My firt Triathlon!

Hi all

Been a long time!

Although I am a mountain biker at heart, I had to give the triathlon thing a try so I signed up for Ironman Canada!

Of course, Im no fool, who would do an Ironman as their first ever tri?
So, I did the Peterborough Half Ironman, seamed like a logical step.

Here's my report that I posted on Trirudy.com

Hi all

Check, first triathlon done! Here we go, Robert Berthiaume (Mr. Tri2cureCF himself), Martin Zollinger and myself are ready to battle.

The swim went well, I thru myself in the mix expecting a beating. But it wasn’t that bad, yeah a few hits and bumps, but I never felt that the other swimmers didn’t care and where ready to try to get ahead at my expense. I felt respected out there and I respected everyone also. Fun swim.

Into the transition I run, breathing so hard and very dizzy. Martin was already there and soon after headed out. I take off after him not really expecting to catch him on the bike, but I will sure try!

All went well, other then I crashed on the bike 3 KM in (first time ever crash on a road bike). Trying to do too many things on the go (lesson learned), I rubbed a side walk and went down. Hurt my knee and shoulder a little but nothing that would slow me down. After picking all my stuff up, check my ego, check the bike and off I went. I never saw Martin or Rob on the out and back. Great bike course but never caught Martin. A few minutes off.

Here we go, the run that I’m so not looking forward to. Transition to the run felt good, but soon after within a few KM, both quads cramped up! I had to walk it out while eating my banana and e-load caps. Started to run again and just after seeing Martin on an out and back thru the park, my left hamstring cramps. What a long 21 KM run this will be! But dealt with it fairly well and ran on.

Soon after, I see Rob on the run, I expect to see him pass me with a few KM to go, but I won’t go down without a fight. I catch Martin, run with him a bit, we admirer my left over food on the sidewalk where I crashed the bike and I run on. At 7-8 K or so, I tried to drink a little to much while going by a water station and was forced to give it all back 200 M later, stopping me until my stomach stopped rejecting the extra liquid, this to Martin’s pleasure as he ran by me with a few encouraging words. So I ran the next 2 K (passed Martin again) and then started to drink again one cup at a time with my e-load caps, gels and Tums. So other then stopping me during, it didn't affect me much.

All in all, I ran my 21 KM after the 2 K swim and 85 K bike with confidence and finished strong for me with a few new friends.

What a great experience. Whether it’s Adventure Racing or what ever, crossing a finish line, no matter my ranking is always great.

And I can't believe I was able to hold Rob off! Man can that guy run! He beat my run time by 17 min, but I still had 4 min to spare across the finish line! I ran as hard as I could and felt ok for the most part, almost enjoyable!

Still neither of us beat Ann's (my lovely wife) times in her home town.

Now, I want to get my running better as Rob will have more time to catch up for the marathon of IM Can! And he's getting stronger on the bike and he will master the swim soon enough. And as for Mr. Z, maybe I’ll get him on the bike at IM Can. Not that we are competing against each other or anything, just good motivation!

IM Canada here we come!

Thanks to all that have and are helping us along the way.

You can support our Tri2cure Cystic Fibrosis awareness campaign by purchasing a technical t-shirt at any Pecco’s. All sales and proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – Breathing life into the future.

www.cysticfibrosis.ca
Thanks to Pecco’s as always. www.Peccos.com

Thanks
Tobin
See you on the trails soon enough! I'll be back!