Muskoka 70.3 Race Report

This past weekend was Ironman Muskoka 70.3 at Deerhurst Resort. The weather was just incredible and as usually Mitch and Janet Fraser along with the Race committee and volunteers did a fabulous job.
I also want to congratulate all of the competitors on their successes especially those first timers who conquered an extremely challenging course. Sara and Rob you guys rock! It amazes me that you are able to do so well while raising your family. Congrats!
Evan, I want you to know you are awesome. Dispite an injury you proved yourself once again. There is no such thing as quitting! It may not have been the "A" Race you were hoping for, but nonetheless you pushed through. I Love you
Steve, you made me so proud. Imagine how far you have come. Completing your first half ironman after only a few short months (and with 3 flats)! Your hard work and dedication has paid off! CONGRATULATONS!!!!!
As for me, I may not have felt the best throughout the race but I am quite pleased. Here is my race report!
The Swim:
I entered the water fully relaxed and ready to go. I started on the inside along with a group of male swimmers. For the first time ever, I wasn't anxious entering the water. It was just another swim in my mind. I excited the water in 35 minutes which is good, though I am confident that if I worked a little harder I could easily knock some signifanct time off.
The Bike:
I entered this race with the desire to do 1 thing. Conquer the bike. I wanted to average 30km/h for the 94km and nothing more. At the 90km mark, I was able to give myself a smile of satisfation as my time was 2:57:00! I knew I had it. Very excited, I continued to climb the last series of hills still pushing my ability, but at the same time preparing for the run that was about to come. My final average: 30.6km/h! SWEET!
The Run:
Okay, so this is where things change. I started the run worried whether my left hamstring was going to hold up or not. I have been getting quite a bit of acupuncture over the past month, along with a couple of physio, massage and chiropractic appoinments weekly. I left transition area knowing that if I was able to average 6min km I would still beat my time from last year, so all I had to do was keep moving. About 2min into the run, I began to get my first stitch. As per usual, I stopped and the porta potty for a quick pee and then was off again. The stitch went. I continued to run averaging about 5min/km (Thanks to Steve I had a Garmin and was able to see my time after each km - A great new experience for me) The first half of the course was mostly up hill which was not the easiest for me since I haven't ran hills since last year. About 8km into the run I knew I was in trouble. My hamstring was killing me, along with my achilles. Wow...the pain was constant and sharp. I started to walk up a hill. I glanced down at the garming and saw 11m/km. CRAZY, I thought! I couldn't walk....I'd never beat last year. I took a deep breath and began to run again.
Luckily I found some great people to run and chat with along the way. It helped not to focus on the pain. With about 5km left in the run, I was forced to walk again. My hamstring was still aching. But now my hip flexor was killing me - I guess from the overcompensation for the Hamstring. I walked through the next aid station trying to regain my focus. I took 4 magnesium phosphoricium balls along with some pepsi and a couple of pretzels hoping that the tightness would subside just long enough for me to finish. I took my chances and pushed to finish. I knew that once I hit the last 2km the spectators would become my motivation and push me to finish the last hills. That's exactly what happened. I kept running, marking the kms off 1 by 1 until finally it was over. I managed a PB half marathon!
OVERVIEW
I knocked 21 minutes off of my time from last years race so I definitely have no regrets from the race whatsoever. The pain I experienced in my hamstring/hip flexor/achilles frustrates me only because I know that it was somewhat preventable. By this I mean, as an athlete it is my responsibilty to stretch and recover and unfortunately I am very weak in these aspects. It's ok though to be frustrated, I think, as long as we take the frustration and learn from it. I have. I have now taken on a personal trainer to work on my stretching and flexibility twice a week. I will be ready for Florida!
RESULTS
5:40:26
8/46 in the 25-29 age group
362/1335 total athletes (male and female)
That's all for now!

Cheers,
Dee

L.O.S.T Swimming

The Lake Ontario Swim Team hosted it's 2nd Annual fun Iron Distance Open water fun race this past Saturday in Oakville. Evan and I were very glad to be a part of this well organized fun event that saw over 35 people swim the 3.8 km in Lake Ontario.

I was a little nervous/excited as this was my first ever swim in Lake Ontario as well as my first straight 3.8km. The water was a beautiful 70 degrees and the weather proved remarkable with hardly any wind.

As a test for myself leading up to the Ironman in November I had hoped to finish in under 1 hour and 15 minutes. I beat my expectations, finishing the 3.8km in 1 hour and 3minutes. To say the least I was very happy but now I have even more to focus on. I am planning on beating 1 hour in the near future.

The L.O.S.T swimming group meets every Saturday morning at 8 am in Oakville for a 1 hour swim. The people are wonderful and very knowledgable as most are competitive swimmers/triathletes. Just what I need as I head into the next couple of months of heavy training.

That's all for now.

Dee

Lucky "13"??

Evan's Bracebridge Report

Well, what can I say, this was a very memorable race, for many reasons. Not only was I very pleased with my race result, it was not easy given the weather conditions I had to deal with in the race.

My pre-race routine was a lot more relaxed and organized in comparison to Peterborough, even though Peterborough wasn’t all that rushed or hectic (it just wasn’t how I wanted it to go). Dee and I got to the park in plenty of time (approx. 2 hours before the race start) and went over to get registered before dropping off our bikes and gear into the transition area. When we went over to see what my “lucky” bib number was for this race, I was a little surprised to see the number “13” beside my name. After I saw this, I told Dee “It’s a good thing I am not superstitious, or at least, I am not going to be superstitious today.” After I was able to take my time and get my transition area set up well, I had some time to hop on my bike before getting my wetsuit on to make sure I had my shoes clipped onto my pedals and to make sure I was in a low gear to get up the hill in the park past the mount line. Next we got on our wetsuits while listening to the pre-race meeting, mainly because we weren’t sure how the swim was supposed to start and where we were supposed to enter the water after the first lap of the swim was completed. Once we got an understanding of the race details, we got in the water at the swim exit and had about 10-15 minutes to do a quick swim before the horn sounded for the start of the race. The weather was cloudy and warm before the race began, and I knew they were calling for a chance of thunderstorms, with sun and humid weather to follow, but I wasn’t too worried about the forecast, and thought that it wouldn’t be until later on in the day before the storms hit anyway.

Swim:
Overall, I would have to say that I was fairly happy with my swim. For the most part, I found a group of 2-4 swimmers whom I just drafted off of from about the second half of the first loop and the entire second loop of the swim. Even though the swim times seemed to be slow (it was probably a good 100m run across the shore to start the second lap of the swim, so that added some extra time to the swim speed), I felt like I had no trouble sticking with this group of swimmers, even though I had a plan before the race to push the swim a little harder than I did.

Bike:
Well, that was one of the most memorable 90km that I have raced to date…well, the first half wasn’t all that bad. I was feeling very good and I felt like I was timing my nutrition intake well. As per usual on an out-and-back bike course when I was approaching the turnaround point, I began counting the bikers who were passing me in the opposite direction to see what place I was in. To my suprise, I counted only 2 people by the time I made it to the halfway point. Wow...3rd place overall half way through the bike, I couldn't believe it!!! However, this excitement didn't last long. Not long after passing the halfway point, a huge flash of lightning and a loud “rumble” of thunder hit right over my head, which took me by a huge surprise. Following that, the sky opened up and down came a torrential downpour of rain, enough rain that I would be uncomfortable driving in if I was driving a car, let alone a bike. Being this was a hilly and very technical course with a few areas of bumps and potholes on the road, I at first became a little cautious about where to bike and how to ride, given that the weather and road conditions became poor very quickly...and unfortunately, a couple of bikers took advantage and passed me in my brief time of caution. I realized, however, that I had to keep my focus on what I had to do to stay on the road, and my confidence began to grow as I got used to the new “obstacle” thrown at me. This rain was relentless, and lasted for a good hour/hour and a half….it was falling down so hard and fast that it felt like hail as it hit me. Near the end of the bike (between 80-90km) there were places on the course where you had to bike through 3 inches of water where the road was beginning to get completely flooded. However, I tried as much as possible to keep my focus on getting my nutrition in at the right times, and keeping the bike from skidding out below me. It was one of the most challenging, let enjoyable bikes I have ever done (Yes, I must be crazy).

Run:
The run began quite nicely, as by this time the rain was beginning to slow down, however my shoes and socks were completely soaked from the deluge of water that just fell. I felt fairly comfortable and felt ready to attack. However, not too long into the run, the clouds began to break and the sun began to come out, and it got very humid very quickly. I reminded myself that if I stuck to my nutrition plan, I should be able to keep my energy up for the rest of the run without bonking. At about the 7km mark of the run, a spectator told me that I was in 5th place overall, and I could see 2 runners ahead of me. My legs suddenly began to spring to life and I began to I pick up the pace. I found myself in 3rd place within the next few kilometers. Shortly after, I saw another runner ahead of me. Slowly, but surely, I was able to catch him just after passing the half way mark of the run. 2nd place!!! My thoughts began to run wild as I suddenly realized the situation I was in. However, there was still 8-9km left in the run, and I had to stay in control of my mind, and my body. I knew there was no possibility of me catching up to the lead runner, as I knew he had built up a huge lead, so it was just a matter keeping up a good pace, and not letting anyone else pass me from behind. Fortunately, everything seemed to go well for me this day, and I was able to finish strong, in 2nd place overall!!! Very happy with my result.

I have to thank Dee for helping me prepare for this race, both physically and mentally, as well as helping to prepare a nutrition schedule that seemed to work for me this day. :)

The New Bike

"My New Baby"
I rode my new bike for the 1st time yesterday and "WOW" what a thrill. I felt incredibly fast and my pedal stroke was so fluid. I almost felt as though I wasn't even working. I was a little nervous about riding a Tri Bike so I figured we'd best ride flat, at least for the 1st time. We were going to complete a 20 minute tempo following our warm-up however I was only able to do 10 as I had a client to coach. For the first time ever I was able to push my lungs into a full anaerobic state while on the bike. Usually my muscles cramp or give long before my lungs. It was amazing. I actually took Evan in the intial 5km however he blew me away during the rest. (I pushed for the sake of saying I could, though I was toast after. Evan kept going with no hesitation) It was just great to feel strong on the bike.

I couldn't have done it without the help of Elaine at Piereks Cycle. What a great job on fitting me! I watched this bike for months as it hung in the store knowing that it was perfect for me.......It Didn't Disappoint! Thanks Elaine!

Why I tri?
To experience the joys of improvements!

Bracebridge Half Ironman

Bracebridge Half Ironman
Race Positives: nutrition was fabulous
To work on: speed in the swim, speed on the bike, speed on the run
Harder focussed training days

To say the least this race was adventurous and challenging and just not a great race for me, regardless of the result.
The Swim:
The weather seemed ok for the swim and dispite some poor sighting on my behalf, I pulled through and was the 42nd person out of the water.
The Bike:
About 15 minutes into the 90km bike, the sky opened up with the biggest clap of thunder I think I have ever heard. I swear it was like two hands came down above my head and smashed together. At that point I knew I was in for a long ride. Dispite the rain, which felt as though it was piercing my skin, and poor visibility, I managed to finish the bike in 3hours and 2minutes. A little dissapointing to be honest but that just gives me something to focus on.
The Run:
On the positive side, the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out. It was going to be great....at least I thought. The transition into the run was extremely difficult as I had to make a quick decision as to whether or not I should put wet socks on my feet for the run or to go sockless. I chose sockless. My shoes were actually filled with water that I dumped over my feet to clean off the dirt, threw on my shoes and took off. Within the first 500 meters I knew I was doomed. I felt the blisters start to form. In an attempt to ease the pain I took some advil along with a stress tablet. It didn't help. I continued to run, singing songs in my head to focus on anything other than the pain. The sun was scorching. So much for thinking it be better....I definitely could have used the rain. Just short of two hours later I finished the grueling 21 km run and headed straight for the medical tent, my shoes filled with blood. She cleaned them up and I headed out to stretch. Minus my feet, I felt as though I was already recovered.

I headed to the results board and to my surprise finished:

2nd in my age group; 12/62 females; 57/190 total people
and
I qualified for the 2010 ITU World Long Distance Championships in Immenstadt Germany!

That's all for my report. I'll write again real soon.

Dee