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.