Thursday, August 30th, 2012
John P.’s 2012 IMC Race Report
Introduction
My Ironman journey started after a particularly painful outing at the 2011 Calgary Half-Iron triathlon which I ran only eight weeks after major knee surgery; an unwise decision that explains why I need a coach. After completing the Calgary race, my fourth triathlon, I could hardly wait to tackle the big race in Penticton. Can you say “impulsive decision” – hey I’m a guy – don’t bore me with the details. I wanted to be that athlete, to experience the mystery of transforming myself into an Ironman athlete. Trying to articulate the reasons why we do this can end up sounding corny and cliché but I really wanted to reach out and find my limits. I wanted my kids to witness what it means to go after a far reaching stretch goal which takes a huge amount of effort to achieve. As Jordan Rapp said last year, “reach for the stars”. I guess the seeds were sown three years ago when I witnessed Wilma, my wife, living strong and “not going down without a fight” in her own battle with cancer – she is the reason I’m an Ironman today – at least the reason I started in the first place. So a year ago I asked my swim coach, Angie, if she would be my triathlon coach and fortunately for me she agreed; I would not have achieved so much without her!
The Journey
When you join Team Tri-Life and become a TTL’er it takes a while to meet everyone. There is no single meeting place where you can meet the group at once. It’s a process that takes time and what a great group of people this is. It is so rewarding to train with this group – Monday night swims with Angie screaming “come on, let’s go!”. Tuesday spins: who can inflict the most pain on themselves. Next year I’m going to fall off my bike onto the floor after a really hard hill-repeat and play dead. Hill climbs at Springbank: don’t try and beat Steve W. You’ll only hurt yourself. I trained all through the ski season running on the hotel treadmill while everyone else enjoyed a après ski hot tub. I learned to follow Angie’s plan and not try and do more, do less, go faster and so on. My journey to IMC was full of running injuries, ups and downs. This is not a straight line to success. This process is full of surprises and requires a consistently applied effort over a long period of time. I learned the hard way that it is a very good idea to follow Angie’s plan. After running over 2000 kms, riding 5000 kms and swimming for hundreds of hours I ended up in Penticton for the TTL IMC training camp in July. Training camp is important especially for Ironman rookies because the experience provides a basis for a race-plan that you can believe in. I came away from camp understanding the need for a detailed nutrition plan which I nailed on race day, I learned to ride easy in the first 60km of the bike race and, in general, to “do it”, not “race it” in terms of how to approach this ultra long course triathlon and learned that Ironman is an exercise in problem-solving.
Pre-Race
The days leading up to race morning I’d describe as going from a state of chaos to order for me personally. My bike broke down and I got a new one the day before leaving Calgary for IMC. “Hey Angie, how do you like my new bike?” “No I haven’t trained on it much”. My swim goggles broke in half during a training swim two days before the race – that would have been interesting during the race swim. My running injury finally healed and I could run pain free for the first time in three months a week before the race. It was so much fun being an athlete in Penticton days before the big race; there is huge energy throughout the town – a party vibe combined with thousands of athletes from all over the world. It felt very good to have earned my place to be part of that group. People on the streets and in the hotel would spot my athlete wrist band and wish me well. The town’s people knew better than I what was in store on race day. My boss, mentor and long time colleague, Lorne, sent me a great email wishing me well for race day. Many of my good friends sent well wishes which meant alot. The Ironman taper and many early nights had me ready to rock and on race morning my feet hit the floor at 4am ready to go. My pre-race routine is always the same: coffee, bagel and a half Km run to get my body to wake up and prepare to race. Then I walked a short block from the Penticton Lakeside to T1 and said hi to Steve G. at Special Needs drop-off and then ran into Tara and Kelly on the way to body marking. We said hi, well wishes, hugs then proceeded on to load nutrition onto my bike and get my wetsuit on. Nervous pee time, back up to the hotel room and back down to T1. Steve G. was asking “what are you doing running back and forth”. I saw Wilma, Angie and Danny against the fences in T1 and we high-fived through the fence. I was all smiles and ready to head out to the beach about 10 minutes before swim start.
The Swim
I spotted myself on the front line and about 15 meters in from the left side for the swim start. Angie and I agreed that my swimming and confidence level are good enough to seed at the front and avoid getting killed too badly in the mass swim start. I love the open water – I grew up on the ocean - and I don’t mind the heavy contact that occurs when 2,700 athletes hit the water at the same time. Trevor and I shared some last minute good lucks and well wishes on the beach. I was surprisingly calm and focused and never really got too emotional about being on that beach and everything it represents for athletes that have come so far in a personal journey. I was totally focused on getting off to a good start and not get run over. The gun sounded and the first minutes of the swim were a complete gong-show. I took a couple mouthfuls of water and incorporated some underwater coughing into my swimming rhythm. There was constant bumping and people competing for open water on the way to the first turn. I found some “fast feet” to draft and got into a very long, smooth rhythm, and a higher-than-normal stroke count which I held for the entire race. After 20minutes I started to relax a little too much. Had to remind myself to keep my game face going and not take anything for granted. The first and second turns were congested forcing me to swim over top of slower swimmers. There was zero open water available – no holes to hit. What a wild swim. Full contact swimming. The alternative would be people swimming over top of me from behind. After the second turn I found open water and was able to draft some fast swimmers and kept about a 1:50 per 100 meter pace the whole way. I hit T1 in 1:10 – the best swim of my life.
Bike
I rolled out onto the bike course loving life and feeling great. I waved at Angie and a loud group of TTL’ers at the first turn. You can’t mistake Angie’s voice on a Triathlon course it gave me a great send-off as I started the world famous 180 km IMC bike course on my new Trek Speed Concept. I’ve ridden the IMC course only once before at training camp and each time out I have the feeling of embarking on an odyssey – a grand adventure unlike any of the multiple lap courses I’ve ridden. This is an epic bike course with tough climbs, high-speed descents, rolling hills, lake scenery, wine vineyard country and tour-deFrance-like spectators on course. This is what makes the Penticton race so special. My game-plan was to ride easy and keep my RPE on the low end for the first 60 km, take the free speed downhill and take in some solid food early in the race. Riding beside Skaha was fast and effortless and I was being passed by a constant stream of the solid-wheel aero boys (and girls). We hit the McLean creek climb and I was surrounded by a group which slowed down to a pedestrian pace so I jumped into the passing lane where I stayed for the rest of the climb trying to avoid getting tangled up with other cyclists who were changing lanes and wobbling all over the road. From the top of McLean to Oliver I managed my effort to make sure my heart rate stayed within a moderate effort zone. I caught up to speedy Tracy and said hi and then on my way to Richter’s. I knew Tracy would say hello passing me on the run later in the day. At the bottom of Richter’s is where the fun began.
I was climbing the second Richter’s bench when my rear tire flatted out. I started what I thought was a routine inner-tube change when I noticed my tire had a one inch cut that was showing daylight through it. Huge bummer. I started filling with air and the tire started to blow apart. Had to be satisfied with only part pressure. This is problem solving right? Back on the bike, started climbing again and saw Trevor which gave me a good opportunity to vent and complain that my race is over if this tire blows out bla, bla. Trevor wisely told me that the Bike-Barn is somewhere on course. After that I brought out the big guns and hammered all the way to T2. Flying down Richter’s my bike was wallowing all over the road so I hit the brakes. There’s a new one for me – riding the brakes down a hill good grief. After riding another 50km I stopped thinking about the tire damage and began enjoying my day once again. I found it strange that most cyclists around me would lose so much momentum up the rollers – the nine bitches. I spent most of my time in the left lane. Off the bike at special needs to hit the portapotty. Sorry but I’m not peeing on my new bike. What if I pee in my shoe – it could mess up my marathon. Someone should give a seminar and a demonstration on how to safely pee on the bike. I climbed Yellow Lake with one hand on the bars and high-fiving spectators all the way up. I had a couple marriage proposals during the bike race from spectators but I suspect they say the same thing to all the triathlete boys so I didn’t fall for it. There were some epic signs “Short cut here, call me at such and such number”. You want to feel like a Rock Star for a day, run IMC.
I flew down Yellow Lake like a kamikaze hitting 78 km per hour aero, then into town past the TTL tent and on the home stretch down Main Street into T2. My quad started to cramp during the final kilometre and I wondered if I pushed a bit too hard on the bike. I hit T2 after a 5:43 bike split. OK marathon time. I’ve never run one before, by the way, so this should be interesting I thought.
T2
The only thing I’ll say about T2 is that the well meaning volunteer, in his effort to help, was actually a distraction which caused me to run out of the tent without wearing any running shorts. I ran back into the tent, put my pants on and then began a very difficult marathon which I ended up negative splitting by a small margin after all was said and done.
The Run
I was determined to have a good run in order to justify the fast bike split. The ends justify the means right? If I don’t blow up on the run, then the bike split is OK, am I right? So I flew out of T2 running a 5:15 pace, my heart rate off the charts, foaming at the mouth Angie told me later at Cherry lane. I knew I was running too fast and tried to slow down. At Cherry Lane I said hi to Matthew my son “good to see you buddy” I said, and Wilma ran with me for a bit. Angie came out on course and ran with me. “I think I bit off more than I can chew” I said. Cherry Lane is about 5km into the marathon. Angie told me to slow down. “You have got to slow it down you have a marathon to run” she said. I guess I was weaving around a bit and my breathing was not good. Things were going to get ugly I think we both knew it. Another athlete told me I had a fast time going. Would I become just another IMC rookie who blew themselves up on the bike?
I slowed down to a 7:00 pace and walked the aid stations taking Pepsi, water and ice. Keep it simple. At the 15km mark things got bad. I was walking and then stopped and my heart rate was so high I couldn’t drink the Pepsi. Then I got dizzy and almost fell down. No problem – I built up an early lead so time to give some back. I sat in a port-a-potty for a few minutes shut my eyes and and let my heart rate drop – just chill for a while I thought. Safe in the port-a-potty I thought – that way if I pass out nobody will take me off the course: death before DNF and all that. That worked and I was able to continue running out of there at a 6:30 - 7:00 pace walking the aid stations only. Tracy went by and Nate said hello on the way by. This run was mental exercise in pure survival as I did not have much in the tank.
I was looking forward to OK Falls because I stashed notes from family in my special needs bag. I told the kids “write and tell me why I should finish this race”. Running into OK Falls was good. I started reading my notes walking up the hill out of OK falls. My wonderful bright eyed son Matthew wrote “If you don’t finish this race you will look like this in my mind forever”...the note opened to a distorted caricature of my face. Good one Matthew – you need to believe in your dad. My wife wrote “It just so happens that you’re only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead”. The Princess Bride. “Keep running I love you and we are waiting for you at the finish line”. Are you kidding, I thought, I’ll see you there for sure. My wonderful niece Kathryn wrote “When you are at the end of your rope tie a knot and hang on”. Way to go Kathryn that helped me. My niece Eryn wrote “You can do it. Even if you don’t cross the finish line you’re already a winner in my mind”. My little girl Juliana wrote “I love you daddy you can do it, keep going.” I read my mom’s note and ran out of OK Falls with my hands covering my face for a bit. What can I say, Ironman is an emotional day.
Tara and I high-fived as I was about 3km from the falls coming home and I saw many people on the way back saying hello to Trevor, Don, and many other TTL athletes from the other side of the road. I have to admit I was mostly zoned out and could only manage a grunt or two when people said hi to me. Sorry – I did the best I could. The run back to town out by the lake was solitary and tough just like Trevor said it would be. Things got better as I managed to run through a few aid stations and walked only one steep hill. It was so good to see that 20 mile sign. Light at the end of the tunnel. By Cherry Lane with 5km to go I was running well and feeling not bad. Angie came out and ran with me. “How do you feel” she said. “Compared to what I replied”. Angie told me to stop and take the Pepsi on the way in because 5km to go is still a long way to go. That was good advice as I had been running through aid stations by then.
The run from Cherry Lane into town and into the finish line area was such a great experience. The streets lined with people, the crowds getting bigger and louder with each kilometre closer to the finish line. It gave me shivers the energy from the crowds being directed at me as I ran by. At the out-and-back turnaround I could see the finishing area and it is tough to describe how sweet it was hitting the blue carpet with the crowds going wild and my family yelling my name. I stopped and shared hugs with my family and then ran through the finish line arms in the air, fists pumping – how sweet is this - my Ironman journey is done and I’ve lived to tell about it. Well not done – hey I’m a triathlete, there are many races to come but, as someone said at training camp, “the first one is the sweetest and you can never get it back so enjoy the moment” which I did to the fullest. My marathon time was 5:08:35 – a tough run. Ironman is about much more than numbers, but numbers tell part of the story and my 12:15:36 race time far exceeded my expectations.
I have to thank my family, especially Wilma, for hanging in there through all the training, all the ups and downs, a couple bad moods and one temper tantrum (when my running injury just would not heal). Thanks to my coach Angie for being in my corner, letting me do some of it my way, and giving me some extra rope when needed and reeling it in at the right time. You are a great coach Angie. Thanks to my physiotherapist Lisa from Bragg Creek for rebuilding me, several times. Thanks to my incredible team-mates many of whom gave me great advice based on their own Ironman experiences and gave me something to aspire to. I’m looking forward to more great times with TTL. Thank you, it’s been a great journey so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment