Ironman Canada Whistler Race Report

Effective October 2013, I've moved my active blog to ShutUpLegs.org. You can view this post and all my latest posts and on my new website!

After a year of anticipation, the 31st Ironman Canada came and went this past August 25.  For those of you who may not have been as close to the history of the event, this year was the first time that mainland North America's longest running Ironman race had been been held outside of Penticton, BC.  The new venue, the western Canadian alpine village of Whistler, British Columbia.

After racing Ironman Canada in Penticton in 2011 my plan wasn't to return to Ironman distance racing for at least a couple of years.  I'd done my 226 km race and it was checked off in the books.  In the meantime I'd switch down to 70.3 racing which I really love and can race more of.  But after volunteering as a catcher in 2012, and upon learning that Whistler would be the new venue, I couldn't resist, and Ironman once again beckoned.  As soon as the date was announced, I booked my accommodations, and as soon as registration opened, I signed up.

So here is the race report.  I won't compare the two courses much in this post unless it fits the context, I'll just focus on this Ironman Canada, and compare the two in a later post.

Maybe grab a coffee and go for a bathroom break, because this is going to be long...

Pre Race

I drove out to Whistler from Calgary on the Tuesday before the race.  It had been my plan to get out to the area a little earlier to recon the new course, but as fate would have it, with the floods in Calgary in late July I just couldn't get away from home to make the trip out.  From Calgary its about an 11 hour drive if you take the 99 rather than passing through Vancouver, and I have to say the last couple hours through Lillouet are some of the most scenic roads you'll ever encounter, as long as you can stomach the winding roads.

Arriving in Whistler it was easy to see that the town had already embraced the race.  Banners and signage were up for the race, and the 2700 Ironman athletes were beginning to make their way into town.  That being said, the town of Whistler is no one trick pony, besides boasting one of North America's largest ski resorts, its also a great summer destination for mountain bikers and has a vast and truly awesome landscape built for downhill and XC riding.

I managed to rent a house that in the winter would be a ski out on the lower slopes of Whistler mountain.  A big plus for Ironman moving out of Penticton and heading over to Whistler is that Whistler is a true tourist town.  The accommodations inventory is far superior to that of Penticton and while the town only has a residential population of about 10,000, it accommodates closer to 30,000 during the peak of the ski season.  So accommodations for the most part were better, and cheaper as you'd have your choice of anything from a small B&B, to an OwnerDirect or VRBO rental, to a Hilton, Four Seasons, or whatever else you choose.

You could immediately tell that Whistler definitely had a resort feel, versus Challenge Penticton's small town, family feel.  I said this before in a post comparing the two races, I'm not saying that one is better than the other, they're just different.

As far as race swag goes, we got a pretty sweet Ironman Canada backpack, a voucher for a local restaurant on athlete briefing day, some coupons for local attractions which were pretty decent, and some Oakley coupons, which I also thought were pretty good.

The Swim

The swim course is a two lap, counter-clockwise course in a decent size alpine lake.  The water temperature
was surprisingly warm at about 19C on race day.  With air temperatures closer to around 9C, it actually make getting into the water feel like getting into a lukewarm bathtub.  Always a plus.

As far as scenery goes, this was top notch and in my race experience second only to Two Jack Lake where the Subaru Banff Triathlon swim is held.

The swim was a rolling start so athletes had the opportunity to swim out to the far end start line about 100m from shore, or start with their feet in the water on the closer end of the start line.  The swim itself was pretty much what you'd expect from a rolling 2700 person start, crowded and with some random folks deciding to switch to breast stroke, backstroke, or treading water, but for the most part organized and familiar for any triathlete with a race or two under their belt.  No chop or waves, and buoys were 5 foot buoys every 100m, and 8 foot buoys on the turns, and small 2 foot buoys marked the start line and were removed after the start.

My only gripe was that there was a short period between turns two and three, on the second lap, that athletes were swimming directly into the sun.  At this point I couldn't even see the buoy until it was literally a few feet in front of my face.  Judging by the other swimmers I think this may have caused some athletes to cut, or almost cut the course.  Next year however the race will be a month earlier which should mean the sun won't be so low in the sky at race start, and this shouldn't be an issue.

My swim went pretty well.  I'm not the strongest swimmer and having only put a half dozen swims under my belt the entire months of July and August didn't really seem to help.  That being said, all but one of those half dozen swims were in open water at Lake Mackenzie, the Calgary 70.3 swim venue, and either 2km, or 4km.  Getting a 4km swim in two weeks before the race was a huge confidence booster for me and really put me at ease going into this race.

I exited the water at 1:22:39, 1329th overall, so smack dab in the middle of the bell curve which I was happy with.  That's about 6 minutes faster than my first Ironman Canada swim time.

T1

Not a lot to report here, swim exit was organized with a good number of strippers to help get things off (no pun intended... okay, pun intended).  I did end up running right past my Swim-Bike bag, totally my fault for not doing a better pre race run through transition the day before.  But of course the awesome volunteers were there to save my ass and grab my bag.  Also hit the restroom before going to the bike.

Time ended up 6:06 for the Swim to Bike transition.

Bike

So, when I first blogged about the comparison between these two courses, I was going on data that suggested that the two courses were roughly comparable in terms of total ascent.  I figured this course would be tougher though because it had an uphill from 150km into T2, rather than a big downhill like in Penticton.  I was wrong.

Early riders recon'd the course and reckoned the total elevation to be closer to about 6000ft rather than the Ironman quoted 4200 feet.  They were right.

The bike course begins with a ride out of the Alta Lake community and south on the Sea to Sky Highway out to Callaghan Valley Road.  In this case "valley" doesn't mean you ride into a valley.  It means you make a 410m ascent up to the highest point in the race.  The total climb is about 12.9km with an average grade of 2.8%.  Knowing that the course was just showing us a little of what she could do and that the toughest part of the course was still hours away, I kept my pace conservative and relaxed and let others pass me.  On this section I stuck to around 190 watts which got me up the ascent in less than 40 minutes, averaging about 20kph.  Coming back down, the speed was closer to 50kph.

After the Callaghan climb you ride back through Whistler and north towards Pemberton.  Coming through Whistler was like riding through an alpine town at the foot of a challenging climb in the Tour de France.  The crowds were tremendous and made up of both locals and the families and friends of athletes.  The whole section from Callaghan to Whistler is pretty flat and pretty straightforward.  Roads weren't closed by athletes had a lane right down the middle of the road which was wide enough that you definitely felt safe and comfortable.

Past Whistler, once the Sea to Sky Highway turned into the 99, athletes had the entire road to themselves.  I'll say that again, BC Transportation allowed the full closure of a numbered highway giving athletes exclusive rights to a huge stretch of road for the entire race.  Impressive, most impressive.

Whistler to Pemberton is a descent, one long, 25km descent, punctuated by just the odd abrupt climb,
one of which was actually the steepest ascent of the entire course at maybe around 13%.  It's great, you make up tonnes of time on this section, but you know that what goes down must come back up.  What seemed like a while to ultimately descend would most certainly be an eternity to climb back up.  So... you had that to look forward to.

After Pemberton on the way out is a long flat out and back section where you ought to be able to make up plenty of time.  Pavement was decent here, but probably the least looked after on the entire course.  My big issue with this section was that the long flat allowed people to form draft packs.  This was pretty frustrating to see as course ref Jimmy Riccitello had stressed to no end that they would be strictly enforcing drafting rules.  Nope, none.  I'm a pretty weak swimmer, but a pretty solid cyclist.  The benefit of that is that I see and pass a lot of people out on the bike course and I was bridging from one small peloton to the next and seeing that many of the riders had no inclination whatsoever towards breaking up.  Groups ranged from 3 or 4, to probably as large as 10-15 and these guys knew exactly what they were doing.  It was pretty clear that these weren't just clumps of age groupers who couldn't separate on a steep climb, they were solid sub 5:30 guys who knew how to ride.  But you know what, I race my race, they race their race.  If I had bothered to settle in with a draft pack I would have given up time and not moved up the field as far as I did.

I should mention here that I got my second wasp sting of the bikeride here.  I don't know what it is, but they loved me last week.  Both times the wasps flew into my jersey by the neck, got caught in there, got stressed out, and stung me.  Poor little dudes, my instant reaction both times was to grab the shirt where I felt the sting, and crush whatever it was as hard as I could.

So, you hit the end of the out and back, turn around, and get ready for the climb.  The total out and back distance is 50km, so a good distance and a good time to refuel, and prepare yourself for the next section.  At this point in the ride I also had the pleasant opportunity of exchanging a few kind words with a blog reader named Liam.  Liam, if you're reading this, once again, it was a pleasure and I hope you were able to make your dinner plans.

The Pemberton to Whistler climb starts around 145km.  Having read the many forum and blog posts from riders who'd recon'd the course, I'd prepared myself for the strong wind out of the south that would be a headwind into an already gnarly climb.  Luckily, the weather decided she'd cut us a break that day and it was a relatively calm day.

Back to the climb though.  Rather than one long consistent climb the ascent was a series of undulating grades varying from 3% to 7%.  From Pemberton to the transition in Whistler the elevation gain is 710m over about 32km, an average 1.4% grade.

As with any Ironman, for the most part the other athletes tempered their efforts and by this point in the race most the athletes were patiently making the ascent, fully conscious of the marathon waiting on the other side of transition.  Throughout the bike course it was pretty clear that one of the most valuable tools for this kind of a ride is a powermeter.  Over the last 30km I was able to stick to about 180watts, just as I'd planned.

In the end, I couldn't have executed the ride any better.  Going into the race I'd figured out my target power based on triathlon guru Joe Friel's guidelines.  Target power was 68% of ftp and I was spot on with my target, managed to keep my HR in the low 150's, and never exceeded my threshold power for more than a minute or two at a time.  I took in one strawberry powerbar gel every 20-30 minutes, and drank a sip of strawberry HEED whenever thirsty.  By the end of the ride I'd gone through about 3 and a half bottles of fluid, with the lower temperatures and overcast skies I was careful to not over-hydrate.

Bike course time was 5:50:19, average power 178watts, average heart rate 152bpm, cadence 88, and speed just over 30kph.  The recorded distance on my Garmin was 175.7km though that was a little short as I'd had some problems getting my Garmin Edge 500 going (bike time on my Garmin was closer to 5:47).  My position getting off the bike was 662nd.

Bike course data;


T2

Again, transition went pretty smooth.  The entry into transition was lined with crowds and supporters, the volunteers were there to grab and rack your bike, and guide you to your transition bag.  In and out just under 3 minutes.

The Run

The run is another two loop course through Whistler's beautiful surrounding areas.  Runners start out in the village and run along paved and unpaved trails through the forest, and through some open areas along the lake and highway.  The natural beauty of the area is more than enough to take your mind off the hurt in your legs.

The course was well marked with mile markers through the course.  Aid stations usually came shortly after mile markers and were well stocked and staffed with helpful and supportive volunteers.  Even the local wildlife came out to support the athletes along the way.

In all seriousness though, one of the messages that the bike and run course captains stressed at the athlete briefing was to not litter or leave food on the course, simply because we are in fact guests in nature's yard.

Early in the run I was feeling good overall but still very much like I'd ridden 180km.  My legs were slightly fatigued, and I could feel the calories in fluid in my stomach trying to settle along the run.

Throughout the run I was very aware of where my stomach was at.  At times I was backing off my pace to lower my heart rate and allow me to digest more calories.  When I felt good I'd up the pace a bit and take advantage of the moment to push a little harder.  A marathon is a funny thing, just like any experience in life it has ups and it has downs.  Sometimes you feel good, and sometimes you feel bad.  So when things felt good I made sure to take advantage of that and push a little harder, keenly aware that there would still be some tough moments in the marathon.

Another little life lesson that came into perspective on the marathon was that we can only control whats happening in that single moment.  About 5km into the run my left knee started bothering me.  It was nothing new and something that I knew any other day I wouldn't have issues dealing with, but that day wouldn't be the ideal day to have to deal with a tight IT band.  In the days leading up to the race I could feel that slight pull but did my best to ignore it.  Eventually I figured my knee would just loosen up and get better as the run went on, or tighten up and slow me to a walk.  Either way, I was getting to the finish line so in that moment I may as well just keep calm and carry on running.

Into my second lap I had the pleasure of meeting another friend I'd spoken to on Twitter.  John and I exchanged pleasantries for a couple hundred meters, then kept running.  If you're on twitter be sure to give him a follow.

My plan through the marathon was to break it down into miles between aid stations.  This strategy worked well for me at ITU Worlds last year.  A marathon is a pretty daunting thing if you think of it as one continuous 26 mile run.  But break it down into a series 9 or 10 minute runs with a brief walking break at every aid station, and suddenly its actually a pretty reasonable undertaking.  So with the exception of the very last aid station, I took advantage of the aid stations to walk and get calories in.  The walking breaks provide a great neuromuscular break and there's actually a fairly solid sport science basis for this strategy.

In the end, the run had a few more hills than I had anticipated as well.  It wasn't an exceptionally challenging run course, but it certainly wasn't any easy one.  I managed to run a 3:59 marathon, a PB for me, though this was only my second marathon (the first one was at Ironman Canada, the first time).  Average heart rate in the low 160's.  Finishing the marathon I had moved up to 474th place overall.

Here are the technical deets on the run course.

Finish

The halfway point of the run through Whistler was lined with crowds and spectators.  Coming into the second loop towards the finish the spectators were welcoming and urging athletes to the finish line.  The finishing chute to Ironman was every bit as sweet as I remembered it at Ironman Canada in Penticton.  I crossed the finish line at 11:21:10.

Families and friends are welcome in the finish area in the Whistler Olympic Plaza which served as the expo area for the race.  I'm not sure how Challenge Penticton is set up these days, but this was a welcome change from Ironman Canada in Penticton where a small finish area was somewhat separate from the friends and family greeting area.

I've got to say, I was amazed at how into the race the locals in Whistler got.  Following the race I went into the village to grab a well deserved beer with my brother and friends who'd came out to watch and support.  Walking through the village each athlete guiding their bike back to the hotel, or draped in a reflective thermal jacket, would be greeted with a roar of cheers and applause from locals and tourists sitting on patios and enjoying a couple rounds.  I spoke with one of the locals on the patio later on and was sure to thank them for their hospitality, and I was happy to hear that they were just as stoked to play host to us.

We stuck around right until midnight when the last few finishers came in.  I was tired, but glad I stuck around.  I've got nothing but respect for those racers who come in at those late hours, walking through the dark, alone and cold takes a different type of grit and mental fortitude than a lot of people, even fellow Ironmen have.  The cheers and applause they received were well deserved.

I had an amazing time in Whistler and am grateful to the people of Whistler, the scores of volunteers, and the amazing spectators of Ironman Canada.  And a big congrats goes out to all of my fellow athletes!

Calgary 70.3 Race Report

Effective October 2013 I'll be providing all my latest posts and updates on ShutUpLegs.org! Feel free to view this post and all my latest posts there!

I know this is about two weeks late, but its been a busy little time for me and just got around to writing this race report now.

All through the season I had been planning on racing Calgary 70.3.  The plan for the season was a couple run races in the spring, Chinook Half Ironman in June, Calgary 70.3 in July, and Ironman Canada in Whistler in August as the goal race.  When the flooding happened in June it affected Ghost Lake and things became pretty hectic anyways, so I decided I'd wait and see for Ironman Calgary 70.3.

Well, as luck would have it, about two weeks before the race it was announced that the swim venue would be changed from the chilly waters of Ghost Lake, to the warm, tranquil waters of Lake Mackenzie, where I'd be doing open water swims in prep for Ironman Canada anyways.  A swim in Mackenzie meant the bike route would change dramatically and be a lot more like the Chinook course, which is on highways where I spent my years getting into road cycling on.  So I signed up.

The Swim

Having swam the swim course a couple of times already I was fairly familiar with the lake even before it was moved to that venue.  The man-made lake in Calgary get fairly warm by August by virtue of the fact that they're fairly shallow, and fairly small.  Typically the swim isn't my strong suit but having trained in this exact venue and put down reasonable times in training, I was pretty confident going into the swim.

The swim was a waved start with all the male AGer's heading out in the same wave.  The start was exactly what you'd expect from a 400 person start, a little chaotic, a little bit of shoving, but by the first turn the field had opened up a bit and I could find my own space just fine.

Confidence is a big thing in swimming, if you're nervous at all about your ability in those surroundings it'll make you want to rush the whole swim and it'll translate into a poor swim stroke, and a poor stroke means wasted energy.  With a bit more confidence this go I was able to swim an MOPish 40:20 1900m swim which believe it or not is a PB for me.

Here's the swim file... and no, I didn't go on shore at the island, it was interference coming out of the tunnel in the swim.

 The Bike

So like I said before, I was fairly familiar with the bike route.  And by fairly familiar with the bike route, I mean I know every inch of the course since I grew up about a 5 minute drive from right where the route goes by.  Knowing that a lot of people were going to be thrown into a bit of a tailspin from the drastically changed bike course, I wrote a fairly lengthy post detailing the route and giving some tips on how to ride it.  When you write a post like that, you better own the course because you're telling everyone else how to do it.

The bike was business as usual.  I spent the first 10 or 15 minutes getting into a good rhythm and calming down from the swim.  After that I started to make my way slowly up the field.  I played cat and mouse with a few other riders for the first half hour, with them passing me on the uphills, and me passing them on the downhills.  Riding with a powermeter, I really try and focus on keeping my power consistent with I'm ascending or descending, which is a practice that I really encourage other riders to get into.  I know that some riders have a strategy of going a little harder on the climbs and planning to recover on the descents, but I think its a failed strategy for anything longer than an Olympic distance ride because on a half or full iron you just end up burning through too many matches.

The first half of the ride is rolling foothills with quick downs followed by some punchy short and steep climbs and most of the course's 2300ft of climbing.  The second half of the ride is a long false flat with a tailwind for a good 30km.  The first half I probably averaged about 30kph, the second half probably a lot closer to 39kph with a total average of 34.7kph.

I was taking a gel every 20-30 minutes, and drinking whenever I felt thirsty.  I used to subscribe to the "take a sip every ten minutes" approach to hydration, but I found I was always needing a nature break about an hour or two in with that approach.  By the end of the ride I'd only gone through one bottle of drink, but felt pretty well hydrated, but note, the air temp was about 15C at this time, had it been warmer or sunnier I could have easily drank twice that.  Going into Ironman Canada, I think I'll focus on listening to my body for hydration rather than a 10 minute timer.  As far as gels go, I'm comfortable with one every 20-30 minutes.  Between the two I net about 250 calories per hour, and just for reference I weigh about 160lbs.

The bike route was a bit short at 86kph, so I can't take all the credit for a good bike split, but my time was 2:26:19, which was good for a 66th ranked bike split in a field of 730.  My watts average Very happy with this result.

Bike Course Technical details:
Time: 2:26:19
Average Power: 198 watts
Normalized Power: 205 watts (75-78% ftp)
Average HR: 161 bpm (81% ftHR)
Average Speed: 34.65kph
TSS: 151

The Run

With such a good bike split I was a little nervous about how well I'd execute on the run.  I knew that I didn't exceed any thresholds on the bike, and didn't push too hard at any point, but nothing comes without a price and I was finding it a little hard to believe that things could go so well on the bike without paying a little on the run.

As per usual I found myself constantly having to back off the pace on the run.  Getting off the bike its pretty common to have your legs moving faster than you think when you've been spinning at 90+ rpm.  For the first couple kilometres I kept having to back off from running 4:20min/km.  Eventually I got into a groove and was running steady with my HR in the 160-170 range.

Around 6 or 7 km in I found my heart rate monitor kept slipping down and having to adjust it.  Feeling pretty good about my RPE I decided I'd just take it off and turn the function off on my Garmin.  I've spent about half my runs this year not using a HR monitor and just focused on listening to my body, so this was one scenario where that kind of prep really paid off.  I was in tune, and feeling good the entire run.

I finished the run feeling pretty good and pulled out a 1:39:24 run split which was ranked 99 overall and was a PB in the half iron distance for me.  Up until the last couple of kilometres I was feeling a little anxious that I'd suddenly hit a wall and the endorphins would just evaporate, but it never happened and I finished a great half marathon.


The Finish

I finished the race 93 overall out of a field of 730 and PB'd with a 4:50:20 half Ironman.  My goal for the race was to break 5 feeling comfortable, but going into the race I knew that if I needed to push hard to break 5 hours then I'd back off since Ironman Canada was only four weeks away.  I managed to get the 4:50 without leaving that comfort zone and executed the race with a solid B-race effort of maybe 7 or 8 out of 10.  Ten minutes under 5 also gave me some relief around breaking that all important mental threshold,  if I'd just squeezed in under 5 hours with a bike course that was 4km short, I'd have an asterisk on the race result in my mind.

The volunteers and Paul Anderson did a phenomenal job of making this race happen.  The Calgary floods really put a curve ball onto this race and they responded in true Calgary fashion by figuring a way to get it done.  Kudos also goes out to the Mackenzie Lake Community Association for being gracious enough to allow us to take over their lake for a few days and hosting our race.  Also a huge shoutout to my friend Miss Melissa Reuame who volunteered for both body marking in the AM, and catching in the PM!

Lastly, I have to say, Ironman Calgary 70.3 this year probably had the best finisher medals I've ever seen.

Belt buckle... It's a giant belt buckle.

Subaru Banff Triathlon Race Report

First and foremost, for the record I raced the Subaru Banff Triathlon this year as a relay in the Olympic distance.  But last year I raced the whole Oly in fairly challenging conditions.  I wasn't going to write anything up on Banff this year but I thought I would for anyone racing it next year or just looking for something to read on a Wednesday afternoon...

The Swim

Stunning

The swim at the Banff triathlon takes place in Two Jack Lake (by Lake Minewanka).  I would challenge you to find a more beautiful setting for a swim course in the world.  I truly mean that.  The only catch to this is that the water in September is very cold and the weather can be fairly variable.  Last year the air temperature hovered around 15C for the entire race, and the water temperature was about 10-12C so the swim was cut in half for all distances.  This year and the year before last year however, the temperature of the day was actually mid-high 20's, and the water temperature on Saturday was around 15C, so pretty close to Ghost Lake for anyone who did Calgary 70.3.  Chilly, but not bad.

At those temperatures I would definitely recommend wearing two swim caps, or even going with a neoprene cap.  Gloves and booties aren't really necessary but I wouldn't blame anyone for using them.  Ear plugs also help some since that sort of cold water can make you a bit nauseas.  Also a must for those temperatures is getting into the water a few minutes before hand and doing a warm up swim to get over the initial shock of the cold.  I can almost guarantee you, when you get in the water you'll want to get straight out and put down one of your best swim splits ever.

On another note, the exit to the swim is actually a bit rocky, so anyone who does wear booties gets a bit of a bonus of not worrying about stubbing their toes on a rock.

Transition 1
Pretty strait forward here, you get out of the water, run about 75m up a paved ramp to transition, run down the carpet (its a gravel lot) and grab your bike, and you're gone.

The Bike
The ride is 2.5 laps around the Minewanka loop for olympians (38km), 1.5 for sprinters (25km), and basically a downhill ride to Banff for super sprinters (12km).

Down and up and down and up and down

Le Maillot a Pois Rouges (Its the mountains!)

I don't need to say much that the profile doesn't say for me so I'll sort of leave it at that.  Total elevation gain is 136m, total elevation loss is 247m, so net you're going downhill 115m.  Its basically like doing two hill climb intervals followed by a 10 or 15 minute rest before a run.  I'd say strong cyclists/runners here can push  at 100% ftp up the hills and recover on the downhills and on the in lap to Banff.  This year I took the bike leg of the race and powered through it finishing it in about an hour with a TSS of 92.5.  For the non-power geeks that basically means I went almost as hard as I could for an hour.  And with the descent into Banff at the end I would have felt fairly good had I had to run afterwards.

If you're not quite as confident on the bike, I would say don't be intimidated by the bike course, its challenging, sure, but you're all in the same boat.  As you can tell from the terrain profile the climbs are actually a bit stepped, so you'll have breaks every few hundred meters during the climb, just sit up when your speed falls below 20km/hr, and get aero when you're above 20km/hr.  Any time you're above 50km/hr, just soft pedal and hide from the wind.

Transition 2
The last bit of the ride you'll be coming right down Banff Ave with crowds cheering you on.  The town and the volunteers have done a truly exceptional job with this set up.  Transition is towards the west end of town and its a fast, straightforward transition.

The Run
There is a small chance that when you go out on the run your feet may feel like blocks of ice, I'm not joking, its a really weird sensation.  Its not a big deal though, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The bike was challenging but the run course pretty much follows the banks of the beautiful Bow River and as such is actually fairly flat.  For the olympic race its two 5km loops, for sprint and super sprint its just one 5km loop.  Lots of race support, lots of supporters, and probably one of the easiest best run courses around.

The finishing chute once again is right down Banff Ave.  Give it your all into the finish and smile for the camera!

Final Thoughts
This is one of the most scenic race courses you'll find in the world.  Period.  The swim is cold, but racking your bike in T1 and getting ready to swim race morning is one of the most surreal experiences you'll ever have at a race.  The bike is technical, but cyclists will love it, and if you have the opportunity to pre-ride the course, you'll probably actually enjoy it when you race.  And of course the run, its a quick tour of Banff which is just awesome.  This would be a top choice for a vacation race for anyone in Western Canada or the upper-Northwest of the US.

My coach, Todd Malcolm finishing our relay run

LifeSport Coaching who puts on the race does a really great job of this race, the post race food is awesome, the prizes are great, the volunteers are exceptional, and they get some great sponsors out for this event.  So huge props to them.

Also, I'd like to say thanks to my training partner Keith Blundell who busted out some HTFU and did the swim, and our coach Todd Malcolm who crushed the run in 38minutes.  We came first in the relay!

Finally, huge congrats to Lennina Pavon Cardoso for finishing your first tri out there, and Lily Sia Lu and Carly Louise DeBoice for kicking ass as per usual at the Banff Tri!

A Shoutout to the volunteers of IMC and every other Tri

On race morning I know you get up as early as I do, if not even earlier, and I know that this is after days of working to make sure our banquet is just right, our transition area is set up for us to drop off our kit, and our race packages are in order. I realize that stuffing race packages is probably the most thankless job of all since you may never even see the athlete who carelessly dumps the contents onto the bed at the hotel as soon as they get back.  So I really appreciate that.

But back to race morning.  In the early dawn hours I showed up for body marking and Special Needs drop off and you were there by the hundreds with visible excitement for me and my fellow athletes, and you wished me luck probably a thousand times over.  As the clock would tick down closer and closer to the start you made sure I was on my way to where I needed to be, you made sure that my wetsuit was on right, and you marshalled lines at the porta-potties a hundred people deep.  You did everything you could to make sure all I needed to do was think about my race.

When the gun goes and thousands of us filled Lake Okanagan I noticed you below the surface of the water in full dive gear, I also noticed you keeping a watchful eye in the canoes and kayaks, and I was glad you were around to lead us back to shore.  For many, the most dangerous part of a triathlon is the swim so its good to know you've got our backs.

Hauling ass into transition you stripped off my wetsuit in just a few brief seconds, you grabbed my transition bag faster than I could have possibly found it, and then you lead me from point A to point B (which was a life saver in the rush I was in).  Most noticeably, when I ditched all my stuff in a pile on top of the transition bag in the tent, magically at the end of the day I found it all in there with not a thing missing. Your attentiveness did not go unnoticed.

At each aid station on the bike you made my life as easy as possible.  I'd toss my empty bottle, which you ended up picking up (I usually did aim for the garbage, really), and then I'd point at you holding my drink and you'd break into a near sprint to make sure that it ended up in my hand.  You have no idea how much not having to slow to a stop helps us, I always said thanks but we're always in such a hurry I'm not sure if you ever hear me.

When I got back to transition to start my run, man was I ever glad to see you.  This is where you stood out most in my mind.  I got into the T2 change tent, and you told me, "whatever you don't need, throw it on the ground and I'll pack it for you.  You focus on changing your shoes and I'll take care of everything else".  You shared my sense of urgency, but conveyed a zen-like sense of calm that got me remembering, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.  I was in and out of there in about 3 minutes including the time it took to get sunscreen onto my burnt shoulders.  Nicely done.

On the run you cheered me on, handed me sponges, gave me water, asked if I wanted grapes, bananas, pretzels, anything. You asked a couple times if I was feeling okay and I know on the outside it didn't look that way, but I was, and if you weren't there waiting for me every mile, it would have been a different story.  You stood there for hours as me and 2800 other athletes shuffled by.  You were practically a saint to me at that point.

When I crossed the line, I was overcome with emotion.  I was exhausted, dehydrated, and dizzy, and I've probably never felt better.  You can't totally mute the pain with the joy though, so when you literally caught me, that did it for me, you rocked me world.  I started my day eleven and a half hours earlier and I was never more than half an hour away from your aid and then when it was all done.  At the end of it all, there you were at the finish line with no other responsibility that to say congratulations, put that medal around my neck, and take me to get food, or to see my family, or in the case of some, to the medical tent.

My favourite part of the day though, was at that finish line when you said, "Raf, you did it, you're an Ironman now".

I appreciate what every volunteer at every triathlon does.  Without volunteers I would not be able to race in the sport that I love, and they truly are what makes this sport possible.  I won't be racing in IMC next year as I've got my sights set on other races, so I'll be joining the ranks of the thousands supporting the race and I really am looking forward to it.

I just wanted to write this blog post to say thanks to the town of Penticton for hosting the gem of North American triathlons once again, and thanks to all the volunteers that made that day possible.

Ironman Canada 2011 Race Report

So Sunday was the big day, and with everything fresh in my mind I thought I'd post my race report to let you know how it all went and share my experience with everyone. I'll be concise and a bit more technical in this post, and sometime in the next few days I'll talk more about the experience.

Pre-Race

Had dinner at about 5:00pm the night before and got to bed around 8:30 or 9:00pm. I woke up at 4:00am and had 2 Extra Calorie Ensures, half a bagel with peanut butter, an orange juice, and a coffee, all good for probably a bit under a thousand calories.

Made my way down to the special needs drop off and body marking at about 5:45am. You could really feel the excitement and nervousness in the air as everyone exchanges greetings in the early dawn light mixed with giant flood lamps. Then took care of all the other pre-race stuff like tire pressure, one last pit stop at the porta-potties, and wetsuit on. Then it was down to the beach....

Swim

Over 2800 people started on that beach, its a crowd. As per my coach's suggestions I started on the inside right of the buoys where it is less crowded. I'm not a strong swimmer so I seeded myself a few rows back.

They sing the national anthem and then in about a minute the horn blows. I managed to find myself a pretty open spot of water and didn't really bother to draft anyone, but I know I had a couple ladies drafting me. Didn't have too many issues with other swimmers, but around the corner buoys you definitely have to go into a head up swim (don't do breast unless you want to start frog kicking people behind you).

Early in the swim I had some issues with my left shoulder but they want away after about a thousand meters. After about 2500m I started getting tired and had to just focus on long powerful strokes. For the record, I'm not a great swimmer, my longest continuous swim prior to this was 2100m, and 18 months ago I could say I swam only in the loosest sense of the term, meaning I wouldn't drown if you threw me into a pool.

Coming back into shore there are some issues with sighting and where the sun is, but with tinted goggles it isnt' really an issue, my suggestion for anyone else would be to sight the condo towers and not the buoys.

Swim Time: 1:28:29 | Swim Place: 2187 | Position after swim: 2187

T1

Fast transition, used the wetsuit strippers, already wearing my ride/run kit, so it was helmet on, shoes on, and I was out of there.

T1 Time: 00:03:48 | Position after T1: 1966 (yes, I passed 221 people in transition, thats why you practice your transitions)

Bike

The bike was good, I'd ridden the course once already so I knew what to expect. I also know that there are very few people who are as slow as I am in the water, but as fast as I am on the bike, which is a blessing and a curse. So there was a lot of passing.

My plan was to ride at 180-200 watts, but with the heat I was forced to ride on the lower end of this, around 180 watts, given that my heart rate was getting into the high 150's. I just had to listen to my body and respond to the conditions. I knew that if I rode any harder than I was, that I'd be shot for the marathon in the heat later on.

My advice to anyone would be to skip the first aid station at McLean Creek since stations are every 10 miles, or every 30 to 40 minutes, and you shouldn't need aid half an hour into the ride.

From McLean to Osoyoos is fast with an overall descending profile and usually a tailwind. If you're an average rider this is a good place to relax and prepare yourself for Richter and the rollers, but if you're more experienced or have ridden the course before, you can take a calculated risk and try and make time here since after Richter you're always either climbing or descending.

Richter's Pass is a baby if you know how to ride it. The key to Richter, the rollers, Yellow Lake, or any hill in an iron distance triathlon is to maintain the same level of exertion that you would have on the flats. I'm a strong rider and my ftp is roughly 280 watts, or 3.8watts/kg, and there were a lot of people passing me early in some of the climbs. This is completely fine but if you're breathing is audible and you're riding out of the saddle in a 180km time trial followed by a marathon in 35 degree heat, you're doing something wrong.

Once I reached the top of those hills, be it Richter or the rollers, or Yellow Lake, it was "click, click, click" as I geared up and accelerated downhill with the same effort as I climbed up (about 190watts for reference). Trust me, its a lot easier and more fun to pass people going down hill than uphill by keeping your exertion level on both sides.

I didn't have any issues with tacks and flats, or with aid stations running out of water like some people did. Once in a while I'd see groups of people with flats, but I honestly don't think it was tacks, just rough roads combined with some maybe too high tire pressures in the desert sun, but I could be wrong. As for aid stations running out of water, that really sucks, I only showered myself with water from a bottle once when a lady offered me a bottle that she'd used to do the same (a class act I should say).

At Yellow Lake I saw Shirl, Jen, and Jill in a Tour de France-esque tunnel of spectators which provided a great boost at a challenging point. That was great, and from then on it was one small climb and 30km of descending into Penticton.

Bike Time: 5:44:06 | Bike Place: 467 | Position after bike: 777 | Average/Norm Power: 167/180 | Average HR: 155 bpm

T2

Dismounted my bike, and while I was running it turned on me and I fell on it because of my slippery cleats. Big bruise on my leg, but my ego took the worst of it. Cleats off, running shoes and visor on, sunscreen on, and I was out of there.

T2 Time: 00:03:24 | Position after T2: 739

The Marathon

This hurt. Something about getting off your bike after a 180km bikeride and going to run a marathon at 2:30pm in 34C (94F) heat is mentally challenging. My original plan was to run 5:20km's and only walk the aid stations if necessary but it quickly became clear that this marathon was about surviving the heat.

Your legs never feel great when you start the run in a triathlon and this case was no different. After about 5km I was starting to recognize that keeping my body temp down would be critical. So the plan changed to walking the aid stations and doing everything I could to keep cool, sponges, water, ice, etc.

At the 8km aid station I was kind of a jerk and walked right by Shirl, her family, and some of my friends. I knew they were there and I could hear them, but that was probably the first aid station I walked and I was simply in a world of hurt and needed every last ounce of energy to keep moving forward. After that point though I thought about how those people were there for me and I owed it to them, and myself to HTFU and get on with it.

Jordan and the Tri It crew were about on bikes providing words of encouragement telling me I looked strong. But when I started seeing some of the pros walking I started thinking about how easy it would be to slow down and how much time I had to finish. Then I saw none other than Janelle Morrison, a true inspiration for me, and she reminded me of the wise words she shared with me a couple weeks before, "you owe it to yourself to fight". My pace picked up, and I wasn't about to back down.

I stuck with walking the aid stations, as did many others, it was simple attrition out there, and anyone who managed to run the whole course deserves an extra medal or honourable mention or something. Into town I just kept telling myself, get to the next aid station and you can walk just a little bit, and then I kept telling myself, "40 minutes and you're an Ironman, 30 minutes and you're an Ironman, 10 minutes and you're an...".

Run Time: 4:10:41 | Run Place: 410| Position after run: 470 | Average HR: 162 bpm

The Finish

My wonderful fiancée Shirley, and two incredible friends Jen and Jill were my catchers and I was so happy that they were there on the other side of the line rather than somewhere back on the course. They brought me pizza, pepsi, water, and smiles.

Coming down that finishing chute was like... well finishing an Ironman. You literally have thousands of people cheering for you as you run down the carpet, and after 42km of you body telling you to stop, all of the sudden, you're done. Its a mix of all the bad things you'd expect from a 226km day, completely muted by the relief, exhilaration, and happiness of landing among the stars for just a few brief seconds.

One quote sums it all up best...

“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious”

-Vince Lombardi

Chinook Half Ironman Race Report

So last Saturday was the Chinook Half Ironman here in Calgary. The Chinook Half is a local race put on by Mike Bock, an awesome event organizer who puts together a wicked, athlete focused event.

The course definitely more challenging than Calgary 70.3. The swim is a two loop 2km swim in a local man-made lake, followed by a 96km out and back to Kananaskis Provincial Park which is pretty much the entrance to the Rocky Mountains, and the run is a two loop course through Fish Creek Provincial Park which is relatively flat with the exception of the large descent/ascent out of the Fish Creek Valley.

Pre-Race

Pre-race was fairly routine for me. We had a pasta party put on by the event organizer the night before at the pre-race meeting. Oddly enough though, around 8:00pm I started getting some pretty acute pain on the inside of my right ankle which really started to worry me. I massaged and stretched it out through the next couple hours though.

Race morning, got up at about 5:30am. Had an Ensure, a bagel with Nutella, and a banana. Got all my stuff ready and headed down to the race start.

Setting up transition was straightforward and easy, there were huge sponsor posters and no assigned spots so I planted my spot right in front of a huge Subaru sign. Went around and said hey to everyone I knew, the team from Tri-It, and a few people I'd met from previous races. This really helps to calm the nerves and remind you that you're out there to have fun.

The Swim

Water temperatures were 16C, so pretty warm considering the time of year. I did a quick pre-race swim with some fist drills to remind my body to catch strong. Went back ashore just before the start.

The horn went off and out we went. In the first couple hundred meters I definitely let the rush get the best of me and I had to really focus myself and calm down. My stroke and sighting were suffering a bit because I was just too into the hustle. At the first buoy though I was able to settle in and get a good pace going. The rest of the swim was pretty straightforward with the exception of someone who decided they would grab my leg from behind and try to move me aside which almost pulled my timing chip off my ankle and really irritated me. When this happened I started kicking like a madman to let them know that if they want to be a jerk they'd have a grand time doing so.

I'm not sure how my first and second lap compare, but it does seem that my second lap went a bit faster.

Time: 42:42, distance 2.1km (can thank shoddy sighting for the extra 100m), HR 160bpm, 65th place. I wear my Garmin 310xt in the water, for the record.

Transition 1: 3:33

The Bike

The bike is my strong suit so coming out of the water so far back didn't rattle me at all. The first few km I settled into my pace and stayed in low zone 2, so heart rate around 150-155, and power around 75% of my FTP.

I quickly started gaining position and was feeling good in the first few minutes but not long after I realized I wasn't feeling 100% internally. I can't really describe it but my legs felt cool and heavy, and for a little bit I was starting to get a stitch. I started to think about my ankle from the night before and was really playing headgames with myself. This lasted for the first maybe 15km of the ride. The saving grace was that at this time I was also making up huge positions.

Around 30km things started to feel better and the field had really thinned out. By this time individual riders were at least 500m apart. We were starting to get into the hills and I was having no issues keeping pace. I kept calling "left!" to make sure the guys I was passing knew I was coming since I really don't like getting over the line on some sections on that roadway.

Approaching the turnaround I counted about 20 riders coming the other way, but couldn't tell who was racing and who was just out riding but figured I was in the top 20 anyways. Reached the turnaround and some confusion with the guy controlling traffic really upset me so I just dropped the hammer and hauled ass on the way back.

I stuck to my strategy during the bike. For the first 1/3 ride in Zone 2 with HR sub 160 with power about 75% of FTP. Then the second 2/3 ride in high Zone 2-low zone 3 with HR in 160's, power at 80-85% FTP. Its a course with a couple big climbs, and a lot of rollers so the strategy on those was to not exceed 110% FTP on the short hills, and 100% FTP on the long climbs which wouldn't last more than 5 minutes anyways. Over 55km/hr I'd just tuck in and get small. Its a tricky course to get a read on power though since most of the time you're either climbing, or spinning out.

Nutrition also went according to plan, 1 hammer gel every half hour, and finish two bottles of Perpetuum, no need to stop at aid stations.

Time: 2:56:12 for 96km. 3119 ft of climbing. Ave HR 160bpm, Max HR 172bpm. Ave Cadence 92rpm. 7th fastest bike time of the day.

Transition 2: 1:07.

The Run

For the run my plan was run an even split, and try and stay under 5:00min/km. Getting off the bike of course my legs felt heavy and I really wished I'd done more bricks recently but as per usual the battle was mental. My run cadence is spot on what my bike cadence is so I usually motor along just fine. For the first lap I motored along between 4:35/km and 4:50/km. After a few km I felt great.

Todd (my coach) was chillin around the 7km mark and when I saw him I told him he was a sight for sore eyes. I'm not sure what it was but it was definitely a good boost to see a familiar face since there weren't many spectators down in the valley.

Second lap I started hurting. During the last bit of the bike I chugged down what I had left of my drink which was maybe 1/3 of the bottle. Up until now I was aware that it wasn't really processing in my stomach but it didn't start to bother me til then so I settled back the pace a bit and let it go down. Once my stomach started feeling better and I picked up the pace, I started to get a stitch under my ribs, now I was in the hurt locker.

I tried to run through the stitch, and I pictured Macca and Raelert in the last few km of Kona and I remember seeing Macca at one point push under his ribs and double forward, but he just kept running which is what I wanted to do... Then I pictured Chris Lieto who sort of shut down in the run which was a little less inspiring. I had to stop and walk at 16km for about 200m which I've never done before in a half marathon or half IM. Reflecting now I wish I hadn't walked but it was definitely hurting, and I knew I had a good few minutes on the next person behind me.

When I picked up the pace again I still had the stitches but I could run through them now that they'd eased off a little.

Going up the beast of a hill out of the valley I ended up walking once more. It was just one of those hills that if you tried to run it you'd take such small steps someone might legitimately walk past you. And I was completed gassed at this point but it was just a km to go once I reached the top.

Ran the rest in, crossed the line, and made a big smile.

Time: 1:42:45 for 21.1km. Ave HR 175 bpm. 17th fastest run split of the day.

Post-Race:

Had Shirley and a whole bunch of other friends there to welcome me as I came into the finish. I was definitely hurting after the race but most of that subsided in about half an hour.

Finish time: 5:21:49. 2nd in Age Group, 12th Overall! (For the record, 1st in my age group was Grant Burwash, a pro/elite triathlete who won overall).

Big Shoutouts

Special thanks to Coach Todd from No Limits Triathlon who helped bring my Half IM time down on a much more challenging course, by more than 20 minutes in less than a year.

Also Congrats to Keith Blundell, my friend and training partner, for finishing his first HIM ever and who finished strong considering he'd never ridden that far ever before.

Shayne Arseneault, who finished his first triathlon that day and to the second, had the exact same time as my first triathlon.

My friends at Tri-It for being an awesome support team for me and all Calgary triathletes.

And last but not least my wonderful girlfriend Shirley who supports, challenges, and inspires me to give nothing but my best.

Velocity Stage Race Report

I've always considered myself a cyclist, and was on the bike racing other unsuspecting riders on the roads since I was probably about 14 years old. But I never formally raced a bike race other than the races that come after a swim and before a run until last weekend in Edmonton at the Velocity Stage Race (I raced Cat 5). And here is how it went...

The Time Trial

If I had to consider myself any sort of specialist I would say it would be a time trial specialist. The type of training triathletes typically do lends itself very well to time trialling and there is something about the simplicity of just being you, the bike, and a clock that I love. In a time trial you bring yourself to your upper threshold and hold on for dear life until you finish the race, if it doesn't hurt you're not doing it right.

So at 8:42:30am I pushed off the start into a brutal headwind and went all out for 10km. About 4km in I caught the two riders ahead of me (30 second increments) and was feeling pretty good. Looked down at the powermeter and I was pushing about 290 watts which was roughly where I wanted to be. At around 7km I passed two more riders and was starting to feel the burn. The beauty of such a short time trial is that there's very little mental endurance required, so 3km more just meant one last push.

Finished the 10km TT in 14:25 with an average heart rate of 183bpm, and average power of 299 watts. That was good for fourth place overall out of 54 riders and would have been a top 10 time all the way up to Cat 3 that day. 14:25 seems a little slow for that power but the winds that day were a force to be reckoned with... But we had no idea what was in store for the rest of the weekend.

The Crit

So crit racing is tough. This was my first crit and I knew it would be technical and very challenging. My number one goal was to keep the rubber side down, and finishing in the peleton would be my second goal. I achieved only the first goal.

The first few laps I managed to stick with the group but was acutely aware of the fact that I was working when others were taking it easy, and ending up too gassed to work when others were attacking. It was probably the fifth lap where in one fell swoop I was passed by about 15 riders because I just wasn't pushing hard enough. After that I was relegated to a chase group of seven riders where I stuck it out til the end of the race.

It was another brutally windy day and the closing stretch was always right into a headwind so when you rounded the corner it was like hitting a wall and then standing to sprint. I thought I had a strong sprint but I just couldn't hang onto the wheel of some of those other guys even in Cat 5. In the end I was about a minute back from the main group of finishers. Not bad for the first time out, but not great, I really wanted to stick with the peleton.

The Road Race

It was a 70km road race with a peleton of 55 riders in the category. We knew it would be a windy day but no one had a clue of what the wind would do once the race began. The course was essentially 3 loops of a 23km square starting eastbound and going clockwise. The wind was coming out of the southeast which meant that at least half the time we would be going into it.

I was nestled in the middle of the peleton and stuck with it for the first 15km before the attacks started. I managed to keep with the group until then but after that things started fragmenting with the winds pushing guys into each other, and even off the road in some cases. Around 20km with a tailwind there was an attack and I fell about 10m behind which was enough to lose the draft with about 15 other guys. I was leading the group and motioned for someone else to come up when I started to fade but no one wanted to do any work which really pissed me off. As a result the 10m quickly turned into 100m. After a rest I tried to bridge but got swallowed up by the chase group I'd previously been leading.

After the first lap we were a ten man chase group about a minute behind the main group. But pretty early into the second lap, 10 guys turned into four which wasn't nearly enough horsepower to deal with the strong winds. The course was prairie flat with little or no coverage to offer respite from the wind. Halfway through the second lap the guy in front of me flinched, so I flinched, so the guy behind me crashed. We stuck with him to make sure he was fine, and then he told us to go ahead. Down to three, it wasn't long before we lost one more guy who couldn't hold the pace.

So into the last lap it was me and one other guys from Mud Sweat and Gears. We worked together as well as we could in the winds and eventually he dropped me (oddly though I finished before him). I was exhausted and couldn't keep my HR up during the last lap. I took in the gels that I had and just pushed through til the end.

I came in 28th out of 54 in the road race about 18 minutes after the first guy across the line. We found out after the fact that winds were sustained 45km/hr with gusts up to 70km/hr. I have never ridden my bike in that kind of wind, some of the gusts slowed us down to 10km/hr. Cat 5 had 11 DNFs and 7 DQs from centreline infractions. It looks like Cat 4 stuck together pretty well but had about 1/3rd of the field DNF, Cats 1/2, and 3 showed the real attrition though with about 60% of riders DNFing.

The End

I came in 25th in the General Classification which wasn't bad for my first outing I think. I was very happy with the TT, came away safe from the crit, and finished the road race. I took solace in the fact that one of the more experienced riders said I'll probably never race in conditions that like that again. New guys (like me) racing in Cat 5 (aka Crash 5) combined with high winds made for an exceptionally dangerous race for newcomers. All in all though it was a great learning experience for me and I've gained a new level of respect for road riders and the level of strategy and pacing that goes into that sort of riding. I've got the engine but there's way more to it than that. All in all, a great training weekend.

In closing, I leave you with a video a friend of mine sent me before the race, some inspiration for everyone riding this week.