Ironman Canada Race Report
The Extended Version
Location: Penticton, British Columbia
Description: 3.8 km Swim, 180 km Bike, 42.1 km Run
Website: www.ironman.ca
* WARNING: This is very long (could have been longer) and is pretty much just a spewing of thoughts that I jotted down during my trip to Ironman Canada. Hopefully you might find some interesting/entertaining stuff but I’ve included a lot of things so that I can remember what happened.
WednesdayFlew out of Toronto at 11am on Air Canada.
Maybe this is not new but it is great to see Air Canada finally getting into the modern age and having touch screen on-demand personal entertainment devices at each seat. It was really cool and made the 5+ hour flight much easier to cope with.
Finally landed in Penticton at 5 pm (a bit delayed). Got picked up by Doug Copithorne at Best Car Rentals. Got our rental car (Doug upgraded us to a SUV at no extra charge—sweet) and made an immediate beeline for the ECM Tent to throw down a bunch of cash at Ironman Canada merchandise. I was only in town for 1 hr and spent $500+ already.
Checked in at Lakewynd B&B, and then went to dinner at the Hillside Estates Winery.
Had Potato & Leek Soup, Spinach Salad (w/ blueberries, papaya & goat cheese, and a New York Strip Steak, and a few glasses of wine. Then it was off to bed for a nice sleep at 11:15pm.
ThursdayHeaded down to Okanagan Lake and had a 20 minute swim. Drove down to the Carmi Hotel to pick up my bike from Aubrey Bryce (Enduro Training Systems), the best bike shipping service around. Then headed back to Okanagan Park for race kit pick-up.
Spent some more time in town before heading back to the B & B.
Went for a 45-minute bike ride, followed by a 20 minute run.
Went to the Welcome Dinner. The regular sort of stuff had a decent spread. Lasagna, Cheese Ravioli, BBQ ¼ chicken, pasta salad, regular salad, brownies, Gatorade and water.
Friday
Got up at 8am, weighed in at 170 lbs and went for a 41 minute run on the KVR Trail. Everything felt great and the scenery along the trail made me wish that I lived and trained here.
Got back to the B&B for a shower, breaky (Omelette, 2 pcs of toast with jam, juice, and coffee).
Drove into town, met with the gang (Marie, Angus, and JP). They went for a ride along the run course while I stayed in Okanagan Park to walk around the expo again and to see the pro press conference.
Had a late lunch (2:30pm) at the Sumac Ridge Winery Bistro with Wifey, Michelle and Angus. A must do if you are in Penticton. We ate tons. I had a goat cheese platter, kosher salt fries with blackberry ketchup, sirloin steak, and 3 types of ice cream. I knew that I probably threw on an extra few pounds in this sitting but it was well worth it. On the way out I bought a few bottles of their special edition Ironman Canada wines.
Got back into town at 4:50pm and attended the Welcome Banquet. I knew from last year that for some unexplainable reason people start lining up for this thing over an hour before the doors open. We arrived at a perfect time because we walked right in and joined the food line (like we needed to eat more). We did have to sit in the overflow section outside but that was fine. Since we did not need more food, we took the opportunity to stock up on Gatorade, pop and water. They did show some nice videos and presented lots of stuff about the history of the race but other than this you really don’t need to attend this dinner. Use the money you would have used for tickets for your family and take them to a nice dinner in town or at some winery.
Ooops. Almost forgot to mention that Angus had a case of the waterworks during a video clip of Dick Hoyt talking about his son. Caught you in the act buddy. I could not resist mentioning it.
The whole gang was in a social mood so we wasted a bunch of time chatting outside the convention centre and then made our way over to Salty’s at 9:30pm for some drinks and some eats. I had a giant pint of Naramata Nut Brown Ale (I think I’m hooked on this stuff—smooth, refreshing and no aftertaste), and 12 East Coast Oysters. We checked out of there at 10:45 pm and called it a night.
At the B&B I packed my transition bags, showered, weighed in at 178.5 lbs, and hit the sack at 12:30 pm.
Saturday
Woke up at 8:30 am, weighed in at 172.5 lbs (what a relief), had breaky and left for town with all my equipment.
Got to the race site at 10 am and quickly checked in my Bike and Transition Bags.
Walked around the Expo again, chatted with the Triathlon Magazine Canada guys, caught up with the rest of the gang and we went for lunch at the Penticton Lakeside Hotel. Took advantage of their great deal (BBQ Chicken Breast sandwich and salad bar for $10-12).
We all broke off to do our own thing, and the Wifey and I went to the movies and saw the “Bourne Identity”.
It was then off to Subway for my traditional night-before meal. I ordered a Footlong Oven Roasted Chicken Breast.
Back at the B&B I started on my Infinit mixing, eating, relaxing, showering, shaving, and prepping my stuff for race day. The Infinit mixing is long process since I was fitting in 12 scoops of fuel into one bike bottle, along with 4 scoops into a Fuel Belt flask. It takes quite a while for the mix to settle before you can put in more power and start again. But I will put up with this minor irritant because it is the fuel source that works best for me in Ironman racing.
Feel asleep in between 10 and 10:30 pm.
Sunday
Woke up at 3:15 am and had 2 bottles of Vanilla Boost and 1 Powerbar (Milk Chocolate Brownie), and went back to bed.
Got up again for the final time at 5:15 am, got ready for the day, had another bottle of Boost and sipped on my Infinit Ironman race formula up until race start.
Got to transition at 6:05 am. Got bodymarked, put nutrition in run transition bag, and did some final prep on my bike. I waited until the 5 minutes to go to make my final Porta-potty stop, I was the last one to cross the timing mats and made my way to the water. Someone zipped me up at the waters edge and a minute later the cannon went off the start the race.
Goal: Be patient, do the race at the top end of Zone 2 (150 bpm), and see what happens.
Swim: I started at the back and due to the water being so shallow it took about 2 minutes of wading before I could actually start swimming. Since this was my 4th swim of the year, I was not out to set any speed records, just getting through it healthy was the prime objective. Other than the multitude of swimmers zigzagging all over the course it was fairly enjoyable swim. Not the smash-em up derby like Lake Placid. I came out of the water in 1:27:30. Average HR: 152 – Ended up being my hardest effort all day.
T1 - 5:53. I changed outside the tent to make sure I didn’t sit down. I made sure to secure my own transition bag so I lost some time there.
Bike: The plan was to ride steady and controlled the whole way. If I felt like I was racing I would back off. I made sure to get in all my Infinit so I would not bonk later. I had a few bouts of GI problems but nothing major. Popping salt tablets seemed to settle things down. I took a brief pee break at the bottom of the Richter Pass climb, and saw that I needed to take in more fluids.
The wind picked up big time with about 60 km to go. I haven’t ridden in winds like that since the National Duathlon Championships in 2006. It forced me to be very careful on that huge downhill section back into town. I completed the bike in 6:21:10 with an Avg. HR of 145 bpm.
T2 - 6:50. Went inside the tent, changed into run shorts, got on my Adidas Formotion Control shoes, my fanny pack, put Vaseline on some vital areas, made a Porta-potty stop, and headed out on the run with my pal John Clark.
Run: John and I ran together for about 5 miles and then he let me go on my way after an aid station. Unlike last year, I behaved myself and kept my HR between 145 and 150 bpm.
I really wanted to get revenge on the hills late in the course and maintain my pace throughout. I sipped Infinit and water for the first 13 miles but I was soon getting sick of it and wanted something else. I started snacking on Sport Beans and wanted more, unfortunately I only had one package. I finished the first half of the marathon in 2:22:37. Not exactly what I wanted but patience is key on this run course.
I knew at that point that breaking 13 hours would happen if I could maintain my current pace. However, I wanted a 12:45 so I picked up the pace slightly. I started drinking cola, chicken soup and water at each aid station and got a boost of energy. I was able to maintain approx. 10:30 per mile pace (including aid station walks) and started pushing the pace a bit more when I got back onto Main Street. With 2 km to go I just gave it all I had, finished that last 2km in 10 minutes, scared the people I passed with my horse snorting, and crossed the finish line in 12:42:14. My personal best time and 31 minutes faster than Lake Placid five weeks ago.
I had actually negative split the marathon! Running the last half in 2:18:14. Out of everything I am most surprised and proud of that. My Avg. HR for the run was 148 bpm.
My Avg. HR for the entire day was 149 bpm, and I burned off 11 492 calories. I’ve never felt so fresh after an Ironman race.
After finishing I had a nice long chat with Wifey and Michelle. Then get my finisher picture taken, had a Powerbar Recovery drink, and got a great massage. I was starting to feel especially chilly so I nixed my plans of “icing” my legs in the lake.
Gathered all my belongings and went back to the B & B. Showered changed and headed back to town to watch JP and Angus finish.
JP finished in 14 and change and Angus rolled in at a comfortable 16:30ish. headed back to the B & B. I was wired and did not fall asleep until 3 am.
The stats:
Swim – 1:27:30
T1 – 5:53
Bike – 6:21:10
T2 – 6:50
Run – 4:40:51 (2:22:37/2:18:14)
Total – 12:42:14
Monday August 27th
I really did not sleep much, I was still hyped from the race and going through it in my head a million times, wondering where I could have been faster. Got up at 6 am and did not bother trying to go back to sleep.
Had breaky and went to the race site. The line-ups for race registration was nuts, and so was the lines for pictures and the merchandise tent. So I decided to drop off my bike to Aubrey first and come back later when the lines hopefully would be shorter.
Dropped off the bike, visited Starbucks (Lite Mocha Frapp), hooked up with the rest of the crew, and finally got my pictures, results, and checked out the finishers stuff (resisted the temptation to buy anything).
We tried to have lunch at the Dream Café (healthy but really tasty food) but they were closed on Mondays. So the A & R Ironman crew headed up to the Lost Moose Lodge. Nestled on the east side of one mountains neighboring Penticton, this place had an awesome view of the city. The lunch menu was half decent and their burgers had some unique ingredients. Their dinner menu looked much better. We ate tons anyway, and had some more Naramata Nut Brown Ale.
Went back to the B & B and napped from 2 – 5:45 pm.
Made our way to the Awards Banquet at 6:30 pm (making sure to be at least 1 hr late), and walked right in. Got some food/slop (No taste chicken breast, Fake Ribs/McRib, overdressed Caesar salad, rice & chickpeas, a small offering of desserts, water, pop and Gatorade. Definitely not worth the $35 some people had to pay to get their family and friends in.
This was also the most boring event I’ve ever sat through. It is best to go and have a nice dinner with family and friends and then show up in time to see the Pro awards presentation, the race video, and get a copy of the DVD.
Interesting note on the DVD this year. While the video was playing, I walked out of the hall and 2 ladies were giving them out (they usually wait until it ends), so I got a copy and was hustling out to tell my friends to hurry up and get theirs before the madness begins. By the time I get them the mad rush for the video has started and the ladies announce that they had run out of videos, and that everyone had to contact NA Sports to have a copy mailed to them (after paying the shipping fee of course). Needless to say that there were a ton of angry people since they only had 2 boxes worth of videos. The ladies were facing the wrath of the crowd and so they quickly packed up and got out of there.
People still waited in the lobby for their videos for at least 20 minutes (not believing that they ran out already) and no one made any further announcements. Most of the peeved off throng eventually dispersed and only a small few remained just chatting with each other (as our group was doing). Suddenly, some NA Sports staff run in with a huge shipment of DVD’s. They were wondering where everyone was and we told them what transpired. They commented that someone should not have made that announcement that they ran out of DVD’s because they had enough for everyone. So basically whoever was left hanging around the convention centre luckily got their videos. Not good, but it was the only poor organizational thing I’ve seen all weekend though.
Since it was our last night in Penticton together, we all went out to a pub (KVR Brew Pub? At the Ramada). We enjoyed some beverages, had a fun time, and left just after midnight.
Back at the B & B, Wifey and I packed like mad because our flight left at 6:50am. I finished packing at around 3:30 am and hit the sack.
Tuesday August 28
Left the B & B at 5:40 am, got to the airport at 6 am, checked in quickly (my suitcase weight 53 lbs—the 5 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of Gatorade helped contribute to that).
Waited for the flight and saw Lance Watson and Lucy Smith. They ended up sitting right in front of us on the flight. We flew out on time at 6:50 am.
Our flight was delayed in Vancouver. We boarded on time (an older plane from 1988, a 767-300), but sat on the plane for 75 minutes for it to take off. It finally took off at 10:33 am (1:33 pm Toronto time) and we landed in Toronto at 5:15pm. There was no fancy entertainment system on this flight so I used the time to finish at book called “Full Time in Sub-Nine.” A solid read but I didn’t really learn anything I didn’t already know. A lot I learned at the race a few days ago.
Other stuff:
After 13 Ironmans I think that I may have figured out how to race this thing. I’ve never felt so fresh during and after an Ironman race. Yes, I had lots left but who knows what would have happened if I took the risk and pushed too hard. I’ll save the risk taking for short course racing.
No more banning of alcohol before the race. With all the great wineries in the area I was unable to resist every day and I had my best race.
Angus Kim: Congrats on another Ironman finish. This time as a married man.
Johnny P: I know you wanted to go faster but you did wicked with what fitness you had. Congrats. Thanks for waiting for me in T2, running together for that 4-5 miles was fun.
Thanks to the A & R Ironman Crew (Lana & Michelle) for all your support and cheering all day. We couldn’t do it without you guys. Marie – tough luck but you will achieve your goal one day.
Thanks to Ian at www.imfit.ca for his guidance for the past few months in making sure I improved my aerobic engine on both the bike and run, for the FIST bike fitting (I’ve never been as comfortable on my bike), and his fitness testing services (which accurately determined all of my HR training/racing zones). All of these were key to all of the improvements I made this season. Don't mess around with your bike fit and go to see him. Also if you are serious about your training, you need to get a fitness test done.
If you plan on doing this race here are a few tips:
- Pick up your race kit on Friday (crazy long line-ups on Thursday but none on Friday).
- Don’t waste your money buying Banquet tickets for your family. It is a huge rip-off and the food is absolutely horrid. Monday’s dinner saw the return of the McRib – not a good thing.
- There really is no reason to show up to either banquet (unless it is the second one where they give out the DVD – even then you can show up late). Very boring, bad food and huge line-ups to get in (people start lining up over and hour before). If you show up an hour late you can walk right in though.
