IM Canada....the highlights

Some days are about racing and going fast and other days are about taking the punches that are thrown at you and persevering to the end even when everything else tells you to stop. IM Canada 2015 was that day. I've now completed 4 Ironmans and countless other athletic competitions and this was by far the toughest day I've ever had athletically. 

Here are the highlights:

-amazing swim, couldn't be happier. Clear clean water the whole way. A little chilly, but by far the warmest part of the day. Fastest woman of the day! 

-bike was 42 degrees and raining. I heard there was snow, but that could just be a rumor. It was miserable and horrible. Never, have I ever been so cold for such a long period of time. I couldn't even get warm on the climbs. And there is some killer climbing on this course. Supposedly, this course is beautiful and I'm sad, because of the weather, we weren't able to experience that. 

-run course is a must do! A straight up marathon on this course would be epic (but probably not do-able with a mass start since a lot of the paths are narrow). Beautiful, beautiful course. You are running in and out of the woods, around lakes, on trail, gravel path and bridges with almost zero road running. AND I saw a mama bear and her cubs. Kinda scary, but super cool to see them in their element. I'm sure we scared the crap out of them though. The mama came out of the woods and lunged at a runner (he was fine and kept on running), then she went back in and herded her cubs up a tree. She then stood there kind of waiting to see what would happen, we proceeded with quick caution and got the heck out of there. A spectator called animal conservation so the bears and athletes would be safe. 

So those are the highlights, if you want the nitty gritty stay tuned....