Ironman Calgary 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I couldn't keep up with the fastest group. I ended up not drafting for pretty much the entire swim. During the first 200m, my goggles were filling up with water. They didn't do that during the warmup and I didn't adjust them. Hmm. Fortunately, it only took 5 seconds to empty them and I was off again. It was smooth to start, but there were some big swells at the end. Passed a bunch of yellow caps from the wave before and even some of the caps from the wave or two before that.

My time was as expected, but I didn't feel good.

The buoys weren't up when we dropped off the bikes so you couldn't plan anything to sight from. There were only the turn buoys and no intermediate buoys.

nothing

I didn't put my gloves on until I was on the bike. I think I should have put them on earlier...during the long run to the bike after picking up the T1 bag and changing.

The distance between the boat ramp and the bikes and then the bikes to the mount line was fairly long. This let to a longer T1 time.

put gloves on while running to the bikes or not wear any at all.

Not a great bike for me. Cadence sensor stopped working immediately. Couldn't take in all the nutrition I needed (impacting the run). Just before the 2nd aid station, my chain came off while shifting gears. I adjusted the front dérailleur to bring it back on but didn't notice the loop that had formed. Trying to bring it back on by pedalling basically jammed the loop of chain and caused a bend in one of the links. After stopping and repairing the looped chain, my chain was skipping every revolution. At least the hills where done, but I still had 34km of less power and some gears were worse than others.

There were parts of the race where the shoulder wasn't very wide and it was a fairly busy road. Add to that too many riders preferring to ride almost on the white line (even while shouting out "passing on the left").

The powerade bottles didn't have the sport caps. It made for a sticky mess dumping it into my aero bottle.

I meant to get a new chain before the race. My LBS had just tuned the bike, so I'm surprised the chain jumped off.

Change up the nutrition so I can take in more on the bike and prevent a bonk on the run.

Saw my wife and friend Jer just after T2. Apparently they were right at the dismount line too, but I didn't see them.

Fairly fast considering the size of T2. Right on target time.

First 6km felt good. Then things went south. I bonked and the last 15km was simply a grind. It was hot. The drinks were hot. It was a hilly course. I was tired and took about 23 minutes longer than planned. Not a good run.

I walked every aid station to load up on powerade, gels, water, and sponges. I ended up walking quite a few of the inclines too. I even walked between aid stations and where there weren't hills. I walked too much of it.

Saw my wife and Jeremy with a little over 3km left. They ran beside me for 500m or so giving me props. I wanted to walk so badly at that time. They kept me going. They dropped off after a bit to get back to the finish line, I ran for another 300m or so, then walked. AAaaahhhh....

I got to break the tape at the finish. I thought that was a bit lame. I'm not first; no need to put a tape up for me. (I suppose some may appreciate it as it if it is a feat for them to finish)

Look for different nutrition for the bike to avoid the bonk on the run.

Sat in the shade for a bit talking to Janis and Jeremy. Couldn't really eat the crappy pizza (Jon's Pizza for me, thank you). Ate an oreo, drank some juice and water.

Walked to my wife's car. She parked quite a bit closer than the Casino (where my car was). That was nice.

Didn't stick around for post race activities (not my thing). I just went home and hopped in an ice bath for 20 minutes.


bonking, heat, hills.


Seemed fairly well organized. I didn't really experience any issues given it was a first time race.

If I had to benchmark this to the only other triathlon event or other running events I've done, I'd say it was average to just below average in terms of meeting my expectations.

The volunteers were great and there were lots of them. Kudos to them.