Muskoka 70.3

[Annelizabeth]

Just wondering if anybody else will be doing this event in a couple weeks. As there were intense thunderstorms yesterday was unable to ride the bike but managed to preview the run course. Wow. INItially I was thinking anything sub 7hours and I would be happy, now I am thinking 7:30. Somebody please help me calm my nerves and prevent me from doing any panic training.

[Jwolf]

Keep calm... You'll be fine.
Have a great race.

Mark 2.1 is doing it.

[MrBond]

Just wondering if anybody else will be doing this event in a couple weeks. As there were intense thunderstorms yesterday was unable to ride the bike but managed to preview the run course. Wow. INItially I was thinking anything sub 7hours and I would be happy, now I am thinking 7:30. Somebody please help me calm my nerves and prevent me from doing any panic training.

"To finish first, one must first finish" - make that your goal, let the chips fall where they may.
Bad weather, crappy night's sleep, temperature and humidity - all those things and many more can influence the day.
Go for a wee run, leave your watch/Garmin at home, and just look around at all the beautiful things out there.
My $0.02...

[Mark.AU]

I'm doing it - third time. What the others said all rings true - you're trained, it's a fair course that rewards smart racing. No need to freak out, I promise.

[Annelizabeth]

Smart racing???

[Mark.AU]

Smart racing???

Don't leave it all out there on the bike course, this race course will punish you if you ride too hard.

[jonovision_man]

Smart racing???

Don't leave it all out there on the bike course, this race course will punish you if you ride too hard.

I loved the bike course. Loved it! It gets a rap for being tough, but I thought the roads were mostly smoother than expected (highway section was especially great). Carry your speed downhill into the uphill on the rollers and you'll blow by the "coasting until the bike almost stops before pedaling uphill" crowd! Good luck!

jono

[AjaxRunner]

I am there volunteering.

Saturday I'll be working the Bike Valet all day.
Sunday morning body marking and then teh remainder of the day I'll be helping out in the transition zones.

Please do come and say hello!

Unfortunately the closest hotel room I could find on short notice was the Kights Inn in Bracebridge for $100....what a rip off...

[FishHog]

I loved the bike course. Loved it!

jono

your one sick ****
being a flatlander, I found the bike challenging. It's a great course, but hard if you don't get to ride hills much. Easy to overcook the bike and pay for it on the run. I sure did. My one tip is to bring a pin, as I had to break a thorn off a tree to pop a blister on my foot, as I couldn't find anything else sharp laying around.

Relax and enjoy, its beautiful country, a great race. But it isn't easy, nor should it be.
Best of luck.
FishHog

[Sandra]

I have no training tips to offer since I have never done a tri - Just wanted to wish you luck and a great race! I' m sure you will do great!

[jonovision_man]

I loved the bike course. Loved it!

jono

your one sick ****
being a flatlander, I found the bike challenging. It's a great course, but hard if you don't get to ride hills much. Easy to overcook the bike and pay for it on the run. I sure did. My one tip is to bring a pin, as I had to break a thorn off a tree to pop a blister on my foot, as I couldn't find anything else sharp laying around.

Relax and enjoy, its beautiful country, a great race. But it isn't easy, nor should it be.
Best of luck.
FishHog

I found the run course much worse! So many hills... and just when you get on the last flat-ish road back to the resort, they send you back down a steep hill which you know means only one thing...

jono

[La]

Hills and I don't get along very well, so Muskoka was a brutal course for me. I found the last 30K of the bike to be the worst since the road was in horrible condidion and the hills were short and steep (which is my worst kind of hill). The down hill at the end of South Portage where you then make the left hand turn onto North Portage (for the final 9K back to transition) was the WORST because you had this awesome downhill where you then had to come to almost a complete stop at the bottom in order to make the 90-deg left-hand turn onto North Portage - and an 8-10% grade hill to start! That's where I saw many people walking their bikes.

The other horrible hill (about half way on the course) was the one coming out of Dorset (after you cross the bridge in town) and then you have to climb up a nasty hill before making a right-hand turn at the stop sign. Luckily on race day we didn't have to actually stop at that intersection (but in training you do because it's a somewhat blind intersection).

[jonovision_man]

Hills and I don't get along very well, so Muskoka was a brutal course for me. I found the last 30K of the bike to be the worst since the road was in horrible condidion and the hills were short and steep (which is my worst kind of hill). The down hill at the end of South Portage where you then make the left hand turn onto North Portage (for the final 9K back to transition) was the WORST because you had this awesome downhill where you then had to come to almost a complete stop at the bottom in order to make the 90-deg left-hand turn onto North Portage - and an 8-10% grade hill to start! That's where I saw many people walking their bikes.

The other horrible hill (about half way on the course) was the one coming out of Dorset (after you cross the bridge in town) and then you have to climb up a nasty hill before making a right-hand turn at the stop sign. Luckily on race day we didn't have to actually stop at that intersection (but in training you do because it's a somewhat blind intersection).

Maybe it's all about expectations! I'd never biked that course before race day, other than the parts on North Portage Road. When I saw that, I'd assumed the rest would be as bad. It wasn't, so I was delighted.

jono

[CinC]

Hills and I don't get along very well, so Muskoka was a brutal course for me. I found the last 30K of the bike to be the worst since the road was in horrible condidion and the hills were short and steep (which is my worst kind of hill). The down hill at the end of South Portage where you then make the left hand turn onto North Portage (for the final 9K back to transition) was the WORST because you had this awesome downhill where you then had to come to almost a complete stop at the bottom in order to make the 90-deg left-hand turn onto North Portage - and an 8-10% grade hill to start! That's where I saw many people walking their bikes.

The other horrible hill (about half way on the course) was the one coming out of Dorset (after you cross the bridge in town) and then you have to climb up a nasty hill before making a right-hand turn at the stop sign. Luckily on race day we didn't have to actually stop at that intersection (but in training you do because it's a somewhat blind intersection).

I did this race, and to be honest, I can't remember any of that!! hills, yes there we lots of them. the details - nope! Mind you, that was 5 years ago now. that is nuts.

Just race smart - manage your energy and expectations. Spin up easy on the hills and power the downs.

[Annelizabeth]

Pin on tri shorts already for some unknowen reason. Stupid question but would I look like a total knob if I put my bike shorts on over my tri shorts in transition for the bike?? Then remove them in T2?
Just can not think I will make 94k without nerve damage... and I am sure I will lose the race somewhere other than my transitions

[La]

Not at all. Lots of people do that*. Just as long as your tri shorts don't have seams in uncomfortable places, you should be fine.

*I did it once, but then made the mistake of forgetting to take them off before I went out on the run.

[MINITEE]

Pin on tri shorts already for some unknowen reason. Stupid question but would I look like a total knob if I put my bike shorts on over my tri shorts in transition for the bike?? Then remove them in T2?
Just can not think I will make 94k without nerve damage... and I am sure I will lose the race somewhere other than my transitions

Personally, that would be way too much padding/seams all in one place for me. I will ride up to 120 with tri-shorts, but that's how I trained for my Half IM and no issues. YMMV though.

Not sure there is any sort of change tent at Muskoka, but sure those who have done it can answer that one.

[Mark.AU]

Pin on tri shorts already for some unknowen reason. Stupid question but would I look like a total knob if I put my bike shorts on over my tri shorts in transition for the bike?? Then remove them in T2?
Just can not think I will make 94k without nerve damage... and I am sure I will lose the race somewhere other than my transitions

Personally, that would be way too much padding/seams all in one place for me. I will ride up to 120 with tri-shorts, but that's how I trained for my Half IM and no issues. YMMV though.

Not sure there is any sort of change tent at Muskoka, but sure those who have done it can answer that one.

I don't remember there being a change tent, but I haven't done this race since 2009.

Final comment on the course; A wise man said "The ironman run course is full of guys walking and talking about what great bike splits they had." This is particularly relevant to Muskoka. It's a lovely course, and like Jono I really enjoyed the ride. However, both times I've raced there I have cramped during the run, something which in other races has rarely occurred.

[jamix]

Pin on tri shorts already for some unknowen reason. Stupid question but would I look like a total knob if I put my bike shorts on over my tri shorts in transition for the bike?? Then remove them in T2?
Just can not think I will make 94k without nerve damage... and I am sure I will lose the race somewhere other than my transitions

Personally, that would be way too much padding/seams all in one place for me. I will ride up to 120 with tri-shorts, but that's how I trained for my Half IM and no issues. YMMV though.

Not sure there is any sort of change tent at Muskoka, but sure those who have done it can answer that one.

I don't remember there being a change tent, but I haven't done this race since 2009.

Final comment on the course; A wise man said "The ironman run course is full of guys walking and talking about what great bike splits they had." This is particularly relevant to Muskoka. It's a lovely course, and like Jono I really enjoyed the ride. However, both times I've raced there I have cramped during the run, something which in other races has rarely occurred.

Maybe you want to try Chris McCormack's "muscle hydration" strategy by loading on the calcium. Magnesium, sodium and potassium a couple weeks (too late?) before the race. In his bio, CM said he got cramps too in hot IM races and that this cured him.

[eme]

Hills and I don't get along very well, so Muskoka was a brutal course for me. I found the last 30K of the bike to be the worst since the road was in horrible condidion and the hills were short and steep (which is my worst kind of hill). The down hill at the end of South Portage where you then make the left hand turn onto North Portage (for the final 9K back to transition) was the WORST because you had this awesome downhill where you then had to come to almost a complete stop at the bottom in order to make the 90-deg left-hand turn onto North Portage - and an 8-10% grade hill to start! That's where I saw many people walking their bikes.

The other horrible hill (about half way on the course) was the one coming out of Dorset (after you cross the bridge in town) and then you have to climb up a nasty hill before making a right-hand turn at the stop sign. Luckily on race day we didn't have to actually stop at that intersection (but in training you do because it's a somewhat blind intersection).

I did this race, and to be honest, I can't remember any of that!! hills, yes there we lots of them. the details - nope! Mind you, that was 5 years ago now. that is nuts.

Just race smart - manage your energy and expectations. Spin up easy on the hills and power the downs.

You are from Calgary, hills are your bread and butter - so it is no surprise that the 'tough' parts even register in your memory! That and you are one of the toughest triathletes that I know!

I haven't ridden this course, but as a flatlander - when I did Calgary 70.3 this year, I made myself a lot of deals on the bike (giving myself permission to walk up the biggest climb if I needed) but didn't need to take myself up on any of them. I actually ended up mistaken the biggest climb for the second biggest (mis-converted miles to km) and it was way better than I psyched myself out for! Trust your training.

[AjaxRunner]

Hope everybody competing yesterday had good races. I volunteered in the transition zone on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time, though almost feel like I competed in the event

Makes for two long days: Sat morning get up early and drive to event. Spend all day at event on your feet. Go find a hotel, then go for a 19k run. Then get to bed by 11, get up at 4:30 am to make it to the event parking area and the first shuttle at 5:30 am. Then work transition all day till about 6 pm. Drive home and get to bed by 10......and crash.

But I did get a t-shirt

I would and will do it all again.

[Mark.AU]

Smart racing???

Yep - seems like you did, too. Looks like you executed a nice, balanced race - hope it was what you hoped for.

[Mark.AU]

Hope everybody competing yesterday had good races. I volunteered in the transition zone on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time, though almost feel like I competed in the event

Makes for two long days: Sat morning get up early and drive to event. Spend all day at event on your feet. Go find a hotel, then go for a 19k run. Then get to bed by 11, get up at 4:30 am to make it to the event parking area and the first shuttle at 5:30 am. Then work transition all day till about 6 pm. Drive home and get to bed by 10......and crash.

But I did get a t-shirt

I would and will do it all again.

Thanks for volunteering! Without you, we have no race - I appreciate what you and all the volunteers did for me and all us racers over the weekend.

[AjaxRunner]

Hope everybody competing yesterday had good races. I volunteered in the transition zone on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time, though almost feel like I competed in the event

Makes for two long days: Sat morning get up early and drive to event. Spend all day at event on your feet. Go find a hotel, then go for a 19k run. Then get to bed by 11, get up at 4:30 am to make it to the event parking area and the first shuttle at 5:30 am. Then work transition all day till about 6 pm. Drive home and get to bed by 10......and crash.

But I did get a t-shirt

I would and will do it all again.

Thanks for volunteering! Without you, we have no race - I appreciate what you and all the volunteers did for me and all us racers over the weekend.

It really was my pleasure...I enjoyed it. Sorry I didn't get to meet any of you specifically...but if anybody remembers the guy with the red hat in transition....that was me

[Annelizabeth]

Sounds like you put forth a great weekend of volunteering. I did not specifically say thank you to the transition volunteers as I usually make a practice of while I am running. so THANK YOU!!!!! Everybody was so friendly!