Race Results While Training
for Ironman Canada 1998

In order to chart progress and improvements, I will list my PR's in each standard distance prior to beginning my Ironman training program. I have not listed PR's in odd distance races for sake of simplicity.

Race Results - Beginning September 1997

Sept. 28, 1997 - Grand ½ Marathon - 1:24:52

• Good Race. Weather was perfect. Course has a few significant hills. Improved upon last year's time.

Oct. 26, 1997 - Niagara Falls ½ Marathon - 1:21:34

• Great Race. Cold, windy, but not bad. Ran smart, heart rate in control whole race. New PR.

Nov. 16, 1997 - London Pacers Club Championships - 13.8k - 56 min

• Good Race. Snow, slippery. 3^rd Overall, not very competitive (except for 1^st & 2^rd!)

Jan 11, 1998 - Disney World Marathon - 3:06:05

• Great day for a race.  The race starts at 6:00am so you're at the start by 4:30am.  It was 47° F at race start, but as the sun came up temperatures rose but stayed perfect for running.  I had some stomach cramps at about 12 miles and I ended up spending a few min (~3-4 min) in a porto-potty so when I got back on track I had some time to make-up.  I hit the half in 1:35 and then proceeded to try to catch the group I was running with.  I managed to catch them, and then I pushed the last 5 miles to try to make up more time.  Ended up running a great negative split, but I'll always wonder what I could have run if Mother Nature had been on my side!  Still a 23 minute PR, though.

Mar 1, 1998 - Niagara ½ Marathon - 1:23:34

• We run this race every year as a measuring stick just to see where we're at as far as training is concerned. It's also a nice training race for the Around the Bay race, 4 weeks later.  Weather was pretty good this year.  I only needed my lightweight tights and LIFA top.  In the past there have been some pretty heavy winds, so this was nice, although there was a slight drizzle for most of the day.  I improved by just over 3 minutes from last year.  In fact, the time was equal to a race I ran in April last year so I figure I'm about 6 weeks ahead of where I was this time last year.   Of course, a January marathon doesn't hurt!!

Mar 29, 1998 - Around the Bay 30k - 2:01:24

• What a great day for a race!  Last year I was dressed in all my heavy weight tights and top, and this year - shorts and a singlet.  Only problem was I forgot the sunscreen and ended up a bit red the next day.  This race is unique in that they have a graduated finishers medal system.  Under 2 hours and you get a gold medal, 2:00-2:15 and you get silver, anything above 2:15 is bronze.  I had really hoped to get a gold this year, seeing as I already had a silver from last year.  But the last third of this race is very hilly, and you need a cushion in the first have in order to hit your goal time.  I hit the half at 1:00:05 so I knew it would be tough.   I didn't make it but I still passed a lot of people and finished strong, with a 9 minute PR over last year.  And, unlike many of my friends, I wasn't affected by the heat.

April 19, 1998 - Brantford ½ Marathon - 1:18:11

• I ran 1:23:34 here last year, so this was a nice PR for me.   In fact, this may go down as my best race ever, as I finished 2nd overall!   Granted, this is a low key race with no prizes, but the winner still ran a 1:14.   I knew within the first 15m how the race would play out as there were only 3 of us who jumped to the front.  Our eventually winner took off almost immediately and I was left to run 13 miles with a fellow named Tom Sawyer (I kid you not).  Anyway, having never been in such a situation before, I had to try to figure out a race strategy.  I know I can kick at the end so I figured, what the heck, I'll run right behind him for 13 miles and see what happens.  Early on, he'd push the uphills and I'd watch as my heart rate soared, but in the second half I noticed that on the uphills my heart rate wasn't going up as we climbed, so I figured he was tiring (found another good use for my monitor).  I literally ran behind him, drafting from the wind, the entire way.   I only passed him once on a downhill when he ate his PowerGel.  I pushed ahead to the water stop to see if eating made it harder for him to hold this pace.   Apparently not, as he resumed the lead quickly.  We continued this way until 2km to go, at which point I noticed someone from a chase pack trying to bridge the gap up to us.  We decided to surge a couple times and this fended off the attack.  As we approached the finish line, I knew the chute was about 300-400m long so as we hit the chute I got up on my toes and gave it all I had, which was enough to pull ahead.  He couldn't respond and I ended up 9 seconds ahead.  I also discovered that the chute was closer to 400m long and I have about 300m max in my legs at the end of a half marathon, so I crossed the line at a fairly slow stagger.  But, that was an experience I'm sure I'll not soon forget.

May 10, 1998 - London 10k- 35:50

• This was the only 10 k race I had planned for this year so I hoped to do well.  I usually do this one as a tune-up for a Father's Day 10k we like to run but we were going to do a Triathlon of Father's Day so this was it for the short stuff.  I was a little disappointed with my time, I figured I should have run faster.   I know at the 5k point I was leading a group and we hit the half at 18:10 so that didn't bode well for a fast time.  And I know if I'm leading a pack the pack is way too slow because I like to tag along with faster people.  But I finished ok and recovered quickly so I'm not too disappointed.

May 31, 1998 - Brick Duathlon (3k/24k/3k) - 1:01:41

• I had originally planned just to watch Cheryl race but I decided to train through this race and try to enjoy it.  I realized I don't enjoy the first run of a duathlon at all and that they are tougher than I had remembered.  My legs we're pretty heavy on the first run due to the 118k ride I did the day before but they felt great on the bike. I had a very good bike ride and ran well off the bike so overall I was happy.  My cycling has improved a lot (a new bike helps, too!) and that's where time is made up or lost so it felt good to pass people instead of being picked off all day long.

June 7, 1998 - Greater Toronto Duathlon (2.8k/28k/3.58k) - 1:10:03

• Well this was a bit of a disappointment.  Water temperatures really dropped before the race and the day was so cold they changed the tri to a du on race day.  I ended up racing in tights and long sleeves because it was so cold.   I raced ok, placing better than I did at the Brick, but I really wanted the swim practice. But it was the right decision because we would have frozen onthe bike if we'd gotten wet.

June 21, 1998 - Muskoka Triathlon (2k/55k/15k) - 3:11:16

• This was the first really hot weekend of the summer.  And it was a cooker!  The course is tough to begin with and by the time the run got going it was high noon and hot.  I had a really good race, even though I had a bad stitch through most of the bike.  I didn't push the run too hard but still managed a PR on this course of over 22 mintues. 

June 28, 1998 - Guelph Lake Triathlon (1.5k/40k/9.5k) - 2:07:03

• This was my only shot at the Olympic distance this year so I really wanted to do well.  A good speed workout, too, I figured.  I tried to push the bike as hard as possible and then hang on for the run.  It worked, as I averaged 36.3 km/h on the bike (a personal best) and I finished with an 8 minute PR.

July 18, 1998 - Collingwood ½ Ironman Triathlon (2k/90k/21k) - 4:46:23

• Now we're into the 'meat' of my race season.  This is one tough bike course.  Lots of climbing, therefore good preperation for Ironman Canada.   It was also the Canadian Long Course Championships.  I had another PR here, despite some viscious side stitches on the run that actually caused me to walk a bit (that's never happened before!).  I finished thinking "Do I really want to do double this distance?"  Good race though.  Time to recover as I wanted to do another ½ Ironman in 8 days.

July 26, 1998 - Peterborough ½ Ironman Triathlon (2k/90k/21k) - 4:48:03

• Well I did the double and overall everything went well.  I was a bit slower, but that was to be expected. I tend to recover quite quickly so I wasn't worried.  I took it easy during the week between races and raced just fine.  Had I been trying to really race either of these two races, that might have been a different story.  Next year, I would definitely only do one but for Ironman training it was a good confidence builder.

Aug 30, 1998 - Ironman Canada Triathlon (2.4miles/112miles/26.2miles) - 10:42:18

• I had a great race.  This race deserves it's own page, so follow this link to the story of my Ironman experience.  

Oct 3, 1998 - Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (2.4miles/112miles/26.2miles) - 11:15:39

• Once again, this race receives it's own page, so follow this link to read about and see some pictures from the Ironman World Championships.  I went into a bit more detail about what we did during race week, etc.  I hope you like it!!

Thanks for reading this far.  I hope you've found this interesting and informative.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

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