Lawrence's 2012 Ironman Canada Race Report

Lawrence Keller 2012 Ironman Canada Race Report



Well where do I begin? I guess the logical start would be when I first contemplated doing this crazy event.

way back in September of last year I began to entertain thoughts of completing an iron distance race. Note

the distinction as my first inclination was to do a Rev3 event in Ohio as I was not a big fan of the Ironman

brand name. Once I started to look into the logistics of getting there and realizing that we would be there on

our own especially my wife who would have to spend anywhere up to 17 hours on her own waiting for me

it started making less sense. In addition I have a number of friends who were already signed up in addition to

all of the TTL folks that would be there. The next step then would be to wait until the Community Fund spots

opened up and see if an entry was available. November rolled around and the fund registration slots opened up

and lo and behold spots were available. After some hemming and hawing and checking the website it became

obvious, (to me anyway), that I was destined for this race. I signed up and in January started the long and

winding training road to get me ready for this challenge.



Fast forward to race week. The first part of the week was crazy busy at work, again, trying to get all of the

items off of my plate prior to my departure. Finally was able to get away early Thursday, unfortunately not

early enough as I wasn’t able to make it in time for the ride down Yellow Lake, oh well just had to remember

what it was like from our July camp. I made it into Penticton with plenty of time go through registration

and wander around the Expo, I didn’t buy anything race related though. Then back to Peachland, where were

staying to get checked in and unpacked. I wanted to avoid the crowds by not staying in Penticton, in retrospect

this was to far away, as I missed the camaraderie and shared experience and advice of the TTL team-mates.

Then back to Penticton for the team dinner on Thursday night, huge thanks to Sarah and The Bench for a great

meal and some wonderful stories. After dinner it was back to Peachland for another restless night with what I

felt was very little actual sleep. Back to Penticton in the morning for the group swim in very choppy water which

had me very concerned as I was getting a little nauseous and very much hoping that race day would bring calm

waters. Then another drive back to Peachland where I would hang out and wait for my friends and my wife who

was driving in with a friend as she couldn’t leave with me on Thursday. They all arrived and then we were off to

the athlete’s banquet, the food was plentiful and tasty and the presentation was very well done. Then back to

Peachland for the night. After another restless night decided against going back to Penticton and did a short

swim bike run on the beach, road and pathway in front of our accommodations. Then spent the rest of the day

chillin’ and relaxing trying to stay off of my feet and getting my race nutrition ready. Had another restless night

and up well before my 3:15 a.m. alarm clock, had my pre race breakfast of a couple of bowls of cereal, an egg

wrap, a banana and a coffee, and took with me a banana, a gel and an electrolyte drink for prior to race start. On the

road by 4:30 for the drive to Penticton and found a great place to park very close to transition Collected all of our

gear; including nutrition and special needs for the bike, I didn’t have one for the run as I thought with all of the aid

stations I would just use them. I dropped everything off loaded up the bike with nutrition and waited for the race

to start. While I was waiting ran into some additional friends who were racing and just hung out with them chatting.

I saw Tracy and Tara who looked eager and ready to go, and am definitely sorry that I didn’t make the effort to

find Angie as I am sure she would have had some great advice and words of encouragement. For a change though

I wasn’t nervous but for some reason quite calm and just thought I would stay in the moment. I had the banana

and gel as per the schedule. Finally it was time to get in the water, while I was funnelling through the crowd I

saw Jacqui D and we gave each other a hug, I think; it’s a bit of a blur. I finally made it into the water and rather

than do a few strokes to warm up I just floated and practiced breathing, a little trick that Kelly taught me.







After all of these months of training and all of the anxiety the race finally started. I seeded myself on the left

towards the back as I knew my swim time wouldn’t be stellar, I thought this would be the area where I wouldn’t

be in anyone’s way. This strategy worked perfectly for me as I had open water most of the way, I even managed

to find feet for a bit of the race and even passed a couple of people. I felt remarkably calm for the swim and

had no breathing issues or tightness in the chest that I have had in past races. I think the swim a couple of weeks

prior as part of the Xterra enduro race really helped. Again I had no real issues with the swim although I did have

have some trouble locating the two Subaru buoys, went by the first one, saw the divers on the bottom, they waved

at me, so I waved back Again had a little trouble find the second Subaru buoy, even with prescription goggles

my eyesight isn’t the best, finally on my way back to shore. On the way back I finally had my first encounter

with an errant swimmer as this guy was zigzagging directly in front of me, no matter which side of him I swam

on he would work his way in front of me. With maybe less than 200 metres to go I got clocked on the side of the

head by this fellow. I guess I can’t really complain though with what can happen in a swim. I made it out

of the water at 1:44 which is essentially where I thought I would be and now into transition where I took it nice and

easy to make sure I had everything I needed for the bike. I wish I would have seen Angie as I came out of the water

as I heard from both herself and third party sources that she was, shall we say quite excited, that I made it out of

the water prior to the cut-off.



Next up, the bike. I spent about 10 minutes in transition as due to the humidity in the tent and with glasses that were

fogging up I had a little trouble seeing. I got everything together found my bike made it to the mount line and off

I went. I followed the mantra that has been drilled into all of us during the weeks leading up to the race and took

it staying in zone 2 all of the way into Osoyoos and beyond. I was passing a lot of people and got passed by some

but I just let them go and focused on racing my own race. My nutrition consisted of concentrated Infinit which

I drank about a third of a bottle an hour and some Power Bar gel blasts which I used to top up the calories. I was

having fun on Richter passing a number of people again trying to stay in zone 2. This was a little harder here

though. I had no issues on the rollers as there was no significant wind, not like there can be. Then onto the

out and back portion where I saw Tara looking strong, she was on the back; I was still on the out. I picked

my additional bike nutrition at special needs. My friend back in Peachland had given me an insulated bag they

had picked up at the dollar store that fit nicely into the special needs bag, I had put my frozen bottles into this bag

in the morning and one of them was still frozen when I picked it up. I will have to find out where they got these.

Now on to the Keremeous to Yellow Lake portion where I went into my dark period of the race, I really struggled

here and on the climb up Yellow Lake and got a bit of a leg cramp on the steep part of this climb. It was at

this point that I started thinking I might pull the pin when I got back into transition. Fortunately I was part of

a team as I started thinking, (logically or not) that I couldn’t show up to the winter spin classes as not having finished

this race for no real reason, other than a little discomfort. That is after all part of the Ironman experience.

I stopped at the Yellow Lake aid station got a couple of bottles of water, drank one and took the other one

with me and felt much better. Finally onto main street and Cherry Lane mall where I got to see and hear

Angie and here words of encouragement.



Now into transition where I changed everything I was wearing and put on some compression shorts to, hopefully,

help with cramping. Spent about 10 minutes here and then onto the run. I ran the first mile at a nice conservative

pace; unfortunately couldn’t maintain the mental focus required and started to walk, until of course I came up

to where Angie was stationed, I had to run here, as there was no real reason I couldn’t. Has a nice chat with Angie

and then out for the rest of the marathon. Again lost focus and started walking where I met up with Kelly, we

chatted for a while, she told me to get going. Kept on walking with some short run breaks thrown in and saw

some of the folks from our May bike camp at Skaha who very supportive as I was walking by.



On my way out to Okanagan Falls I saw Tracy, John, Tara, and Trevor who were all looking strong, (I didn’t

here about Trevor’s struggles until the next day). Finally reached the turnaround point and started heading back

where I met up with John B and Jacqui D who were finishing together. I chatted with them for a while but

I was feeling OK and started back running; again I kept running for awhile but then lost focus and started walking.

While on this walk break I was chatting with a fellow from Toronto who was on his 39th Ironman with one more

to go, Kona, before he was done. He said he didn’t even realize he had ridden Yellow Lake as there was no

cheering crowds urging him on, he wasn’t aware that parking tickets would be issued. Based on this I am sorry

that I didn’t get to experience the past Yellow Lake crowds. Somewhere around the return to the residential

areas I started to feel like running again and started running more than walking and again I saw a couple of the

folks from the may camp still at Skaha. I got onto main street and basically ran the rest of the way in, saw

Angie at the turnaround point and revelled in the glory that is Lakeshore Drive as you are completing an

Ironman. I took Nate’s advice from camp and enjoyed the atmosphere at the finish line. I honestly don’t

remember hearing whether Steve King announced I was an Ironman but I certainly enjoyed the finish line.

I had no issues after the race other than a little chill requiring a space blanket. I would have loved to hang

out with the team after I finished but my wife had to be out the door at 4:30 to catch a 6:30 plane to

Calgary as she had to work on Monday.



My take aways from this race were I should have stayed a lot closer to Penticton as I missed hanging with the

team and sharing experiences, feelings, and even ice cream with the group. This particular adventure would

not have ended up being successful without the guidance and gentle prodding. ha ha, of Angie. Your knowledge,

experience, and enthusiasm sure made this adventure a success for me. I have to thank you profusely for that

as well the group of like minded people who gravitate towards Team TriLife. And certainly last but not least

my lovely wife Susan who at times replaced Angie as the motivator to get my butt out the door when I didn’t

feel like getting a work out done. Thanks to you both.



My final thoughts on Ironman versus Challenge. I agree with Myles, I think it was, who stated that Ironman

is just a brand name that according to Wikipedia is owned by an equity fund that controls 30 billion in assets.

the direction that WTC seems to be going is to maximize profits rather than the athlete experience. For me

the race was about the volunteers and the people of Penticton not the Ironman brand. As an example when

I was heading into town and elderly gentleman asked me where I was from, when I told him, he thanked m

for participating. I am not done with triathlon, just iron distance ones, as Susan has signed us both up for

Oliver next year. I will be back in Penticton in 2013 as she is running the marathon portion for a team that

has just signed up to Challenge Penticton.



Thanks again Angie



Lawrence Keller

Leana's IMC Race Report 2012

http://runnerleana.blogspot.ca/2012/09/ironman-canada-long-story.html

Leana's "short" IMC race report 2012

http://runnerleana.blogspot.ca/2012/08/ironman-canada-short-story.html

Tracy's Ironman Canada Race Report 2012

Well a year ago I decided to sign up for IMC for the third time…not sure what possessed me to do this considering I had so many life changes since my last IMC in 2009 but I did it anyway and although it was a tough road to the day, crossing the finish line for the third time answered my questions as to why I do this!


Yes it is for the love of the sport, but mostly for the journey to the final day and then of course the final few seconds as you cross the line and Steve King says “YOU ARE AN IRONMAN. The other reasons I love training for an Ironman is the challenge, the people you meet, the struggles you have the improvements you see all make the ironman journey worth ever moment out on that course on race day.

Tara and I were discussing on the drive out to IMC that, some people will never even run 4km and we swim it. As well, some people will never know what it is like to train your body and mind for this kind of challenge. What we as Ironman athletes do is like no other and after achieving something like this it makes any struggle in life or mental challenge in life seem like a cakewalk. For it was all my marathon training and ironman training over the years that has lead me to a new career path, I never thought I was capable of, never thought I could do, but I have and I am forever grateful to be able to be on route to doing a job I love. To be one of those people that love to go to work cause it doesn’t feel like work. To be able to work anywhere in the world. So for me Ironman is not just about the one-day or the training it is how it has affected my entire being as a person and how it has improved my quality of life.

In my first year of nursing it was a major struggle, selling my house, quitting my career, living with friends, learning how to study again, taking an exam? Holy smokes it was insane but what helped me through it was how in an ironman race you must change your thought process or it can ruin your race, so for me I used this attitude to change my focus and thoughts for exams, life changes and more and it is hard to believe I am starting my third year of nursing, working part time at the hospital and absolutely enjoying every minute of it! Well maybe not every minute, but I see the finish line and I know it will be just like the Ironman finish. Hard work pays off, push through the pain now and you will reap the rewards. Follow your passion and you will find your life purpose!

For the first year of school I could not imagine training for an ironman but once I got my groove and realized I would have 4 months off and could do this thing again, this is why I signed up. I missed the people, I missed the workouts, and I missed it all. This time around, became a true test for me, not having a regular job and regular hours was tough. Having to ride early and then head to work or work and then ride or run after was much harder being a nurse’s attendant and bartender as opposed to sitting in front of a computer all day. The work is so much more physical and there were days where I wanted to quit but I never did, I got almost all my workouts in and never had to miss out. I struggled having to do a lot of rides and runs alone but was thankful for the times I had support, my running buddy Lyle, my TTL buddies…Trevor, John, Jacqui, Leana, Kelly and Tara  it was so much better having someone to do the extreme long stuff with.

In addition to juggling two part time jobs and full time IMC training, I had major health issues. Chronic arthritis in my right knee and hands, many different medications, injections, draining of the knee, cortisone shots, physio, rest, more rest, being told it might not be a good idea to race, worrying about my body was scary but I pushed through it all to overcome all challenges to successfully have the best IMC I have ever had to date.

Okay now on to discussing the day….the nerves were high, even though it was my third one I felt extremely nervous this time around, due to taking the few years off, maybe? Or maybe it was because I felt I was in better shape despite all the injuries. Maybe it was because I had changed a million things just prior to race day (which was always not advised by coach Angie) Or maybe it was because I had a time goal in mind (again not advised by coach Angie ) All and all on August 26, 2012 at 6:45am when I walked into the water all my nerves seemed to disappear, I felt oddly calm and embraced the moments leading up to the gun going off. I did a quick little swim out and back for about 5 mins. I then smiled to all the people around me and had one girl next to me say “do you think all these boys in front of us know how to swim fast or do they just think they can swim fast” I laughed and then thought to myself, “Yikes am I too close to the front? Can I swim this fast? Am I in a good spot?” Then I told myself “ oh well no turning back now” As they started to sing O Canada I started to tear up, the day was finally here the one I had been training so hard for the one I had been an emotional wreck for during the taper weeks leading up to this, it was finally here. OMG I am racing an Ironman I panicked a little but then took a deep breath and said “you got this, you can swim this no problem. You are strong!” I settled down and when the gun went off and I was being pushed, punched kicked, pulled in all sorts of directions I was a bit worried thinking maybe I was too far up. Then I just pushed through it and remembered what Angie always says we would be friends and drinking beers on the beach with all these people so don’t get angry it is a waste of energy. I pushed on through with lots of frustrating moments all the way till the turn around and then that is when I really found my stroke and was passing people left right and center, I thought “wow this slow and steady thing really works, even in the swim, cause I feel amazing right now I feel I could swim for 8km not 3.8 I feel so good right now.” Of course there were moments where my mind would wander off and think “oh no I have to get on that bike after this, and ride so far, what if I get a flat, uhh and then I have to run a full marathon, what was I thinking?” Then I would get back in the moment, I love the swim, I really love to swim, what I love swimming? Crazy because when I first started triathlons I thought this swimming thing is ridiculous- I hated getting out of bed early to swim, I felt useless in the water but here I am 4 years later loving swimming? Loving the open water? Really funny how things change isn’t it?

As I swam closer to the finish of the swim I started to think about riding and knew I had to start out slow and not get caught up in the rush of people cheering you on or racing past. I ran to the strippers they pulled off my wetsuit and I was a bit out of it cause I was not thinking where my T1 bag was then I remembered and had to back track. Ran into the tent and a volunteer followed me. I sat down she dumped my bag out I put on my helmet my shoes, race belt sprayed some sunscreen on and then I was off. Oh I dried my feet too and didn’t wear socks this year on the bike. I think this was a good call as I always find it a bit difficult to get my socks on when my feet are wet and covered in sand.

I grabbed my bike and headed out, I saw TTL peeps at the start and could hear Angie screaming go TRACY, Go, … it was awesome! I took a gel and a few sips of H20 and let my heart rate come down. I was really dogging it and I had a few people say to me as they passed me, you are doing the right thing. I said to myself the entire ride out to Richter to all the people hammering passed me up McLean creek and out to Oliver and Osoyoos, “well I will pass you on the run, I will pass you on the run.” After Mclean Creek heading out to Oliver I started to get some weird cramping in my gut, I thought maybe I needed to pee. So I slowed down to try but there were so many people behind me and I just couldn’t relax enough. I tried again a bit later and it just wasn’t working for me and I thought I have to stop at a porta potty cause I am wasting time slowing down to try and pee. But every time I would see a porta potty I would say no just keep going, next one, next one. Maybe I waited too long to pee cause I later had more gut issues but not sure if this was due to this or not. I got to Keremeos and there was no line I hopped off my bike and peed as fast as I could and when I was at the out and back I hammered it hard, cause I took it easy and figured I would make up some time here and then cruise up Yellow Lake and then hammer it home.

As I started to head towards Yellow lake I took some gas x in hopes this would prevent the cramping from coming back on my run. Seemed to be okay as I started the climb up Yellow Lake. It was great to see TTL supporters both on Richter and Yellow As well the crowds of strangers cheering all of us on as we pushed up yellow lake. The first part felt pretty good and I was just doing some cheesy easy spinning, then the second part of the climb felt super tough and I was a bit concerned until I was starting to descend and realized I was in my big chain ring for the second part of the climb, OOPS….. Uhh not the brightest moment LOL 

I was happy to have no fear on my descend down Yellow Lake, the wind started to pick up which was not a surprise and I was definitely well prepared for riding in the wind. Seemed to have many training days in all kinds of winds! (Just ask Tara, I seem to be a magnet for wind. Hahah ) So my push to the finish line of the bike felt a wee bit tough, not too bad but I was definitely feeling the head wind. My dismount off my bike was great and I headed to grab my run bag, a quick switch of the shoes this time putting on socks, and then hat and I was out of the tent. Telling myself, “slow and steady wins the race,” as I ran slow through town out towards cherry lane, my gut started really acting up, I had to hit a porta potty asap fix the situation and hopefully I would be fine. I felt great after the porta potty and I saw Angie at Cherry lane and I was so comfortable I thought if I can hold this the entire way, I am golden. I will achieve my time goal and might even be able to do my negative split as planned. Well, as we all know anything can happen on race day and we cannot predict how we will feel. I got to about 20km and the gut started up again major cramping that just wouldn’t give. I started to feel extremely bloated and my heart rate strap was annoying the heck out of me so I pushed it down onto my waist by my race belt and that felt a bit better. I stopped at the stations put ice in my hat, took some coke, took some water, this was my plan to do this till I saw chicken soup. But I didn’t see soup and I started to feel worse I didn’t know if I was going to puke or if I was needing salt, and my mouth was extremely dry. At one point I heard them say chicken soup on the opposite side of the road so ran over there and drank some, but it didn’t help. I sucked the salt off the pretzels it didn’t’ help. So I just kept moving I only walked through the stations and I just kept telling myself move in the right direction and you will do this. I saw familiar faces on the run course which was so awesome, I stopped to hug, high five people which really helped me pick it up for a few mins but then I just felt defeated and my legs felt heavy. I was so frustrated how could this be I took it easy on the bike; I took it easy at the start of the run, why is this happening? My plan is not working. I started to look at total time and started to panic, as each mile seemed to be taking me longer and longer to tackle. I was moving but I couldn’t move fast. I saw Angie at cherry lane and told her I am really hurting, she said “ Um it’s an ironman you are suppose to F()*&)(*()&& hurt” Lol. She also told me to not stop anymore, I only had five K. I said “I have to grab water as I can’t even swallow, I have no saliva.” So I did that as I ran through the stations I just grabbed a cup of water to wet my whistle. I Kept moving trying to pick it up. As I approached downtown and heard the cheers I somehow found some energy to pick it up. I saw my nephew on the corner and he ran with me for a bit. “You are doing great” he said. Once I saw him, I have no idea where my energy came from but I started haling ass through lakeshore, my legs were done so I was literally moving my entire upper body to try and gain momentum –not the best biomechanics, but you gotta do what you gotta do to finish an ironman. I saw Michelle and her girls at the turnaround, which was great! Then I just focused on the finish line. As I pushed and pushed it got closer and closer and finally I crossed that line with nothing left, I was done I felt like puking and collapsing. I had done what I wanted to do, I wanted to leave nothing on that racecourse and I did. I was disappointed not being able to negative spilt my marathon but the gut issues and I think lack of nutrition on the run defeated my execution- lessons learned but for all I did, all I gave, the mental struggle, the fun I had cheering people on and having people cheer me on was so worth it and to this day this was my best Ironman. I took time to enjoy it, I learned so much from previous races and I executed everything the way I wanted if it weren’t for the struggles on the run, it wouldn’t be an ironman. For an ironman is so different from any other race, because you never know what will happen, but what I do know is that I will never quit and no matter what struggles I have I will make it across that finish line no matter what! And wow for every year I have been very consistent I have been 15 mins faster each time not sure when my next race will be, probably after I graduate, but I will race another Ironman again maybe the new IMC in 2014. This was definitely not my last; I know I have more to give, more to improve on and more to learn.

Thank you to everyone on the team, thank you to all my friends and family who supported me. Thank you to coach Angie being such a great coach and friend, helping me through my ups and downs this year  And thank you to my mom, she is my biggest fan and without her I would not be the woman I am she has taught me so much and has supported me in all my life choices from the day I was born she has always been my rock. I love you mom. xoxoxoox

Jacque's Ironman Canada Race Report 2012

IMC 2012 race report


Well I finally did it. After watching IMC for the very first time in 2003, watching Ironman Australia in 2009, coming back to Penticton to watch in 2009, 10 and 11. 2012 was the year and none too soon  as it was the 30th anniversary and little did we know it was also to be the final IMC in Penticton.

I was surprised how calm I was this week leading up to the race. I tried not to get involved in conversations where other people were stressing about the race, I either tried to change the subject and distract them (worked about 50% of the time) or I removed myself from the situation (this happened at the athletes dinner, a friend of a TTLer came by our table and was very, very stressed to the point that she was almost irrational and physically vibrating – I had to leave). The TTL morning workouts were a good way to get up early and organized, a mini-prep for race day although we gradually got up earlier as the week went on.

Following a mini hunt through town for a bandana (in case it was hot and I needed to roll ice in it to cool down) – Thank you Mitch! Gear drop-off went without a hitch and I hoped that I’d have everything I needed at the right time, where to put arm-warmers, where to put arm coolers just in case. In the end I didn’t use either.

Race eve, I was following my race plan and amazingly sitting drinking my pre-race beer at the picnic table outside Mitch and Kelly’s place by 8:30pm all prepared for race morning all I needed next was sleep. At 9pm Kelly and I called it a night and went in to bed, leaving Paul and Mitch outside with Andrew. I am very grateful to Kelly and Mitch for offering to share their room with us for a few days. Camping was fine but when you are trying to hydrate pre-race it’s nice to know the bathroom is across the hall and not a short walk up the hill at the campground. I slept really well, I was so surprised, my first race of the season at Shawnigan Lake I did not sleep at all but pre-IMC I slept like a baby. The usual middle of the night bathroom visit but that was all. I was awake and waiting for my alarm when it went off at 4am but only by about 10 mins.

I got dressed and Kelly and I puttered around the kitchen getting breakfast, coffee and bottles ready. When Tara and Trevor came by at 5 we were all set for the walk to transition. It was a long walk and frozen bottles of nutrition are HEAVY! Kind of wished I had woken Paul for a ride. We did a little winding through the streets in the dark to figure out how to get into transition – something they could have easily told us in the pre-race meeting. Special needs bags dropped off we got body marked and headed to our bikes. First stop to get air put in our tires, whew no lines. I had a great bike rack location. Loaded up my bike with nutrition, attached my aero bottle and then got in line for the porta-potties. Met an Irish guy who is currently living in Calgary. Back to my bike to double check. All good.

Saw the TTL gang (Tara, Shannon, Tracy) in the porta-potty line again and it was much longer now so I joined them figured I might have to go again by the time we got to the front. While we were slowly moving in this line I saw my Vancouver tri friends too, hugs and wishes from Chris and Teresa as well as Valencia. I’m not sure if it was all the ‘good lucks’ being said but while we were in line I got a little emotional..maybe nervous? Not sure I just know that all of a sudden I was trying not to cry. Shannon noticed and gave me a hug, saying she was just like me her first time, that was it then came the tears. Hugs from Tara and Tracy too, and I was taking deep breaths to calm myself a little and stop crying. Now the problem with this is once you start it’s hard to stop and very easy to start again so from this point until O Canada I continued to cry a little off and on. Being a red-head it is also VERY difficult to hide the fact that I’ve been crying! The good thing was that I wasn’t upset so at least I could smile and laugh at my tears as I didn’t really understand where they were coming from. Maybe I should have had a little pre-race spazz at something to get those nervous emotions out before race day? Maybe there was too much time in transition before the race with too little do? Who knows. Second porta-potty trip done, I followed Tracy and Trevor to find some grass to put our wetsuits on. After we were suited up, we went towards the fences to drop off our morning clothes bags. Almost forgot to take off my flip-flops! Tracy pointed out Angie over by the fence I went over and waved but didn’t want to go and say hi as I knew I would start to cry again. Angie waved me over and sure enough the tears came again. But it was nice to have seen her and had my pre-race pep talk from her too . Said hello to Mitch and headed towards the swim start area. I’m sure I was quite the teary-red-faced sight as I walked towards the swim area, I got some strange looks and lots of smiles and best wishes from the volunteers as I moved through. I tried to smile so they would know I was ok despite the tears.

At the gate I met Teresa, Alison, Chris and Clayton from Vancouver who were supportive and not surprised by my emotions at the time despite the fact that they were baffling me. We headed out to the swim start together. I had no idea where Kelly and Tara were but somehow Tara and Shannon appeared beside me in the water as we got our caps on. I looked around a little, amazed from this view in the water how far along the water the spectators were, I scanned the crowd a little looking for Paul, Rebecca and Bev but there was little hope that I’d see them in that crowd. Teresa smiled at me and said you think you’re emotional now, just wait til O Canada starts. She was right, national anthem and a few more tears but at this time my goggles were on so at least no one could see me crying! Hugs and good lucks said and received we were waiting for the start. After the starting horn we walked forward for a bit, I couldn’t tell you how long there seemed to be a little space in the water so Tara and I looked at each other and decided it was time to swim.

We were wrong about the space! It didn’t seem like there was any free space anywhere on the swim. Everyone I spoke to felt the same. Next time I might try Angie’s suggestion to swim on the right hand side of the buoys. People everywhere, I got kicked in the head once and had to pull the super suctioned goggles off my eye. No harm done. Once we were swimming I did feel briefly overwhelmed thinking about the fact that I was in the swim of Ironman Canada – holy crap! This was going to be a big day and I had only just started, I was getting emotional again so I remembered my box – only think about now and what I am doing not about the whole day and definitely not about the marathon coming up in 8 hours. This worked and I got down to the business of swimming. The turning buoys were hard to see, who decided these should be white? After these two buoys I was on my way back to transition, there seemed to be less people around and I was able to get into a good rhythm with my stroke even thinking about a long stroke and pulling hard. Finally, I could hear Steve King (the announcer), that meant I’m close to shore, the sun was never in my eyes (!?) how come, I was prepared for that, I almost swam into a buoy – oops. I tried to pee in my wetsuit, no luck, I basically have to stop swimming and do a dead man’s float which is counter productive. I swam strong to the beach, remembered Angie’s advice about grabbing 2 handfuls of sand before switching from a swimming to running out of the water. There are people everywhere fans cheering, other athletes moving to transition. I pulled my cap, goggles and sleeves off, to the wetsuit strippers I went, sat down the suit came off easily. I thanked them and off I went to get my T1 bag at the back of transition. At least it was close to the entrance to the change tent and the porta-pottys – my first stop. Found a place to change in the tent, switched my tri shorts for cycling shorts, toweled off my feet, socks and shoes on, sunscreen on my face, glasses, cycling gloves, race number and I was off. [Didn’t seem to take that long but the next day the clock said otherwise – seriously did that really take 9 minutes! Slow is smooth my ass, slow in transition is slow!] Dropped my T1 bag and grabbed my bike which was easy to find and half way to the exit by a big tree. Jogged my bike to the exit, over the timing mats and mount line.

I was off, happy to be done the swim and trying to relax into the bike. I wasn’t sure where I’d find our cheering squad so I sipped some water and worked my way up Main street. I heard Bev first, that girl has some lungs! Then I heard Andrew and blew Paul a kiss. Next task the bike. With the ‘crucible’ recordings in my head (a 40 mile warm up and a 70 mile bike ride, old ladies should be passing me on the bike) I had my plan for the ride, take it easy out on Main street and stay safe, easy up McLean Creek Rd, easy to Osoyoos. Need to save the legs for the tough parts of the ride – the out and back and the climb up Yellow Lake. As I was riding it dawned on me that I could have worn my TTL tri top. I had stressed about the tri top not having pockets in the back to carry an extra tube and CO2 cartridge so I decided on my sleeveless cycling top in lieu of the TTL cycling jersey because it was cooler. But on the ride it dawned on me, my pockets were empty! The extra tube and CO2 were in my newly purchased xlab behind my seat, I had planned to put my arm warmers in my pocket but had left them in my T1 bag. Oops! I’d had my race day outfit planned for so long that I didn’t change it. Next time I know, I don’t need those extra pockets anymore. I had a headache at the start of the bike so inside the first hour I took an advil in the hopes that it would go away but I ended up battling this headache for almost the entire ride. When the advil didn’t help I increased my salt tabs from 2/hr to 3/hr in hopes that it would help. I’m not exactly sure when it finally went away sometime between the end of the out and back and transition. I also had a gassy tummy on the bike, spent most of the ride burping like a sailor hoping to make it feel better, I took 2 Gas-X at different points but that didn’t help, at least it never got worse.

I rocked the downhill on Richter, later I checked my computer and my top speed for the day was 77km/hr, I knew this happened on the descent from Richter, lots of yelling “on your left” as I flew down the hill. The ambulance at the bottom startled me a little I was glad I didn’t see any crashes. But all the people slamming on their brakes at the aid station at the bottom of the hill was an accident waiting to happen. I love the rollers and today was no exception, they seemed easier than the last 2 rides out here. On my way to the out and back I saw Kelly as I turned up Becks Rd. It was nice to see a friend out here, this part of the ride has been tough in the past. At least the weather was cooperating and it was hovering just under 30 degrees. One good thing about not being in TTL gear is that it made it easier for Kelly and I to leap frog and hang out for a while on this part of the ride. We had a few chats and checked in with one another. We both stopped at special needs briefly I picked up another bottle of fuel and was so happy that it was still cold! Love those insulated bottles. Off to Yellow lake we go! Kelly and I kept leap frogging all the way to the top of Yellow Lake. We saw our cheering section in the middle, I hadn’t planned to stop but they were on a flat so I decided to stop for a hug from Paul  Nice to see Mitch, Rebecca and Andrew too. Our cheering section was half way up Yellow lake, I still had the tough part of the climb to go but I was completely surprised by just how easy this was today! I am used to the grind up yellow lake to reach the top but it wasn’t there. My easy start had totally paid off!! Yahoo! Pick up some water and I’m off, I love this return to town, lots of downhill to take advantage of which I love. Unfortunately, we had a headwind but it’s still a nice way to return to town. I saw Andrew at the TTL tent at Cherry Lane and gave a shout out on my way back to transition. I remembered to spin the legs and drink to prepare for the run. My nutrition on the bike had been good, all well timed, I didn’t get any flavor fatigue. I meant to take an advil at the end of the bike just in case I needed it to start the run but I forgot. No worry I had 2 more in my running belt.

Just before the dismount line I heard and saw Mark and Elizabeth! Waved at them and headed into T2. I was happy to hand off my bike and I remembered to take my Garmin (well Mitch’s Garmin actually) off the handlebars. Over to the T2 bags and back into the change tent. Another SLOW transition – seriously 9 minutes again. A complete change in the tent and off to the porta-potty, past the sunscreen table for a slather and I’m off on the run.

As I hit the road I see Bev and she runs with me for a bit, I feel good and I’m so happy to be on the run, the last thing left to do! I try to settle in to a pace and watch my HR so I’m not going to fast, on Main street in town I see Mark and Elizabeth again with Matthew, a wave hello and I’ve got my sights set on seeing all the TTL people, Paul and Rebecca at Cherry Lane. My plan was to walk through the aid stations and maybe up the hills, hopefully I can run the rest of the marathon. I take an advil (just in case) and water at the first aid station, grab a cup of ice to go. Throughout the whole marathon I carried a cup of ice in my hand, dumping it down my shirt as I reached the next aid station if I hadn’t finished the cup so I could grab a new one. I also put ice in my hat on the run and this was SOOOO nice! One lumpy piece of ice made me look like a conehead though .

The start of the run was hot, the crowds in town were amazing! When I made it to Cherry lane it was nice to see Paul and the gang and have a chat with Angie. I was having a great time. Trying not to run too fast as I knew I had a long ways to go. At times I did feel slightly dizzy/lightheaded when I was walking, I wasn’t sure why so I kept drinking, taking my salt tabs and alternated coke and water at the aid stations if I wasn’t taking a gel. At one aid station I saw Claire and she asked if I had an ibuprofen, I said yes and gave it to her and after regretted it just a little. I only had 2, I took one and gave one away so if I needed something later I was out of luck. I tried not to dwell and hoped I didn’t need it later. I passed the kms by watching for friends and teammates coming the other way and saw almost everyone. I finally made it to the turnaround myself – YEAH!! Only a half marathon to go. At special needs I changed my socks, tied a long sleeved shirt around my waist in case it was cold as the sun went down and started to eat my potato chips as I headed back. Again I amused myself by looking for TTL teammates on the way ‘home’ as well as hitting quite a few porta-pottys on the way back too – apparently I was well hydrated . I was starting to feel the run and the day in my legs so I tried walking for a few minutes – too slow! It would take me forever to get to the finish that way, back to my run all day pace. Chatting with a few people and leap frogging back and forth. I started running with one lady and she was way too chatty for me – when she asked me to explain what my research was about I was done, not nearly enough brain power to describe that to someone DURING AN IRONMAN– good time for a porta-potty stop. Bye! Have a great race.

Somewhere on the way back to the beach at Skaha a toe on my right foot started to bother me, must be years of stuffing my feet into figure skates, my 4th toe sits a little under my 3rd toe and when it’s humid I sometimes start to run on my 4th toe. I stopped at the next aid station in search of tape. Some duct tape appeared, I taped up my toe and off I went. It was starting to get dark here too, this made the return to town seem very long, I tried to remember from camp how far it was to the beach at Skaha and then what the distance would be back to town. I’m not sure I ever figured it out! When I hit the 30km mark I remembered thinking, if I could run a normal 10k right now I’d be done in a little over an hour – yeah there was no way I could run that fast so I puttered on at my all day pace.

I was happy to hit Skaha beach and then turn back onto Main Street! This stretch of road is really long in the dark at the end of an Ironman, it seems to go on forever! Even once I got back to the main part of town with all the stores the final left hand turn seemed to take forever to get to.

Then there it was, people cheering, I turned left, I know this spot it’s where we watched for Tara on the marathon 2 years ago, turn right and there’s Paul and Bev – I stopped for a hug, I ran down the street and you can hear the crowd I started to get a little emotional, I’m finally back in town!!! I’m almost done!!! Left hand turn, I hear Mark, Elizabeth and Matthew on the right as I turn, I wave. Now the last hard part, to run away from the finish line (cause it is right here!!) to the end of the street before turning back to head to the finish. I’m running down the street, legs are tired and my quads are bagged but they’re still carrying me as I run. Paul and Bev appear on my left and run towards the turn around with me. At the turn around I high five the gang, Andrew, Mitch, Tara and Angie, and everyone else from TTL, it’s like a slingshot turn around, all the energy from the TTL gang refreshes me and I’m headed back towards the finish of MY Ironman. Paul and Bev are there again and run with me til the gates start, not far to go now, I hear Rebecca and wave to her, we did many long rides together in the rain this year I am so glad she came to the race. Then I have that moment, the bright lights, the crowd, the finish line, the blue carpet and I get that feeling I’m going to finish this, and it feels amazing, I think I did a little fist pump. The crowds at the finish really make you feel like a rockstar. I throw my hands in the air as I cross the line, not really knowing why I did this . The catchers are by my side and it takes a few seconds to realize that the girl knows my name I look at her and it’s Cindy! The other catcher is Danny. So nice to have TTL people to take care of me. I get a photo in the finish area even though Cindy warns me they are often terrible (she’s right I look too happy and totally spaced!). Now that I’m done my legs are getting heavy and not working that well. We head towards the food and I hear them calling my name, Paul, Bev and Mark, Elizabeth and Matthew. I high five Matthew and thank them for staying til the end, Matthew is 3 and a half and it is way past his bedtime! Elizabeth emailed me later to say “Every time we mentioned going home Matthew kept saying that he had to see Jacque finish. At one point I said that he had had a long day and his response was "yes but today is a big day". My thoughts exactly Matthew, a long, amazing, BIG day.

Thanks to all the TTL athletes and family for their support out on the course on race day. Thanks to Angie for her support and encouragement all year, I put my faith in you and your training program and you had me prepared to kick ass on that course. People would ask me how it was going and was I nervous, I would reply that I had a great coach, she gave me a training program and I was doing the work so I should be prepared. I was.

There were lots of emails and messages between myself, Tara and Kelly throughout the year, supporting and commiserating with one another, often wondering if Angie was actually trying to kill us. My wonderful cheering squad, Paul and Trogo, for keeping me company on those runs in the dark and the rain when I didn’t want to go and the long runs that just felt really long sometimes, you are amazing.

I’m not sure what my next adventure will be. I’m making my race bucket-list and I’ll see what fits for 2013. ½ corked marathon anyone?

John B's Ironman Canada Race Report 2012

IMC 2012


Honesty, respect, integrity

I think I am finally getting a handle on this Ironman thing, to some degree. To understand something about oneself as to why we do this, why we subject our families to participate with us vicariously, and to have people cheer us on for a short 12 second burst at a time, over a race day that may last up to 16+ hours.

We seek out friendship from like minded people. We look for acceptance from people who just get what we are thinking, without being able to express it. And to find love from family who still may not quite understand it, but realize that it is just a part of us.

I took my inspiration for the day from LA’s race report, and modified it a bit to fit me. I set out to have the best day possible, and knew that then the race would follow. I thought that what good is a great race without a better day. Would I sacrifice the day for a great race? Or would I set out to have a great day, and see where the race took me? I achieved a great day, thereby being able to experience a great race with all of its highs and low points in the day.

This inspiration started for me when training started way back in September. One goal was not to sacrifice family at every training session, but rather make training take a back seat if family came before. Each day and week that I put family first was frustrating, because I knew it would play out on race day. Little did I know I was already being prepared to make sacrifices on race day, and learning how to deal with those frustrations back then? By also sacrificing TTL team workouts so I could be at home, reminded me to keep what is most important in the forefront. Not that I don’t like my friends, but what good are lots of friends if you don’t have family for support? We all come from families of some sort, and in the end family is where we turn to. Our family is what we count on at the end of the day. Family lifts our spirits when they show up unexpectedly halfway thru a marathon. Family is what hugs us when we are sweaty and disgusting, no matter the feeling.

So what is a race report without some highlights of the day?!?!?

Being at the start line in Penticton for the 3rd time, and seeing the pre-race jitters from the newbies, gave a sense of calm that would get me a long ways thru my day. Just being able to get ready in a calm fashion, making sure everything was done early instead of panicking at last minute, kept my head in the game from the start. I saw who I needed to see, and wished them well for a long day of spectating and volunteering. For how can we do a race of this magnitude, without a little help along the way. One day we should try and do this distance without any support whatsoever, and figure out how long it really takes to do an Ironman.

The swim: I can’t believe I came out of the water, and even when still in the water, saying to myself that I had a most enjoyable swim. Somehow I did, but I think it was prepping myself to enjoy the swim, not to be panic scared at the start, but to say it was only a short portion of the day. I came out, looked at the clock and said, “I had a better feeling swim than the clock tells me”. The time didn’t matter; I felt that I swam the best I could for that day. And I did it with no regrets.

The bike: 180km bike ride with so many people around, and no one to talk to. We are all on edge for drafting issues. I would love to have been able to visit more without fear of retribution. Meeting a teammate for the first time on the course, and then not seeing her again. Andrea I hope to see you at some point and say more than, “ Hi, we’re team mates but we can’t talk now”. It doesn’t seem sufficient to ride beside someone and say 6 words of encouragement and then move on. Too scared of getting a penalty. What is 4 minutes in the grand scheme of things? I bet that would be a good rest to visit the loo without pressure, and time well spent out of the saddle. Maybe next time I’ll just stop in the penalty box for a visit to thank those volunteers who are only getting a verbal earful.

The run: Jacqui D thank you for getting me thru. You don’t know how much you did to get me going again, to help me make it to the finish line.

Running a marathon with someone for most of the way can be one of the most enjoyable parts of a day. Normally we would focus on foot in front of the other. With someone beside you, it becomes one word in front of the other, and the feet sort of follow along. I don’t know why I was blessed again to ‘pick up’ another lady on a long run and be able to finish a day that became great again. There may be a trend happening for me, I just don’t know why.

Sometimes it feels wrong to share some of things that happened on a run, because the other person involved may think its too private. I just know for myself it becomes inspirational when I think about it. I cannot put the emotion down properly, but it is there HUGELY!!!

We suffered together. We laughed a lot. We talked about anything that came to mind, and somethings that were pretty mindless. We joked with people along the way, and we even laughed at some others, not always in a good way. We felt the hurt of those running behind us, wondering if they were going to make the cutoff. Would they get to the finish line? Unfortunately some of them wouldn’t. We talked a lot more more. We even cried when family popped up out of nowhere. For you by Ok falls, Allen and the boys weren’t supposed to be there. With Mandie & David too, my spirits were lifted to carry on and see this thing thru, by having your support crew out there. And for me at Cherry Lane mall, there’s Yolanda and the kids still waiting at 9 at night knowing we were on the way. Waiting, waiting.The tears flowed again, as they still do now. Oh ya, we even ran a bit together. And then the final push, knowing TTL was at the final turnaround, but who was going to be there? It didn’t matter so much as who, but that there would be people out there just for us.

And finally at the finish, more tears. But this time for us, they were on the cheeks of family. Exhilaration!!! What a finish to a great day.

Thanks Jacqui for being part of making my day a great one!!! 17:01 is not an option.

Many thanks to all who were a part of this day and this journey. To Yolanda and the kids for putting up with this thing we do. I hope it inspires you in some way to remain active to stay young, at heart and in body. Coach Sarah, for putting up with me hurting myself, too often, and wondering how does one modify training schedules so much for so little. Family, friends, team mates, new friends and old ones. Be real.

So why Honesty, respect, integrity? I hope you have figured out that that is who I am. Those character traits are what I try to live for each day. Without those, I am missing something in my life, and then things get out of control. Create balance.

jb

John P's 2012 Ironman Canada Race Report

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.

Andrea's Ironman Canada Race Report 2012

Andrea’s IMC Race Report


Goals: To finish with a smile on my face, take in and enjoy the experience

I actually fell asleep quite easily which surprised me, since I fully expected to be up all night thinking about the race. I did start waking up every 20 minutes or so starting around 130 to make sure I hadn’t slept in. I woke up at 330 and chugged an ensure drink and went back to sleep. I started hearing other wake up calls coming in to the rooms around mine... 410, 413, 417, 420.... and finally my alarm went off at 430. I drank another ensure beverage and got ready.

I dragged my mother and Karl out the door at 515am, and could see the masses starting to walk down lakeshore drive. My tummy was lurching a little, but I was trying to stay calm. I was directed with everyone else to get my body marking and drop off my bags. I hugged my supporters and left them behind while I followed everyone else through the assembly line of bag dropping and body marking. I almost started crying because I was feeling overwhelmed, but then I saw Steve Glavac volunteering and he made me laugh. Much better.

I went straight to my bike as planned, pumped my tires and filled my drink bottles for the day. No major crises and I found Karl and my mom to drop off everything with them that I couldn’t keep in the morning clothes bag. I then did the morning ritual of the bathroom lineup with all the other 2600 athletes. They probably could have used a few more bathrooms, but it went quickly enough. The guy behind me was making me laugh as he discussed the fact that there was likely someone in this never ending line, pretty much crapping their pants because they couldn’t get to the bathroom fast enough. Funny, I felt like that might be me for a minute, but made it in time and felt much better after.

I wetsuited up with some others by my bike then realized I left my body glide in the backpack that I’d passed on to Karl for the day. Oops. I’ve never had any issues with my wetsuit in the past, so I assumed I’d be ok. I managed to get 3 bites of my banana in which in that moment seemed pretty good, so I threw the rest out. The pro’s were starting right away, so I headed over to where everyone was dropping off their dry clothes, and ran into Tracy, Lara, and Trevor so I stopped to talk to them for a minute. I started to get more antsy, so I decided to head down to the water with the rest of the masses. My tummy was all gurgly, but I walked over to the far left as planned, but apparently everyone was also planning on the far left, so I ended up more in the middle. I saw Tara and chatted for a minute, got myself wet, and walked back to halfway back for the anthem. I looked around trying to find my mom and Karl, but I couldn’t see them anywhere. Oh well, maybe they could see me so I smiled.

Before I knew it, off we went. I had fully expected the first 500 m or so to be ridiculous but I was actually finding huge spaces and managed to remain calm and stay in good form right away. I felt good and relaxed all the way to the first buoy, although I seriously could not see that wide white corner buoy. Not a great color or shape to select when there are that many people. I thought we had missed our turn, but figured the masses know best so I followed suit. It was a bit dicey making that turn but I remained calm and was able to get back into a nice rhythm right away. I kept reminding myself that I was doing it... the ironman! I was past the halfway point and was feeling really good... way better than I thought I would. The wetsuit was scraping the back of my neck but I was going to be done soon so I tried to ignore it. Darn me forgetting my body glide in my bag! Made the final turn without too many problems. Got whacked a few times in the last hundred meters or so, but managed to swim until I had two handfuls of sand like Sarah said and I was done. Woo hoo! Checked out my time.. 1:23! Yay! I wasn’t expecting to be coming out until around 1:30 so 7 minutes faster! Good start! It was madness around me but I managed to find some available strippers and I was headed for transition in no time. I was shocked with the volunteer service... amazing people were literally dressing people. I didn’t have much to do except put my watch, shoes and helmet on so I didn’t need much assistance... but they were so nice! I made sure to thank everyone and a guy slathered me in sunscreen on the way out.... off to my bike I go!

The kleenex I stuffed in my bento box just before my race had stuck to my chomps, so my first few I shoveled in my mouth had tissue attached to them. Oh well. Extra fibre I guess. I ran my bike down to the mounting line, and appreciated the advice I rec’d from a tri-lifer the day before. She had suggested I push my bike past the mounting line and get away from the dense crowd around that line... so much better. As Angie said, I apparently looked like Mary Poppins and got right down to business. Ha ha.

I remembered Sarah saying to take it out easy so I did. I met John on the way out and we said hi and off he went. I was a little uncomfortable since there were sooo many people around me which I wasn’t used to, so it took quite a while before I could get down into aero. It all felt good down to Osoyoos, and I managed to get my drink in as planned and more chomps in on schedule. I was finding it warm, and after a couple of hours, the electrolyte drink and chomps starting tasting way sweeter than it ever has in training, to the point where I was feeling nauseous. I picked up water at the aid station and drank that but I knew I had to get my electrolytes and nutrition in or my day would get really bad, really fast. I forced the chomps and drink down and chased it with as much water as i could get my hands on. Richter’s was long and hard, as expected, but the crowds were amazing. Again, I was not really comfortable on the descents since there were so many people around me. Some of the people were flying by in their aerobars whipping down these hills like they were nothing... I felt scared for them.. but they seemed totally at ease. I was being passed left right and center, which at first was frustrating, but then I started looking at each of them as someone I swam faster than and I reminded myself about my goals for the day. This wasn’t about them passing me, it was about me achieving what I had set out for myself.

I was still feeling like barfing and had slowed down on my nutrition schedule which was worrying me a bit. My quads would twinge like they were about to charlie horse on me anytime I stood to get myself up a hill. I slowed down a bit more, and forced the electrolyte drink in. I was wishing I would have brought the salt tabs with me for this portion, instead of putting them only in my run kits. Tabs and water would have been a lot better at this point. I switched to the gels I had in my bento and these sat better than the chomps. Unfortunately, I only had a few gels since chomps had been my faithful training partner and I hadn’t expected them to sit so poorly. I got to the out and back though, and saw Tara on her way out so waved hi. It’s amazing what seeing a friendly face can do for me, and I knew that I was going to be at my special needs bag in a short while, which had more gels in it.

Special needs went well, and the friendly volunteer sprayed me down really well with someone’s fancy sunscreen that had been left behind. I took off my shoe and fixed my sock that had a minor fold in the toe section, but after 120km, the fold felt like a whole extra sock balled in my shoe! Ah! Much much better. The girl and I that had stopped at the same point laughed with the volunteers about getting back on the bike after stopping. But we did and off we went. I was determined to stay with my nutrition schedule even if it meant slowing down for the last section. I was feeling not fabulous, but knew I was getting close to the big descent and soon it would be all downhill from there. I was seriously ready to get off that seat and started to feel sorry for myself a bit. But then this super nice man with a 74 written on his leg came biking by me and we joked around about our sore butts, and he assured me we would be there soon. 74 years old and he’s pushing through... darnit, if he can do it, so can I. I pushed through that last bit, and was so excited to be back in town. There were the friendly faces and cheers of the team tri-life tent that gave me that last push into transition. When I dismounted my bike, both my quads seized up at the same time... at least they were good enough to wait until after I got off my bike. I hobbled past the volunteers and then some angels came and took away that bike and I was whisked away towards the transition tent again.

I could hear interviews with the pro winners and second place finishers in the background and thought how nice it must be to be done already. Only a marathon left... no biggie! ha ha

I changed my focus to the fact that I had finished the swim and the bike of an ironman and only had to get though that run! I still had almost 8 hours to get through it, so even if I had to walk the majority... I should still make it.

Quick pitstop in the bathrooms and off I went. I saw my mom three times in a few minutes, and managed to joke with her about the fact that she seemed to be running around faster than I was. Only 41 km left!

I was passing the tri-life tent before I knew it and Sarah was running next to me checking in with how I was feeling. I told her about the nausea and she gave me some good advice and reassured me that I would make it in long before midnight. Angie was just ahead as well, having sent Lara off with some advice and she was nothing but supportive. I am so happy that I’m part of this team. Even though most of these people have just met me a few days before, their kind words and support are unbelievably helpful when you are starting to get those creeping feelings of doubt. I had made a pact with myself that as long as I could run, I would. If I had to walk, I would. I still felt ok, so I carried on jogging. One aid station to the next. Karl biked up next to me to check in with me. I still felt nauseous and I dropped my bag for him to pick up and carry back for me. I seriously never wanted to see, let alone taste that electrolyte beverage ever again. I happily took my salt tabs with the water at the aid station and managed to get in pretzels. My gels were still sitting ok, and the nausea started to subside... thank god!

Things started to rumble on the other side of the GI tract though and I had to walk a few times, merely to prevent a bad situation from happening in my pants. Gross. That would not be good for the last 25km. I managed to keep putting one foot in front of the other, setting my sights on a jersey or shirt in front of me somewhere, and trying to catch up with them. I saw many a tri-lifer heading back the other way and managed to give most a high five. I saw a lot of walking going the other way and the occasional athlete bent over in pain or with nausea. I felt their pain and this made me realize that I had to get those carbs and lytes in or that was going to be me soon. I forced them down at all the aid stations and wanted to hug the friendly supporters that sprayed me down with their garden hoses. ah! so refreshing!

The turn around was just ahead, and I was happy with my progress. I had really only walked the aid stations, the hills and when I thought my tummy rumblings would end badly. That was more than I thought I would run. I grabbed my special needs and refilled my pockets with gels... but I forgot my salt tabs! They must have blended with the bag and I didn’t see them, or even think about them until I was at the next aid station. Darnit! I was not going back though. The nausea had pretty much subsided at this point and thank goodness, it was cooling down out there. I decided to try the gatorade which surprisingly tasted ok. The pretzels were actually fairly tasty at this point and I even managed to down some coke, which in my head sounded disgusting while running, but yum! Sucking back oranges became my vice for the next few stations, and I paused to talk to Shannon from tri-life as I caught up with her. She was also experiencing the nausea so I told her what Sarah and Angie had told me back at the beginning of the run. I wished her well and hoped she would be feeling better soon. Back to one foot in front of the other.

Everything was starting to hurt... that was expected though. My calves that had been giving me trouble all season were feeling great though. My knees were starting to feel sore though, but I kept telling myself "no matter what it’s gonna hurt, but at least if you are jogging, you are gonna get there faster than walking, so get going". It was starting to get dark out but there were still athletes around me. I was with the same group over and over and we started joking with one another to get us through the pain. This girl commented on my hat, a 70.3 california hat and said that was one of her favorite races. I told her I was just an imposter as I borrowed the hat from a friend since I wanted a breathable white hat. She told me I should do that race, and I said I couldn’t quite imagine wanting to sign up for anything, while I was feeling this way right now. We all started laughing and she insisted that we would all forget about this feeling, have temporary amnesia and sign up for something again. I told her that sounds like having a baby, and agreeing to do it again after giving birth....or so I’m told.

I was taking in how beautiful the sunset was and I actually saw a deer right next to me in the brush at the side of the road. Those speedy day runners didn’t get the full nature experience!

I started checking my watch to see how much time I had to make it in. I knew, unless something went horribly awry, I would finish before the cutoff. I was still jogging and the lights of the city were getting closer. Before long, I was back into town. I loved that there were still people out there cheering in their driveways even though it was dark out. I made sure to give each of them a smile and a thank you for their support. Each cheer gave me a little bit more pep in my step. I could hear the music and the voice of Steve King at the end. I walked for a little bit because I was determined to run that last stretch. I got to the corner where I could see the finish line, but followed the other runners down the final out and back. I don’t ever remember Salty’s being that far down, and I passed our hotel and all I could think about was that bed waiting for me at the end of this. Then I’m at the end of the street and there is team tri-life cheering. Angie came and made me laugh about my mary poppins bike style and then nearly made me cry because she told me I was there... I was gonna be an ironman. She left me halfway down to go back and support the others, and my jog became easier. My shoulders dropped and the pain in all my joints seemed to subside. I could see my mom and Karl, and the sounds of the crowds were deafening. I had planned in my head to do something funny like dance across the finish line, but I couldn’t think. I couldn’t break my stride... I just grabbed that finish tape threw it over my head and phew! I was done!

This lovely lady came over to me, popped a medal over my head and helped me hobble down the carpet. I was met by Kelly, another tri-lifer that had finished a few minutes before me. Danny and Cindy were there too, and Shannon joined us a few minutes later. We got our pictures done and I couldn’t stop smiling, well, amoungst the grimaces. My knee seemed to have shut down on my right side. It finally realized it could stop working now that I was done.

15 hours and 16 minutes. It was slightly slower than I thought I would be, but I didn’t care at all. I had done it. One year before, standing there, watching these amazing fearless people making their dreams come true. It was so inspiring! And now I had done it. I felt on top of the world, like anything was possible.

Have I had the amnesia yet and signed up for anything else... well, it’s only been a few days, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I’m gonna bask in the glow for a moment... you only get that first ironman once!

Jacqui's Ironman Canada Race Report - 2012

Jacqui’s Ironman Canada Race Report- 2012


As I sit here, 4 days after Ironman, my legs are feeling great, and the day is moving behind me quickly. (which is why some of us get that Post Iron depression!)

Ironman Canada came as a quick decision for me. I had not intended to do another IM after IMCDA in 2009. But with a move in June of 2011, August came around, and I thought- “well, I have nothing else to do- I have no commitments, a clean slate in a new country”. So I did it, I signed up, with Allen of course, (who sadly had to drop out of the race 7 weeks before race day due to a knee injury), as well as friends from Houston- Shannon and Jay (Jay, sadly would have to pull out of the race too)

I look over this past year, I see how in many ways God provided me with everything I needed to prepare for this day. We moved into Monterra, and the first person I saw, was Carla McPike- who quickly told me I needed to get with Team Tri Life. I don’t think that’s just a coinsadence - I have faith, and believe that when God works in your life, and puts you in new areas, He also provides.

Overall, it was an amazing training year. I battled 5 months of SI joint sprain/strain, but managed to get through it with the help of my awesome friend and massage therapist Mandie McLeary. I don’t know how many hours I spent with her either running, or on her table- but she was key in my recovery and made me stronger that I have ever been. Huge goals were accomplished this training year- breaking a 2 hour 1/2 marathon, and also breaking a 6 hour 1/2 ironman in July by 11 minutes- these goals were HUGE, and I couldn’t believe after many years of trying and failing, I move to Cochrane, train in the hardest conditions I’ve ever seen, and I’ve met those goals- all with the support, help and guidance of Coach Angie Anderson!!!

This brings me to Race day- Canada Ironman. I can’t believe I’m here, in my birth country (yes, I’m actually Canadian, but I do talk funny!!) After a great 4 days with Team Tri Life of pre-race activities and workouts, I am ready to take on this day.

Race morning came with minimal sleep, which I expected, and embraced. I got to the transition with Allen, Ty and Mandie (she had driven up on Saturday, to give me my pre-race massage and cheer me on in my long day- I’m so humbled and touched she did that). Allen had picked up his packet, so he had his IM bracelet on that let him get into all the racers areas- HUGE help and support to me. I was surprised that I was a bit more calm than I was at CDA. No tears yet, or freak outs, just going through the day in my mind. I met my Houston friend Shannon at her bike, and we found TTL and got our wetsuits on. Allen said goodbye, and Shannon and I found our way to the beach. I just happened to hear “MOM” and turned and saw Ty and Mandie behind the spectators fence. I quickly ran over and could only reach their hands, and say goodbye. Ty had gotten up at 4am with me- which meant so much to me- (he is 16- do you know how sacred sleep is to a 16 yr. old?) He also, on Saturday night, gave me something. He had found a really pretty shell on the beach, and it happened to have a hole in the middle- he bought some PINK string (yes- I LOVE my pink) and made it into a necklace- I wore it on the bike and run- so special!!

Ok, so Canadian anthem rings in the air- I LOVE the Canadian anthem. It’s my birth home anthem, it’s always been a part of me, and I love hearing it!

Here we go- gun goes off, I tell Shannon she is going to do great (her first IM) and we head out to swim. I LOVE the swim! I’ve always loved to swim. It’s my happy place, even with almost 3,000 other people. This swim wasn’t as violent as IMCDA. I was in a groove from the get go, and was really enjoying it. The course was 1 loop, and going out, other than a few bumps, it was pretty uneventful. Got to the turn around, smelt the nasty fuel smell from all the boats, and turned for home. Even better return- no one was around me, and I just swam. At one point, I think I fell asleep in my mind- I woke up and had to remind myself I was swimming at Ironman. Got out of the water at 1:18. Awesome I thought, I was happy, and feeling great. I wish I could have swam another loop instead of heading out on the bike.

T1- I think I was in transition for about 7 minutes. Got my gear, grabbed my bike, and headed out for what I knew would be the hardest course I’ve ever ridden.

At the mount line, there was the loudspeaker playing music. Ok, so if you know me, you know how cool I thought this was. A BON JOVI song was playing!! I can’t remember what song it was now (it was a long day- I’m sure I lost brain cells). It got me pumped up, and off I went. I was smiling, happy and ready to take on the long day on the bike. Saw some TTL supporters, (but not Allen, Ty and Mandie). Bike course was actually really good. There were a few moments of mental lows, but I got through them, and my main thoughts were “soft pedal and lose Richter's”. These were Coach Angie’s tips for the bike course. The first 40 miles are faster, and you can push too hard at the beginning. So here I was, letting people fly by me, and thinking to myself “see ya later- I’ll catch ya when you are too tired.” Thankfully, we rode the course at camp in July, and I knew after mile 40, you make a turn, and you are now on Richter’s Pass. An 11k (7 mile) ALL uphill climb! The flat Houston girl in me is thinking “who thought is would be fun to put a 40 minute climb in this race”. But I was prepared, and just pedaled up the hill, enjoying the cheers from the crowds that drove out to yell you up the climb. Rest of the bike was great. No issues, stuck to nutrition, and heart rate stayed where it need to stay. Got to Yellow Lake climb, and again, knowing the course- knew that this was it- “get up yellow and you’re golden, home free, you got the hardest part done” (Yellow Lake climb is at around 90 miles into race). After that climb, comes the decent. I HATE this decent. It’s a steep, windy, and usually cross winds decent. Angie made us ride this decent Thursday before the race. I didn’t want to do it, because it scared me to death at camp in July. But, I did it on Thursday to try to break through my fears, and I hated it on Thursday, but did it. So, here we are on race day- here comes the decent. I can do this, I thought, just relax and go. I’m sure everyone else hated this- but there was a headwind. I LOVED this! Ha. It made me feel more steady, and my speeds were faster than the other 2 times I descended. And then, the tears came- I was crying- but they were happy tears. I had a breakthrough on this descent. “I can do this- I’m not scared”. It was awesome!! On the homestretch now, and I got to see Ty, Allen, Lane, Mandie and her fiance David. I waved, smiled, and was so happy the bike was almost done. I finished it in 7:04 I think.

T2- came in, took my time getting my compression socks on (prayed I didn’t cramp getting them on!) And headed out of T2, here comes the run- the “cool down” as us crazy people like to call the marathon in the IM.

Felt pretty good coming out on the run, was happy, ready to tackle this last part of the race. Saw some fellow TTL racers, and was so happy to cheer them on, and be cheered on. I saw Angie around 6k on the course, and told her about my breakthrough on the bike, and was so happy. I then saw Allen, Ty and Lane, Mandie and David. I was doing ok, and going a pretty good pace. Left them, and caught up to John Bosma around 8 or 9k. We said hi, and I started running again, when around 10k, something happened that I wasn’t expecting. Stomach cramps (side stitches on both sides) and my mental state took a huge dive. So here I was walking. Thankfully, John caught up with me, and we walked together for a bit, then started running together. (remember how I said God provides for your needs- John was my running hero!!) We ended up staying together, even though I told him to go on, I didn’t want to ruin his race, but he informed me that I was helping him too (he helped me way more that I could ever have helped him). We run/walked for a while, which helped, and said hi to all the TTL runners who were all looking better than I felt, but mentally I was still ruined. I don’t know why. Got to a mile before the turn around, and surprisingly, there were my boys and Allen sitting on a concrete wall. John said he would walk ahead while I stopped for a minute to say hi. I needed them at this point, and it was then that I bent over the concrete wall and sobbed. “I don’t want to do this anymore” were my words, and “death would be better than this” was my fav. phrase on the run. I just mentally couldn’t break through and it was killing me. I wanted everyone else to join my pity party, but the best thing that John said to me after I calmed down and started moving again was “Suck it up”!! It shocked me at first, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. John- for that I’m grateful!!. So here we go, got to the timing mats at the turn around, and our feet are pointed in the right direction- toward the finish!! (yes, it would still be 3 hrs away, but at least were weren’t running away from it anymore). Off we walked/ran, and actually got some good stretches of running in. John and I had fun playing leap frog with a few people, and we made a fun game of it with them, which passed some time.

We counted down the miles/km’s we had to go, and enjoyed hearing spectators encouraging words. (but if I heard one more “you’re almost there” at mile 20- i was gonna choke someone). The best sentence we heard was “Way to battle it out there”- yes, that’s what the run is, a battle. A battle of wills. A battle of your mind and your body wanting to quit, but your heart and your desire want to finish more than you want to quit. So you battle! You plod, you walk, you run, and you get through it. 1 mile left, and out pop Ty and Lane to run a bit with us. I loved it- it was such a huge high for me. I love that they are proud, and excited to see their mom do something crazy like this. I also came up to Allen, Mandie and David, and knew I was almost done- almost, until you take a left turn, when, if you take a right- the finish line is RIGHT THERE!! WHAT?? Who thought of this?? You have to run a 1/4 mile AWAY from the finish line, on the same dang street! Oh this is cruel! But once you got to the end cone, you turn around, you turn and know what’s ahead. Angie and TTL were at that turn around, and it was such an amazing site. High fives, and cheers from them get you through that. Angie started running with us, and the athlete in me started to tell her how horrible the run was- but the coach in her said “are you going to finish this IM?” I said, “Yes”, she then said “who cares what happened, go finish this”!! Oh I loved those words. John and I ran in together and this time, I took the time at the awesome blue carpet that funnels you into the finish line, to high five any strangers hand that was sticking out. I was thrilled, I was happy, I was touching that awesome shell necklace that Ty made, I was done! I am an Ironman again. I did it. I battled against my mind, and my body that were screaming at me to quit, but I WON, I didn’t quit. And with John’s help, I didn’t walk the whole last half of the marathon.

The finish was amazing, that they have “catchers” to help you once you cross. And I saw Cindy, and Danny from TTL. They caught John and I, and we got our pictures taken with them. It was so cool, to finish and have people you know caring for your physical needs and making sure you don’t collapse. Another surprise was seeing Allen there in the finishers area too. Because he had his IM athlete wrist band on, he was able to get back there. So he was with me right when I finished.

14:45 was my finish time. I know I shouldn’t care, but it was 17 minutes slower than my first IM. After 3 days of feeling a little down about that, I have come to realize many things. (1)it wasn’t the same course, so I can’t compare. (2) No one cares but me about my finish time- I FINISHED an Ironman..again! I haven’t heard anyone say “oh that’s a bad IM time” to me or anyone else- we all do 140.6 miles that day, and we all are winners no matter how long or fast it takes. (3) I am stronger now having battled things on that course that I didn’t plan on battling (4) IM is a day that gives and takes away, it’s all about the journey.

I am so grateful to have done IM Canada, and to be apart of an amazing Triathlon Team in Team Tri Life. I have made new friends, and have enjoyed training with so many of you guys, you have no idea how much it means to me. I had nothing, no one when I moved here 13 months ago. I was longing for tri buddies again, and you guys welcomed Allen and I into your group and let us become part of an amazing group of people- for that I am so grateful. John Bosma- you are my forever IMC running hero and buddy!

To my awesome family and friends, who supported me long distance- who tracked me all day, and posted on FB, I am so thankful for your love and support.

To Mandie- you have a huge part in my IM journey of getting my body ready for this huge task. I love you so much and cherish our friendship.

To Angie- words cannot express my gratitude to you. You have gotten this girl to do amazing things that I NEVER thought I would do. You believed in me, encouraged me, and your approach to coaching is life changing!! I love you bunches!!

And to Allen, and my boys! Boys- I pray that this inspires you to do anything your heart desires. It takes work and dedication, but whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart. And Allen- I know how hard it was for you to go from competitor, to supporter. You should have been on the course with me, but things didn’t go the way we planned. You are my number one fan, and for that, I am forever grateful. I will happily sit out and support you in your next IM goal, wherever it is. I am so lucky to be your wife.

Ok- I’m done now. Sorry for the book. But for a year long journey, what do you expect :)