THE JOURNEY
I have been competing in the sport of triathlon for 15 years. I was introduced to the sport through my dad and older sister. One summer the two of them got roped into a relay team for the Orillia Triathlon. Following that event they were hooked on the sport. I remember them coming home from events the following summer with cool race tee shirts and great stories. On one occasion, I got dragged along to the Barrie Triathlon and ended up being put to work as a volunteer (cheap babysitting for my parents). I had a blast at the event and I received my own race shirt which I wore religiously for the next few months. Suddenly, I was hooked and I wanted to compete in a triathlon myself. I started with kids of steel/tri a tri race when I was 14.
I have struggled with my weight my entire life. When I was a kid I was heavy. I slimmed down in grade 7 but gained all the weight back by grade 10. I blame it on my Italian heritage and Nonna’s unbelievable cooking. It took me many years to figure out a balance of calories in vs. calories out. At my heaviest I was 265 lbs. That was when I was in high school. Now I was always active, playing rep hockey and other sports. However, I just didn’t realize the effect of the food I was putting into my body. When I was 16, I decided I needed to do something different. Losing weight might have been inspired by girls but we will say it was because I was focused on triathlon. That year, I got my first road bike and signed up for the Orillia Tri (750m/33k/7k). I finished that race as one of the final finishers in a time of 2:22. To put that into perspective, I have done a 1:34 on that same course. Despite my finishing time, I had a great time and was now fully into the triathlon world. For the next couple of years I competed in races around the area and continued to get faster and faster.
In 2006 I earned a spot on the national age group team and competed in Lausanne, Switzerland. I got dusted in that race. I competed at a few more World Championships over the next couple of years and my best result was a 7th place finish in Vancouver in 2008. The highlight for me was running a 35:03 10k off the bike. That was pretty wicked. However, from that race on, things started to fall apart.
The next season, I had high goals, I wanted to win my age group at the Olympic Distance World Championship in Australia. I didn’t. I actually had a terrible race. However that was not even the worst part of that season. My first disappointment was at a race in Bala. I came off the bike and was flying on the run. At about 5k in I caught the leader and passed him. I pushed to keep the lead for the next 2k. We both finished and I thought I had won. However, because we were so far ahead and without a lead bike, we both missed a small section of the run. That cost us our race. That was disappointing, my first win, taken away. Two weeks later, I raced another race and was in the lead again, this time on the way back into the finish I was directed back into the transition by one of the volunteers who thought I was a duathlete. I turned around and crossed the line in 2nd. Again, super disappointing, but it taught me a valuable lesson. Know the race course! Although I didn’t realize it at the time, these two races helped me succeed in Muskoka.
The following couple of seasons also did not measure up to my expectations. Racing was becoming more work than fun. I would race and have a (what I thought) was a bad result and be frustrated with my performance. Because of this, I took a step back from the sport. At this time I was finishing up school and working a lot, trying not to be buried under a mammoth amount of student debt! Racing stopped being fun and I was burnt out!
Then, 3 years ago I decided to try and get a 70.3 World Championship spot. I came back to the sport and started working hard. It was great to have a goal and something to work towards. I qualified and raced in Las Vegas and had a pretty good race for the shape I was in. Actually, I had a fantastic race for the shape I was in. I was working a lot and training was not consistent. That race set in motion the next season’s goal of being a top age grouper at the 70.3 World Championships in Mont Tremblant. I qualified early and put in a massive amount of work. Unfortunately, the race I deserved didn’t happen. I had a time that most people would be stoked about, but for me it was the worst race I have ever had. I cramped up on the run, and was a complete mess. After the race, I broke down with disappointment. I learned that sometimes you have a race result that you don’t deserve. In Vegas I was lucky, in Tremblant I was not. I also learned the importance of proper nutrition. In Tremblant I took too much nutrition on the bike and that had a negative effect on my stomach. In Muskoka every calorie was accounted for before the race.
As you could imagine, after Tremblant I was pretty bummed. I stopped training and really didn’t do a whole lot. I went to the YMCA one night and one of the guys in the Orillia tri group told me that I was looking fat. It was true - I was in terrible shape. This seemed to get me moving a bit more. Later in the winter, the idea of competing at the Muskoka Ironman popped into my head. I talked about it with Moniek, my biggest supporter, and she was onboard with the idea. This is huge, you need someone who supports your goals. Moniek knew I dreamed about racing an Ironman and qualifying for Kona and encouraged me to sign up. After I decided and before I signed up, her best friend set her wedding to the day before the race. For the next couple of weeks we discussed whether or not I should go to Muskoka or compete in a different race so I could also attend the wedding. Am I ever glad I didn’t do that!
Looking back now, signing up for the Muskoka Ironman should have been an easy decision. It was close by, so I could go and train on the course. I could do the 70.3 race in the same location to understand the course in a race setting. Most importantly, I had the support from my partner. Really it was her who made me sign up. We have been together for almost 9 years now. When we were discussing me doing Muskoka, she said, if you are going to do an Ironman, do it now. In a few years we want to start a family and you won’t be able to commit to it in the way that you want to. What I heard was, I want kids soon so you better do it now. So needless to say, I signed up.
Now at the point when I signed up, it was 17 weeks out from race day. Not a whole lot of time to train for an Ironman. But I had been on my trainer and running through the winter, so I had some base fitness to work from. Never having done an Ironman before I was scared. There are so many horror stories about people’s bodies shutting down during a race. Actually, I was terrified! I had never swam more than 3k open water. I had never biked longer than 4 hours. I hadn't even done a marathon before. It was terrifying that in 17 weeks I was to compete in an Ironman. So I grabbed a book on training for an Ironman and got down to business. I followed the plan laid out in the book, and altered a few things. It was a 24 week training schedule and I only had 17 weeks to get ready- It was a condensed season.
What I learned over the next 17 weeks is that training for an Ironman is difficult. Especially when you have life commitments. I currently work as a supply teacher and a bartender on weekends. There are some Friday’s where I work both jobs. In those cases I have to accept that training will not happen. That’s life. I can’t imagine how hard it is to train for an Ironman if you have a family of your own. I have tremendous respect for all the competitors who have families and cross that finish line. Fortunately for me I have an unbelievable amount of support from Moniek and my family which allowed me to focus on my training.
2015 Season and Training
Training for an Ironman is tough. There were days that were great and there were days where I was broken. There were a couple of times where I came in from a long ride completely shattered, grabbed a can of coke and chugged it down as fast as possible just to get the sugar. A good day I had in training was one of my hill workouts. I love hills. I was doing hill repeats once a week. In one of my hill workouts, I started thinking about winning Muskoka. As I was suffering up the hills I pictured chasing someone down to take over the lead. The next time up I was holding the lead. This continued and motivated me through the workout. My worst day was about 3 weeks out from Muskoka. I was out on a 2 hr long run and everything fell apart. I always run out of town for my long runs. I ran out of town, I had my fuel belt with hydration and nutrition. At about 10k in I wasn’t feeling the best and had already gone through a bottle. I was suffering and I drank my other bottle. I was dehydrating and I was still 10k from home. Now I had thought that it was only a 2hr long run, I’ll be fine, no need to bring a cell phone. I hit 15 k and I was walking, running and stretching. finally completely broken and 1.5 hours in and 10k away from home I walked up to a stranger's house and asked to use their phone. These people were lifesavers, they gave me some fluids and let me call home. Moniek came and picked me up. This was a low point and too close to race day. Mentally I was not in a good spot. Triathlons are tough mentally, and sometimes it is difficult to trust your training. I am glad I backed off that day. My body was done and needed a rest. I listened to it and my body repaid me on race day.
Muskoka Ironman
Race morning did not go so smoothly. I had planned to have a protein shake for breakfast, and I always put a bit of yogurt into my shakes. However all the ice had melted throughout the night and the yogurt was warm. Not trusting the warm yogurt, I chose not to put it into my shake. This changed the taste and it was a challenge to get it down. After making up my breakfast I grabbed a coffee, rechecked my special needs bags. For anyone who hasn’t done an Ironman, these are bags filled with specific items that you have packed and they are positioned at the halfway points of the bike and run. After drinking my coffee and making sure that my special needs bags were good I headed over to transition. In transition, things continued to go poorly. My rear tire would not pump and on top of that I spilt my not so tasty breakfast. I quickly headed over to the tech support tent in the transition. Almost in tears, a volunteer came up to me and offered her assistance. She took my special needs bags and reassured me that everything was going to be fine. I got my tire pumped, racked my bike and headed down to the water. I was now running a couple minutes behind and when I got to the starting corral it was filled up. I struggled through the competitors and down to the 1hr to 1hr and 10 minute start position. I am a good swimmer however, it is definitely my weakest of the three disciplines, this is why I started back. Waiting there in the starting corral, I was filled with nervous energy. I exchanged pleasantries with the other racers around me and had one last little pee in my wetsuit before the the gun went off. Standing there, heart pumping, worried about what the day had in store, second guessing all the hours of training, it is not a good feeling. Fortunately just before it was our turn to head into the water, one of the Macklemore songs that I had listened to in my training came over the PA system, with that I took a deep breath and realised that everything was going to be okay. I ran into the water and started my 3.8 km journey. As I was swimming I started singing in my head. I know that I am in a good spot if I am singing. I noticed that there was another swimmer beside me. We both were passing many other competitors however we could not shake one another. After about 1500m I made the choice to drop back a bit and get into the other swimmer's draft.
For 1500m we were equal, but it would have been silly for me to exert more energy than I needed to at that point. I stayed on that competitor's feet for most of the swim. This was an important moment, I recognised that the other competitor and I could have swam side by side for the whole 3.8k and at the end I would have wasted a lot of energy that would have been better used throughout the race. As the swim was coming to a close, I thought to myself, wow I am almost done my first Ironman swim! A little smile came over my face… as best as one could being submerged. Hitting the step was great and a bit worrisome. I have had races where my taking off my wetsuit has caused my calf to cramp. I got to the wetsuit strippers, wetsuit came off, no issues. Fantastic! Then up the ridiculous 400m hill to transition. I was in and out of transition quickly and onto the bike. Now, the Muskoka bike course is tough. All of the hours I had trained on it paid off. My body was used to the hills and the bike went pretty smoothly. I passed a bunch of the faster swimmers and kept moving my way through the field. Eventually I got to and passed a group of guys who seemed to be working together. However, not long after, this same group of guys passed me. I stayed 10 metres back for a couple of minutes and then worked my way to the front. I was out front again for 5 or 10 minutes and thought I had dropped them. Once again, this group came past. I spent 15 minutes battling with this group and then I realised that I was putting out more energy than was smart. I decided to ease off a bit and let those guys go. I decided to lose a few seconds now to gain a few minutes in the future. I knew I couldn’t come off the bike with shattered legs. So I let the guys go. Funny thing though, those guys were all battling and tiring each other out. I came to one of the steepest hills later in the race and I blew by all the guys in that group and continued on. 180k is a long time on the bike. While out on the course I chatted a bit with a few people. One guy was an uber biker who rode through the field and was out on the run first. We cracked a few jokes and had a laugh. I find that the time goes by quicker when you have someone to talk to whether it is in training or racing. The first 110k seemed to go by quickly, 110k to 150ish seemed to take forever. I found this section tough. You’re more than half way home, but you know that you still have a long way to go. To keep my mind in a positive place, I sang. Although it was only one verse on repeat, it got me through this section. Anyway, I made the turn back to transition which is a 9k hilly section. I stopped pedalling on the down hills to rest my legs as best as I could. I passed one more competitor in that section… not knowing it at the time, it was my buddy Kory. His wife and Moniek were on their way up to the race together from the wedding in Milton. Although they were taking their sweet time!
I got off my bike, and the support was awesome! I saw some friends and gave them a high five on my way in. In the transition, I took my time. I made sure I had everything I needed. I ran out and went at a pace that was comfortable, but after 180k of riding, no running is comfortable. As I started the run, the eventual 3rd place finisher blew by me. I thought wow, if he keeps that up he is going to win. I was then passed by the leader of the 20-24 age group. I am not used to being passed on the run, this is my strongest of the 3 disciplines. However, I was not concerned, I was thinking about my own race. I continued on running and enjoying the experience. I eventually caught a few competitors and was in fourth place. I could see the leaders up ahead. Including the guy who flew past me out of transition. All of a sudden they were getting closer and closer. At about 15k in I took the lead. I didn’t throw in a surge, I just went at what was comfortable. It took about a kilometer for the pass to happen. Afterwards I kept looking forward and running my race. At this point, my mind started to wander. I thought hey, how cool will it be to run past transition in the lead. I was really excited for Moniek to see me having a great race. For her to see all the hard work and sacrifice paying off. The next 6 km flew by. Running by all the people at the turn around, keeping an eye out for Moniek or someone in my family. I saw my brother-in-law, niece and nephew. I ran through the halfway mark, no Moniek! I guess it is challenging to wake up after a wedding in which you are the Maid of Honour. I was a little bummed, that she wasn’t there at the turn around, but I was still leading the race and still had a lot of work to do. I headed back out onto the course and realized that I was now out of salt tablets. I started asking people if they could spare one or two. Luckily one race-saving competitor, shared a couple of tablets with me.
That’s the beauty of this sport, the people, we are all competing but we all have a common goal of crossing that finish line. I am so grateful to that person for sharing his nutrition with me. I took down the salt pills and headed back into downtown. I had a few friends downtown, and I was looking forward for them to see me in the lead. This kept going through my head as I put one foot in front of the other. As I made it up the hill into the downtown I saw them. I looked at them and shouted “ I’m leading a f###ing Ironman!”. At first they were just cheering normally, and then it clicked and then they went nuts and started running up the sidewalk with me. This was a bit distracting, so I told them to get to the finish line. I hit the last turn around and assessed my lead. Everything looked good but as I have never done an Ironman or a marathon, I had no idea what to expect. I continued to run at a pace my body allowed. On the straight away back to Deerhurst, a car pulled up beside me. I looked over, it was my in-laws. “Jon you’re winning your age group” I hear in an excited Dutch accent. I turned and smiled and informed them, "I’m winning the whole race! Get to the finish line”.
A few minutes after the the lead biker looked at me and asked “do you want to go for a time or do you want to finish?”. At that point I just wanted to finish. He said, if I kept up my current pace the race was mine but if I faltered it would be close. At that point the course was busy and I had missed a few things at the aid stations. I like water, ice and Pepsi. At that point, I decided that I would walk the aid stations and get everything I needed so that I would not have a Chris Leigh or Julie Moss type of finish. Once again, I gave up seconds to gain minutes. The last few kilometers are a blur. I remember being stoked to see my family and friends at the finish line. I remember high fiving down the finishing shoot. But besides that I don’t really remember. I finished, I hugged my mom and dad, found Moniek who had finally arrived, hugged her parents, who gave me a lei. I then went to the med tent. This may have been the the highlight of the day. I remember laying in there feeling a sense of extreme euphoria. I was content to just lay there with bags ice on me. I left all my family and friends waiting outside. I could have gone out to meet them, but I was in complete bliss laying there on the cot soaking in what just happened. After leaving the med tent, I went to see my family and friends. My friends from downtown, stopped at the LCBO and grabbed some champaign and my favourite beer (which I hadn’t had in months) and still couldn’t get down at that point, or anytime over the next 5 hours. It was a great feeling being able to share that moment with them. The people who have put up with me through good days and bad. To share my success with them on that day was the best feeling and difficult to put into words. We hung around after the race for a bit, I then went back to the hotel room to clean up and try and eat something. I was able to share a few quiet minutes with the people close to me and then I headed back down to the finish to cheer on the finishers. I stayed until the last finisher crossed the line. It is pretty magical, seeing the joy on people’s faces as they cross the finish line. People out there until the final hours, crossing the finish line with their hands in the air and smiles from ear to ear. There is so much beauty in the raw emotions that people express at the finish line. We do really have a beautiful sport!
After Muskoka, I don’t think I stopped smiling for a week. I accepted my awards and claimed my Kona spot. But now it was time to celebrate. On the Monday night following the race, I got to celebrate with the newlyweds and some other friends. I got to enjoy a greasy burger and fries, no salad this time, and that well earned beer… or a few. When training for an Ironman, people go so far one way, and they cut out so many things. I had nights where I would stop in at a friends house for a party, have a club soda and water and then leave at 10:30. It’s difficult to maintain that level of focus. Following Muskoka, I went and enjoyed those late nights out. I also put on about 15 pounds, which sucks! But I am getting into my training now. I am refreshed and focused.
Going forward I now have the goal of breaking 9 hours in Kona and being one of the top age groupers. It is an aggressive goal, but I am fortunate to have a great support system. My goal is to break 9 hours, but no matter what happens on October 8th in Hawaii, I will have fun and hopefully make everyone proud.
