This past year of triathlon was amazing. I improved my overall fitness, and my cycling tremendously and that had a significant impact on my overall results. IronMan Lake Placid? Better by 90 minutes. IronMan Muskoka 70.3? Better by about 20 minutes. And, while it was amazing, it was very difficult. There were times when i wanted to throw it all away—training every weekend with Kathryn, with my brother and his wife, with Greg, with whomever… I was ready to give it all up on at least one occasion, and I know that Kathryn was too. In fact, we did give it all up, at least once. I think I’ve figured out at least part of the reason why. 2009 saw Kathryn and I compete in IronMan Lake Placid on July 27 and IronMan 70.3 Muskoka on September 13. I won’t get into the results—those are somewhat…

We were headed down to Lake Placid to train for a weekend in May. Before we had even left, with the bikes loaded on the back of the car, I backed up into my aunt and uncle’s car. I smashed my wheel and completely bent my pedal crank arm. Idiot. That meant that I’d have no bike to ride for the weekend in Lake Placid. We hated the bikes we were riding—both of us were on bikes that we bought because they were on sale, not because they were the right bikes for us. We won’t make that mistake again. We had purchased a new bike for Kathryn a few weeks earlier – she’s riding a Trek Equinox 7.0 WSD So, the only logical decision would be for me to buy a new bike as well, right? Off we went to check out the selection in Lake Placid…

It has been almost a year since my wife and I completed IronMan USA in Lake Placid, NY but the memories are still vivid and clear. Excruciating pain in my legs as they tightened themselves into iron bars – cramping with every pedal stroke, trying to make it up the most feeble of hills. Spooked by the bike accident I and several others witnessed (and subsequently provided aid to) while flying down the steepest descent on the race course. Not feeling my feet for about two-thirds of the bike. Why? Because I was an idiot and bought new cycling shoes and only managed to ride once with them for an hour as a trial before the race. Not really a bright move. At all. Forgetting our favourite race food (perogies) in the fridge at the cottage. Yes we had other food planned, but the perogies were our favourite, we’d ridden…

I left my IronMan swim with a completely false sense of security. It had just finished the swim of my life, managed to get to the transition zone without slipping or pulling a muscle or tearing anything pushing off the sand. I found my bike clothes, got ready, and headed out feeling pretty good about the day so far. Going out of transition, I see everyone waiting for me at the side of the road. They cheer, I smile, I wave, and it is over. I’m past them in a flash, knowing I won’t see them for another 3 or more hours. All is well. I’m headed down the first hill out of town just about to head around the corner and go up another. And like almost all of my training rides, I hit the same damn pothole at the bottom of the hill and my drink flies…

As we settled into Mirror Lake at 6:50am on race morning, I started to feel a little nervous, wondering if the horror stories I had heard would come true. With 2200+ competitors, I’ve heard that the swim start is like a washing machine with flying feet, fists and elbows everywhere. I expected the worst – thinking I’d have to put my goggles back on after having them kicked off my head by a stray heel. I was starting to wonder if we’d placed ourselves too close to start line. Would the people from behind swim around or over us? Would we need the assistance of the underwater scuba divers that keep a watchful eye for swimmers that started to go under, or were knocked out by an inadvertant strike to the head? Was I going to need to grab on to a kayak at some point to rest? I simply…

I looked everywhere for it. I didn’t care what shape or colour it was, as long it was there and in the right position. After searching for it for hours through pain, mental anguish and exhaustion, I finally saw it there, at the side of the road near the guard rail, somewhere between Wilmington Notch and High Falls Gorge. My eyes widened as I saw the glint of the sun bounce off it. “There it is!” I thought. The perfect piece of glass—jagged and dangerous—just waiting for me. I had found my way out. All I needed to do was turn my handlebars to the right a few degrees. Simply run over it, and that would be the end of it. My tires would be shredded to bits, and I’d be stranded. The support crew would have to pick me up and drive me back into town, and I could…

We’re set. We’ve checked in, dropped off our bikes, our biking gear, and our run gear. We’re with the kids and family that made the trip to support us. We’ve bugged my brother Gavin and his wife Michelle for the last time with questions for which we had no answers. We’re ready to eat our last big meal of pasta and chicken. We’re ready to get to bed early. We’re ready to hydrate. We’ll be up at 4:30 am to eat our breakfast and get our wetsuits and swim gear and “extra supplies” down to the lake by about 5:30. This has been a pretty amazing experience so far, and I only expect that it will continue to be amazing as we get through the race tomorrow. To Tina – you’ve helped get my body to where it is (though I’m not 100% sure exactly where, to be honest). You’ve…

Kathryn and I safely arrived in Lake Placid on Wednesday evening after the short (relatively speaking) 3.5 hour drive down here from Ottawa. We captured some video footage (we’ll post some of that later) of the trip – most of it looks the same as the rest of it to be honest, but the view of the Adirondack Mountains at certain stages of the drive is simply stunning. It has been raining pretty much non-stop since we arrived here. We spent Thursday doing one loop of the swim course – felt pretty good, actually. It is a 1.9km loop, and I think I finished in about 41 minutes. That seems to be what I average every time I swim it, which is fine – consistency will be key to success. Of course, Kathryn finished in somewhere around 35 minutes, which is about right for her. She is a much better…