Ironman 70.3 Muskoka - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim started out well but I quickly realized the main pack grouped over to the right of me and I realized it a little too late. Spent the rest of the race finding a good group to draft with. I had a bit of trouble sighting some of the markers. Overall the swim was good and the water temperature was perfect. The wetsuit was put on well with lots of room in the arms.
The last leg of the swim through the bay to the 9th hole of the golf course where you get out I noticed I started to get a little dizzy. The bay is shallow so all of a sudden I was able to see bottom and it threw me off a bit. A volunteer helped yank me out of the water and up the stairs but by the time I got to the top step I had to stop and hold on to the railing with both hands to steady myself. Another volunteer was saying to me "your good keep going" all I said was "I need a second". I just needed to feel solid ground for a second to stop my head from spinning. Felt bad cause I'm sure there were people behind me trying to get up the stairs but I was wobbly!

Pay attention at the start line as to where the big group of people are lined up so that I don't miss the main pack to draft with.

There are wet suit strippers right where you get out of the water so I used them and then started up the huge concrete hill to the transition area in front of the hotel. I walked up to transition as I was still pretty dizzy at this point. As I was going up the steepest part of the hill there was a break in the racers in front and behind me, at that point I see this women turn to me and look me in the eye and say "you are doing great!" thats when I realize it was Lisa Bently. The goof I am I yell "thanks Lisa!". By this point I have lost most of the feeling in my feet. The concrete is freezing and hard and although I am feeling better I can't manage to run with no feeling in my feet. I even turned to a spectator and said "how are all these people running I can't feel my feet!".
The only other big decision in transition was whether to wear a jacket or something on the bike. It was cool in the morning but I had worked up some heat from the swim. I had a variety of options in transition, jacket, arm warmers, long sleeve shirt. I didn't know what to do. I looked around and there was only the odd person wearing arm warmers so I opted to go with those. Super glad I did as I wore them the whole ride and I was the perfect temperature.

Nothing too much.

CHALLENGING!
So hilly that you were either doing 30-40 km/hr or 10-20 km/hr and nothing in between. There was a good stretch from dwight to the bottom of the loop that was a little less challenging but the back half of the course was relentless.
The key to this course is knowing your gearing on the bike and knowing when to switch gears to keep momentum. You could see some people switching gears to early and spinning out at the bottom of the hill and others who just grinded up in way too big of a gear. It was a little comical at some points where the entire mass of people are going super fast and then all of a sudden you hit a hill and everyone has slowed.
Nutrition was good and the first half of the race I was able to average 29 km/hr. The back half of the race I went in with the mentality to just commute to the finish so as not got get frustraited. It was a challenging course.

Nothing.

Had a good transiiton. Came in and found my bike easily.

The first 10 km was going well and ran it in less than 1 hour. At the 16 km mark I hit the wall, not sure what happened. All I could do at that point was run walk. I think it was fairy vista trail where it was the most frustraiting. The trail is up/down and isolated from people. By the 18 km mark I was able to rall a bit. By the time you start getting back to the hotel the road is lined with spectators and it was a good finish.

Nothing.

Grabbed some food from the athlete buffet which was actually quite impressive. They had a tonn of real food to eat. I think I would have been completly satisfied though with just getting a huge plate of that potatoe salad they had, for some reason it tasted like the best thing in the world after the race.
Went back to the hotel room and showered and stretched and then packed up the car for the drive back home. Had a stopp at Webers of course for a burger.


Great race and very well organized.