While most of you were in your bed all cozy and warm on Sunday morning, Arrigo and I were getting out of bed preparing to race in the Coronation triathlon in Edmonton. The triathlon was a 1 km swim, 26 km bike, and 8 km run, and we had to be there by 6:30 a.m. I haven't been training diligently like last year, so I wasn't expecting results on a grand scale. It was a long day, but a lot of fun. We both had a good race, but somehow Arrigo's results ended up in the female category. Go figure!
We woke up to a balmy 3 degrees, and we prayed that by the time we got out of the pool to start our bike that it would be warm enough to not have to wear gloves and a jacket. Putting spandex on a wet body doesn't make for a speedy transition. Arrigo started his race 50 minutes before me at about 8:55. I don't even know what time my race started, but it must have been about an hour later. We were both relieved that the weather had warmed up enough to be comfortable on the bike. I've been in races where my fingers have been so frozen that it was difficult to use the brakes and change gears. Frozen toes aren't enjoyable either; it felt like I was running on golf balls. Those are the races that give you character - and test your toughness.
The bike was fun because Groat Road was closed to traffic so we didn't have to contend with vehicles. The route took us from Peter Hemingway Pool to Groat Road south, down to the turnaround at River Road and then back to 111 Avenue; then we did three more laps. We broke the speed limit going down Groat Road. It was so much fun. I'd like to see photo radar zero in on a bike speeding. There's nothing quite like riding downhill without even touching the brakes. Wheee!!! We could have went faster if there hadn't been a head wind...but the upside is that we had a tail wind going the other way.
The run started at transition in the pool parking lot down Groat Road into MacKinnon Ravine and back up. It was great crossing the finish line and hearing my name announced. The announcer said I was finishing the race with a big smile on my face. I don't recall smiling until he said that though I was just glad to be finished.
Arrigo took 4 minutes off of his time from last year. I was less than 2 minutes slower than last year, but I came in second place in my age group, so won a silver medal. All-in-all, I was very happy with my performance. We have a new philosophy - train MINIMALLY so we can be well rested.
Check out our results here.
