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?
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