August 24th 2008.
I also did this same race two years ago. Interesting i know i didnt' train quite as hard due to time restrictions.

swim.

very interesting that i only trained bare minimum but even before the race i felt quite confident as i was able to do the full distance with relative ease.......perhaps the muscle memory thing kicked in. I probably only swam about 20 times in six months prior to race. I finished in 1 hr 17 minutes and was very fresh out the water, only 2 minutes slower than two years ago when i swam about 4 times more.

bike.

Ironman canada is known to have one of the more difficult bike course, very hilly and climbs in the mountains of 10km. Again, i didn't train as much on the bike but felt comfortable. It was more difficult this time due to the wind. I finished the course in 5hrs 45 minutes before but this took me 6hrs 15 minutes. I think if it wasn't for the wind i would have done it in around the same time. I'm a big guy at 215lbs and can go really fast downhill but uphills and against the wind causes me to work harder. There was some really tough times during the bike but still got off the bike relatively fresh.

run.

I really struggled during the run last time and was running/walking after about 5 miles into the marathon portion. I did run more this training period and really hoped for more success. I never struggle from the transition of bike to run as my legs feel good right away. I felt incredible for at least the first 10 miles, very fresh and excited. I started to labour around 11 miles and at the 13 miles started struggling. I ran/walked the last 13 miles.......most difficult was between miles 14 and 25. It was a combination of stomach problems, very sore legs and the balls of my feet were killing me. I finished the race in a time of 12hrs 45 minutes about 10 minutes slower than last time. With the wind factor on the bike i actually ran a better race. I still have lots of work on the run to do as it took me 5 hrs.

There are somethings i did really well. i barely ate a thing during the bike last time, this time i ate well, i am never hungry during the race but i forced myself to do so.

I will do the ironman again in two years, won't do any triathlons on the off year, even the shorter ones but will continue to work hard on the run section. I enjoy playing soccer in my off tri years but have a very good idea on what i need to do and improve on.

Good luck to all the others who are competing.