IMC post race

The canon went off on time, 2700 people in the water. I seeded my self in the middle, slightly off set to the left of the marking buoy. I wanted to make use of the draft from the pack and I figured I'd still be far enough not to get caught in the madness. After the second turn, people were still crazy, I was being cut off, punched a few time but I was pleasantly surprised with my swim time. 1:13, I was hoping 1:20 or less so I met my goal. I thought I had a fast transition to the bike but looking at the time now I could have been a bit faster. I was trying not to go out too fast on the bike and was monitoring my heart rate. I lost a full gel bottle on the way to ok falls. In addition I also lost my two spare tubes going down a steep hill, I couldn't stop and I was now praying not to have a a flat as I didn't have anyway to fix it. I got to rector's pass where my good friend Joe and his wife Diana and their little girl were there to cheer on. It was nice to see them and I kept forging on. A quick stop at the 120 km mark to pick up my special need bag with my nutrition and a spare tube. Little did I know that hell was around the corner. On the way to yellow lake the weather turned nasty, I would guess easily 20km head wind and rain. I was freezing, I could barely stay warm, it wad 40 degrees last time I did the course! I arrived in transition cold but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I did a 5:44 bike. I was hoping to be between 5:30 to 5:40 but considering the conditions I was happy with my time. I was off to the run and a little warmer. I had never ran a full marathon on the road, my legs usually don't like the pavement that much. I could feel it in my quads and my lower back, which has been bothering me for the last couple of weeks. I picked up my specials need bag at the half way point in the run, some gels and a few other things. As I approached the finish line, I wad looking at the time and was wondering if I could pull a sub 11 hour time. I tried but in the end I ended up with 11:02, which I wad very happy with. I wanted to be under 12 hours for my first one. As for my dream goal, I didn't accomplish it so, it's for me to know and you all to find out. I have to admit, this race was great, the volunteers were awesome, and the spectator were great. If you wonder how many calories I burned during the race, 9100! I'm lucky if I replace 1/3 of that during the race. I would have not been able to do this race without the help of a few people. First and foremost Chris from Experience Cycling to look after my bike needs day in and day out. To my physio Christina and Chiro Kevin from trail side physio for looking after my body, god knows it needed it. My massage therapist Dana, who torture me every time I go see her. Finally SUGOI brand Champion, that outfit rocks so as the SUGOI products.  As for Rebecca, she did awesome with a 12:19. If you need a source of inspiration, look no further than Rebecca, this was her second triathlon in her life, she could barely swim back in October. The entire Ironcops crew finished and they raised about 67,000 dollars for the Vancouver crew. I hope you enjoyed my journey and you probably wondering, what's next? Surely the season must be over. Well it's not, I have a mountain bike race in 3 weeks and I will be
competing in cycle cross this fall so stay tuned, I'll keep blogging about it. I'm going to rest now, 6 days without training, I probably won't know what to do with my self. Happy trails

Carpe Diem