What a great weekend. We headed up to Muskoka for the 2k/55k/15k Muskoka triathlon on Saturday around noon. We went directly to the check in and got all squared away so we wouldn’t have to do it on Sunday am. We met up with our swimming buddy Marty at the check in and he was a little nervous. This was his first try at this distance and it is a tough course with a lot of steep hills on the bike and a few rollers on the run. Saturday night we again, after last year, had the pleasure of staying at Tim’s Mom’s beautiful home just outside Huntsville. Tim’s Sister Chris and family came over for a great homemade spaghetti dinner and we had a great time.
Early to bed around 9:30 in anticipation of a 5:00am wake up! We did the obligatory stop at the Tim’s for breakfast and then off to the race site to set up. We were early and so had lot’s of time to get everything perfectly placed in the transition area. It was a beautiful cloudless morning and the lake/river was very calm. Eventually we made our way down to the swim start and got our wetsuits on. A couple of days before I had tried on my almost brand new 2XU wetsuit and boy, was it tight. I could have done the swim in it, but it wouldn’t have been comfortable. I had given Tim my Quintana Roo suit and it was a bit big on him, so the night before the race I had him try the 2XU and I tried on the QR, much better, the 2XU suit fit him better and I was happy about that.
The gun went off and we were swimming. The swim went well for me, always great to be in a wetsuit! I was off course a couple of times, but I felt good the whole way. I was 39:56 for the swim, about 30 secs faster than last year. Tim was finished in 46:47 which was a good swim for him, especially since it was his first tri, first open water swim and first time in a wetsuit! After a quick transition into the bike we were off. The bike went well for me for the first 10k. At that point I shifted to my small chaining for the first time and the chain fell off and jammed between the crank arm and the frame. Dam…I tried to get it back on by moving the deralllier, but it just would not un stick, so I had no choice but to stop and do it by hand. OK, fixed…not so lucky from that point on the chain was skipping every turn of the cranks and changing gears at random. It was like someone was changing gears whenever they wanted, on top of that it was making noise that was embarrassing, it sounded like I had no clue what I was doing!
I had to ride this way to the finish, twice on long hills I had to turn around and coast to the bottom of the hill after the chain had dropped off again and then ride back up the hill! So much for beating my bike split from last year. I was just waiting for the chain to break for the rest of the way back. I ended up 1:57:46 about 2 minutes slower than last year. I saw Tim on the out and back section and he looked good. His plan was to ride at his target heart rate and stay in his target zone. He did well and finished the bike in 2:01:47.
Finally back at the transition area, I did a sub 1 minute change (tied for 2nd fastest in the race!!) I guess I was just so happy to be off the bike! My run was the highlight of the race for me. After a couple of kilometers of running I caught up with a relay runner that was running at a 4:50/km pace and I stuck with her to the turnaround point. She was leaving for IM Cord A’Lene the next weekend. She sped up for the second half and I kept up the pace for the rest of the way. I finished the run in 1:14:04 and held a pace of 4:57/km, which for me is very fast. Again I saw Tim on the out and back section and he looked good. We quickly said hi and were off. The thought of him trying to catch me kept me motoring for the rest of the way back! He was only maybe a km or so back and knew if he thought he could he’d run me down!! Tim finished in 1:14:49, close. I know next year after his biking improves, it will be a lot closer, and I’ll have to work my butt off to stay ahead of him! With that great run, I ended up with a 3:54:20 finish about 4 mins faster than last year. Tim did a great job and got in at 4:10.
Hat’s off to Marty who finished his first Muskoka Tri and was using this as a tune up for his upcoming half IM in Newfoundland. It was a tough race for him, but he toughed it out and it will make a big difference for him at the Half IM in July.
All in all, a great weekend, with good weather and great times.
