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Ironman Canada

For those wondering how Ironman Canada went for me, here is my non-report. If you look in the picture above below the Subaru flags on the beach is a guy in a wetsuit sitting between two medical volunteers. That'd be me. I went for a warmup swim in the morning pre-race and my vertigo hit me pretty hard. It is better to be safe than sorry, so I did not start.

I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get to race, but happy I made a wise decision. I'm also very fit right now and I've had an awesome time training so that's good. There are other races in my future, so I will look forward to those.

You Spin Me Right Round Baby Right Round

For the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing vertigo and let me tell you that it isn't much fun. The episodes come at random and feel as though I am falling forward, backward or sideways. I try to right myself, but I am not falling, it just feels like it, so I wobble a bit and eventually it goes away. Each episode usually lasts a few seconds to a minute or so although I've had a couple of doozies (sp?) that lasted longer than that.

This has made life, especially training for Ironman Canada, rather challenging. Swimming is the worst with the amount of rolling, and cycling is a bit scary. I've taken to riding my Computrainer indoors for now. Running usually isn't bad as long as I leave enough room around me.

I've been to a couple doctors and have come to the conclusion that I have something called BPPV

I have been taking a nasal decongestant to see if that is part of the problem. I get the most relief from doing Epley Maneuvers which I started three days ago. I also found today that when I'm running I feel less dizzy if I focus further away as much as possible. I guess that rules out trail running for now.

I am hopeful that I will be feeling less like I am permanently on a cruise ship very soon.

The Finnish Line

So I was out for a long run this Sunday and chose a route that went from Kits around Stanley Park, Canada Place and back to Kits. I didn't realize that the World Police and Fire Games also chose part of this route for their Half Marathon

Oops!

So I am running on a course that is still open to the public, trying to stay off to the side and cheering on the racers.

A woman who was spectating sees me coming and begins to cheer for me. I am wearing my "Finish Line Coaching" run shirt. I nearly peed my pants when the lady yelled, "Go Finland!"

2002 - My First Ironman

Wow, I was digging through my old files and found my race report from my first Ironman in 2002:

It was Thursday, August 22nd, 2002 as Leanne and I pulled into Penticton after the drive up from Vancouver. Seeing all the bike racks on cars, wetsuit clad athletes in the lake and race packages in people’s hands made me feel a nervous knot in my stomach. We parked the car and I made my way to pick up my race package. I felt as though I was enlisting, and to a certain extent, I suppose I was. The coolest part was getting my wristband. I remembered how in previous years, I looked at people who were wearing their wristbands and thought, “Wow, they’re doing Ironman.”

Off to our stuck-in-the-seventies hotel, I proceeded to feel nervous for two days. I spent most of my time with Leanne and our friend Keith, who was as nervous as I was. We went over every detail of our assortment of race bags and checked every conceivable part on our bikes. Almost every friend that was also doing the race looked nervous; some looked downright strange. We all deal with butterflies differently. By the time Saturday night came around, I felt amazingly calm. There was nothing more I could do at that point, so I just relaxed and fell asleep. Before I nodded off, I wrote myself a note, “Drink 2 bottles of Gatorade before the start.” The last thing I wanted was to start off dehydrated.

Four in the morning is such a rude time to hear an alarm clock. The first thing I did was start in on bottle one of Gatorade and a bowl of cereal. By 5 o’clock, nature stops made, Leanne drove us to transition.

First came the body numbering, and then the drop off of the special needs bags, then the pumping of the tires. It looked pretty funny to see hundreds of people all pumping up their tires at the same time. I drank another Gatorade. After waiting in the obligatory line for the porta-potty, it was wetsuits on and time to go!

I lined up way over to the left to await the cannon blast that would start the race. When it did go off, I just waded into the water slowly and didn’t actually start swimming for a full minute. I tried to find feet to draft off of, but there was a lot of flailing going on so I just found an open spot and got comfortable. The swim felt really easy and I was having a lot of fun. I waved to the divers and thanked the volunteers in kayaks. I wasted a bit of time with this and stopping to sight and clear my goggles, but it was fun at the time. As I reached shore, I was ecstatic. Considering that I’d only been swimming for a year and a half, I was thrilled that I’d made it through the swim so easily and twenty minutes faster than I expected.

In transition, I took my time changing and then had another Gatorade before I pulled out my bike and headed out of transition. I stopped to take a picture of the crowd and they all cheered.

Pedaling up Main Street, I was buoyed by the screaming crowd. As I got out of town and along Skaha Lake, my stomach started doing strange things. It hurt, I was nauseous and everything I was drinking was stuck in my stomach and not going anywhere. I made the decision to sit up, slow down and keep sipping, hoping whatever was bugging me would go away. Unfortunately, other than a brief period in the middle of the bike course, the discomfort never did go away. Looking back now, I regret the amount and the timing of my “dehydration prevention” earlier in the day. I kept plodding along and my muscles felt okay, even on Richter pass, and I’m no hill specialist. Without getting into great detail, I was not getting near enough nutrition and hydration into my body, so I was becoming increasingly worried about finishing. I barely touched the food in my special needs bag. As I approached the Yellow Lake climb, I was met by a thunderstorm, complete with pelting cold rain and brutal headwinds. It was a lot more work to get up this section than any of the rest of the course. Leanne was soaked waiting for me at the top of Twin Lakes. She took one look at me and asked if I thought I was going to continue. I said, “I WILL finish”, trying to convince myself to keep going. I was supporting a charity and I didn’t want to let them down either but when I got to transition, I wondered if my day was over.

I went to the medical tent to explain my situation to the doctor. They checked me out and felt I was okay to continue, so I headed off on the run, determined to walk if necessary, and walk I did.

By now I was a lot warmer and in pretty good spirits. I met some other people reduced to walking and they were entertaining, so considering the tummy troubles, I was having a really good time. Jeff, one of my walking buddies, remarked how many people I knew coming back in. I explained that I was their bike coach, to which he replied, “You must be a really good coach, ‘cause they’re all beating you.” I probably should have felt insulted, but that really made me laugh. I saw my mom, dad and Leanne at the run turnaround. That was a definite spirit lifter. Apparently they had been cheering on the Yellow Lake hill, but in my delirium, I didn’t see them (Sorry!). Six and a half hours is a long walk, but it went by surprisingly fast. It was amazing how many people stay and cheer for people long after the sun goes down. Many of my tri-club buddies cheered me on when they could have been drinking beer back at their hotels. Thanks to you all!

I mustered a run down Lakeshore Drive for my big finish. Leanne was there; Keith and many other friends were there as I completed my longer than expected, but infinitely satisfying journey.

I am an Ironman!

Race Report - Desert Half Iron

For this race, I was fortunate enough to have my wife, Leanne, join me for the trip. We spent a relaxing couple of days before the race traveling to and around Osoyoos. In between Saturday outings, I got in a short ride, run and swim. They were all really hot, including the swim. It was 35 degrees on Saturday, so we stayed indoors or in the air-conditioned car as much as possible. I picked up my race package, dropped off the bike and got everything ready for the race. I was feeling relaxed and ready to race.

Race morning, the alarm went off just after 5am. I hate those early starts, mostly because I know I need to eat and drink but my stomach is not that interested. I managed to eat a substantial breakfast and was getting well hydrated.

A quick word on hydration. It is important for everyone, but in my case I have an extremely high sweat rate. I lose in the neighborhood of 1.5 to 2 liters per hour depending on temperature and exertion level. Unfortunately, I can't always take that amount in since my body will only process so much of what I drink. I rely on keeping as cool as possible and drinking an appropriate amount of sports drink.

On to the race. The swim started right on time. I took a wide line to the first turn, which worked out well except that I didn't have anyone to draft. For the rest of the swim, I was in a small bunch, so I didn't have to work all that hard. I was feeling smooth stroke wise, but the sun was actually getting to me in my wetsuit. The lake was measured at 23 degrees, but I'm sure it was far warmer on the surface. I actually considered tearing off my wetsuit and doing the second loop without. Soon enough the swim was done. No personal records, but within a few seconds of my best time at this race.

T1 went smoothly and before I knew it, i was on the bike. It didn't feel too hot out yet and there wasn't any huge wind. So far, so good. I started the ride with only one full bottle because I knew there was an aid station at the top of Richter Pass. I got part way up and there was an aid station at the pull-out.

This is where I made a big mistake. The woman at this aid station said that there was another aid station just up the road, so I only took one bottle from her. It turns out that the next station had two porta-potties but nothing else. Crap! the next aid station is at 43km and I do not have enough to drink. I should have loaded up when I was at that first station. Lesson learned.

I managed with a steady pace to make it to that next station an hour later, but was already pretty thirsty when I got there. I actually got off the bike and poured cold water on myself, drank some sports drink and also filled ALL my bottle cages. The hydration from this point on went to plan, but there's no catching up what I had missed. The wind had picked up and looking at my PowerTap data compared to last year, the average power was higher this year, so slightly tougher conditions for me. I finished the ride in 3hrs40min. Within minutes of my previous times at this race. The good news was that my exertion level was lower this year, so I am more fit. Cool!

T2 was smooth and I was off on the run. The first loop I kept the pace steady and stuck to my fuel/hydration plan. By the second loop, it was 30 degrees and I was starting to feel nauseous, one of the signs for me of dehydration. In order to stick with the intake I needed, I had to walk occasionally during the second loop. I started to get chills, so I made sure to keep the hydration as a priority and didn't worry about the time. By the time I got to 5km to go, I had recovered a fair bit and was able to run again (without the chills and nausea) I finished up at 6hrs43min for the race. Cool - a Desert Half personal best. Not quite the race I had hoped for, but a satisfying result nonetheless. This one will be helpful as an athlete and as a coach. You can't say I haven't been there :-)

Desert Half by numbers:
Swim 0:45:42
T1 0:03:45
Bike 3:40:28
T2 0:02:10
Run 2:11:10
Total 6:43:12

Desert Half Iron

On Sunday, July 12th, I'm racing the Desert Half Iron in Osoyoos. For those who don't know the race, it is a 2000 meter swim in the lake, a 90km bike ride over Richter Pass and out to Cawston and back, then a 21.1km run by the lake. It is the most challenging half iron I've ever done. Last year, this was the race that ended in a slow walk due to a torn meniscus (that I tried to ignore in the months prior). I really want to have a solid day out there to put a positive spin back on this race.

The course is attractive to me mostly because it doesn't suit my strengths. I don't climb all that quickly on the bike and this course is, well, kinda hilly. I also am challenged by heat and the run is usually a cooker. I believe that the key for me to getting better at those two challenge areas is to get out and do the things I am not the strongest at. So this weekend, here goes!

Past results:
Swim Bike Run Total
2005 0:51:43 3:54:38 2:26:14 7:12:34
2007 0:54:55 3:40:13 2:23:17 6:58:24
2008 0:45:32 3:38:51 2:38:36 7:06:25

Goal this year? Race in the correct heart rate / power zones, get the nutrition down and hopefully have a faster time than before.