In case anybody cares, I just wrote this for one of my buddies and decided to share with the world!
IM Canada was my first Ironman and one of the greatest and most mentally and physically challenging experiences of my life!
Disclaimer: I have a limited vocabulary and tend to drop the F-bomb a lot so if it offends you, quit reading now. I tore my fucking calf muscle (gastroc) doing a 30 minute training run 10 days before the race. Tapering is difficult given that you feel like superman but at the same time your muscles are totally worn out. I of course tried to hammer out 7 minute miles on this easy training day and blew it. After training 8 months injury free for my first Ironman, tearing a muscle the week before - just plain sucks balls. But at the end of the day, plane tickets were bought, hotel booked, expectations set, time invested - and a torn gastroc is really not as bad as it sounds.
The entire trip was great - other than the dark cloud of injury - I’d say close to perfect. Gorgeous scenery, beautiful weather, great food, great wine and one hell of a vacation with my wife, Gina! We stayed at a B&B that was a treasure and I will not disclose its location for fear of our secret getting out. Penticton is just unbelievably gorgeous and everyone we met (racers, volunteers, doctors, waiters, bartenders, etc.) were the salt of the fuckin Earth. What a place! We even got to have lunch with legendary pro triathlete and 2008 IM Canada winner, no less - Bryan Rhodes! (this was his 47th IM I think?! Wow!) We bought him lunch and Gina told him that that meant we were now one of his new sponsors. Hahaha! Great dude - awesome experience.
On to the race report:
The swim went great! It was much easier with the calm morning water and 3K people to draft off of than when I swam the course with my buddy Mark Shorter during LifeSport Camp back in July! Everyone was surprisingly cool around the buoys, i.e. no idiots trying to soccer kick their way around them. A bit of a traffic jam but that’s what’s expected with that many people in the lake. I swam just under 2:00 per 100 and really did not push it too hard and never felt tired at all. I typically swim in the 1:40ish range in 70.3s but was in no big hurry on this day since it was my first Ironman and all. Thankfully calf was not too much of an issue on swim other than a few people kicking it, hitting it, etc. All in all: very happy with how it went. Clocked in at 1:14ish.
The bike course does not fuck around. It is legit. I wouldn’t call it extremely difficult but by no means is it easy or even moderate. I biked 16mph which is on the slow side for me but mountain passes are not my forte given I am 6-4 245lbs! Calf is not really an excuse here because it was thankfully not bothered by the bike. I made the cliché mistake and went too hard on the first half I knew this was happening but I could not stop myself from pushing the big boy watts!!!
I went strong all the way to the top of Richter (averaged close to 20mph thru first bike split). Once Richter peaked, I realized that my legs were shot and I would be paying for it – which I eventually did! I stayed steady through the 7 bitches and the turnaround but when I hung a right on the road to Yellow lake by that Bear grocery store I started hurting and moving slow! The Yellow Lake climb was BRUTAL (Mile 90-95ish). I had to climb very slowly because I felt my right quad was on the verge of cramping (likely from limping with all weight on my right leg for the previous 10 days) so I had to stand up to keep balance and pedal very slow. I was also out of water for that whole section of the course and that Canadian sun was getting HOT! Once I reached the top of Yellow Lake they were out of water bottles at the aid station so I had to get off my bike, wait in line to dip my Speedfill in a trashcan full of melted ice. That was a bummer but probably well needed opportunity to lower my HR a bit….
As you know, I tore my calf muscle 10 days before the race so that put a bit of a damper on my run time aka a 7:30 marathon! FUCK! I made the decision to walk the marathon and be guaranteed a finish versus attempting to run and risk not finishing (between my torn left calf and my right quad flaring up). Walking a marathon is fucking gruesome! The last marathon I ran was a 3:58 and I will take running over walking any day!! The heel raise I put in my left shoe probably saved me from extra injury but also covered my heal in blisters by mile 8-9. Very painful but that is why they call it an IRONMAN!! Right?! It was actually a pretty cool experience talking with my fellow walkers out there as we put on the glow necklaces and trekked down the road into the night. That being said, I seriously felt like I was losing my mind a couple of times!! Gina met me at Mile 13 and walked a couple of miles with me which was awesome because turning around and knowing you have to walk another 13 miles is a total mental beatdown!!
Crossing the finish line was magical! I will never forget it. I wound up running (lets be real and call it shuffling) a 12-13 m/m pace the last 4 miles in order to get below 16 hours! At that point I realized I could crawl to the finish if needed. I finally became an Ironman with a scorching time of 15:50:10. There’s nothing like it baby! 70.3’s are for the birds!!
My calf surprisingly feels better this week than it did last week! Strange! Other than my calf, I’m a little sore but blisters have healed up and I expect to be back to normal any day now….I’m going to take a month off of running and hopefully compete at Austin 70.3 in late October. Getting my IM tat tomorrow!
And now the best news, I signed up for IMC 2012 on Monday!! I can’t wait for a little payback in 2012 with a healthy calf on my side! Gina and I had such a great time and I think IM Canada might just become a new family tradition! I think you can still go sign up online now. DO IT!
