Muskoka Long Course Triathlon

Race: Muskoka Long Course Triathlon
Date: June 17, 2007
Distance: swim 2k, bike 55k, run 15k

The Muskoka triathlon was the kick start of my triathlon season in preparation for the Lake Placid Ironman in July. This was my first year doing this race and also my first time doing the long course distance. To start out my race weekend was an exceptional one. I had a family wedding the night before the race and left Markham bright in the morning sunday (3:30am) to pick up my training partner and head up to Huntsville. The upside was that there were no other cars on the road at that crazy hour so we made excellent time.

The weather was perfect in the morning and once we unloaded our gear we headed to the registration area to get our race numbers and get our bodies marked. All of the preparation went smoothly and before we knew it we were in our wet suits walking the 500m trail to the swim start.

The swim started smooth. We were in waves and all ages groups under 29 started in the first wave. I had a rocky start to my swim with a lot of bumping and kicking, however this eventually spread out and became a bit easier. The swim was an out and back that finnished slightly past the start area. The back portion was against a slight current that was very small however seemed huge at the time. I was very excited to be out of the water, however after looking at my swim time which was slower that that of a year before was a little disappionted. I know I am not the greatest at sighting the bouys, but my swim time made me think i was probably swiming in zig zags the whole way.

The trainsition went well and I was off on the bike. The bike was extremely difficult. It was full of rolling hills and had a bunch of steep climbs in between. Overall I was pleased with my bike time but was feeling the burn from the hills. At this point it was getting pretty hot out and the sun was out in full force.

The run was extremly difficult to start. We started uphill out of the transition area and that was when both of my calves cramped up. The heat and my lack of salt intake may have been partially to blame for this. I walked/ran for the first 3k untill my legs loosened up and then I was able to maintain a pretty consistent pace. The rest of the run was fairly flat with no major climbs. The run was extremly hot and there was not much shade, however the hoses they had at the water stations were amazing to cool off. The last stretch of the run was down hill and I had a hard time controlling my tired legs on the downhill for my final sprint. Once I was finnished I waited to cheer in some friends and then started the walk back to the transition area and the drive back to Markham. My overall finnish time was 4:02.

The race overall was great and I would do it again. Having never done it before I was amazed at the athletes there. This was definitley one of the most competitive triathlons I have done and there were tonnes of great athletes. The race was extremly well organzed and the volunteers were great! The course was very challenging especially the bike and the weather was excellent. It was amazing seeing all the team running free members on the course. It was great to cheer for each other in passing and see so many familiar faces. Overall this was a great race and I would do it again for sure. Now I have my big race in Lake Placid to look forward to next!