Right to Play Ironman Canada Race Report.

Friends and family,

August 26th was leg one of my three event Right to Play Charity Challenge. I decided to get involved with Right to Play because I am learning as I get a bit older that the nonsense that is triathlon is actually quite a gift. A gift both in the physical ability to compete, and the mental capacity to do the work and get the job done. It is a gift to have the financial ability to fly out to Canada's most beautiful place and spend a week plus with family. And these gifts are given because we are first world adults and kids that have so much opportunity. Right to Play help the too many that can't do that and Right to Play does everything it can to create access, to build social skills, to give kids who otherwise have no chance a chance, to succeed in life.

Sport can change lives. I am witness. It changed mine.

If you haven't, please donate to this great cause by clicking this link!

swim start. Just 2600 friends!

Swim: 58:09 - 11th in age group and 72nd overall.

calm before the storm!

I spent a lot of time since last fall building swim fitness with the Kim Lumsdon swim and tri club here in Toronto. My goal was not to get necessarily faster in the water per se, but more efficient such that I use less energy on Ironman day. I had a bit of a shocker start and after about 1KM in began to find a good groove. As we came closer to the buoy at the far side of the swim course the swells felt like they were pushing me around a bit. Sharp right for a few hundred meters and then a right to come home I felt really good but for some reason felt like I couldn't keep a straight line in the swells. My pack put distance into me as I regrouped. From there I led the next group with one other gent. I figured we were doing ok because he was on my left and I breath left so could see his very, very solid swim form! Looking at his form and after putting in a surge or two I realized this was our pace. I was not dropping this group so stayed efficient and calm. Overall I am happy with the swim. Many asked if the swim was long but I think the swells really slowed us down about a minute or two. I am happy with the swim progress.

Big sis, nephew Bryan, and niece Sarah!

Bike: 5:03:14 - 5th in age group and 32nd overall.

After fiddling around in transition deciding what to wear and if my watch was working (it wasn't) I finally got going to my bike. I instantly felt great on the road. Riding out of town I rode through a few athletes along the Skaha Lake to McLean Creek Road.

 Once up and over the steep pitch on McLean Creek a few athletes came by and I decided to let them go. It wasn't too hard of a pace but I was worried my heart rate was 10 beats above where it usually is at the 225-230 watt sweet spot. I didn't want to wreck my race in the first 30KM's of the bike ride. As we dropped down into Okanagan Falls and turned left on highway 97 to head to Osoyoos and the fame Richter's Pass I was curious: "WHERE IS EVERYBODY?" Usually when I do IMC there is a train of riders by this stage but I was solo. I had one rider I could see up in the distance that I used as a carrot but along this road no one was ahead or behind. It was odd but I just stayed to the plan of 225-230 average watts that I reset every 30 minutes. Get the gels, Salt Sticks, and fluids into me and take deep breaths.

Once arriving to Richter's Pass I could see a pack up ahead climbing the pitches of the pass that I assumed was the lead swim pack. One by one I picked them off staying very close to 290-300 watts on the 7% grades and back down to 225 along the flatter sections. My legs just felt so great!! I was praying for stiff headwinds once up and over the pass I felt that good and with great legs in triathlon you want wind. Wind hurts. The more wind, the better for my bike legs to try and create distance between me and the others. Up and over the descent was a thrilling bomb ride to the bottom and from there its seven rollers, a flat section, and then the out and back. It is this part that is usually viciously windy. Today there was no wind! Like ZERO wind in this section!

Some of the riders from Richter's descended well and we formed a group of about 6 along the rollers. As we moved through this section we picked up a few of the women pro's that start 15 minutes ahead of the amateurs. One was Janelle Morrison who frankly is lucky to be alive never mind racing Ironman.
Click that link there and take a read, it is an amazing story; truly.

Once upon the flat section toward the out and back I put my head down and conserved as much energy as possible because my experience with the out and back always sucks. It saps the life out of me. I don't know why so I was preparing for the mental strain that was ahead.

I saw Nigel Gray on the turn into the out and back section. His cheers gave me strength as I headed along the patch that usually strains me. I kept a very acute eye for bees as that has ruined a race. Wild turkeys as I have seen that out there. Riders ahead and behind at the turn. Surprisingly I got through the section pretty good and headed off to Yellow Lake climb. It is here I struggled slightly. My legs started to become tired and the wind up top was picking up. The good news once on top of Yellow Lake there is pretty much descending all the way home. Put the head down, and roll with it!

Back into town I pushed the false flats and gained a bit of time before one last gel 5K from transition and prepared for the run. I was ready and damn excited to get going.

First mile was 7:30. Felt great!

Run: 4:28:54 - 107th in age group and 677th overall

I came out of transition thinking, 'WHOA I FEEL INCREDIBLE!" My legs have never felt better starting an Ironman run! I ran a 7:30 to start that included a quick stop to kiss Meredith and another to hug nephew Bryan. I wish I knew why, once taking the turnaround to head back along Lakeshore Rd. my right soas muscle felt a twinge. 500M later my right ab felt cramping. Exactly the same spot it did in Hawaii. I had no stomach cramps or distention so my nutrition was getting absorbed. I slowed the pace to 8 minute miles and the pain was manageable. But it never went away. I just persevered and played math games from that moment all the way to the 10 mile marker. Just a game within my head to try and keep pace for a 3:30 - 3:40 marathon. Just keep going, keep going. Suck it up. This is a gift. This pace easily beats your PB. You can still do a 9:50 flat Ironman and that is HUGE if you just keep this pace. Shut up Mr. Negative brain; wake up Mr. Positive brain. YOU CAN DO THIS. Look up. Straight ahead. Still on track. You ROCK.

Last mile was 14:00. Felt TERRIBLE!

Then at mile 10 the soas really pulled. The pain sharp as a knife went from the soas up to the diaphragm. One big giant rip along my right side. Bloody hell that hurt! WALK. Stop. SHIT. Regroup. Stretch. Breathe deep.

I went from 3:40 marathon pace to 4:00 hour pace in 3 miles. Run/walk/run/walk to the turn around. I just wanted to get there and get my special needs bag to grab my Tums and chew away. I crushed 5 of them to try and release some gas in my stomach hoping that would alleviate some pain. It worked, for a mile. Things were not good. My brain went in many different directions. As I jogged out of OK Falls up the mile long climb I just thought of Meredith, Dad, Big Sis, Bryan and Sarah. I had to keep going. The disappointment I was feeling was draining away and I reminded myself the gift that is DOING THIS.

I played math games all the way home. Can I beat a 11 minute mile? No. Ok, 11:30? No. OK, 12? YES! Ok, keep going...literally, all I remember for the 2.5 hours it took to run the final 13 miles was the white line. The bloody white line on the road. Head down. Slow jog is faster than walking. White line. I only had the one thought at the turn around re: quitting; the rest was all self talk to keep going and be positive and enjoy life because I CAN. Others, they cannot. This is a gift.

The math became painful with 10KM to go. Initially I thought, 10K is easy. I do this every day. Then I did the math. 6 miles * 12minutes per mile = 1 hour and 12 minutes???? O-M-G! Just keep going. The final mile is easy with the crowd and you will see your family so its an hour. One more hour. Just keep going!

Meredith, Bryan, Dad, me, Sarah, Joanne

Finish: 10:39:01 - 34th in age group and 350th overall

The final mile took my 14 minutes. I was done. I saw Meredith, Dad, Joanne, Bryan, and Sarah and just couldn't look at them. The disappointment was just too much after staying so darn focused just to finish the past 2 hours. As I passed I just covered my face and started crying. Emotions come in different forms for different reasons when you are putting yourself to the test. I felt the test was a fail at that moment. Not to them, to me. 8 months of work, hard miles, quite a bit of money and I just didn't have it.

Big Daddy reminds me stand tall, shoulders back, be proud

I ran the finish shoot and a great girl sprinted past. She was so HAPPY! Once I crossed the line and was caught by the volounteers I walked by her and she said aloud, "OMG. That is SUCH A GREAT FEELING. OMG. I LOVE THIS!" She was on the moon!! I loved it. I turned around and said, "thank you. You're awesome. Thank you." I was thanking her because she reminded me there is no better feeling than finishing an Ironman. Its just you and the test and the ultimate test is the finish line. My mood changed. My tears turned to smiles. I got my photo taken. Chugged back a cola, sat beside Nigel Gray and Steve Fleck and stared out to space. Ironman; whether a great personal performance or a dud, is still the single greatest moment you can bring yourself and test 'what's possible'. Today, 10:39:01 was possible and bottoms up to that!

This is AWESOME. I DO LOVE THIS. 

Epilogue: When thanks is due....

Product support that needs to be called out. They do help me and provide a great service. 

• New Balance Toronto for the killer kicks and even better store service. 
• Endurosport triathlon store for great team support including awesome new Highway 19 Rogue wetsuit and Cervelo P3 rocket bike!
• Team IFG for the laughs and training friends.

More importantly, none of this is possible without Meredith; period. Thank you. And of course to big sis Joanne and her kids for coming out from Atikokan to Penticton and Dad who came all the way from the UK. It really made for a special experience and when desperately needed, for great motivation to get 'er done! Family makes it all worth *it*. Thank you.

Toronto Triathlon Festival race report

On July 22nd I commuted with Meredith the 8KMs to Ontario Place on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to race the inaugural Toronto Triathlon Festival.  I had the real pleasure to meet the organizing team, referred race announcer Steve Fleck to them, and generally give some advice on minor athlete issues. It was a real honor to be associated with the tireless team and provide however little value I could with the first time race in my city. I was excited and wanted to do well as a thanks to the organizing team who I knew put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money into this!

It is extremely hard to get roads closed in Toronto. The TTF not only did that, they were able to close the Gardiner Expressway and Down Valley Parkway east and northbound respectively. This was huge!  It just doesn't happen to get the bike portion of a triathlon on closed roads never mind the main artery for Toronto traffic. We also swam around Ontario Place in a very sheltered and fast section through a marina with million dollar yachts. And finally, we ran along the the Martin Goodman Trail on the shores of the lake that I train on multiple times a week.

Swim: 20:10 (PB) for 1500 Meters.
I had a rocket of a swim! I felt fantastic in my new Highway Nineteen Rogue wetsuit and kept drilling it right to the ramp to exit the water. I was loving the swim and feeling I was on a good day. Some thought the swim was short but my PB was by a slim margin. There were a few turns and the water was a constant depth adding to the speed. If it was short, only by 50M.

Bike: 1:00:23 for 40KM
My bike was interesting. I was turning a top gear and feeling great but wasn't pulling a whole lot of riders back. I know I passed a few in the swim but was fighting self doubt on my bike legs. Turns out I was doing pretty darn good with 5th fastest overall for the day. I was focused and determined to catch the final two guys in sight. I got one just before the no pass zone, and the second I had to hold up for 10 seconds while we went through the no pass zone. Safety first! These ten seconds or so do come up later!

Run: 40:39 for 10KM
I started the run and did my best to stay contained. I wanted to test my nutrition and my issues with stitching. After a KM I opened up and the side stitch issues came and went. I worked through my 3 strategies to take care of this; first, deep breaths from the belly and aggressive exhale from the diaphram. Second, move from left foot to right foot on my inhale and exhale. Third, slow down slightly. Strategy #2 was really working and I picked it up again as Cameron Bush passed me. I tried to hang on but that lasted 10 seconds! The boy can move! Staying within myself I pushed pace and tried to cap a 40 minute 10KM run. Coming to final KM my stitch really bit me and I forced as best I could the pain to the side and ran into the line in agony. I loved it! Awesome run for me!

Finish: 2:02:53

Overall I finished 4th and won my age group. Good enough to take my spot and join my fellow Canadians at the World Olympic Distance Championships in London England in September 2013! And those 10 seconds? View the results link above and see that 3,4,5 were separated by 2 seconds!!! But, because I am an old guy at 41, I wasn't racing side by side with the other two guys because I started 5 minutes after them in swim wave #2. I am actually quite happy about that, I don't think I wanted that hard a sprint at the time-:) 

Post script:

On reflection it was just so great to race in my home city, on closed roads, with my wife Meredith and little pooch Gatsby alongside. I really enjoyed the race and highly recommend it to my fellow athletes next year. Are there areas for improvement? Of course there is. But overall, for an inaugural event, this was an amazing experience. 

Next up is Ironman Canada. I am ready. Time to put the old weary bones to another Ironman!

Thanks for checking in.

Welland Half Race Report: another half iron beats me up!

WOW, that was super fun, then sucked really bad, then was fun again.....!

That is how I would describe my Welland Half Iron Experience this past weekend. I was gun shy coming into the event because I have never really been able to nail a half iron distance event before. For some reason the wheels (or sneakers) fall off every time I do one. Given I have done about 20 of these that speaks to how much I just can't figure it out!

Race morning I ate my oatmeal, banana, maple syrup and coffee and then hit the road sipping my bottle of Powerbar Perform. More on this later....

As I arrived the sun was shining, the wind was calm, and some familiar faces abound. Nigel Gray's formative NRGPT crew were there and I teased my old coach about my goal for the day: arrive within 30 minutes of his finish-:) My more serious race plan was to:

1. test my race day nutrition
2. get out of swim in good shape up front
3. ride conservative until Jim Sunners caught me
4. ride with Jim (LEGALLY!) 
5. Run hard and fast

Checking previous races I figured a PB was a real possibility given the flat course and shaded run. I was looking at 4:20 to 4:23 as a really good goal to hit.

Swim: I parked myself beside Nigel as in other races we have exited together. Behind me was Andrew Boldon whom I exited with in Woodstock and Binbrook triathlons. The gun went off and Nigel was gone. Humbling moment #1! Then I felt water all in my arms and across my back inside my wetsuit. I was concerned there was a hole, or the zipper wasn't done up correctly. I was making calls in my head "do i hit the shore and take this off and jump back in or will it drain with my lightning speed!?" As we hit the first bouy and turned I felt the water draining. Not sure what it was all about but I will test the good 'ol HWY 19 suit this coming weekend in Lake Placid camp for sure. After my head cleared of all the doubts of sinking with water in my suit, I found a great pair of feet to draft from the remainder of the swim. Sure enough as I exited Andrew was on my feet. It looked like Jakub Macel, me, and Andrew plus a top female swimmer made a good group and my marker man Nigel was 30 seconds out already. Overall I was quite pleased with my swim and felt generally comfortable throughout.

T1: My goal was to be quick and for me I was! Most of my competitors were only a few seconds faster vs. the usual 30 to 45. I felt good and things were thus far on track. Once I hopped onto my bike and tried to get into my bike shoes a gap to Jakub and Andrew occured. I was watching how good they get into their shoes and how absolute crap I get into mine! Humbling moment #2!

Bike: I tricked out my Cervelo P3 for speed and therefore had no power meter or HR monitor to measure the effort. I was racing *naked* for the first time in years. I had the Zipp 808 front wheel and Mavic Disc on the back. No spare tube or extra weight. Just flat out speed. Once I gathered myself and got going I ate 1/4 a powerbar at the 5,10,15, and 20KM marker and by 30K had drank a bottle of Powerbar Perform. At 35, 55, 75, and the end of the bike leg 90K markers I took a Powergel. Overall on the bike I drank 3 bottles and took an extra 2 Salt Stick tablets to top up electrolyte reserves plus the 4 gels, and 1 bar. I felt good about my nutritional plan but looking back that is probably too much. That is about a 10% carb to fluid concentration and simply too high.

At about 10K I caught back up to Andrew and we rode legally (no drafting) together for 20K. I let up to have him pass and said we should trade leads every few KMs and keep the tempo high. For a young kid he was pretty impressive to hear out the tactic and play along. I'm impressed with this young guy, he has talent and smarts about him. I was also thinking how long until Jim comes through. My plan was not to push pace till he caught us, assess how hard he was riding and decide if I should tag on or not. Jim caught the two of us just before the 35K marker and it wasn't hard to stay close. I drifted to the back of he and Andrew and assessed how hard the riding was and can I sustain for 60K. It didn't feel that bad so I laid back there (LEGAL) for quite a while. Lets face it, even if we ride legal in triathlons it is still easier than up front so I let Jim take lead!

As the marshals came by they gave me the thumbs up then went forward and handed Andrew a drafting penalty. I have to say, it was the right call BUT he was caught in a time when he was drafting. He was, for most part, quite legal all day. That's racing, I felt bad for him.  As the KMs passed by and the only hill all day reared its head I made the call the spin past Andrew through the hill and bullet down the other side. As that happened Jim gapped us so I had to chase really hard to get up to him. Once I did I looked back and Andrew was dropped. We now had 25K to go and it was Jim and I rolling along at a really, really good clip. With 10K to go I passed Jim. He must have been resting a bit because I was not changing effort and a few K later he passed me and that is how we rolled into to T2. I was feeling really, really confident as the ride was up tempo and I put hard efforts in. My legs felt great, my mind was fresh. It was game on! I came off the bike 6th overall.

Run: I was running without a watch and had no idea what my pace was. I was keeping Jim's gap steady and could see Jakub up ahead as well. I was loving my New Balance 1440s courtesy of New Balance Toronto and feeling confident in the progress being made.  My diaphram started to cramp so I stopped to pee at 2K and things really felt great after that. The next few aid stations I jammed back some coke and water and was feeling controlled. I wasn't gaining but I wasn't losing either. I knew a few folks were flying behind and I would get caught but was feeling good. I was passed by one racer at 7K, another at 10K but then I could see Jakub walking and was like "right, catch him and were back in this". I pushed a bit and that is when the wheels (ur, sneaks!) fell right off. My stomach locked right up and my ab muscle went into spasm just like Hawaii last year. I was really bloated and started the run/walk approach. I tried a Salt Stick to get electrolytes into me but that just made it worse. I tried gulping fluids but that made it worse! Soon I was from 8th place to 12th. I battled and hoped I could come around and knock out a solid final 5K to hold onto to top 10. As I hit 15K I was definitely in trouble. My run walk went like this:

• run 90 strides; walk 20
• then run 65 strides; walk 15
• then run 50 strides; walk 15

Finally after I dropped out of top 20 I mailed it in at a pace that kept the cramping bearable. Probably 10 minute mile pace at best.

Finish: 4:38 and change with a 1:51 run. I was hoping to run 1:30-1:32 and get that 4:20 barrier. That's racing.

Congrat's to Nigel on his 4:01 finish and win. He makes it look so easy!! Congrat's to all the racers, Andrew Boldon for jumping into the half iron distance at 20 and really gutting it out. Jim Sunners for his fast 3rd place overall finish, and of course thanks to all the volounteers and organizers and community of Welland.  Last, again major thanks to John Salt and his team. They put on AMAZING races and by FAR, have the BEST apres race buffet with Recharge with Chocolate Milk, and HERO BURGER!

After thought: Complete overhaul of my nutrition plan is already in play. Steps to include:

1. gluten free again into my next race and test how that works out
2. no oatmeal breakfasts. Works for cycling yes, not for running off the bike
3. at Lake Placid camp this weekend I will test run two different breakfast plans that consist of breakfast and racing mostly on fluids.
• first courtesy of QT2 Systems nutrition groups The Core Diet 
• the second courtesy of Nigel's NRGPT team 

The one consistent to all my stomach issues is my breakfast. I always have an oatmeal breakfast. I really hope it is that simple!