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My 2013 Ironman journey started in 1999 at my first Ironman in Lake Placid, NY.

At that race my Aunt, uncle, and two younger cousins (the Deaks) came from Canada where they had been visiting friends to cheer me on. My two cousins David and Andrew were then 17 and 15. Their impression at the time i understand was one of confusion. Why would anyone do this?. And what is up with all the Speedos? Cant blame them on either account! =). But the seed was planted. Fast forward to 2006 and for David Deak the seed sprouted. It was a quick growing seed as over the next 7 years he went on to complete 10 Ironmans and many half Ironmans. He was hooked. And not one race entry went by where he failed to reach out to his older cousin (me) and ask me to race with him. 10 times he was told "maybe next time". I was deep in "retirement". Fast forward further to August of 2011 and David managed to sucker his younger brother Andrew into a Half Ironman. Now Andrew was hooked. Fast forward one last time to August of 2012 and David and Andrew signed up for Andrew's first Ironman: Ironman Mon-Tremblant in Quebec, Canada. This was a new Ironman on the circuit and they had signed up for the 2nd running of the race. As consistent and steady as his racing David once again reached out to cousin Rob. If i remember correctly the first inquiry was met similarly to the previous 10 encounters. "No Thanks =)". But deep down I must have been ready for another as a day or two later i made the mistake of opening the race web site. Beautiful town: Check, Ideal weather: Check, Tough Course: Check, Wide swim start: Check. A lot of things appealed to me. I also thought: "I do turn 40 in November". This may be one of my last chances to put up a fast time as speed tends to start a gradual decline some time just before or just after reaching 40. Ironman races tend to fill very quickly and i knew i did not have a lot of time to ponder. For 3 or 4 days i would open the web site in the morning and check to see if the race had filled up. Each couple of days Ironman would update the number of spots available. I watched. I pondered. I got Mel's blessing. I watched. I pondered. I knew if i was going to do it i would want local training partners. I reached out to my old and new training friends Tyler Pate: Not interested. Kevin Patton: Nope! Chris Dull: Not a chance Mark Hawn. Forget it (even though Im retired for a year =). When i reached out to my good friend Kevin Wessinger i finally found some interest. Kevin is Canadian and he quickly reached out to his brother

Dave Wessinger (aka "Brother Dave") who still lives near Toronto and they were both interested. The next day i pulled the trigger. I was in and the journey began. Shortly after my step dad Doug Ferguson, who had never even done a sprint triathlon committed. Exciting: This was a true family affair! Coming off what turned out to be a 6 year retirement i knew i had my work cut out. I could count on one hand the number of times i had been in the pool since June of 2006 and could probably fit the number of bike rides on my hands and toes. Although i had kept up running as a way to stay in shape my runs usually were 5-6 miles and i rarely went over 8 miles except a couple runs each September/October to get ready for the Atlanta Half Marathon which was a tradition. Having completed 4 Ironmans i always have been intimidated by the distance. I got to work right away. Over the next 11 months David, Andrew, Doug, Kevin, Brother Dave, and I each trained to our own beat. The family unit stayed in touch via email. Emails were slow at first but as the weather warmed the pace picked up. We shared links to training articles, to articles reviewing the latest triathlon gear, and many delicious recipes. We also kept each other up to date with injuries, training successes, and the inevitable failures. My mom and Thomas Deak (David and Andrew's father) were added to the email chain. Later David's girlfriend (Louis Hesselbjerg) was added and later in the year Andrew's girlfriend Corri Longridge was added. What was 1-2 emails a week in October-December had turned into 5-6 emails per day by June. Excitement was building but we were never too serious. We joked and teased along the way. Lots of fun. Separately the last couple of months David, Andrew and I shared training data via Garmin Connect where we could followed each others workout times, volumes, power, heart rate, etc Meanwhile Kevin and I talked most days on the phone and Brother Dave and I checked in on each other occasionally via Twitter, email, or via Kevin. All the while Melanie was supper supportive and patient at home. Ironman meant the occasional night we would leave an outing earlier than we would otherwise. It also meant less travel than we had become accustomed too as time was set aside for long training rides and finical resources found themselves into the latest Triathlon gadgets =). Oooppssss! She also was patient and listened to my boring daily work out details. Super star! Close friends Brett Godwin and Doug Mason also noticed a change in focus. Where we used to talk daily about the latest day in the stock market or the latest Atlanta Falcons or college football game it was obvious my focus had been side tracked by bike power data etc. The Swim:

Figure 1 Good friend Brett breaks thru the tape to remind me "If youre not first your last"

Water Temp: ~ 72 degrees. Right after the M35-39 wave took off the 407 members of the M40-44 age group were corralled into the small starting area on the beach for the 6:48 AM start! Shooting for a :58 to 1:02 swim and knowing only 24 guys in my age group last year broke the 1hr mark i seeded myself about 2-3 rows deep right on the buoy line. At the last minute I spot Kevin and Brother Dave and we share a quick smile and laugh. With about 30 seconds to go I say out loud to the guys around me "Alright everyone....BE NICE!". That got a few chuckles. =). BOOM! Off we went. I see Kevin make a pretty aggressive dash for the front....that is the last i would see of him until the first out and back on the run. I took a little more casual approach to the swim start. Goal was to keep the heart rate (HR) down. It is a long day and getting caught up in the excitement now thus spiking the HR can cause issues down the line. Brother Dave was quickly lost in the chaos, or so i thought. Off we go. Pretty good start. A little bit of bumping but nothing crazy. Definitely a different memory than i have the Ironman Coeur DAlene start in 2006! Nobody was riding me like a horse and i was not riding anyone else like a horse. =) First 1-2 hundred meters are a blur. I was siting a little extra at this point to see how the race was spreading out and if i had clear water or needed to make a move further inside. I bi-lateral breath for a few seconds. Bi-lateral breathing is a premeditated check i decided to implement to make sure i was not swimming too hard. If i could not comfortably breath every third stroke it was harder than i wanted to be going. Its a long long day and no need to go too hard at this point. What seemed like only a couple minutes after the start i see my first yellow cap from the M3539 wave that started 3 min ahead. Although it was a P.I.B. to already be dodging people i felt more sorry for him than i did myself. He was about to get pummeled by the onslaught behind me! 3-400 meters in I find myself next to 2 other gray gaps. One is drafting off the other. For a few minutes i swim beside the guy drafting probably still getting a slight draft off the guy leading even though im to the side. For those not familiar when you swim directly behind someone going the same speed it takes about 20% less effort. So it is a strategy that most racers shoot for but one that does not always work out as its hard to find someone who is going to maintain speed and its not always easy to trust the guy leading is swimming straight! For a few minutes we swim side by side and i start noticing that while i am still having to dodge the slower swimmers from the earlier waves the guy beside me is having an easy day of it following the other guy. A minute later my forward progress is halted by a guy in my way and i fall back about half a body length. At this point it was an easy decision to fall the rest of the way back to be directly behind the guy who i had been swimming beside. I fall in line. Ahhhhhhh. This is nice! Soooo much easier! The three of us progress. The guy pulling the guy in front of me and I has a very distinctive left arm recovery so whenever i site its easy to know i am still on the train. The guy directly in front of me i notice has a gray 2XU wetsuit on. Wait...Brother Dave has a 2XU wetsuit. Could it be? The swim continues. Not having a ton of experience drafting i keep tapping the guy in front of me's feet. This a big no no in drafting. You want to stay as close as you can without hitting their feet. You hit their feet too much and you may get a quick swift kick in the head to say "please don't do that". =). So over the next bit i try to fine tune my position in the back so that i am getting the full benefits of the draft yet not hitting my leads feet. Time progresses and our lead guy seems to be doing a heck of a job swimming straight and dodging the chaos in front of us. Meanwhile my effort feels so easy i feel like i could be sitting on the couch at home. Doubts creep in. Could i swim faster on my own? I decide probably not as these guys were right beside me at the 400/500m point. I make the decision that even if i am on a slower train and we swim 1:04 the effort i am saving will pay huge dividends later in the day. I am on the train for better or worse i decide. I remind myself to buy this lead guy a steak dinner after the race is over. =) Slowly but surely time passes and we hit the two turn around buoys. Despite the inevitable increase in traffic at the turn buoys the pace mini line stays together. The only other excitement in the swim came about 200-300 meters after the 2nd turn buoy when we were headed back to shore. The lead guy out of the blue cuts back to the outside of the buoys where it is more crowded. I think WTF? Why did you do that dude? We were fine! But oh well i had little say and continued to follow. It was definitely a bit more crowded but aside from the occasional moment where i got momentarily bumped off the line by people swimming astray things progressed all the way to the finish. Suddenly i start to see the bottom of the lake. The end is near! I can hear the loud speakers. I swim as long as i can until its impossible to swim any more. I stand up. After being horizontal for an hour once you suddenly stand up and start running its very common for your HR to go thru the roof. My goal

here was to move slowly and keep the HR down. Even though i knew others around me may pass me on the way to the changing tent i figured keeping my HR down may pay dividends later. So slowly but surely i make my way out of the water on to the beach. I see the race clock. 7:49:15 and counting. Since my wave started at 6:48 i had to do some quick math. That is a 1:01:XX swim. While it was not the sub 1hr swim i hoped for given how little effort i put out i was extremely happy. Ends up i was 29th out of 407 out of the water in my age group but I of course do not know this at the time. I run straight to the wetsuit peelers and let them do their thing. My team was not as quick as i hoped and it took them 3-4 yanks to get the suit off. They tried their best and a few seconds do not matter in an Ironman. I thank them and i gather my wetsuit and goggles and off i go. (For those not familiar: Ironman actually organizes volunteer "wetsuit peelers" that help triathletes quickly remove their wetsuits after the swim. Its a luxury, otherwise you have to do it yourself which is a bit of a challenge at times). T1 Ironman Mon-Tremblant (IMMT) has a fairly long (ie >400 m) run from the swim to the transition area where we transition from swim to bike. The race organizers have it carpeted with red carpet. l Remember reading that most racers out of excitement run so fast at this point its usually their fastest running all day. I jog happily glancing into the crowd looking for Melanie/Brett/Doug/Louise/Corri/Thomas and gang who i know are there somewhere. The entire 1/4 mile run is lined 5-6 deep with people cheering. Very cool! I finally hear my name and out of the corner of my eye see our cheering squad. I give them a quick thumbs up to let them know all good and head into the tent. I am not a smiley racer so have to give thumbs up to indicate status is good! I grab my bike gear bag that has my helmet, bike shoes, HR monitor, sunglasses, and racing top. I then am directed to the changing area. The guys and girls changing areas are adjacent to each other and they are not marked. So at first i head toward the ladies changing area and am enthusiastically redirected next door by some volunteers. With humor still in tack i joke with a big grin "you mean i cant change in the women's area?" and i got a big laugh from the volunteers. The change goes smooth and perfectly and i grab my bike shoes and head toward the bike which is another 100m away. T1 6:04. About 1.5 minutes slower than the fastest guys in my age group but again i expended very little energy and its a long day. Bike: The Ironman Mont Tremblant bike course is comprised of 2 x 56 mile loops. In addition each loop you come thru the heart of town twice Ironman does this so that the spectators get a chance to see their friends/family several times. On paper the IMMT course looks to be one of the toughest on the circuit. It has over 6000 feet of climbing which is on par with Ironman Lake Placid which is probably the 4th or 5th hardest. However IMMT has the advantage of having extremely smooth roads and no technical descents with very few places where you have to stop your momentum to make a turn. In the end it adds up to a course tough enough that keeps the large groups of cyclist from forming like they do at some less hilly races as well as punishes those who do not pace properly. But it also rides faster than you would think. Its also extremely scenic. During my 3 short practice bikes in the week leading up to the race i did not quite understand just how pretty it was but on race day i got it! WOW! After a February training weekend with Kevin Wessinger and Brother Dave in Florida i was convinced by Brother Dave to buy a power meter for my bike. Over the years power has become the preferred choice for cyclists to measure output. It was a huge investment and at first i was not sure what to think but over the year came to love it and was addicted to this form of riding. I cannot see giving it up now that i have it. After many long training rides i had a solid sample size of what kind of power i can generate on a long ride and still leave enough in the tank to be able to run a marathon. I had settled on a plan. I was going to ride the first loop of the Ironman bike course at 210 watts, confirm that it felt easy and if so pick it up to 215-220 watts for the second loop. Power is relative to race weight so for those who ride with power i was weighing 152 lbs. The power would also help me from starting too fast on the bike. Many athletes, especially "newbies" get so caught up in the moment and are excited by the large crowds and ride the 1st hr or 2 of the bike way too hard thus tiring themselves out way too early on what is a long day that rewards those with patience.

I also had a nutrition plan. Over a 10hr day one obviously needs to eat and drink a lot. While i was probably burning 800-1000 calories per hour your body cannot absorb a large number of calories while racing as blood is diverted from your digestive system to your working muscles. What my body can absorb is just under 300 calories per hr. The rest of my energy comes from stored fat. Another nutrition concern in this form of racing are electrolytes. When you sweat you lose large amounts of salt and lesser amounts of magnesium, potassium, etc. If you only drink water you eventually dilute your system of these things which leads to muscle cramps and potentially other much more harmful situations if your not careful. So based on research and practice in training i had a plan i felt fairly confident in but after cramping up so bad that i could not pedal at mile 106 of the bike at my last Ironman attempt in 2006 i was still a bit wiry.

Figure 2 Start of Bike

The bike ride proceeded pretty close to plan. In the early parts my Avg Watts had creped up to 215. It felt easy. Hey I was excited too! I would remind myself to "Chill" and "Back off a bit". I focused on remaining aero on the flats and descents and sit up on the longer up hills and drink and "eat". I would flip between screens on my computer to look at 3 sec power, 10 sec power , normalized power, cadence, heart rate, grade, time all the while digesting the data and reacting accordingly. If my power started to creep up i backed off just a hair. I ate i drank. I passed people. No one passed me! =). Before too long we were on Hwy 117 a long rolling mostly big chain ring lonely stretch that is an out and back. On this road you can see way up ahead. At some points i bet you can see 2-3 miles up the road if not

further. Already there are very few riders ahead even though there were two age groups that started 3-6 minutes before me in the swim. Everyone was quiet and focused. When i did take my eyes off the computer screen or the road in front of me the scenery was unreal. Note to self: Don't forget to look around, take it in. I saw no drafting where i was (which is illegal on the cycling leg of a triathlon). No one seemed to be riding outside of themselves. I loved my numbers. Everything was just where it should be. Avg Power. check. Hr. Check. AP vs NP. Looking good! Nutrition check. I even said to myself a couple times "Perfect". At aid stations i grabbed water and filled my front drinking system. I thanked the volunteers. Mile after mile went by and i passed people. No one passed me until right when we got off Hwy 117 about mile 40 roughly. I said out loud "finally" I was happy to have people to try to ride with. A minute later i passed another guy and at the last second realized it was Brother Dave. "Brother Dave?" i yell excitedly. Knowing full well Dave is my equal on the bike i was excited we found each other. "Was that you on my feet on the swim?" He ask. "Well i did draft off a guy with a gray 2XU suit who was drafting off a guy with a high left arm recovery". "That was me". We laugh. We both ask each other how are feeling: we both feel good! With the two riders who had just passed me there were now 4 of us all in the vicinity that were strong riders. This could be nice if we all "work together" i think. Although there is no drafting per say you can stay as close as 7m to the person in front and even at that distance you get a small benefit not to mention the company of other riders. But alas it did not last long. One of the riders was especially strong and was pulling away. Apparently Brother Dave got excited by my visit and took off too. But i had a plan. I road my numbers. But again alone. Before too long we are back into town for the first time. I catch Melanie out of the corner of my eye as I wizz by. Thumbs up i give her. Out to the hard stretch we go. There is one 10k stretch toward the end of each loop that is hard no matter how you slice it. Frequent 14-15% grades and i even saw 19.7% grade on my garmin computer. The key here is to not blow your race. Easy does it. In my easiest gear it took 320 Watts of power at times to get up some of these suckers. But i was prepared for that. It was built in to the plan. Up we go. Then down we go! Zoooooooom. That decent is FAST. I hit 45 mph! Wowser. Back thru town. Energized by the crowd. Look for the cheering squad. Thumbs up. Out for loop two. Loop 2 was much the same as one except lonelier and a little bit more wind. By this time i could see 1/2 mile stretches ahead with no one. Time went by. Numbers still good. Nutrition plan on schedule. Never got passed but continued to on occasion pass someone. At one point i remember my mood changed ever so slightly. I remember reading if your mood changes eat/drink. So i did. I got a little ahead on the nutrition schedule. And now i had to pee BAD! This was both good and bad as having to pee was a good sign i had drank enough. It was bad though because i really had to pee. The debate starts: Do i stop at an aid station and use the bathroom? I figure i would lose probably 75 seconds if i did when all was said in done. Could i pee myself? Many triathletes brag about the ability to do so. Ugg. I hold it. Time goes on but the desire to pee does not. I consider if i am drinking less because of the fact that i have to pee so bad. I debate. On the next long downhill i try to pee on the bike. It doesn't work for me. I envy those who can. I decide stopping is not an option so i press on...uncomfortable. So the rest of the ride was uneventful. I was not able to increase my power output as i hoped but was maintaining what i did on the first lap which is a good sign. It doesn't feel hard either. Eventually i find myself back to the end of the bike. Up. Down. Then back into town. People! Woot! Bike time 5:10:00. avg Power 212 watts. 7th fastest bike split in M40-44 and i had moved into 12th/407 but did not know that of course. Had i guessed i would have been close as i had studied the prior years results. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362452181

Figure 3 Aero and moving up!

T2 The transition from bike to run goes off to plan. I jump off the bike and the legs are a bit tight but i expected that and was prepared. I would have been more shocked if they were not. I have always been very fast at T2 for some reason compared to others. Not sure what others do in there. Its simple. Put your running shoes on. Grab your hat and race number and GO! This time i enter the tent and look for my run gear bag. I run to the row that has my race number. 1903. I get there. 1901 i see, 1902, 1904. Oh shit! Where is 1903? It appears to be gone. Did someone take mine by mistake? Mild panic. I look again. This time i look a little slower and find it. It had been bumped to the side a hair. Off i go. Where are the bathrooms i eagerly ask the volunteers? Just when you start the run they answer. Ugg. I have to wait another few seconds? It was killing me T2 2:04

Run: I head out of the tent and as promised by the volunteer there are the bathrooms: There are lots of spectators hanging out right next to them (i guess their was no better spot?). As i enter the closest one i announce "I have been holding this for the last 60 miles". They all laugh. I get excited when i make people laugh. 10 min later i exit (kidding). The IMMT run course is also 2 loops. 2 x 13.1 miles or is the French like to say 2 x 21.1K. The gist of it is 1 steep short hill to start. Then a couple miles of net up that is mostly rolling hills not much unlike what we have in Atlanta. Then you get to this long 3-4 mile trail that is "flat" crushed gravel trail with a fair amount of shade. You run 3-4 miles down and 3-4 miles back and then hit that beginning part in reverse. However coming back into town you have an additional short steep hill. Like the bike course its also somewhat scenic. You could not ask for a better run really. Good mix of flat, rollers, hills, shade etc. And LOTS of aid stations. Its about 78 degrees i think. No clouds. Humidity pretty low! Small breeze. Far from perfect for a marathon but as good as it usually gets for an Ironman marathon.

Figure 4 Early Miles of Run

I start out and now have my race number on that has my name "Rob". So even spectators I dont know are yelling "Go Rob". Its kind of fun. But Im focused. I run. I have a bit of a plan here too: Run like hell! Kidding! My cousin David Deak has this magical gift of being able to smile the entire race. I do not. Its not a choice. I just cant seem to muster it. Melanie knows this as i run by early in the run i give her the thumbs up. All good. There are 4 guys immediately in front of me within 200 meters. The first 10 min the gaps stay just as they were leaving T2. No one makes a move we are all running the same pace. I knew this would not last long: It was just interesting. I sip on my water bottle with EFS in it that i had left in my transition bag. It has electrolytes that i will need to make sure i don't cramp. Slowly but surely i start catching more guys and no one catches me. After my 2006 cramping experience i am pretty aggressive at each aid station. The first cup of water i drink as much as i can while running. I grab a second. Dump it on the head. Then I look for ice. Ice in the hat. Some down the shorts (Ohh laa laa). Some in my hand and i wipe my arms/neck etc. The aid stations did not have sponges at first. Later at the buffet they have a second chance water stop. I take another sip of water. All this while running. I press on. My mile splits are exactly where i thought/hoped they would be. No surprises. HR good! The HR was in line with Perceived Effort. This was good as it as another indication that my hydration was good. No twinges/No cramps. I Don't feel the heat. Matter of fact one time i caught a breeze and it felt cool. Things are good. I'm kind of in a meditative state. Not really thinking about much...just moving forward. Approaching the first turn around on the out and back trail i see Kevin Wessinger! Actually he sees me first. "Robbie!" he yells. I come back with "You look good" as he goes by the other way. We try to hi five and its terrible. I think we catch a pinky. I pass one guy who was 34 (They put the age on the calf) and as he sees my age he says "Man what is up with the Men 40-44 yr old age group today? You guys are flying". That makes me feel good but also wonder about how many are ahead? I press on eating a gel every 4th mile or so and doing my routine at each aid station. One aid station i tried to grab a gel from a volunteer and we fumbled the hand off. Not wanting to waist the time or energy to bend over and get it I say "all good ill get one at the next aid station". A minute later i hear fast foot steps and "sir sir...you dropped your gel". The female volunteer must have been running 6 min pace to catch me. I tell her "That is unbelievable awesome. Thank you". At this point i made note that i really need to give back to this sport one day and volunteer! Soon after i hear "go Rob"! Its Andrew Deak! My brain is processing slower now and he is by me before i muster up "go Drew". I press on. Off the trail now hitting some down hills back to town. A couple of them are pretty steep! The mile splits reflect it. From this point things start to get a little blurry. I remember the 2 short steep up hills just before the 1/2 way pt were very hard coming back into town. I felt like i was crawling over them but i kept running. I saw the Wessinger Family. They yelled "Rob you look great". Apparently i looked better than i felt. A minute later i see Brett Godwin and Doug Mason come out of the crowd. In attempt to make me laugh Brett has put on his giant Kitty T-Shirt we bought him as a joke . It did not work. He doesn't get a laugh but being an Ironman veteran himself i think he gets it. Doug throws out a knuckle bump. That i can do! To finish the first loop the course weaves you thru the Mont-Tremblant village. Lots of people. Very cool. I hit the 1/2 way pt in about 1:33 for the first half marathon including my 1 min pee stop. I was in 6th place in my age group at that point but still did not have a clue...i was just running. I hit the 1 short steep up hill before the uphill rolling section. Its hard! Wow! But i run it. Somewhere around here my right quad starts to tighten up. Not crampy. Just tight. I do not think much of it at the time. I run all the subsequent up hills but they are harder now for sure but my mile splits are still not far off. I start to feel a little warm. On the aid stations i start to go thru just a little bit slower to make sure i am cooling off and getting some water. Some of them have cold sponges now. Those are heaven! Things are getting tough and i literally try to talk myself thru it. Positive. You knew this would be hard. Focus on getting to the flat/soft/shaded trail (mile 16). Once there its 10 miles to go and even if you slow down a bit its unlikely you will get passed. I did exactly that. I got to mile 16. Unfortunately my quads (both left and right now) had tightened up so much that the pain was immense. I kept thinking "Don't Walk. Don't Walk". I know once you walk in an Ironman its tough to get going again but shortly after i could not stand the pain anymore. I crack. I walk. Mentally I was pretty clear. I was not too foggy. I try to run again. Nope. Not going to happen. Just to confirm i try one more time. When i decide no one could run thru what i was feeling.....i give in to walking for good. I try to at least walk fast. 17 min miles! The thought of not finishing never crossed my mind. It was just about getting home. I was not disappointed. It just was. No one else is

walking. I feel like the only one. What i failed to consider was most everyone out there was on their first loop. I was on my second. Before too long Andrew goes by me and i yell "go get em Andrew". I then see David Deak for the first time all day. He is hurting too. Mr. consistency has cracked as well! His smile is mostly gone. Never seen that before. But he is running! I knew David would hit the turn around before too long and would catch me. I keep checking over my shoulder. Finally i see him. He is walking. I walk back and we walk together and start sharing our war story. After a while it occurred to me that i could still break 11hrs. I did the math. I need to be about a hair under 16 min pace to break 11. I tried to walk faster. I could not seem to walk any faster than high 16s so i realize i am going to have to find some way to run at least a little to do it. It becomes my new goal. Every once in a while on a flat section i would run. Ouch Ouch Ouch! Get to that tree/road/sign etc walk. Dang that hurt. Long story short i did that a few times until sub 11 was a closed deal. I wished there was a way i could communicate with Melanie and let her know that i was OK and that i would be there between 5:30 and 5:45 but alas there is no way. Anyway long story short i finished it in 10:51 good for a ~4:31 marathon and 59th out of 407 in my age group overall. It was not what i hope for but i was much more positive this time around than after my 2006 disappointment. I had fun and realized that while not there yet i was close to being at the front of the race. That was thrilling! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/362452181

Figure 5 Finish. Note clock is 13 min off because of wave starts

The Crew: -My Step Dad Doug had a bad bout with diverticulitis at the worst possible time starting about 2 months before the race and was unable to compete. We look forward to seeing him compete though after his recovery! -Brother Dave had a prior injury of planters fasciitis that kept him from running the marathon. -I was very happy for Kevin Wessinger who went on to get 2nd in the age group with a 9:32. He deserved it as he trains harder than anyone! -My youngest cousin Andrew who in his first Ironman went 10:01 despite battling a broken rib and bumb knee the last 3 months of training. He has a gift as well as knows how to suffer and it will be neat to follow his progression. -David Deak gutted it out and finished too. 11:05! Has he gotten his older cousin re hooked? Time will tell. David has already signed up for IMMT 70.3 (Half Ironman) 2014 with his brother Andrew and is doing Ironman Boulder 2014. I have a feeling his best times are ahead of him! -Melanie: I have to announce even Melanie caught a little bit of the bug and started dreaming of competing again =) Lets see how long that lasts! -Doug Mason (Cheering squad) who has never done a triathlon was so inspired he too wanted to compete at the IMMT 70.3 2014 race before we just found out it filled up in under 24 hrs. Maybe Raleigh?

Reflection: -Mont Tremblant is a perfect venue for an Ironman. I highly recommend that race to anyone considering. I have done Lake Placid and Coeur DAlene and while both of those are supper cool spots I think MT takes the cake. -For any athlete that has never experienced the locked quads phenomena I do understand why it may Be hard to understand. There really was not an option. 7 min mile, 8 min mile, 10 min mile it did not matter . Rob King, Tim Deboom, Craig Alexander. Did not matter. It was virtually impossible to run. As to the why? We may never know. I googled and yahooed every combination of Dead Quads, Tight Quads, Locked Quads and Ironman/Marathon you could think of. There is not a lot of Info out there but I am not the first person who has experienced this. But I think it boils down to This. As consistent as I was throughout the preceding 11 months I was coming off a 6 year Retirement. For the speed/distance I was going it may have been the lack of long term consistency That got me. That being said if I do another one I will probably try to do some quad strengthening , some downhill repeats, and a couple 20-23 mile runs next time around. -Id like to organize a group to volunteer at an Ironman or 70.3 in 2014. IM Chattanooga (late September) is probably out for me as I will be traveling. If you are interested let me know. It may be fun to get a group and maybe all man a run or bike aid station. -I truly did have a lot of fun along my journey in both training and racing and loved getting to know Brother Dave as well as know better my younger cousins! I also enjoyed finding my limits! The Pictures:

Figure 6 The Cousins (Left David Deak, Center Andrew Deak)

Figure 7 Somewhere on the bike ride

Figure 8 This is what it looked like on the gravely shaded flat trail

Figure 9 I do not even remember cycling by a river. LOL

Figure 10 Over the top of one of the short steep hills almost at 1/2 way pt. Doug Mason to my right

Figure 11 Dinner on hotel balcony week of race with Melanie!

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