McCallum Ironman Canada race report
My schedule for this year was supposed to be Texas 70.3, Ironman Texas, and Ironman Florida. About 5-6 weeks before IMTX I decided to drop that race due to work commitments, family commitments, and because the race kind of sucks (in that order). I still wanted to do two IM races this year and started to look around at what was still open. Louisville was pretty much the only race open for general entry and that race interests me about as much as being waterboarded (if I wanted to do a hot/humid race I would've just done IMTX). IMCan didn't have any general entries open but it still had foundation slots so I decided to pony up (if we're keeping score: $650 for IMTX + $1350 for IMC foundation slot = one very expensive race registration for IMC). Whistler looked to be an amazing venue.
I also knew that IMC was going to have to be done on an abbreviated training plan. I had a lot of work and vacation stuff going up to mid-June so I was only going to have about two months of real prep. That stated, I had been at it pretty good from mid-Jan until mid-April prepping for TX70.3/IMTX so it wasn't like I was out of shape or anything. Let's call IMC a big training day for IMFL.
In addition to all this I thought I would experiment on myself during training. No long runs. Zero! This was for two reasons: 1) Summer is absolutely brutal around here and every bike or run I did since June was in 90-110 degree heat (or heat index). Since I was breaking my "No Summer Ironman" rule I had to keep myself sane and relatively happy. 2:30 runs in 100 degrees is neither sane nor happy. 2) I wanted to test the theory that run volume via frequency trumps running long (for me at least, YMMV). I consistently put in 35-42 miles per week in 5-6 runs per week. My longest run was maybe 11 miles (90 minutes) and that was done once. 95% of my running was 60-80 minutes in length. I also paid zero attention to how fast I was running and just ran a comfortable yet not too comfortable pace at all times. More on all this later.
Flew into Vancouver on Wednesday. My brother was coming in from Boston to spectate (and he ended up volunteering). My wife and son stayed home as school was starting. Getting from the Vancouver airport to Hwy-99 (Sea-to-Sky) to Whistler was a pain in the ass. The drive up to Whistler was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous area! Got to Whistler Wednesday afternoon and checked into the Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa. Whistler is an absolutely stunning place. I live outside of Houston. It's very flat and very hot. Whistler is neither. 
The Whistler Village area is an awesome place to stay. Tons of hotels, shops, restaurants, etc. Not a cheap place though. It's a resort area so it has resort prices. It doesn't seem like they gouged prices at all unlike other places like Lake Placid or Couer d'Alene. My room at the Hilton had a full kitchen so we were able to eat many meals in the room.
I rode the Pemberton to Whistler section of the course (last 20 miles) on Thursday afternoon. All I could think was "This is gonna suck on Sunday!" Note to those that will ride the course in the future: almost all of the roads were closed to vehicular traffic on race day with the only exception being the part on 99 between Whistler and Callaghan. The whole Callaghan section was bike only as was the Whistler-Pemberton sections. The ride back from Pemberton to Whistler was very, very sketchy with vehicle traffic as it's very hilly, with a sometimes narrow shoulder, and the quality of the road on the shoulder was less than ideal. I thought I was going to die at least 10 times in that 20 miles. That's not a concern on race day but it would be on any training rides around there.
T1 was at Alta Lake. T2 was in Whistler Village. This meant shuttle buses on race morning. It worked flawlessly though.
I knew this wasn't going to be a PR race or that I was in "A" race shape so I wanted to soak it all in. I was still going to put in some handwork that day but I had zero concerns about goals or anything like that.
Nobody cares about what anyone did before the race or what you ate or anything like that so I'll skip right to it...
Swim
The swim was in Alta Lake which is a couple of miles west of Whistler as the crow flies but like a 15 minute drive as you have to meander around the lake roads to actually get there. I did a practice swim on Friday morning (I was in the EN picture as I was just finishing and the rest of them were just starting). No vehicle traffic allowed in the lake area on race day so we had to shuttle in from T2/Whistler. That worked fine. Whistler has shuttling down to a science due to their experience with the Olympics in 2010.
Water temp was probably in the upper-60's and was pretty calm. It was a deep water start about 150-200m from the shore. I lined up about halfway up the line. Typical mass start chaos until after the first turn buoy. Two loops without a water exit between loops (which was probably a mistake because I'm sure there were people that cheated). Lake was relatively clear so you could see people.
Anyone that has ever read any of my race reports know that you can set your watch by my swim times. I have mastered the art of a 1:10 swim that requires minimal effort. Once again the swim was set on cruise control and my official swim time was 1:10:17.
T1
Exited the water and headed to the T1 change area. The change area was about 1/4 the size it needed to be and something that needs to be rectified for the future. I walked in and had nowhere to sit or stand so I went back outside the tent and lollygagged my way through the transition as I didn't care about how fast I was doing things on that day. Lubed up, put on socks, put on arm coolers, etc.
T1 time was 8:14.
Bike
The IMC bike course was going to be a hell of a challenge coming from flat as a board Houston, Texas. It did not disappoint! Here is the profile per my Garmin:
It's basically a whole lot of hilly stuff for half the ride, than a 34 mile flat section followed by the last 20 miles that are uphill and the hardest part of the course. I can't train for a ride like this where I'm from so my only job on this day was to keep the climbs somewhat controlled, coast the descents, ride the flat part at goal watts and do my best to control the effort the last 20 miles so that I wasn't completely spent before starting the run. I think I ended up doing a pretty good job of doing that.
I pee'd on myself twice and stopped twice at port-a-potties. One of those stops was to apply some Aquaphor to my nether regions as I could feel some chaffing and the other stop was to avoid a peloton pack that had swallowed me up in the Pemberton flats. I didn't want to be part of their drafting/cheating group so I decided I'd stop at an aid station and let them get a couple of minutes ahead of me. Worked great as I rode the rest of the Pemberton flats all by myself.
Which brings up the one big issue on that day. People cheated like crazy on the Pemberton flats. This was especially noticeable at the pointy end of the AG field (the sub-5:30 bike folks that day). One of my buddies and 99 of his fellow drafters had a four minute stop in the penalty box after the Pemberton flats. That's right, there were 100 people there at once.
The last 20 miles just sucks. It's a tough climb in and of itself but it's really tough 90 miles into the ride.
Aid stations and volunteers were great. There was one aid station in between Whistler and Pemberton that needs to be moved as it was right after a turn which was at the bottom of a descent. It was around a blind curve so nobody knew there was an aid station there until you came buzzing around the corner at 30mph. That got dicey as people were hitting their brakes and almost running into each other.
I took in five bottles of Perform, ate one Poptart, had four gels, and drank three bottles of water. So about 160 ounces of fluid and 1600 calories. So about 280 cals/hour.
Official bike time was 5:44:01.
NP: 205W
AP: 189W
IF: .732
VI: 1.08
TSS: 305.4 
Climbing: 6,500 feet (over 2200' for the last 20 miles)
I wanted to average about 200 watts but the climbing made that real difficult. My NP at IMAZ 2012 was 196W and that resulted in a 5:15 bike split. My NP at IMTX 2011 was 197W and that resulted in a 5:16 bike split. 205 would've probably had me around 5:10 on those courses so consider IMC 30-40 slower for me.
I felt pretty good despite the tough course.
T2
I took my sweet time once again getting ready and used the bathroom. T2 time was 7:22.
Run
I felt like I could've ran a 4:10 marathon once I got going. Temps were perfect for running, especially since I'm used to running in 100 degrees with horrible humidity. I realized within a few miles this was not a flat run course. Here is the profile per my Garmin:
I was feeling pretty good the first 1/3rd of the run. I stopped in a port-a-potty around mile 7 to pee and to re-lube. I then had a mini-calorie bonk around mile 12 that slowed my down a bit. Got some calories and felt fine for a few more miles. Popped a salt stick here or there but it wasn't hot so I wasn't worried about cramping and all that.
Around miles 18-20 I had a huge bonk. I went from feeling perfectly fine to nearly passing out. I got lightheaded, dizzy, wobbly and all that. I had to walk for awhile and finally came across an aid station and ate/drank one of just about everything they had. I stood there for a couple of minutes to let the stuff absorb a little. I then felt okay and took it easy for another couple of miles before being able to finish the last 3-4 miles pretty strong.
I have never felt more fit and fresh on the run. At no point did I really wear down and say "Man, I wish I ran a whole bunch of 2:00-2:30 long runs." I slowed down due to a nutritional issue and not fitness. I was worried because I knew I went over 300 TSS on the bike and that's usually a sign things could go south on the run but that didn't happen from a fitness perspective. I shall continue this run training philosophy for IMFL.
Official run time was 4:24:00. My Garmin had 10 minutes of me not moving at all. I'm confident I could've ran a 4:10 had I not bonked myself but I did so it is what it is. I'm not a natural at running so I'm getting better at it piece by piece and year to year.
My Garmin had 1,300+ feet of climbing on the run course so it was a fair and challenging run course.
Finish time was 11:33. The announcer congratulated me on my first IM finish. I seem to recall finishing a few others but whatever. 
Not bad considering it was done as a "Big Training Day" for IMFL. The AG field was super stacked with folks chasing the extra Kona slots. The most top heavy AG field I have seen at all the IM's I've raced or spectated. A 10:15 in M40-44 was like 30th place. That's ridiculous on a course this tough.
My only real issue that day was the calorie bonks during the run. The small one around mile 12 was no big deal but the one around mile 18-20 was pretty bad. I actually take in more calories than most people during the run because I'm really susceptible to bonking during runs for whatever reason. I was probably close to 200 calories per hour on the run even before bonking. I need to talk with Penny about this and see what I can do. I hate to take in as much calories on the run as the bike but it looks like I might. Maybe I didn't have enough cals in finishing the bike due to the climbing the last 20 miles as it was hard to drink or eat anything???
By far the most challenging IM that I have done. Easily the hardest bike ride I have ever done. I would definitely recommend it!
My only gripes are tiny:
1. Move that one aid station on the bike.
2. Do something about the drafting in Pemberton.
3. Larger tents at T1.
4. Worst post-race food ever. A f'n big pretzel??? Really???
5. I needed to see a bear. Disappointed I didn't see the bears on the run course. 
IMFL will seem like a cakewalk in comparison. 
Comments
The draft packs were really bad for the 6:15-6:45 total time for swim+T1+bike crowd.
Robin,
I was about 165 lbs. on race day. I do wonder if it was not taking in many calories the last hour+ of the bike ride.
I think so too. I shouldn't have that problem at IMFL with climbing up an 8% grade at 6mph near the end of the 112.
I did IMFL in 2010 and didn't think the drafting was too bad (at least as far as the IMFL folklore goes) besides some early packs.
Hi Bob, I certainly share the observations of the drafting, Suhki, you likely didn't see them as much cuz you are in the flow neither faster nor slower than them. It was clearly obvious on the back as opposed to the out leg.
I like your observations/suggested improvements too. On Sat I figured the change tent was too small, so I changed in T1 right by my bag, then all I had to do was run thru the tent and drop my bag as I exited, worked well. And I too needed to see a bear if just to help me pick it up a bit.