Ironman Texas Race Recap

Well I can finally call myself an Ironman for real now. It feels good to have that monkey off my back now. I'll be honest and even as I waited in the water for the canyon to go off I had my doubts that my body would be able to deal with the 140.6 miles of racing to come. All of those fears went away though as soon as the race began. Having never been in a mass swim start that was quite an experience. Never have I seen so much body contact during a swim.

Once the swim spread out some over the course I was able to settle into a comfortable pace and was happy to see the clock just under 55 as I exited the water. T1 was uneventful apart from the fact that I ran down the wrong bike aisle at first. Oops, next time I guess I should remember where I left my bike. Out on the bike course the fans were great and it was amazing to see so much OutRival Racing support. Thanks largely to Corey Oliver and his brother posting signs all along the course for each OutRival athlete racing. Was very cool to see my name on a poster at mile 40. Plus the OutRival Viking Tribe was a nice sight - twice in fact on the course. I enjoyed all of the bike leg apart from the last ten miles coming back into the Woodlands which didn't seem to end. Every time we got back onto Woodlands Parkway we'd turn off for another little loop. I've never been happier to start running a marathon before, that was until about mile 13 when I wished I was back at mile 102 on the bike but more on that later.

T2 was quite hot as many people can attest to. Luckily I didn't notice my feet had burned from the hot pavement until after the race. The first loop of the run course went very well and I was a little behind pace but not too much considering the heat and humidity of the day, even got to see my swim coach Tim Floyd on  the first lap and had a quick chat on the move about my swim. I began the second loop of the three loop run course and started to feel the heat and lack of cloud cover take its toll on my body. Systems just start to shut down after being on the move for over almost 7 hours and the smallest things, like missing a cup of water can be devastating. Mile 13 brought home reality and I went into disaster recovery mode, running from aid station to aid station and being forced to walk and take every cup I could. I was no longer think about the finish line but just the next cup of water about 1 mile ahead of me. Crossed the finish line at 9:49:40  and immediately collapsed in relief and from exhaustion. Luckily I was able to just hang on to 4th place in my age group (men's 25 - 29) and claim a spot to race in the Ironman World Championships in Kona this October. Overall my first Ironman experience was an amazing one and pretty successful but pointed out  few areas I need to work on for the big one in October.

Thank you first and foremost to all the amazing volunteers out there on the course. Without all of you we would have just been 2000 people bobbing up and down in the water. Thank you to all of the spectators out on the course. It was amazing all the support I received from people I didn't even know. I also want to thank all of my sponsors who helped me train and get ready for the race. First my amazing coach Michelle LeBlanc with OutRival Racing, my swim coach Tim Floyd with the Magnolia Masters Team, and Bike Barn for getting my bike in race form. I also want to thank Klean for my nutrition.

6 days till IMTX

Well I can't believe it is almost here but IMTX is just 6 days away. Training has been feeling really good and I can't wait to get to that starting line. Of course I'm sure I'll be thinking differently at mile 95 on the bike! Haha. I want to thank everyone that has helped me so much to get ready for this race. Couldn't have done it without all the support and help from my coaches and sponsors. Thank you to Tim Floyd and the Magnolia Masters Swim Team for helping me with my swim technique, thanks to Bike Barn for all the help with bike fits and keeping my bike rave ready, and most importantly thank you to my coach Michelle Leblanc and OutRival Racing. Everyone there is truly an inspiration. Hopefully I'll have a good result to show on Saturday.

Galveston 70.3 Race Recap

What a weekend. Finally went under 4:10:00 for a half Ironman and on the first course that I started racing on two years ago so it has a nice poetic ring to it. Was also nice to redeem myself after last year's dismal performance where I had system shut down on the run. The race started out great on the swim setting a new PR in the swim split by 50 seconds at 26:09. Been working on my swim technique with Tim Floyd with the Magnolia Masters Swim Club. Seems to have worked - had the fastest split in the men's 25 - 29 AG. Implemented a new nutritional race plan this year on the bike using Klean's electrolyte's on the bike and made all the difference in the world on the run. Had my fastest bike split by over 6 minutes thanks to the use of a disc wheel and a lot more miles of training this year. :-)  Although those miles on the trainer while living in Calgary over the winter seemed to have paid off. Run started out great spliting between 5:57 and 6:02 miles but then had some blister issues that really  caused the last few miles to suffer. Wont make the mistake again of not wearing socks! Thanks to Bike Barn for getting my bike ready to and race and most importantly to my coach Michelle LeBlanc with OutRival Racing. Couldn't do this without all their support and help. Now back to the grind to get ready for IMTX. 6 weeks to go and not a moment to lose.

Rain, Bike, Crash, Race, And Then Bike Some More

Well Saturday was an interesting day. Started off with some light rain for the morning ride that also included a crash in the first 10 miles!!! With that out of the way I was in the mood for putting the hammer down and rode a hard 50 miles in the rain before going to the Snapping Tortuga Aquathlon hosted by swim coach Tim Floyd. Despite a ridiculous time getting my wet suit off in transition ended up having a good swim and felt great on the run and ended up taking the overall win. Rounded out the day by hoping back on the bike and riding another 40 miles but this time not in the rain :-) so all in all a very successful day. Now to rest for an 18 mile run, 60 mile bike, and swim session with the Magnolia Masters club tomorrow.

First Pro-Swim Lession

Had my first swim lesson today with Tim Floyd and the Magnolia Masters Aquatic Club. Really looking forward to having him help me improve my stroke and swim times. Lots of work to do now that I can see my areas for improvement.

First Blog

So I never would have thought that I would be using a blog but figure I should give it a try as a way to just let everyone know what's going on in my triathlon world. Four weeks till 70.3 Galveston and lot of prep work still to be done. Had a solid aerobic fitness bike test today out in The Woodlands but could have done without the wind. Hoping on tomorrows long run I don't get soaked but hey I'll take that over wind any day. :-)

Excited to go work with Tim Floyd for the first time in the pool tomorrow. Swim definitely needs some work to be a contender at Galveston and IMTX. And just realized that the clocks jump forward tonight so need to get off to bed.