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 thoughAt 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
Awesome day none the less. Take the bike out and you could of had a different race entirely.
Thanks for sharing.
All of these race reports are getting repetitive and boring.
I woke up, I swum, I felt this and that, I did not train, I did 6 minutes a mile, bla, bla, bla, I passed my boss on the run, I was a bit sick, I finished. My target was 15 hours, I did 10:45, I am great. I enjoyed it. I have made mistakes, but I learnt alot. I had pizza afterwards.
Who gives a shit?
don’t read 'em if ya don’t like to read 'em - simple solution bro!
I didn’t eat pizza-I have a very serious wheat/dairy allergy. I have never eaten pizza but wish I could. I hear that it is very tasty but will never know b/c soy cheeze/rice bread pizza is not as yummy as it sounds.
“Who gives a shit?”
Obviously, mamma never taught you no manners. So shut yer piehole.
==================
collisiontheory – nice job. nice write up.
you obviously fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down! I have an idea, if you don’t like reading race reports then don’t! Hey, what a concept!!!
Do you like them?
<>
But your mama, told me quiet a few things.
Spin I think from this and the other posts in the last 10 mins…your having a crappy thursday.
go for a run or something.
“who gives a shit?”
i can understand not reading the post or not replying but , “who gives a shit”??? Dude- that is so sad. I feel sorry for anyone in your life.
collisiontheory- i watched the race…hot and windy. way to tough it out. great report!!
I, for one, like reading race reports!
Keep them coming tribe.
Say no to race reports, unless something unusual occur or you have lots of pictures. Otherwise it is boring. Period.
All of these race reports are getting repetitive and boring.
I woke up, I swum, I felt this and that, I did not train, I did 6 minutes a mile, bla, bla, bla, I passed my boss on the run, I was a bit sick, I finished. My target was 15 hours, I did 10:45, I am great. I enjoyed it. I have made mistakes, but I learnt alot. I had pizza afterwards.
Who gives a shit?
Obviously you… you read them and comment on them.
He/she is the “spin doctor”.
I, for one, really like reading race reports. Thanks ct for a very enjoyable read! It looks like it was a long day out there for a lot of people, way to stick with it!
I almost could have guessed SpinDoctor’s location without clicking on his profile…
nuff said.
Great report man, way to keep a positive attitude through a series of unfortunate occurences.
Damn man, all those problems and still under 10:10? That’s crazy fast in my book!!
From your comments it seems that this was your first IM as a pro? What were you focusing on before?
-Colin
Go eat some more risoto w/ mushrooms for additional calming effect. I don’t think your first batch has completely addressed the issue.
I now understand your feud w/ Devil’s Advocate - he’s infringing on your territory.
And weren’t you complaining that no one talks about training or racing on this forum? Why are you sticking around reading all of these posts that upset you, then?