Yup, it's true. I did two runs this week. Count'em 1... 2. I know that doesn't sound significant, but it is. The main reason being I've never started training for 'next season' so early. But I crave to train and taking a full month off after IMC was great, however I'm looking to start getting back into the grind. I'm not talking 25 hour weeks or anything - just a slow methodical return to insanity.
Earlier this week I put a couple of feelers out to guage interest for a run club. Very casual, no-one gets dropped type of stuff. I got some positive responses, so I figured what the hell, let's do it. We'll be doing runs around Caledon and Brampton, probably on Sunday mornings. For some people, it will be their 'long run', for others it will be a recovery run. The point of the run, is just to get out there, help each other out, have fun and to mix up training a bit. Email me for more information.
I'm off work next week - so I set the very realistic goal of running 3 times. The insanity! Have a fantastic weekend.. cheers!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Friday, September 22, 2006
De-tri-ing, plan formulation.
Hey hey hey! Happy Friday!
It's been almost a month since IMC and I'm pretty much 'de-tried'. I take my off season very seriously! No workouts, lots of relaxing, catching up on things around the house and pursueing other non-tri related stuff. It's a good process to go through as I find this will keep me 'fresh' for when I starting ramping up again. It's odd, even though I'm not training or anything at the moment, I still think about triathlon pretty much every day. It's always there, maybe not in the forefront but defineately there.
So here are some of my thoughts for the upcoming season.. 2007 is going to be a run year. My long term goal is to make '07 a serious run year. I'll start slow, I'm thinking in October, real easy, running maybe 3 times a week. Then build long and slow to 8 times a week. I'd like to be at the 8 times a week by March.
Cycling will begin nice and light in January and I predict by the end of March I'll need a week off, just to avoid burn out. As for swimming, no real plan.. yet. Possible join Master's just to be social and meet up with other area tri-wienies.
In order to facilitate me becoming a better runner, I'm very seriously thinking of getting a treadmill. In order to do this I've had to re-allocate some of my toys and as a result I'm selling my mountain bike! I do this with a heavy heart, but I just wasn't getting the use out of it since I've become addicted to this tri thing. Go jack up the price and bid for it on Ebay.
As for racing. My plan for '07 in triathlon is to race shorter and race more often. Something like: Muskoka long course, Guelph Olympic, Peterborugh Half IM, Parry Sound Half IM ?, or if a 70.3 race comes to Ontario next year - I'll defineately do that, plus maybe Belwood triathlon and/or Collingwood. In regards to running races: Around the Bay (30k in March.. maybe), Mississagua Half marathon and Toronto Waterfront full marathon. Which, coincidently is this weekend and was my very first race 3 years ago. I wouldn't mind doing a 10k too - I've never done one before.
What? No Ironman next year? As it stands right now - no. However, if I somehow score a sponsorship for '07 and they want me to do an IM, the above schedule is toast and will have to be re-worked.
Cheers!
It's been almost a month since IMC and I'm pretty much 'de-tried'. I take my off season very seriously! No workouts, lots of relaxing, catching up on things around the house and pursueing other non-tri related stuff. It's a good process to go through as I find this will keep me 'fresh' for when I starting ramping up again. It's odd, even though I'm not training or anything at the moment, I still think about triathlon pretty much every day. It's always there, maybe not in the forefront but defineately there.
So here are some of my thoughts for the upcoming season.. 2007 is going to be a run year. My long term goal is to make '07 a serious run year. I'll start slow, I'm thinking in October, real easy, running maybe 3 times a week. Then build long and slow to 8 times a week. I'd like to be at the 8 times a week by March.
Cycling will begin nice and light in January and I predict by the end of March I'll need a week off, just to avoid burn out. As for swimming, no real plan.. yet. Possible join Master's just to be social and meet up with other area tri-wienies.
In order to facilitate me becoming a better runner, I'm very seriously thinking of getting a treadmill. In order to do this I've had to re-allocate some of my toys and as a result I'm selling my mountain bike! I do this with a heavy heart, but I just wasn't getting the use out of it since I've become addicted to this tri thing. Go jack up the price and bid for it on Ebay.
As for racing. My plan for '07 in triathlon is to race shorter and race more often. Something like: Muskoka long course, Guelph Olympic, Peterborugh Half IM, Parry Sound Half IM ?, or if a 70.3 race comes to Ontario next year - I'll defineately do that, plus maybe Belwood triathlon and/or Collingwood. In regards to running races: Around the Bay (30k in March.. maybe), Mississagua Half marathon and Toronto Waterfront full marathon. Which, coincidently is this weekend and was my very first race 3 years ago. I wouldn't mind doing a 10k too - I've never done one before.
What? No Ironman next year? As it stands right now - no. However, if I somehow score a sponsorship for '07 and they want me to do an IM, the above schedule is toast and will have to be re-worked.
Cheers!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Yes.. I'm alive. Food.
Hi everyone. Yea, I'm still here. As part of my 'de-tri-ing' process, I won't be blogging as much, but there are a few topics I'll discuss. Today's topic is one of my favorites. Food.
I'm not going to get into the why I eat certain things or quote studies or anything. I'm just going to share my philosophies and run through my diet when I train. It works for me, so take what you will from it.
First, a quick word variety and moderation. One, I love to try 'new and different' things. Every have quinoa? Couscous? Don't knock it until you try it, who knows you may really enjoy something new. Moderation. We all have food weeknesses, one of mine is the potato chip. Even though chips may not be the best for you, would I cut them out? Hell no. It's ok to indulge in moderation.
Vitamins and minerals. Defineatly one of the pillars of anyone's diet. With soil levels containing 30% less minerals then 25-30 years ago and the average person eating considerably less than then the recommended 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, it can be hard to get all the necessary nutrients. So, on occasion I'll pop a quality vitamin, just to top up the stores.
Grazing. I love this part. Eat many times throughout the day, but much smaller portions. Try to eat slow. It takes 10 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain, 'I've had enough', if you spend that 10 minutes horfing, you will just end up feeling like bloated pig. Slow it down, enjoy and savour.
I try to make my last meal at least 3 hrs before bed and my first mini breakfast is usually a smoothie that's approx 300 cals. Here's a typical day when I'm training:
First thing in the am. A homemade smoothie. I have a large jug of pre-made smoothie in the fridge that usually lasts 5 or 6 days. If anytime I need a 'quick shot' it right there. Nice, easy and convenient. Approx 300 cals per serving, consisting of soy protein, 2 or 3 kinds of berries, yogurt, milk, honey and juice.
Second breakfast is usually 2 hours later and consists of a large bowl of cereal. My cereal is homemade concoction of several different cereals, usually granola type stuff with some puffed wheat, added nuts and seeds, raisins, dried fruit, maybe some flax or hemp hearts. Good stuff. ~ 600 cals
First lunch. Peanut butter and honey sandwhich. ~350 cals
Second lunch. Usually post workout. Leftovers from the previous night's dinner is a favorite. The goal for this meal is primarily carbs to refuel from last workout and provide energy for next. Add juice and a serving or two of fruit. ~750 cals
Pre dinner, post second workout. Get a serving protein and carbs in the system. Snacky type stuff, nuts, granola bar or maybe a couple of eggs on toast. Just to take the edge off. ~350 cals.
Dinner. Usually a full meal. Looking for some good protein here to help muscles recover from the days training. Also looking for some good carbs to replenish energy stores. Always a large salad is included. ~ 1000 cals.
Post dinner.. maybe a 'treat'. A handful of chocolate chips or some frozen yogurt and a fruit. -200 cals.
Add 2-300 miscellaneous calories and I estimate my daily intake is around the 3500 mark. So far this approach seems to keep illness at bay and gives my body the tools it needs to get through the day. Cheers!
I'm not going to get into the why I eat certain things or quote studies or anything. I'm just going to share my philosophies and run through my diet when I train. It works for me, so take what you will from it.
First, a quick word variety and moderation. One, I love to try 'new and different' things. Every have quinoa? Couscous? Don't knock it until you try it, who knows you may really enjoy something new. Moderation. We all have food weeknesses, one of mine is the potato chip. Even though chips may not be the best for you, would I cut them out? Hell no. It's ok to indulge in moderation.
Vitamins and minerals. Defineatly one of the pillars of anyone's diet. With soil levels containing 30% less minerals then 25-30 years ago and the average person eating considerably less than then the recommended 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, it can be hard to get all the necessary nutrients. So, on occasion I'll pop a quality vitamin, just to top up the stores.
Grazing. I love this part. Eat many times throughout the day, but much smaller portions. Try to eat slow. It takes 10 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain, 'I've had enough', if you spend that 10 minutes horfing, you will just end up feeling like bloated pig. Slow it down, enjoy and savour.
I try to make my last meal at least 3 hrs before bed and my first mini breakfast is usually a smoothie that's approx 300 cals. Here's a typical day when I'm training:
First thing in the am. A homemade smoothie. I have a large jug of pre-made smoothie in the fridge that usually lasts 5 or 6 days. If anytime I need a 'quick shot' it right there. Nice, easy and convenient. Approx 300 cals per serving, consisting of soy protein, 2 or 3 kinds of berries, yogurt, milk, honey and juice.
Second breakfast is usually 2 hours later and consists of a large bowl of cereal. My cereal is homemade concoction of several different cereals, usually granola type stuff with some puffed wheat, added nuts and seeds, raisins, dried fruit, maybe some flax or hemp hearts. Good stuff. ~ 600 cals
First lunch. Peanut butter and honey sandwhich. ~350 cals
Second lunch. Usually post workout. Leftovers from the previous night's dinner is a favorite. The goal for this meal is primarily carbs to refuel from last workout and provide energy for next. Add juice and a serving or two of fruit. ~750 cals
Pre dinner, post second workout. Get a serving protein and carbs in the system. Snacky type stuff, nuts, granola bar or maybe a couple of eggs on toast. Just to take the edge off. ~350 cals.
Dinner. Usually a full meal. Looking for some good protein here to help muscles recover from the days training. Also looking for some good carbs to replenish energy stores. Always a large salad is included. ~ 1000 cals.
Post dinner.. maybe a 'treat'. A handful of chocolate chips or some frozen yogurt and a fruit. -200 cals.
Add 2-300 miscellaneous calories and I estimate my daily intake is around the 3500 mark. So far this approach seems to keep illness at bay and gives my body the tools it needs to get through the day. Cheers!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Final Iron pics, where am I? Did you win?
Two more pics from IMC..
Hehe.. check the hands. This is called the 'praying mantis'. I wonder if there is any aero benefit? :)
Speaking of aero, I'll be removing more spacers next year.
Ironman number 2, done! Sooo, what's next? Good question. I have no idea. I'm still decompressing, relaxing, getting fat and pondering the future. I have a couple of scenarios going through my head for next year. 1)IM Canada again or IM Wisconsin for something new. 2) Do shorter triathlons, focus on running and put togethor a wicked marathon in Sept 07. 3) the least likely scenario is the Canadian Death race - 125k in 24 hrs jaunt through the Rockies. This is on my to do list, but I doubt it will be next year. Maybe in '08, when I turn 40.
The smart money says door number 2. But I frequently do things that aren't smart, so the jury is out. For now, I'm 'purging the system' of triathlon and slowly but surely formulating some sort of plan for next year. I'm hoping to start training in November, although there is a very real chance I'll procrastinate until December.
The most annoyingly funny question I get about competing in triathlons is: "Did you win?" It's annoying in the respect that anyone who asks it invariably has no idea what they are asking. IMC had 2352 competitors, does that mean 2351 of the them 'lost'? It's funny because it's such a clueless question. Yea, I just won an Ironman after my 2nd year of competing against an International elite field of competitors that have been doing this for 10+ years. Yea, ok. I suppose I could just tell them 'yea, I won', and they'd say 'congratulations' and that would be the end of it.
I can't believe it hasn't even been 2 weeks since the race, it seems so long ago.. Oh yea, for the record, I've done squat, nada, a big fat zilch as far as workouts go... and I'm loving it.
Hehe.. check the hands. This is called the 'praying mantis'. I wonder if there is any aero benefit? :)
Speaking of aero, I'll be removing more spacers next year.
Ironman number 2, done! Sooo, what's next? Good question. I have no idea. I'm still decompressing, relaxing, getting fat and pondering the future. I have a couple of scenarios going through my head for next year. 1)IM Canada again or IM Wisconsin for something new. 2) Do shorter triathlons, focus on running and put togethor a wicked marathon in Sept 07. 3) the least likely scenario is the Canadian Death race - 125k in 24 hrs jaunt through the Rockies. This is on my to do list, but I doubt it will be next year. Maybe in '08, when I turn 40.
The smart money says door number 2. But I frequently do things that aren't smart, so the jury is out. For now, I'm 'purging the system' of triathlon and slowly but surely formulating some sort of plan for next year. I'm hoping to start training in November, although there is a very real chance I'll procrastinate until December.
The most annoyingly funny question I get about competing in triathlons is: "Did you win?" It's annoying in the respect that anyone who asks it invariably has no idea what they are asking. IMC had 2352 competitors, does that mean 2351 of the them 'lost'? It's funny because it's such a clueless question. Yea, I just won an Ironman after my 2nd year of competing against an International elite field of competitors that have been doing this for 10+ years. Yea, ok. I suppose I could just tell them 'yea, I won', and they'd say 'congratulations' and that would be the end of it.
I can't believe it hasn't even been 2 weeks since the race, it seems so long ago.. Oh yea, for the record, I've done squat, nada, a big fat zilch as far as workouts go... and I'm loving it.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Pics of Iron
A view from our B&B in Naramata facing south towards Penticton.
Heading towards my race crew about 15 minutes before start.
Like latex?
Nice aerial. See me? I'm the one in the black.
Got me fist in the air. Why? Dunno.
Start of the run. Looking good and feeling strong.
End of the run. Not looking so good and not feeling so strong.
Friday, September 01, 2006
IMC Race Report
Sorry for the slacking. Got back from BC on Wednesday, caught up on household chores on Thursday and I'm only now getting around to my race report.
Pre Race
My wife and parents were my race crew for IMC. We arrived in Naramata (about 15 min from Penticton) on the Thursday before the race, I took care of registering and the rest of the day was dedicated to un-packing, bike setup, eating and a short workout. Friday and Saturday consisted of short workouts, carbo loading, chilling in Penticton and the athlete expo. The highpoint was after the pro athlete Q & A, I went over to talk to Gordo Bryn. Basically I just went over to thank him on behalf of myself and many other triathletes. Gordo is a down to earth guy, who freely gives advice and shares his philosophies on training and expects nothing in return - a great ambassador to triathlon.
Physically, going into this race I was in great shape. I forumulated a 'master plan' back in January and stuck to it. So on that side of the equation I held up my end of the bargain. My mental state could be summed up as: "this is no big deal." This is a little game I play with myself by making a big task seem not so bad. I'm not sure if it's a good thing but I was going into the race with what felt like a certain amount of low-keyed laziness. I sort of wanted this approach, as this tempers my excitement, but it was also concerning because there was a lack of an 'edge'.
Race Day
Eight months of training - done. Just like that. And now it's race day. Time sure does fly. With 2350 people racing, a zillion spectators and a small army of volunteers, there is a decided buzz in the air. I'm still not caught up in the excitement, which I'm hoping is a good thing. I've gone into races like this before and pulled off a PB, so I'm hoping I'll do the same this time around.
The Swim (3.84k) Goal time: 56m. Actual: 55:55. Overall placing: 52/2352 Age group placing: 7/357.
BOOM. The cannon goes off and just like that we're underway. I'm a front of the pack swimmer, so luckily I get to avoid much of the middle area, which is just basically a giant washing machine. So after about 500m, I've left the 'mosh pit' and have already settled into a nice easy pace. Pacing and nutrition. My mantras. I was with the lead pack for the first 1.6k and somehow lost them. So for the remainder of the swim I was leading the 2nd group of swimmers. This made me chuckle, if they only knew how little actual triathlon experience I had, they probably wouldn't be following me. However, I was navigating pretty good and no one else wanted to take lead, so I let them draft and held my comfortable pace. A group of 6 of us exit the water and I'm actually walking to the transition zone going over my checklist: breathing is good - check, heart rate is good - check, feeling good and relaxed- check. OK, we are good to go. I'm through transition 1 and on the bike in less then 1 hour. Perfect.
Bike 180k Goal time: 5:22 Actual time: 5:31:07 Overall placing: 290/2352 Age group placing: 65/357.
Mental note - pacing and nutrition, start bike computer. Go. Wow. I heard about how the whole town gets into the race, but to experience it - all I can say is wow. Upon starting the bike and going through town, people are lined up 6+ deep and cheering like crazy. Hehehe makes you feel like a star.
10 minutes into the bike is gut check, heart rate and effort check. All systems nominal. Repeat pacing and nutrition mantra and carry on. I do this every 10 minutes while taking in liquid nutrition for duration of the ride. Supplement with additional water as necessary. For the first 60k (1/3 of the bike already done!), all is going according to plan. The first real test is coming up (Richter's Pass), I'm biking with alot of smart guys, almost no one hammers the climb, we are all in easy gears and spinning up the hill. I'm about 11 minutes into the climb, with less than 1 minute to the top - tire blow out. The good news is that due to climbing, I was going slow. The bad news is the tire casing is shredded and is useless. This is more than a simple tube fix, I need a whole new tire. Bummer. Hmmm.. what to do, what to do... I did put some duct tape in my repair kit, I suppose I could duct tape the inside of the tire and hope it holds. I'm in a bind and this is the best solution I could come with it. I could see it now, "Thanks to Duct Tape, Man Finishes Ironman." It was a little demoralizing having to watch a hundred or so people pass by while I tried to fix my bike with a hunk of duct tape. Halfway through my homemade repair, a tech van came to my rescue with a spare tire and got me up and rolling. Phew. The duct tape probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Total downtime was 12+ minutes.
Back up and rolling. I must resist the urge to 'catch up to myself' and stick to the plan. If I go too hard now, the reprucussions would be disasterous. So I stick my plan and tell myself "12 minutes is nothing in a race this long, I'll get it back."
The 120k mark. I'm at the special needs station and they can't find my bag. Hmm.. this could a long day if I don't get my nutrition needs. I stop, go for a pee and luckily they found it.
The 130k mark. A bee flies in my helmet and stings me. Ok, THIS might get interesting. I had a bad reaction to a sting earlier in the summer- fortunately there was an ambulance about 5k back, if things get bad, help is close. I monitor the situation - all seems OK, I carry on.
The 150k mark. The biggest test of the bike - Yellow Lake climb. I've heard one or two horror stories about this puppy. I expected the worst and what I got wasn't so bad. People made it sound worse than it is. I was starting to fight some minor nausea issues at this point and the heat of day was really starting to kick in. Luckily the last 30k is primarily down hill, so lots of coasting back into town. Time to settle the tummy and mentally gear up for the run.
The Run (42.2k): Goal: 3:42 - 3:50. Actual: 4:27. Overall placing: 440/2352 Age Group placing: 85/357.
My run can be summed up in three words: hot, hilly and windy. This is the real test as I've already been racing for 6.5 hours and now I've got to run a marathon. Mentally, I break this into 10k sections, with the primary goal trying to conserve as much as possible to the halfway mark. Walk the aid stations, walk the hills, conserve, conserve, conserve.
I set my Garmin to a 5:15 m/km pace and settled right in. After 180k on the bike, most people are just so damned grateful to be off the bike, they start their run too fast. I did not want to make this mistake. So I started out on what I thought would be a very conservative pace. It felt pretty good for the first 15k, but the heat was wearing me down and the hills seemed much too large. Legs were starting to get heavy.
They say in an Ironman the race doesn't start until you've finished half the marathon. Well, I was pretty much toast at the halfway mark and prospect of shuffling through another half marathon wasn't really too appealing. Halfway time check: 2 hrs. Not too bad, only 10 minutes off pace, but the suffering was starting to kick in. This next half was going to be tough.
Sigh. More walking. Battling nausea. It's toasty. (33C) I'm losing too much salt and I'm down on myself for walking too much. I start playing 'run to that tree game', or 'try to run (I mean shuffle), to the next mile marker. My steps seems so small.
I remember seeing the 23 mile marker and I was walking at the time, I thought "jeez, 3 miles to go - man that's FAR. If I walk the rest at 15 min/mile, I'll be done in 45 minutes. The HELL with that, I'm not going to be out here for 45 more @#$! minutes." So I try to 'run' the rest of race. Finish line finally in sight. Bam, done. Just like that. No great epiphany, I'm just happy I'm done, I'm happy to see my wife and I'm happy my parents were there to see everything an Ironman offers.
Time: 11:03. Overall placing: 265/2352 Age Group placing: 63/357.
Post Race
Well I guess I got more long winded than I intended too, but I'm down to the last final thoughts. They say it takes a good 5++ years to fully train your endurance system. I'm in year 2, so all things considered I'm pretty happy with where I am on that level. I really enjoy racing, however, the journey to the race is equally as awesome or even more so. Maybe you train, maybe you are a couch potato, maybe you think "I could do that", maybe you want to run 5k, whatever the case may be, take a step in that direction. Then another. You only live once, go out with no regrets.
Cheers!
Pre Race
My wife and parents were my race crew for IMC. We arrived in Naramata (about 15 min from Penticton) on the Thursday before the race, I took care of registering and the rest of the day was dedicated to un-packing, bike setup, eating and a short workout. Friday and Saturday consisted of short workouts, carbo loading, chilling in Penticton and the athlete expo. The highpoint was after the pro athlete Q & A, I went over to talk to Gordo Bryn. Basically I just went over to thank him on behalf of myself and many other triathletes. Gordo is a down to earth guy, who freely gives advice and shares his philosophies on training and expects nothing in return - a great ambassador to triathlon.
Physically, going into this race I was in great shape. I forumulated a 'master plan' back in January and stuck to it. So on that side of the equation I held up my end of the bargain. My mental state could be summed up as: "this is no big deal." This is a little game I play with myself by making a big task seem not so bad. I'm not sure if it's a good thing but I was going into the race with what felt like a certain amount of low-keyed laziness. I sort of wanted this approach, as this tempers my excitement, but it was also concerning because there was a lack of an 'edge'.
Race Day
Eight months of training - done. Just like that. And now it's race day. Time sure does fly. With 2350 people racing, a zillion spectators and a small army of volunteers, there is a decided buzz in the air. I'm still not caught up in the excitement, which I'm hoping is a good thing. I've gone into races like this before and pulled off a PB, so I'm hoping I'll do the same this time around.
The Swim (3.84k) Goal time: 56m. Actual: 55:55. Overall placing: 52/2352 Age group placing: 7/357.
BOOM. The cannon goes off and just like that we're underway. I'm a front of the pack swimmer, so luckily I get to avoid much of the middle area, which is just basically a giant washing machine. So after about 500m, I've left the 'mosh pit' and have already settled into a nice easy pace. Pacing and nutrition. My mantras. I was with the lead pack for the first 1.6k and somehow lost them. So for the remainder of the swim I was leading the 2nd group of swimmers. This made me chuckle, if they only knew how little actual triathlon experience I had, they probably wouldn't be following me. However, I was navigating pretty good and no one else wanted to take lead, so I let them draft and held my comfortable pace. A group of 6 of us exit the water and I'm actually walking to the transition zone going over my checklist: breathing is good - check, heart rate is good - check, feeling good and relaxed- check. OK, we are good to go. I'm through transition 1 and on the bike in less then 1 hour. Perfect.
Bike 180k Goal time: 5:22 Actual time: 5:31:07 Overall placing: 290/2352 Age group placing: 65/357.
Mental note - pacing and nutrition, start bike computer. Go. Wow. I heard about how the whole town gets into the race, but to experience it - all I can say is wow. Upon starting the bike and going through town, people are lined up 6+ deep and cheering like crazy. Hehehe makes you feel like a star.
10 minutes into the bike is gut check, heart rate and effort check. All systems nominal. Repeat pacing and nutrition mantra and carry on. I do this every 10 minutes while taking in liquid nutrition for duration of the ride. Supplement with additional water as necessary. For the first 60k (1/3 of the bike already done!), all is going according to plan. The first real test is coming up (Richter's Pass), I'm biking with alot of smart guys, almost no one hammers the climb, we are all in easy gears and spinning up the hill. I'm about 11 minutes into the climb, with less than 1 minute to the top - tire blow out. The good news is that due to climbing, I was going slow. The bad news is the tire casing is shredded and is useless. This is more than a simple tube fix, I need a whole new tire. Bummer. Hmmm.. what to do, what to do... I did put some duct tape in my repair kit, I suppose I could duct tape the inside of the tire and hope it holds. I'm in a bind and this is the best solution I could come with it. I could see it now, "Thanks to Duct Tape, Man Finishes Ironman." It was a little demoralizing having to watch a hundred or so people pass by while I tried to fix my bike with a hunk of duct tape. Halfway through my homemade repair, a tech van came to my rescue with a spare tire and got me up and rolling. Phew. The duct tape probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Total downtime was 12+ minutes.
Back up and rolling. I must resist the urge to 'catch up to myself' and stick to the plan. If I go too hard now, the reprucussions would be disasterous. So I stick my plan and tell myself "12 minutes is nothing in a race this long, I'll get it back."
The 120k mark. I'm at the special needs station and they can't find my bag. Hmm.. this could a long day if I don't get my nutrition needs. I stop, go for a pee and luckily they found it.
The 130k mark. A bee flies in my helmet and stings me. Ok, THIS might get interesting. I had a bad reaction to a sting earlier in the summer- fortunately there was an ambulance about 5k back, if things get bad, help is close. I monitor the situation - all seems OK, I carry on.
The 150k mark. The biggest test of the bike - Yellow Lake climb. I've heard one or two horror stories about this puppy. I expected the worst and what I got wasn't so bad. People made it sound worse than it is. I was starting to fight some minor nausea issues at this point and the heat of day was really starting to kick in. Luckily the last 30k is primarily down hill, so lots of coasting back into town. Time to settle the tummy and mentally gear up for the run.
The Run (42.2k): Goal: 3:42 - 3:50. Actual: 4:27. Overall placing: 440/2352 Age Group placing: 85/357.
My run can be summed up in three words: hot, hilly and windy. This is the real test as I've already been racing for 6.5 hours and now I've got to run a marathon. Mentally, I break this into 10k sections, with the primary goal trying to conserve as much as possible to the halfway mark. Walk the aid stations, walk the hills, conserve, conserve, conserve.
I set my Garmin to a 5:15 m/km pace and settled right in. After 180k on the bike, most people are just so damned grateful to be off the bike, they start their run too fast. I did not want to make this mistake. So I started out on what I thought would be a very conservative pace. It felt pretty good for the first 15k, but the heat was wearing me down and the hills seemed much too large. Legs were starting to get heavy.
They say in an Ironman the race doesn't start until you've finished half the marathon. Well, I was pretty much toast at the halfway mark and prospect of shuffling through another half marathon wasn't really too appealing. Halfway time check: 2 hrs. Not too bad, only 10 minutes off pace, but the suffering was starting to kick in. This next half was going to be tough.
Sigh. More walking. Battling nausea. It's toasty. (33C) I'm losing too much salt and I'm down on myself for walking too much. I start playing 'run to that tree game', or 'try to run (I mean shuffle), to the next mile marker. My steps seems so small.
I remember seeing the 23 mile marker and I was walking at the time, I thought "jeez, 3 miles to go - man that's FAR. If I walk the rest at 15 min/mile, I'll be done in 45 minutes. The HELL with that, I'm not going to be out here for 45 more @#$! minutes." So I try to 'run' the rest of race. Finish line finally in sight. Bam, done. Just like that. No great epiphany, I'm just happy I'm done, I'm happy to see my wife and I'm happy my parents were there to see everything an Ironman offers.
Time: 11:03. Overall placing: 265/2352 Age Group placing: 63/357.
Post Race
Well I guess I got more long winded than I intended too, but I'm down to the last final thoughts. They say it takes a good 5++ years to fully train your endurance system. I'm in year 2, so all things considered I'm pretty happy with where I am on that level. I really enjoy racing, however, the journey to the race is equally as awesome or even more so. Maybe you train, maybe you are a couch potato, maybe you think "I could do that", maybe you want to run 5k, whatever the case may be, take a step in that direction. Then another. You only live once, go out with no regrets.
Cheers!
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