News
Ironman Canada 2009 - Race Report
Posted September 1, 2009 09:54 PM
What a journey it's been since first spectating at Ironman Canada 2000. That day inspired me to try to become an Ironman myself and after two years of training the dream was realized in August of 2002. After that I just kept signing up to do the race year after year...! The morning of August 30, 2009 marked the 10th time I had been at the start line of an Ironman race.
After completing IMC 2008 in a time that was just 5 minutes off my personal best time from 2004, I was excited at the idea of coming back in 2009 to try and set a new PB. However, this year has been a really difficult one for me. Sometimes life gets in the way of training, and this year it happened big time. The months of Feb, Mar and April were ones where I spent a lot of time in Calgary, helping our daughter and her fiancee to get their house, which was in the midst of renovations, in order. This involved an insane amount of physical and mental effort and training took a back seat to the important task of helping them. Each trip, however, left me so exhausted that the recommencement of my training was derailed. The wedding was in Victoria, at the end of May. Lots of effort and coordination at this end helped to make the event a big success but unfortunately took priority over training. Then I was back in Calgary in early July for one more visit as our daughter and her now husband moved into a new house. I seriously considered withdrawing from the race in mid-July when the final window of opportunity to receive a partial refund was still available. However, I felt that there was still a chance I could complete the race if I paced the day properly and did not try to "race".
I decided to try to start in a different position in the water on race morning. In the past I've started at the far right but once the start gun goes off you have to walk for a minute or two with rocks underfoot which makes for a fairly unpleasant beginning to the swim. Last year I was a couple of rows back in the centre of the field and had a PB swim time, but the first 10 minutes were so intense and rough that I didn't want to ever repeat that experience. I think starting at the far left actually involves a little extra distance in the swim, but I thought it wouldn't be as rough there and that did prove to be true. However my swim time was 5 minutes slower than last year so I'm sticking with my theory that there was extra distance involved!
Coming around the 2nd houseboat turn the swimmers bunched together and I was punched and my head went underwater while someone swam over me. I panicked and stopped for a moment and my calf started to cramp. Thankfully that passed quickly and the rest of the swim was fairly uneventful. Upon exiting the water I had my wetsuit removed by the volunteer "strippers". They were extremely dedicated to their task and actually were quite rough in their efforts to get the suit off as quickly as possible. My left hamstring briefly cramped at this point and I worried that it was going to act up during the rest of the race but thankfully that wasn't the case. I ran and grabbed my transition bag and was amazed to see that the change tent was completely full and there were dozens of women sitting on the grass putting on their bike gear. This is not normally condoned but a volunteer told me to sit down where I was as the change tent was a zoo.
Heading out onto the familiar bike course felt so good. The crowds lining Main Street give an immediate boost of energy with all their enthusiastic cheering and words of encouragement. The first 1/3rd of the course zipped by so quickly. By Osoyoos my average kph was 31 so I was really pleased. Knowing that the Richters Hill climb was going to be hard on my knees, which have been bothering me again this year, I geared down and spun up the hill rather slowly. Then it was down the steep descent on the other side of Richters. I was flying and loving every minute. My bike computer at the end of the race showed a maximum speed of 73.3 kph - terrifying in retrospect!! The 10 rollers to Cawston were challenging as always and then it was into the dreaded out and back. After picking up my special needs bag at the 120km point (average speed to this point 27.6) I had a major stop to refresh my supplies on the bike. Heading out back to the highway to start the long approach to Yellow Lake I passed the Bear Fruit Stand which is one of the spots where I expected to see Bob. We had pre-arranged a couple of other spots where I might see him along the course but each time I approached Bob was no-where to be seen (he says that I was going too fast and that he couldn't keep up to me in the car - yeah.....right!) I had thought for sure that I'd see him at the fruit stand and as I drew closer, and was just about to pass, I finally spotted him - coming out from the fruit stand and crossing the road with a milkshake in his hand. Wow - the milkshake almost cost him big time!! Thankfully I did have a chance to pull over and have a quick word before continuing on my way. The Yellow Lake climb was brutal as always as it occurs so late into the race the hill just saps any remaining energy. I ground my way up it at a sluggish rate of probably 8km an hour but finally summited. Another major stop to have cold water poured all over me to bring down the core temperature and then it was off for the final 30 km of the race. Heading down the final major hill into town I was so surprised to see the lakes shrouded in dense smoke. The smoke from major fires in Kamloops had blown in during the day and were hanging low over the city.
Heading into transition I passed off my bike to one of the wonderful volunteers and started running, in my bike shoes, towards the change tent. I realized that I was having pain under my left big toe - a repeat of the sesamoiditis I had experienced last year. I asked one of the volunteers to run back to my bike and retrieve the metatarsal pads that I had stashed in the bento box - aka the "pharmacy". She brought them to me in the change tent and I popped them into one of the pockets in my tritop. Out onto the run course it only took a few minutes to realize that I did, in fact, need to use one of the pads so I stopped and popped one onto the bottom of my orthotics and continued on my way. I struggled on the run and was overheating even though it wasn't really that hot of a day. I could feel a blister forming so stopped a couple of times to try to deal with that situation. About 3 hours into the run I realized that my toe was no longer bothering me but that the blister certainly was. So I stopped and removed the metatarsal pad and magically the blister subsided and the rest of the run was pain free (for my feet at least...!)
At the turnaround point, in OK Falls, I was greeted by Bob and Janice Meek, from the Y Tri Club, who was "studying" to be an Ironsherpa under Bob's tutelage. I took a major stop at this point as I was overheating again and feeling quite nauseous. After far too long I eventually got going again and headed out to deal with the final 21 km of the day. Running along Skaha Lake at sunsight was incredible this year. The low-hanging smoke contributed to an amazing glowing orange-red sun setting over the hills.
Eventually dark settled in completely and the last few kms of the marathon were accomplished. Finally I was heading towards the finish line, and luckily was able to spot Bob, Janice plus a number of Y Tri Clubbers in the finish stands. Some high-fives with everyone, and a kiss for Bob, and then I was across the finish line. Approx 90 minutes slower than last year, but the main thing was that I finished. Definitely something that had been in doubt just a few weeks earlier.
It's been an amazing journey, since 2000, to get to the start line of my 10th Ironman race. Next year I've registered, along with my wonderful friend and training partner Jan, for Ironman Coeur d'Alene, in Idaho, which will take place on June 27th. After that I envision taking a break from Ironman training to recharge the batteries and concentrate on shorter distance racing in 2011. Then it will be on to Ironman Canada to try to set a new PB...!!
