Becky's IMC 2012 Race Report
‘Patience and Discipline’, the mantra for the online training team, Endurance Nation, that I joined this year, pretty much sums up what I learned the last year. I signed up for Ironman Canada August 29, 2011, one year before the race. That is a long time, and a lot of things happen in that year. I battled a foot injury, changes in my job, a very busy schedule between myself and my volunteer firefighter/search and rescue husband and everything else life throws at us. I struggled with the motivation to stick to a training plan, pulled myself out of an early season half marathon, did not finish (dnf’d) a half ironman race and was not really able to get in much decent run training despite trying every remedy, exercise and magic potion out there to heal my plantar fasciitis. It is always easier to focus on the negative things that come out of any situation you face. I like to think I am a glass is half full girl, I prefer to focus on the good things that came out of my Ironman Canada (IMC) experience. I learned how to be patient. My foot injury was fairly severe, I spent 10 days hobbling around before I could use my foot properly, and it was a very long road to even being able to run for a minute. This was frustrating, but I needed to take the achievements as they came. Patience with my motivation- I usually have a really high self drive once I have decided to do something. This spring I experienced a lot of doubts, lack of drive, no real sense of what I wanted to accomplish by racing another Ironman. The first time you sigh up to do an Ironman I think you train out of sheer fear, if you don’t complete X-Y-Z by 4 weeks before the race you think might not make it!! The second time around I needed more, I needed a new goal. My foot injury gave me that, I have always put myself as a runner first, this year I needed to learn to become a better cyclist. Enter Endurance Nation- I signed up for their 8 week ‘Get Fast Camp’ (doesn’t it sound fun?!) and I learned a whole new level of discipline in cycling. I learned discipline in the pool as well, holding a pace for X-minutes, instead of struggling through just to make a distance goal. So while I may not have had the year I wanted, I know I learned a lot I will take with me next season, as well as had a pretty darn awesome race considering my longest run before IMC was 17 km!
Our trip out to Penticton was uneventful, had a stop at the Enchanted Forest (which by the way is neat, but also a little on the creepy side... but the kids had fun so who cares what I think!) and my husband only threated to pull out a shotgun in traffic once (we don’t really carry a shotgun) in Kelowna during rush hour. Who builds a major highway through every large city in southern BC?!? We survived 12 hours on the road, pulled into our home sweet home/stall at the South Beach Gardens RV park and even parked the 5th wheel without a spat. The neighbors were disappointed I think. Thursday-Saturday consisted of all the pre-race prep, a couple of swims, race package pick up , a bike ride on the run course, dinner with the EN crew, the pre-race dinner and meeting and packing the transition bags (which is always stressful!), bike drop off the day before and time to do some mental preparation.
Arriving in Penticton, the word had spread to the media that the race was getting an over haul from Ironman to the Challenge Series (popular in Europe). So the 30th Anniversary edition of IMC would also be the last- a sad moment for Penticton. I was so glad to have been a part of it, but the city will embrace the change and it will move on.
Back to the transition bags- before we left I had a list for EVERYTHING, for the things I needed to do every day, what I packed, what I needed to do in Penticton, etc. So, of course I had a list for my transition bags and special needs bags. For those of you that are non-triathletes, you need to bag your gear that you put on after the swim (T1) and also another bag for the run (T2). You also get a bag for ‘special needs’, which you will be able to drop off in a box labeled with a range of numbers on race morning, and you may or may not get it at a pre arranged point on the race course- at 120 km on the bike, and 21 km on the run. I always like to err on the side of caution and don’t pack anything ESSENTIAL in those bags since it is not guaranteed you will get them. So Friday afternoon I ducked out of lounging on the beach a little early to go pack my bags without anyone around. I spread ALL my stuff out on the floor of the 5th wheel (I really should have taken a picture!) and organized it into the bags, I even wrote on the outside of the bags what I needed to put on so I would not forget anything. Totally the most anal part of race prep, but I love it… it means race day is around the corner, it starts to feel real! I loved how much more fun it was to do it the second time around, I remember how intimidated I was by the whole process the first time around, this race everything was an experience and I loved it.
The prerace dinner and meeting was another amazing experience. Normally I would find these events torture… listening to some person I don’t know drone on about sponsors and who was coming back to race, blah, blah, blah. Being this was the last IMC race there was a definite air of nostalgia about the venue, they had a really neat presentation on the last 30 years by decade, a few of the key athletes and organizers that brought the race to where it was this year brought some interesting race facts to light, I found the entire evening interesting. Sister Madonna Buder even got up to make a very simple speech about the fact that the race had endured many changes over the years and that Penticton would come through this one. She is an amazing lady I was fortunate to meet last year during sign up, she was on a quest to complete one more Ironman race at the age of 82 so she could retire, I admire her determination.
So, fast forward to race morning. I did not really sleep well, I remember Kris telling me to relax at about midnight, he must not have been able to sleep either! I was up at 3 am for my big meal of 2 cups of applesauce,1 banana, ½ Powerbar and a bottle of Cytomax sports drink. Did not fall asleep again, up at 4:15. Got dressed, finished off ½ power bar and more Cytomax enroute to transition. Kris was volunteering in T1 so it was nice to have someone to chat with to take my mind off being nervous- however as a result I somehow missed the fact all the athletes were headed one way and we climbed fences etc to get into transition… only to realize I had missed the special needs (SN) bag drop off and body marking. I left all my gear with the Kris and hiked back over to pick up my gear- this was where you could really start to feel the nervous energy of race morning. Made my way back to my bike, got the tires pumped, set up my nutrition of aero bottle with water and 2 bottles of Infinite concentrate, one on the down tube and one on the cage behind my seat. I opted to carry my own nutrition instead of putting the second bottle in SN just in case.
Swim-I made my way to the giant port-a-potty line and chatted with Kris, and a few other athletes I recognized. Is there a better place to stop and chat with everyone than while you’re waiting with 2700 other people to use a glorified outhouse? Once we found a spot for me to get my wetsuit on my friend Marc came up and was a bit stressed, his day was already getting off to a bad start due to forgetting his sunglasses in his vehicle. Kris offered to meet up with Marc’s son while we were in the swim and get the glasses into his T1 bag, so handy having your own Iron Sherpa in the transition area! Finished getting the suit on with about 20 minutes to go and decided to head out into the water for a warm up. Saw the very small field of pros start off, got myself a 10 minute warm-up in and found myself a little piece of real estate I figured was ‘safe’, not too many men behind me, quite a bit further up than I usually start, but still pretty far left. Got all choked up during ‘O’ Canada’, then we were off. Surprisingly, no one tried to run me over for quite awhile, I ran into a group that was swimming very tightly together so it was difficult to pass, but we eventually sorted it out and the first leg (1600m) was really good. Just before the first turn there was a diver sitting at the bottom of the lake, not sure if he was there for entertainment or to make sure we all went around the buoy, but that was sort of neat. First buoy turn was fine, again no crowding until the second buoy turn where I got stuck in a big group that were big kickers, I was afraid for my goggles a few times (and my nose!) but I swung right and got some space for a few 100m, but seemed to run back into them a few moretimes. I had thought the third leg was shorter than the first one, so it felt to me like I had slowed and really focused on keeping a consistent arm pace, and good form. (realized post race the third leg was 1800m so I did just fine!) The red buoys marking the last few hundred meters were a welcome sight. I missed the clock time, but Kris said on my way out (had to stop for a photo shoot first!) he thought I finished in around 1:20. That was my goal, so I was pleased. Did my transition as planned, I wore swim bottoms with my tri top under my wetsuit, changed into bike shorts and was out in 7:54. Official swim time 1:21:30, almost a 9 minute personal record (PR) over my first IM race.
Bike- Took the first 10 minutes really easy, got myself sorted mentally and settled into my zone 1 pace once we got out of town. Lots of athletes flying past me, but not a concern, as I’m following a plan that I know works, and who cares what they’re doing! Going up the McLean creek hill my chain came off, got it back on no problem but this worried me a little as there was a ton more climbing to do. There were some very entertaining spectators and signs out here, I think my favorite was the little old man and lady that were sitting banging wooden spoons on pots- and I saw them in more than one place! The rest of the ride out to Richters was uneventful (the chian decided to stay on thank goodness!), fuelled every 10 minutes (garmin set to beep and vibrate to remind me, consisted of a sip of Infinite, and a gulp of water) In hindsight I could have stretched my nutrition breaks out to 15 minutes as I ended up peeing A LOT on the bike, note for next time. Got out to Richters and while I welcomed the direction change and scenery, the wind was blowing right in your face. Focused on staying as close to my watts as I could, had a few interesting conversations with some people on the way up, and welcomed the crowds of people cheering for us as we approached the top. The first downhill after Richters provided a much needed adrenaline rush that helped pump me up for the rollers. I liked the rollers section, however this is such similar riding to where I train it was no big deal, but all around me I heard tons of grumbles and complaints- I loved it! Flew past lots of people on the downhills, paced myself on the uphills, I was feeling really good. There is a long flat section past the rollers before the out and back, lots of people really slowed down out here, this is where my power meter shone for sure- dialed in to my goal watts, head down and dialed in my effort- I have no idea how many people I passed but it was a lot(so fun !). The out and back was everything it was cracked up to be, mind numbing, boring, hot and windy, but I managed to make it through. Chain fell off on a short hill a second time, had a spectator calm me down as this was not a good place to be hopping off my bike! Turned down my SN bag (all I had in it was a tube and Co2 cartridge). ¾ of the way through the out and back I caught up to my friend Marc and we chatted a few minutes before I took off for the final section of the bike.
This section is a challenge, it’s windy, hot, and you lose a lot of momentum on the downhills and ’false flats’ out here. About 10 km before the Yellow Lake climb I started to feel the fatigue setting in and getting a bit mentally tired, but I knew my family and support crew was ahead so I focused on dialing in my effort and just going as steady as I could. It’s very slow through here, so it feels like it takes forever, but I was prepared for that so it was just a matter of ‘suck it up!’. Tried to absorb some of the energy from the crowds on the climb, saw my family and kids having a blast cheering everyone on, it was so good to see them, ( in their matching green ‘Team Becky’ shirts I made up to thank them for being a part of the day, also so I could find them!) One more kilometer past that was the top- finally! I tried to push as much as possible on the downhills to make up for some of the time I lost on the climbs, surprisingly I felt really confident flying down the hills, got up to 71 kph! Passed lots of guys on tricked out bikes and gear which always makes me laugh. I have to admit though that the last 10 km in town I died… all I could think about was how rough the road was, and how tired I felt all of a sudden, I was hoping for an adrenaline rush coming through the cheering crowds but really it was a struggle to get to that dismount line! T2 went smoothly, a little longer than I wanted due to a much needed bathroom stop but I headed out on the run feeling mentally revived and ready to follow my plan. My stomach was a bit bloated and gassy, but otherwise I felt pretty darn good. Official bike time was 6:22:04, a 53 minute PRover my last IM race.
Run- First 6km are through town, lots of crowds, I focused on keeping the paced down and alternating 5 minutes of running, 1 minute walking due to my minimal run prep for this race. The crowds are not very forgiving of walking at this point, I heard a number of comments about ‘Looking good- but you’ll have to walk faster!’ that got my blood pressure up a bit- but I had a plan and it was my race, not some spectators. I ran past a woman at about the 3 km mark that looked dazed, her arm was blood stained and she was cradling her hand. I stopped to ask if she needed help, she told me she had cut her hand cutting her tire off during a flat repair. I told her she should probably get the gash bandaged, she really did not look well but she insisted she was fine and I left her at the next aid station. Everything was going well, refueling at aid stations alternating coke and Perform, I felt good settling into my 5:1 plan, but at about 8 kms I felt my left knee start to have the unwelcome but familiar pain of my ITB flaring up. I stopped a number of times to stretch it out, but by 12 km I was forced to walk more than run and my heart sank. I could see my sub 13 hr finish disappearing, I pouted, got angry, but really there was nothing I could do, this is not an injury I can run through. About 15 km in Steve Swanlund from EN went cruising past me and I shouted out a hello. He turned around and convinced me to try to keep up with him for awhile. His pace was significantly faster than I had been running, I was unable to keep running, so he left and I knew after he left I was going to have to revise my finish goal. I figured as long as I could average 8:30/km, I could still finish sub 14 hrs. Given all the hard work I had put in to training for this race, it was too close to let that goal go, so I ran when I could, walked as fast as I was able and came into OK Falls at the turnaround/halfway in much better spirits. Stopped with the family for a minute to change my socks, explained that the finish goal was now an hour off and told them I’d see them before 9 pm. I was able to walk-run the next 10 kms, the pain in my knee was growing worse and I had developed blisters on my little toes that were becoming quite painful- I managed to beg a couple of bandaids from some kind people at an aid station and another athlete, but the knee I had to just deal with. I’m pretty sure I developed a pretty awesome hobble and that my attempts to ‘run’ at the end were not much faster than walking, but I kept going as fast as I could, evaluating if I was still within the time goal every 10 minutes or so. I did see the lady that had the bloody arm at one point and she looked a million times better, so happy she managed to salvage her day.
Once we got back to town it seemed so far- that last 5 kms before we got back into the heart of town I felt like I would never get there and came close to tears many times. The white line on the road became my focus, if I looked ahead I felt discouraged, but looking at the passing ground gave me strength. I never doubted I would make it, but it’s a long day, and it was a long walk. At the last aid station on main street one of the volunteers must’ve seen the desperate look on my face because he grabbed my hand and said’ you really are almost there, enjoy the last 2 kms to go, you did it!’ This lifted me out of the funk- I love the last stretch of every race, it’s a chance to reflect on everything it has taken to get to this point, and I began to hop-hobble a little faster. The last 1.5 kms is really cruel, you turn down the same road as the finish chute, but you run AWAY from it… it’ s just mean. But the crowdsa re there to push you along, cheer you, help celebrate the fact you’re about to become an Ironman! Another athlete I had been leapfrogging looked like he was in about the same place as me, but I told him he couldn’t let some gimpy girl pass him, so we began the last out and back on Lakeshore Drive running together. I became really overcome by emotions that last kilometer, I had worked so hard to get here, so many things had not gone according ‘to plan’ but I had a fantastic swim and bike, managed to push as much as I could on the run, and I can truly say for once in a race I had followed through and not given up anywhere. I had a whole crew waiting for me at the finish line that were proud of me no matter what, a lot of people watching online back at home and I was coming down the finish line of Ironman Canada! I heard the voice of Ironman Canada, Steve King call my name, but I needed to stop with my family that had been watching and cheering all day and let them share in the moment too, we snapped a few pictures- then I could drag myself across the line. I needed the catcher for the first time, I was shaking and tired- everything I figured a true test of my endurance should entail. Official run time 5:53:06, 10 minutes slower than Ironman Coeur d’Alene!
Official Race Finish time: 13:52:21, a 1 hour PR.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the ‘if this hadn’t happened’ or the what ifs… but I am proud of this race, I learned how to stay focused during a 180 km bike ride, I had a huge improvement over my last race. My husband is a huge support, it’s hard to get in all the training but he was very tolerant ( I think his main motivation was to let me train so I would finish faster so his day would not be so long!) Being a spectator is a really long day, the Hedley family travelled down to watch the race and my friend Tanya drove down to help Kris out with the kids race morning so he could volunteer, I am grateful for such good friends. Everyone that could not be there race day was in spirit, I thought of the people I have trained with through the year during different parts of the race, I also drew strength from people that inspire me and from those that told me I inspire them, it’s not every day that someone tells you you’re an inspiration, you feel like you need to live up to that! I love that my kids have been talking about doing a kids triathlon, Alex even spent a whole afternoon doing laps in the 10 m pool at our RV resort we stayed at after the race, he did 50 lengths one day, and 200 the next. And Makenzie loves to set up mini bike/run races in our cul-de sac, she says she hates running so we’ll see, but at least they may try it! This year I tried to pinpoint many times why I love to do triathlons, what makes me so passionate about it. Beyond the fact that it is a challenge, I’m still not sure I know what it is. I like the routine of it, I like how it changes my mindset to be so focused, and I like that it seems to change the lives of people around me just a little, a friend may run a little further, or decide to take up triathlon, another might adopt healthier eating because of a chat we’ve had, I like the ripple effect. It’s been a fun journey to the start line of IMC, I don’t know when I will make it to another Ironman race but I hope to continue to improve as an athlete, maybe next time I will nail that run!
Team Becky Support Crew on the Yellow Lake climb
I am smiling, I've just been out having fun, looking forward to the end of this last climb!
Met up with my kids at the halfway mark in OK Falls, so happy to see them, but it was still a long way back...
My support crew, they were awesome!! (and really tired!)
First time my husband had seen me so exhausted, he actually wanted me to go get medical attention, I just wanted someone to cut off my knee. I love how my daughter snatched my pizza away... which by the way is terrible post race food in my opinion!!
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Comments
Nicely done Becky, both on race day and your report. I do recall seeing your green shirts gang. I wonder what happens to all the tubes and Co2 cartridges left in bike SN bag (I too left mine). Perhaps they are given back to Bike Barn for all the support they do on course. And, hey someone has to eat the pizza cuz like you said not great for athletes. Soldier on and nail that run.
I wanted to hug that volunteer that gave you the honest truth that you only had 2 km left to do and you were going to make it! What a great pick me up after a tough run. You do have an awesome group of family and friends - what a joy to have. You are setting a great example to those around you.
Congrats on a terrific day out there and a huge PB!
---Ann.
And BTW, I am with you on the pizza. Disgusting.
Final thoughts: One, reading this made me realize I really need to work on my km's ---> mileage conversion, and two, I shoudln't try to read RR's when tired... I read the last line as, "maybe next time I will nail that NUN." Poor Sister Madonna... ;-)
Take care of that knee. Re PF, if it's still a problem, Graston technique worked wonders - hurts like heck, but I had it in both heels last fall, and nothing by march.
Cheers
Jane
Jane- will be looking into some sort of treatment to help break up the scar tissue that has developed, I will hunt down a Graston therapist, thanks.
Jess- It's ok...lol, it was a long RR, lots of words to read. No nailing nuns, I still think she's pretty amazing, 82 years old and doing Ironmans...
Thanks for the comments, I think my family is pretty awesome too!!
Nice job Becky!
Getting three is half the adventure and parking any sort of RV/boat without incident is a sign of a SOLID marriage. Or maybe extreme fatigue… your pick.
Glad you were able to set and reset good goals. That’s quite a PR on the swim – congratulations that your discipline in the pool paid off. Nice call on the “Team Becky” shirts - nothing would be worse than your peeps getting out on the course and missing them!
And it warmed my heart that your kid was doing laps in the pool! What an inspirational mom, indeed!
Congratulations!