On the bike. Going uphill. In the big chain ring.


On the bike. Going uphill. In the big chain ring, again.


The start of the run. A 3:45 marathon and a Kona slot is mine. I can (and I have) run a 3:45 marathon off the bike in my sleep.


On the run. Thanks to the 69th fastest bike split (look, there were 1500 competitors), I was up with the pro women and slower pro men until the 30k mark of the run and on pace for a 3:30 marathon. Then.....I exploded in a small mushroom cloud of strawberry-banana Power Gel and Gu. There was nothing left to do but lurch through the last 12k. A 4:20 marathon split means no Kona.


The home stretch. A lame high-five for my legion of fans.


Emboldened by my success in raising one arm, I try two arms for the obligatory finishing picture.

So....did I learn anything? Sure. Although, I may weigh 136lbs and spent much of the summer training in the Gatineaus and "can" ride up every hill on the bike course in the big ring doesn't mean that I "should".