A New Season

Last season finished off with a bang! I won Ironman Muskoka in my first ever attempt at the full Ironman distance. Muskoka was my main goal all season long and the focus of months of intense training.

Going into Muskoka I had the goal of finishing in 9:51 and winning an Ironman World Champion spot. On race day I had a fantastic race and all my hard work and suffering over the season paid off. Not only did I surpass my goal, I completed the very hilly course in a time of 9:19:28. I was overall winner of an Ironman race. A dream come true! As I ran down the finishing chute in the lead with people cheering and friends and family watching, I was overcome with joy. I was ecstatic that I put together a race that I could be proud of. The feeling of grabbing that tape and knowing that I had an Ironman World Champion spot was indescribable.

Since that day, I have rested. By the end of last season I was doing 30+ hours of training a week, along with working part-time. I was exhausted and in need of a break. I have done some training but nothing structured since then. I played hockey weekly with my friends, went for a few runs, and enjoyed a beer or two.

Now the break is over. Time to get down to business. I have set new goals for this season. The main one is to achieve a sub-nine hour race at Kona in October. Since this is an aggressive goal for my first time on the Big Island I have decided that I need a coach this year. Last year I put together my own training plan and did most of the workouts by myself. I was successful with this, but I know that I need someone with experience to help me improve this season.

At an award ceremony this past December I met up with Barrie Shepley. Barrie is one of the great triathlon minds. He has guided many athletes to the top tiers of the triathlon world. We talked about my training for Muskoka and my goals for the upcoming season. As we talked I got the feeling that Barrie would be a good person to help guide me in my preparation for Kona and asked if he would coach me.

The first thing that my new coach advised was to sign up for a spring training camp in Tucson, Arizona this month to start the season off. There will be a lot of talented triathletes at the training camp to challenge my abilities. I hope that by participating in this camp I will start the season with a good training base.

This summer I don't plan on doing a lot of races. My main focus is Kona and since I am fortunate to have my spot well in advance I can arrange my schedule accordingly. Luckily, I don't have to put out a huge effort and race an Ironman close to Kona to qualify. As of right now, I plan on competing at the Muskoka 70.3 Ironman, Orillia Triathlon and the Sun City Swim. There are many other fantastic races in Ontario and I will enter a few more. But before I commit to anything I need to sit down with Barrie and discuss which races would best prepare me for my debut on the Big Island.

#Goals