Race Reports

Ironman California 2024 Race Report

Date: September 27, 2024
Location: Sacramento

What a race! Ironman California was a thrilling challenge, with headwinds on the bike and a rocky start to the run. While I didn’t quite achieve my sub-12 hour goal, I came close with a time of 12:12. Each course brings its own set of challenges, and this one was no exception. It was humbling, yet rewarding—I made great new friends and came away with a shiny new personal best!

Finish time: 12:12.00 

Swim (3.8km) – 1:00:55 (1:34/100m)


We dove into chilly 15.5°C water, which felt just right in a wetsuit! The American River greeted us with clear waters, but things got murky as we merged into the Sacramento River. Many athletes struggled at the tricky red turn buoy, but I anticipated the challenge and navigated it like a pro. My decision to wear clear goggles paid off; sighting was a breeze! Oddly, my watch didn’t track the swim—GPS gremlins, perhaps? At least I got a taste of elite-level pacing; now I just need to master it in calmer waters!

Bike (180km) – 6:08:24 (29.3 kph)


True to its reputation, the bike course was flat but filled with fierce winds! The first loop was manageable with a 6mph headwind, and I cruised through in 2:50. But the second loop? Oof! Winds ramped up to 15-20mph, and I felt every bit of resistance. Plus, I hit two segments of bumpy roads that shook me to my core. I wrapped up the ride in decent time but need to improve my efficiency at aid stations. Sub-6 hours is in my sights!

Run (42.2km) – 4:45:32


Ah, the run—my favorite part! Or so I thought. Off the bike, something felt off. I started strong, holding a pace that could have gotten me under 12 hours, but halfway through, I hit a wall. It was a death march moment, and I watched as runners passed by. But just when I thought all was lost, my legs revived around the 30km mark! I found my groove again and salvaged the marathon. If it weren’t for that mid-run walk, I might’ve finished closer to 4:30 and hit my sub-12 goal. So close!

Overall, IM California might look “easy” on paper with its downhill swim and flat course, but let me tell you—there’s no such thing as an “easy Ironman.” Each race has its unique hurdles, and this one taught me a lot.

And that’s a wrap on my 2024 season! It’s been a whirlwind of two full Ironmans, two 70.3s, and a sprint, all resulting in personal bests across the board. Success!

Looking ahead to next year, I’m zeroing in on Ironman Canada-Ottawa on August 3, 2025, with my coach crafting a focused training plan. This fall, winter, and spring, I’ll hone my swim technique and tackle mountain biking for better bike handling.

A huge shoutout to my amazing wife, family, friends, and coach Miranda for your unwavering support! Here’s to more adventures in the future!

Video Recap:

2024/11/03
188
Race Reports

Ironman 70.3 New York 2024 Race Report

What a race! The Ironman 70.3 New York offered an incredible course layout, top-notch production, and some weather conditions that really tested our grit.

This was my first 70.3 race outside Canada, and I was excited to find an early fall event relatively close to home. Having completed Barrelman twice, I was looking for a new challenge when my friend Sonia suggested this race. It would be her first 70.3, so it was the perfect opportunity to support her while getting my own race under my belt. Fun fact: Sonia and I met back in 2017 at the Running Room’s Wednesday night run club, so racing a triathlon together felt like a full-circle moment!

After a ten-hour drive from the Greater Toronto Area to Jones Beach, we settled into a cozy Airbnb. Carb-loading? We nailed it with pancakes and pizza at some charming retro diners!

Kudos to Corey, the race director, and his team for organizing such a stellar event. I’ve participated in regional championship full-distance Ironman races, and I was genuinely impressed by the quality of this 70.3. Everything from ample parking to great merchandise and a well-organized transition area gave it a big event vibe. I wouldn’t be surprised if this race becomes a pro event in the future!

This season has been a whirlwind—Ironman Texas in April, Muskoka 70.3 in July, and Barrie Sprint in August. With my sights set on another full-distance Ironman in California at the end of October, I felt that a solid 70.3 would be a perfect fitness test.

On to the NY70.3!

SportsStats

I finished with a personal best of 5:26:48! That’s almost a 20-minute improvement over my previous best (excluding Barrelman’s unique course length). The course itself was well laid out and flat, but the weather posed a true challenge. While it was significantly better than last year’s inaugural event (which saw a shortened swim), we had rain and wind from start to finish. Fun fact: this was the first year the entire 70.3 distance was completed!

Swim: 44:44 mins (2:18/100m)

The waters of Zach’s Bay were choppy and dark. We were told we’d be swimming “uphill” out but getting a nice assist on the way back. My swim started well, but at around 300m, another swimmer accidentally kicked me in the chin just as a wave of water crashed into my mouth! Cue the panic! I had flashbacks of my DNF at Ironman Florida in 2021. Fortunately, a nearby kayak came to my rescue. After a brief moment to gather myself—reminding myself, “I’m a three-time Ironman; I can do this!”—I got back to swimming. Surprisingly, my sighting was solid, and I finished in my usual time. While I still have room for improvement, I didn’t lose a ton of time in the first leg.

Bike: 2:44 hours (33 kph)

The 2-loop bike course was fantastic! We enjoyed a completely traffic-free highway with three lanes in each direction for most of the race. The roads were smooth, and everything was well-organized—no complaints here! Just a heads-up: there’s a tricky 2-mile stretch of concrete with expansion joints, so pick your lane wisely and avoid getting your wheel caught!

The rain made everyone cautious, and we faced strong crosswinds (thankfully not the brutal headwinds I encountered in Texas). The winds were most noticeable in the open areas and on the bridges near the beach. I saw several crashes and flats, and I hope everyone is okay!

As a weaker swimmer, I spent the first 40 minutes battling through the crowd, but by the end of the bike, I had moved from 1394th out of the swim to 644th!

Run: 1:48 hours (5:10 min/km)

As someone who loves the run segment in triathlons, I was thrilled to tackle the flat 2-loop run along the beach and boardwalk. I started strong, hitting a 4:50/km pace for the first 5k, but the return leg brought a fierce headwind that required more effort. I remembered my coach Miranda’s advice to aim for a 5:30/km pace to avoid overdoing it before Ironman California in just four weeks. I managed to hold strong against the wind and was very satisfied with my performance at Jones Beach.

Overall

I was thrilled with my experience at NY70.3, especially getting to race alongside Sonia. Kudos to all the athletes who braved the challenging conditions—out of 3,200 registered, only 2,400 started, with some even taking their bikes home before the race due to the weather.

Three things that would elevate this event even higher in the future:

1. “Morning Clothes” bag drop off area. Swim and T1 are so close, they don’t even need to make transporter anywhere. There was some confusion of where to put things as we weren’t allowed to leave bigger bags along the fencing

2. Space heaters & larger or additional finisher tent area. We should just assume for wet and cold conditions so, this would help everyone out post race

3. Name on bib if registered before a certain date. It will allow spectators to cheer for us even better

With the fantastic organization and ample parking space already I can definitely see this race becoming a pro race and staple in the calendar pro series one day!

…Surprise 70.3 World Championship Slot!

I stayed for the Awards Ceremony with Sonia, who was hoping for a slot but didn’t snag one this time. I have no doubt she’ll get one soon—this was only her first 70.3!

In a surprising twist, I qualified for the 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain, through a roll-down! What?! My age group (M35-39) rolled down to the top 75, and I placed 73rd. However, I decided not to travel and invest resources into Marbella. My heart just wasn’t in it this time, so I passed the slot to someone in the top 100 who looked thrilled to get it. I shared the news with my coach Miranda, who was delighted. Not only did I achieve a huge PB in the 70.3 distance, but I can also say I qualified for the World Championship—maybe next time!

Thank you to my coach Miranda Tomenson, race director Corey Roberts and his team for organizing this wonderful race, the police officers, the spectators, and of course all the phenomenal volunteers who also weathered the hard conditions that day!

All in all, an unforgettable experience of endurance, passion, and grit.

Up next in 4 weeks is the final race of my long 2024 season, Ironman California!

2024/10/02
607
Race Reports

Ironman 70.3 Muskoka 2024 – Race Report

This was my fourth time racing Muskoka 70.3, and nope, it doesn’t really get any easier the more times you do it! Those hills on the bike and run are killer every time. I had to dig deep and fight to keep the run under 2 hours. But it was a fun day nonetheless. I had so many friends participating, so it was really fantastic to see everyone put their all on the course.

It was a pretty hot day but we had some nice overcast as well. For me, it was a very average performance. Perhaps training all winter for a full Ironman in Texas was nice for fitness, but I think I lost some faster firepower, especially on the bike. The swim, bike, and run was all very predictable results. At least it wasn’t worse. That I can be grateful for.

SportStats: https://sportstats.one/results/141447?focus=72&type=pid

Total Finish Time: 5:55.14 hours.

Not my best, and not my worst.

Congrats to my good friend Steve Upton, who had his first race back in over a year since breaking his collar bone and needing two surgeries. He did well despite finding out he had Covid for the race!

Thank you to all the volunteers and race organizers, and police officers for making this event run smoothly!

2024/07/19
233
Race Reports, Triathlon

Ironman Texas 2024 – Race Report

“Heat, humidity, and strong headwind. All the fun.”

I’ve always wanted to visit Texas and they happen to host a famous Ironman race, so why not do both in the same go? Let me first start by saying I pretty much did all the cycling training for this indoors from last November’s Florida Ironman to now. I did a handful of big outdoor runs. So while I knew I could do this, my outdoor and bike handling skills is still questionable.

The 5-month build from IMFL to IMTX went very well. I did all the workouts coach Miranda prescribed, never missed a beat, and didn’t get sick or injured. If anything, it was the fittest I’ve ever been!

It’s really fantastic to have a direct flight from Toronto to Houston. The race venue is in The Woodlands, which is about 30 minutes north of IAH airport. I stayed at the Westin Hotel, which was very expensive, but everything was in walking distance, so I really enjoyed it.

I flew out on Wednesday, did athlete checkin, and built up my bike. On Thursday, I did a test ride to make sure everything worked, and a shakeout run. I also got to do a demo of the Apple Vision Pro, which was unexpected and pretty surreal. On Friday I went to the only sanctioned practice swim in the lake. And race day was Saturday!

My plans went out the window for this race. But I’m still glad I got to do it. Being able to participate in the North American Championship was really great. This was by far the largest Ironman I’ve attended with over 2,700 athletes. Having two-time World Champion Patrick Lange and defending IMTX winner Kat Matthews really elevated the prestige of the event as well.

Total: 13:45:19

SportStats: https://sportstats.one/en-CA/results/130475/415

Swim 3.8km – 01:31:16 @ 2:21/100m

As this race is in Texas, there is always a 50/50 chance for a wetsuit legal or non-legal swim. This is pretty much the most talked about topic the entire week, and perhaps two weeks leading up to race day. Thankfully it was wetsuit legal this year. It was also really great to have the US Navy helicopter do a fly over before the canon! 

For the first time ever in a race, I never got the “Wait, this is dumb, why am I doing this again?” Question that usually goes through my mind in the first 100 meters. 

While the waters was murky and dark, I think I’ve done a decent job at working on my sighting. This was the most comfortable Ironman swim I’ve done. And while the three I’ve done have all been close pretty much the same time, I felt the most “in control”. Despite this good start, the IMTX swim was chaotic. People were going over and pulling and kicking each other. Halfway through, someone bashed into my right arm/shoulder area, and I thought it dislocated for a moment. I lost a lot of power with my right arm, but I was able to keep going and get through the swim. I must say, the the spectators in along the canal was really cool. 

Bike 180km – 06:53:09

Where do I start with this? The bike was truly next level tough. Despite having really nice weather the handful of days prior, all the athletes knew that a significant wind system was coming right on race day. Before I get into the weeds, I must preface that my coach did indeed tell me that this race wouldn’t have ideal training. I did complete all of the training that was prescribed without injury or illness. But being from Canada, the entire six month bike training was all done indoors. So my lack of outdoor rides and already poor bike handling skills really wasn’t good for this race. This I knew and accepted as is, I just really wanted to go to Texas and do this event. That kept the dream alive the entire day. 

The first 30km was actually really nice going through the local town, but when I hit the Hardy Toll road, the main part of the course, 2 laps, 20 miles back and forth, twice, I knew within 10 minutes that this was going to be a very long day. It felt like I was going into a wall. Pushing power and not really going anywhere. 

It was insanely hot and humid and there was a few times that I felt light headed. So I had to dowse myself with ice and take in a lot of salt tablets.

This was pretty dangerous day. I’ve never seen so many bike crashes, flats, mechanical issues, and people crying and puking on the side of the roads ever. Half the time I just recall hearing ambulance and mobile medic vans going up and down the course. 

Never seen so many bottles and garbage flying over the roads! This wasn’t because the volunteers weren’t doing a good job either. It’s because it was so darn windy. Some of the aid station tents looked like they were about to be blown away as well.

Had back pain around halfway, the lack of outdoor training probably contributed to this. In many ways I’m just really happy to survive and get through that unscathed!

Run  42.2km – 05:05:44

As usual, in every triathlon, I am most looking forward to getting to the run. My happy place among the three activities. While I was very glad to get off the bike without any incidents, I was absolutely toast after and immediately couldn’t hit my target pace. And while I knew my dream to sub-4 the run, and sub-12 overall wasn’t going to happen today, it was okay with it.

It was actually really neat to have a 3-loop course. Running along the canal, shorelines, and fancy houses was really neat. I never stopped, and slow-ran and walked the aid stations pouring more ice and water over me to keep the engine cool. The world famous Hippie Hollow lived up to the hype. The spectators really brought this run course to life.

Conclusion

I’d really like to try this course with no insane gusts one day as they market it as a “lightning fast PR course”. Yet I don’t really think many achieved that from what I heard at the awards ceremony. It’s okay, that’s the name of the game. Mother Nature is absolutely a factor is any race.

Did I question my life decisions? Yes, that always happens. However, for the first time ever in ANY race, the thought or concept of quitting didn’t go through my head ONCE from start to end. It wasn’t my best, and it wasn’t my worst performance, and that’s okay.

Overall, I truly and throughly enjoyed my stay in The Woodlands, Texas. Despite not getting an amazing personal best, it’s not always the result that matters. I completed all the training prescribed without injury or illness, which I am incredibly blessed and thankful for. I did my best with all that I had. It was a great decision to do something my heart really wanted to do. While Ironman number three for me is in the books, I will be back to race Texas again in the future for sure.

Thank you to my fiance Jenna, my parents, coach Miranda Tomenson, and all the volunteers for making this all happen!

Extra Mentions

In my previous two full distance Ironman races, I really tried to stay to myself and keep isolated, and not do anything social at the race venue. I never wanted to risk getting sick right before a big event.

However this time, I made it a goal to get the “full experience”. This involved attending the Welcome Banquet, the Pro Panel, Award Ceremonies, and while not an official event, since pro athlete Joe Skipper was racing, his infamous post-race “Beer Mile” (note: I didn’t drink, I just ran haha)

I am so very glad I made an effort to go to each one. I met so many new friends and learned so much.

2024/05/03
733
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