IronMan Canada 2008

Ironman Canada 2008

by Jennifer Garner

 

After a long drive via Vancouver, we finally arrived in Penticton late afternoon on Wednesday.  Greg and I checked into the hotel, unloaded the car, went for a quick run and then went for a walk down Lakeshore drive to find somewhere to eat dinner.  The last time we had warm weather was in Lost Hills, California.  From there, the weather had been cooling off with bouts of rain here and there.  The rain continued through Friday morning.  Saturday was nice until late afternoon and then another storm was due to hit Sunday afternoon. We were staying in the host hotel which was about 100yds from the finish line as well as most of the other things - like packet pick up area, merchandise tent, swim start, etc.  The convenience was great and the room was large enough for us not to feel too crowded with 2 suitcases, bikes, tri bags, etc. 

 

Thursday started with a morning swim in the lake.  It was cold but apparently not as cold as it had been on Wednesday according to the other swimmers in the area at the time.  Supposedly Lisa Bentley stated she regularly takes ice baths and was still unable to get into the lake on Wednesday. The lake is nice and clear so you could see the bottom for most of the swim.  The swim buoys for the practice swims run parallel to shore.  After our swim, we had a quick bike ride to ensure our bikes were in working order and then it was off to packet pick up.  One thing Canada does have going for them is that they are very organized when it comes to packet pick up, registration, etc.  After having done it for 25 years, they are on the ball.  We got through that process quite quickly and stopped at the merchandise tent for some goodies.  After that, Greg and I drove the bike course (and most of the run course).  It's funny how the hills don't look all that bad in a car. 

 

Friday morning included another swim in the lake.  I have to say that the water did feel warmer than it did the day before even though the weather had been the same.  Before we headed to the water we watched the Underwear run.  This is similar to the one they hold in Kona during the Ironman World Championships in that all proceeds go to charity and one or all of the following head it up - Roch Frey, Paul Huddle or Paula Newby-Frasier.  This year, Roch Frey ran with the group.  We bought the underwear that they were selling to raise money, however, we did not participate as it was a whopping 45degrees outside.  So, we watched a small group of die hard athletes run through the parking lot of the hotel from the balcony of our room.  It is always quite a site to see a group of men and women running in their underwear or what was supposed to be underwear.

 

The Welcome Dinner was held on Friday night.  It is actually the only event that is not in the immediate area.  It is about 1 mile away from the host hotel.  We opted to walk as it was a nice night out.  Although the dinner started at 6pm, the lines were long when we arrived at about 5:20.  Thankfully another line was started as they had 6 sets of tables for the buffet lines and we managed to be up towards the front of the other line.  Dinner was good although they didn't offer anything with meat.  For example, they had vegetable lasagna, but no meat lasagna.  The vegetable lasagna was good, but there were people that weren't real happy about not having the other option.  Otherwise, the commentary by Mike Riley following the dinner was nice and we stayed for the Athlete's meeting and then walked back home. 

 

When Saturday came, it was time for a quick 20 minute run and then it was off to bike and gear bag drop.  Also on Saturday morning there was a Farmer's market on Main Street just outside the hotel.  They mostly offered fresh fruit and vegetables but had some other things to choose from like hand blown pottery, home made gifts and pastries.  We didn't walk the entire thing as we knew we should be resting.  Later in the day the Athlete's parade took place.  We again opted to just sit in our hotel as it had started raining again.  We did however want to participate in the T-shirt exchange but either missed it or it was cancelled due to the rain.  We had been told that athletes from other nations really like to get US race t-shirts so we had taken a few to exchange.  Unfortunately, when we arrived at the park at 5:45 (it was to start at 5:30) no one was there.  Oh well, maybe next time.  As we had been told that getting a seat at a restaurant the night before the race can be difficult, we opted to order Domino's pizza, which was delivered to our room.  Thankfully they had been selling individual size pizzas on Thursday night at the Concert in the Park so we got their number.  After dinner and the quick walk to the park for the t-shirt exchange, we settled in for the night and tried to not think of what was coming tomorrow morning. 

 

Sunday morning came bright and early, but we didn't seem any worse for the wear.  We had been waking up early all week so the extra ½ hour didn't make much difference.  Our morning plan was to eat breakfast, then walk down to transition, get body marked, check our tires, put our nutrition on our bikes then head back to our hotel room to get our wetsuits on and relax as much as possible - and avoid the porta potty lines.  Ultimately, that plan worked well.  The only downfall was getting in and out of transition.  Once you are in, the only way out is back tracking.  Although we are right in front of the hotel, the entrance to transition was a block away.  Once ready to go, we walked back down to transition and sat down until it was time to get into the water.  It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, but as we learned earlier in the week (similar to the monsoon season in AZ) the clouds can come in at a moments notice and rain.  Once in the water, we said our Good Lucks and Love yous and we were off our separate ways.  I'm finding that I like to be near the front of the swim start even though I get a good beating.  Greg likes to start more to the side and back a bit.  The swim start is different as although you can be in the water you aren't deep enough to tread water.  In looking around, it seemed like more people were closer to shore or standing on the beach than near the flags that indicate the start line.  That surprised me a bit.  We got to listen to the Canadian National Anthem which is a beautiful song.  From there, it was just a matter of time before the cannon was fired (by Peter Reid). 

 

I like the swim course in that it is a one loop affair.  I have yet to compete in a race that is a two loop swim with a brief run in between loops, but I will get an opportunity in 2009 at IM Coeur d'Alene.  The one thing I didn't care for on the swim is that the first buoy seems quite a distance away.  They are all large orange buoys so they are easy to see, but it just seemed like it took forever to get out there.  As I mentioned I tend to get beat up during the swim.  I actually had someone hold me down at one point.  What was bizarre about it was that my leg cramped up immediately after he/she released me.  Needless to say, I was on my back for a minute or so while it got better.  It was actually the worst cramp I've ever gotten during a swim.  One funny thing - there are houseboats to mark the turns on the swim course.  As you go around, if you are looking down as proper swim form dictates, you may see a scuba diver waving at you.  I did see one at the first turn and laughed.  It appears to be fairly shallow there as he was on the floor of the lake just hanging out.  Had I not heard someone say something about seeing the scuba divers, it probably would have scared me as you just don't expect that.  Greg saw one at the second houseboat but I missed him.   Heading back into shore was nice as I got a bit of open water.  I had noticed before the race that the last buoy was marked with a 20, so I had been keeping track of the numbers as we swam along. 

 

Heading into T1, I couldn't find the cord to the zipper on my wetsuit.  Although I was moving in the right direction, it was slowing me down. Thankfully I didn't panic and realized that I just needed to get to the wetsuit strippers and let them take care of it.  That worked beautifully and after thanking the volunteers I was off to get my gear back and head into the tent.   From there, it was off to the bike after a pit stop at the sunscreen volunteers.  They slathered me up and off I went. 

 

The first part of the bike is amazing as it is straight down Main Street and the crowds are awesome.  You can't hear yourself breath because they are so loud.  I didn't rush through that part as I knew I would need that memory to get me through any tough times.  I did, however, work on rubbing in the sunscreen a bit as I'm sure I was quite the site to see.  As you start out of town we encountered a headwind.  This is usually the faster part of the course but not this year. There is one hill during the first 40 miles of the bike and then the majority tends to be downhill.  Unfortunately the winds kept us from going all that fast, which is good and bad.  You hear that a lot of people over extend themselves during that part of the race due to the downhill and then suffer up the hills in the latter part of the course.  However, any possible time gained during that part of the course was lost due to the wind. [On a side note, if anyone reading this does this race - note that the bike course director asks you to ride in the bike lane that exists for most of the course.  Be aware, however, that during the part of the course that is also part of the run course, porta potties may be sitting in that bike lane.  I almost ran directly into one as I was looking down at my gearing or getting a drink or something.  Needless to say, it was a bit of a surprise to look up and see this big blue thing blocking my way.]  After that part of the course, the next portion is straight up Richter pass.  This is 6 miles straight up.  When Greg and I drove the pass we thought we noticed a few downhills during the climb.  However, on the bike they just don't exist.  Those sections probably flattened out a bit but weren't the respite we were hoping for.  The hills are awful for me as I'm just not that strong of a climber.  I'm working on it and have gotten better but still tend to get passed.  Thankfully I'm very good at descending so I tend to catch some of the riders there. After Richter pass you head into some "rollers".  The first two are a bit long but the remaining "rollers" didn't seem too bad as you could take your downhill momentum and get up them a little easier.  The roller section flattens out before you make a turn for an out and back section.  This part of the course is tough as you can see the turnaround during the flat part following the rollers.  Plus for us, we had the headwind again.  While riding that portion it just seemed like it went on forever.  However, once you get to the turn around, which is also where your special needs bag is, you are actually at about 75 miles into the bike so it was a mental high knowing that you didn't have all that much left to go.  Once out of the out and back you begin your ascent up to Yellow Lake.  This is a long section of the course.  On a side note, on each of the big hills, spectators were lined up cheering for you.  It was nice as the crowds got larger as you approached each summit.  The only downside was that they didn't always know what they were talking about when they would say things like "this is the last hill".  We knew better as we had driven the course. I appreciate the support, but at the same time it made me think of what was to come and maybe not work as hard on the hill I was on at the time. I don't know.  Even now, I'm not sure if it helps or hurts to hear them say things like that - not that I have any control over it.  Once you pass Yellow Lake and then Twin Lake there are one or two more hills before you get the wonderful downhill.  That was fun! I was flying.  Unfortunately, the rain hit when it was Greg's turn down the hill and he didn't get to enjoy it quite as much as I did.  Once out of that portion of the ride you head back into town and we then encountered the crosswinds.  I had encountered them coming off of Yellow Lake but they were really bad closer to town. 

 

The highlight of my day was coming into T2 and noticing that I would get off my bike before the first male pro finished the race.  Yes, he was finishing and I still have 26.2 miles to go, but it was the first time that had happened.  Plus, you ride right back down Main Street and the crowds were still there en mass even though it had started to rain. 

 

The transition area at this race is quite large.  It is nice in most respects but I was bummed during T2.  The women's numbers start after all of the men's numbers, so my race number was 2080.  Therefore, my bag was in one of the farthest rows.  Once retrieved, I had to run back around a large flower bed to get into the change tent.  Had a fence not been in place, I could have run straight back from where my bag was, so it was a little extra distance to go.  Yes, with all of the distance I traveled during that day, an extra 100yds or so isn't much, but I had it set in my mind already how to work my way through transition.  Unfortunately, I was not aware of the fence during my pre-race walkthrough. 

 

After T2 was complete, I got to make my way down Main Street yet again.  It is really a good aspect of this course in how they have the roads split up so both bikes and runners make their way through the throng of spectators.  The run course is mostly straight out and back.  However, there is another little out and back at both the start and finish.  You actually run by the finish line in the beginning of the race.  On my way back out of that short out and back, that male pro I passed on the bike was heading into finish.  It is another section of the race course that is just lined with spectators.  It is that support that helps to get your running legs going at the start and at the end of the race, it pushes you to finish.  After that portion it was back into the headwinds and out of town.  There are a few hills in the last few miles before the turn around and then you have those same hills headed back home.  Plus, the run course follows a good portion of the early bike course so it was also down hill, which meant coming back home was uphill.  As I started the run I turned on my HR monitor in hopes of running in my L2 zone.  At that moment, I noticed the time and figured with a good run, I could PR by an hour.  That was the goal.  I felt okay the majority of the run but couldn't get my HR where I wanted it to be - most likely due to the rain as it kept it fairly cool.  Thankfully I didn't feel cold until after I had finished the race.  Unfortunately, I ended up 10 minutes shy of a full hour PR, but I'll gladly take the 50 minutes. 

 

Once I was done and worked my way through the finish area, I took my mylar blanket and went to retrieve my bike and gear bags.  On my way back to the hotel, which was much easier to get to than it had been in the morning, I dropped my T1 and T2 bags in our car and then proceeded to our room with the dry clothes bag and bike.  I took a nice warm shower and then headed out for Greg's bike and gear bags.  After which I went to find a spot to watch Greg.  Thankfully he saw me as he went to turn the corner I was sitting on.  It wasn't the original place we discussed but it gave me the opportunity to get to the finish line before he did once I saw him. 

 

I worked my way into the finish chute to be there for Greg's finish and we made our way through the finish area, grabbed some food, and headed back to our room.  We considered going back down to the finish line to watch Sister Madonna Buder finish (The 75+ year old nun missed the cut off by something like 2 minutes), however, we again opted to watch from our balcony as it was still raining.  Yes, we won't melt in the rain, but after a long day, it felt good to be warm and dry.  Although we had read that there were to be fireworks at midnight, we didn't see nor hear any. 

 

Following a restless night's sleep, we were again up bright and early.  We decided to go and get in line for the finishers merchandise.  Once we had our goodies, it was time for some breakfast and we were very thankful to get into the restaurant right away.  From there, it was time to load up the car and get going. After a pit stop at one of the many fruit stands in and around Penticton, we began our 24hr drive home. 

 

Overall, it was a great experience.  As of right now, we don't expect to compete in that race again next year.  However, we do not have to make our final decision until 9/7.  Greg now his IM Canada tattoo.  This is a unique tattoo for Ironman as it is the Ironman symbol surrounded by the Canadian Maple Leaf. 

 

Until next time. . . which hopefully will be sooner than later