Having woken up a ½ hr ahead of my alarm clock, I got down to Hogs Back early, and I went through my planned pre-race schedule slowly and carefully, not rushing anything. I even had time to enjoy the Garfield comic book that I had brought with me for a few minutes - that  brought chuckles from nearby competitors also in the transition area:
"You must be relaxed." Yes, I was very relaxed, which I found slightly surprising, considering what I about to undertake.

At 8:30am I had eaten my pre-race gel, stretched, and done the final review of my mental prep and motivational
Q-cards, and I was standing waiting for the start of the race. Not even a starters gun, or a whistle, just a "Start" shout, and we were off.

The first 8km run went ok. I ran and chatted with my running friends Michelle Elston, and then Donna Reid, as they came up to me, before they ran on ahead. Despite a small running and cycling warmup, my legs felt a bit dead and not quite there. No matter, I had got lots of time, and no rush, to get warmed up and I kept control of my pace. I felt slightly disbelieving, almost surreal, as it finally dawned on me what I was doing, participating in a ½ Ironman Duathlon race covering 119.1 km of distance in
hopefully under 6hrs. I still had over 110km to cover before the end of the day. Oh man, what am I thinking?!?

The first 4km went quickly (<20min), but I don't think I was running that fast, I think the distance was a little short. In the second 4km, I needed water, but wasn't carrying any, and there was no handy water station, so I took a couple of sips from the water fountain between Bank and Bronson. I felt better after that.

T1 went smoothly and quickly and I was out and on my bike in just over a minute. The 90km bike route was 6 laps, from Hogs back down Colonel By to nearly Laurier bridge, and back. With a strong NW wind, it was a headwind for most of the way out to Laurier (exceptions were passing Dowes Lake and between Bank and Bronson), and a tailwind for most of the way back to Hogs Back.

The benefit of all those loops was at the end of each one having my gang of friends cheering and hollering my name. That was quite a boost! Thanks to Donna M., who was taking pictures constantly, to Mandy, for her enthusiastic cheering "Andreeeeewwwwww!", and also to John, Brian, Mike, Bradley, Theresa, Teresa, and to others there that I didn't see or hear (not that I could  hear anyone else over Mandy :-) ). The support you gave me was just fantastic, and it really helped me, as I so looked forward to the end of each bike loop so that I could see you all again. There were also a group of spectators between Bank and Bronson holding signs, including "Lance loves yah, baby!" and something like "New bike, $1000. New tri clothing $100, Padded seat, priceless". They were just great!

I did the first loop too fast. Even going into the wind, it felt easy, and I wasn't pushing the pace, but I was just flying (well, for me, anything over 30km/h on a flat course is flying). I was quite pumped. I was able to get my pace under control in the 2nd loop, but I forgot to punch my watch to record my time for each bike loop like I'd planned until the end of the 3rd loop, so I don't know how fast I started. I was able to execute the nutritional plan I had laid out for the bike course, alternating taking a gel and a Gatorade bar at the end of each loop, sipping eLoad constantly from my aero bottle, and refilling my aero bottle with eLoad after the 2nd and 4th loops. The first time I refilled my aero bottle, my shouts of "water bottle, top off" didn't seem to really register with the volunteers, so I had to grab the water bottle and open it with my teeth. Maybe I should have stopped my bike to do the
refill, but I was able to refill without stopping. The second time, after nearly colliding with a competitor who stopped  right in front of me, the volunteers were quicker, and I was able to do the refill quickly without having to use my teeth. I lost part of one gel as I didn't push the top of the squeeze-bottle fully closed, and it leaked all over my tri top pocket (and onto my leg as I discovered later. But that was ok, because the gels tasted aweful, so I didn't miss it (I don't know why it tasted bad, as it is a flavour I like).

The road got crowded when the sprint tri, and try-a-tri competitors were on the course, which was my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops, but it wasn't as bad as expected it to be (Somersault did a good job of sending them off in waves, to spread them out). It got a little lonely again after they were gone, and it was just the ½ Ironman people left on the course. I stayed patient when I was going upwind in the 'wind-tunnels', even muttering about them to one group of cyclists as I passed them (wow! imagine, I passed someone on the bike! :-) ), and let myself go when the
wind was behind me.

Michelle and Donna are both faster runners than I am, and I did want to beat them in this race, so I wanted as much of a lead as possible coming off the bike, so I kept track of how far behind me they were. My lead kept increasing each lap, until I had about a 10km lead on them by the > last lap. On the other hand, my buddy Andy was ahead of me (as I expected), but I had difficulty picking him out of the crowds of faster cyclists, so I only saw him a couple of times, but he was pulling ahead of me. Good for him.

On the 4th loop I nearly had an accident. Coming back to the Pretoria bridge, I was with a group of other cyclists (they were passing me, as most people were doing during the race, so what else is new), when a lady pedestrian, without looking, just non-chalantly walked out into the road. Other spectators and I started yelling, and she stopped right in the middle of the road, so we had to zoom around her on either side. What the &*^@#)! was
she thinking?!? I don't think she was.

At the start of the 5th loop, I decided to make a pit stop. My butt and left calf and neck were getting sore, and my bladder was full, so after getting out of the turn around area, I stopped, and made myself comfortable into the bushes lining Colonel By above Hogs Back falls. That was a relief. I felt so much better in so many places, it was worth the time lost. But the brief stop didn't help with the upset stomach that had bothered me for a couple
of loops. It was its worst after taking a gel - I even nearly threw up once. This was unexpected, as I had been taking gels on all my long bike rides all summer. Maybe it was the increased intensity as compared to my training rides?

At the start of the 6th loop, I was still feeling good and energetic, and was still cycling well, but the wheels started to fall off before I reached the turnaround at Laurier. My back and neck were bothering me more and more, and my legs, particularly my calf muscles, were really starting to scream, and I had to drop into lower gears in order to maintain my 90+ cadence. My struggling was even more noticeable on the way back, as, with the wind behind me, I couldn't maintain the higher cruising speeds that had felt so easy on the previous 5 laps. And the Hartwell Locks hill, which I had pushed hard up to maintain my speed and momentum on the previous 5 laps, knocked me down to a comparative crawl this time. I was so glad that this was the last loop.

T2 went like clockwork. I changed my shirt, and then made a snap decision to also change my shorts. I also made a quick pit stop - my hydration was good - and then I was running. I was quite happy and feeling upbeat, as my time so far was in the 'awesome' range - I had hit the 3hr time that I was hoping for on the bike, and my transitions had gone smoothly and quickly. I just was not feeling as good physically as I wanted to be coming off the bike - my calves were just lumps of pain, and my stomach was still in slight upheaval. I asked Mandy for a leg change as I ran past her. She laughed.

The ½ marathon run was 2 loops of out-and-back from Hogs Back to Clegg St., with the ½-way turnaround just before the Hogs Back Locks. The first loop went quite
well for me. Because of my stomach, I was a little leery of taking gels, and I delayed taking the first one until the > turn at Clegg, but other than some flatulence, I had no other problems from that quarter. The calves hurt like #^%!@&, but they didn't appear to be getting any worse.
And I was able to find my running legs fairly quickly and settle into a good pace to finish the run in ~1:53. My energy level was good. I did consistent 10/1's (run 10mins, walk 1min) to help the calf muscles and to keep myself hydrating. I also took water at all the water stations. I saw Andy ahead of me, running well, much better than his run blowup at Muskoka, and Michelle, Donna, and Karen (who I had missed completely on the bike) running up behind me. Michelle especially looked very good. At the half way turn I took another gel, and told Donna M. "Ha! I feel better than I did an hour ago!" as she took another picture (that must be about 1,000 now of
me for this race).  And I refilled my water bottle with eLoad (and I had enough eLoad for a 3rd bottle, if needed, but it wasn't on this day).

The 2nd loop of the run was a different story. My calves got worse and worse. I noticed my stride length shortening, despite an increased effort level. And two new
problems surfaced to take the place of my now-happy stomach: the bottoms of my feet felt like they were blistering, painfully; and my neck was getting sore and tight, with an ache spreading through my shoulders. No shoulder or head rolls or finger massage seems to help the neck, and the only thing that was going to help my painful feet was to stop and sit down, or to jump in the
Rideau Canal and swim the rest of the way. I get a boost from the faster runners, including Andy, ahead of me as they approached me going the other way, appearing to be strong and fast and powering to their finishes. I stayed with the 10/1's (my race plan had me hopefully dropping them) because that was 1 minute of rest for the calves, but getting running again became excruciatingly painful on the feet. I took my last gel at the Clegg turn-around. Yah! I was finally heading for home.

It took a lot of mental power to keep my running pace and effort up. Even the slight uphills at Bank and Hartwell Locks were a real test, as the all the pains seemed to
gang up on me and re-double in intensity then. I saw first Michelle (looking awesome), and then Donna, and then > Karen on their out on their 2nd loops, and I was heartened. Coming down the canal to Hogs Back, I finally got the 'finishing spurt' that I was looking for. I powered up
the slight hill at the locks and under the Hogs Back Rd bridge, spectators clapping, announcer calling my name,  exclaiming "Yah! Yah! Yah!" to myself, and running right across the timing mats before I stopped.

I got my medal, and then had to lean on the fence in order to stay upright. I told my hurting body that it could stop hurting now because I had finished. Joan Hollywood pointed me to the medical ambulance, and I hobbled over and had my feet briefly examined (just bad creases from  the socks, nothing the attendant could do for them). I had failed to see/hear my friends at the finish line (Mandy had had to leave), but I was able to hook up with them afterwards, and cheer Michelle and Donna into their finishes. Andy told me that I was 2nd in my age group (out of 2) and I laughed so hard at that. I guess I HAD to go to the awards dinner at the Elephant and Castle now. You always win when you start and finish an event like this, and sometimes you even win a medal just for showing up! :-))

My thanks to Somersault Promotions for putting on this event, and all those volunteers who had a long day. My big thanks again to all my friends who I saw and heard, and those I didn't, who came out especially to cheer me and all the other competitors on. I couldn't have done it without you. And especially to Donna M. for all the pictures she took. To my friends and fellow competitors Andy, Michelle, Donna, and Karen, congrats, you all had
a great race too!

Andy and Michelle actually had to beat someone else to earn their age-group awards!

Andrew Weston,  Nepean, Ontario, November 2003 

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