MUSKOKA 70.3...THE RACE!

This was the first time that I didn't get to say bye to Tanya right at the race start. Had to do the tearful goodbye early, and it was hard because normally Tanya waits until I'm out of sight to start crying, but she started early which made me emotional as well. I guess that was when it hit me that I would be doing this great race. Anyways, I was off to the water to start the most important race of my life (to date...many many more to come in this life!)

I must have over hydrated because I was sipping water and immediately peeing. I must have peed 5 times at the swim start alone (sorry Marcus...but I was peeing while talking to you on the beach and in the water!). The horn went off, I wished my friend Marcus Methot good luck, and dove in. I need to learn to seed myself better in the swims, because I kept hitting groups in front of me, and they were very difficult to get around. It was not until the first turn that I got rid of the people blocking me. For some reason, people go slow at the turning buoys. Don't know why, just turn and go. Simple. I was tight to the buoy, and after the turn starting sighting to the next turn, and found myself way to the inside. It scared me because no one was around me. But it helped because I had clean water to swim in. No one to draft off of, but clean water with no blocking. After the next turn, it was the same thing. No one around me. I was swimming the tightest/most direct line, and I've never understood why swimmers go so far around. I made the last turn and saw the finish area. I tried to speed up my pace, but it didn't pay off. This always happens in the last 500m of a long swim. I finished around 41 min, which was okay, but I wanted 39. I blame improper seeding and the people in my way at the start.

I had a decent transition. I didn't have the stripper take my wetsuit off so that I can stay warmer. That saved me time as I ran up the hill to my bike. The bike was okay. I knew the course, and knew that pacing would be key. I laughed at the people that treated the opening to the bike course as though it were a Sprint Distance, as I knew I would see them crushed in about 25KM (I did!!). It was raining, so the bike course, especially the descents, was nerve racking because a crash could happen at any second. There were tonnes of flats and crashes, but luckily I escaped all that. The over-hydration wreaked havoc again. I had to pee so bad along 117. I tried many times to pee while cycling, but had to be out of the saddle and not peddling for the bladder to ease up a little. All that did was make it harder to get back in the saddle and continue pedalling. At one point I just pulled over and peed in a ditch. It felt so good, but all the people that I had worked so hard to pass caught up to me. I figure I had lost about 2 minutes in total (stopping, asking if I could pee without penalty, pee, and restart). I felt comfortable with my hydration, picking up a water in the bottle exchange, so I didn't pick up a second bottle. It was cold out, so the heat wasn't sucking out the hydration I had stored. I had 2 bottles plus the aerobottle on my bike, so I was okay. Until I lost my insulated Camelbak on South Portage Road. Now I was left with a bottle of water (no electrolytes left) for the most technical part of the bike ride. I made it, and having ridden the course twice really helped because I knew the power that was necessary to make it up the hills with some left in the tank. I made it off the bike about 3:04, my best time on that course (but I wanted to do sub 3:00...stupid bladder!) Transition was slow as I struggled getting my socks on, and did not pre-tie my shoelaces (rookie mistake). Plus, I had to hit the port-a-pottie AGAIN. Lastly, I hurt my knee and achilles during the last 30KM of the bike course (the hardest part of the 94KM course btw).

My plan to 'survive' the run was to start at 6:00 pace, and increase by :05 increments every 6KM. That didn't happen. I just sort of stuck at 5:40, and whenever I wanted to walk, I just slowed down my pace with the mantra "6:00 is better than 12:00 (my walking pace)". I had planned to walk every 6KM, which was good because it gave me the opportunity to fix shoelaces, take in gels and pepsi, and settle my heart rate. This was by far the most technical 21.1KM I had ever ran, so that made me very nervous in terms of pacing. I was so afraid of hitting the runner's wall and crashing, thus not letting me achieve my goals. After about 15KM though, I looked at my Garmin, did the quick math, and realized that I was well ahead of my fastest goal time of 5:55. I got to that point where I think 'how much faster can I go?!'. I thought maybe I could get to the 5:40s, but thankfully my body settled my brain that if I push to reach 5:40s, I won't reach 5:55. I was very calm during the run, almost too calm. I could have easily pushed it harder and faster, but not knowing what to expect on the run, I was happy that I left some in the tank. Set the bar low, so that you can crush it next time! When I reached the top of the last hill approaching Deerhurst, and heard/saw the crowd around the corner, I started getting emotional. It might sound cute/sweet, but it really sucked because I couldn't breathe properly! I still had about 1KM left, and I couldn't breathe because I was tearing up! Luckily I snapped out of it because there were people on the road and I don't cry in front of people! I entered the parking lot, and as I ran up the finishing chute, I saw Baydog supporters and Tanya all cheering for me. Tanya was actually jumping up and down like crazy, and it was cute so I went over and gave her a big kiss which freaked her out because I do not like P.D.A.! I ran across the line in 5:51...4 minutes faster than the fastest time I had hoped to achieve if everything went perfect, broke the ribbon, and got my medal. I was now (half of) an Ironman!

Thank you to everyone, from the Baydogs for being a great organization and even better friends, and most importantly, my girlfriend Tanya for being the most important person in my life, the inspiration for why I train, and being so understandable when I would ditch her to train! Love you honey!

MUSKOKA 70.3 PRE-RACE

Sorry it's taken so long to write my race report for Muskoka 70.3 and this seasons' races in general. I'd like to say that I was busy training, but really, I was just lazy. It was a long season with 10 races, and the first time that I did off-season training by incorporating long runs on the weekends, and a lot of swimming exercises (not just trying to build endurance) in the pool. Add some Spinervals to the mix, and I was doing a lot more than I had ever done leading into the season, and then during the season. But, it all converged on one very cold Sunday at the beginning of September at Deerhurst Lodge, Huntsville.

The course is beautiful. Tough, but beautiful. I had gone up to the resort twice during the summer to bike the course, and had done a couple of long swims so that felt good, and I knew that if I just set a casual run pace, that would go fine as well. The Tuesday before the race I rode my Opus for a casual TT, but hurt/injured my achilles in the process. It was not severe enough to deter me from racing, but something that lingered in my mind (and came back on the bike course). Being my first Ironman brand experience, I was very nervous about what to expect in and around the lodge. Add regular Friday night traffic/construction, I was a ball of nerves on the ride up. I knew I wouldn't be settled until I was in my room at Deerhurst at the end of the night. Surprisingly, it wasn't the race that had me nervous...just everything else around the race! But Tanya and I got there okay, I got registered, had my meal, and settled in for the night. Both Tanya and I hardly slept that night, and as what was supposed to be a beautiful resort, we were not that impressed.

We woke up early Saturday morning, and walked around the resort getting a feel for transition, swim entrace/exit, and had a large breakfast. I racked my bike as soon as transition opened because I am very particular about where my bike goes. I prefer my bike at the end of the rack for that extra space during transition and easy spotting when coming out of the water. I got that out of the way, went for a warm up swim, into Huntsville for a bowl of soup and a beer (Guinness), and finished the day off at Kelsey's for dinner with good friends and fellow competitors Lloyd Smith and Kirsten Lowery. Now, it was off to bed for a 'good' night's sleep before the race. As I closed my eyes, I envisioned the entire race from the horn to the medal. Not a stroke, pedal, or step was missed. I knew this course, and I felt very confident that I would achieve the goals that I had set for myself.

Race morning, I was up at 3...but so was Tanya again, so I didn't worry about being too quiet. Funny enough, I was super excited to race. I was dancing around the room, singing to my ipod, and generally pumped to race. No nerves, just sheer excitement. Tanya was baffled, but I just felt great about the race. Going over the race in my head really helped. Knowing every corner, bump, hill on the bike, and the contours of the run make me comfortable. Essentially, I was ready. I put on my comp. tights to loosen up the muscles, had a bunch of coffee and a couple of bagels, and headed to transition to meet friends and get ready to rock!