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Aug 13, 2009
Calgary 70.3: This was quite a day for the athletes AND all the TTL volunteers who manned the first aid station on the bike. THANK YOU to all of you who gave up your day to support our athletes and all the others who tackled this challenging course. We showed that as a team, we race, we cheer, AND we give back. I was very proud to be a part of that. So... what about the athletes...
- Coach Richelle: Richelle did this race for fun! It was a training day with no expectations. She was prepared for a "below potential" finish and had no stress race morning because of it. Richelle surprised herself with a good swim, a GREAT bike, and a much better than expected run on a really tough course! There are some girls who she regularly race who decided last minute to rest for this one. Richelle did not and because of that, almost expected to get beat by this group of gals. Unfortunately for them Richelle had a better day than they did! 7th in her AG and a HUGE smile at the finish line!
- Phil: Dr. Phil had a stellar day at GWN with a 10 min PR. He learned some things along the way that we planned to build on at this race. We're always learning. The plan was in place to execute slightly different than GWN so he could have more legs for the run. All went according to plan until a strange run altering pain stopped him in his tracks during the run. He had to stop, take his shoe off, manage it, and keep going. He wasn't sure he'd finish, but I'm proud of him for finishing. (Luckily there is no long term effects from the pain in his foot. If there was then stopping would have been the best option.) Was he happy with his time? No... but can he reflect on how the day went and use those lessons to be better next time... you bet. Congrats on getting thru a tough day Phil.
- Kelly... In the weeks leading up to the race I used the word "tenacious" to describe Kelly. She has a significant ankle injury and has been told not to run. With Kelly though, those instructions often fall on ears that have another agenda, and this race fell into that category. So.. Kelly had a great swim, a really solid bike, and she supported a friend for the first part of the run, walking it together. When her friend had to pull up, Kelly picked up the pace and ran as much as she could in the second half of the race with a big negative split! Again, she beat her hubby Mitch... this is getting to be a habit Kelly!!
- Shannon: Shannon was really waffling on whether or not she wanted to do this race in the weeks leading up to it. She had a good day at GWN although the run was more challenging than she might have liked, it was still a PR. She found it hard to pull back up for Calgary, and to top it off she has a close family member who isn't doing well. Shannon decided to race and commit her efforts to her Grandfather. Her only goal was to smile, and check... she achieved it. Nice job Shannon... it's been REALLY good to have you at some Tuesday workouts as well.
- Katie Ann... Katie Ann signed up with TTL just a few months ago to finish her prep for Calgary. She made a few group workouts, and I know quickly because part of the group. I saw Katie Ann several times through the day, and the thing that stands out most for me was her smile! This was her first Half Ironman race, and she enjoyed it, paced well, and had the biggest sweetest look of "I did it" at the finish line ever!!! Thanks for letting us be a part of this goal Katie Anne!
- Micheal: Micheal was using this race to prep for IMC. Like Richelle he wasn't tapering, and was taking the day as it came. It was a good chance to practice pacing and nutrition. Mike had a good swim, and was rocking the bike... feeling really strong, until disaster struck and his rear wheel skidded out on gravel and he went down. Unfortunately for Mike, and for all of us as his team, he was not able to go on and suffered two cracks in his shoulder. He has been working with Sarah to get it better, and I have to tell you, he's riding his trainer indoors AND doing the elliptical and is FAR from giving up on his IMC dreams. He sent me this quote... "My strength lies solely in my tenacity" -Louis Pasteur I think it suits him well. Recover HARD Micheal... we very much hope to see you at the start line of IMC.
- Dana: Maybe "Smiling Dana" is a better name:) Here is a guy who loves ultra long events. He likes to back country ski, he loves to hike, climb mountains... anything outdoors. Ultra marathons are on his radar too, but his knee doesn't love them as much as he does! So... He decides to give this triathlon thing a kick and low and behold, he is a converted! He completed the race, was hobbling around and briefly thought "never again", but within minutes those thoughts had changed and he was thinking about improving his swimming in the fall!! CONGRATS Dana!!! A GREAT Day!
- Pamela: This was Pam's second Half Ironman distance race of the year. She attended the IMC camp the weekend before, and we all had the joy of meeting her sister and watching the two of them train together. Pam is a bit of a tough egg on the sister front! Her sibling had never ridden longer than 1 hour before, and I think she did something like 4 hours of riding in two days! NUTS! She still seemed to like Pam by the end of the weekend, so I guess it turned out OK in the end. Pam had a good day at Calgary. I'm looking for her email to fill in the details but it is missing from my email world!!!! Pam... I know you told me how the s/b and run went, but I can't remember it closely enough for me to quote it!!!! I hope August is going well and you're enjoying the break and catching up with work and life!!!! We will see you in Sept.
- John... John is the thinker! He had a good day.After a few obstacles early in the swim he settled in to have a good swim and a steady bike. Nutrition went well but as always, lessons were learned along the way. John said the run went well until the last 4k which were really hard... I suspect that could have had something to do with climbing the Weaslehead at 15k but none the less, that part of the day was challenging. John has been a huge supporter of TTL athletes all year. Sometimes he has given up his own training needs and goals to support others, and this is a good time to let him know how lucky we are to have him around, Thanks for all you do John... IMC 2010 here you come!
- Alfred... Alfred is a machine!! He puts his mind to it, and in a very short period of time accomplishes what he doesn't really believe he'll be able to accomplish. Swimming is a challenge for Alfred, but he took a good hunk of time off this swim from GWN last year! NICE WORK! The bike is Alfred's happy place... the pretty little P4 goes like snot because the engine pushing it is getting pretty darn fit! I have an AWESOME picture of Alfred on his bike. It could be a model for bike positioning. The run.. had some challenges. He had to really slow down on the first half, but was able to pull out a much faster second half of the run. Nice work!!! That takes patience and perseverance... Two things I'm not sure Alfred knew he had!! Congrats Alfred! IMC 2010 here you come too!!!
- Toni... Our "cheerleader extraordinaire" finally got her day to shine!!! After 7 months of battling injury from a 1k track race in January, Toni decided to go for it at Calgary. She had pretty much only been able to swim until a few weeks before, and the plan was to do the swim and bike, then DNF the run for risk of further injury. The night before the race I got an email from her saying the plan was changed! They only gave t-shirts to finishers... so Toni was going to finish no matter what! Well, the smile on her face at the end of the day was SPECTACULAR! She had SO much fun and claimed to be meant to do this! CONGRATS Toni on an outstanding 70.3 Debut!
I planned to do an update for Chapparal, for Ronald McDonald House 10k, and for the Delta Half Marathon, but I am out of time!!!! I'll get to it soon... promise! If you raced those events please send me a note about how it went. I'm running out the door!!! Have a GREAT WEEK!!!!!
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