SubscribeIronman Canada 2010 — Race Report
Posted on Sep 01, 2010 under Bike, Events, Exercise, Family, Friends, IronMan Canada 2010, Kids, Nutrition, Run, Swim, Teenagers | 5 Comments“It isn’t the time you get, it’s the time you have getting the time you get.” — Steve King (at IMC 2010 athlete pre-race banquet)
I’ve spent a couple of days thinking about the race and reliving various parts of it with different people at a variety of times. I could talk for more than 13 hours about the less than 13 hours I spent racing and still not come close to covering everything that happened.
This was a life changing event for me without doubt. The day before the race I heard someone saying that Ironman follows you for life, that it is always a part of you, altering who you are and how you look at things. Everything forever after is coloured by the experience and the self knowledge that comes from the journey from start to finish. I nodded and smiled and thought I understood. I don’t think I did. I believe that I am starting to understand now though.
For the rest of my life I am Ironman. It took me year to prepare and a bit less than 13 hours to complete, but Ironman will remain with me for a lifetime.
Here’s the race report with links to the Garmin maps and details.
I walked into the start area buoyant and alive and chatted with folks while putting on my wetsuit. Once the suit was on it was time to walk down to the beach and that’s when I realized just how many people there were. I stopped being an athlete on a journey and quickly became just another black suit and yellow cap amongst thousands. Literally.
I heard there were 2732 people that crossed the mat to the beach.
Thankfully I ran into Tavis before the beach and he led me like a lost puppy onto the beach and out into the water for a quick warm-up. I decided to get right in with the pack to start and Tavis and I moved away from each other a minute or so before the start. The time chatting with him and listening to advise and knowledge was well spent and helped get my mind into the zone and ready to go.
I didn’t hear the cannon or gun or buzzer or whatever signified the start, I only heard the words over the loudspeaker and hit the Garmin button. I’d seen someone else wear their Garmin 310xt under their wetsuit sleeve and I went with that, so I couldn’t see the numbers, but I could identify the correct button and that was good enough.
100m in and I was free and clear. A minute into the swim, all by myself for a moment I looked down and saw a picture perfect maple leaf on the ground a few feet below me, awesome! I’d started in the main pack just off to the left and had a clean line. Tavis recommended using the radio antennas on the peak as a sight guide and that was an excellent suggestion as it kept me bang on for the first 1600m.
I, rather mistakenly, believed that I’d gotten just a bit ahead of the pack and could just keep to my line and go hard. At 101m or so I realized how wrong I was. Like a pincer move from any historical treatise the jaws of the trap snapped shut on me and I was tossed into the middle of the mix. A kick to the head in the first 5 minutes woke me up and reminded me that this was serious shit. The only way out of the mix was to swim through it and ignore the punches, kicks and bumping.
1600m to the first turn and I was feeling strong. Used to the folks hemming me in on all sides, slowing down in front, cutting me off, swimming over my legs and impeding my stroke; I just kept going, eyes on the prize. Hitting the houseboat I looked down to see a diver underneath me watching the action. I waved but didn’t see if he waved back. This made me smile though and knowing I had to hit the turn I pulled up a bit short and stroked right.
That’s about when I slapped the girl who’d been hanging on my right shoulder for a couple of minutes square on the ass. I pulled up, she slid across my bow without looking at the corner and when I completed my stroke there was a beautiful sound of wet hand on neoprene. Of course I was in the middle of a full stroke and I’m not a small guy so her ass went underwater fast. This probably helped though because she was fully upright, seeing the corner and hugging my left shoulder for the next couple of minutes.
By the second corner things were a cluster of people again and things started to get violent. I took what I think was an elbow square to the goggle and had to pause to fix things. 100m later I had to adjust the goggle again as my eye was sore, go figure.
With 1800m or so to go in a relatively straight line (yeah right) I settled in to do a long, hard, pull. Stroke, glide, dodge, weave? I had to adjust my stroke to become a defensive block in front of my face before pulling. I wouldn’t recommend this for your fastest time ever, of course, but it sure did help cut down on the hits to the head. My arms, however, took some serious abuse. I couldn’t find a sight line for the return leg and counted on keeping just left of the apartment buildings. Conveniently the people around me had NO problem bouncing, kicking and punching me into a straight line.
Over the last 500m or so I stuck to swimming hard and sighting whenever someone around me bounced or hit me in an unanticipated manner. This worked really well since I was in a larger group actually.
Stripping off the top of my wetsuit I looked at my Garmin and realized that I was coming out of the water 1 hour and 17 minutes after the start. 3 minutes ahead of schedule and stoked I saw Julie and Steve standing thigh deep in the water cheering. I roared with excitement and then hobbled out of the water over the rocks and off to the wetsuit strippers.
I should note that this was simply my best EVER race swim. In addition, this was my very best open water swim. Why? 3.92km of swimming according to the Garmin for a 3.86km mapped route. 60m extra. That sure as hell beats what I normally do. As for speed… one word. DRAFT. The pull from having so many people all in the water going the same direction was amazing. This easily chewed minutes from my time.
T1 – 5:59 — goal 10:00
Knowing I wasn’t doing a strip tease for the swim to bike transition I just grabbed my bag and a patch of grass. One problem here was getting a shirt on over my wet skin. Thankfully there was a volunteer to help me dress and my shirt came on a LOT better than it did at UBC earlier in the season.
Next came getting Chamois Butt’r on, but hey, I’m not shy right? Nope, in what is now being called the “Sham Wow” action by my particular group I squeezed some lube into my hand and proceeded to do the butt and balls maneuver.
Lubed up and it was time to find my bike and get the hell out there. Oddly, this went well. Looking at the Garmin as I hit start for the bike I realized that I was heading out on the ride at 0825. Fully 5 minutes earlier than I anticipated!
Drafting is illegal in Ironman races on the bike. They warn us about the penalties and consequences at every opportunity. And then you leave the swim area in a group of a few hundred.
Drafting is not only impossible to avoid it would be dangerous to try. The only option was to stay on the hoods, find position and move through the pack to get clear.
Of course, as fast as the swim was for me, I still had 1773 people ahead of me. This meant there were a LOT of people in packs for me to deal with. Out of town on Main and then left onto Skaha Lake Road. With a rider on my left and another on my right we went flying down the road moving at about 40km/h. Then I hit the dual manholes and listened the sound of one of my fuel bottles rocketing off the back of the bike. Yup, I cheaped out and didn’t buy the expensive carbon fuel bottle holders, instead sticking with the ones that I’d heard called bottle launchers. Hey, I’d only dropped a bottle once before, what’s the big deal? 50% of my liquid fuel gone in one fell swoop. That would be the big deal. OOPS.
The trip from Penticton to Osoyoos was FAST. Looking at my km splits I was averaging in the 30 – 34km/h range for much of that first leg. The wind was behind me and there was a series of packs for me to chase, defeat and drop. And that’s what I did.
At the bottom of Richter I was feeling amazing and ready for the climb. 2nd gear and starting the climb with only one glitch, I have to pee. Of course after all the threats of criminal prosecution and disqualification for peeing on the course, the line-ups for the porta-potties were horrendous. South of Oliver I was thinking about peeing, north of Osoyoos I was trying NOT to think about peeing. Finally, after the second section of the Richter climb I saw a porta-potty stop with 2 loos and only 2 people in line!
Getting my bike to the volunteer I heard someone say that if we weren’t shy, go around back. Sold! Running around behind the porta-potties and the trucks I found a spot between two cars with a girl racing steps behind me. She asked if I was also not shy, I laughed and said no, dropped my shorts and… paused while I became not shy again. She seemed to have the same problem though and only started peeing after I had which caused a bit of laughter again. When I finished up and turned around she was doing a yoga pose with her shorts around her ankles, one leg in the air in front of her in a squat and holding on to the truck bumper for balance. I laughed again and wished her well and went off to her laughter behind me.
Did I ask her for her number? No, but I thought about how I would have worded it for the next 20km or so and could not think of a way that wouldn’t have come off a bit funny. And that kept me smiling for the rollers.
Topping Richter there were spectators everywhere, cheering, yelling and hollering. It was awesome. Those are words that will come up over and over again with regards to spectators. When it was getting bad, there they were. They carried me up and over screaming my name and number as I struggled.
On a day of firsts there was another on the bike. I was passed on a downhill and I couldn’t catch him. GASP. A fellow named Kim went flying by me on the rollers and I had to push to catch him before the end of the hill. But I caught him, only to have him pass me on the crest and fly down the next side never to be seen by me again.
At first I only caught the name and thought a girl named Kim had passed me, should this have mattered? Nope, but I was still somewhat relieved when I saw that it was a guy, even though he was slight and didn’t have the fat ass and gravity excuse I use for being fast downhill. He was just good!
At various places along the bike course I saw just about everyone that I know who was in Penticton and cheering.
Sheryl, Carly, Gabrielle, Curtis and Miranda were together, taking pics and cheering loudly. Curtis was screaming his fool head off and caused me to smile repeatedly. I didn’t realize that Gabrielle was with them until I saw her sticking out a window as well and it was nice to know that they were all together, that doesn’t happen enough.
Heather, Terry, Ray and Chris were together doing the same. Climbing up Yellow Lake, Ray wanted to race, car to bike for the climb. I won. Not just because of my awesome amazingness. They were stuck in traffic. Wouldn’t have mattered on the downhill though, I flew there!
Anne-Marie and Mary kept trying to get ahead of me for cheering and pictures, but I think I caught them off guard a couple of times by getting places ahead of schedule. At one point I tried chasing their car up a small rise, didn’t work, but I did get a good climb out of it.
Julie was dragging along Steve who was in drag dressed as a hula dancer with shells for a bra. They had one other fellow with them who I either don’t know or didn’t recognize, but they were hilarious. And they were visible! Note to self, when cheering for someone, dress in a way that I get noticed by them! Lifts the spirits for sure. And weirdly, knowing that they were there and cheering for me it lifted me up even more when I saw how happy it was making others who saw them and were being cheered on by them.
The out and back was just not a big deal since I had done it before, or most of it at least. There was a stitch in my side that just didn’t go away which came up through this area, but it only hurt in the aero position and I am sure it came from my back. Wasn’t enough to slow me down though.
On the out and back I didn’t know about the detour down the one road and back along the way, but that was no crisis, just an extra climb back to the road at the end. Back along the road and out to special needs, and there was Ray eating popcorn. Dude! I totally wanted some.
I grabbed all my gear out of the special needs bag and put it in my shirt and then off I went, straight into the wind. Holy crap it was heavy.
At least until I hung a right onto the road to Yellow Lake. Then I realized that I hadn’t been going straight into the wind. I’ve heard that it was a 30km/h head wind. I don’t know if that’s accurate, or even how I would have measured it, but I can tell you that it was tough.
Into the wind heading into the false flat. And then the rain started. And then the rain turned ice cold. And then the ice cold rain turned into hail. That sorta sucked. But it wasn’t horrible really, I’ve ridden in worse for sure.
Riding along and passing folks though I could tell that some of the riders were flagging and getting brought down by the adverse conditions. So I started cheering on folks as I rode with them. There were no officials around, I don’t think they cared less if we were in a tighter pack than we could have been at that point anyway, so I pulled up along some guys and started talking about the war stories we could tell about the ride when we were done the race. Snowing, uphill in both directions! heh. I did get a couple of laughs though and when I peeled away a couple of riders followed me on the next push.
Along this stretch a funny thing happened. I started feeling sorry for the spectators. The weather was horrible! I’d pass by and they’d clang the bells while holding desperately onto their umbrellas or hats and trying to stay warm. I’ve never had that feeling before and it was sorta shocking. There I was riding in the shit, but at least I’d signed up and was voluntarily putting myself through it. They were out there showing support, very, very cool.
Yellow Lake was by far the most mentally challenging part of the ride. The climb itself isn’t horrible, but it seems flatter than it is, so it takes a lot out of your mind. When I hit the base of the big climb though there was a double row of spectators with room for us to ride between them. I could have reached out touched people on either side of me who were yelling and cheering, it was fantastic! Just like watching a bike race on TV actually, incredibly inspirational and enough to keep me moving. Dangerous as shit of course 
Past the first group I started to see folks in cars who were stuck in traffic! The wind took care of the exhaust, thankfully, and I was going slow enough to actually converse with people. This was good because there were less spectators here and having folks hanging out their windows and cheering was a major help.
Up to the crest of the hill and there was the double line of spectators again! And again, AWESOME!
The downhill back into Penticton was fast. Very fast. And fun. Very fun. It also gave a guy named Scott (I am pretty sure that is correct) the chance to catch and pass me. He was heavier set and just flew down the mountain. What my ass was lacking in gravitational attraction though my brain was making up for in stupidity. I simply hunkered down and picked up speed, passing him near the bottom. According to the Garmin I maxed out at 76.2km/h. The bike computer had me at 77.1km/h max. I would have sworn I was in the 80s. I’ve been at 90km/h on that bike before and it didn’t feel that fast. Mind you, I was knocking off kilometers in 56 and 58 seconds, so I was holding speed for a while instead of just for a maximum burst so that likely made it seem faster. I dunno, but I sure felt like I was flying!
Into town and I could no longer be passed. I had a surge in my legs and I just pushed through to finish off roaring down Main St. All and all, a great ride, one I won’t forget soon.
T2 – 9:35 — goal 10:00
One word for this? SLOW. Coming off the bike I couldn’t believe I had a marathon ahead of me and that mental paralysis slowed me down in transition.
I dropped my bike off, promptly forgetting my Garmin which meant chasing my bike to get it back! I grabbed my bag and said hi to Donna who was volunteering in the area before heading into the change tent. I’d decided to get changed into run shorts more just to slow me down and give me a break than because I needed to.
With everything strewn on the ground in the tent in front of me I had to pause and take a break, figure out what I wanted to do. Twice I had to tell volunteers to leave my gear alone. They were just trying to help of course, and I was being grumpy and out of sorts, but I needed to be left alone for a minute to get my head wrapped around what was going on.
Finally changed I looked through the rest of the crap in my bag realizing how poorly I’d packed. What should have taken 45 seconds took almost 4 minutes. Add to that a stop in the porta-potty for a drop and my transition time, while under goal time, sucked.
The run was all about mantras for me. Anything to keep moving.
“Take the soup”
“The swim makes us hard, the bike makes us tough, but the run makes us Iron.
“I will get there if I can get there. I can get there so I WILL get there.”
That last one carried me through a LOT of kilometers of run/walk. Look ahead, pick something to run towards, run until target acquisition.
For the first 8km I ran with a lady named Sylvie who was doing her 8th Ironman (I am pretty sure I remember that correctly). She was running straight through and I was walking the water stations, but I managed to catch up to her when I took breaks. I feel that she was really trying to motivate me when I was flagging, but I knew we were going too quickly for me to maintain for the long haul, so I finally just pulled the plug and took it easy for a bit. Sylvie if you read this thank you for getting me over that first few km of no legs and no feet. I really appreciate it and only wish I’d been able to hold your pace for just a few km more.
Once you get to Skaha Lake there isn’t much of an opportunity for friends and family to spectate until OK Falls. That meant 14 or so km of relying upon myself, my fellow athletes, the volunteers and the spectators who lived in the area and were cheering from their front yards. With my name on my bib people were calling it out regularly and that helped me feel like I was staying connected and motivated.
The real support on the out stretch though came from other runners. I’d run up with someone and chat to them for a while, keeping myself motivated while talking with them. They would do the same for me (and themselves I imagine) later on as the miles started to add up. Through the flats on the way down I spent a lot of time running along side others, chatting at times and just running side by side at others. This was just like run club in that respect and exactly what I needed at the time. Not to think, just to do.
The hill set about 5km out of OK Falls changed things though. 1km up, 2km along, 2km down. Simply, this sucked. Lots.
Into the falls and the roads were lined with people. I was on track here for a 2:10 or 2:15 half marathon, well ahead of schedule. I saw a lot of folks here though and tried to look like I was moving alright when they were looking in my direction. I am sure that I failed miserably at this, of course, but I tried and sometimes that’s enough to make things real.
Special needs bag in hand I grabbed some gels, tried to eat my sandwich (hahhahah, not so much in the success department there) and grabbed the Archie comic. I stripped off my heart rate monitor which had chewed through my chest a bit and dropped it and the rest of the detritus with Heather and off I went. Walking. While reading the Archie. Of course I read and walk all the time and this was intended mostly just to be cute, but it had the desired effect as people asked about it and commented behind my back (people assume you are deaf if you are reading).
A couple of stories in and I couldn’t read anymore. It was a nice mental break, but I knew I needed to get back into the game. For 15km I didn’t get there. I struggled here with my own personal motivation most of all. I wasn’t in major pain, although I couldn’t breathe deeply well and my heart felt like it was racing a bit. But, I feel that I used those reasons to justify not going faster. If my goal had been a 4:45 marathon I am 100% sure that I would have hit that, no problems. If the goal had been a 4:35. Again, no problems. Because my goal was 5:00:00 that’s what I pushed for. When it was obvious I was going to make that I relaxed. End of motivation.
Where the runners carried me on the 14km stretch down, the volunteers carried me back. A nicer group of men, women and children you will never see. The folks who are out there helping us along really make things amazing. We all talk about respecting the volunteers and thanking them, but we need to show it sometime. If you know someone who volunteered and helped others out, give them a hug and buy them lunch or something. They deserve it.
After the turn around I ran into Jackie coming the other way. She was the first person from my group that I’d seen all day. We stopped and hugged and parted ways.
I was taking soup at every opportunity here, often only getting a few sips in before my throat rebelled. A couple of sips of Gatorade, then of water, then of soup. Every stop. I have seen many people say “Take the Soup”. Here’s my advise. Take the soup. Even if you don’t want it, take it, drink it, be thankful.
Somewhere in the upper 20s I discovered the problem with a split bag transition. No Chamois Butt’r in my run bag, so I hadn’t redone the Sham Wow bit when I changed shorts. Consequence, chaffing in the butt and balls. Hmmmm, fun fun fun.
I stopped at a rest stop and asked if they had any Vaseline and was pointed to a lovely volunteer who called herself “the lube lady” (I shit you not). I thanked her for the Vaseline and grabbed some from her fingers. She rather innocently asked if I needed help applying it. Again, I shit you not. Was she being cute, silly or flirtatious? I dunno. I smiled a bit (I think) and said that no, she probably didn’t want to do that given where I was applying it. Then I looked at her and said, but yes, I did want help.
She was flustered, I laughed a bit and went behind the truck to do a bit of lube repair and went on my way, lighter in spirit and a heck of a lot more comfortable.
Over the next few km it was just maintenance. Look for something ahead of me, try and pick a goal. Run to the spot indicated, walk until I can make a new goal. Motivation was low here. I knew I was going to meet my goals so I slowed down and didn’t worry about things.
Ray caught up to me with 9km to go until the finish looking strong. I had 10+ minutes on him at the start of the run and he’d caught me solidly. I held on to him for 1km, but decided to drop back and not worry about it. Motivation was, as stated, low. Ray worked hard to catch and pass me, he deserved the win.
Cresting on Main St, the town was all downhill and the finish line noise was coming towards me like waves off of the lake.
Left off of Main and there is Karen taking pics. I knew my time was good here so I just stopped for a hug and a chat, she pushed me on and told me to keep going.
Right down towards Lakeshore Dr and the crowd picks up my name. There are no runners within 50m of me in any direction so everyone is cheering my name and calling me on. There on the side are Miranda, Gabrielle and Carleena. I stop for a hug, kiss and chat. Gabrielle and Miranda pull and push me on and run with me down the street. Again, time is solid so I’m not worried.
Left onto Lakeshore and I’m running/walking as I need, enjoying the crowds and the sensation. Up ahead on the right is Patti with the camera so I’m quickly up in run position and she’s taking snaps. Do I look good in these? I doubt it.
Out along Lakeshore and I hit the turnaround. 1km or less to the finish line in a straight line. Part way there I see Steve in the hula skirt and clam shells, he runs with me for a minute, driving me ever onwards, congratulating me along the way.
I peel away from him and see Ray, Heather, Chris, Anne-Marie, Mary and Terry. They are cheering maddly and I’m meters away from the finish line. My legs are under me as I push into the finish.
A runner and a kid collide on the finish line and the kid goes down. I’m no more than 15 seconds from the finish and adjusting my stride to miss anyone is going to be a challenge. The runner helps the kid to their feet and everyone clears the chute as I pass the final runner in front of me and surge forward into the line. I’m there too fast for the kids to set up a tape for me to cross with, a bit of a recurring theme for me this race, ahead of target always.
Rubber down and smiling I cross the line. I would get there if I could. I could get there so I DID.
Ms Penticton gives me my finishers medal and the catchers grab me at the end, I barely even see them and only take time to politely say thank you before moving away from them and over to Sheryl and Curtis who are there at the chip removal with Quinton.
Chip off and hugs all around, off to the right of the chute are Carleena, Gabrielle and Miranda calling my name. Off I go for hugs and kisses, high fives and statements of pride and love.
Miranda looks at me and says “Dad, what’s your name?”.
In a loud voice I call out, “I am Ironman!”
Finish – 12:44:40 — goal 13:00:00
My results:
OVERALL PLACE – 1369
TOTAL TIME – 12:44:40
RACE DIVISION – M40-44 (birthday in December)
DIVISION PLACE – 243/370
TOTAL FINISHERS – 2605/2732
SWIM DIV PLACE – 286/370
SWIM OVR PLACE – 1774
SWIM TIME – 1:18:19
SWIM 100M PACE – 2:04
BIKE DIV PLACE – 221/370
BIKE OVR PLACE – 1178
BIKE TIME – 6:16:55
BIKE PACE – 17.8 mph
RUN DIV PLACE – 251/370
RUN OVR PLACE – 1518
RUN TIME – 4:53:53
RUN PACE – 11:13 / mile
I’ve enjoyed the rest this week though and as I said, I needed it. Miranda looks forward to this camping trip for months before and talks about it for months after. She will be going with two friends this year and is even more excited than normal. It’s awesome to see in her.