As the region’s newest and largest athletic event looms, local athletes are into their fi nal weeks of grueling training. Hosted by Deerhurst Resort, the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 (half Ironman) triathlon takes place Sept. 14. The race includes a 1.9-km swim, 90-km bike ride and 21.1-km run, totalling 113 km, or 70.3 miles.
It’s enough to make one tired just thinking of the distance. The event will take participants on a swim in Peninsula Lake, a bike ride around Lake of Bays and a run through Huntsville along the Fairy Vista Trail, fi nishing back at Deerhurst. More than 1,500 athletes from around the word will be taking part, including about 30 from Muskoka. It’s estimated the fastest athlete will fi nish in close to four hours; the slowest could take more than double that time.
A tough race physically and mentally, the training required beforehand is, to many, the hardest part. Just ask half Ironman fi rst-timers Tracey Stone, Natasha Moshenko and Traci McIlroy. The trio are all from Huntsville, and are fi nding fi tting in a job, kids’ activities and/ or running a home between the hours spent training, a constant juggling act.
The youngest of the three is Natasha Moshenko, competing in the 30-34 age category. Mom to 17-month-old son Magnum, she works full time as a chiropodist, a job that takes her out of the area twice a week. Moshenko, whose husband Bill is also doing the 70.3 and trains with her, has found a solution to maintaining her frenetic schedule without impacting on her son’s needs. Wherever she trains, so goes Magnum. “He sits on the pool deck when we swim and we pull him in a carrier when we bike, which converts into a stroller for when we run,” she explains. “He’s very co-operative when we train.”
Moshenko is a comparative newcomer to athletics. As a kid she loved swimming in the lake at her home in Bancroft, but wasn’t competitive. Eight years ago, Moshenko decided to start swimming again. “I just showed up at a MUSAC (Muskoka Aquatic Club) training session one day on a whim.” There she met seasoned triathletes Shelley and Mike Duncan. “They said, ‘Oh, you should do a triathlon. The swim’s the hardest part.’”
So in 2004 Moshenko ‘tri’d’ the Muskoka short course (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run). “Bill and I both did it, because by then he was doing the swim thing too. I only had a mountain bike with knobbly tires, but I had so much fun. I was hooked,” she recalled. Another short triathlon in Orillia followed, then in 2005 they decided to “go big” and entered the Muskoka long course (2 km swim, 55 km bike, 15 km run).
Scheduled to try the long course again in 2006, a death in the family and a pregnancy halted the Moshenkos’ plans. “Instead I took it easy and did other things such as canoeing and camping, which we didn’t have time for before.” Magnum was born in March 2007. “I was all gung-ho to get going again,” said Moshenko, “but we were exhausted. I couldn’t find the energy or the motivation to get back in the saddle again. So 2007 was a wash too.”
When the 70.3 was announced last summer, the Moshenkos decided they couldn’t let the event pass them by, even though it meant starting their training from scratch. The Muskoka long course this past June was the first triathlon Moshenko had done in almost three years. “I found it diffi cult. I was really hurting after the bike, so the run wasn’t much fun,” she said.
Tracey Stone is competing in the 40 to 44 age category and also fi nds running a challenge. A swimmer since age five, she made it to the provincial level before quitting at age 22. “After that I didn’t do a physical thing again until I was 38. I raised my kids and we opened a business,” she said. With age 40 looming, Stone went back to swimming. “I didn’t like the numbers on the scale,” she said. She joined MUSAC and other club members also told her she should try triathlons.
At 39 Stone entered her first relay, swimming in both the long and short Muskoka courses. “That was a lot of fun, so I thought it was time to try it for myself.”
Stone competed in the Muskoka short course in 2006, fi nishing about 12th in her age group. Last year she bought a used road bike and did three sprint triathlons, placing well in each. Still swimming with MUSAC, she won a gold medal in the masters 400- m freestyle event at the provincial championships in Sudbury.
When the 70.3 was announced Stone also thought, “It’s Muskoka, I should do this. I’d never done anything other than a short course before, but I signed up anyway. My husband thinks I’m crazy.” Stone fi gured the Muskoka long course this past June would be good practice for the big event. She trained all winter, but still found it a challenge. “I enjoyed the swim and bike, but running is very diffi cult for me. I got off the bike and started to run and my legs cramped up and I didn’t think I could do it, but my kids (Connor, 15, and Bryan, 13,) ran with me through downtown to the highway, which really boosted my spirits. My husband also ran with me for awhile, which helped.”
Traci McIlroy is competing in the 40 to 44 age group and fi nds running a comparative breeze. McIlroy, a teacher at Pine Glen School, has been a runner since high school, where she competed in crosscountry races. Later she kept running for her own pleasure. “I decided before I was 40 I wanted to run a marathon and I did one in Ottawa in 2006 at 39. It was an awesome experience,” she said. McIlroy planned on another marathon in 2007 when a friend began training for the Muskoka triathlon. “I was always a spectator and used to think that one day I would do it.”
McIlroy decided to enter the long course as part of her training schedule. “It was my fi rst tri. I loved it. I have always been a fairly good swimmer, but biking was new.” When she heard about the 70.3, McIlroy thought, why not? “After all, it was going to be right here in my backyard.”
That decision put paid to her marathon plans. “After the long course I really liked the three disciplines. I was going to do the long course again this year, then Sean (husband) decided he wanted to do his fi rst tri, so I was his support on the sidelines. He’ll be my support for the 70.3.”
The race will be only the second triathlon McIlroy has ever done. “My biggest challenge is probably the bike. Riding for three and a half hours is a very long time. Once I’m off the bike I’ll be happy.”
The three women have varying training schedules and also have their own ways of keeping focused. Stone sings the theme song to Rocky in her head, McIlroy takes in all the scenery around her, and Moshenko has Magnum to keep her entertained.
Despite differences in their strengths, their estimates of race complete times aren’t far apart – six hours, give or take 30 minutes. And, these newbie half-marathoners also share one goal: To reach the fi nish line – upright.