This year I have had great results. I placed 3rd overall at Peterborough Half, 89th at Ironman Lake Placid which is my first ever Ironman and I also won the Chemong Lake Sprint Tri. So going into Muskoka I was expecting to have another great race. Well the Wednesday before the race I started to get some painful stabbing back pain and was not sure why. I was trying everything from taking extra rest, massages and even chiro but nothing was helping to completely rid me of this problem. I was really worried that I would not be able to get into my TT position on the bike as Wednesday's bike ride produced a lot of pain while trying this. In the back of my mind I was worried about a sub par race.
So Sunday morning came and I woke up to my back still sore but feeling better than what it has been. I tried to stretch it out one last time. Off to the race site to get everything set up. The forecast was calling for rain and cold weather but once at the race site it was a little cold but the rain was holding off.
My wave was set to go right after the pro's which I was happy for because I didn't have to worry about to many people in front of me during the swim. When the gun went off I started a little more controlled than usually but still was right up front. I did see another racer start to pull away and I knew who he was. He was the overall winner of the age group last year and I figured I would give him a run for his money this year. So I made the decision to stay at my comfortable pace and chase him on the bike and run. The swim was pretty much uneventful and I exited the water in second place only 45sec down.
The bike leg was the most painful and not enjoyably. I could not get off the bike fast enough. So I started the bike leg and the pain was right away very painful and I felt I could not get the power I am use to. I was worried that I was riding to slow but I ended up seeing a racer not to far a head and so I figured that was the lead guy in my age. So I stayed at that pace thinking not to put the pressure on him to soon and plus I was slowly catching this racer anyway. So as I got closer thinking I will be going into first place in the age group I found out that the biker in front of me was actually one of the pro women. My mind went back to thinking I am sucking on the bike and that the lead guy was creating a bigger gap on me. Well this was true and I slowly lots some more time on the bike while a couple of other age grouper pasted me. I was lucky that they weren't in my age group. Even with the pain I was still not giving up without a fight. The bike ride was almost done and I was worried that this back pain would hurt during the run part.
After racking my bike I was having trouble bending over do up my shoe due to the back pain. This worried me except when I started to run I did not feel any pain. I was again a happy person. I wanted to run hard and I was doing a great job. I was still sitting second at the half way mark but knew the 3rd place guy was slowly catching me. I ended up getting past. I ended up 3rd in my age group and 30th overall. I was very happy with the result with what I went through that day.
It is now recovery time. I am taking a week off before I start back to any type of training. I don't have any races on the schedule yet for the end of the year but I might look at running a half marathon.
