Hard to think that my last full half-iron race was at the beginning of the season at Rev 3 Quassy. The stress fracture that I endured had me miss a couple key races and only be able to swim/bike the Ironman 70.3 Providence, Rhode Island race. But, now, being back at 100% injury free it was time to tackle Ironman 70.3 Muskoka in Huntsville, Ontario. I was very excited to toe the start line again considering all I have gone through this summer.
Friday
At 8 am, my dad and I packed up the car and headed towards Muskoka to check into the hotel and also get a run in on the run course. We arrived around 12:30 and immediately went to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Around 3, we headed to beautiful Deerhurst, where the event took place. After signing-in and checking out the expo, I changed into my run gear and set out for a 40min run along the run course. First thing noticed: WOW hilly!!! The run consisted of 3 intervals of speed, the rest just easy pacing. Was feeling great! After the race headed back to the hotel and went for dinner at East Sides. Why is the bread soo good there!!! Had a good meal and shut it down early.
Saturday
Day before the race. Woke up around 6:30 to get the day going. The day before race I usually bike for an hour and complete a swim. We left the hotel at 8:30, to drive some of the bike course. Halfway through I jumped on my bike and did 1hr of easy riding on the course. Drove the rest. After the bike, we made our way to Deerhurst for a practice swim. The workout was 1500m with some pickups and was also used to get familiar with the buoy placements. All went very well and confidence levels were at a high! For lunch, my dad and I met up with my girlfriend who came down with her parents to visit her grandparents and also watch the race. Very good sandwich and salad! After lunch went to check the bike in at transition and headed back to the hotel before eating once again at East Sides!! Got the pasta in and shut it down for the night to be fully charged for Sunday.
Race day
5:10AM Wake up – Get the coffee going and start eating my regular bowl of Wheaties Fuel and Almond milk. Got my Optygen HP, 7Systems and BASE Amino in!! Cant start a race without my key components!
6:30 Arrive at race site and get my bike and all of my transition ready. Head off for an easy 10min jog with stretches and pickups to get the body moving.
7:30 Head to the swim start and get a good swim warmup in.
At this point I am feeling strong and ready for what was ahead. I knew that I had done everything possible to arrive at this point in terms of training. Even though I hadn’t had much time on my feet working on my run, I knew that I had the engine and mental strength to race the race.
8AM Pros are off .
8:12AM Race start for me! The swim start was in the water. I had placed myself right at the front. From the start sound I got into my hard swim pace. After 200m I got into my cruising zone while keeping the intensity high. The swim went to plan. Sighting was not an issue and contact was at a minimum as I was able to create a small gap. My goal was to sub 33min and I ended up with a 32:58, pretty close! The hardest part of the swim was the run from the swim exit to transition. Almost 500m straight uphill! Transition went well and it was off on the bike.
My coach and I had discussed at what wattage I should be keeping my effort at. I was to hold it at 85% of my FTP and I did just that on the bike. Throughout the hilly course I was able to keep on pace for my objectives. Coming out of the water I was 9th in my age group so I knew I had some catching to do. I was pushing the pace pretty hard. Some were trying to stay with me, but that just fueled me even more. Halfway through the bike I was leading my age group. Coming into T2 I was leading by 1:30. I ended up having the 2nd fastest bike split of the day for amateurs.
Off on the run everything started to plan. Running a solid pace that I know I could hold for the entire run. But at the 9km mark, things turned ugly in my stomach. I started getting bad cramps which had me walking. From that point on it was a struggle to get to the end. Slowly I had 3 guys pass me. Not much I could have done. So the run didn’t go to plan but still ended up finishing 4th in my age group and securing a spot for the 2012 World Championships.
Thinking and analyzing the race, I believe my nutrition plan might have failed me this time. The next steps for me are to get this resolved and from there take to it the last race of the season, IM 70.3 Poconos Mountains. I will be doing some specific run training, to get my speed back to where it was to be ready to throw down a solid performance.
I really want to thank my dad for being such a good support crew for me this past weekend. Wouldn’t have been able to have done it.
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