>Hey guys,
>Well as you can see by the results I didn't exactly rip it up out
>there.
>Despite making some mistakes and having a bit of bad luck, I really
>enjoyed the experience and feel like I can have a good go at the
>distance. It is a bloody hard race and I met my most basic goals (ie
>finishing, enjoying the experience and learning a tonne). My motto
>for the race was to:
>Relish in the difficulty of the task.
>
>I spent the Friday before the race doing what my Ironman mentor and
>podium finisher Jasper Blake told me to do-eat as much as you can
>and stay off of your feet. I did this and by Saturday I was bored
>and bloated, which is exactly how you should feel. Luckily I had
>some good friends come down and we relaxed and played poker. After a
>sleepless night the night before the race, I woke up around 3:30AM
>is for breakfast and my first coffee in a few weeks (being a serious
>coffee addict, I may have been anticipating this as much as
>anything). I was super wired and convinced myself that no matter how
>the day played out I was going to have more fun than anyone else out
>there.
>It is hard to describe the general vibe at an Ironman, especially
>Ironman Canada (IMC), as 2700 people are about to put months of
>preparation to the ultimate physical and mental test. This was the
>largest Ironman field ever. So walking into the transition area and
>seeing 2700 bikes (at about $2500 average per bike) and wetsuit clad
>physically fit nervous and excited people is amazing. These races
>are very well run and everyone from world champs to 200lbs women who
>may not make the swim cut-off time are treated as if they were the
>best in the sport.
>After getting my nutrition together and an easy warmup, I lined up
>alongside the other pros and waited for the 6:45AM swim start. I had
>a great start and was leading the second pack (4 guys off the front)
>for the first mile of the 3.8 mile swim. We rounded a boat out in
>the lake and started swimming directly into the sun, I couldn't see
>the next buoy and was off course. The person behind me was hitting
>my feet and I was getting a bit frustrated by this. I was told to
>conserve energy in the swim, so decided to let someone else lead for
>a bit. This was a poor decision, as the second I turned onto my back
>to let them pass about 30 people swam over top of me. Oh well, it
>had been a clean swim until then. I refocused and got going again
>and swam through a fair number of people. The swim in an Ironman is
>very boring and very easy. It can be very hard to stay focused. I
>ended up having a below average swim, but hadn't used up unnecessary
>energy and was right in with some key players.
>After a quick change out of my wetsuit, I headed out onto the bike.
>the race starts with an out and back along the main drag and there
>were thousands of people cheering. they were lined 3 or 4 deep the
>whole way along the 5 mile strip. I was flying and having a blast, I
>actually started laughing, mostly because of how ridiculous the task
>that I was bout to undertake was.
>At about 10k in I was in about 15th, and with a solid group of guys.
>A few competitors went flying by me, but I was racing by heart rate
>(I had certain limits to ensure I never went too hard, or too easy)
>and these guys would have pushed me well beyond my limits. I knew
>that I was doing exactly what I needed to be doing. this kept up
>along the firt few hills, until at 30k, one of my worst scenarios
>happened, I got a flat tire. Although I had a spare and a pump, I
>forgot to bring the extension to pump up my disc wheel (rookie
>mistake #1). It turns out that some idiot had thrown tacks on the
>road and several hundred people flated (I was the first). I ended up
>waiting almost 15 minutes for the support vehicle to come and
>another 5 or so for them to pump up my tires. Needless to say, I was
>now out of the money, so I change my focus to enjoying the
>experience and salvaging the most that I could out of the race.
>Within about 3 minutes of getting going this massive pack of men
>came by and I'm not sure if it's because I had a pro number on or
>what, but they all started sprinting and being idiots-you want to
>race one of these at a steady rate. At that moment, an official on a
>motorcycle rode up to me and called me for drafting (you must stay
>7m behind the athlete in front of you). I had to get off my bike and
>have a red slash put across my number (triathlon's scarlet letter).
>Needless to say this not how I had anticipated the first 2.5 hours
>of my race going. But as I said, nothing was going to ruin my day,
>so set my sights on getting back in my heart rate zones and racing
>my race. It was pretty uneventful for the next 90 or so kms. I
>focused on getting in calories (almost all liquid with a few bars).
>At about 130km you start a long steady climb, that happened to be
>straight into a headwind. this is where I suffered my first real
>mental setback. I was going very slow and was puking up water. for
>some reason, my digestive system shut down a bit and wasn't taking
>in fluids, a potentially very bad scenario. I don't know why it shut
>down, maybe too much sodium, too big a breakfast (my stomach was too
>busy digesting to be able to take in more food at a high intensity).
>I was hating life at this moment, but I worked through this patch
>and hit the final climb, but still couldn't take on food. there is
>really only one option though-keep trying to get food and water in
>until it sticks. After the last 10k climb, there is a long downhill.
>Normally this would be fun and fast, but there was a sick crosswind
>and my disc wheel was acting more as a sail than as an aid. I had to
>sit up in order to slow down (I also didn't fully trust my spare
>tube at the time). the best part of the ride was my support crew and
>all the people out cheering you along the course. My mom and friends
>were going crazy, leap frogging me in a car. I never knew where I'd
>see them, so I'd just put my head down and go until they would
>apper, going mental with bells and car horns-thanks guys, you made
>it a fun 180k!!!
>Finally after a LOOONG time on the bike (about 30-40min longer than
>I had planned), I rode into town and was looking forward to tearing
>it up on the run. But first I had to serve my 4min drafting penalty.
>you can't do anything in the sin bin. I actually broke the rules and
>ended up spending the time peeing myself (I had to go and there was
>nowhere to do it- extreme endurtance sports reduce you down to your
>most basic states-all periferal social norms go out the window and
>you just take care of your primitive needs). Once out onto the run I
>was flying, I must have passed about 30 people in the first mile -I
>was quite far down field though :) At about 2 miles, my gut went on
>me and I had to run into the bathroom with some serious issues (you
>doce n't need to go to Mexico to experience the joys of gut rot,
>just go hard for 6-7 hours). I spent the next 10k running fast for
>about 3 minutes, then running into fast food joints to use the
>facilities. I felt quite silly running into harvey's in covered in
>sweat, in my race kit, with people in the restaurant yelling, "Have
>a great race" as I was running out. The only consolation is that
>when I could run, I was flying. I played leap frog with a lot of
>people, passing them, then they would plod along passed me as I was
>incapacitated, then I would pass them again... Fun stuff this
>Ironman racing. My biggest concern now was getting back the calories
>and fluids that were passing through me quite fast. I ran passed mom
>and lauren and straight into a port'o potty. when I got out they
>were there cheering-I told you, you are stripped of all ego. I
>warned them that I might end up having to walk the run and that I
>might be a while. At bout 15k in, the lack of calories caught up to
>me and I was reduced to walking 50 steps, then running 50 steps. I
>have never walked in a triathlon before. But we were running into a
>30km/hr head wind and I had nothing left, once again the ego took a
>backseat to survival. there was no way that I was going to stop
>though. At each aid station (every mile) I would take on coke and
>gatorade and sponge off (it was over 30 degrees C at this point).
>Finally I hit the half way mark in my slowest ever 21k run (1:50).
>Because the run was an out and back though I saw a lot people in
>front of me who looked rougher than me. I'm not sure if the calories
>finally kicked in, or if my competitive nature took over, but I was
>able to start running without digestive problems. I was flying on
>the way home. Everything hurt, I could feel every muscle in my feet
>hamstrings and quads, but I was on automatic mode. I began counting
>my strides, starting at 50, then 40... and would try to get fatser
>throughout and would repeat until I got to the next aide station
>where I would slow down and get in the calories. I passed a lot of
>people, but don't really remember it as I was on auo pilot. When I
>finally ran bacvk passed mom and Lauren they were shocked to see me
>so soon as they had figured I'd be a few more hours -how about that
>for undying belief :). I was running so hard at the time that mom
>actually yeld at me to slow down, so I wouldn't hurt myself and to
>enjoy the day. I don't think that she fully understands how much I
>enjoy testing my physical and mental limits. My body was screaming
>at me to slow down, but I was on a mission of sorts-salvage the day
>and catch as many people as possible. Finally I came down the last
>mile and there was a guy with a few minutes on me, I ran my ass off
>and started to sprint with aout 400m to go. Unfortunately he saw me
>and was able to hold me off, but damn was it fun to try. When I
>finally ran down the finishing shoot with people screaming and
>shooting I actually cried from relief and from the total pain that
>my body was in. That is one friggin tough race!!! I ended up with
>one of the top 3 run splits for the second half of the marathon
>(1:29, with a few stops- a 20 min negative split)
>
>In retrospect I probably made a few mistakes-not planning my Friday
>eat better (I think that this is why I had issues on the run-a fair
>bit of undigested food in my system). Not staying focused enough on
>the swim. I forgot to pack an extension valve for my tube. I hadn't
>mentally prepared for a 5:45 bike ride, so may have messed up
>nutrition a bit. But apart from that, I was able to overcome some
>serious setbacks, stay positive, enjoy the experience and test
>myself a bit. Despite a slower time than anticipated, I had only
>set process goals (different than outcome goals-I figured that if I
>was successful in the process, then then outcome would be positive),
>which I acheived. Also, I was able to swallow my ego and finish!
>Right now, 3 days later, I am not crazy sore, just insanely tired
>with deep muscle fatigue.
>I just want to thank you guys for your amazing support.
>Later,
>Adam
Adam
http://cdamaampbell.blogspot.com/
>Well as you can see by the results I didn't exactly rip it up out
>there.
>Despite making some mistakes and having a bit of bad luck, I really
>enjoyed the experience and feel like I can have a good go at the
>distance. It is a bloody hard race and I met my most basic goals (ie
>finishing, enjoying the experience and learning a tonne). My motto
>for the race was to:
>Relish in the difficulty of the task.
>
>I spent the Friday before the race doing what my Ironman mentor and
>podium finisher Jasper Blake told me to do-eat as much as you can
>and stay off of your feet. I did this and by Saturday I was bored
>and bloated, which is exactly how you should feel. Luckily I had
>some good friends come down and we relaxed and played poker. After a
>sleepless night the night before the race, I woke up around 3:30AM
>is for breakfast and my first coffee in a few weeks (being a serious
>coffee addict, I may have been anticipating this as much as
>anything). I was super wired and convinced myself that no matter how
>the day played out I was going to have more fun than anyone else out
>there.
>It is hard to describe the general vibe at an Ironman, especially
>Ironman Canada (IMC), as 2700 people are about to put months of
>preparation to the ultimate physical and mental test. This was the
>largest Ironman field ever. So walking into the transition area and
>seeing 2700 bikes (at about $2500 average per bike) and wetsuit clad
>physically fit nervous and excited people is amazing. These races
>are very well run and everyone from world champs to 200lbs women who
>may not make the swim cut-off time are treated as if they were the
>best in the sport.
>After getting my nutrition together and an easy warmup, I lined up
>alongside the other pros and waited for the 6:45AM swim start. I had
>a great start and was leading the second pack (4 guys off the front)
>for the first mile of the 3.8 mile swim. We rounded a boat out in
>the lake and started swimming directly into the sun, I couldn't see
>the next buoy and was off course. The person behind me was hitting
>my feet and I was getting a bit frustrated by this. I was told to
>conserve energy in the swim, so decided to let someone else lead for
>a bit. This was a poor decision, as the second I turned onto my back
>to let them pass about 30 people swam over top of me. Oh well, it
>had been a clean swim until then. I refocused and got going again
>and swam through a fair number of people. The swim in an Ironman is
>very boring and very easy. It can be very hard to stay focused. I
>ended up having a below average swim, but hadn't used up unnecessary
>energy and was right in with some key players.
>After a quick change out of my wetsuit, I headed out onto the bike.
>the race starts with an out and back along the main drag and there
>were thousands of people cheering. they were lined 3 or 4 deep the
>whole way along the 5 mile strip. I was flying and having a blast, I
>actually started laughing, mostly because of how ridiculous the task
>that I was bout to undertake was.
>At about 10k in I was in about 15th, and with a solid group of guys.
>A few competitors went flying by me, but I was racing by heart rate
>(I had certain limits to ensure I never went too hard, or too easy)
>and these guys would have pushed me well beyond my limits. I knew
>that I was doing exactly what I needed to be doing. this kept up
>along the firt few hills, until at 30k, one of my worst scenarios
>happened, I got a flat tire. Although I had a spare and a pump, I
>forgot to bring the extension to pump up my disc wheel (rookie
>mistake #1). It turns out that some idiot had thrown tacks on the
>road and several hundred people flated (I was the first). I ended up
>waiting almost 15 minutes for the support vehicle to come and
>another 5 or so for them to pump up my tires. Needless to say, I was
>now out of the money, so I change my focus to enjoying the
>experience and salvaging the most that I could out of the race.
>Within about 3 minutes of getting going this massive pack of men
>came by and I'm not sure if it's because I had a pro number on or
>what, but they all started sprinting and being idiots-you want to
>race one of these at a steady rate. At that moment, an official on a
>motorcycle rode up to me and called me for drafting (you must stay
>7m behind the athlete in front of you). I had to get off my bike and
>have a red slash put across my number (triathlon's scarlet letter).
>Needless to say this not how I had anticipated the first 2.5 hours
>of my race going. But as I said, nothing was going to ruin my day,
>so set my sights on getting back in my heart rate zones and racing
>my race. It was pretty uneventful for the next 90 or so kms. I
>focused on getting in calories (almost all liquid with a few bars).
>At about 130km you start a long steady climb, that happened to be
>straight into a headwind. this is where I suffered my first real
>mental setback. I was going very slow and was puking up water. for
>some reason, my digestive system shut down a bit and wasn't taking
>in fluids, a potentially very bad scenario. I don't know why it shut
>down, maybe too much sodium, too big a breakfast (my stomach was too
>busy digesting to be able to take in more food at a high intensity).
>I was hating life at this moment, but I worked through this patch
>and hit the final climb, but still couldn't take on food. there is
>really only one option though-keep trying to get food and water in
>until it sticks. After the last 10k climb, there is a long downhill.
>Normally this would be fun and fast, but there was a sick crosswind
>and my disc wheel was acting more as a sail than as an aid. I had to
>sit up in order to slow down (I also didn't fully trust my spare
>tube at the time). the best part of the ride was my support crew and
>all the people out cheering you along the course. My mom and friends
>were going crazy, leap frogging me in a car. I never knew where I'd
>see them, so I'd just put my head down and go until they would
>apper, going mental with bells and car horns-thanks guys, you made
>it a fun 180k!!!
>Finally after a LOOONG time on the bike (about 30-40min longer than
>I had planned), I rode into town and was looking forward to tearing
>it up on the run. But first I had to serve my 4min drafting penalty.
>you can't do anything in the sin bin. I actually broke the rules and
>ended up spending the time peeing myself (I had to go and there was
>nowhere to do it- extreme endurtance sports reduce you down to your
>most basic states-all periferal social norms go out the window and
>you just take care of your primitive needs). Once out onto the run I
>was flying, I must have passed about 30 people in the first mile -I
>was quite far down field though :) At about 2 miles, my gut went on
>me and I had to run into the bathroom with some serious issues (you
>doce n't need to go to Mexico to experience the joys of gut rot,
>just go hard for 6-7 hours). I spent the next 10k running fast for
>about 3 minutes, then running into fast food joints to use the
>facilities. I felt quite silly running into harvey's in covered in
>sweat, in my race kit, with people in the restaurant yelling, "Have
>a great race" as I was running out. The only consolation is that
>when I could run, I was flying. I played leap frog with a lot of
>people, passing them, then they would plod along passed me as I was
>incapacitated, then I would pass them again... Fun stuff this
>Ironman racing. My biggest concern now was getting back the calories
>and fluids that were passing through me quite fast. I ran passed mom
>and lauren and straight into a port'o potty. when I got out they
>were there cheering-I told you, you are stripped of all ego. I
>warned them that I might end up having to walk the run and that I
>might be a while. At bout 15k in, the lack of calories caught up to
>me and I was reduced to walking 50 steps, then running 50 steps. I
>have never walked in a triathlon before. But we were running into a
>30km/hr head wind and I had nothing left, once again the ego took a
>backseat to survival. there was no way that I was going to stop
>though. At each aid station (every mile) I would take on coke and
>gatorade and sponge off (it was over 30 degrees C at this point).
>Finally I hit the half way mark in my slowest ever 21k run (1:50).
>Because the run was an out and back though I saw a lot people in
>front of me who looked rougher than me. I'm not sure if the calories
>finally kicked in, or if my competitive nature took over, but I was
>able to start running without digestive problems. I was flying on
>the way home. Everything hurt, I could feel every muscle in my feet
>hamstrings and quads, but I was on automatic mode. I began counting
>my strides, starting at 50, then 40... and would try to get fatser
>throughout and would repeat until I got to the next aide station
>where I would slow down and get in the calories. I passed a lot of
>people, but don't really remember it as I was on auo pilot. When I
>finally ran bacvk passed mom and Lauren they were shocked to see me
>so soon as they had figured I'd be a few more hours -how about that
>for undying belief :). I was running so hard at the time that mom
>actually yeld at me to slow down, so I wouldn't hurt myself and to
>enjoy the day. I don't think that she fully understands how much I
>enjoy testing my physical and mental limits. My body was screaming
>at me to slow down, but I was on a mission of sorts-salvage the day
>and catch as many people as possible. Finally I came down the last
>mile and there was a guy with a few minutes on me, I ran my ass off
>and started to sprint with aout 400m to go. Unfortunately he saw me
>and was able to hold me off, but damn was it fun to try. When I
>finally ran down the finishing shoot with people screaming and
>shooting I actually cried from relief and from the total pain that
>my body was in. That is one friggin tough race!!! I ended up with
>one of the top 3 run splits for the second half of the marathon
>(1:29, with a few stops- a 20 min negative split)
>
>In retrospect I probably made a few mistakes-not planning my Friday
>eat better (I think that this is why I had issues on the run-a fair
>bit of undigested food in my system). Not staying focused enough on
>the swim. I forgot to pack an extension valve for my tube. I hadn't
>mentally prepared for a 5:45 bike ride, so may have messed up
>nutrition a bit. But apart from that, I was able to overcome some
>serious setbacks, stay positive, enjoy the experience and test
>myself a bit. Despite a slower time than anticipated, I had only
>set process goals (different than outcome goals-I figured that if I
>was successful in the process, then then outcome would be positive),
>which I acheived. Also, I was able to swallow my ego and finish!
>Right now, 3 days later, I am not crazy sore, just insanely tired
>with deep muscle fatigue.
>I just want to thank you guys for your amazing support.
>Later,
>Adam
Adam
http://cdamaampbell.blogspot.com/