Ironman 70.3 Muskoka - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was the part I was scary about.

All along the season, from training to racing, I had the feeling I was regressing.
Once in the water, I felt the pressure and wanted to go to the potties... :(
So I did what everybody does, I peed in my suit... I felt weird and gross at the beginning but then so much relaxed... Anyway, back to the start line!

I was stressed a lot about this part. My coach told me to go in the middle of the pack BUT on the outside. I did what coach told me and when the horn started the race, I was on clear water, with not so much of people around me.
I paced myself in a very easy pace and stared at the 1st buoys. One down.
Then stared at the 2nd one. Two down, first turn.
Woah, that was faster that I expected. Keep going !
Three down; Four down; Nice and relax, smooth all the way; last one before the final turn.
Stopped there, watch my clock: 33 min. Woah, way faster than expected. Keep going!

I see the stairs, the people, I can do it, I can make it!

Last 10 meters, no visibility at all in the water, kept the head out and when I reach the stairs, was pulled out of the water by the 2 men. Did not think at all and was already on the green!

I did it! I made it: 47 min ! Way better than the hour I was expecting. Best swim of the season and felt strong!
Looked around for the strongest wetsuit strippers and after 2 seconds, I was already on my way to the transition area.

Thanks to the volunteers, you did an amazing job!

Now, time to relax on the bike...

Nothing, really nothing. It was my best OWS of the season, period!

Going from the end of the swim to the transition is a bit of a hill (first one of the day, and not the last...).
Got passed by, and congratulated by one of the coach who worked where I'm training, Tara Norton, who raced in a relay that day. She started 18 min after me... She's a fast fish ;)

By the time you're at your bike, you're already warmed up and no need for the arm warmers ;)
Everything went smoothly, put the shoes on, the helmet, the glasses, the bib and off I went.
No need to hurry, just make sure I've got everything.

Nothing, it went smoothly, had time to pick up everything.

I knew I would have to pace myself and ensure not to push too hard on this segment as I could, sometime, be over optimistic... The ride is a long one and a tough one, so keep it easy...

First part of it, I was pushing a little bit too much. Had some difficulties to settle my HR down. Hit some crazy speed with the racing wheels I rented (76 kph... That's too fast for me... Crazy!!!)

Once I passed dwight beach road and the Hwy 60, I forced myself to eased it down because I was really concerned of my possibility after a tough ride.

I might (I don't and never know if it was a good decision) over reacted and eased it a bit too much... Anyway, it was tough, but managed to go through it. Knowing that I was half way point, that this was my day, my race, my moment, that all my family, friends were following me on ironmanlive, that helped a lot!

I hit a moment when that was enough, at about 2h into the ride. I lost myself and the purpose of all of this. I knew I was slower than expected and it became difficult mentally to go through. Then, I tried to raise my head, keep smiling, think of all the good things I went trough the training, once again friends and family and I went back on track.

At that moment, one of my training buddy passed me on the bike. It was his 1st triathlon and he choose a half ironman for that... Crazy dude!
I knew he was hammering the bike and was going in front of serious trouble. I passed him again and reminded him there was a half marathon after this ride... He thanked me for that and went more easy. I never saw him again on the bike.

I have been passed a lot on the bike. At some point, I wanted to keep it up and follow them. I knew it would have been a big mistake. I knew I will see them on the run... I managed my ego and kept myself in MY pace.

On Deerhurst drive, that's it, 2 down, one to go, I'm 500m of the line.

Everybody is cheering, I'm feeling like on the Tour. It is a great way to recharge your tank with a lot of positive energy. Thank you all for that!

Off the line, into the transition, Bike: Done!

It is tough to say. What if I had kept going a strong pace ? What would have been the consequence on the run ?
I think I made the right decision... The race really begin on the run section... ;)

Wanted to go to the potties but was not sure...
So racked the bike, put the shoes ON and off I went. Smooth, good one.

Go to the potties. It would have been better to settle down in transition than later on the run...

I was feeling strong, setup myself in a nice, steady, easy pace.
1 k down, 20 to go... Still ok on the run but felt I did a mistake not stopping to pee.
2 k down, 19 to go, first aid station. Walking by, taking perfom, water to rinse and off I went.
3 k down, 18 to go... That's gonna be a lonnnnnnng run...
4 k down, 17 to go... OK, I need to stop, potty right there, it is free, it is good to take a short break. At least, my HR is settling down ;)
5 k down, OK, first quarter of the run down. It is already difficult.
6 k, I saw Tim, one of my friend passing ion the other way. Lucky him, he's almost there... ;)

I start to walk the hills, I can't, it's very difficult physically now.
But, I know, I can do it, I'm almost there, so I try to keep pushing.
Every hill is a struggle but as soon as it's becoming flat again, I start to run again and again.

I'm passing a lot of people that passed me on the bike. They all went waaaayy faster than me on the ride but I knew they will have to pay the price... Sorry buddies, you burned your wings, I still got a little bit of fuel in my tanks, that's the game, isn't it ? ;)

Soon, it is the turn around point. I'm almost there, 10k to go !
I run side by side with a nice guy, we chat a bit, he's telling me he can't follow me, we say good luck, and I'm on my way.

Every hill is now a challenge and it is very tough to run them. Every aid station are heaven! I'm getting splashed all over by the kids, we both loved it :)

Pretzels !!! Ohhh, I finally managed to find some pretzels ! Happy me to eat something that is not sweety ! I'm sick of the gels, perform and all this sh**t. It tasted soooo good !!!

Went by another fellow runner, we said to each other: We can run very easy pace for the remaining 3k. We can do it. 100 meters after this commitment, he told me to go, he was down. I try to pulled him, he told me to go and get them. Good work mate ;)
I went.

2 k to go: Here I am, I can almost see the finish line, hear the announcer telling the name, I'm there...

1k to go: Ohhhh gosh, this last hill is a sneaky one... Damn... Saw Andrew's mother, she told me to keep it strong, nice and steady. I restarted to run.

500m to go: Here I am, thank you people for being there, for cheering, you gave me the last bit of energy I needed!

200 m to go: I'm in the finishing chute, I'm there !!!
I'm looking behind me, nobody: That's important to get a good finisher picture ;)
I'm getting high, don't need drugs or pills, just register for this kind of events and you'll get high when you'll be at this point !

Last turn: That's it, I see the line, she's waiting for me, she's waiting for 8 months now for me coming trough. Everybody's cheering and it's becoming blurry in my head. Lot of things are going trough at the light of speed. All the workout, all the sweats, all the tears, all the morning when the sun is not rised yet, all the beers I missed with my buddies, everything is right there, in front of me!

Finishing line: I can hear the shutter of the photograph in front me. Tears are there, everything stopped for a moment.

I did it! I finished a Half IronMan !

I was just speechless, got my medal, said that I was OK to the volunteers and went to take the finisher picture, got my shirt and I was out the chute.

It's over now... I'm no longer a Half IronMan virgin, I am a Half IronMan finisher!

Hit the potties before the run maybe ?
Except that, nothing, I finished it, that's all that matters, no ? ;)

Went to the cold shower and gosh, felt good :)
Stretched a bit, talked to my wife who was really proud of me and headed down to the athlete buffet.

Moments later, went to sit down in the cold lake for the legs recovery process. They deserved it.


I was weak on my long run training. It showed up on the run.
Needed to do more hills training as well... There is a couple out there ;)


That was a tough race ! But did it.
I really felt I was supported and cheered by all my friends and family from all over the world and it helped me a lot on the run, really.

It was funny to noticed that they were actually doing an almost live re-transcription of the race thanks to ironman live on my FB page.
That was funny to read after the race. Thanks.

Even though I went trough some difficult moments, when it was very hard, I never though it would have been impossible to do, impossible to finish. Training paid off.

Now, time to recover, to digest this race and will start thinking of the next one in a couple of days...

For the records, my crazy dude that went ballistic on the bike, before I warned him and eased down, ran his PB on the half marathon. He thanked me for this little advice ;)

Final note: Thank you Volunteers for all you've done. This is thanks to you we are able to have races so well organized! You deserve the same medal we all had !