XTerra Canmore Race Report 2013

This is the fourth time that I’ve participated in this event; I’ve done the Sport distance and the Full distance, I’ve raced it in Whistler and in Canmore.  When Furious Three canceled, I picked XTerra Canmore as the focus for my season.  Organizer Tony Smith of Grizzly Mountain Events hosts a world-class event, with great sponsors, amazing competitors, and a lot of fun.  Thanks for the great efforts Tony!

I had a couple of goals for this race:

-       FUN – I love my mountain bike!  And with 2 other Spin Sisters racing, I was in good company.

-       Demonstrate bike power – I worked hard at the technical and strength elements of cycling, I’d like to see them translate into action on race day.

-       Improve my trail running – be stronger, longer. 

My overall goal was to finish happy, strong, and feel like I’ve given my best effort for my “A” race of the season.  

Here’s how it all went down…

The dawn arrived early in Calgary: 5am wakeup call, time to get the kids out of bed and breakfast for me, I need to be in Canmore by 7 to set up my gear.  The weather looked good – clear skies, not too chilly (although the clear skies would soon disappear!).  I arrived with lots of time to spare, set up my gear, and began to wait.  Yes, I had some nerves, but I saw lots of familiar faces, so managed to distract myself with conversations. 

XTerra Canmore swim at Quarry Lake

Last week I participated in The Grizzly Ultra SwimChallenge, held at Quarry Lake.  I entered the event as a trial-run of the XTerra swim, to get some open water experience, and to work out any kinks.  The Swim Challenge highlighted a couple of things: I need to work on my sighting, because swimming back and forth across the lake (instead of straight forward) is a waste of energy and time; and, stripping my wetsuit takes too much time, it gets stuck on my wrists.  I didn’t “race” the Swim Challenge, I was satisfied with the 35 minutes it took to swim 1500m.  The day before XTerra I dunked into Quarry Lake again, one lap instead of three, and felt like I swam smoother and stronger – and straighter!

Spin Sisters Cindy & Laura at swim start - this girl knows how to have fun while racing!

On race day I was determined.  I lined up mid-way through the pack, gave Spin Sister Laura a hug, and dove into the water.  The first lap went fast – it felt fast, I stayed in touch with the pack, yet out of troubled water – and I managed to trot around the pylon to start the second lap.  The second lap was smooth, it felt like liquid, and I was starting to pass people who may have started too fast.  At the start of lap three I glanced at my Garmin, wow! I was making GOOD time, somewhere around the 20 min mark for 2 laps is a good pace for me.  My arm wasn’t a bother either; since breaking it in May 2012, swimming has been a balance between pain and speed, so I was pleased that my arm was rolling along nicely. Lap three was smooth, I was starting to get tired, but I was still passing people, still in the mix.  I could tell that my sighting was accurate, and my strokes were smooth. I exited the water with a smile, that swim felt good. 

Lap 1 - looking strong

In the mix, strong, smooth strokes, swimming straight

Swim Time:  31:42 – nice improvement, smooth swimming!

(previous swim time:  35:22)

T1

My wetsuit has become a nightmare.  I cannot get my hands free of this black body condom and it’s frustrating as hell.  Perhaps it doesn’t fit very well (since it also feels like I carry half the lake with me when I swim, I suspect this is the case)? Perhaps I had some adrenalin pumping (I was fresh out of the lake after a fast swim)? Whatever the reason, it felt like I was wearing a straight jacket.  As I trotted towards the bike racks, Laura passed me and tried to give it a tug – no luck.  I kept on struggling, finally wrenched one hand free one hand, pulled loose the other.  The legs came off clean, no struggles.  Helmet, glasses, socks, shoes, hydration – GO!

Wetsuit FINALLY off, exit T1

T1 time:  6:11 – no improvement, looking at past comments, I had the same issues (yes, I double checked, it's exactly the same time. Bizarre.).

(previous T1 time: 6:11)

The Bike

Finishing Bike Lap 1.  Here comes the rain. 

The paved road from Quarry Lake to the Canmore Nordic Centre was a great place to start taking a few sips of Ultima, spin the legs and get the breathing under control.  In spite of my wetsuit nightmare, I managed to stay in touch with a number of riders as we went up the road – and Laura came spinning past in a blue and green blur, way to rock the bike lady!  The course was held in tandem with the Canmore Road Triathlon, some of those cyclists were also making their way through to their run course – so the staging area near T2 was a bit congested.  I kept on spinning, up the hills, up the double track, up and up.  A quick trip down the Laundry Chutes – still need to figure out the first drop/turn combo, I played it safe and walked this small section. I could see some other ladies ahead of me on the climbs, I wasn’t making up any time on them, but they weren’t leaving me behind either.  I pressed on with an even effort, the trail was tacky, a bit slick on some roots, not too bad.  It was fun towards the Meadow, the descent and flow of the course along this section is one of my favourite parts of CNC.  I was starting to pass a few people who were getting hung up on roots, I felt grateful that I had ridden the course so many times in training, I had already picked out the lines that I could ride, I felt confident on my Santa Cruz.  I played leap frog with a CSR rider from Prince George, down the Coal Chutes, I heard Laura whoop it up on the Coal Chutes, good boost of energy for me, then up the dreaded Georgetown Climb.  I didn’t want to burn out my legs on the first lap, so kept the effort in check – and the women ahead of me were getting closer.  As a point of personal pride, the lead women and pro women didn’t lap me on the bike course – always a confidence booster in my book!

Lap 2 started with a drizzle – uh-oh – and it continued to rain harder and harder as I pushed forward.  I passed the women that I had been dogging all day on some of the climbing out of the CNC, and managed to keep the rain out of my eyes.  By now it was raining HARD, the trails were becoming muck, the roots were greasy.  I trusted my bike, slowed a bit on some downhill sections, and pressed forward.  By the time I hit the Coal Chutes the second time around, I was a muddy, yucky, oozing mess.  And I bailed.  Totally wiped out.  The gunk from the coal chute was all over my bike, my legs, clumped in my shoes – yuck.  After a quick systems check, I determined that I was whole, and biked up the Georgetown Climb.  Overall, my bike felt confident, maybe not as fast as I would have liked, but I didn’t need to push the bike uphill, I had a solid technical ride, and I could tell that the interval training and on-course training paid off. My lap times were almost dead even (not counting the ride on the road), so even with the rain, my effort was well-paced, the training paid off. 

Bike time: 2:11:39.  Nice improvement!

(previous bike time: 2:21:34)

T2

Where did everyone go? Transition was quiet – no announcer, no racers, no crowd… just my family and a few other on-lookers.  Kinda spooky. 

Rack bike, change shoes, grab hat and gel – run.

T2 time:  1:30 – can’t explain the extra minute, maybe user error or inconsistency pressing the lap button in transition.

(previous T2 time: :35)

The Run

As it turns out, it was raining so hard that race organizer Tony Smith moved the crowd inside for the awards and prizes.  As the person outside in the rain, I must have been acclimated, because it wasn’t until the wind picked up that I noticed the weather was downright unpleasant. 

Lap 1 on run course

At the beginning of the run, I was able to see 4 or 5 people on the course in front of me, perhaps on their second lap, maybe on their first.  I was determined to slowly reel them in.  I focused on keeping my effort as even as possible, maintain a steady forward motion.  There was really only one hill that needed to be walked (on both laps), and I’m happy to report that I passed a couple of people.  The lead women in my age category passed me at the end of my first lap, congrats to the great competitors in the field today.  For the balance of my run I focused on steady running, up and down the undulating course.  I could feel the steady state aerobic hill training kick in, could feel the burn in my legs but knew that I had the training to keep rolling.  

Running strong to the finish

I emerged from the trees, ran solid up the last 500m to the finish area, where I could see my family waiting.  The girls were excited to run across the line with me, Kate was so thrilled to be running beside me, she was giggling the whole way.  It was a thrill to run across with them – finished with a smile! 

Run time:  1:16:36. All the hills work paid off – nice improvement!

(previous run time: 1:24:33)

Overall, I’m pleased with the PB on this course.  I took approx. 20 minutes off of last year’s time, but more importantly, I’m happy with the way I executed the race: strong segments, good technical ability, solid training, good nutrition plan. 

Thanks to my family for the support along the way. 

Thanks to Coach Jack for creating a path to make me stronger. 

Total time: 4:09:38. Almost 20 min improvement – nice!

(previous total time:  4:28:05)

Next up? fun ride with friends at Rossland's Seven Summits and Banff GranFondo - stay tuned!