The Corner Brook World Cup Triathlon on July 20 was a wonderful experience for me. Since the race took place exactly one week after the Edmonton World Cup, I decided not to fly home between the two races. Instead, my father and I spent one extra day in Edmonton before starting our long journey to Corner Brook, Newfoundland. It is not easy to get to Newfoundland! We left Edmonton at 8:00 in the morning and after flying to Ottawa, Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Deer Lake, Newfoundland, we finally arrived at our hotel in Corner Brook at 2:00 am Newfoundland time (Newfoundland is an hour and a half ahead of EST). I have to admit that there were times during the long trip to Corner Brook that I wondered if going to the race was really a good idea. I had not realized that it would take such a long time to get there!
Since we arrived early Wednesday morning and the race was not until Sunday, I had most of the week to do some light training and explore Corner Brook. I quickly realized that I had not made a mistake in coming to the race. Corner Brook is a beautiful little town with a lot of character. Everyone was incredibly friendly! I found out that the week leading up to the World Cup Triathlon is called the Corner Brook Tri Fest, and apparently, many of the townspeople look forward to it every year. Each evening there was a different sporting event for anyone who was interested. Wednesday evening my father and I watched the aquathlon (a run, swim, run event). Some of the triathletes who were in Corner Brook early for the World Cup race competed, but the majority of the participants were local townspeople. Thursday evening, there was a 5k road race that I am proud to say my Dad took part in. On Friday evening, there was a very exciting lake swim relay. Many of the World Cup Triathletes formed teams for this event, so it was really fun to watch them go against each other in something other than a triathlon. There was a kids triathlon on Saturday and then the Tri Fest concluded with the age group and World Cup Triathlons on Sunday. Overall, I really enjoyed the week leading up to the race. I loved the way the whole town seemed to get involved!
On Sunday, my race started with a three loop wetsuit swim around a beautiful little lake. We dove off of a pontoon to start the race and while I felt like I had a good start, I found the beginning of the swim to be a lot rougher than usual. After a loop, things started to calm down and I ended up having a fairly good swim. It was not quite as good as my swim in the Edmonton World Cup, but I still came out in a fairly good position. 
One of the hardest parts of the race came right after the swim. We had to run 600 meters (in our wetsuits) up an incredibly steep hill to get to the transition area. After getting onto our bikes, we made a turn and then went straight up another steep hill. I think I had mentally prepared myself so well for that part that when I actually did it during the race, it did not hurt as much as I was expecting it to. I got through the transition, as well as the first part of the bike, and soon found myself in a chase pack of about seven girls. At first, I thought my group was going to work well together for the entire 6 loop course, but I soon realized that I was wrong. We had some good runners in the group who could afford to sit back on the bike because they are fast enough to catch many of the other girls on the run. My group got caught by the pack behind us with one lap to go. At that point, I just tried to make sure I was taking in enough fluid and salt, so that I could have a good run.
I came into the second transition with a group of 23 girls. It was pretty crowded getting off the bike at the same time with so many girls. There was still a group of about 8 girls from the first pack out on the run course already. I knew I was going to have to have a good run. The run was a very hilly four loop course. I felt pretty strong on the first three loops. I found myself passing some of the girls ahead of me. The fourth lap was harder for me, but I did my best to hang in there. Many of the townspeople were out cheering. The spectators had a program with our names and race numbers, so it was fun to hear them call out our names as they cheered us on. All of the support helped so much!
I made it to the finish in 18th place and earned some more ITU points. I was pleased because I feel like I had a much better race than the one in Edmonton the week before. I also learned some more things that I know will help as I compete in future World Cup Races. In addition, I saw how much taking in more salt helped me both during the race and in my recovery after the race.
I am extremely thankful to all of the Corner Brook World Cup Race officials and organizers as well as the local volunteers. They put on a wonderful race. They certainly made the long trip to Corner Brook well worth the effort!
