News
Ironman Canada 2006 Race Report
Posted August 31, 2006 02:56 PM
Entering the water, at the start of this year's Ironman Canada, my sole goal was to "get the job done" and just finish. No time or performance goals - I just wanted to cross the finish line and exorcise the DNF (Did Not Finish) demons that had been sitting on my shoulder since last year's race. Due to an overscheduled year (juggling personal training, tri coaching, running the Y Tri Club, and completing the requirements for my national certification in tri coaching) I knew that I hadn't laid a sufficient base for a strong race. My own training had ended up being a low priority on the time totem pole. This realization has prompted me to make some changes in 2007 so that this situation does not occur again. I will be phasing out the personal training side of my business as at December 31st. I have enjoyed being a personal trainer immensely, but there are only a finite number of hours in the day and I have to be able to focus on my own training if I want to continue to race Ironman distance events.
My gameplan for this year's race was to be totally conservative on the bike and to walk the marathon. Last year I was having a really strong bike ride, heading for a personal best, when excruciating pain between the toes of my left foot made the final 45k of the ride a total misery. Coming off the bike I was unable to walk, let alone run, and I knew I couldn't continue without possibly running the risk of inflicting permanent damage.
Race morning, August 27, 2006, saw near perfect conditions. The temperature was warm but not hot, the lake was still, and there was minimal wind. The alarm went off at 4am - time for pre race nutrition and final preparations. We headed down to the race site at 5:30pm and dropped off our special needs bags in the designated bins. These bags are provided at the 120k point of the 180k bike ride, and the half way point (21k) of the marathon. We then were body marked and headed into the transition area. The final hour passed very quickly. Time to put on the wetsuit and head down to the lakefront. My training partner this year, Christiane, and I walked slowly together to the water. I wanted to see her off at the start of the race - her first Ironman. We held hands walking down to the water's edge and then gradually waded in to have a brief warmup swim. We then went to the far right side of the crowd and stood under the flagline. O'Canada was sung, the crowds cheered, the swimmers stood nervously in thigh-deep water, and then the cannon roared - the race had begun! Approx 2350 people began to swim.
It took a minute or so of wading forward over the rocks until the water was deep enough to begin swimming. For the first five minutes I thought it was going to be a really great swim. My strategy of getting far right was working - clear water nearby, no stressful bumping and barging by other swimmers. Then things changed. The first buoy was quite far away (about 600m) and it was rather difficult to see. Many swimmers swam to the right, rather than veering left toward the buoy. Consequently I was quickly engulfed in a water based mosh pit! I received a thumping blow to my cheek from someone's foot, and lots of stress from the congestion. The rule for the swim is to keep the buoys to your right. However as the first buoy approached I could see hundreds of swimmers continuing to the left of the buoy and angling off to the next one 150m ahead. This continued for the first 2km of the race. I couldn't believe how many swimmers were going around the wrong side of the buoy and cutting the tangent. I kept having to swim through the crowds to get over to the proper side of the buoy - very stressful, but I wasn't going to be one of the "cheaters".
Finally after going around the second major turn of the elongated triangle swim course, I was heading back towards the shore. The last half an hour of the swim was actually enjoyable. I could finally get a good swim rhythm going. The final 200m is very exciting as the roar of the crowd gradually becomes louder and louder and the swim exit chute becomes visible.
I swam in very close to shore, passing many competitors who stood up too early and had to walk against the water resistance to exit, and ran up to the wetsuit strip off area. I knew that Alison Keighan (one of my IM clients from 2005 and who will be again for 2007) and her sister were volunteering in that area. So I ignored all the other wetsuit strippers while I searched for Alison and Jan. I saw them behind some other people and ran towards them. Their shrieks of joy when they saw me had me laughing. They helped me lay down on the grass and then whisked my wetsuit off my hips, helped to me to my feet and threw my suit over my arm - all the while telling me what a great swim I'd had and how proud they were of me. What a great race memory!
Then it was off to collect my swim to bike bag and head into the change tent. After a quick spray by the volunteers applying sunscreen it was off to grab my bike and head out on the course. The start of the bike course was changed from last year. We headed straight up Main Street out of transition rather than cycling an out and back route on Lakeshore Drive first. It was a surreal moment, as the crowds lined the first two blocks of the route and there was only a narrow corridor in which to ride. It totally felt like being in the Tour de France with the crowds practically right upon you as you were cycling, and their cheers and words of encouragement ringing in your ears.
I wanted to be extremely conservative on the bike, but felt very relaxed and strong for the first 1/3 of the course. I had an average speed of 31.1 kph by the time I reached Osoyoos at the 67k mark. I was really pleased, but knew that the upcoming 11km climb on Richter's Pass would seriously cut in to that number. This is where my lack of proper conditioning began to show up. The climb, while steady, was pretty slow and I didn't feel 100% well. My nutrition was keeping my energy constant, but each time I had a power gel or drank some boost I then experienced 5 or so minutes of nausea. As my nutrition plan called for "eating" every 15 minutes this added up to a lot of nausea!
The temperature was climbing, but I don't think it was hotter than low 30's during the ride. At every aid station, spaced 10 miles apart, I would take a bottle of chilled water and pour it over my head and down the front & back of my jersey. This really helped to keep my core temperature down. I also made 3 major stops during the ride (which I haven't done the past two years) to deal with hot spots that were starting up on the balls of my feet. I knew that this would impact upon my overall bike time but was so fearful of having a reoccurrence of the foot pain that I felt the time sacrificed was a worthwhile tradeoff.
After the summit of Richter's Pass there's a wonderful long descent where you feel as if you're flying downhill - I think my maximum speed at this point was 68kph! This is followed by the Rollers - a series of 9 or 10 hills and descents. Then comes the dreaded "out and back" at Cawston. Approx 15 kms headed back the way you've just cycled, before finally turning around and cycling in the "correct" direction.
I experienced a lot of deja vu during the final 45km of the bike ride. This is where I was in agony one year before. Luckily nothing on my body was hurting and I managed to get through the final 4k ascent to Yellow Lake. I was seriously overheating at the top but there is an aid station right at the summit so I took a good 5 minute break to pour numerous bottles of water over me. A lot of people were looking in pretty rough shape at that point! Then it was time for the final 30kms back into Penticton. While there are two more hills on the way back, for the most part the final section is downhill and this last part of the route goes by so quickly. Suddenly I was cycling past Skaha Lake (where the run route goes) and could feel incredibly strong winds. The lake had white caps and I remember thinking that it would be a tough run if there was a headwind all the way out to the turnaround point at OK Falls.
Coming down Main Street, back towards the transition, is always such an emotional moment. Even though I've been cycling for somewhere between 6.5 and 7 hours it feels as if I've just left moments before. It's an amazing feeling because you know how much has taken place during those hours not only for yourself but for thousands of other competitors.
Transition to the run went well but as soon as I headed out onto Lakeshore Drive and attempted to run I felt very unwell. I walked/ran the first mile and knew that I was totally anaerobic - sucking wind, big time! Even though I had planned on walking the marathon, I felt that I should at least try to run initially and see how far I got. Well, I didn't get very far! I then resigned myself to walking. As I headed up Main Street I saw Bob and Jan & Ken Frith on the sidewalk. I stopped for hugs and words of encouragement and then Bob walked with me to see how I was doing. This really helped and I asked him to keep walking for a while. He stayed with me for a mile or so and even though we were walking on a basically flat route I could hear the wheezing in my breath as I talked.
After Bob turned around I walked by myself for a while and then was joined by another woman (Mary-Clayton - "MC") who asked if I wanted company. She, also, was planning on walking the marathon so we made a pact to do it together. It's amazing how small the world is sometimes, as we had so much in common and basically just gabbed the entire time we power walked together. We managed a really good pace and were passing some of the slower joggers (much to their annoyance!) MC asked me what I did for a living. When I replied that I was a personal trainer, ran the Victoria Y Tri Club and did tri coaching she looked amazed. She then told me that she was a personal trainer, ran the Y Tri Club in her city in Washington State, and did tri coaching...! Needless to say we had a ton to talk about!!
For the first half of the marathon I experienced quite a bit of bursitis pain on the inside of my left knee while walking. This was something that had been bothering me for two months pre-race and had impacted my run training this year. I decided to take some Advil to see if it would relieve the pain during the marathon. MC and I made it to the turn around point at OK Falls by about 6:30pm. Bob and Jan & Ken were there to greet and encourage us, before it was time to head back towards Penticton along Skaha Lake. MC and I kept at our fast power walking but after 3 miles I really felt that I wanted to run and asked MC if she was up for running the downhills and flats. We tried it together for a mile and then walked through an aid station to take on nutrition and fluids. I wanted to run again but MC realized that our paces were quite different and encouraged me to go on ahead. I was unsure whether to stay with her, as we'd planned on coming in to the finish line together, or go on ahead. MC sensed my conflict and encouraged me to go on. She told me I was "released" from the finish line pact...!
So at the 16 mile mark I headed off jogging towards Penticton. I felt really good and the pain in my knee had vanished. I walked through each aid station and took on fluids. Every 2nd aid station I ate a gel. The daylight slowly began to fade and the sun set behind the hills that earlier in the day I had cycled down when returning to Penticton. Glow sticks were handed out to participants still on the run course. I continued jogging and was encouraged by many of the walkers I passed. Finally I was back on Main Street with only the final 3 of 26 miles to go. The last stretch of road into town is on a slight decline which is such a mental boost at that time of the night. Finally I turned off Main Street onto Westminster, and then Winnipeg Street which is the final block leading onto Lakeshore Drive. Then it's the last mile along the waterfront heading away from the finish line - very cruel...! The turnaround seemed as if it would never appear, but finally it was there and I was around it and heading down the final stretch to the bright lights of the finish line.
Luckily, in the final mile, one of our Tri Clubbers spotted me and phoned Bob who was at the finish line with Jan & Ken. They had not expected me for another hour at least. As I entered the finish line chute I looked to my left to see if I could spot them - I heard my name shouted and there they were! I doubled back and received a hug sandwich - Bob on one side and Jan on the other. I turned and headed the final few feet through the finish line to be greeted by a volunteer who placed the finisher's medal around my neck. I was then passed off to a "catcher" who took care of me for the next few minutes - getting me water, picking up my finisher's shirt and cap, and generally making sure I was okay. Amazingly, the minute I started to walk after finishing the pain inside my knee came back full force and I had a few minutes of intense pain before it settled back down.
I left the volunteer and made my way to pick up my dry strip bag (containing the clothes I'd worn to the race in the morning, plus my post race recovery drink). As I was waiting to receive my bag I started to feel a little woozy and I remember feeling like I was listing to the left while I was walking to the massage tent. I kept assessing how I was feeling but luckily the disorientation only lasted a couple of minutes and by the time I reached the massage tent I was back to normal, but very glad to sit down, drink my blueberry smoothie and wait my turn.
Then it was time to rejoin Bob in the spectating stands. Jan and Ken were there as well as James and Kristi who will be doing the race next year, plus some other Tri Club members. Lots of hugs all around. I then spotted Alison and her sister Jan and walked over to them. They proceeded to "girl scream" at the top of their lungs and envelope me in a double bear hug. I couldn't stop laughing, they were so funny!! It was a great end to the day.
The rest of night was spent watching competitors come in before the midnight cutoff. There were some that missed the cutoff but still finished, and others that had been pulled off the course and returned to downtown when it was obvious that they would be unable to make the midnight deadline. I had seen many people along the marathon route lying on the side of the road being attended to by paramedics, so I'm sure that the medical tent and hospitals were very busy that night.
At just after 11pm Christiane crossed the finish line. I was behind the scenes to congratulate and give her a big hug. It was the culmination of a year of dedication and hard work for Christiane and I was incredibly proud of the fantastic job she had done.
Taralyn Day, my other IM client this year, finished in a smokin' hot time of 12:48 and had a well paced, strong race. I was extremely proud of her as well. Taralyn was a member of the Y Tri Clinic (for beginner triathletes) in 2005 and has graduated from sprint distance triathlons to the full Ironman in just over a year. She is also headed to Canberra, Australia in November to compete at the Long Course World Championships. Simply amazing!!
Next year will be the 25th anniversary of Ironman Canada. The organizers kindly allowed any 2006 participants who were planning on registering for the 2007 race to pre-register the day before this year's race. It was a nice stress reliever to know that there was no need to line up the morning after the race, potentially for hours on end, to register for 2007!
