2017 Ironman Canada Race Report
Short Version:
- I went self coached this year, 3rd year in the sport
- Highlight was having to come to a full stop on the bike course to let a momma bear and her cub cross the road at the top of Callahan
- Second Highlight was being racked adjacent to all of the female pros and getting to chat with them (even lent one my bike pump), an AWA perk I love.
- Â Low light was cracking on the run and failing to KQ, but
- Set a new PR by almost 2 hours
Long Version:
My goal for this race and the last 12 months was to KQ at IMC. I was honest with myself that I wanted to qualify, but also honest that would it would take my best day and no significant snags.
We drove up to Whistler on Thursday, having rented a condo that backed onto the run course. My mom came up with my wife and I, and my wife’s friend came up the next day, as did my wife’s parents.Â
This is my 3rd consecutive IMC, so all of the pre race logistics were already figured out and went smoothly.
Race Day I was on one of the first busses out of T2. My wife arrived at swim start at 6am to take my bag and wish me luck. I did a 5 minute swim warm up then exited the water to wait for race start.Â
This was when one of the first of the 2 technical problems occurred. I had put body glide too far up my neck and my swim cap repeatedly slid up during the swim. Twice I had to stop to pull it back down.
Swim was 1:03:31.Â
I seeded myself with the 60-70 minute swimmers. No major calamities, very little physical contact with other swimmers. I felt good, sighted well, and despite screwing around with my swim cap the swim felt good.
I’m one of those douche bags who as an adult onset swimmer that started swimming 3.5 years ago has always swam a 1:05 or faster; Â Each Ironman I have cut one minute off my swim time, seemingly independent of how much I train. This year I spent 5 months not swimming at all, and when I did start again, I did not have the consistency I had last year, ultimately doing half the volume as last year.
 Knowing swim wasn’t my limiter to a Kona slot, I often dropped swim work outs if there was a time crunch or it meant missing sleep (I’m a shift worker)
I should note that one swim a week was with an adult swim class where I would get feedback from a swim coach.
T1: 6:46. (was 6:51 last year)
The first transition has long been my nemesis. This year I wore my tri suit done up below my wet suit, where last year I had it down to the waist (almost flashed the wetsuit strippers). I also already had my HRM on, which I fumbled with repeatedly last year.
I wore Specialized sub 6 bike shoes with the warp sleeves, and putting them on was likely where I gave up all the time.Â
Bike: 5:22:38. AP 215. Â NP 234. Â TSS 260. Â VI 1.09 Â IF 0.72
I had used BBS to plan for a 5:10 and 270 TSS. I had incorrectly set up my Elemnt so the goal watts and goal speed didn’t show up during the ride. Fortunately I had set up the BBS cheat sheet on my top tube, so I went by that.
Maybe I should be using a lower target TSS; I chose 270 based on the graph that Joe Friel published a while back that’s everywhere on the web now. I had also done my long rides at that intensity and they’d gone well.
This year with no coach I just used TrainerRoad plans for the bike. I did sweet spot base mid volume during my run focus in the fall, then moved to sustained power build high volume, then to Long Course Triathlon Base to Build to Speciality - all high volume.
The result was an FTP that was over 50 watts higher, and in general being very confident on the bike.
I often joke about being “Triathlete Fat”, where people outside of the sport refer to me as skinny, but I could safely loose 20 pounds. It certainly shows on a bike course like the one at IMC.
About halfway through the bike I was beginning to burp, and in retrospect I should have reduced how much infinit I was drinking and took more water.
T2 - 2:14. (4:53 last year)
I was super efficient in T2 this year. I just changed my shoes and put on my number belt then took off, carrying everything else is a plastic bag. I think in order to shave this down further I’d need to be able to get out of my bike shoes while on the bike and run barefoot.Â
Run - 4:37:19
The first 8km were going exactly how I envisioned them. When I run I usually don’t start to feel good until about 3km, fresh or off the bike, that just seems to be where I find my rhythm and begin enjoying it. No different here, I got to the first aid station, and shortly afterward started to not feel like death. It would be a short reprieve.
For nutrition I had planned on Cliff Bloks, taking 2 every 3 Kms. I got through the first sleeve and threw out the rest - the idea of eating more turning my stomach (literally). From there I switched to Pepsi with the occasional Gatorade.
I went through my body gauging how I felt. Not actual pain, just fatigue. I was running 5 minute kilometers and it felt easy, just as I’d practiced.
Around the 9km mark I had my first contraction. I had to stop and walk, and when it passed I started running again. The cramps returned and I had to duck into a porta-potty, but all I did was have a big fart. I felt bloated, which I’d never experienced in a race before.
At soon as I started walking for the stomach cramps my entire body revolted. My legs screamed, my shoulders felt like lead, and I wanted to quit - more than any other year.
I got to the volunteer at the 70.3 turn around and he said “why don’t you give jogging a try.” So I jogged, at a full minute per kilometer below my easy pace, but I kept going. When I saw him on the next lap I thanked him for keeping me going.
As I carried on through the run I tried to cheer my spirits by interacting with the volunteers and spectators. I’d laugh at people’s funny signs, thank the volunteers, ham it up for the finisherpix photographers, and chat with those I passed or were passing me. I would walk up a couple of the steeper hills, but I just tried to run as much as could.
When I got to the pedestrian bridge I was simultaneously so happy I was almost done, and thankful for having persevered. As I have said before in the more flowery Race reports I write for my companies employee newsletter: everyone should do an ironman once, if only to experience the finish chute and finish line.
I knew by how little I sped up for that last km that I’d gone as hard as I could, there was nothing left.
Epilogue: I made a deal with my wife that this would be my last year of long course triathlon for a while. Despite already wanting to get back to 15 hours a week of training in a renewed bid to kq while my legs are still sore, I will honor that promise.Â
I will continue to train and race because i enjoy it. We have 3 or 4 70.3s within driving distance of me, and just as many sprints, so I’ll go race those. But when there is a conflict between training and my life, I’ll skip the work out instead of life.Â
I also figure in 2 or three years I’ll give it another go and see if I can KQ.
My biggest lesson this year was not doing enough rehearsal bricks. I frequently run right off the bike, but its usually out of scheduling necessity. When I did my longest brick this year I got 5 flat tires on the bike, and had to walk a mile in bike shoes. That 5.5 hour bike ride took me 9 hours to complete, and so I cancelled the run.
Had I done a couple more long rides followed by significant runs I probably would have found my nutrition problem (I think I was taking in too many calories), and perhaps found that 260 is too high a TSS for me to run well off of.
Last year (with the goal being only to finish) I rode at an IF of 0.65, and weighed 10 pounds more, yet I didn’t adjust my nutrition plan on the bike for this year. (and yes, as I write that now it seems obvious 
I also think that when I return to full Ironmans I’ll go back to using a coach.