Whistler 70.3

Jason and I were up in Whistler a couple of weeks ago to race the 70.3.  What a fantastic event - incredibly scenic, well-run, super challenging course... highly recommended!

The swim was a bit of a cluster, as about 45 minutes before the 70.3 start, the wind really picked up and the lake became a choppy mess of whitecaps.  Made a couple of the legs across the lake particularly gnarly, but pretty fun!  I ended up swimming a bit slower than I thought I would (but Jason and some other friends were also 2 minutes slower than expected) in 33:16,  However, I came out of the water in 2nd place in my age group (W45-49) so still pretty good!

The bike has lots of climbs and lots of wind.  Nothing like a long 25km climb into a headwind at the end of a 90km ride!  I rode steady, just tried to stay aero and positive.  I rehearsed all the mental and physical cues Mel and I have been working towards for my upcoming Ironman.  I am not a great climber, so it's not a course that suits me at all, but it was still fun!  I came off the bike in 11th place, and didn't go under 3 hours like I hoped (3:06) - but in the tough conditions of the day that's not a surprise!

On the bike course, next to Green Lake.
So pretty but I didn't really notice it on race day.

The first 10km of the run went by pretty quickly and was fun.  A couple of my Betty Designs teammates passed me (as I knew they would), and thanks to Amy for the walk & chat break!  The next 6km were me digging deep mentally.  The final 5km were pretty much torture... I haven't really trained past 15km and it showed, and the effort on the bike into the wind took it's toll with some pretty significant cramping.  Didn't help that I spilled my container of salt, not like you can stop and pick that up!  The "run" to the finish was all mental, telling myself I really needed the training day for Maryland.  If Mel hadn't been my coach I probably would have given up!  She has been fantastic at giving me some ways to really dig in.

Some teammates and I at the finish.

Jason was first across the line, but the staggered start meant he was second in his age group (and 2nd overall as well - not too shabby for a 48-year old!).  The best part of the race was having so many teammates in the half and full, there were 15 of us in total!  Betty Designs represent!

Jason at the awards ceremony.

We did get to spend a couple of days in Whistler
post-race, and got in lots of playing around!

Next up: Aquabike World Championships in Penticton (August 27), Cultus Lake Sprint (Sept 17) and then Ironman Maryland (Oct 7).