We arrived in Penticton on the Wednesday afternoon before Ironman, so I had plenty of days to play and rest before the race. I had some training to do, but it was just to keep my muscles moving and stay fit. It was good to be back.
We had a kitchenette so went grocery shopping. We didn't want to eat in restaurants all the time, and at this stage of the game, I wanted to continue eating healthy. Besides, we needed somewhere to make fruit salad with all the fruit we would buy. Every time we are in Penticton, we go to a quaint little fruit stand called "Matheson's Family Farm" to buy fruit. It almost feels like we are in Italy, what, with the grapes hanging on the vines overhead, the view of the lake, and all the vineyards around us. If this is just a fraction of what it's going to be like when Arrigo and I go to Italy next year, sign me up!
Thursday
Athlete's Village opened at 9 am and I was there as soon as it opened. I wanted to ensure I had a good choice of "everything-Ironman" to purchase. By the time I had arrived in Penticton in past years, all the good stuff was gone, so we left for Penticton a day early this year so I would have lots to choose from.
Next stop - registration. I showed my ID and signed my life away before I moved along the well-oiled assembly line to get registered for this darn race. I ran into a lot of people I knew who were there for the same reason I was.
Friday
This was a day of relaxation. Nothing to do until the welcome banquet. We went to dinner early so I could buy an extra ticket for Arrigo. To our dismay, there were no tickets to be had. Whaaat! Oh sure, we could have lined up for a possibility to buy an extra ticket, but didn't want to take the chance that none were available. Some friends from St. Albert invited us to join them for dinner at Theo's Greek restaurant, so we took them up on their offer. I'd rather be with friends, sitting down, ready to eat, than be in a line risking that no "overpriced-welcome-banquet-tickets" were available. Besides, Arrigo has been with me all the way since I started training for this race in November, and I thought this is no time to ditch him. I wanted to be with him. We had a great meal, but Arrigo was flabbergasted when I broke the unwritten rule of not eating anything before Ironman that my stomach isn't accustomed to. I ordered rabbit, and it was delicious. I don't consider that to be a gastric unknown, since it's just meat.
Saturday
I have a lot to do today. Arrigo wanted to go for a long run, so I dropped him off in Okanagan Falls - 16 km away. He ran back to the hotel as I went for a short half hour ride to make sure my bike was in good working condition and all the gears were shifting correctly. When I got back to the hotel, I was surprised that Arrigo had returned from his run. I thought it would take him longer. Apparently, I am very focused and have tunnel vision, because Arrigo told me that when I was riding towards OK Falls, he saw me and ran into the middle of the road, jumping up and down, saying "Hey, Green Machine," but I didn't hear or see him. Not only that, but apparently, I swerved to not hit him. That's too funny, because I was actually thinking "wouldn't it be nice if I saw Arrigo running!" Dah!
I then went for a short run to get my legs loosened up and came back to start preparing for the race the next morning. I had to pack all of my bags with the gear and nutrition I would need. My "Swim to Bike" bag had all my bike gear in it, my Bike to Run" bag had all the running gear in it. I also had two special needs bags - "bike special needs" and "run special needs" - in case I wanted anything part way through the bike or run (an extra tire tube, treats, old T-shirt in case it gets cold on the marathon, etc., etc.).
Once I finished packing the bags and taping all the gels on my bike, I was ready to take my bike and gear bags to transition. I think Arrigo was more stressed than I was about getting there on time; afterall, we only had a few more hours to get there :-)
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| My number was 2892 |
Seriously though, Arrigo was great. He was so supportive and did everything humanly possible to ensure that I would have a great race.
It's GO Time
First things first - groggily opened my eyes at 4 am (not that I slept much the night before) and attempted to jump out of bed. Actually, it wasn't hard because I was excited and looking forward to the day ahead. I had a good feeling.
I ate breakfast, and as I contemplated my race strategy, my nerves took over and I must have peed a billion times. Good, now that that's out of my system, I didn't 't have to waste time with nature breaks. With any luck, I wouldn't have any nature breaks for the rest of the day. I knew that was wishful thinking, so I had a strategy - pee on the bike. That'll save tons of time. Now, most of you think, eeww, gross! Well, it kinda is, but it's what I wanted to do to save time. I drank so many fluids during the day though, that it was pretty diluted, and besides, I used my water bottle to rinse off every time.
I was out the door at 5:15, on my way to get body marked. There were so many volunteers willing to write on our bodies that there were no line-ups. Now to the special needs bag drop-off zone. This is the point of no return for my bags - once they're in there, no retrieving them if I've forgotten something.
After that, I made my way into transition to prepare for the long day that was ahead - wetsuit, check; swim cap, check; goggles, check; pee break, check; bike computer zeroed, check; tire pressure, check; pee break, check; sun screen, check. Then I visited a bit with some fellow Ironmen and, what we seasoned Ironmen like to call, "Iron Virgins." Oh no, I forgot to leave my glasses in the hotel room. What am I going to do with them? They'll get crushed if I leave them in my bag all day. Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea (sometimes I surprise myself). I'll put them in my water bottle that I don't need for the race. They'll be protected there. I waited in the super-long line-up just to get some toilet paper to put in the water bottle so the glasses wouldn't bounce around.
Time to put on my wet suit. That took 10 minutes. Now, it's really GO time. I made my way over to the timing gantry (the entrance to the beach) with the other 2,575 athletes. The first thing I did when I got through the timing gantry was run towards the big green neon sign that Arrigo made for me. I needed to see him before the race started. Now that I had seen him, I knew my day would be great.
The horn sounded and I began swimming with 2,575 of my closest friends. My goggles were leaking. Oh great! This is all I need for an hour and a half. It's like they knew it was open water and they said to themselves "I think I'll leak now." They never leaked during my swim practices. Eventually, they stopped leaking and my swim went well. The best time I had for a few of my recent Ironmen at 1:26:47. I think I should give up practicing though, because all those early morning swims since November led to only a two-minute faster time than usual.
Bike
I made it through transition relatively quick and started the bike. My computer was telling me that my speed was 41 kph on the flats. My first thought was "It doesn't seem like I'm going that fast, but I'll go with it." By the time I got onto McLean Creek Road and was going 62 on the flats, I knew my computer wasn't working. I needed to know how fast I was going so I stopped and reset my computer. Although the distance wouldn't be accurate anymore, I knew I could add my distance to what my computer would say. A few minutes later, the computer still wasn't working, so I stopped again to adjust the magnet on my rear wheel. My bike was working OK yesterday. What's with the conspiracy? This day was determined to not give me a personal best - first my goggles, then my bike computer. Moving the magnet worked, so let's get on with it. I got to the first check point in record time, but now the ride would get progressively harder. My ride was going well until my chain came off at the 125 km mark - &$*@. It only took a couple of minutes to get it back on. I didn't get off the bike again until the top of the last climb - it was so hot that I had to stop and pour a bottle of cold water over my head. Finally, it's all down hill from here. My bike can go very fast on the downhills, so I screamed down them, that is until I hit 65 kph, where I would get a bit nervous. One wrong move or one piece of gravel where it shouldn't be, and my race would be over, and maybe even me. I'd rather feel safe than save a minute. I saw a lady with a big sign that said "Smile if you peed your pants today." Needless to say, I gave her a huge smile. When I got back into Penticton, I felt like I was in the Tour de France, what, with all the spectators lined along Main Street cheering me on. One last pee on Main Street and I would be ready for the run. Oh, I hope the person behind me didn't get the splash-back.
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| Sign that Arrigo made |
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| The bike after the summit of Richter's Pass |
My final bike time was 7:01:20. If it wasn't for the computer and chain mishaps, I would have got a personal best on the bike. After all, that's why I decided to pee on the bike. Oh well, not to be.
Run
The second transition didn't go as smoothly as the swim-to-bike. I changed into my 'very tight' compression shorts. Trying to put tight spandex on a sweaty, tired body doesn't lead to a speedy transition. I also had to remove my timing chip to put on my calf compression sleeves just to put it on again. OK - hat, gum, gummy fruit, ready, set, go! My plan of running for 4 minutes and walking for a minute was working splendidly. At first I was getting farther and farther behind people in view, but eventually passed them. It's a good thing there was ice and sponges in pails of ice water at the aid stations. Stuffing sponges down my shirt gave stuffing my bra a whole new meaning, and it had never been more refreshing. My stomach started feeling queasy just after the half-way point, so I started walking a bit, and that turned into walking a lot. I kept telling myself "it's just mind over matter," but it was difficult running with an upset stomach. My matter was winning over my mind, but at this point I didn't care. My run time ended up being 5:36:20.
It was an emotional roller coaster type of day. The day would go from having a great day to discouragement, to another high, to *%^#ing bike, to "I think I'm going to have a fast bike", to "Nope, I don't think I'm going to have a really fast bike," to "this is a great run", to "damn stomach", all in a matter of 14 hours.
Arrigo and my Mom were there, cheering me on, all along the way. Knowing they were there with me made the race more enjoyable than past Ironmans I've done. Now, I've got seven Ironmans under my belt. I am an Ironman, with Ironwill.
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| Instead of "Go Like Hell" |
My final times are:
Swim: 1:26:47
Bike: 7:01:20
Run: 5:36:20
T1: 6:19
T2: 7:37
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| Mom cheering me on |
My swim was a couple of minutes faster than usual and my bike was within seconds of a personal best. If it wasn't for my stomach feeling queasy at about the 25 km mark, I would have had an overall personal best, but Ironman is a different kind of best that beats up the best of us. I am happy with a second personal best.
On the drive home, after stopping by the fruit stand to pick up 400 pounds of fruit to share with friends and family - now the headlights were pointing up instead of straight ahead - we stopped at a mountain river so I could soak my legs. Arrigo decided he would bear the cold water too (with me to the end), as we laughed and held onto each other so the water wouldn't whisk me away. My legs were unsteady and I could have easily lost my balance . We stayed in the water until we couldn't stand it any longer. We stopped a half hour later at a lake where the water wasn't quite as cold, but cold enough. Maybe it didn't seem as cold because we were numb to the feeling. It was worth it though because our legs felt refreshed, and the next morning I wasn't hurting nearly as much as I would have without the icy cold temperatures.
Now that Ironman is over, what am I going to do with all my time? I know...clean my bike and shoes thoroughly.
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