I had plans to do a blog post about the Muskoka 70.3 I did back in July, but things got busy, and I got lazy. What else is new right?
But here I am finishing that race with a time of 8:26…. not what I wanted.. but also not the worst. It was a great learning experience and gave me a great sense of where I was fitness wise on my bike, and especially on my run.
Photo Cred: Mike Last ( www.mikelastphoto.com )
I’d be lying if I said that race was easy; the one thing that made it difficult was near the end of the bike, around 8km to go my legs started to cramp on one of the final climbs. I got off my bike and quickly stretched it out and thought I was good to go. Perhaps I just didn’t feel it the last two climbs before getting back into transition but I definitely felt it immediately as soon as I started my run.
21.1km of legs cramps, while running… while walking.. didn’t matter. I also left all my salt tabs on my bike and the ones i did have on me spilled into my bike jersey so they were all gross and wet. (I still used them…).
Regardless, I finished the run in pain but mentally I was feeling good.
Fast forward to the end of July, when I went down to Madison Wisconsin to ride the actual bike course. I’m so glad I was able to do that, not only was it great physical prep, but excellent mental prep for the ride. Over two days I rode basically the entire course. The first day being a ride out on “the stick” as it’s referred too, and the second day was 2 full loops of the meat of the bike course. A hilly ride through the countryside of Wisconsin and up the beast of a hill known as “Barlow”.
I’m not really ‘nervous’… but I am dreading the marathon portion. My running has come a long way and I think I will be able to push through, but there is that nagging doubt of “what if I just wasted a year of my life training, only to NOT finish”. A preventable DNF is unacceptable to me… I know I know… people will tell you “it doesn’t matter if you don’t finish” blah blah.. .the experience and all that… but it does matter.. it matters to me.
This is a race. I’m not doing this to just ‘try it out’. I want to finish. That’s my goal, and I sure as shit will be disappointed if I don’t achieve at least that. The Wisconsin course is a beast; known for being pretty difficult, so finishing would be even sweeter. Obviously it’s not the end of the world if I don’t finish, but man.. you don’t want to be around me when they pull me off the course. Cause that is what they will have to do. I won’t voluntarily give up.
I feel strong, and ready to crush that course, but life sometimes has a funny way of throwing you a curve ball. Remain vigilant and don’t be a cocky prick is what I tell myself. Ironman is not easy.
Below is a culmination of my journey through the year from the POV of my GoPro. Ironman training, or rather triathlon in general is a lonely sport but I’ve had the best online (and in person!) support from an awersome team through Riding on Insulin. The people on this team are some of the best there is; And this little tribute is for you guys as well.
I hope everyone gets to that finish line, and if some of us don’t. Fuck it. There is always next year.
One more blog to come before the race… then a little de-brief after.
PS: Thanks to Mike Last for capturing my run on the Muskoka 70.3 Ironman!
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