Ken's GWN race report

Early in the new year Ken contacted me and asked if I would help guide him to his 1st ever Half ironman. This was a cool idea for me as Ken was my University roommate and we have not seen each other for over 10+ years. I still have not seen him. :) It was great to reconnect with an old friend and awesome to help him reach his goal. Below is Ken's Great White North race report:

Hey Todd,

The race went well. Got myself a PR (since it was my first 1/2 Ironman)!

I don't think any amount of training can prepare you for your first "mass" open water start. Was fairly calm waiting for the race to start. When I hit the water, and there were tonnes of people "thrashing" around me, the nerves started to kick in. Could not get my breath. I made my way over to the open water and flipped on my back to do the backstroke. Tried to calm myself down and catch my breath. It took a while but I managed to do it. The first lap took me 23 minutes. The second lap went a lot better, I was calm and breathing well. Swam the whole second lap and finished it in 19 minutes. Overall, the swim took me about 42 minutes.

Little upset at myself from the swim. Told myself to put it behind me and to make it up on the bike. I did. Starting "chewing" up riders a head of me. Was feeling strong and it showed. Was going at a pretty good clip, and I told myself I should slow down. Might not last the whole ride at this pace. Not sure what my ride time was. Think it was about 2:50 (ish).

The T2 transition was quick. Made a rookie mistake and started running with my arm sleeves and gloves on. Took them off and ran with them in the back of my bike shirt. Took me about 3 km to get my legs underneath me. After that I was running at a 5 minute pace. Had to take a "personal" break around 12 km. Knew I was well hydrated. My pace began to slow around 13 km. By the end I was running at a 6 min pace. Again, not sure what my run time was. Think it was about 1:50 (ish).

My unofficial race time (my watch time) was 5:34:27. Was pleased with that. Wanted to finish between 5:30 and 6 hours. My training buddy beat me by 7 minutes. I was ok with that. For a half ironman, I did not think that was much.

Congratulations on your Race Ken and I look forward to seeing what your next goal will be!