Ironman Calgary 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

One loop course. Found sighting a little difficult. Could have used more buoy's for course markers. Ended up often just sighting off other swimmers. I liked the wave start as I never found the water too crowded. I was one minute faster than my goal pace so I was happy with my swim.

Walked up the boar ramp to the wetsuit strippers. Needed to get my legs back. Got stripped, found my T1 bag, went off to the side and changed. At the time I thought I was going fairly quickly and there was no problems. After changing, I jogged into the bike area and got my bike and then jogged to the mount line. It seemed like a lot of distance had to be covered in T1!

Maybe jog up the boat ramp

I had an awesome bike ride. Stuck to my HR plan and my nutrition plan. Kept my HR low Z2 for the first 10k and ate a Cliff bar. Passed a lot of people going up Grand Valley Road. At the first aid station I grabbed a water which was already opened but no sports cap so it made it hard to poor it into my aero drink bottle, a lot got spilled! Ate another cliff bar then switched my nutrition to my Hammer Sustained Energy & Chocolate Accel Gel mixture. Passed a lot of people again going up the Cochrane hill. I was annoyed that the second aid station was in the middle of a downhill section! This time the water bottle did not even have the cap removed! So I had to fuss with than and then try and poor it in my aero drink bottle without loosing too much. The last few K, I tried to stretch out the legs in prep for the run.

Nothing

Saw my wife and daughter as I was going to the dismount zone.

That was the worst run I have ever had in my life! I started out good, felt good out of T2. The first 2K were a little too fast so I slowed it slightly and after 5k I was on pace and my HR was good. That's when the wheels fell off! My right quad started cramping badly after running down the big hill into the valley. I stretched it out and tried running again. I walked up the hill out of the valley and decided to try 10 and 1's... that wasn't working either so I went to run 1k and walk a minute. I knew my overall pace was going to be very slow but I thought at least I would finish! I was sweating so much my socks were soaked and I could tell I was getting some nasty blisters. Then at around 15k my right calf totally seized up!The next 3k down the hill, across the bridge and up the hill were just brutal. I stretched, I walked, I tried to run. Those 3k took me over 25 minutes. I literally limped to the top of the hill to find my family standing there trying to encourage me on but they could tell I was in a world of hurt. I stopped to stretch out my legs again and my sister came to run with me. She ran about 3k with me and it really lifted my spirits and helped me to finish. She stopped with about 1k to go and I was able to run (jog) to the finish.

I took in all my nutrition on the run, plus all my electrolytes and drank way more that I though I would need to. Not really sure why I cramped so bad.

Got my medal and shirt, grabbed some food and water then just walked around for a bit. Found my family and sat in the shade with them and ate and drank. Went back for some pizza after a bit but it wasn't very good.


My time goal range going into the race was 5.5 to 6.0 hours so I still met that and for that I am happy. However, I am very disappointed with my run. I knew when I got out of T2 and passed the finish line that if I ran a 2 hour or less run split that I would be at or under the low end of my goal. I don't know if there was anything I could have or should have done differently to prevent the cramps. My ride felt like a long training ride, I never felt like I was pushing too hard. I stuck to my nutritional plan and took in extra electrolytes and lots of water. I guess it was just a combo of the hills, heat, and humidity.


Overall, for the first running of this event I think it went off pretty well. I have no major complaints.

I was expecting more swag and would have preferred a technical finishers shirt. I though doing a M-dot event would have better perks but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I am also curious as to the number of registered starters and the number of racers that took part. According to the race website there were over 1600 registered people, but according to the finishers list there were less than 1100 finishers. What happened to the other 500+ people?