Ironman Canada Race Report

As I began my first year racing professionally I knew that my calling card into the upper ranks of the sport would be my swim. With Kona being the biggest stage that our sport has to offer it was my goal to re-qualify and return to the Big Island and lead the pro field onto the Queen-K and garner media attention for my sponsors. This venture is a business and I seek to put the Pro back in Professional. With this in mind I set Subaru Ironman Canada (having no qualms what-so-ever with putting Subaru in front of that!) as my goal for the season in hopes of attaining a slot and heading back out to Hawaii. After some early hiccups I finally got back on track in May and things have been going very well since then. Successful racing at 5430 Sprint, Loveland Lake2Lake and Boulder Peak had buoyed my confidence in the lead up to IMC. My final build to the race went very well and upon arriving in Penticton I was ready.

The day before was very relaxing as was race morning and in no time I was down at the beach getting into my suit and ready to go. I got about 5 minutes or so of swim warm up in and set up at the start line. Not one for the washing machine antics that go on in the main field I lined up about 30m to the outside. Maranatha fires and we are off. Within a minute I could tell that Matt Clark and Jan Siebberson had separated themselves from the field and I slowly moved over to draft off them and get a free ride into T1. Very rare that the fastest 3 swimmers in Ironman triathlon are at the same race, so I just took advantage of it and floated nice and easy through the swim. No need for the extra energy expenditure. Coming from Colorado (the plains at least) and before that Texas, swimming in lakes tends to be a rather murky affair. Lake Okanagan could not be the polar opposite. It is crystal clear and clean, my only disappointment in the swim was that I did not see any sign of Ogopogo. :(

Zipped into and out of the T1 tent without much hesitation and headed out to the bike. Up and onto my rig and time to go. I allowed myself the downtown section to get the power spikes out of me (crowd, excitement, etc) and settled in quickly. The crowds were awesome and rivaled the sort that you get in Kona. I passed Matt on Main St. and then got by Jan only a mile or two later along the shores of Lake Skaha. I was once again in the lead of an Ironman. The last time I had such privilege was nearly four years ago as a naïve unknowing spastic kid who had just gone off the front of the swim at Ironman Wisconsin.

As much as I wanted to look around at the natural beauty that is this region of Canada I was on a mission. This is my job and the task at hand was riding my bike fast… not looking at the pretty hillsides, fruit farms and vineyards. Having spoken with my friend Jonathan Caron (2nd place last year), I had a well laid out power plan for the course. All the way down to Osoyoos and the start of Richter pass I was holding back like no other. The drop down from altitude leaves you feeling invincible but I kept telling myself… “There’s a WHOLE MARATHON after this bike you idiot… and you’ve never run the whole way… SO CHILL!!!” Seemingly eternally present on my left side was a motorcycle of some sort. Be it photographers, video crews or, and only on one occasion, a ref. I don’t think I have had my picture taking that many times on one in day in my life!

The climb up Richter was no biggie. Occasionally someone would try and give me a split but I would decline. This was my race and I was racing just the way I needed to race. Over the top of Richter and down to the Similkameen Valley. The descent is ripping fast and as I headed down I could hear the very loud whop-whop-whop-whop of the TV helicopter coming up beside me. The road hugs the side of a valley and the helicopter was flying at level or a little below me. I thought that it was just going to grab a few seconds of footage and then take off but it just kept sitting there… HOW COOL!!!!!!!!!! Now I know why Faris likes to ride off the front! At the conclusion of the descent you are thrown at, what are known as, the “7 Bitches.” They are some steep rollers as you head up the valley and known for being the hardest part of the course. Again having spoken with Jonathan I knew what to expect. Spin up, accelerate over, coast down. It was my mantra throughout this little section. In the end I actually thought this stretch quite easy because I had put so much mental prep into it and when I actually got to it... it wasn’t all that bad.

Mentally the road in the Similkameen Valley is the toughest part. You are done with Richter and Yellow Lake is still a ways off. It is very easy in this section to just drift off and to a degree I was guilty of this. Even on the out and back stretch my attention just seemed to waver. I could tell as my watts were dropping and I wasn’t consciously doing anything about it. Finally at the turn around in Cawston I saw Bryan and began to get some motivation to pick it up… and then I got my biggest motivator. Scott tells it much better than I here and I also heard stories from others. I came to this race because it is a course that is known for clean riding with the hills, flats, winds, rollers and 10m draft zone to break things up. Not entirely sure that this was in full effect on Sunday. :( Ironman is a non-drafting event and even when the referees are not present it is the athlete’s moral duty to abide by the rules. I think we need to hire a bunch of Moms to be the refs… then things might be set straight.

Turning off of Upper Bench road the climb to Yellow Lake begins. Coming from Colorado it’s not really much of a climb but more like a false flat. Yes, there are some steeper sections that you navigate but if you have paced correctly up to this point you are down in the bars and cranking up it. The sections around the turn off to Apex and the final 2 to 3k to the top get steeper and this is where the crowds were large and the support huge. I had held back the entire ride and on this final climb finally gave it (not really but in feeling I did). Watts were perfect, nutrition awesome, spirits high. After passing the lake and the top of the climb I BOMBED down the looooong descent back to town. Long, fast, slightly technical and with a hint of wind. It was nice to let the legs chill the whole way down and once back on Main Street I gave them a shake to sort of ask… “Hey… how you guys feeling?” The response… “ROCKIN’” Perfect. It was time to run my first whole marathon.

Game.

On.

Coming down Main Street was crazy. It was as if the route was lined for the last 3 miles with the citizens of Penticton out to greet us. Got down to the T area and had a SEAMLESS transition. I was into and out of the tent like lightning. I felt AWESOME! Into and around downtown the crowd support was great. However… I was on a mission and was focused. I had a LOT of work ahead of me and kept my head on straight. Just as I was about to come back into “Hot Corner” Jonathan came around the turn. We both immediately made our ways to the center line of the street and gave each other a high five. Jonathan has helped me a LOT this year and he is also the hometown guy for Penticton. The fans on the corner saw this and when I got to the corner I was greeted with a ROAR from the crowd. Thanks JC for that little bit of P-town love. :)

Out on Main St. and then down lakeshore I was settling in little by little. My breathing was relaxed, my cadence high and nutrition was going down easily. I was actually starting to feel, dare I say it, comfortable. I liked it. I also knew there was a looooong way to go. Once along Lake Skaha the crowds thinned and the winds picked up. This was nice as being a “bigger dude” anything to cool you off is very much welcomed. Bryan came by me about 10k in and I had to relinquish the time clock on the Tribeca. This was expected (duh… not like I was going to win one of these in my first go at it) and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. The last 2-3 miles before the run turn around in OK Falls are NUTS! The course sends you up and down on the hills and your body just begins to take a beating. Jasper came by me in this section on his way to trying to get up to Bryan. I still was not troubled by the effort or the course and was pleased with how things were going. Down to the turn around and back up a long grade and I was still feeling good (it’s relative… I know). Mile 15 to 16 probably was the best I felt the whole course. I had a good rhythm, still was plugging away cola and water and mentally was quite upbeat.

Then… “it” happened. “It”… a funny thing that “it” is. I just began to slow. It wasn’t a bonk, it wasn’t a blow up (not sure that breathing through one’s nose precedes a blow up), I just started to tie up and go slower. Having never run a full IM marathon… this was entirely new to me. I had never felt this and began to store away my memories of this feeling for future reference. I kept plugging away but the pace was slowing badly. It was becoming a shuffle but like hell I was going to walk. I came to finish this off and running the whole way was part of the deal. This was not fun. I began to see amigos and amigas heading the other way with no ability to say anything to them. I was solely focused and pouring all my energies into that focus that would get me to the line. It was painful in these last 10 miles to get passed as often as I did and to be powerless to do anything about it. I knew as guys came by that it was likely that my slot to Kona was somewhere in the mix heading up the road without me.

Coming down Main, much of the crowd recognized me as being the leader for most of the day and the cheers were warm and supportive. The rain was starting and I was still gritting it to the line. Finally on Lakeshore and out to the little out-and-back… seeing a few guys baring down on me I gave it all I had. More pain… I got caught by two of them… one while in the chute. This stings… and only adds to the fire of determination that is burning inside me. My run is only going to improve. I am finally on the right path with regards to this as my career. I WILL get better. My time at the front of these is only going to get longer and longer and longer till I am able to stay off the front for the whole day. I am determined and I will get it done.

I give thanks every day for being able to pursue a career that I love so much. A couple quotes that I feel are good “themes” for my journey…

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Howard Thurman

“Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference”

Robert Frost

This is a BEAUTIFUL bike course and the fan support along the roads and the people in their cars giving out little “toot toots” of support were AMAZING. Belinda said it best in her victory speech. Racing in smaller towns where the community whole heartedly embraces the event is really the best. Penticton is Ironman Canada.

Big big big kudos to Bryan. I am very very very proud of him for having his nose to the wind the whole day and still pulling out the victory. Ch(b)eers mate when we get back to Boulder.

Lastly a thank you to my sponsors, supporters and friends. This venture is only made possible because of you. Thank you.

MattGiven.com, XTERRA Wetsuits, TYR, Wheelbuilder.com, Colorado Multisports, Boulder Running Company, PowerGel, Beaker Concepts, TRI-Swim, Phys Farm Race Day, Rotor Cranks, Succeed and TRI-Massage.