Muskoka Race Report

So another race weekend in Muskoka has come and gone. This race has always been my favorite race of the year. It was the first race I ever did and I've done it every year since.
This year we went down with Drew, Josee and the kids and stayed in their trailer. It was really nice staying with them and the kids kept us going the whole time. The mosquito's were unreal though!!
First race as a Pro and first time doing the long coarse and I was pretty excited. The swim started out fast. After about 2oom I found myself in the lead but I new I had a couple guys right behind me because I could feel them on my feet. As we went around the first corner I couldn't see the next buoy right away so I headed in the direction I thought it was in but after taking a few strokes I looked over and could see two guys over to my side going the other way. I quickly sprinted to catch up not to fall behind as they were good swimmers as well. Again they let me go ahead of them and it became clear that they wanted me to do all the work and just drag off me. This stayed the same until about 400m left when they went by me so I jumped on their feet for a minute but I was determined to be first out of the water after I had done all the work up until not. So after about 30seconds and only about 300m to go I made my move and fought my way back in front and came out of the water about 10m ahead. Running up to transition I was really happy to see and hear I might add my aunt Bonnie and uncle Mark from North Bay. Out onto the bike I felt good, I got into a pretty comfortable pace. Wasn't too sure exactly how to pace myself as I'm used to a 40km bike and this was 55km. A couple of the other Pro guys went by me as I expected would happen. I don't usually drink much when I race and I've never taken a gel before but this time I knew would need something a little more so I had my first gel on the bike and finished a water bottle for the first time. People think I'm just crazy that I do this but I've always have cramping problems during training when I drink. It seemed to go down good and the rest of the bike was pretty uneventful. Coming off the bike I was sitting in 6th place. The first 500m on the run out of transition I felt pretty good and then all of a sudden I just hit a wall. I slowed right down almost to a shuffle and I just couldn't move. My foot just started hurting and my whole body just seemed to shut down. Between about the 3km to 7km mark I'm sure I must of asked myself a hundred times if I should just stop, not cause my foot anymore damage and I already felt like I was going backwards. Every aid station I was taking in anything and everything I could get my hands on. I think I had another 3 gels and I drank pepsi for the first also because I hate pepsi but at that point I didn't care. The last 5km I was able to pick it up a little bit but not enough to salvage anything I had already lost. After I finished I was great by my aunt who was so excited to see me and I think it helped to feel a little bit better about the situation. I wait at the finish for Drew to come in and he started telling me about his race and I could feel my body going down hill so I went and got some candy to try and get some sugar in me. It worked and I felt better for about 10-15minutes and then all of a sudden it hit me again. I ran to the washroom where I sat for about 20mintes with my head leaning agaist the side. I felt drunk! When I came out Drew made me go into the chage rooms and stand under a cold shower for a few minutes. Once I came out of there and sat down for a while I started to feel better.
Overall the race wasn't a total loss. I still had fun racing as a Pro for the first time and I know there will be many more to come. Congrates to Wolfgang Gumbel who I've known for many years for winning the race.
I still don't know what to do about this foot of mine. I want to train through it so bad but I just don't want to screw myself in the long run. Next for me will probably be a couple of low key races. North Bay in two weeks and then Timmins the week after.
I have a couple of pics from the race this weekend that I'll put up once I down load.


"Thank you to the people who said I couldn't, you have been what has defined me, never give up, and never back down".