Muskoka Chase

Yesterday Sunday June 26 I competed in the Muskoka Chase Long Course triathlon. The longest distance for me yet: 2k swim, 55k bike, 13k run....  Total time: 4:22:28 - under my goal of 4:30!!

Friday night I drove north. Relaxed, had a good dinner, prepped my tri bag and hydration/fuel for Sunday, watched some tv and then off to bed.
Saturday slept in - man that was a nice treat and my body needed it. Was supposed to do a 1/2 hour ride but it was drizzly and had rained the night before which would mean cleaning my bike again after the ride. Off for a run instead. Legs felt strong, breathing easy - started to actually believe I could do the 13K as a straight run....  One of our group was racing both Saturday and Sunday so went to watch him on Saturday - he smoked the course and came 5th in his age group! NICE!! Then off to dinner Sat. night - I can't say how lucky I am to have been blessed with this crazy and wonderful group of people around me!!! The harassment is never ending - and reciprocal but they all follow up with a supportive, helpful, motivational, or experiential piece of advice to help! Gotta love em and the fact that the laughter is non stop!! Which is what you need the night before a race!!! Hmmmm - perhaps I need to consider staying in town with the gang pre Muskoka 70.3......

Sunday morning - up early and even though I had a hard time falling asleep I felt great! Showered, grabbed a to go of coffee and my liquid breakfast, packed the bike onto the car and off I go... Liquid breakkie was a perfect idea - by the start of the race I was ready to go, felt great, and no need for bathroom break anytime during the race! Phew!!!  Arrive at the race site just after everyone and see some other NYAC faces and others I've met at the RR or around... My coach came up for the race and was  reminding me I needed to warm up..  Should have listened more.
Learning #1 -from Milton was I need to warm up. Learning #2 from Huntsville is I need to warm up by swimming at least out to the first buoy and back... Treadind water on Sunday AM and staring out at that first buoy and how far away it was got in my head... The entire first 5 minutes consisted of my doubting myself nd thinking I would choke. Taking 3 strokes then doggie paddle, then breast stroke, then 3 more strokes.. So - I know it was 5 minutes because the gun went off for the next wave start and i was just coming up to that first buoy...  And finally I started swimming... Being passed by people in the first wave but also passing others from my wave - then I saw some caps from 2 waves ahead of me and thought ok, this is more like it..  I wanted 45 mins on the swim, got 48 and learned a lesson.
Bike - AWESOME as usual... 2nd in my age group and was only second by .1 kph...
Run - pace was consistent with what I am coming to call my tired legs pace. Fresh legs continuous run I can stay around 6:45 mins per km... Tired legs is more like 7:20.... My right calf was tight at first - gee I think the hills had something to do with it on the bike and then all the hills on the run.. But it didn't hurt so I kept going. My coach and I discussed me doing a straight, steady run - no walk breaks... I did walk at a couple of aid stations and on a couple of the hills but - the nice thing was I kept my confidence and just plugged along... The run course was a series of turn arounds so lots of seeing the others and sharing some high fives, smiles, words of encouragement, laughter, and support!  And faces I didn't know doing the same. That's what I love about this - for the most part everyone is supportive of one another and encouraging! There's the occasional ass who gets in the way but they do provide fodder for laughter post race usually! And usually they're at the the bottom of the list when the race is finished.
So on to Peterborough for my first ever 1/2 ironman distance... It's not my A race but it's going to be a training race for me to see where I'm at and what to expect in September etc... The swim will be different as it's 2 loops whereas Muskoka is 1 loop like Huntsville was so I need to get more open water out and back training in... Bike will be rollers but not as aggressive for hills but - I'll get in some training rides in muskoka before the race. And the run I'll just keep plugging away at...
Joining the marathon group at the RR was a great idea too!! There's a few of us newbies in the pack and a couple of people who I try to keep up with and push myself... So that will help too!! And getting much longer distances in at a steady run will also keep training my body on the run component... So all in all it was a great weekend and 3 more Triathlons to go this season!!! WOOHOO!!!!