News
Ironman Canada 2005 Race Report
Posted August 29, 2005 08:23 AM
Ironman Canada 2005 is on the books now. Unfortunately it did not turn out to be the day I had visualized and prepared for the past year.
Ironman day dawned clear and warm. Jan and I did our short warm-up swim a few minutes before the race and managed to find each other afterwards to be able to start the race together. Despite 2252 other swimmers in the water (the largest mass start in Ironman history) we swam very close throughout the entire 3.8kms - at one point I recognized Jan's swim stroke from under the water, popped my head up and called out her name. We had a quick laugh before continuing forwards. We exited the water approx 10 seconds apart. Amazing!
This year I managed to improve on my transition times (a personal goal for the race) and exited onto the bike course a couple of minutes faster than in previous years. I felt incredibly strong on the bike portion of the race - my nutrition plan was working well again and my average bike speed for the first 1/3rd of the course was over 1km per hour faster than last year despite a nasty head wind for a good portion of that section. The climb through Richter's Pass, 11km of 7% grade, was tough and hot, hot, hot but I just toned things back a bit and let others pass me - I saw them, and passed them, later on! The next 1/3rd of the bike portion was going well and by the time I passed through the special needs area, at the 120km portion of the bike, Jan and Troy (who were both having fabulous bike rides as well) were right with me. I managed to have a brief chat with Troy to hear about his swim, but was too nervous that he'd be penalized by the "drafting police" and be issued a time penalty so I urged him to go on ahead and not run the risk by staying to talk...!
As we exited the out and back section, which is always a tough mental portion of the route, it was time to start the final 45km back towards Penticton. Just around this time I started to experience a lot of discomfort in my left foot. I have been having troubles this year with my right foot (possible nerve damage under the ball of the foot) and have had to pull out of a lot of run workouts because of the severe discomfort. However, I have been able to bike without any problems and have never experienced any problems with my left foot. Not this day, however. I just couldn't believe how much pain I was experiencing in that foot. The 15km climb to Yellow Lake was beyond miserable. Exerting any pressure on the pedal caused shooting pains between my first three toes. Nothing I tried alleviated it. So I toned down the intensity and just kept moving forward, weeping all the way from the pain. Finally I was at the top of the hill and the fast downhills into Penticton lay ahead, or so I thought. The winds had kicked up and there were terrifying gusts of head and crosswinds. Then the final stretch of cycling down Main Street to the bike transition ahead was upon me. Upon dismounting I could barely walk due to the pain, but I wanted to try to head out on the run so I did a quick change and went across the timing mat only to realize that there was no way I could continue without compounding the injury. I sat for a few minutes weighing my options and then advised the officials that I was withdrawing from the race.
Ever since I've been involved in triathlon, I've had as my mantra the inspirational phrase - Pain is Temporary. Pride is Eternal. I even had this taped to my handlebars on the bike this year to provide additional motivation. In previous years the run portion of the race has always been difficult physically but I have persevered and gotten the job done. However, what I experienced on the bike was not just pain but 45kms of sheer agony. I had been mentally prepared, in the weeks leading up to the race, to once again get through the run portion of the race on sheer guts, if necessary. I had fully expected my right foot to give me grief. However, I wasn't prepared or able to cope with the thought of completing a marathon with a completely new injury in my other foot and potentially jeopardizing any future Ironman races.
So it's now the morning after and I'm still trying to process the fact that I did not complete yesterday's race. I think it's going to take a bit of time to put things in perspective. I know there are much more important things going on the world, but when you have a year-long focus for something like this it's very difficult to mentally switch gears to accept a different outcome than anticipated.
On a positive note however, Jan, Troy and Alison all completed the race despite experiencing their own trials out on the run course. The weather had been much warmer than expected and many people were taken off the course in ambulances. Both Jan and Troy had very strong bike rides but each experienced a lot of nausea on the run and had difficulty maintaining their intake of nutrition. Consequently both power walked a fair portion of the course. Alison, fulfilling a 20 year long dream of completing an Ironman race, power walked the entire marathon. Gutsy lady!! I am so proud of the three of them. They are what Ironman is all about.
What I am really pleased about from yesterday's race is that I did achieve my goal to shave off a couple of minutes from each of the swim to bike, and bike to run transitions. Additionally my bike ride ended up only being 20 seconds slower than last year, despite the final 45km being done at a much slower speed than would have been the case. So hopefully I can build upon these improvements and use the lessons learned from yesterday's experience towards my 2006 race. I'll be registering later today for next year's race!
