I competed in the Great White North 1/2 Ironman on Sunday and although I missed my goal time by 56 seconds I did have a great race considering some of the complications I had. Triathletes always talk about the perfect race, well I had the exact opposite whatever that is.  I felt great in the morning when I woke up and I wasn’t that nervous of what was to come, I’d survived it before and I expected to again. The gun went off for the swim start and I was making progress through the field when I got stuck behind a slower group of swimmers and couldn’t seem to make my way through for about 500 meters. When I finished my first 1k lap my watch said 18min, what the hell 18min!!?? I’d better get my ass in gear because a 36min swim is unnacceptable so I knew I had to increase my tempo, focus on my breathing and make some waves. I ran along the beach and re entered wide left for a better angle to the buoy and got some space and started to pick up speed. I maintained a good pace exited the water and was at 32 min, a second lap of 14min was right where I wanted to be but I needed to make up the 4min I’d already lost.

I got out on the bike course and my legs felt great, I was making great progress through the field and reached the 45k turnaround at around 1:15, right on pace. I was heading back to Stony Plain when I was going over some small rollers and I felt a small tinge in my quad, I knew I’d been eating and drinking enough so i just ignored it, unfortunately it didn’t go away. I was having a great cycle and got back to T-2 at 2:24, a great cycle for me. I went to get off my bike and my legs siezed up, and I mean total siezure. I could barely make my way to rack my bike but eventually got there and had to sit down to even attempt to put my shoes on. Cramps are maybe one of the most painful things in the world and mine were intense, I wrestled my shoes on, got my visor on and stood up…6min in transition…bad.

I started the run strong due to the fact that I had a lot of friends and family cheering me on and wanted it to seem like I was okay, I wasn’t. As soon as I turned the corner and out of view, I had to stop and try to shake out my legs they were still cramping. I slammed my clenched fist into my quads and they were starting to let up..I wasn’t moving. Start walking I told myself and I was taking small steps and eventually was able to jog again, the first 2k took me 18 min, great on pace for a 3 hour 1/2 marathon. Time to get going I picked up the speed and my legs were co-operating for the time being but I needed to not focus on them and just try to make progress, 2 hours to go, let’s go. I made up some places and was feeling better and  I was holding a 5min km pace, I was happy with that seeing as it felt like someone was stabbing my legs with ice picks with every step. My family met me at the 1/2 way turnaround and it was exactly what I needed, their cheers gave me the strength to soldier on and make it to the finish, I turned the corner and the clock said 5:00.30 I knew I wouldn’t reach my goal but I was satisfied with my effort and courage to get through it. I ran a 1:54 1/2 marathon and accepted it as a success.

So what do I take from this? The negative of not reaching my goal? Or the positive of facing adversity, plowing through and still almost reaching my goal? I think the latter. Take a couple minutes off my swim, 4min off my T-2 transition and 8-10 min off my run who knows where I would have ended up. I’m looking forward to my next race on August 1st and hopefully I can get down under 5 hours, thanks to everyone who came out and cheered me on, it gives me more energy than you’ll ever know.

See you at the finish line,

MB