IRONMAN Canada Race Report

28 July 2015

This is my IRONMAN Canada July 26, 2015 race report.

Pre-race

I woke up at 4:15am and immediately have a 700 calorie breakfast plus two coffee cups. Total around 1000 calories. Breakfast consisted of a Soylent shake with a banana and powdered peanut butter.

Headed out to the transition area (T2) at 5:30am to take the shuttle to T1. I quickly checked the run gear bag which I had dropped off the day before. Everything was in order. After arriving in T1 around 6:00am I checked the bike gear bag, however, I forgot to remove the bike jersey I had put in there the day before when I was planning for a change of jersey in T1. I went to my bike and loaded it with the nutrition and salt tabs. I noted that the salt tabs were not going into the dispenser very easily but I didn’t think much of it. I would later find out that water (rain) and salt tabs don’t mix well.

I got into my wetsuit around 6:30am and made my way into the water.

Warmup

I made it into the water around 6:40am and swam for about 10 minutes. I felt good in the water and wasn’t cold. At 6:50 I heard the gun go off for the pros but I couldn’t see a thing. There was already a mass of people at the start line behind the pros so I decided to make my way to the start line. The women pros started while I was making my way to the line. I couldn’t push myself all the way to the front and was about three or four people back from the start. I was probably late to the start and should have been there earlier and more towards the front.

Swim

As soon as we started there was a lot of fighting for position in the water. I eventually found someone I could draft and followed this group for the first lap. We were swimming what seemed like a very straight line down the yellow buoys and I was feeling good. I completed the first loop in about 33 minutes according to the data.

As the second loop started I swam a little faster to catch a faster draft and picked up another swimmer and I stayed with him for the whole second loop. The back part of the second loop wasn’t as close to the yellow buoys as I would have liked and we were not in the main swimming group but about 10 meters to the right with clear water in front of the swimmer ahead of me. I considered swimming towards the next buoy and the main group by myself but decided against it, instead just keeping an easy pace with the swimmer in front of me. The second loop was about 34 minutes according to the data.

The swim to the exit seemed to take like an eternity. It was probably only 150 meters and it took about three or four minutes.

I exited the water and looked at my watch. It was 1:10:something. I was a tiny bit disappointed (was hoping for 1:05:something) but I had said more than once during the swim that I should take it easy.

T1

I had expected to be greeted by wetsuit strippers as I exited the water but they were either not forthcoming or not available (I don’t know which). I stood there and decided to take my wetsuit off by myself which didn’t take long at all. I was very pleased with how fast I got out of the suit without any help.

I grabbed my gear bag and headed for the change tent. To say that it was busy is an understatement. I could not find a place to stand, let alone sit. I had planned to dump the contents of the bag on the floor and change from there but there was no room!. I had to change standing up shoulder to shoulder with other athletes.

Shoes on: check. Backup nutrition bag on the back: check. Cycling wind vest on: check. Helmet on: check. Gloves on: check (this took more than a few seconds with wet hands). I did forget to grab the GPS tracker that I had rented as I couldn’t find it because of the jersey I had left in there.

I went to the bike and it was easy to find. Then off to the mount line. 1:15:something which was right on schedule (I would have preferred 1:10:something here but I’ll take that).

Bike

It was cold. Very cold. Even with gloves my hands immediately went numb. On the way to Callaghan I ate half a bar. It was really hard just moving my fingers to get the zipper open and holding the bar. I also tried to get a salt pill but it wouldn’t come out because the pills melted in the dispenser due to the rain.

The ride to the bottom of Callaghan took about 40 minutes. I took it relatively easy up the climb. A lot of riders were passing me but I knew that I needed to save a lot of energy for the climb out of Pemberton. I was aiming for 200W and I ended up with about 195W NP on the climb which took about 40 minutes as planned. The Callaghan descent was very cold again with my Garmin computer reading 7C at the top. It was still raining. It was fast on the descent hitting over 70kph in places. Very cold. All I could think of was cold. There were lots of athletes on the side of the road by the aid station at the bottom. I assume a lot of them didn’t finish.

The ride back to Whislter was mostly uneventful except for a rider that blocked me on the left and I almost crashed into the back of him as I didn’t have enough brakes due to the rain. I passed him on the right and pedaled hard for a few minutes to pass him and get away from him. I was back in Whislter after a very cold and wet 35 minutes. 60km done and 120km to go. I needed to pee but couldn’t.

On the way to Pemberton I wasn’t feeling very good. I was cold, my back was hurting and needed to pee. I used the descents to my advantage and didn’t pedal too hard on the way down. Even though NP was quite low (167W), the descent was quite fast and I was down in about 45 minutes. I hit Pemberton at about 3:03:something which was still right on plan which made me feel quite good there.

I didn’t stop at special needs as I didn’t need anything from the bag. I had only planned to stop in case of emergency and I had no emergency so I just rode on.

On Pemberton Meadows road I was riding well. I was aiming for 185-190W and riding consistent. I was passing a lot of people and feeling good about that but I still needed to pee for the last 40km. I was in desperate need. I stopped at the aid station at about kilometer 105 and used the port-a-potty. I also took out my reserve salt pills and a Tylenol from the back pocket. I stopped for about 4:30. The ride back to Pemberton was uneventful. I arrived back in Pemberton at just over 4:40 ride time. Right on schedule (well, maybe 5 minutes late but I had to stop at that aid station).

The climb back to Whistler is brutal. I hate it. Not a lot of people passing me here like they were in Callaghan though. Still aiming for around 200W. It is getting hard and I need to pee again! I stopped to pee at about 155km at an aid station (stopped for 3:30). Back is still hurting so I took another Tylenol. I really couldn’t get aero anymore so I was riding low but not in TT position except when going fast. I forced myself to get down a few times particularly on the few descents on the way back to Whistler.

During the climb I was thinking “There is now way I’m running a four hour marathon after this, no way!”

I got to the dismount line in 6:18 (6:10 ride time). I forgot to take my feet out of the shoes so I had to unclip. I unclipped on the right and my body decided to go left! Thankfully a volunteer caught me and I didn’t fall down.

Even though my power was a bit lower than planned (182W NP actual vs 192W planned) the time was exactly as planned. I did not calibrate the power meter in the morning though so I’m not sure of the accuracy.

The nutrition plan worked out great. I took a single bottle of 1600 calories of CarboPro with Perform as the main nutrition. I also ate two bars (1/2 on the way to Callaghan, 1/2 on the way back to Whistler and 1 on the way to Pemberton). I also took a gel from an aid station at the bottom of Callaghan (I don’t know why I did this). Salt was my main concern when on the descent to Pemberton. I had planned to take a salt pill every 20 minutes and it wasn’t happening so I grabbed Gatorade as well as water in a couple of aid stations. After the first pit stop I did have salt pills which I started taking two by two to make up for the possible deficit and it seemed OK.

T2

I was so happy to be off the bike. I grabbed the bag quickly and got to the tent. I sat down and took my cycling shoes off and put on dry socks. That was probably the best feeling I had all day! I put my shoes on quickly, dropped the vest (but kept the arm warmers) and grabbed my inner transition bag. A volunteer picked up after me. It was great. I think I was in and out in just over a minute.

As I was running though transition to the run exit I saw the port-a-potty again and decided to stop to pee for a third time. Stopped for about 2:00 so T2 was just over four minutes.

Run

Running up Lorimer Rd I was feeling fantastic and I was running way too fast (~5:10-5:20) but I settled quickly on my target pace of 5:40-5:45/km. The hill was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be which was good. The whole first loop was keeping the heart rate in check and taking it relatively easy. I had been holding my HR (or below) 140 on the bike and continued to do so on the first loop of the run. I was sticking to the plan of alternating one gel and one salt pill on every aid station. I finished the first loop in just over two hours and it was mostly uneventful, just a steady run.

I had started the run with the intention of doing a negative split but at the start of the second loop I was feeling a bit down. Not necessarily exhausted but down emotionally. I mean it still another half marathon to go! After the crowds at the bottom of the hill I said “screw this! I’m going for it.” I realized that if I had a second loop of 2 hours I would beat my goal time of 11:45 so I picked up the effort on the hill to the gold course. I probably picked it up a bit too much because by the time I was on the far side of Lost Lake I was exploding. Also, I had to pee again so I stopped at the aid station on the back of Lost Lake (23.5Km) for about two minutes. Just before going into the port-a-potty I grabbed a banana piece just to change the flavour in my mouth. It was the best banana I’ve ever had. It was so good that after the potty break I walked back through the aid station to grab another piece. I also grabbed pretzels for something salty to eat.

Those banana pieces were like rocket fuel. I blew past special needs without stopping for a second time (still no emergency and my feet were dry) and started feeling like I was meditating. It was very “Zen”. The legs were moving on their own, I was observing the race and enjoying it.

At about 27.5km, just past the Nicklaus North golf course for the second time I started pushing harder as I started counting down the kilometers and realized it was just over an hour to the end. I also estimated that I had completed 90% of the whole course already and it was time to give’er. My heart rate got to about 160bpm and I think my run pace was 5:20/km at this point. A few kilometers later I was at the turnaround and with 10km to go, I started pushing even harder. I ran the last 10km in just over 52 minutes including power walking the remaining aid stations (10 seconds each perhaps) with heart rate in the 170 to 180bpm and run pace of just over 5:00/km (averaged 5:08 for the last 10km). This last hour was the best hour of my day.

Finish

Coming down the finishing chute with arms raised. I was happy. I didn’t see anyone or remember much of it. I think Lorena was there but I couldn’t see her. The idiot announcer pronounces my name wrong. “You are an Ironman!” I see the clock, it reads 11:40:51. I feel fine. I feel too good it is unreal. The volunteer doesn’t believe me but I feel fine and I just walk off the end to meet Lorena and the kids. There is a picture booth in there. My picture is taken. I feel awkward without the family. Challenge was different. The whole family was there at the finish line. I miss that.

Post Race

I had some water and ate a couple of pizza slices. I went home, took a shower and went for dinner (to a pizza joint) with the family. Went back home and crashed in bed around 10pm.

Monday, after spending too much money at the Ironman expo, it was tourist day in Whistler with the family. We walked around the village and went up to lift to the Peak-to-Peak gondola. I was walking a bit slow but I wasn’t too sore. I drove back to Vancouver in the evening and after getting out of the car I was stiff and sore. Tuesday morning I was back at work and feeling fine.