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I flew into Vancouver mid-August to race Ironman Canada, but my trip definitely did not go as planned.  Two days before Ironman Canada I contracted gastro, but still thought it would be out of my system by race start. Unfortunately it wasn’t.   After feeling flat and not being able to get much nutrition down, my race ended at the 130km mark of the bike in an ambulance.  I was extremely disappointed.

There were positives though. I hadn’t hurt myself too much and there were some other races around in North America. So I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin two weeks after Ironman Canada.  This gave me enough time to get over my sickness and also get an Olympic Distance race in in Vancouver the weekend before.  I had a good little hit out at the Vancouver International Triathlon finishing 2nd, 40seconds behind the winner. This was a good indication that things were on track for a solid race in Wisconsin.

I started off with a solid swim exiting the water in touch with the leaders afew minutes down the road.  Ironman Wisconsin has the longest transitions I have ever raced. The transition area is on the top deck of five storey parking station and you have to run and ride up and down the circular exit ramps.

The two-loop bike course includes many rolling hills. In order to race well, you need to be strong on the bike.  I consciously held back a little on the first lap as I knew that it was important to be strong in the second half of the bike. I finished the first 90km 4min 30 down on the leaders. My plan was then to pick up the pace.  At 100km (10k into the second lap) I got a flat. I changed it reasonably quickly, but found that the spare tire I was using seemed to be going down and I had to stop to inflate it again about 15km later. I was told by an official that if I made it to the next aid station I could get a wheel change. After riding the last couple of kilometres on a flat tire, I made it to the aid station, changed my wheel and got on my way again. I was then 12minutes down on the lead.

I tried to ride hard and make up time. Unfortunately this coincided with an asthma attack. I backed off my pace a little whilst my Ventolin had some time to take effect. I finally finished the bike the bike still feeling reasonably strong, but with a 13:30 deficit.

Starting the run I still felt I had a good chance of getting to the front.  The run at Wisconsin is a winding, solid, ‘hard to get into a rhythm’, two-lap run.  I started in 6th place and by the end of the first lap had reached 3rd place. I had also closed the gap to first to less than 11minutes.

In the second lap, my run legs started to leave me (maybe a result of decreased oxygen to the muscles) and I also started to cough up blood (which was a left over stress from the earlier Asthma attack).  I still ended up in 3rd place but over 13minutes behind the leader.  Given what had gone on during the race I had a reasonable race and felt really strong and positive all day. Putting aside technical and asthma difficulties, my overall form feels like a good platform to build for very solid race in Ironman WA in December.

My race schedule for the rest of the year comprises four races, including the Gold Coast Half Ironman, and Forster long course races in October; Shepparton Half Ironman in November and Ironman WA in December.

My shop has certainly been a lot more involved than I had anticipated it being, but has equally developed and educated me in ways I wouldn’t otherwise have had.  So whilst it has been more work, I am thoroughly enjoying the experience and enjoy directing determination into an enterprise and seeing it grow and develop.

Thank you all for your ongoing support.  I really do appreciate it, and am a proud ambassador of your products. I wish you all the best of luck leading up to the silly season and hope to catch up with many of you at the upcoming events,
Yours sincerely,
Jason