Ironman 70.3 Muskoka is the seventh triathlon I've competed in to date, my third Ironman 70.3. It's also the one I'm most proud of.
At the start of the swim I had only gotten five hours of sleep the night before and felt undertrained given I had just finished a major move back to the US from Morocco for the summer to spend some time with family before leaving the US again for my next position after Outlierz (more on that in my next post).
The 1.2 mile/1.9km swim was more physical than usual given the second half of it involved swimming up a rather narrow river with almost 2,000 triathletes all vying for position (think elbows, people trying to swim over you, getting disoriented in the water and losing time, etc.). I finished seven minutes over my target time of 43 minutes, but I can't complain as I hadn't been in a pool for a couple months before race day due primarily to frequent travel.
The bike was not as grueling as I expected, although the course had changed from the year before due to construction. I finished the 56 miles/90km in 3:15. Unlike my previous two Ironman 70.3s, I made sure not to overeat during this bike leg.
The run was the hardest leg this race, but I learned an effective trick to avoid GI issues is to ingest salt tabs and actually be sure to just eat to hunger on the bike. It was also MAJOR encouragement seeing overwhelming support from my family (ALL SIX of whom were in attendance!) along the route that did two laps through downtown Huntsville. Even with a pitstop to the John, I finished the half marathon in just over 2:10, which is great progress for me.
All in all, I finished this 70.3 mile race in 6.5 hours, which is a personal record. My family is to thank for giving me the gusto to sprint the last half mile and keep me in strong spirits throughout the run. Fam, I love you.
This race served as a great marker for Ironman South Africa in April. I'm definitely feeling ready and am confident I can hit my goal of 13.5 hours for the race. More on that soon!
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