I think the best things about the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 race is the later 8AM start and the hotel proximity to the transition. The latter is only a benefit if you are actually staying at the Deerhurst Resort, which I did. Given those items I was able to sleep in until around 5AM race morning, enjoy a casual breakfast in the room, and make a short walk to setup my transition at 5:30AM. The morning was extremely stress-free. I also think that I am really starting to lose some of the anxiety that comes with a triathlon, but not all. It had rained pretty heavily on Saturday so the bags I used to cover my handlebars and seat had collected a bit of water in them. I created a bit of a stream through transition when I dumped them onto the ground. I did manage to keep from running through others stuff.
I had plenty of time to setup my transition spot and head back to the room to relax a bit and hydrate a little more. I really felt well hydrated and my pores felt like they were ready to explode with sweat. I put on my wetsuit in the room since it was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. There was a large amount of steam coming off the lake, so I knew that the water was going to be nice and warm when we got in. With about 15 minutes until the first wave starts, we made the 10 minute walk out the back of the hotel and down the hill to the small peninsula where the race began. Once we got out there things started going pretty quickly. I don’t ever remember hearing them play “O Canada”. I thought that that would be kind of different hearing that instead of our National Anthem. I kissed my wife goodbye and headed to the queue where my wave of green swim caps was starting to congregate. We really didn’t get much time to warm-up and before I knew it the pink cap wave in front of us was taking off.
The 1.2 mile(2km) swim course formed somewhat of an flipped “P”. We headed in a clockwise direction flanking the beach, before turning towards the opposite shore and then back. The majority of the guys in my wave had congregated on the left, outer side which was closer to the shore. I assume because they were able to stand up. I had started to line up there myself, but my wife motioned out to the inner buoy towards the middle of the lake . I looked and there was hardly anyone there, which is quite odd. Usually this is where everyone congregates and you better know what you are doing to line up there. Today it was empty, so I headed over there and found a nice open space right behind the line. I could not stand here so I just laid back and floated until the gun went off.
Finally the gun fired(not sure if there was a gun actually) and we were off. The swim down to the first turn was so nice without all the typical congestion. The sun was directly in front of us, so spotting was a little tricky, but not bad. The first turn was pretty good as well. I made way across to the other side of the lake and then made the next right heading back. I somehow got out a little wide, but there was no one around me. Probably one of the least congested swims I have ever had. I felt great the whole time and just got in a good steady rhythm. I felt my 15 min timer go off on my watch part way down the upper side. It felt like I had a ways to go yet, so I really was not sure if I was doing good or not. I didn’t take any time to look at my pace on my Garmin, as I was trying to not waste any time.
I 
eventually made the final right turn heading back to the swim exit on the green just below Deerhurst Lodge. The water got very shallow and it felt like I could reach the bottom with my hand if I tried. It was pretty cool since it gave some perspective as to how fast I was going. I never felt the second vibration for my 2nd 15 minute timer on my Garmin, so I was thinking I was either going blazing fast(< 30min 1.2mile?? Yeah right) or I just didn’t feel it. Undoubtedly the latter. The swim exit approached and I swam as far into it as I could before a volunteer grabbed my arm to help my up the steps. A quick glance at my Garmin indicated 38 mins and some odd seconds…SWEET!!!! Last year at Ironman Miami 70.3 I did it in just over 45 mins, so chopping off around 7 minutes is huge.
Swim Result: Success!
Official Time: 38:13
Pace:1:49 min/100yds
