The Canadian Iron 113 - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

This was a fantastic swim - better than I thought I would do. I was a little slow to start swimming just in order to find some relatively clear water. In spite of this there was A LOT of contact out to the second buoy. I´m getting better at mass starts though and I just kept my head down and swam regardless of who hit me (or who I hit). I did seem to swim through a few people so my self seeding was not perfect. I kept my head down and swam strong the whole way. There was a long distance between two of the buoys which made sighting a bit difficult and I think I got slightly off course due to attempts to draft. Overall it was a great swim and I got out of the water and heard them call 38 minutes.

Start about halfway in the crowd

There is a very long run from the beach to T1 - they timed it separately - 1:50 - and a long run to the bike mount - so Iḿ not unhappy with the time. Everything went well in T1.

My ankle is still giving me trouble and it was sore for the first lap then all was fine. I stuck to my gameplan: an easy ride with an average of 30 kph. The only problem was the wind - strong wind with gusts that got stronger as the day went on. I probably should have adjusted for the wind - it might have made the run better, or not - who knows?

I started out strong, 40 kph for a bit, on the first lap but I knew the wind was at my back and going to get me. Sure enough, the legs from downtown back to Hogs Back were brutal. I kept the speed up on all but the last two laps. Took a bottle at the aid station on each loop except the last (never drank the bottle I took on lap five). Total fluid - 500ml of Heed, 500 water, 1500 eLoad.

My biggest fear hit around lap three: rain. It was not a warm day and I was fearing a repeat of Rideau Lakes. I knew if I got cold my speed would drop considerably. Fortunately it only lasted 10 minutes and then cleared up again.

On the second lap I passed Mike who was doing the full iron distance and said ¨Hi¨. He passed me again on the fourth or fifth lap. Impressive - he went on to fourth place overall in his race.

The only hitch came when I got off my bike. My ankle does not like running in bike shoes and it was so sore I had to walk. Made T2 a bit slower than it needed to be.

Got a bit disoriented and missed my rack - oops!

I knew I was a bit under trained for this and there was nothing I could do about it. I had three weeks vacation this summer and there is just no way I can get my training in when on vacation. I know I could run 5:21 kms at least for the first lap and then hoped to come in 5:40 avg or just under two hours for the whole run. The wind on the bike eliminated that plan. I did run the first lap under 5:21 but it went downhill fast from there. On the last lap my right quad started to cramp suddenly which would send me lurching upwards. I did stop twice to stretch it. By the time I saw the stadium it had subsided and I was able to pick-up the pace at the end to sub 6:00 for a decent finish.

More training on the bike and run. My swim showed me what proper training can do - need to nail the bike and swim next time I do a HIM.

I came across the line and was confronted by a race official who said several officials had seen me on the bike course without a helmet. I protested and he went away. I was #196 and I now see that #296 was DQed so I now see what happened. Had water, a bagel, a banana - rested. They had not posted the results after a half-hour so I went home. Cycling that five km home nearly killed me.


Somersault races are interesting to say the least. At this event there are sprint try, try-a-tri, super sprint, HIM, full iron distance, duathlon version of each, relays, kayak tri, canoe tri, swim-cycles, swim only, and four distances of running races. The overall result is that you never know where you are in relation to the others in your event. As time went on there were fewer and fewer people on the course and as a result I felt that I was way behind. It turned out I was evenly in the middle of the HIM pack and the dwindling racers was due to the shorter distances finishing.

The other problem with this race is the fan support. Transition is set up in a stadium but there is generally no one there. Of course there is no entertainment or post-race events like at other races so it wouldn´t be very exciting to spend the day there anyways. There are maybe about 100 people lining the bike course (I liked the guys with cowbells on the one hill on the bike course - very Tour de France feeling!!). I think Ottawa is just not a spectator town. Fortunately it is a participating town and there are races here every weekend all summer long.

My family came out to a spot on the bike course 200 m from my house, watched for two of my laps, then left. My sister-in-law came in from Stittsville to watch which was really nice.

This was my first Half-Iron and I´m very happy with my time. I cam in under six hours which was my outside goal, and broke my swim goal, made my bike time goal. I see a glimmer of hope as well - if I had been better trained on the bike and run I know I could have made my run goal in spite of the wind. That, in this race, would have been a potential fourth place in my age group. It is nice after years of training to finally see a potential for decent placing in a race. I´m looking forward to next season - should be fun!!