The alarm clock went off at 5:00AM. Will & I were fairly well organized the night before in preparation for a very challenging course in Huntsville Canada.
On Saturday afternoon we drove the bike and run course and were humbled by the number of hills on both the bike and run course. We scaled back our expectations for the day and determined a sub 3 hour bike would be a "win" and a sub 2 hour run would be an even bigger win. After a grueling bike the big question is .....what's left in the tank for the run as our legs were certain to be shredded by the hills of Muskoka! Scouting out the bike and run course proved to be invaluable as we now had our minds around the difficult day ahead of us - a MUST DO for every event - without exception.
We fueled up on Saturday afternoon at a local italian restaurant on pasta and that evening with more pasta and lots of H2O. In the town of Dorset a pralines and cream large single scoop of ice cream was in order while Will made friends with the locals, who would later greet and cheer him on as he raced through the village, across the single lane bridge. A little shopping was in order as we collected some souvenirs and supported the local economy.
The water temperatures were tested out on both Friday and Saturday evening as we chased the sun down in the crystal clear waters of Peninsula Lake - a balmy 68F. On Saturday evening we threw our lines in the water with spoons, jigs and top water bait being the menu du jour for our scaley little aquatic friends. Will got skunked while I managed to land a rock bass - foreshadowing the 70.3 race results that were to materialize within the next 18 hours..........
IM 70.3 Canada was actually the first event that I would actually "Race". Will decided to do a little trash talking in the weeks leading up to the event, which provided a much needed focus for the race. The morning of the race Will's wave would start 6 minutes before my wave. Being a stronger swimmer I knew that he would gain at least 5 minutes on me during the swim, which meant I would need to make up at least 11 minutes in order to catch him. There is a saying in the Ironman events......"It's all about the RUN!!", which I am painfully familiar with. The run crushed me at Gulf Shores 70.3, Busselton and Coeur D'alene, so I focused on the run leading up to Canada.
As Will and I stood on the shores of Peninsula Lake anxiously awaiting the start of the race I decided to get into the head of the "Young Bull". Knowing that he'd pick up time on the swim I reminded him of not pushing it too hard on the bike so he had legs for the run. He was then reminded that his worst nightmare would be seeing me coming in off of the bike as he was headed out on the run. Simply put, this would mean that I'd have successfully closed the 11 minute gap that he had generated on the swim and earlier start and that catching him on the run would be inevitable. My prediction was that by mile 8 I would run his ass down. Fortunately I was wrong as I caught him at mile 5.5 :)-
The swim was, well the swim. The course seemed longer than 1.2 miles. The bike was actually 58.5 miles and the run was nothing short of .....a bitch! The sun hid behind the clouds for most of the day and a slight breeze was welcome on the run.
When I crossed the finish line at 5:35:08 (in 317th place overall) I had no gas left in the tank. Usually as you enter the finishers shoot euphoria fills your legs and you feel like you could run forever. But on this day and for this race there was no euphoria, just relief that a PR was in order. After stumbling around in a daze for about 8 minutes Will's name was announced as he approached the finish line - he didn't look as bad as I felt. This goes to the heart of Ironman, it's all about what is between the ears and raw determination. There is no question that Will could have beat me in Canada, but focus and determination comes with experience. Will crossed the finish line at 5:49:38 and finished 454th and bagged a PR as well. It was a great day and a great race.
Post race we shared lunch with Stacey Richardson (and her husband Peter) a 37 year old recently gone pro. As we shared our stories for the day we inhaled pizza and soda which never tasted so damn good! That evening we went out to a local steak house - 3 Guys and a Stove - for a juicy steak and a good bottle of wine. We rested well and hit the road in the morning for Buffalo to catch our flight back.
Before getting on our flight we stopped at the birth place of the Chicken Wing, THE ANCHOR BAR, for 20 hot wings and a few beers. Will gulped down a couple of Genesee Cream Ales, aka Genesee Scream Ales for the effect that it has on your digestive process :). I had several Molson Ice Beers - not a beer that you can find at your local Publix in TN.
This was a great weekend and we now have our sights set on IM Austin 70.3. There is no doubt that we will each PR at this race. Sub 5............?
Cheers!
