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2016 IM Canada Week 20- RACE WEEK!
RACE WEEK! WEEK 20
Everyone started this journey for different reasons, at different times and here we are, coming together to execute and CRUSH the Ironman Canada course. It may be your first or another one of many but each time we have to dig into ourselves and find out "WHY DO WE DO THIS CRAZY THING?"
You're welcome to share your "One Thing" or keep it to yourself but remember, practice this now. Look yourself in the mirror and say it out loud. Your body hears what your mind says. Tell yourself WHY however many reasons and one things it takes.
Remember to focus on the mental game. Do not underestimate this 5th Ironman discipline, it might be one of the most important ones.
When you are in doubt remember this….YOU HAVE ALL THE TOOLS YOU NEED! You've put in the hard work, the learning, the training, the tank is full, you have all the tools. Put it all together on race day and be proud with whatever outcome you see. Smile and enjoy this day. Remember to be kind to your family, friends, volunteers. Represent EN well. Take time to thank the ones that have gotten you here. Love on those friends, spouses.
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Doing everything right for 20 weeks, executing perfectly on the swim and bike is only going to get you to the The Line as discussed previously, but make no mistake, it will come and when it does, have those One Things ready at the forefront!
Summary: During the course of your race day, expect your body to have a very convincing conversation with your mind: "Look, Mind, you've had me out here slogging away for 132 miles. This is really starting to get old and very painful. If I see another Strawberry Banana Gel I might throw up. You need to give me a good reason to keep going forward. If you can't give me a good one, I'm gonna slow down and you can't stop me!" If you don't have an answer ready, your day could be over right here.
Advice: Before the race, you need to be able to answer the question: "Why am I doing this race?" In other words, you need to determine what is the One Thing that put you in this race? To finish in the daylight with a smile on your face? To run a 4:10? .
Whatever your One Thing is, be absolutely clear and rehearse your mind/body debate beforehand. Practice makes perfect and this is a critical thing to have ready for when your body starts to push back.
Be warned: your body can be a helluva good negotiator at mile 18, especially if your mind hasn't prepared its rebuttal arguments beforehand.
Now team, do me a favor, take a deep breathe.... yes I mean it.... in through the nose, out through the mouth and SMILE. Are you doing it? Still not joking, DO IT!!!
It has been an honor to be your Race Captain. I am here all week if you need to vent, have any questions etc. I am heading up to Lake Placid as I will be racing there the same day as you are! I will be thinking of all your AWESOME posts that I was able to follow and the discussions that were had in this forum. Please try and make the dinner, its so great to hang out together before the BIG day! I will be there in spirit!!
Mushy part over.... GO CRUSH THIS COURSE!
**** Go over the admin notes from race captain thread and the random thoughts from race captain thread to make sure you've done all your admin duties, social media stuff etc*****
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Excitement/anxiety is getting a little bit high over here.
Old Spaghetti Factory
Crystal Lodge & Suites, Whistler Hotel, 4154 Village Green, Whistler, BC V0N 1B4, Canada
Phone: +1 604-938-1081
Thanks, Doug. I'm in for lunch (just me).
Tue - Easy 30 min run followed by bus tour to Rapperswill, Liechtenstein, and Heidiland. Built my bike tonight.
cool Paul.
consider train and lift rides to top of Stanserhorn and/or Mount Pilatus. can take trains from Zurich. maybe a train change for the Stanserhorn one. and various contraptions to get to the top of each one. good day trips with no physical exertion needed.
I planned to do todays triple brick w my friend at 8am. The rain was coming down hard, so we decided to wait. I made sure to have good directions to Rainbow Park (we still got a little lost). There was a strong southern breeze. I dove in and the water felt nice. We swam into the wind 10' then came back. Only saw 4 others swimming. One guy said the water was glass at 7am!
Hopped on the bike and went on the trail to Hwy 99 then came back on the course and saw some of the hills. Nice 45' Bike.
Stayed on the bike path for a 30' Run with some strides. The weather was perfect...no rain, light breeze, cloud cover.
I think I'll head out for some more bike recon tomorrow if the weather is nice.
I should be able to make spaghetti on Saturday. See you guys there!
Robin - Taking the train to Lucerne tomorrow to spend a few hours before coming back for afternoon registration/swim.. Might do a bus/cog rail tour to Jungfrau on Monday. Wife can't handle any of the gondola/lift contraptions.
Jungfrau is neat. The Swissman finishes near there ?
Pilatus is a train like thing on one side. Could come and go that way. Gondola on other side.
All settled in Whistler. Crystal Lodge.
Work sucked today, but I am finally done and can give this IM my full attention now. Too late for any fitnessy activity tonight, and I am mentally spent anyway, so I will read a bit and sleep. Cleaned and trimmed out the bike last night after a 30 min tempo run. Some nice new red handlebar tape - will look fast at minimum!
Driving up to Whistler tomorrow am. I am in a VRBO somewhere near the finish line I think.
Woke up to a rear flat, a latex tube I had been running since November. Since I do not have a spare, going with butyl tubes this time around. I had practiced using my speedy CO2 filler last night. Glad I did, found out it was not working any longer, so stole my wife's CO2 filler. That worked nicely.
Doug, I'm leaning toward just wearing the LG M2 suit. I did that in Victoria when the entire bike was low-mid 50s and it was fine. I expect to get a little cold on the Callaghan descent, but if the temp is in the mid-50s then and dry it should be fine. By the time we go north past Whistler again it looks like we will be in the 60s. And mid-70s when we get to Pemberton (it will probably feel like 80s on that road).
Good thing you caught the flat now! I replaced a tire and latex tube a few weeks ago (tire was getting worn and I didn't want to take chances). After a week I noticed the new tube was always pretty low at the start of a ride. Checked it overnight and it went from 100 psi to 20 in 12 hours. I'm glad I caught that before the race! It turned out the new tire already had a hole in it, probably from a piece of glass.
I'm bringing up a couple of latex tubes in case you want one, but probably safer to stick with butyl if it's working.
Doug - No way to cut the loop short. The guided portion was 42 miles and I had to bike to/from my hotel there...so 48. I'll check the rest of it tomorrow.
Today - trained to Lucerne and back. Saw the famous Lion Monument, historic pedestrian bridges over the river, walked the old town, did not buy a watch, had lunch and returned. Then tram over to the race venue to register. I got a nice backpack and some Euro swag. Swam 30 mins at the Swim Exit without a wetsuit, just in case, because the water is only marginally legal at the moment. Looking at 59 low and 79 high on Sunday, but the humidity came up today as there was far more cloud cover. Not seeing too many "iron people" yet. I guess everyone converges tomorrow. The only ones I've met are newbies from all over ... a guy from Holland, a guy from Brazil, a hottie from Frankfurt, and a young girl from Singapore (23, and only 1 of 2 in the F20-24 group). How would you like to have a 50% shot at Kona in your first gig? Life is not fair!
I spent jack at the IM store...just a IM Switzerland visor for me and a t-shirt for the wife...but she is killing me on embroidered linens I'm the tourist shops. WTC had the usual stuff you see in the U.S. but the specific race branded gear looked cartoonish so I was able to easily get out the door.
Have fun, be safe, go get it !
We blew off the welcome dinner and went to Au Gratin (restaurant) sitting on a second floor balcony overlooking the Zurich train station and all the hubbub. Fantastic view and fantastic food. I wasn't going to risk ptomaine poisoning or some notovirus in the Ironman dinner tent.