Ironman 70.3 Muskoka : Official Thread

Did it last year brother.  You will love this race if it's your first time. If you can, stay at the lodge where transition is.  My girlfriend and I were the only people from Florida racing and we had a great time.  DO NOT underestimate the hills, they are ridiculous. I was prepared as i could be for the bike, but I didn't do enough hill repeats for the run. My hamstrings locked up 6 times and I had to stop and stretch.  Still managed a 8:35 pace for the run, so I was pretty pleased.  This is the 2nd or 3rd hardest 70.3 out there, so do your hill repeats.  Good luck

Fun! A thread over here instead of in the Ontario forum.

It will be my second time at Muskoka - hoping to improve each leg by a little bit and have a good day again.

We're staying at Deerhurst in the sport suites for the the fourth year - my hubby has done the race every year and we really can't beat staying basically in the transition zone.  We make a long weekend of it and enjoy.

We'll definitely head up at least twice to bike the course.  We have one of the weekends already booked. Now to start the OWS.

I never even thought to look in the Ontario forum, since my go to is Quebec!

I am definitely hoping to ride the hills (or at least some of them) a few times, but it's a bit of a hike for me! When are you guys planning on heading up there? I'd love to have someone to ride with! No one else I know would even consider it...

I'm in!  It's my first Half, excited and nervous at the same time!

About the hills - there are very few really giant or difficult hills, but you're right, it's pretty much always up or down.  If you're looking at the map the 35 and 117 are 'flatter' in that they are more 'highway' style so the ascents and descents are more gradual. While the lollypop stick, Brunel road, and South Portage as wells as Dwight Beach have more rolling hills that are short but can be steep.  Sorry, I am not more descriptive or prescriptive- i've ridden the course 4 times now and now it mostly by landmarks.

There are three hills that stick out to mee and I can't describe them well and they are primarly in the last third of the course. 

The first is a very steep but rather short hill not too far into Sourth Portage Rd that always seems to take me by surprise but I know it. I pretty much have to be in my very easiest gear and then still it's a total crawl. My DH saw a girl fall over on it the first year of the race and last year i saw some folks walk it up.  

Then the next is the hill that follows the turn back on to the lollypop stick (Canal Rd actually it's North Portage) - it's annoying because I lose speed making the left turn onto the road. 

And then with less than even 10 or 8k there's a last really bad one (which was fun going down on the way out) but saps the last bit of energy. 

Again none are particularly long - not miles but done in minutes or even seconds but on the whole I find the last 30k the very hardest ...

I found there to be one near the end - you see the house and you want to just turn your bike in to the driveway and take a little rest but when you get there - just tell yourself you are almost there - couple more pumps and you crest. 

Jen's description is pretty accurate.  I made a couple of wrong turns so didn't get to ride the full course but did the first/last bit a number of times.  It's challenging.  Make sure your derailers are working smoothly.  I dropped my chain 2x and at one point the crank locked when shifting.  Good luck everyone!

I am just too excited right now! The training, the sacrifices, the dedication, it all comes down to Muskoka for me! 

I might get some work done this week when I am in the lab, but next week? I will be pretty much checked out!

I've started to taper, but mildly.  This week will be more so.  It's a steady reduction, not a full out rest period.  Last weekend's hard workout was an 83 mile ride up in Wisconsin, 6,400 ft of ascending with 7-8 major hills to do that.  The loop on the IM Wisconsin course yesterday was pretty tame by comparison.  Long run went well today, I was hurt earlier this summer and been building back up on running since.  Treadmill, but we don't have enough hills around here, unless I do laps on the same one, but people already think I'm crazy enough!

I can't wait!  All thoughts are on this trip.  Except when I need a break from it, then I start thinking about what I'm going to do next year, haha!

And taper starts.... NOW !!!

rode the course 2 times. The second time was way better because you know what to expect, where to put the effort...

I agree with Jen's regarding the 1st hill. I really love dwight beach road, very fast.

Then, it's a matter of getting trough without burning too much...

Will be my 1st HIM for me. No expectations really, just to go trough and finish strong

Regarding the start, here is a link to the swim waves:

http://ironmanmuskoka.com/course/swim-waves/

My only concern is really the swim... not drowning... not drowning...

Also getting very excited! I was out in Huntsville again this weekend for my 2nd time on the course. Definitely easier the second time, partially because I was with people who were going slower than me (probably a good thing, need to save up for the run!), but also because you definitely know what is coming up. Had gearing problems for 2 of the hills, but that was just stupidity on my part. 

Road is still in the same condition... the road is still not paved, but it's less gravelly. I'm probably going to drive the course on the Saturday again to get my head into the game. Anyone wanna join me? :P

Tapering starts probably about Wednesday this week for me. Bike I will start now, swim will probably be later, but the run... I want to get one more long run in. On Saturday, we did a 2.5k swim, biked the course, and then went for a run, and wow, did that not go well. Did about 12k, and I had very little left. It was a very hot day, and I didn't do my nutrition properly, so that will change, but still... Knowing I'd still have to do 10k more than what I did scared me! Here we go! 

So when is everyone heading in to Huntsville? I may stop in on Friday, but will be heading in in the late morning/early afternoon on Saturday. Staying at Hidden Valley. See everyone there!

Going there on Friday afternoon and staying into the resort for the week end.

I will have to swim/ride/run on the saturday morning for the last pieces before the HIM.

If somebody is interested in

My first, too. Time goal for me is to be on the run before the first pro finishes Gives me just under 4 hours for Swim+T1+Bike+T2... I don't foresee that being a problem, but you never know.

With that in mind, I'm hoping to get in in under 6, but after the workout this weekend, I'm not holding my breath for a stellar run. 

Getting close to a pro (guy or girl) would have been fun, but not with a 12 min head start and they'll all be better swimmers than I am.  Wonder who all is going to be there now.  Seeing who's there is a big part of the fun for me.

I know what I'd like to run in various sections, but I haven't actually seen the course and don't know exact weather conditions.  I'm just going to target effort levels for rough estimates of how long it will take and time is what it is.  My best results have come that way.

This will be Half IM #3 for me.  Tri #14 (or so).