Family, friends, 2200 athletes, 3500+ volunteers(!), countless spectators, beautiful scenery and top notch organization. Just take a sec and try to imagine the type of atmosphere that will generate. It's electric. Even if you have absolutely no desire to do an Ironman, I would highly recommend to spectate one - it really is an experience like no other.
Not much preamble this time, going straight to the main course.
Swim 3.8k:
Estimate: 56 min. Actual: 55:10 Agegroup placing: 7/419. Overall: 35/2208
This is a fast swim course. There is an under water cable that connects the bouys about 5 feet below the water, so everyone tries to get into position so they can see the cable. This saves you from lifting your head and 'sighting'. Basically, just follow the cable and you're set. At the start, I'm positioned very close the front and ask the people around me if they are all around 55 min swimmmers - they are. Cannon goes off and I follow their feet, as it turns out, it's the lead crew. This is just fine with me as I've secured a nice draft within 400m of the start and have settled in really quick. Pretty much a perfect start from my perspective.
The first loop of the swim goes by and as I start the second loop, my goggles literally snapped off. Brand new goggles that I only use for racing - busted. Now I can't see shit. In seconds I lose the draft and lead crew, can't see the cable and start swimming rather crooked. Even though it's fresh water, it's tough to keep my eyes open, so I just shut them and open them to sight and keep on course. I think to myself "if this is the only setback I have today I'll be laughing."
Despite the 2nd loop challenges, I pull off a good swim time. As I exit the water, my vision is very clouded over and I'm blinking alot to try and clear the eyes. My run to the transition tent was at a leisurely pace as my eyes slowly start to refocus.
T1: 5:30 min.
Hehe.. terrible time. Could have gone for a shower and a bite to eat, it was so slow. Cloudy eyes and picking up a bunch of gravel on the bottom of my feet didn't help the situation. But I was on the bike at the 1 hour mark of the race - which was exactly what I wanted. So despite the minor setbacks, I'm happy.
Bike 180k:
Estimate: 5:30 Actual: 5:50 Agegroup placing: 64/415 Overall: 296/2208
This is a tough bike course. 1800 feet of elevation per loop and it's a two loop affair. My bike fitness is better than ever, I train on hills, I've logged many 400+k weeks and even hit a 600k week - so, as usual, I'm expecting alot out of myself. My estimate is sub 5:30 - I did a 5:31 at IMC last year with a 12 minute flat - so taking into consideration my superior bike fitness, plus race wheels and no flat tires, I think doing close to 5:30 is a reasonable /attainable goal.
First loop: ~2:48. Really just concentrated on taking it slow and keeping heartrate down. I knew I was going to get passed alot on the first loop, I wasn't worried. The split was a little slower than I was aiming for as I was looking for a 2:40.
Second loop: ~3:00. Kept effort in check for the first 60min of the 2nd loop and started reeling in guys who went out too fast on the first lap. Perfect. All is going according to plan. With about 90 minutes until the end of the bike, I started to get tummy issues. I have no choice back to back off. I'm bummed beacause I thought I had my nutrition figured out and yet here I was experiencing nausea - again. I'm about halfway through the race and I knew that having stomach issues this early was going to have nasty reprucussions later - and I was right!
I 'slow play', the last 90 min on the bike, losing an additional 12 min over my 1st loop time. I get into T2, happy as clam to be off my bike and knowing all I have to do now is run a marathon. :)
T2: 3:08
Nice T2 time.
Run 42.2k
Estimate: sub 4hrs. Actual: 4:07 Agegroup placing: 76/415 Overall: 354/2208
It's been 2 years since I've last run a standalone marathon. My best guess is that I'm currently about a 3:10 marathoner. (did a 1:25 for a half earlier this year). So I figure add 45 minutes to 3:10 and I'll slide in under the 4hr mark for an IM marathon.
My mantra for the run from the very beginning is simple. "Just run". Do NOT walk, however shitty I feel, just do. not. walk. God I want to walk so bad. My steps are so small, yet I'm still 'running'. The miles go by. I'm half done the marathon with no walking. How the hell am I going to do the last half without walking? I make a deal with myself, run just 3 more miles and walk then. I get to the 15 mile mark without walking. "Ok, run 1 more mile." Still no walking. I play this game to mile 20, when all hell breaks loose. I finally 'lose it' and barf my guts out. See? I told you the nausea I experienced on the bike would have reprucussions later. Hehe - I was right. I walk 100 yards and dry heave for a bit. Brought back memories as this was very near the exact same spot where I barfed on this course 2 years ago. Ahh good times.
After the last round of dry heaves - I run some more. A part of me is happy that I was 'tough' / stupid enough to keep running. I guess that the masochistic part coming out.
So I finish off the last 10k 'running' and as I'm coming into the finishers shoot, I'm sort swearing to myself - mostly because I'm so damned glad to actually have it in sight and be done. Anyway, I think Mr. Announcer guy sees me swearing to myself and says something like: "Give it up for Darren Walton from Alton, it looks like he needs your support!" Then as I cross the line, the 'catchers' grab each side of me and say 'don't worry we got ya'. I say 5 words:
"Thanks guys, med tent please."
Final time: 11 hrs 2 min.
Med Tent
Ahhh, you didn't know of the secret 4th leg of a triathlon. The med tent! Upon entering, they weigh me. I'm down 13 pounds. I say "13?, sheesh that's not so bad, I've been over 20 before!" (The nurse's eyes bug out at this) They hook me up to an IV, I barf, I get some anti nausea meds, blood pressure is low, I fall asleep. About an hour later, I'm good to go. It's like someone flicked a switch, I'm walking, talking, eating and drinking and looking forward to a good nights sleep!
A quick "HI!" to Cliff, Sheila, Shelley, Aaron and Stu - altough our meeting was too short, it was really great meeting with you guys. Please stay in touch!
A BIG congrats to Shelley. Her 7 time Ironman finishers wisdom really shone with her guess of 10:48 for my finishing time. Congrats Shelley! You are now the proud owner of official IMLP running socks! Woo Hoo!!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tough day at the office..
Just a quickie!
I'm back. All is good. Here's a really short race report..
swim: highpoint: made goal time. lowpoint: lost my goggles halfway through. Swimming without them was tough on the eyes.
bike: highpoint: 1st loop doing 'Keane descent' at 80kph. lowpoint: really backing off 2nd loop due to nausea.
run: highpoint: I ran the whole thing except for 100 yards.
lowpoint: puking at 20miles, walking 100 yards and puking again.
A great report for those who like em short and sweet, give me a day or two for the full version. Cheers guys!
I'm back. All is good. Here's a really short race report..
swim: highpoint: made goal time. lowpoint: lost my goggles halfway through. Swimming without them was tough on the eyes.
bike: highpoint: 1st loop doing 'Keane descent' at 80kph. lowpoint: really backing off 2nd loop due to nausea.
run: highpoint: I ran the whole thing except for 100 yards.
lowpoint: puking at 20miles, walking 100 yards and puking again.
A great report for those who like em short and sweet, give me a day or two for the full version. Cheers guys!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Lucky Rocketship Underpants
You got yours? I wish I could say I have mine. Rocketship underpants would be *awesome*. Or even cooler - lucky rocketship cycling shorts! Heck, I'd love a lucky rocketship running hat - that'd be cool. If you can find me either one of those, I'd pay large for it.
So, where does the phrase ' lucky rocketship underpants' come from? It's pretty easy, I'm sure someone will post the answer in the comments section.
Taper has gone well. Since the last update I rode for 2 hrs on Sun, swam 1.7k on Monday and went for a 7.5k run today. It was really difficult keeping my effort in check today - the legs were just begging to go. Tomorrow I'll ride for an hour, pack and other than that just concentrate on staying off my feet. Thursday is up bright and early and is travel day.
It's still early, but the weather is looking..umm.. perfect? Cloudy with a high in the 70's. Dare I hope?
Not sure if I'll get to update between now and post race, if not on Sunday goto Ironmanlive
type in my race number (1006), check my progress and send a positive vibe or two. I know at some point I'll need them!
Don't forget to post a finishing time mentioned in the last post. Hey, who knows? You may just score some unbelievable loot! Official IMLP socks - pretty damned sweet.
Cheers!
So, where does the phrase ' lucky rocketship underpants' come from? It's pretty easy, I'm sure someone will post the answer in the comments section.
Taper has gone well. Since the last update I rode for 2 hrs on Sun, swam 1.7k on Monday and went for a 7.5k run today. It was really difficult keeping my effort in check today - the legs were just begging to go. Tomorrow I'll ride for an hour, pack and other than that just concentrate on staying off my feet. Thursday is up bright and early and is travel day.
It's still early, but the weather is looking..umm.. perfect? Cloudy with a high in the 70's. Dare I hope?
Not sure if I'll get to update between now and post race, if not on Sunday goto Ironmanlive
type in my race number (1006), check my progress and send a positive vibe or two. I know at some point I'll need them!
Don't forget to post a finishing time mentioned in the last post. Hey, who knows? You may just score some unbelievable loot! Official IMLP socks - pretty damned sweet.
Cheers!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Slacker Saturday, 10:06??!! Predict my time and WIN!
1006
How did they do that? My number is the same as my finishing time! How cool is that?? 10:06! Oh man that would sweet indeed, but realistically it's not going to happen. For fun, let's crunch the numbers to do a 10:06..
Swim: 56
T1: 4
Bike: 5:20
T2: 4
Run: 3:42
You know, when I write it down like that, it actually seems doable. But if you throw in the obligatory +20 min fudge factor, the projected finishing time weighs in at 10:26. So this is what's floating in the back of mind, however time is of less importance than ever this year. This year the mantras are race smart, finish strong. It should be noted that I've yet to come close to a projected finishing time at the IM distance - the classic overestimating fitness applies here, BUT and this is a big but, I've made huge strides in the 4th discipline of triathlon. Nutrition. I'm not saying I have it nailed, but this will a huge test and I think it's dialed in pretty good.
Here is my overall strategy:
Swim: mantras: "long, easy strokes" Grab a set feet from the 2nd lead pack and take it easy. Time: 56 min.
Bike: mantra: "slow down!" Negative split? Get and keep heartrate < 135 for first loop, add 5 beats for 2nd loop. Start fueling @ 20 minutes and on the 10's thereafter. Eat half a power bar on the 30's followed by H2O. Estimated calorie intake: min:2000 max 2600. Time: 5:25
Run: mantra: "just run." Hold heartrate to 140 and see what happens. Nutrition: 800 cals of dextrose based Infinit. Time: 3:50
The good: my training went really well this year. Spent extra time on the bike to help increase overall endurance. Training started last October, with consistent and more structured training beginning in November - it went well.
The bad: nothing really. Caught 2 bugs, one in Feb and another in April. April was a downer month and missed a bike focus week. Other than that, all is/was good.
The "X" factor: weather. Hot, humid conditions will slow me down. Can't control that, so not worried about it.
In the "What the Hell?" category..
There are 488 in my age category. Yes, that's right, 488. What the hell? In a race where there will be between 2000 and 2200 particpants, there are 488 in the M35-39 division. We are clearly a most troubled demographic and undoubtedly need some sort of professional help.
Taper Udpate:
Mon: swim 2k. Tues: 1 hour message, 1:20 on the Computrainer Zone 2 workout. Wed: swim 3.7k (last long swim), run 7.5k. Thurs: Bike 55 (race setup), run 4k. Fri: run 10.5k (last 'long' run). Sat: open water swim 2.4k (done), pm: run and for tomorrow: ride, max 2 hrs.
Heading to the race?
If you want to meet up, drop me an email, we can exchange cell numbers. My schedule looks like this: Thurs: travel and register. Fri: am swim in Mirror Lake, pm: run. Sat am: ride. pm: bike check in, swim. Sun: all booked up. :)
Predict my time and win a..
Predict my time without going over and win a prize! A sock? A pair of socks? A pair of official IMLP socks? Yes, that's right! Predict my time without going over and I'll send you an official pair of IMLP socks! No emails, you have to post here so all can see.
Cheers!
How did they do that? My number is the same as my finishing time! How cool is that?? 10:06! Oh man that would sweet indeed, but realistically it's not going to happen. For fun, let's crunch the numbers to do a 10:06..
Swim: 56
T1: 4
Bike: 5:20
T2: 4
Run: 3:42
You know, when I write it down like that, it actually seems doable. But if you throw in the obligatory +20 min fudge factor, the projected finishing time weighs in at 10:26. So this is what's floating in the back of mind, however time is of less importance than ever this year. This year the mantras are race smart, finish strong. It should be noted that I've yet to come close to a projected finishing time at the IM distance - the classic overestimating fitness applies here, BUT and this is a big but, I've made huge strides in the 4th discipline of triathlon. Nutrition. I'm not saying I have it nailed, but this will a huge test and I think it's dialed in pretty good.
Here is my overall strategy:
Swim: mantras: "long, easy strokes" Grab a set feet from the 2nd lead pack and take it easy. Time: 56 min.
Bike: mantra: "slow down!" Negative split? Get and keep heartrate < 135 for first loop, add 5 beats for 2nd loop. Start fueling @ 20 minutes and on the 10's thereafter. Eat half a power bar on the 30's followed by H2O. Estimated calorie intake: min:2000 max 2600. Time: 5:25
Run: mantra: "just run." Hold heartrate to 140 and see what happens. Nutrition: 800 cals of dextrose based Infinit. Time: 3:50
The good: my training went really well this year. Spent extra time on the bike to help increase overall endurance. Training started last October, with consistent and more structured training beginning in November - it went well.
The bad: nothing really. Caught 2 bugs, one in Feb and another in April. April was a downer month and missed a bike focus week. Other than that, all is/was good.
The "X" factor: weather. Hot, humid conditions will slow me down. Can't control that, so not worried about it.
In the "What the Hell?" category..
There are 488 in my age category. Yes, that's right, 488. What the hell? In a race where there will be between 2000 and 2200 particpants, there are 488 in the M35-39 division. We are clearly a most troubled demographic and undoubtedly need some sort of professional help.
Taper Udpate:
Mon: swim 2k. Tues: 1 hour message, 1:20 on the Computrainer Zone 2 workout. Wed: swim 3.7k (last long swim), run 7.5k. Thurs: Bike 55 (race setup), run 4k. Fri: run 10.5k (last 'long' run). Sat: open water swim 2.4k (done), pm: run and for tomorrow: ride, max 2 hrs.
Heading to the race?
If you want to meet up, drop me an email, we can exchange cell numbers. My schedule looks like this: Thurs: travel and register. Fri: am swim in Mirror Lake, pm: run. Sat am: ride. pm: bike check in, swim. Sun: all booked up. :)
Predict my time and win a..
Predict my time without going over and win a prize! A sock? A pair of socks? A pair of official IMLP socks? Yes, that's right! Predict my time without going over and I'll send you an official pair of IMLP socks! No emails, you have to post here so all can see.
Cheers!
Monday, July 09, 2007
LB, PB1/2IM, Serious TM engaged.
What an odd title for a post. Starting with LB..
Saturday's workout consisted of: a 3.6k open water swim, 100k bike and a 7.5k run. The highlight: I was out riding on a beautiful day, the kind of day when it's just awesome being out there and riding. I'm passing the cow fields saying Hi to the cows and otherwise just enjoying myself and logging a few K's. Whoa.. what's this? Someone ahead about 700m? Bogey in sight, target aquired. He/she is moving at a decent pace but I'm slowly making gains all the while trying to keep HR in check. It's all a game for me, even though the person ahead has no idea I'm there or that they are even in my little game. For me, it's just fun to try and catch someone ahead of me, hopefully have a little chat and ride some miles togethor.
So I pull within a few meters of the person and say 'hi', just to let them know I'm there. I pull up beside my fellow tri-wienie, do a double take and realize I just reigned in Lisa Bentley. Inside my head I'm going "ohmygodijustreignedinLisaBentely!" On the outside, I'm my usual calm cool collected self. (ya right) Seriously, we just chatted for a bit and soon after went our separate ways, no big deal. But it was damned cool to run a 10X Ironwoman champion a mere 2 weeks away from IMLP!
Fast forward to today. I just got back from an easy 2k swim, (sidebar, I did a couple 'fast' 100m's and was hitting 1:06's -schwing!) and was eating (what else is new) when TSN was showing Ironman Australia 2006. What woman one that race? Yup, you guessed it - Lisa Bentley. Gee, you think I'm in Ironman racing mode yet??
Peterborough 1/2 Ironman was yesterday. I had scheduled to do this race, but backed out, it's just too close too Lake Placid. I probably could have done it and recovered OK, but 'probably' just doesn't cut it, I'm just focusing on the prize and that's a mere 13 days away..
PB1/2IM, gets me nostalgic, three years ago it was my first triathlon, so you know it's a 'must do' for next year!
Taper Mode is pretty much in full swing. Last week I had the luxury of taking 2 days completely off. Pure craziness I know. The mileage looked like this: swim: 7.6k (bailed on a swim) bike 305k and run 35k (bailed on a run). On Friday I wasn't feeling quite 100%, so erred on the side of caution and got some extra zzzz's. All is good now, so no worries.
The plan for this week is to swim ~8k, bike <200k and run about 25k.
Cheers!
Saturday's workout consisted of: a 3.6k open water swim, 100k bike and a 7.5k run. The highlight: I was out riding on a beautiful day, the kind of day when it's just awesome being out there and riding. I'm passing the cow fields saying Hi to the cows and otherwise just enjoying myself and logging a few K's. Whoa.. what's this? Someone ahead about 700m? Bogey in sight, target aquired. He/she is moving at a decent pace but I'm slowly making gains all the while trying to keep HR in check. It's all a game for me, even though the person ahead has no idea I'm there or that they are even in my little game. For me, it's just fun to try and catch someone ahead of me, hopefully have a little chat and ride some miles togethor.
So I pull within a few meters of the person and say 'hi', just to let them know I'm there. I pull up beside my fellow tri-wienie, do a double take and realize I just reigned in Lisa Bentley. Inside my head I'm going "ohmygodijustreignedinLisaBentely!" On the outside, I'm my usual calm cool collected self. (ya right) Seriously, we just chatted for a bit and soon after went our separate ways, no big deal. But it was damned cool to run a 10X Ironwoman champion a mere 2 weeks away from IMLP!
Fast forward to today. I just got back from an easy 2k swim, (sidebar, I did a couple 'fast' 100m's and was hitting 1:06's -schwing!) and was eating (what else is new) when TSN was showing Ironman Australia 2006. What woman one that race? Yup, you guessed it - Lisa Bentley. Gee, you think I'm in Ironman racing mode yet??
Peterborough 1/2 Ironman was yesterday. I had scheduled to do this race, but backed out, it's just too close too Lake Placid. I probably could have done it and recovered OK, but 'probably' just doesn't cut it, I'm just focusing on the prize and that's a mere 13 days away..
PB1/2IM, gets me nostalgic, three years ago it was my first triathlon, so you know it's a 'must do' for next year!
Taper Mode is pretty much in full swing. Last week I had the luxury of taking 2 days completely off. Pure craziness I know. The mileage looked like this: swim: 7.6k (bailed on a swim) bike 305k and run 35k (bailed on a run). On Friday I wasn't feeling quite 100%, so erred on the side of caution and got some extra zzzz's. All is good now, so no worries.
The plan for this week is to swim ~8k, bike <200k and run about 25k.
Cheers!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Headwinds, finally on the list!
Went for a fairly flat 100k ride today. It was an out and back affair with the first 50k against the wind. It took me 1:42 to get to the halfway mark for a paltry 29.3kph. Now the way back, that's another story... zoom zoom zoom. The 2nd 50k was done in 1:16, at 39.0 kph, a mere 26(!) minutes faster on the return leg. Amazing the difference a little wind makes.
During my swim yesterday, I was lucky enough to have some kids from the swim team join me for lane swim. I guess I was more grateful then lucky. The vast majority of my swims have been lonely, boring, just-get-it-done affairs and unfortuneately there is no one around to push me, so I just push my self and log the K's. Having the kids there brought back memories and before you know it I was swimming 400's 10 to 15 sec faster then normal. A solid bonus that they knew the 'rules' to lane swimming too.
The fine folks who are reponsible for putting on IMLP, *finally* added me to the particpants list. I was starting to get worried, as I submitted my app 2.5 weeks ago and processing it is suppose to only take 5 days. But apparently someone was on vacation and it didn't get done until now. Another item that is checked off on my 'to do' list. Phew.
Cheers!
During my swim yesterday, I was lucky enough to have some kids from the swim team join me for lane swim. I guess I was more grateful then lucky. The vast majority of my swims have been lonely, boring, just-get-it-done affairs and unfortuneately there is no one around to push me, so I just push my self and log the K's. Having the kids there brought back memories and before you know it I was swimming 400's 10 to 15 sec faster then normal. A solid bonus that they knew the 'rules' to lane swimming too.
The fine folks who are reponsible for putting on IMLP, *finally* added me to the particpants list. I was starting to get worried, as I submitted my app 2.5 weeks ago and processing it is suppose to only take 5 days. But apparently someone was on vacation and it didn't get done until now. Another item that is checked off on my 'to do' list. Phew.
Cheers!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Happy Canada Day, Taper, Monthy Totals, WTF are the helmuts?
Hi Canada, happy belated to ya! You're lookin damn fine for 140 years young! You're the best - cheers!
Even though I'm in taper mode, it's subtle taper mode. Last week, I was still loggin some decent miles, but there were subtle differences; increased swim mileage, 1 less workout then normal and a slight decrease in run mileage. I also inserted some higher intensity sessions on the bike. The engine is built, now I'm just fine tuning it.
This week the plan is basically the same: 11-12k swimming, ~300k bike and ~45 running K's. After that, it hardcore taper time..
Not a bad month for June, the log shows:
swim:43.7k
bike: 1465k
run: 249k
Very similar to May, but May had a bike focus week, so this month had about 250k less biking K's, but a slight increase in swim and run totals. Probably should have tried to bike more, but nothing I can do about that now, you can't cram for an Ironman!
It's been a bad week for 'adult' cyclists not wearing helmuts in these parts. I've seen families out riding around, the kids are wearing helmuts, but older and 'wiser' Mom and Dad are not. Boggle. I've seen 'real' cyclists, commuters and Joe-average all not wearing noggin protection. I don't get it. Don't give me the freedom of choice argument - that's BS. Your personal freedoms stop when your stupidness induced brain injury intrudes on my/the publics tax dollars. So suck it up, be a dork and wear your helmut!
T-Minus 20 days..
Cheers!
Even though I'm in taper mode, it's subtle taper mode. Last week, I was still loggin some decent miles, but there were subtle differences; increased swim mileage, 1 less workout then normal and a slight decrease in run mileage. I also inserted some higher intensity sessions on the bike. The engine is built, now I'm just fine tuning it.
This week the plan is basically the same: 11-12k swimming, ~300k bike and ~45 running K's. After that, it hardcore taper time..
Not a bad month for June, the log shows:
swim:43.7k
bike: 1465k
run: 249k
Very similar to May, but May had a bike focus week, so this month had about 250k less biking K's, but a slight increase in swim and run totals. Probably should have tried to bike more, but nothing I can do about that now, you can't cram for an Ironman!
It's been a bad week for 'adult' cyclists not wearing helmuts in these parts. I've seen families out riding around, the kids are wearing helmuts, but older and 'wiser' Mom and Dad are not. Boggle. I've seen 'real' cyclists, commuters and Joe-average all not wearing noggin protection. I don't get it. Don't give me the freedom of choice argument - that's BS. Your personal freedoms stop when your stupidness induced brain injury intrudes on my/the publics tax dollars. So suck it up, be a dork and wear your helmut!
T-Minus 20 days..
Cheers!
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