at near the transition area and then something happened and my bike crashed and then I was falling on top. I did a double flip (or something J ) and then picked up myself and my bike and made my way to get my running gear on. By the way this crash would end up gaining me a 2 min penalty for riding through transition. L. Once on the run my legs never felt fresh. Quite flat, but I maintained the best pace I could. My treat to myself was to walk the aid stations. I held Lyndsey off for ~13Km and then she caught me. We ran side by side for a brief while and then she was off. Lyndsey finished very strong at her 1st ever Half and in typical Lyndsey style also finished in a record breaking time (4:41) for the Masters category and 7th female. Nice work. I finished in 4:45 + 2 mins and was very lucky to get a spot to IM! J

Dave had a great day, even with a flat tire finishing in 4:55
Kevin just :15 sec behind Dave also picked up a spot to IMC
Sue also captured #1 spot in her Age Group and earned a trip to IMC (5:24)
Dawn had a great day and PB’s by almost 15 min in a time of 5:25 and 6th in age group
Lisa was very pleased with her day even though she had some stomach issues. A great finish in 5:53
Greg was just behind Lisa in a time of 6:00 and was happy to once again finish GWN.
Jordan had an awesome swim, loved the bike and then struggled a bit on the run and finished in 6:18.

Great results by everyone and a big thanks to wade for putting on another great show! Until next year!