Race:

  • Muskoka 70.3 (July 9, 2023)

Goals:

  • Finish the race, hopefully under 7 hours

Background:

  • Completing an Ironman was always a bucket list item. I used swimming as an exercise periodically, and in 2022, I started swimming again (500m each time). I thought that swimming was the hardest part, and if I could already do that, then I could push myself and consider a triathlon. So, I started training in April 2022, expecting to complete the Toronto Triathlon in August. However, that fell through, and I didn't end up competing as I stopped training 2 months prior because I got extremely busy with life and still hadn't done an open water swim. Come December 2022, I decided that I wanted to do a longer distance. While training, I had already done a sprint myself, so I looked for Olympic distances and found that the half-distance Ironman wasn't that different. I steeled my resolve and signed up for Muskoka 70.3 just as the year ended, giving me 6 full months to train.
  • Prior to this, I was formerly in the military and have a penchant for pain. What really got me going was finding a tough goal and committing to it. I knew not many people could say they've completed one and knew it would give me a strong sense of personal achievement.