Muskoka Ironman 70.3 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I was very happy with my drafting. i upgraded my drafting partner three times, but lost a good one near the finish (where i swam all by myself - MUCH harder!!!). I felt calm (even when my goggles got knocked off (keep the strap under the cap was a great tip by Vertrees!) and when my face got cut. All in all, my best swim to date.

nothing.

I could work on the pre-clipped shoes start. might be better since it was tough to run with my bike shoes on

I thought i saved enough legs for the run, but i was wrong. the gu's and power bar (at mile 30) were not at all good for my stomach. next time think about a pd&j sandwich or a bagel to help absorb some of that churning chemical crap in my stomach. Also, I bonked a little at about mile 42-52, and even in the last 6 I wasn't all that strong. I got passed by a bunch of people who were clearly drafting - like a damn peleton...

save a little more for the run

I sat down to put my socks on and tie my shoes. I'm not sure how else to do this efficiently and i'm not sure i really care in the future to improve much here.

WOW DID I BONK!!! I totally beat myself on this one... I thought I was going to puke for the first 5k. At the 5k aid station I got some pretzles and pepsi and pee'd. Then, it was an uphill grind to the 7k aid station where i needed more pretzels to calm my stomach (too much gu/power bar/gator aid at the run (drank 1/2 a bottle of gator aid at the transition). Couldn't get myself to run up the massive hill at 8k-9.5k. Recovered (some dude said "don't quit now" and it got me going) for 10k-13k. Drank a lot at 13k aid station (saw vertrees shortly after the turn and felt i had to stay in front of him. also saw shippley). Had a very tough 14k-18k on that damn nature center cart path. stopped and walked several hills. saw markus (looked strong), jodey (tired but good) and joe (as bad of shape as me) between 14-16k. Saw vertrees closing in (about 300m behind me) at the 18k aid station and i managed to push it out to the end, but wasn't happy at all. thought about walking through the "corral" around the transition area, but spectators gave me the encouragement to go on - thank God, i was only 22 seconds ahead of Vertrees at the finish!).

gu/food/power bar.
Nancy and Blake were there and they were awesome cheerleaders. That was really cool.


This is a phenomonal venue and the Canadians who volunteer are just great people - friendly, helpful, etc. The course is an ass-kicker, both the b bike and the run, but it is well worth it - just make sure to train harder next year!