As I entered T2 I looked and saw barely any bikes compared to when I got there in the morning, I’m in a pretty good spot..?? By this time it was 1:30 and the sun was beating straight down, I immediately felt the heat hit me when I got off my bike, I ran to the change tent and put socks and shoes on, new sunglasses and more salt and a few gels. I felt really good for the first 2 km as I was in the shade of some trees. Then as you turned a corner there it was, a 2km stretch on black asphalt with no shade, the sun hit my shoulders and I felt like a Vampire someone had thrown in the sun, I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HOT, I could feel the sun sucking all the energy out of me and I had serious doubts if I was going to be able to make another 40km. I made a deal with myself that I would run the whole first loop (14km) without stopping, I kept up my end of the bargain, although it was slow I didn’t stop. My coach Lisa always says a slow run is faster than a fast walk…she’s right.

The run course was 3 loops around the town of Woodlands and it had some shade, but mostly sun and concrete. The run was partially around a man made canal and there were tons of people cheering the athletes on, at one point I passed a Pub’s patio and there were all these people having fun and drinking beer, eating nachos.. you know the deal, having fun with friends. I wanted to stop sit down have a beer and throw in the towel, it was not fair to have to run by that three times.

I started my second loop and I saw my coach Lisa and she was screaming for me to go, I told her I was dying inside and she said “NO YOU’RE NOT, you’re doing great!!” Who was she looking at? I saw the carnage around me and there was no way I looked any better than any of the people around me. One of her pro’s Kim Loeffler passed me and she was going onto her third lap, she ended up running a 3:06 marathon..fast. As I came around the finishing chute (for the first time) I saw my Mom and she was screaming and yelling for me, I stopped and she put some sun screen on my shoulders and neck and off I went.

Now in a three loop course the second loop is the worst by far, you’re not full of energy and starting, you’re not almost finished, you’re in a 14 km suckfest of despair and agony. I was in a bad space, I saw pro’s on the side of the road with spectators pouring water all over them, age groupers crying, people puking..I saw it all, I hope I don’t go to hell but if I do I have already visited..it’s called Ironman Texas, hell probably isn’t as hot. I made it to the half way point and at least now I was a heading home. There was a black line in the middle of the path we were running on and I just focused on staring at that line and putting one foot in front of the other. I ran from aid station to aid station as best I could but I spent to much time in the aid stations for sure but I wanted to make sure I got everything I needed to keep up my nutrition. It was the same at every station..water…Coke..ice in my top…water on head…water …Gel…Coke..ice in my bottoms…over and over again, apparently it worked because I had no G.I. issues and I never felt like I was dizzy or dehydrated. When I came around the corner for the finishing chute, age groupers were passing me to finish their last lap (I had one to go) and I thought about just stealing one of their numbers so I could be finished, I wanted to be done soooo bad but I had 14km to go. At that moment I heard someone yell “Go Michael”..hold on I know that voice..it was my beautiful wife or an angel taking me into the white light..nope it was my wife. I actually stopped running, walked over to her and she was holding my daughter MacKinley. I looked in my baby girls eyes and she gave me the biggest smile I had ever seen, my heart filled with the love and energy I needed to finish this race. I kissed my wife, my Mom and my daughter and I was off.

I wanted to run the whole last lap, but alas it wasn’t meant to be, I managed to run the last 14km in around 1:30 which I think was my fastest of the three laps. I focused on my nutrition and knew every step was closer to the finish. I don’t really remember much of that last hour I was in survival mode but I do remember being extremely disappointed with my run, I wanted to run sub 4 hours but the conditions on the day were against me. I rounded the last corner and I was almost home. In my last Ironman I didn’t have much time to reflect  I was just happy to finish the race, this time I thought of all the hours in my basement riding the trainer, the long runs in the ankle deep snow, the seven a.m. swims when it was -30, my wife patiently waiting for me to be done training so we could get on with our day, how much effort I put into this race…I was proud of myself and I deserved this moment. I saw Jacqueline, MacKinley and my Mom screaming for me from the side and I smiled from ear to ear, Jacqueline didn’t see me finish Ironman Canada and I was over the moon when I saw her because this was as much a payoff for her as it was for me…she deserved this as well. I crossed the line in 11:33.41 a full twenty minutes better than Ironman Canada but short of my goal by 33 min..oh well I made it. Progress not perfection.

I would like to thank my wonderful wife Jacqueline and my daughter MacKinley for without their unconditional support and patience I could never have taken on this race, for being by my side when I started this journey and being by me until the end, this is as much your victory as mine and I could never dreamed of having such an amazing support team. I love you both more than you’ll ever know and I can’t wait to be the cheerer instead of the racer in a few weeks time. Thanks Mom for coming down and sharing in this experience with us and everything is more special when your Mom is there..right?? To my coach Lisa who has listened to me vent, break down and feel sorry for myself and always found the right words to get me back on track, you push me to places I never thought I could get to and make me believe I can accomplish anything in this sport I put my mind to…thank you. To all my friends and family who have put up with my short temper at times, my diet at others and my messed up schedule all the time, I couldn’t do it without your belief in me and if I can ever return the favour I promise I will. To all the people that laugh at me when I tell them I’m going to do an Ironman, I hope you find the belief in yourself to accomplish anything so you don’t need to laugh at other peoples dreams to make your insecurities go away. For all the people that tell me how proud of me they are and that I inspired them to take on a race or get moving, remember you’re inspiring other people just by moving yourself and we all as people of the earth need to keep encouraging each other to be active, healthy and trying new things and supporting each other in whatever our ambitions are.

I’ve taken a few weeks to digest my performance and generally I’m satisfied with the result, I have some more experience and now I can make the necessary changes to reach my goals in Arizona. I have been training harder than I ever have and know the results will be there in the end….I have 4 months until Ironman Arizona and I have some work to do, back to training.

See you at the finish line,

MB