Muskoka Chase

Bryan and I drove up to Muskoka together on Saturday afternoon. We picked up our kits, talked to Simon, Jean and Steve for a bit. Wandered around looking at stuff to buy, but refrained! Talked to Lisa and David and then headed over to the water to get a bit of a taste of how cold it was. One arm, up to the elbow was enough to see it was about the same as Lake Wilcox, or so I thought. We watched Lisa get into the water and head out for a swim. I’m guessing that, because she swims so fast, the friction from her body against eh water keeps her warm. The three swim caps probably helped a bit too. Man oh man she’s quick!

We drove back down to Gravenhurst to Bryans’ cottage. Sandra and the kids were there. We had a nice dinner, played with the kids a bit and headed to bed. I got a great sleep. It’s so nice to walk up and look out over the lake. The moon shining down and not a ripple on the water. It was beautiful. We got up about 5:00, eat some breakfast and headed back to Huntsville.

We lucked out with a parking spot close to the venue, got set up, talked to everyone and eventually started to make our way (about 800 meters) down to the start. The exit was moved further up the river, so the buoys on the lake were closer in, but I’d never remembered them that far out when I’d done this race a couple of years ago.

Bryan was In wave 3, so he started about 8:10 or so. I think Bernadette went in wave 8. Simon, Sid Steve and I were in the final wave. I really don’t like these wave starts. It’s bad enough that I’m old a slow, but when they make me start at the end, it just adds to disappointment of seeing how many folks are ahead of me!

We warmed up before the swim for about 10 minutes and then headed over to the start line. I picked a spot almost at the front. Getting beat up at the start line was good practice for Placid! I took it easy a bit at the start. I slowed down and did the breast stroke a bit now and then up until I got to about the first buoy, about 200 meters from the start line I think. I settled in and concentrated on long strokes with full finishes. When I watched Lisa swim the day before I noticed her feet came out of the water. I played with shifting my body so that my feet were higher than usual. I felt like I was moving a bit quicker. It was interesting swimming in and out of warm areas and then back into really cold areas as we worked our way around the lake and up the river. I found it odd that people didn’t stick to the right side of the buoys in the river. I was chasing someone with a blue patch on the back of their wet suit. They seemed to be just out of reach. Id’ catch them and then lose them a number of times heading up the river. When I realized we were almost at the exit, I put on a final push and came up beside him and saw it was Steve B. I hollered over, slapped him in the shoulder saying “Great Swim”. I think he tried to do the same and slipped. The net result was that he punched me in the mouth! That took away from the thoughts of a ouch swim!

I got up and into transition, got out of the wet suit and into socks shoes glasses and helmet and got out in 3:43. A bit slow, but I was having some trouble with the wet suit.

I started the bike. I had my gloves and arm warmers in my vest, but I didn’t bother putting them on. About 1 k along though, I went off the road and the bike stopped dead in the sand. I fell over, cut my calf on the chain ring, and felt like an idiot laying on the road. I got going quickly, but had to stop to twist my bike seat back into position. The ride was very hilly. I could feel that my quads were burning within a couple of minutes of starting to ride. Not a good sign! I watched the watt meter a lot. This was my first race using it. I took it easy on the up hills and pushed on the flats and downhills. I was only at about the 7 – 8 k mark when the first rider was heading back the other way! I told myself he had a 32 minute head start on me, but I could see he was just flying UP the hill we were on.

There were a lot of folks with broken bikes along the way. A lot of flat tires. I called out to just about everyone asking if they needed anything. One guy said he needs tire removal tools. I stopped and lent him mine, and gave him an air cartridge. I wondered later: 1. Who does out on a long race without tools and 2. If he didn’t have tire tools, what were the chances he had a valve to put on the cartridge either. He wasn’t there when I came back, so I guess he got it somehow.

The turnaround was at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. I’m sure the race course planners had a good laugh when they made that one up. I usually have good luck chasing people down at the end of a bike ride, but I just didn’t have the power that day.

Into transition and out for the run and my legs were baked! I kept telling myself it’s only a 15k run. I do that all the time training and it’s not all that big a deal. The start of the run is all uphill though in Huntsville. As I got up to the finish line, I heard them call out Cindy Lewis finishing. I laughed and told myself I’m doing great, when only beat me but, well about 14.5 k!

Adam ran over and talked to me as I made my way up the hill. I was glad when he told me this hill was the toughest one, but laughed to myself when he told me I was looking good. I sure didn’t feel like I was looking good, but I guess you don’t want your coach telling you that you look like crap as you’re heading out of town!

The run took forever. There is very little shade and the sun was beating down hard. I think the temperature was about 22. I haven’t seen 22 degrees yet and I sure haven’t’ run in it this year! I’m going to have to plan a few noon time runs over the next few weeks. The run was an out and back also, split almost in half by the bridge over Hwy 11. The next section past the 11 to the turnaround seemed to take forever, I kept looking for it at every turn, but it was just never there. My left knee started to pop a bit. It felt like it was going to pop out of the joint or something. I’d hobble for a couple of steps, and then it was OK. There were a few kids along the way with water hoses. Getting sprayed down sure helped for a bit, but it was amazing how quickly that coolness disappeared. I finally got to the turn around and headed back. It felt a bit shorter getting to the highway again, and then shorter again coming back into town. I caught myself walking a bit in that last few kilometers.

I had a great surprise at the finish. Simon, Bern Sid, Steve and Steve where there cheering me on as I crossed the line. I’m always so far behind them that they are always gone when I come in. It was the thrill of the day for me that they hung in for me. They are a great, fun, supportive gang to folks. I’m really glad I’ve met them all and had the opportunity to hang and train with them some.

I was hoping to come in between 4:15 and 4:30. I ended up crossing the line at 4:38. I’m chocking this race down to ‘just not a great day’ If I have to have a tougher than usual race, I’d rather it be there than in Lake Placid in about 6 weeks. A couple of late nights and a few drinks late last week I’m sure counted for some of it too.