Calgary 70.3 Race Report - By: Connie Maley

Last year my training consisted of bootcamp and enough swimming to survive the open water swim. I was able to reach my goal of finishing Calgary 70.3 in 7:41. By the end of the race I was feeling so horrible that I just wanted it to end. The finish line meant it was finally done and unfortunately that feeling over shadowed my accomplishment. To top it off by the time I finished the only finisher T-shirts left were 2 sizes too big!! Part of me never wanted to do another triathlon, but I thought I should try it again and actually train for the race. That's where Kronos came into the picture. My goal this year was to take 45 minutes to an hour off my time and to feel good at the end of the race. By joining Kronos I had gained so much from the coaching staff and the personal experiences of the club members that I knew on race day my goal was attainable.  I had an overall race plan including specific goals for each part of the race. For the swim: I wanted to go non-stop for the 1.9 km. I planned to start nice and relaxed until the first turn and then settle into my swim. For the bike: Bart had pointed out that I rest and take a drink at the top of the hills when I should be picking up speed and using the downhill to recover. This became my focus for every hill along with keeping my cadence over 90rpm. For the run: I planned to start out easy, only walk at the aide stations and up the big hills. After that if there's anything left in the tank I'll use it! The weather forecast for the race was amazing - clear sunny day high of 29C! It was absolutely beautiful as the sun was rising, the temperature was good and I was able to relax and focus on my race plan. This gave me the confidence to swim my race without the negative self talk. On the second half of the swim I found myself drafting another swimmer. That is so unlike me!!  The bike was just as enjoyable with clear blue sky, a gentle breeze and beautiful scenery along the course. I knew this was my strongest event and if I stuck to the plan I would shave a lot of time of last year's race. Every hill I rolled over the top and gain speed on the downhill. I maintained the aero position as much as possible and kept my cadence up. When I arrived at T2 I realized that I shaved 38 minutes off last year's time! Now for the run.....Mentally it was the most challenging out of the three. I knew the plan, but at the 1 km mark I wasn't so sure I could run the whole distance. The "I can't..." syndrome was starting to creep its way into my race! I knew if I allowed it to start I wouldn't be able to stop it. Instead I though of this quote I had found a little while ago:  "Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that's all you get, that's not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don't give a shit how high the hill is or how far you've got to go. When you've practiced that so long that you forget you're practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won't have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you'll be fast."

So I started with easy, my pace felt slow but it was a bit faster than I thought. After 4 km's I worked on light....and that's as far as I got! Every time my mind wandered or I had a negative thought I would go back to thinking "Easy and Light". Then I couldn't help but smile knowing I was going to kick ass on last year's time!! With 3 km's to go I was really struggling to keep it going, but why stop now? 2 km's left felt a bit worse and then I saw Bart coming towards me on his bike. He was a welcomed distraction!! We chatted all the way to the Powerbar sign where Bart wasn't allowed to enter, and right then a lady passed me. Bart turned to me and said "If there's anything left in the tank, now's the time!". He was right, I couldn't go all this way and let someone pass me in the last 50 meters!!! I found that little bit of pride that let me sprint right past her to the finish line with the biggest smile on my face!!!  I had so much to smile for when I crossed the finish line. Not only were my friends and family there to cheer me on, but they got to see me finish my best race! I beat last year's time by 73 minutes! I had PB times in all 3 events and I felt absolutely fantastic at the finish line. Now that is what Triathlon's are all about!