This post is rated Sprinters, Olympians and Ironman.

I cannot begin to tell you what an INCREDIBLE experience I had this past weekend in Mt. Tremblant, Canada. I showed up to race the World Championships of Half Ironman Triathlon and the best of the best most definitely showed up!

We arrived the day before just in time for me to re-assemble my bike after 5 hours of flying. I went for a practice ride and swim the day before and the scenery was beyond beautiful! I cannot emphasis the sheer beauty of this area enough…YOU MUST EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF!

World Championship venues are always impressive and Mt. Tremblant was certainly no exception. The attention to detail is phenomenal right down to the personalized bike racks! I was fortunate to have my wife and several Timex teammates along for the trip. We checked in and explored the town along with my in-laws who surprised up for the weekend! The village was so cool and I was very tempted to explore the entirety. I did my best to restrain as I knew I had a lot of racing to do the next day!

I awoke on race morning to a surprisingly-shocking 40 degree air temperature. I could see my breath and there was frost on the windshield as we drove to the race site. When the lake made its way into view, there was steam rising and all I wanted to do was swim! I was frozen…

My swim wave went 4th so I did a quick warmup and before I knew it was in the water swimming. I am not a strong swimmer but I am delighted to say that my swim was a personal best on the season. It felt so good and I was pumped for the remainder of the day. My swim time was 29 minutes..

I had a bit of trouble with my equipment in T1 but finally was able to start the bike. The bike was in around the mountains of Quebec and it too was breath-taking. The wind was blowing in all different directions which made getting into a steady cadence very difficult. The course was extremely challenging with hills that resembled cliffs! I finished the bike in 2 hours and 35 minutes and smiled as I ran into T2. I LOVE TO RUN!!

The run made the course extra difficult and there was not a single flat stretch along the 13.1 mile trek. This was ok by me as it created space amongst the field and I ran hard! The finish line was absolutely incredible as there were thousands of spectators crowded around the finish chute screaming. I finished the run feeling very strong but very tired. My run time was 1 hour and 30 minutes.

My overall time was 4 hours and 49 minutes, NOT GREAT but I will take it. I say again, the competition was through the roof and I was honored to have been able to compete at that level. I had a good race but I learned that I have a lot to work to do in the off-season!