News
Ironman Canada 2008 - Race Report
Posted August 27, 2008 06:17 AM
See photos from Ironman Canada 2008 in the Gallery
The 2008 edition of Subaru Ironman Canada had myself, Bob and 4 clients toeing the start line.
After a 4 year absence from racing IM distance Bob had decided to race both Canada and IMWestern Australia (in December) in honour of Jon "Blazeman" Blais - a 35 year old man who in 2005 was diagnosed with ALS. Jon raced at Ironman Hawaii that October and by the following year was wheelchair bound - he passed away in April of 2007. Jon and his parents started the "Blazeman Foundation" as a way to raise awareness and fundraise to help with the research and eventual cure of the disease. Bob's IMC race number was the same as Jon's Hawaii race number - #179. For more information please check out Bob's fundraising website http://www.rememberblazeman.ca
My IM clients this year were all "IronVirgins" - each with their own unique background and stories.
Robert moved from Victoria to Saskatchewan at the beginning of the year and trained indoors for the first few months until the weather was finally warm enough to venture outdoors without the risk of frostbite! Training for the very hilly bike & run courses of IMCanada while living in pancake flat Regina was a challenge. However, after taking part in the July Penticton Training Weekend (where we cycle the entire bike course one day and half the run course the next) Robert was confident that his training and conditioning would get him through the big day.
Husband and wife team of Pam & Roger did nearly all of their training together. Roger, in his second year of triathlon and on a work sabattical from March onwards, was able to focus completely on training and absorbing as much information on IM as possible. Pam, after losing 100+ pounds was now in her 7th year of triathlon. Over the years Pam has suffered a number of major setbacks including a terrible bike crash and numerous running injuries. Pam devoted herself to training for IMCanada and was at the start line healthy, and according to proud husband Roger, in the best shape of her life!
Mary from Vancouver, with an extensive marathon background had done a few short distance triathlons many years ago. She decided, as she was turning 60, that she wanted to add an Ironman to her sports resume. She devoted herself to improving her swim skills, bought an amazing tri bike and became an incredibly strong cyclist. I was confident that she would be a real contender to win her age group especially with her amazing running skills. However, in April disaster struck. A blow to the foot, from someone swimming behind her, broke her big toe. Weeks of pain plus no running and then a gradual build back to a run/walk program were undone by another hit to the foot (again in the pool...) Thankfully this time there was no fracture just another major setback. Could the race be salvaged? Was there any point in even proceeding with training? Thankfully Mary is a fighter and was able to continue cycling to maintain and improve her fitness level. Running was once again reintroduced but only a few short weeks out from the race date. One week out from the race Mary ran for a total of 1.5 hours with no ill-effects on her foot. The game plan was to swim and bike hard, and run for as long as the foot would hold up on the marathon before walking, if necessary.
Bob and I headed to the Okanogan 10 days before the race, stopping first in Kelowna for 3 days to race at the Apple Triathlon to try to qualify for the Age Group Olympic Distance Worlds in Gold Coast, Australia in September of 2009. This was a last minute decision and a bit of a calculated risk to race one week before an Ironman race. I was also nursing sesamoiditis (inflammation under the big toe) and the sensible thing would definately have been to not race in case I made it worse and jeopardized IMC. Thankfully, with some modifications to my orthotics, the race went well and without pain. The end result was that both Bob and I qualified for the Worlds next year!
In Kelowna the lake temperature on race day was 22.8 degrees - our race was deemed a non-wetsuit race. Once we arrived in Penticton - the same lake was so cold (after a massive windstorm "turned the water over") that our swim practice mid week was aborted as the water was only about 13 degrees. The week leading up to the race was much cooler than normal and there were spectacular thunder and lightning storms most afternoons/evenings.
Race morning dawned cool and overcast. The lake was calm. We headed in to body marking at 5:30am and were quickly processed through. Bob and I kissed goodbye at the entrance to transition as we'd agreed that it would be more stressful to try to stay together in the crowds than it would be to do our own individual pre-race prep.
After pumping up my bike tires and dealing with the last minute items, it was time to join the dreaded porta potty line. I knew this would be incredibly stressful and wondered if I could exit transition instead and find a quieter location. The volunteer guarding the entrance to the transition let me through the gate and I walked to the race headquarters hotel to use the washroom there. Peace and serenity! I stayed quietly in the hotel lobby until 6:30 and then headed back into transition to get into my wetsuit and head down to the water.
My race goal this year was to have a personal best in the swim. I decided to seed myself in the centre of the swimmers fairly close to the start so that I could go out with the stronger swimmers and benefit from the draft effect. Let me tell you - I won't be doing that again! From the moment the cannon roared and the race was underway I was out of my element. I thought I'd been bumped and bashed in past races before. It was nothing like I experienced at this race. I tried to swim with everyone but was having a panic attack. The first 20 minutes was constant thrashing and it never really settled down until after the turn around the second houseboat. Amazingly, though, I did exit the swim with a PB (by one minute) of 1:09, 4th in my age group.
Out on the bike course, at about the 8km point, Bob caught up to me and we rode together for 10 minutes or so chatting away. This was very special and a real highlight of the day. I felt strong on the bike however from the 20 - 60km mark we had to fight a headwind which was very tough. Usually it's the opposite with a lovely tailwind to help you along in that section of the race. Upon checking my average kph at Osoyoos I saw that I was down about 4kph from where I would normally be at that point. Darn. That meant I'd have to do what I caution my athletes not to - hammer the rest of the bike course to try to make up the lost time and hopefully not totally wipe out my legs for the marathon to come...
The temperature out on the bike course was definately cooler than in previous years so the ride went uneventfully as it was easier to keep the core temperature under control and not overheat. Coming back down to town, after the Yellow Lake climb, was fairly scary as there were some wicked crosswinds buffeting the bike. Cycling past Skaha Lake, just prior to hitting Main Street back into town, there were whitecaps on the lake and the wind was really howling. Heading down Main Street back into transition is always such an emotional experience. 2/3rds of the day is done - just the marathon lies ahead. I managed to have a strong ride and just missed a PB by one minute. So basically at this point of the race I was on the same race pace as I had been in 2004 when I raced my best time of 13:10.
Heading out for the first part of the run the weather wasn't too bad. However once I started running along Skaha Lake towards OK Falls the rain began to fall, and fall and fall. It drizzled/rained for the rest of the evening and it was cold as well. As always I power walked up the hills and through the aid stations. I also needed to take a few unplanned walking breaks but tried to stay strong and keep a good running form. I had to run a bit flat footed to avoid "toeing off" and flaring up my sore toe. This worked well and I didn't have any issues, other than a couple of minor blisters.
About 15km into the run I heard my name called from behind and it's Mary! Just motoring along with the biggest smile on her face. She's running and running strong! I called out words of encouragement as she blew past me.
Closer to the turnaround point I saw Bob heading back into town - we "high-fived" and carried on racing. After the turnaround I also saw Roger and Robert and was so pleased to see that both looked strong and happy. I hadn't seen Pam all day and didn't know how she was doing. As it turned out she did make the bike cutoff time but had experienced a recurrence of ITB trouble (that had been under control this year) on the bike and had to cycle at a reduced pace due to the pain. That, combined, with the winds on the course brought her into T2 approximately an hour later than anticipated. She was out on the run course though - what a determined woman... Unfortunately I never did see her out on the run. I'm guessing that she passed by when I was having one of my numerous porta potty stops. After only peeing twice on the bike course, I was making up for it on the run course. It was ridiculous and probably cost me a PB!!
Heading back into town is such a wonderful feeling. The end is almost in sight. Hitting Lakeshore Drive and coming down the finish line chute is amazing. At that point I had stopped looking at my watch so it wasn't until after the race, when talking with Eileen in Edmonton on the phone, that I realized that my time was 13:15 - just 5 minutes off my PB set in 2004. I was elated especially with the fact that I placed 15/72 in my age group.
Bob had finished a little over half an hour before me in 12:43 - he followed the game plan to the letter which was to race very conservatively as he'd be racing again in 3 months. He rolled over the finish line in the same manner that Jon Blais did in Hawaii in 2005. What a tribute to an incredible individual.
Roger had a great first Ironman tapping into his extensive marathon background to pull off a solid 4:13 run at the end of a challenging day to finish in 13:46.
Robert overcame his initial fears in the swim and backstroked most of the course. This was a great strategy as he finished the swim with 20 minutes to spare. After a solid bike and steady run he crossed the line at 15:51 and was an Ironman.
Unfortunately, for Pam, the day did not end as dreamed. A huge blister formed under her foot on the run and that, combined with the pain from the ITB, ended her day in the pouring rain at the 16 hour mark. Of all my athletes Pam had overcome so much to be at the start of the race and in my mind she will always be an Ironman as she displayed such courage and determination just to be there in the first place. She is my hero and an inspiration to her daughters and to so many other people.
And what about Mary - Mary with the fractured toe...?? Well the foot held up for the entire run (which she did in a smoking 4:31) to enable her to finish in a time of 12:51 (yes 12:51!!). Incredibly, given the hurdles thrown in her way since April, she finished first in her age group, set a new age group record, and qualified for Kona at her very first IM race...simply amazing.
All in all it was quite the day at Ironman Canada 2008!
