A Goofy thing happened on the way to the race...

For those of you who have been following my sporadic entries to this blog, you'll know that my wife and I have been trying to get ourselves ready to run Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge in January 2013 in Disney World.  We've even booked our two daughters (age 12 and 2.5) into milder versions of run events for that same weekend.  I don't foresee any problem getting our youngest daughter race ready - being the result of two recent Ironman competitors I'm pretty convinced that she is born to swim/bike/run/destroy all she can get her hands on.  By all appearances she could probably handle a half-marathon distance now!  Our oldest daughter is a bit more of a challenge.  Aside from dealing with mild cerebral palsy she is a little less enthusiastic about training/preparing for race day than her parents/dad would like.  I've been trying to get her to train at longer distances and faster pace than the actual race will demand.  My rationale for that is based on the hope that when she gets to the real deal she will find it far easier than the boot camp her dad has been putting her through!  So far that rationale has not been getting a rave reception!

As for my wife and I, we've had our struggles trying to stay on track with training what with work obligations and a recent trip to Ohio to visit friends and watch the Buckeyes continue their undefeated season.  Somewhere between travel, meals out, and shopping at the outlet malls, our training runs contemplated for the four days in Columbus never materialized.  Since getting back we have been getting in training runs of upwards of 2 hours for the both of us.  However, neither of us is really happy with the lack of consistency with which we have been able to approach training.  So needless to say expectations for a sub 2-hour half marathon and a sub 4-hour marathon at Disney World in January are being re-evaluated much to our chagrin.

And...then we confounded our plan even more...by getting pregnant.  Heidi will be 18 weeks pregnant at the time of Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge. [NOTE: Ultrasound image is only representative and not our actual baby]  So there is even more (justifiable) reason to manage the pace of both races.  She's been getting some conflicting messages about training - risk to her, risk to baby, whether she should run both races and so on and so forth.  If my parents have anything to say about it Heidi should be curled up in front of the couch starting now!  At this point, we expect to continue to train and to run both races.  Our goal, however, is being adjusted from trying to achieve personal bests to focusing on enjoying the day and getting our medals for completing both events.  We believe that we both still have time to take the challenge of Goofy more seriously in the future but this time around perhaps we'll spend more time with the Disney characters than we otherwise might have.

I'll try for my personal best run performance later in 2013!  When things aren't so Goofy :)

 

I count myself lucky...

You can count me as one who was a bit stunned to hear that the 30th edition of the Subaru Ironman Canada triathlon is going to be the last such race under the Ironman banner in Penticton.  I had been formulating a plan to run my third Ironman in 2015 when I would have been 50 years old.  Now I will have to be rethinking my options.  There will be a ironman distance triathlon in Penticton in future years but it will now be part of the Challenge family of triathlon events. 

I suspect that despite the change in ownership/sponsorship that I will be back - I need to test myself against the same course and see if I can improve with age!  Others that have raced IMC in Penticton will also probably come back for similar reasons with an annual trek to the Okanagon Valley being a ritual that will be hard to break. 

I consider myself very fortunate to have had at least two opportunities to compete at IMC.  I've already had conversations with a couple of friends who won't get the same kind of chance.  I know as well that others are a lot more emotionally attached and invested in this particular race and this particular venue and it will be a bit harder for them to just move on. 

In my brief time being associated with IMC in Penticton I've seen some pretty amazing feats - running into Jordan Rapp in a local mall the day before his winning performance in 2011; getting a chance to race with Sister Madonna Buder; got to compete with (and swim beside) David Lee, the first paraplegic wheelchair athlete to ever complete the IMC;  an opportunity to see all shapes and sizes of athletes take on the the IMC challenge; and, overall to share a great experience with my Ironman wife who got me started on this little adventure!  We never did get a chance to do the IMC together, but we alternated with cheering each other on.

As with any triathlon, IMC now needs to go through it's own transition phase and get ready for the next part of the race.  Looking forward to many future performances and memories in a new venue!

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Without Question, the 30th Subaru Ironman Canada Finishes Strong
August 26, 2012

Penticton, BC (August 26, 2012) – Coming into the 30th Subaru Ironman Canada Triathlon, the question in the forefront of everyone’s minds was: who does this race belong to? On Sunday, August 26, 2012, there was no easy answer.

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Did the 30th edition belong to first time Ironman winner Matthew Russell from Scottsdale, Arizona, who won the Men’s professional race (8:48:30), after countless lead changes and a blistering 2:53:35 marathon run?

Did the event belong to British Columbia’s own Gillian Clayton, who won the Women’s professional race (9:46:07), after trailing over 18 minutes early on in the run? She was, after all, the first female amateur finisher in the 2011 Subaru Ironman Canada Triathlon, returning one year later to claim her first professional Ironman victory.

Did Subaru Ironman Canada belong to age grouper Kendra Lee from Denver, Colorado, who had the fastest overall Female time at 9:44:58, capturing the interest of spectators and race crew alike?

Did the Penticton race belong to the over 2,600 brave athletes who started the swim in the wee hours of the morning, 998 of whom did so for the first time?

Did the triathlon belong to long-time race owner Graham Fraser, crossing the finish line alongside his relay race partners Lisa Bentley and Lori Bowden, who have a combined eight Subaru Ironman Canada victories?

Did the week-long buildup and event belong to the City of Penticton, whose spectators and volunteers opened their hearts to support it for the 30th time?

None of these answers do justice to the sheer magnitude of the 30th edition of Subaru Ironman Canada. To everyone touched by Subaru Ironman Canada, it will always belong to them.

Ironman as a Metaphor for Leadership

A bit of different twist for this blog entry.  My first crossover blog!  I've been running another blog focused on Leadership - http://itsaboutleadership.blogspot.ca/.  It may seem cliche,  but while there is no shortage of initiatives designed to improve the performance of organizations most of them fail or do not realize their true potential due to a lack of leadership.  My crossover blog tries to draw some comparisons between leadership/development and Ironman/training.  I've done two Ironman events - in 2010 and 2011 - and competed in a few other half-Ironman events and a few more run competitions. 

Through much of 2011 and into 2012 I had the privilege of working with an executive coach.  Russell Hunter, National Director at Human Performance Institute of Canada Inc, was my coach and helped lead me through some challenging times and a major transition in my career (http://ca.linkedin.com/in/russellhunter). Aside from all the skills and talents you would expect to see in an executive coach, Russell brought another dimension to our conversations - he is an accomplished triathlete and has competed at Ironman Canada.  This shared experience allowed us to make many comparisons to my work environment and Ironman.  It allowed me to put into perspective aspects of my work that I did control and those that I did not.  With the 2012 version of Ironman Canada set to go this coming weekend (August 26) I thought I would share with you some of the analogies we drew between Ironman and Leadership - and throw in a few more that grew from that conversation.

First, there has to be some motivation or goal in mind to undertake an Ironman event - as there must be in taking on a leadership role.  As "they" say , without a goal any direction will do! Ironman is a daunting undertaking - 3.8 km swim, followed by 180 km on the bike, followed by a 42 km marathon.  As I'm sure most amateur athletes would attest to there are not a lot of accolades that come with doing this event.  You certainly get cheers along the way from family and friends, and sometimes from complete strangers.  And you do get a finisher's medal at the end of the race.  Otherwise it's a lot of hard slogging through the three disciplines and sometimes a lot of talking to yourself as you try to reach the finish line.  You are in the race in some cases just to say you did it, to prove to yourself that you are capable.  And most of us in leadership roles would agree that recognition is outweighed by ongoing challenges and it's often a lonely journey we take on.

Second, for best results in an Ironman, you spend a significant amount of time in training and preparing for the race.  No different than getting ready to take on a leadership role.  For Ironman, you can find yourself starting to prep as early as a few weeks after the last race for the next race!  Granted your training isn't as intense at this point. Rather, you are now trying to maintain your level of fitness, work on improving or sustaining technique, improving core strength and (if you are like me) perhaps looking to shed a few more pounds.  Entering race day - or starting a leadership position - without any form of preparation is a high risk proposition to say the least!  For most of us - including the professionals - success does not come without months of preparation.  Others may spend years getting ready for the ultimate event, building up confidence to take up the challenge by doing shorter distance triathlons.  In much the same way, successful leaders prepare themselves academically, take on smaller challenges, and ultimately work up to larger leadership roles.

Triathlon is a multi-discipline sport.  So is leadership.  However, if we think of triathlon as swimming, cycling and running we would miss out on other equally important components.  A critical part of training and race day preparation is making sure your nutrition and hydration is race ready.  Throughout the year leading up to Ironman you use training days and smaller events to figure out what works for you and will keep you fueled for the race - what will your body tolerate? what amount do you need to sustain race pace? what kind of electrolyte replacement do you need? do you need to use salt replacement? how will that change depending on weather conditions?  So what's the leadership analogy for nutrition?  My take on that is all leaders need to continue to fuel their minds through continuous education and learning.  You can't continue to make positive impact if you don't continue to hone and advance your skill set.  There is too much change too fast in our health care environment - labour force dynamics, regulations, government direction - to stand pat with existing learning.  Leaders must continue to fuel their minds.

Success in Ironman also requires that your equipment - wetsuit, bike, shoes, watch - is race ready.  This means making decisions early on as to whether you want to take on the race with a road bike or a tri-bike, whether you want to go with base components for your bike or invest in top-of-the line products, what type of running shoes work for you and so on.  You'll also find that your training and smaller races will take their toll on your equipment.  At points in time you will have to replace your shoes as you put on the miles, that you will need to replace your tires and otherwise tune your equipment in the hopes of not having a breakdown on race day.  In much the same way, as a leader, you have to make the appropriate investments in equipment and tools to undertake your leadership task - do you have the right measurement systems in place, the right tools to effectively communicate with your stakeholders, the right mechanisms to ensure that your work group or organization is aligned towards the achievement of a common goal.  Your experience will cause you to change your tool set as you work towards your goal.

I can't do justice to the comparison between Ironman and Leadership if I don't discuss mental preparation and hardening.  You can have everything in place mentioned above - training in several disciplines, fueling plan nailed, equipment ready - but if you are not mentally prepared for race day all of the prep work might be for naught.  In this way, "failure" during training or in a shorter race may become the best guarantee of future success at Ironman.  If you don't face adversity, large or small prior to Ironman - flat tire, slipped bike chain, bad weather - you likely won't know how to react when something like that happens on race day.  And you don't want to be doing all your learning on race day!  It's no different with leadership.  The best leaders have faced their share of adversity on their way up to their current roles; they've experienced conflict, they've had to make tough choices, they've had to balance multiple priorities and tasks, and they have sometimes failed.  However, that's what has (hopefully) molded them into better leaders.

Then it's race day.  All your preparation has led to this moment.  Last year at Ironman Canada that meant nearly 3,000 people entering the water at the same time.  Each one with their own anxieties, skill level, and goals.  Some were rookies.  Some had done this more than a dozen times.  Regardless, for the next nine, ten, twelve or even seventeen hours you effectively begin to race on your own, trying to beat the clock.  At this point there is no guarantee as to how the day will go.  You may have expectations but once you start the race you surrender yourself to the events of the day.  Weather can be a factor. In 2010 I got hailed on part way through the bike ride and the temperature dipped to 10 degrees Celsius.  In 2011, the temperature hit a peak of around 40 degrees Celsius.  Same course - different conditions.  In 2011, I got slugged in the face and developed a cramp in my leg half-way through the swim.  Early in the bike course somebody had thrown tacks on the road.  I got through while others had to deal with replacing a punctured tube.  I saw someone else with a broken bike chain.  You can't predict what will happen.  No different in our leadership roles.  Your day day can be exquisitely planned out and then you get that one call and your day is radically altered.  As a leader you must be prepared to respond and adjust to the events of the day.

At some point the day does end!  While I did better in 2011 than I did in 2010, I still believe I have more in me.  I have a desire to achieve what I believe my body is capable of.  As in leadership, there is a need for a post-event evaluation.  What worked?  What didn't?  What would I change?  In Ironman you have a small number of well-established metrics that help you to objectively evaluate your performance - heart rate, pace, swim time, bike time, run time, transition times, and finish time.  There are also subjective evaluations at play and most of them relate to how did I feel during different parts of the race and after the race.  Was my stomach working ok?  How well did my body hold up to the pounding?  What does all of that mean in preparation for next year?  In the same way, leaders have to conduct ongoing evaluation of their efforts by whatever means available so as to ensure a greater degree of success in future endeavours.

While I have described Ironman as a solo event it is anything but.  Most competitors have been introduced to triathlon through other people.  We don't just miraculously decide to take on triathlon without having someone initiate us or inspire us to take on the challenge.  Many of us are also part of teams that we train with and learn from.  Good leadership is also a function of working with and learning from a team.  This includes subordinates, peers and mentors.  We shorten our learning curve and mitigate the risk of failure by learning from others and leaning on their experience and knowledge. 

Finally, as I hope all leaders and triathletes would attest to, none of us truly succeeds or reaches our full potential without the support of our families.  Training for an Ironman can often take up to and over 20 hours of time each week as we get to our peak preparation.  This means many early mornings, evenings or weekends away from family.  It means adjusting family plans to allow for participation in lead up races and Ironman itself.  It means financial investment in equipment.  Same holds true for most leadership positions.  Early morning meetings, late evening meetings, planning forums that take place out-of-town, conferences and crisis events all take time away from family.  In addition, as leaders we all experience varying levels of stress, trials and tribulations in the course of our careers.  We have to make decisions about when to upgrade our education.  We have to make decisions on when to make a change in career.  Are we prepared to move to another city or province to pursue a career opportunity.  None of this can be a solo decision and our success is in no small measure attributable to our families. 

Ironman and Leadership - more than a few lessons to be learned.  Keep training and enjoy the race!

Every mile is Magic...

Well my family and I will find out in mid-January whether the slogan above holds true!  This past week, after quite a few months of discussion, my wife and I took the plunge and registered for the 2013 version of Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge.  For those of you not familiar with this little event it means running a half-marathon on Saturday, January 12, 2013, and then following that up with a full marathon the next day, Sunday, January 13, 2013.  Should be easy compared to doing an Ironman, right?!  I guess we'll find out!

At the very least, the race is now providing us with some much needed motivation to get on to a regular exercise regimen.  And it looks as though I'm going to have to get damn serious about the regularity and intensity of my workouts - Heidi threw out the concept of a sub-4 hour finish for the marathon!  Now in truth I have never run a full marathon unless it has been the concluding portion of an Ironman so I really don't know what I could be capable of.  History to date on the run portion of Ironman has meant a 4 hour run time has been the stuff of DREAMS!  However, I do know on my half-marathon performances I have run at just over 2 hours and really started to hurt at the end of it - often thinking where is that finish line in the last 2 kilometres...

We are also going to sign up our two kids for much smaller versions of the races.  The oldest daughter is going to take on the Mickey Mile - her training starts this week.  The youngest daughter is in the age category where I believe she will be taking on the 100 metre dash.  In truth, I think the youngest could do the Mickey Mile as she seems to have been training for it since birth!

So January 12 and 13, 2013 are the target dates.  Sub 4 hour finish for the marathon has been thrown out there.  I'm thinking that means we should focus on getting a sub 2 hour finish for the half marathon as well.

Training with Purpose! 

A little bit of frustration....

Just arrived back after spending a week in Denver where I was taking some business training.  I always find it energizing to get to those types of events and learn new things to apply in my day-to-day work.  The drawback, of course, is that I am away from my family for an extended period of time.  I feel much guilt at those times being the absent father, not being able to do things with my kids, and putting the burden of childcare exclusively on my wife. 

The benefit from being away from home, and not having the responsibilities that typically come with all that (e.g., getting kids to functions, cleaning the garage, cutting the grass, etc.) is that it affords me the opportunity to get in workouts that I otherwise might not be able to manage.  So I was good at doing that in the week away in Denver.  Starting on Sunday, after arriving at 9 a.m. from Edmonton - and then waiting for my hotel room to be available, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the effort to recapture my former (imagined) glory!  Got in a 2 hour workout with a mix of weights, bike and running.  Now the bike workout is not really the same as getting on my own bike, but the fact that I actually got in a workout should really be the most important point.  From that point on, I continued to commit to a workout every day while in Denver and did very well in getting in at least an hour a day from Sunday to Thursday.  I definitely felt the absence of regular workouts in the weeks leading up to this point - a little stiff and sore to be sure!

Heidi and I had also signed up for the 100 km version of the Tour de l'Alberta some time ago.  That was likely at a point when we expected to be a little more diligent about workouts and staying in shape and when the prospect of a little ride together in the summertime didn't seem as daunting as it now became in the week leading up to the event.  Unfortunately, we were not able to secure child care for July 22nd.  Heidi was gracious enough to let me take on the ride anyway and stayed behind with the kids...we are still not sure who got the better of the deal!

I was fortunate enough, however, to be able to ride with a friend of mine for the 100 km.  Trevor got involved with tri about a year ago now - he said that Heidi and I inspired him to give it a go.  This was after he'd lost a great deal of weight and started doing a ton of running.  We eventually convinced him that tri - with it's variety in workouts - would be easier on his body.  He's been quite dedicated and committed this whole year to competing in numerous tri and running events.  Congratulations!  So needless to say, he helped me out a lot in the 100 km ride this past Sunday when I had not be on an outdoor ride since last August's Ironman and had not been in the saddle for more than 90 minutes in the past year! 

Sooo...needless to say at the end of the day my ass and feet were killing me!  But I did finish and the ride was certainly less adventuresome than last year's 185 km version of the Tour - no flat tires, no lost equipment, no unplanned detours...So maybe kind of boring.  The weather definitely cooperated and because I was trying to figure things out again and forgot my sunscreen I ended up with quite a funky tan to go with my sore body. 

This morning, however, I was disappointed to do my weigh in.  Considering my week of workouts in Denver and my 100 km ride I would have thought I could have dropped a couple of pounds.  Alas, it was not too be. Perhaps things like the the Hershey Chocolate Bar Cheesecake with two scoops of ice cream and whipped cream did a lot more damage than I thought...time to get back to starvation rations...and more workouts!

Thank you!

A bit of a different entry today.  I've been writing this blog for getting on 2 years now.  Have to say I was inspired to start writing about my experience as a triathlete based on how I had seen others document their experience.  However, at no point did I really think anyone - outside of a small circle of friends - would actually be reading it.  And perhaps ignorance in that regard really was bliss.

So for the past 2 years I've been writing on and off about my experience, primarily as I moved towards and beyond my second consecutive Ironman Canada event.  I certainly wasn't as dutiful as I should have been and I guess when one thinks one is writing for himself there really isn't much pressure to write updates every week or even every couple of weeks.  Truth is when you are in training mode one week pretty much looks like any other week other than the occasional breakdown, weather event or similar tragic-comic event.

Nevertheless, I never truly thought others might be paying attention to my experience.  It's only been in the past couple of months as I've undergone a significant change in my career, and started a leadership blog as a consequence (http://itsaboutleadership.blogspot.ca/), that I even stumbled across the fact that people had been paying attention to my triathlon adventure.

As I said before, I expected that a small circle of friends would drop in to take a look at my entries every once in a while.  A few of them even became followers.  However, in the past few weeks I have been STUNNED to discover that I have had people from AROUND THE WORLD "drop in" on me!   So bear with me as I list for you the countries from which views of my blog have taken place - Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Phillipines, Germany, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thailand, Austria, Australia, Italy, Brazil, India, and Denmark!

I am truly astonished.

So I want to thank all of you for tuning in and watching the adventure.  Now that I know you are out there I'll try to write to a higher level, one that is more worthy of a worldwide audience.

I would also love to hear from others across the world about their experiences in triathlon.  I am learning so much from my own personal journey and from my own small circle of friends and colleagues here in Alberta.  I can only imagine how much richer my experience would be if I could benefit from the experience of amateur athletes around the world!

Yikes! How did this happen!?

Soooo...I knew that I was experiencing a bit more constraint in my clothes of late and I really had been dreading taking that fateful step on to the weigh scale...But, it had to be done.  And the scale don't lie - as much as I hoped it would. 

At this point, given all the time that has passed since my last Ironman and my return to this blog, I'm not sure if anybody other than me is reading this.  However, I really think I need some sort of public ridicule (even if imagined) to get my butt back into gear - and it's formally taut shape :).

So in the interests of feigned public disclosure the masses should know that as of this morning I tipped the scales at 207 pounds!  Well into the Clydesdale division!  When I started my Herbal Magic weight loss program I tipped the scales at 223 pounds.  Hitting that goal again is not an option.  For one thing, I can't afford to reinvest in my wardrobe again!!  It's a bloody expensive undertaking. 

Now in both my Ironman races (and likely all of my prep events leading up to Ironman) I tipped the scales at about 195 pounds pre-race.  So I was not the poster boy for Ironman anyway.  That being said, I still fit into my clothes rather nicely.  Now...not so much. 

So I think it is beyond time to recommit to a diet and exercise plan.  Must forgo - again - any thoughts of juices, pop, chips and liquor (stick to only one glass of wine a day).  Must again exercise portion control!  Must again limit the carbs!  And must start to work out at least once a day.

In my head the goals become these.  2012 - lose between 10 and 20 pounds before Christmas.  2013 - book in some races.  I believe 10k and half-marathon runs.  Great White North half-Ironman at least.  And the 100k or 180k version of the Tour de Alberta.  Rest of year then try to lose another 10 to 15 pounds - goal weight being in the 180s.  2014/2015 - same again with consideration of taking on another full Ironman. Technically I won't be racing at 50 in 2014 - I only hit that category in 2015.

That's the general template for getting the flab off and my hard body (or as close as I ever was) back!

Wish me luck!

Time to recommit?

It's getting on to be close to a year since my last Ironman effort...and, almost a year since I did any sustained workouts.  I've had some bursts of energy and commitment which have lasted for about a week, but I tank rather quickly thereafter and revert back to a sedentary lifestyle. 

I've been inspired of late, however, with the tri adventures of 3 friends who perhaps were inspired by my Ironman journey of the past couple of years.  So maybe this where they now help me get off my butt and back to the fitness lifestyle that served me well enough to get in a few races over the past couple of years.  It was quite exciting to see them each achieve their personal goals and again inspire me as to what I could accomplish if I get back at it.  I had talked about this year being a year of smaller events and perhaps even just focusing on running - some 10k efforts, perhaps a half-marathon.  But other than a commitment to doing a 100k ride in July (which will now be a painful experience due to lack of training) nothing actually got put into my calendar. 

So I'm thinking if I start talking more publicly about my efforts again it might act as some much needed self-imposed peer pressure to get me committed to sustained workout regimen!  In this I believe I will have a partner in my wife Heidi - the one who got me into this tri world to begin with.  We will have to break our mutually supporting cycle of chips, wine and TV before bedtime and hopefully revert to something more like windtrainer time while watching a past Ironman championship on the big screen!

I hope my recent investment in some new run flats will also get me back on track too.  A parting gift from my work colleagues.  As one of them said "Just think how fast you'll be able to go now..."  For me it was never a problem thinking how fast I could go, it was the problem that my body has not yet been able to achieve the pace my brain fantasizes my body could go....

Let's Conclude the Unfinished Story!

Well how many months has it been since I finished my 2nd Ironman Canada competition?  Well clearly too long as I've completely slacked off of any type of training regimen since the end of August 2011!!  And certainly it's been far too long to do a final update on how the 2011 Ironman experience was for me and ensure at least that this one unfinished task in my life is put to bed!

It was quite the different experience leading up to the 2011 version of Ironman than it had been for the 2010 Ironman adventure.  I'm sure most of this was related to knowing more going into 2011 than taking part in my first Ironman in 2010.  Ignorance truly was bliss!  At least at the start of the race.

In the weeks leading up to Ironman 2011 I felt less prepared somehow than in the previous year.  And that feeling was no doubt built off of my challenging experience from the previous year. I knew what awaited me this time around!  I had done some different things in my training for Ironman this year the most notable of which is that I concentrated not at all on weight loss in 2011 and focused all of my energy on training and eating like a normal human being and trying to be energized for my workouts.  It was made clear to me by experience in 2010 that weight loss and training were not mutually compatible objectives.  The result of that decision was that I did come into Ironman 2011 at about 2 pounds heavier than in 2010 - about 195 pounds. 

Aside from that though, or even regardless of that choice of goals for the year, I felt less ready on the swim, bike, run components than I had in 2010. Again, I believe that was better knowledge of what it would take to run a good race coming into play.  So I was actually far more nervous and anxious in the week leading up to the race than I had been in the previous year.

My anxiety was not helped by a feeling that my asthma was acting up. In the couple of days before the race my breathing seemed particularly laboured in the water.  I did some light swims and really did not feel all that comfortable in the water.  Now those who know me already appreciate that lake swims are not my comfort zone.  But this was beyond even my familiar phobia. 

My anxiety was further enhanced in the days leading up to race day when it became evident that we were in for a scorcher!  If I recall correctly, the forecast was for mid to high 30s celsius.  I've never been a hot weather lover.  Much more comfortable in racing - and in life - if the temp is going to stick at low to mid-20s.  What made impending reality all the worse was that Edmonton weather had been particularly bad all summer to the point that there were far too many bikes and runs that had taken place indoors on trainers and treadmills.  In preparation for a much hotter event than I had ever experienced, I proceeded to invest in white arm sleeves and white compression stockings.  Ultimately I'm not sure if that was a pure psychological move but...

Did pretty much the same prep I did in the last couple of nights before race day - carbo loading meals at Villa Ristorante and Hooded Merganser, drop off bike at transition, get race bags ready for drop off the next morning, and then try to relax! 

Race morning is always a bit anxious for me.  Mostly because I have a compulsive need to be excessively early.  I've got to make sure I've got everything ready in transition and bags dropped off early enough to know if I've missed something or not - then I can sit and relax.  So that means Heidi has to get up ultra early as well to get me down to transition/starting point.  She loves that :)  This year we also picked up another competitor who was struggling with all of this gear as he made his way down to the start.  Always nice to help out someone else if you can. 

Met a few members of the Ironteam Cops for Cancer at the security entrance.  The team competes every 2 years and I was one of the few who did sign up for 2011.  It was good to see a few familiar faces.  Then off to drop my race bags off in proper locations, get body marked, and off to prep my bike and get into my wetsuit.  As I was doing this got a chance to bump into Lisa Bentley, Ironman legend!  She was not competing but was there as a coach checking in on her team.  Fun!

Soon enough was making my way down to the beach for the swim start.  This year I had determined to be a bit more logical about how I started out.  In my first year, I decided to place myself right at the front of the start line and as a result I was completely swamped by my fellow competitors at the beginning of the swim!  It was truly a frightening experience, especially for someone who already suffers from a fear of water!  So this year I took a more measured approach to the start and don't think I lost any time in that regard.  However, I did find the swim more challenging this year than in 2010.  As I got further into the swim, probably one-third into the first leg out, I really felt that I was pounding into a lot of waves. I was surprised because before the start the lake had certainly had the look of being pretty calm. At a point in time I actually got mad because I thought there were boats nearby that were kicking up a wake.  Eventually realized that this was not the case and that the lake was truly rougher than the year before.  Damn.  In addition, despite having hung back at the start, it was still a pretty crowded swim.  I guess no surprise given that there were a record number of participants in 2011 - nearly 3,000!  So in the first leg I actually took quite a good slug to the face and as a result inhaled a bit of lake water.  Damn again!  Not sure if that was a fist or a foot that got me, but doesn't really matter.  It was a gooder! 

The next challenge for me in the swim as I started to get ready for the last leg coming back to the beach was that I started to get a cramp in my right leg.  As it progressed I tried at a point to go from front crawl to breastroke to allow me an opportunity to try to stretch out the right calf muscle.  To no avail.  At a point in time I just said screw it and got back on the front crawl and literally let my leg twist in the water behind me.  It was quite the experience!  By the time I got to the beach things seemed to subside - until I tried to stand up!  Nearly hit the ground at that point.  Damn again.  So between the rougher water, the punch in the face and the leg cramp, I fell off my swim time from the previous year by over 8 minutes.

Transitioned to the bike and lowered my transition over last year by about 30 seconds.  Felt kind of laboured starting on the bike, heading out of Penticton and then going up McLean Creek Road.  Thought about this start up experience post race and clearly was related to my right leg cramping in the water.  In training circumstances, I would never have pushed on after a cramp for a 1/2 to a 1/3 of my swim.  Not really an option on race day.  So clearly was still recovering at the beginning of the bike ride. 


Once I made it past McLean Creek Road things became even more interesting.  As I proceeded through to OK Falls I began to see more and more competitors on the side of the road attending to their bikes.  It wasn't until a volunteer yelled at me to stay to the middle of the road that it became evident that tacks had been thrown on to the road!  Unfortunately this has happened at Ironman Canada in the past.  Some of the locals are not as supportive of the race taking over their roadways and communities for a full day and choose to express their displeasure by this act of sabotage.  Mercifully I was able to get through this particular stretch without blowing a tire.  However, as I was heading into some downhill, speedy, curvy sections of the bike ride I was a bit disconcerted by a very loud squealing noise coming from my brakes as I put them to the test on the downhill curves.  Truly at points in time I really wondered how effective my brakes were.  This was despite having had a good tuneup prior to race day.  Damn the torpedoes and full spead ahead.

Between OK Falls and Richter's Pass the temperature started to become more of a factor.  Not that it was tremendously different in that regard from 2010.  At this point in the race I'd have to guess that the race temperatures were reasonably similar.  I think I made it through Richter's Pass in about the same time as last year.  Don't know for sure.  But certainly became more aware of the heat going up and probably did a lot better job of hydrating and getting electrolytes into my system than in 2010.  I was also much more psychologically prepared for the 7 Bitches, the series of rollers between Richter's Pass and Yellow Lake than I was in 2010.  I maintained better pace and effort through this section.  It was also in this section that I started to see some ambulance traffic and people pulling off to the side of the road to gain shelter from the sun/heat.  Very different from last year when more than a few of us got hit by sleet/hail leading up to Yellow Lake.  Probably hit 40 degree at points in the bike ride this year.  I was really appreciative as well of the ice that was available to me on the bike course.  Threw a lot of that into my jersey whenever I got the chance. Sad part about the experience was that for some athletes there was actually a shortage of ice and water as they completed their bike - not good. 

Soooo nice to get beyond Yellow Lake and start some really good downhill (non) work!!  Yay speed without effort!!  However, still one more little glitch in this experience.  As you might know from driving in BC, there are often passing lanes created on uphill/downhill stretches that allow slower vehicles to pull over and allow faster traffic to pass.  Well for Ironman one of these (3) lanes is taken over to permit bike use only.  The exclusion zone is marked with orange pylons.  Well, as I'm proceeding to whip down the hill just ahead of me on my left is a semi-trailer.  While I'm getting up to some real nice speed - 60 km per hour - it's not enough to overtake the semi.  Problem is that his trailer is starting to clip off every 2nd pylon or so with the result is that these start flying off to his right, just in front of me.  With a little bad luck I could be heading to the hospital!  Fortunately I get through this little shooting gallery and continue to make my way into Penticton.  Sad part is that the finish line just never seems to appear!  As I'm was coming down from Yellow Lake I really had hopes of finishing the bike portion of Ironman in 7 hours.  It just never happened!  Certainly did better than last year - 25 minutes better in fact - but still not where I wanted to be. 

So enter Penticton to the cheers of my family and sister-in-law (guess she's family too :)) and proceed to transition.  Take longer to do transition than last year - 2 minutes longer - and I definitely chalk that up to the heat.  More tired physically I think this year than last.  Trying to stay focused at this point and get some more water/nutrition into my body to get out on the marathon.  Always has been tough for me even after a 90 km bike to transition to the run.  Today is no different.  And again the heat of the day on this run is greater than anything I've ever trained in or raced in. 

So start slogging it out there.  I think the picture of me on the run totally tells the story.  Not exactly uplifting!  I had a lot of "stuff" on me early on in the run but quickly shed a lot of the excess material (e.g., water bottle, an overabundance of gels) in favour of runnng lighter and being supported at aide stations.  I did reasonably well - by my standards - in keeping going at a run in the early going.  And I was certainly helped by some great citizens of Penticton along the way.  Lots of encouragement to be sure, but even more importantly given the heat, many of them had set up sprinklers and similar contraptions along the route to allow athletes to get cooled off along the way.  It was a tremendous help! 

As was the case with the bike, I saw a lot of ambulance traffic on course this year.  I also saw a lot of people in physical distress - more so than me.  More than a few people who kept moving forward despite the fact that I wasn't really convinced that they knew where they were going.  I was also "impressed" by the number of athletes - male and female - along the side of the road (or in the middle of the road) that were either throwing up or trying to make themselves throw up.  Outstanding. 

As the run progressed I did come across some fellow team members from Ironteam Cops for Cancer and felt somewhat reassured that these veterans were finding the grind challenging as well.  Not as chipper as in previous years.  Certainly got a lot of encouragement from them! 

As I neared the half-way point of the marathon, walking was becoming more of the norm than the exception.  This fact wasn't helped by a developing blister on the ball of my right foot.  Every step was getting more painful - again, more of the norm for an Ironman!  Unfortunately for me, this meant another after sunset finish.  As I came into town there was again good support from all kinds of friends and families of athletes and then from my own family as I made one of the last turns into the final stretch.  Summoned up one last effort of will to get back into running form and crossed the finish line about 35 minutes ahead of last year.  Still not what I hoped I'd be capable of, but on the other hand had faced up to one of my great fears of the race in the hot conditions this year. 

A very different feeling at the end of this race too versus 2010.  Last year I ended the race in a very disappointed frame of mind.  Didn't have a sense of accomplishment.  This year, even though I still didn't get the time I wanted, I did feel as if I had given better effort and actually run a better race.  I had a very emotional response to the end of this race - literally, only took a few steps away from the finish line and had to sit down to have a bit of a cry.  Had a sense of loss in some respects that this would be my last competition for a while.  Really wanted to have signed up for 2012 and continue to make progress in my health and competitive skill.  So I had more pride in this race finish but also more disappointment too. 

I still hope to be back because I think I learned a lot (again) from another year's worth of training and another Ironman.  I can do better with my training.  I can do better with my nutrition.  I need to come off the bike in better shape for a better run.  I need to harden my feet or take better care of them on the run.  And I need to lose another 30 pounds!  Man, compared to most of the other stick people out there I still make a better linebacker than triathlete and if I'm going to break 14 hours I'll likely need to get under 170 pounds! 

But mentally and emotionally, I'm in a better place than 2010 and I'm looking forward to trying this as a celebration of my 50th birthday in 2014!

P.S. - and if you finish your Ironman, don't be afraid of getting a real kick ass tatoo like me to celebrate :)!  Notice the Ironman logo on Ironman's right thigh.