Alfred's Ironman Race Report

This is my 1st and Last Ironman Race Report:

My absolutely #1 goal was to enjoy myself on race day and have no regrets. Celebrate the accomplishment, let myself feel pride, enjoy the fans and surroundings and take the time to show my appreciation to my supportive family and friends. I wanted to have fun on my Ironman Day, because ultimately, it likely will be my only one. IT WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS!!!!!

My family was in full force with their pink custom team shirts and I loved every minute of it. They are so awesome!!! I celebrated with hugs and kisses every time I ran into them. I am so lucky to have such a great close-knit and supportive family. I looked so forward to seeing them because they gave me a great boost of energy. We had a blast all day.

Instead of stressing out all week before the race I chose to take the time and energy to reflect on what had happened over the last several years to get me here. I had to overcome a fear of deep water, learn to swim and build up my frail body to handle the punishment of running long distances. I reflected on how fit I’d become over the last few years and all the hundreds of hours in the pool, pathways, roads, physio/chiro/ortho visits, floor exercises and stretching. I reflected on all the great friends I’ve made and the many laughs we’ve had together. I reflected on how I could still run for 3 hours straight at 5am in the morning after working crazy hours and already having fatigued legs from a long bike ride. I reflected on how strong my body had become even though my mind sometimes had me second guessing that.

I was very relaxed in the morning as I prepped my bike. Got bored pretty quick as I was good to go. Luckily the two stooges (aka Ken and Corey) were there to entertain me. When I got out on the beach I found Pam and was able to give her a kiss and say “thank you for everything”. She had done so much for me to get here to the start line. I swam very easy and controlled. However if you look at my ASI photos, I was able to just squeek out a win ahead of the oldest male competitor in the field (a 78 year old man from Japan!!!!). Luckily they don’t have a shot a few seconds earlier where I pushed him aside to take the lead ;) Yes the swimming has come a long way but there is obviously a WHOLE LOT of improvement still there to be had. I left the swim feeling absolutely fantastic, probably too fantastic, but the plan was to be very conservative. It was a major objective to not fall in the common rookie mistake of going out to hard in the race only to suffer an epic crash/bonk later in the day.

I had the majority of my “misadventures” on my bike. Got out of town and then my powertap hub died (out of batteries). What are the chances!?!?!?! For all the times for it to die, it has to be on my IMC race day!?!?!? There goes my ace in the hole. My strategy was all about managing effort via watts (don’t slack off on the flats and down hills, and don’t overdo it on the climbs). Oh well, time to move on but I felt naked without my power (I’m sure Angie can understand). Next, quickly discover my rear brakes don’t work. WTF!!!!!! Had to stop and figure out what the problem was. Someone was definitely messing around with them because they were good to go when I left them on Saturday afternoon (someone had to purposefully unscrew the rear brake release). Finally fixed it and off we go. What next? How about 6 bathroom breaks on the bike!!!!! Obviously I was drinking WAY too much for the cooler conditions and didn’t adjust my fluid intake accordingly. I got so frustrated waiting at the designated porta-potties I just started going all over the place for my last few times. Did some serious “marking” in the Okanagan valley. I don’t want to even think about how much time I wasted due to the bladder. I did stew about this for a bit but then I came back to my ultimate goal à ENJOY THE DAY. I sandbagged Richter’s Pass so bad that I got passed by two guys over 60 years old!!!!!! I definitely swallowed the ego there to stick with the plan.

It was nasty winding leaving the out and back working towards the base of Yellow Lake. I was hardly moving at times. I didn’t know at the time but luckily I had just missed the downpour that hit a lot of the faster riders. I just got spit on by the rain. The roads were soaked at Yellow Lake but I missed the downpour. It was awesome up there even with the terrible weather. A lot of TTLers were there and my family. It was amazing. I felt great at this point, probably too great. I hammered the remaining 30k back into town. In hindsight, this is clearly a point I lost discipline and went too hard. I was feeling great and passed a ton of people here. From a time perspective, I have to admit I was very disappointed/frustrated/angry with the bike, but oh well, I kept telling myself that was not going to dictate my Ironman day experience. I wouldn’t let it. As many people had taught me, after you finish a portion of the race, good or bad, drop it and move on. I think I did a good job of that because I was smiling pretty quickly on the run.

I knew my run was not strong and had to internally accept this for me to have a “happy” day. No need to get frustrated at not being able to hold a pace that you know you don’t have, regardless of how much it bothers your ego. Start of run felt very controlled and comfortable. It was great acknowledging all the nice people calling my name and cheering me on. It seemed so appropriate that Richelle was one of the first people I saw as I really admire her. She is an awesome athlete that is competitive and driven, but first and foremost she is a wonderful human being that sincerely cares about others well being and really understands what’s important in life. I was determined to race like her (except for the performance part of course J) because that’s the way it should be done. Felt very controlled all the way to OK Falls. I was not going fast by any stretch of the imagination but my main goal on the run was consistency. I wanted to run, er, more like jog between the aid stations for the whole course. I didn’t want to have that typical strong run for the first bit then a meltdown. I got amazing notes from Pam and the kids at the turnaround that turned me into mush. My 8 year old daughter wrote “I hope you have fun even if you don’t win” and “I hope you have as much fun as we do” and my 6 year old son (who is really into Star Wars) wrote “may the force be with you”. Too cute.

I kept going until I had to use another porta-potty. As I went, all of a sudden got super dizzy and had to hold the side of the porta-potty to maintain my balance. I thought “oh, oh” I’m in trouble here. I walked like a drunken sailor and ate everything that the aid station was serving and walked on. After about 0.5km the dizziness subsided. I wonder now if it was just the result of suddenly stopping as I heard that can happen after moving for such a long time. I kept looking at my watch as I knew my family would be waiting at the finish line around 8pm. I believe this was the key to achieving a 13.5 hour time vs. a +14.5 hour time. I saw many people casually walking back having nice chats and laughing. Believe me, I am not judging, they are still Ironmen in my eyes. I must admit I was tempted to do the same given I knew at this point I had it in the bag. “Why suffer more?” I asked myself. “I’ll be an Ironman”. But the fact my family and friends were waiting there helped spur me on to get running again. Plus at the back of my mind, I knew I would regret it later that I just coasted in when I had it in me to finish stronger. I was able to maintain the run (what most others would call a jog) between aid stations. The false flat up to Cherry Lane Mall hurt but after that I was clipping along very nicely.

As I turned the last corner by the finish line, I saw my family screaming and I felt like a Rock Star. I ran down towards the end of Lakeshore reminding myself to take it all in. Tried to acknowledge everyone calling out my name in encouragement (quite a challenge given how many people are on the road at this point). Absorb all of it Alfred. I had a special moment when I saw Angie and Ken at the last turnaround. I gave Angie a big hug and told her “we did it”. Angie and I have been together for a long time. It’s been an amazing relationship and I am a better person for it.

As I neared the finish line I ran over to my family and gave them big hugs and kisses. It was awesome to see my good buddy Corey who made the trip down. I know unequivocally I would not be doing these crazy triathlons without Angie and Corey in my life.

Clearly I know I didn’t race THE fasted IMC possible, by a long stretch, but that does not matter to me one bit. I had an absolutely amazing day in which I celebrated, I smiled, I laughed, blew kisses, said “thank you” to a lot of people, gave high fives to countless people I don’t know. I relish the fact I was able to hug my family, coach and friends throughout the day. These are the things that I will remember when I reflect on this in future years, not the 7 stops on the bike or the broken powertap or the sandbagged parts of the race.

What’s next? Definitely not another Ironman. I’ll be the first to admit that IM training is too much for me. Honestly, there were several times during this spring and summer where I was hanging on for dear life trying to handle everything and keeping up with my training program. My family life is too awesome and my job too demanding. I’ve got to enjoy my kids while they still think Daddy is cool. I can’t completely rule out another one I guess but it won’t be anytime soon. Maybe when I turn 50!!!!

To finish, I do want to say “thanks” to some special people. My wife Pam has been absolutely incredible during this whole time. She has been more understanding than anyone could possibly ask for and I can’t thank her enough for all the sacrifices, support and love. There were countless times where I felt truly in over my head and she never stopped encouraging me. To my awesome extended family. I am blessed with a very close knit extended family that spends a lot of time together and it makes everything that much more enjoyable. Many were out in full force on race day, or supporting me on-line from Houston, and also made the week before the race really relaxing and fun. It wouldn’t have been the same without you guys.

Of course there is Angie and the extended TTL group. No matter what happens with my Tri activities or lack thereof I am thrilled to have made so many new great friends. A special shout out to my long ride training partners: Sarah, Kent and Scott. Glad to see you guys weren’t sandbagging too much out there like our training rides ;)

ps. Can’t wait for that fancy lunch Tara ;)