Ironman Canada - TriathlonFull Ironman

wow. what a beating. the first 200 yards were insane, and i started in the 1.5 row, except right in the middle of the start versus last years more left beginning.

dont know what the deal was, but just couldn't hold the group in front of me, i would surge, catch up, then slowly drift off pace. drafting wasn't a highlight of this race for me, and as the race wore on, i starting wondering how long this was taking me. my swims this year haven't been as fast as years past, and i was getting nervous about my pre race goal of 56.

about 2/3 of the way to the first bouy, so like 1200 yards in the race i get swam over and kicked in the eye. REALLY? got a little black eye from it, but i just couldn't believe someone would swim that agressive that far into the swim. anyway, swim was great and was happy to stand up and see 55's on the clock, but guess i took a little bit long getting out of the water, as i ended up with 56:02

dont start in the middle.

erin won the swim...again...and i am not just talking about age groupers, all women, pros included with a 51:28. apparently they announced over the loud speakers "there is a report coming in from the helicopter that there is a pink cap up with the top age group men"!

thats my girl!

strippers helped, but still took a couple yanks to get the wetsuit off. even with body glide

nothing, much better than last year

well. if i want to break 11, ive gotta ride sub 6. so thats what i did.

ride to Oliver/osoyoos was insanely fast. richter was hot, but no big deal. rollers were tough and HOT and windy, out and back was tons better than last year, and i felt very strong riding to the base of yellow lake (where last year i just got demolished)

yellow wasn't terrible and i kept on the gas on the decent. getting back into town was tough tho, and when i checked my watch, i knew i would have to book it to get under 6, so i did.

i dug a little deep and willed myself into the aero position for anouther 15-20 minutes. came in just under 6 hours, which i am really happy about. thats like a 22 minute improvement in one year. and i dont know it was me or not, but comparing this ride to last years, i would rank this one as harder (even with my freezing hail experience last year). the wind into penticton made it tough.

well, my goal was to be off the bike by 7 hours race time, and i did that. however, i think i needed to think a little more about the possibility of changing my goals mid race. not so much my sub 11, but my sub 6...if i rode a 605/610, i might have been fresh enough to run faster than sub 4. instead, i put myself in a position to replicate last years run. i was a little doubtful, but ready to commit.

perfect.

yikes.

right outta the gate i saw the garmin reading 755 pace. i immediately slowed down to 815, which felt better, but still quick, "all i need is 9"

saw ben/mark on the first out and back and they looked beat up like i felt. oh boy, here we go.

first 8-10 miles were actually great, ran solid 830s and felt in a good rythm, then right before the turn around i lost a minute per mile. i actually did a double take, 930?! what the hell happened!

i picked up the pace again but by mile 11 i was forced to walk (outside the aid stations).

i reached the turn around in 210 and knew there was no way i was gonna
1) break 4
2) break 11
so, i decided just to hold it together and run slow. eventually that didn't work either and i was forced to frequent the porta poopers about 3 times.

everyone was going past me, and i couldnt find anyone to run with (even erin when she passed me was going TOO fast (she ran 355!!!)) i even met andrew, the guy i ran with in 2010 on the course and he tried to pick me up, sadly i had zero, nada, nothing

finally around 21 miles in, i bend over and stretch out my legs, a guy says "JM, come on man, you don't want to me the one person i pass today" i look up and say "likewise!"

that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. haha, only ironman can create such emotional and enduring friendships in 6 miles. we both had grand plans for the day, and were smacked down HARD on the run. anthony was on 945 pace and i was on 11, now we were in the middle of just put your head down and finish.

thats what we did, never talked about quitting, simply wasn't an option, but we also didn't talk about running either, which was also, just not an option! we walked and talked for over an hour, then i lost him to the porta potties.

once i left him, i tried to run some more, but was limited to runing accross the intersections in town. literally. thats it. about 100 feet, then back to walking.

i had my final porta potty pep talk with 2 to go, and when i cam out, i was 25 yards behind anthony again. sweet.

at 40km i started jogging, catching up to him and saying "come on dude, we can run this far" he wasn't happy with me, but i got him moving, and i think we were both proud of the fact that we ran that last 1+ miles with no walk breaks. wasn't easy tho. at all.finished side by side, and couldn't have been prouder.

honestly? nothing. i loved every second of it. my training was there, my execution was off

i sat down. thank you very much


heat/ wind on the bike

my first ironman (11:18) was alomst too perfect. i wasn't exhausted, i wasn't sore, i wasn't "tested". i paced it. i kept within my abilities all day long, and got to the finish line feeling amazing.

my second ironman an entire hour longer, i am much more proud of. i wanted sub 11, so i put myself in position to accomplish that goal. i know i can run sub 4. it just happened that that day, i couldn't.

i dont think i was delt bad cards, i just think i played them wrong.
that being said, i am in great shape, and excited to be ready for VEGAS in 2 weeks. not taking it easy anymore!!




canada is the best. hands down. i am signed up for lake placid next year, and really hope that LP can compare to the beauty of canada. love this race, and i will be back.

erin had an amazing race, and finished in 11:43 for her first ironman and WON her AGE GROUP. which means.........KONA. in her first attempt. are. you. serious.

she took her slot (even tho its in 6 weeks) and we are so happy. we both qualified for vegas champs (she wont race now tho) so between the two of us, we are both competing in the world championships. 70.3 and ironman. dream come true

also, jordan rapp gave one of the BEST speeches i have ever had the pleasure of hearing at the awards banquet.see link below:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Opinion/Rapp_on_the_dais_2296.html