| Race type: | Triathlon |
| Date: | August 30th 2021 |
| Distance: | Half Ironman: 1.9km / 90km / 21.2km |
| Location: | Muskoka, ON |
| Notes: | First triathlon ever π |
| Final Time: | 6h41m07s |
My first triathlon ever
That course was long time in the making !
Quick story time: in 2019, a friend of mine motivated me to tackle triathlon as a new sport. At the time it seemed like a great idea and even if the first few times we discussed it I was not thinking of actually doing it, after a while I decided to go ahead! And of course, true to myself, I was hyped up and wanted to do a full ironman straight from the “couch potato” I was at the time …. After a bit of research, I realized that this was maybe too much and I couldn’t cramp 12-15 hour of training a week with a kid, my job and keep my sanity ! So We decided to register with my friend to the Maine 2020 Half Ironman instead…. The rest is history, someone did something somewhere and a global pandemic was soon forcing us to stay put. With all the restrictions, we deferred to 2021, but then again in 2021, this pandemic was not over and the borders were still closed, so we actually cancelled our Maine race and 1 month before the race we decided to do the Muskoka one instead (on the same exact day… so no change of plans for our training).
And this, is the story on how I end up doing this Ironman !
Planing the trip
When you do this type of course, it takes a bit more of planification than doing your city race. We had to took 3 nights at a cheap motel that was not far from the race, as most of the hotels were already full or very (VERY) expensive. You have to plan the trip with rest in mind as well, you don’t want to end up arriving the night before, after 7 hours of car ride.
So we took the road on Friday afternoon and arrived there Friday night around 10PM. We went Saturday to the race site, got our registration and stuff. We then explored the beautiful town, walked around and even enjoy some water falls. Nice relaxing day before the big day!
Our motel was 30 min away from the event, so we woke up early, around 5:30AM. Didn’t sleep well anyway! Too much excitement. We proceed to review all our gear, and we were ready to go!
Swim
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
00:46:35
hours
|
00:46:35
hours
|
1.95
km
|
2:23
min/100m
|
1:23
min/100m
|
0.00
meters
|
535
kcal
|
The stress was getting higher, but so was the excitement. I knew that my swim is not my strongest discipline, so I decided to start at the back of the rolling start, to avoid what everyone was referring to me as the “washing machine”, which I really didn’t want to experience π
Overall I was happy with my swim, even though I had trouble keeping a straight line! It’s much harder to go straight when the water is not clear and there is no line at the bottom ! But at least I prepare to open water swim with 2, yes 2!…, open water swims before the event.
I am not super at ease in water, so just the fact that I was able to go at my pace (even a bit slower), without breathing issue or need to pause was a big win for me. Went out of the water with motivation and ready to tackle the bike leg !
Bike
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
03:04:24
hours
|
03:04:24
hours
|
90.03
km
|
29.29
km/h
|
73.44
km/h
|
1,236.00
meters
|
2,230
kcal
|
Out of the swim, jumped on the bike and felt great. “90km, I got this!” I thought to myself. After 15 min it started raining… And not just your regular raining day, no, it was pouring water like it was the apocalypse ! You almost couldn’t see 20 meter in front of you, your bike was floating above 1 cm of water on the ground. Reckless as I am, I actually went full speed and did some 60-70km/h sprint in that weather, but when I realized my brake were completely useless due to too much water and that any movement could literally send me to the hospital, I went a bit slower downhill.
That being said, it rain for maybe half of the bike and I felt it was not a bad thing: it kept my HR lower and felt refreshing (if I only knew what was coming for the run π … More on that soon). So I stroll on my bike for those 90 km, with an average of 30km/h, which was my best target I set for myself. Felt good, maybe too good. Probably due to the adrenaline. What comes next was the hard part….
Run
| Elapsed Time | Moving Time | Distance | Average Speed | Max Speed | Elevation Gain | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
02:48:58
hours
|
02:41:23
hours
|
20.93
km
|
7:43
min/km
|
2:17
min/km
|
1,006.80
meters
|
1,665
kcal
|
Started the run thinking this was going to be easy, I just need to push… Ran the first km at around 5:00/km pace and then it hit me! My legs were hurting like hell and I had to slow down. The weather was very humid, with 39Β°C “feels like” temperature, and the sun burning your head. I had to stop, walk, and take few breaks. Checking my watch, I put some more realistic goals!
Okay, let’s try to aim at 6:00 pace…. okay maybe 6:30… let’s try 7:00… okay okay, 7:30 it is…. Let’s just finish this and never race a triathlon ever again”
I was far from my good old days, when my half-marathon PR was 1h26m. This time, I just focused on finishing this, without stoping completely. One foot in front of the other, repeat… You got this! I found enough strength to finish strong and run for the last 2kms and that allowed me to finish with a big smile, even though my run was terrible.
Final thoughts
Half Ironman is no joke. I joined this race as a challenge with a friend 2 years before, and I didn’t expect it to be that difficult. But what an experience. The next day I was ready to register for another one ! And after a few days of rest, I was back training.
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