Coach notes (Coach Brian Grasky): I've been working with Toni for approx 4 months. She had been a strong athlete but hadn't pulled together a long course race yet. She attended the spring Escape the Heat Camp in March and we started working together after that. She's a model athlete--trains hard, no excuses. And this is the payoff! She also had a 1/2 marathon PR last month! Congratulations Toni!
This was a great race for me.
I won first overall! My time
was 5:36:49. In 2010 I was a 5:51:13. That’s not a bad improvement!
The swim is a two-loop 2km swim in a local man-made lake, followed by a 96 km out and back to Kananaskis Provincial Park, which is pretty much the entrance to the Rocky Mountains. The run is a two-loop course through Fish Creek Provincial Park, which is relatively flat with the exception of the large descent/ascent out of the Fish Creek Valley. Even though it’s a hilly, pretty tough course, it is beautiful!
My pre-race routine went smoothly. I woke up at 4:30 am not being able to get back to sleep. I
finally got up at 5:00 am. I went
outside and walked down to the road and back.
It was a fresh morning and cloudy… supposed to be sunny and 71 degrees
on race day. It probably hit 71, but not
until 2pm or so. I made my breakfast of
champions – quinoa, protein powder, almond butter, a little bit of coconut milk
and berries. After rolling and getting
my gear together, we headed to the race course – only a 12 minute drive from
home. Sweet! I set up my transition area and went for my
10 minute warm up run at 7:20. I did
some dynamic stretching and was feeling nicely warm by the time I
finished. I got my wetsuit on and had
one last check of my transition area, then my 17 year old daughter, Clair and I
headed down to the water.
Swim - The water temperature was apparently 60 degrees, but I
think that was only on the surface.
Anyway, it really helped to get in and get used to the water. I had a neoprene cap on under my race cap. Clair and I started on the far right side of
the beach and it was perfect. The gun
went off and I never saw Clair again (she ended up being the 3rd
person out of the water behind 1 pro guy and an aquabike guy. Fast!). We had to get out and run around the
buoy before our 2nd lap. I
just jogged around it. On the second lap
I started to get a cramp on the right side, kind of high. I guess I needed to breathe deeper (belly
breathing as coach says). I came out of
the water and had a hard time getting my Velcro undone because my hands were
numb. There were wetsuit strippers who
helped me. Right when I was dropping
down for them to strip it off, another guy was dropping down too and I kneed
him in the head really hard. I felt so
bad! I saw him on the run and he told me
he had just gotten stitches out of his head 2 days before the race! Oops!
Bike - I ran to transition and had a good smooth transition. I did
remember to grab my Hammer coin pouch with my Endurolytes in it. Phew!
I needed them for sure. Love the
pouch tucked into my shorts idea. It
worked great! It was 59 degrees F at the
start of the bike and dipped to 49 in the middle and was 70 at the end. I really felt good on the bike. I averaged
19.26 mi/hr. My total time was 3:04.19
for 59.17 miles. I had 3 scoops (400
cal) of Perpetuem in my bottle cage, water in my aero bottle, and 3 Power Gels
(330 cal) over the course of the bike. As I
got close to the end, I took a mental note of how I was feeling and
thought about T2 and my pacing for the run.
I was feeling good for the most part, but my legs felt like they were
going to cramp right as I got close to T2. Same place as last time! I decided then that I would take endurolytes
as soon as I started my run.
Run - I came into T2 and Brad said I was first woman! I was pretty stoked about that. I stayed focused and had a really smooth
transition. I still had my Endurolytes
tucked in my shorts, so all I needed to do was change my shoes and grab my hat.
My feet were totally numb! I ran out of
T2 and the pacer bike pulled out to lead me.
Totally excited!!! I really tried to keep my pace at an 8 min/mile, but
I was 7-7:30 min/mile and it felt easy. I kept telling myself to run my race,
race my pace. The first lap was pretty
easy. I was enjoying it and had no
problem staying focused. The long hill out of Fish Creek was a killer. I walked a bit of it and then ran the
rest. At the start of the 2nd
lap, I was still feeling good, but worried about cramping. I came down the hill
back into Fish Creek and that aid station had Endurolytes! So I grabbed 3 and some Heed. I had to count my steps for a while because I
was feeling some fatigue and struggling a bit mentally at about mile 7. After a
gel from the next aid station, I felt better and thought I would be good to the
end. I maybe should have taken one more
gel because the hill and the final mile were pretty brutal. I just kept moving my feet and visualized me
crossing the finish line in first place.
That is what kept me going and trying to finish strong – a first place
finish! Crazy!!! My dad was at the corner, which was at the
start of my last stretch. He cheered and
said he was proud of me. That put a
smile on my face and gave me a little extra burst of energy. I crossed the finish line and felt like
collapsing. I did it!!! 5:36.49. 15 minutes faster than last time. Sweet victory!
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