Ironman Canada 2011 Race Report
I arrived at Kelowna Airport on Thursday afternoon and made my way down to Penticton with a rental car full of gear. Friday morning, I was up early and drove the bike course and got in a 40 min spin. I then registered and hit the swim course. I was amazed at the extra level of organization at the IM level. Saturday, after figuring out what to put in each of my five gear bags, I checked in my bike, had a big lunch, and got off my feet. Everything was going to plan.
Saturday morning I did the 2am shotgun-naked-smoothie, sleep, then the 4am second light breakfast routine. I made my way over race morning, got bodymarked, and went through the pre-race setup routine. I was definitely more nervous than usual.
Swim Goal: 1:15 Actual: 1:13
The mass swim start into Okanagan lake was quite a sight. I held back a bit at the start and tried to stay left to avoid the melee. After some jockeying and swimming over people, I found some clear water and cruised. At the turn buoys, it became a bit more congested and I had to fight my way a bit, but I made it around and started sighting off the hotel in the distance. I was moving through the water well and enjoyed the rest of the swim. I probably swam closer to a 1:10 given my lackadaisical start, but I digress…
Bike Goal: 5:50 Actual 6:08
The first 40 miles of IM Canada are fast, flat and smooth (except for one little kicker on Mclean Creek Road). I was sticking to my goal watts of 160 and was moving well through the field. No issues. At the base of Richter, I was feeling fresh, but decided to really hold back and stick to my wattage gears. Once over Richter, I worked through the seven bitches and started to notice the heat a bit and there was a headwind. My norm power was a little lower than I wanted and my RPE seemed a bit off. At special needs, I took a few mins to pound a Coca Cola. My nutrition was working great- just like I practiced.
At about mile 80, before the base of Yellow lake, I started to notice the heat more, my seat was bothering me, and I felt like my watts were low. Yellow lake was harder than it looked when I drove it, but I made it over and started the descent into town. I thought I was riding closer to a 5:45, but I came in at 6:08. I had a norm power of 145 (.60 IF, 225 TSS, VI 1.10) which was about 14 watts lower than my RRs but it felt harder for some reason. I figured this was my “should split” so I wasn’t worried. I got out of T2 in 7:20ish which was decent. I thought “just run a 4:30 and we are looking at 11:50”. Easier said than done…
Run Goal: 4:30 Actual: 6:03ish
The first thing I thought on the run was “its hot” but I felt good and was holding my goal 9:30 pace (EL + 30”). I ran the first 6 miles in just over an hour so I was on plan. However, this is where my training ran out. My “this feels like 9:30 pace” was more like 12 min pace. Then 13…etc. I also started to get some heat induced asthma (it was 94F on the run) and it was hard to take deep breaths. My time goals were all quickly disappearing. I decided to protect the finish and not try to push the pace as my right hamstring was starting to protest a bit- lots of walking mixed with a jog/stumble. The finish was awesome and I came in just over 13:30. I was super pumped to do my first IM.
Conclusions
Currently, I have the angel on my shoulder saying “you did awesome, it was your first IM, congratulate yourself” and the devil is saying “Way to wimp out on the bike and tank the run.” Looking back, I think it would have been good for a first timer to have done one of the RRs as 112 bike/18 mile run. I didn’t feel like my run training translated very well. I definitely did not over pace the bike. It seems that the best way to train for an IM is to have already done an IM. So now I know 
Overall, it was a truly amazing experience and you couldn’t pick a better venue for an IM. Now its time to decompress a bit and then start plotting my next few seasons…
Comments
Congratulations Brendan! Please, please, please listen to your angel: YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!! And Holy Moly it was hot out there. Just finishing is no joke!
Thanks, Jenn. The "Angel" wins the debate 9 times out of 10
I assume you will do another one day and this will be a good goal to surpass next time! Well done.
---Ann.
Thanks, Ann. I will definitely take that run as a learning experience and use it as fuel during my next build. Way to kill that run. Im in awe...
Thanks, Coach P. The run was definitely a learning experience and the good news is there's some low hanging fruit to take advantage of next time.
Brendan,
We've had a lot of discussion in here this summer about adjusting wattage targets on the bike and run pacing on the run to account for the heat. Did you dial down the watts on the bike to account for the heat? Did you take advantage of the Heat App tool to adjust your run pacing for the heat of the day?
The hotter it is the less the day is about racing and the more it's about attrition and not being That Guy underperforming because they didn't adjust their plan for the day. Before the Heat App, our guidance would be to "turn things down." But now the Heat App gives us a tool to actually do that vs swag it, at least for the run. So my feeling is that you running your 9:30 pace for the first 6 miles was probably too fast, given the heat, and you paid for it later in the run.
As I read your report I don't see anything about how much you ate, drank, how much/often did you pee, stuff like that.
Finally...no one has mentioned your 112/18 comment. I can tell you that not a single Ironman coach or athlete on the planet with half a brain will train like that. Your performance was not training related. I feel it's related to execution, specifically not dialing things down enough, especially on the run, to account for the heat. Also, there is the experience that comes with know what it's going to be like the last 8-10 miles. You just can't train for that. You do the best you can fitness-wise to bring the best tool kit to the fight that you can. You then execute as best you can so that you're not fighting the demons in that dark place until you absolutely have too. In my experience, that's a fight that even the best of us can only last about 8-10 miles/rounds. If you screwed up the day and created a 10+ mile fight for yourself, you will likely lose. Lastly, you learned that it just fookin' hurts. Welcome to Ironman!
Recover well and take your learning’s to the next round in the game!
Rich,
After plugging my data into TIRP, the impact was closer to 2min/mile rather than the 30" SWAG I threw in. I could give you some excuses why I hadnt used that tool, but bottom-line, I knew the resource was there and didnt use it. So that's my fault, lesson learned.
And I officially redact my 112/18 comment; I think I was still dehydrated when I wrote that.