Morden Triathlon - Half Iron Distance - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim was tough. I started near the back of the pack. Got tossed around for the first.100m or so. Found some open water and tried to relax. It was pretty choppy so I breathed to one side only hoping that would help keep things smooth. Rounded the first buoy and found it tough swimming to the second buoy. The choppy was really tossing me around and I also had to swim through some weeds...yuk! Rounded the second buoy and swim towards the shore...it seemed that everyone was in front of me. I looked back and was relieved that I wasn't dead last. Made it back to the beach and rounded the buoy and started the second loop. The chop/waves seemed to get worse on the second loop. I found it hard to breathe and was getting frustrated. It felt like I wasn't moving forward at all so I started doing some breast stroke. Swallowed some water and got a bit panicky. The water seemed like it was slapping me in the face at this point. I just wanted to get out of the water as soon as possible. Finally reached the beach...looked back and saw that there were about 25-30 swimmers behind me.

Not a whole lot. Conditions were tough and I did whatever I could to get through the swim. I need to train harder in the swim next year in preparation for Ironman.

Ran up to transition and took wetsuit off. No wetsuit strippers in sight. I took my time and dried off well because i knew the bike was going to be tough and cold. I put on a long sleeved shirt over my tri top, drank some water and ran to the mount line.

I made sure to take my time and dry off well. Didn't want to start off cold.

This was the longest/toughest bike EVER! The first 25k was straight into the wind and took almost 2 hours. Winds were gusting to over 70k/hr...I felt strong though and passed a lot of people. At some points it felt like the wind gusts stoppped me completely but I was still passing people. I wasn't drinking much and tried to eat a PowerBar but I had to really pay attention to controlling the bike as the wind could have easily blown you over. Got frustrated with being unable to eat so I tossed the rest of the bar. Wanted to eat some pretzels which i had in my bento box but it was hard to get the bag open so I said screw it. As I got close to the turnaround point at 25k I started to feel like I was lacking energy. Turned around and rode with the wind to the next turn off which would head into the valley. As I turned to go south...the cross winds started. You basically had to lean into the wind to stop you from being blown over. I started to get really frustrated and my energy levels really started to drop. Tried to drink but it was hard to take my hands off to grab a drink and of course i couldn't use my aerobottle because I had forgotten the straw! Got to the valley and thought there would less wind there but it was the same. Climbing the hills were brutal enough without having the winds push you back. Energy levels kept dropping and I was passed by a couple people that I had passed earlier. Finally climbed the second hill out of the valley and was greeted by the smell of pig shit! Thought I was going to puke....at least I can laugh about it now...lol. Winds seemed to be getting stronger and it started to rain as I got to the next turnaround point. I realized I was losing a lot of ground to the riders in front of me. As I turned around I started getting really negative. My legs felt heavy and I didn't want to ride back into the valley with the swirling winds. The last climb out of the valley was long and brutal. Reached the aid station at the top of the hill and stopped to get some water. I filled up one of my water bottles and continued on. The next 10 min. after the aid station was where I hit the wall. I tried to pick up the pace but couldn't....my back was sore and I kept standing it up to try and stretch it out. At this point I seemed to give up...one by one many of the riders I had previously passed started passing me like I was standing still. I got even more negative and contemplated stopping to stretch. Then I felt like stopping and throwing my bike in the ditch and just sitting on the side of the road and crying. I was sick of riding in the wind...sick of feeling energyless and pissed off that nothing seemed to be going right. I was hoping for a flat...then I was hoping that a huge gust of wind would blow me over...then I'd have an excuse to drop out. This was the lowest I've ever felt in a race. I was almost positive that I was going to quit...I'd try and finish the bike and then drop out. I kept looking back and realize that yet another rider was going to pass me. Then I wondered how I would feel after the race if I DNF'd. Was that the answer? Was I the only one having a tough time out there? Obviously not. I started to think about what I would do when I got back to transition. Managed to get back to the turnoff and the last 12k which was with the wind....didn't try to push it at all...just let the wind push me in. Got back to transition and it was time The first person I saw was Sue...a close friend from Regina who moved to Winnipeg last year. She came out to see us race and volunteered as well. She asked how I was doing and I told her I wasn't going to run...I had enough! As I racked my bike I started to think of what a DNF would feel like...I knew that Carol...one of the Regina racers doing her first HIM would probably be the next Reginan to come in from the bike. I decided that I would wait for her to come in and I would try and run with her and help her complete her first HIM. I waited about 10 min and saw her come in...she asked me what I was doing and I told her I was going to run with her. It was probably the longest bike/run transition ever but running with her was what kept me going.

Not sure where to start. Aerobottle probably would have helped....maybe I went out too hard into the wind....maybe I should have stopped on the bike to get more nutrition into me.

This transition was probably about 15 min. since I decided what I was going to do and then waited for Carol.

Make up my mind quicker and not stand around for so long...lol

I ended up running the first 8k with Carol. I was going to run the whole 21.1k with her at whatever pace she wanted to run...unless I couldn't keep up. My legs actually felt pretty good at this point. I found that our pace started to pick up and we actually passed a few people. My outlook on the race started to change. I came so close to quitting but now I felt comfortable and was going to finish. I didn't care what time I came in at....I just wanted to finish. At the 8k mark Carol stopped to use the washroom and told me to go on without her....I said I would wait but she insisted that I go on. I took in water and Gatorade at the aid stations and was able to keep a nice steady pace. As the run progressed my mental state improve a lot. I actually started to enjoy myself and encouraging the other athletes. It started to rain and as I completed the first loop I took off my long sleeve shirt as I started to over heat. Only 10.5 k to go and I would be done! A finisher! The second loop was tougher...started to walk/run but still managed to maintain a fairly steady pace. The last km. was pretty emotional....it was a tough week leading up to the race and I could have never predicted that race day would turn out to be so tough. I was so proud of the fact that I persevered through my lowest moment ever in any race I've ever done. Crossing that finish line meant so much. I went from being almost certain to dropping out to finishing my second HIM in 3 weeks. The clock and my finishing time never even entered my mind. In fact I had no idea what my finishing time was until I checked the results online the next day. I didn't care and didn't want to know. Today was about finishing and that's it!

Not much....after I made the decision to run I did a good job of fighting through it.

Stayed at the finish line to see the next few Regina athletes finish. Talked to everyone about their races and how they fought through everything. Realized how happy everyone was to finish. Went into the tent to get out of the wind and rain. Had a burger and a drink then rode back to the hotel.


The weather conditions....my nutrition and not feeling well going into the race.


Thanks to Chris (HighwayDog) for volunteering! You were awesome out there Chris.