At 199 lbs and lacking internal motivation I signed up for Muskoka 70.3 to keep me focused and under 200lbs. Spoiler alert- I'm still fat .
My bike training was a little bit pathetic and my swim is almost non existent, but the running's been going well (thanks to Derek and Steph bustin my ass on the Sunday runs)
I have plenty of excuses for not training properly, but no legitimate ones so let's move on.
The race was in Huntsville, a small holiday town that bursts at the seams every summer. We were lucky enough to stay with friends of Jen who live a short drive from the start, (option B was sleeping in my car).
Or shacking up with these happenin' dudes:
No thanks .
Or shacking up with these happenin' dudes:
No thanks .
Pics: too bad Ironman doesn't give refunds. I could have happily chilled by the river with these guys all weekend
Friends and training buddies Derek and Scott were also racing (first time half iron for both)as well as Riaz (a veteran) who'd done the Miami tri with us a while back.
Race day.
SWIM
I cut it pretty fine leaving the house and got to the water with 5 mins to spare. The swim start was pretty brutal as I got stuck behind some big slow dudes and got pounded. Other than that the swim was great, perfect conditions and even after taking a bit of a detour I still ended up with an okay time. 35mins
I cut it pretty fine leaving the house and got to the water with 5 mins to spare. The swim start was pretty brutal as I got stuck behind some big slow dudes and got pounded. Other than that the swim was great, perfect conditions and even after taking a bit of a detour I still ended up with an okay time. 35mins
(Not my)Pic: Fairy Lake
BIKE
I tried to take it really easy on the bike, but after 30k I already felt like crap and was getting passed like I was parked. So I went against my instinct and decided to go even slower just to make sure I had something for the run. Personal Worst : 3h11m ( Side note: you know you've hit rock bottom when someone whose saddle is 10 inches too low passes you.)
Pic: Pro tip, park your bike near expensive looking bikes because they'll most likely be gone by the time you get to transition.
No good pic of me on the bike because I always seem to be at 3 o'clock in my pedal stroke and I look like a hampster on a cookie .
I tried to take it really easy on the bike, but after 30k I already felt like crap and was getting passed like I was parked. So I went against my instinct and decided to go even slower just to make sure I had something for the run. Personal Worst : 3h11m ( Side note: you know you've hit rock bottom when someone whose saddle is 10 inches too low passes you.)
Pic: Pro tip, park your bike near expensive looking bikes because they'll most likely be gone by the time you get to transition.
No good pic of me on the bike because I always seem to be at 3 o'clock in my pedal stroke and I look like a hampster on a cookie .
RUN
For once I had a good run, and it was nice catching the majority of the people who passed me on the bike. (I lapped low saddle guy. Seriously his knees were pointing east and west although his pics probably look amazing!) Riaz came out of transition at exactly the same time as me but, being a sensible guy, decided that he would like to be able to walk on Monday morning, so he paced himself. I on the other hand started out WAY too hard and the wheels nearly came off around the 16k mark, but I managed to get over the line before my lack of preparation could really punish me. PB 1h43.
For once I had a good run, and it was nice catching the majority of the people who passed me on the bike. (I lapped low saddle guy. Seriously his knees were pointing east and west although his pics probably look amazing!) Riaz came out of transition at exactly the same time as me but, being a sensible guy, decided that he would like to be able to walk on Monday morning, so he paced himself. I on the other hand started out WAY too hard and the wheels nearly came off around the 16k mark, but I managed to get over the line before my lack of preparation could really punish me. PB 1h43.
As i was cruising in to the finish line Scott's wife, Rebecca, shouted out that some glory boy was chasing me, and I had to have a Sprint finish with this guy - uphill 🙄 I did a mini sprint to discourage him, but he didn't relent so it was a battle all the way (Honestly, who sprints for 379th place?!?!?)
(I guess I do) 379 / 1544. Total time and an unexpected PB of 5:35:14
Pic: I added the pics last and looked up the guy racing me. He's not even in my age group and beat my by 5 minutes on the chip time . Clown.
Rebecca was tracking Scott and Derek and saw Derek was close to the 6 hour mark with about a minute to go. I ran down the road to tell him to move his ass. I nearly passed out from the effort. He came in bang on 6hrs. Riaz came in at 5:50 and Scott at 6:16. Solid performances .
Pic: Scott, Derek and me looking super fresh. Fun times.
I washed my bike tonight and will definitely ride it before next year's race. Maybe.
