Ironman Canada - Sunday 27th August 2006

Ironman Canada was going to be a new experience for me in terms of Ironman racing. Not only was it my first time racing in Penticton, but, more significantly, it was my first Ironman racing on PowerCranks. I must say that I was a little anxious in the lead up to the race as I hadn't even ridden 180k on the PowerCranks. In my favour was the fact that I had ridden the PowerCranks exclusively for the last 10 months and I had raced both Vineman and 5430 Half Ironmans in the month leading up to Canada on PowerCranks. Another plus was the bike course itself, with two longer climbs and plenty of downhill, it was similar to the terrain I had been regularly training on here in Boulder. I was quietly confident that things would go to plan. (I don't think Frank Day from PowerCranks was though, ha ha ha)

The swim for me was great, a welcome change from the status quo. I had been swimming horribly in my lead up races and put it down to too much intensity of training. I did a mini block of endurance work in the pool about 10 days out from the race and it seemed to pay dividends. I would guess that the wetsuit helped as well.

In the days leading up to the race, there was a strong northerly breeze blowing, whipping up significant chops on the surface of the lake. Some of the organising party were a bit concerned about this as it would have made the swim very difficult for those with less experience in the water. Those concerns were allayed on race morning with light winds and a glassy surface.

The course was a single loop out and back triangle, with the short side at the far end. I swam most of the outward journey at the front of my pack, side by side with Monica Byrn. Most of the main players were in this pack which included Jasper, Gordo, Scott Curry and Kyle Marcotte. By the time we reached the far end of the course I decided it was time to save some energy. In the process of negotiating the first turning boat I dropped onto Monica's feet and stayed there for the rest of the swim. Monica proceeded to tow all of us the last 2k to the finish.

We all exited the water in the high 51 minute region. I think that the swim may have been a bit long as uber swimmer Jan Sibberson, exited in just under 48 minutes.

My transition from swim to bike was uneventful, just the way I like it, and I mounted my PowerCranks equipped steed relatively fresh and ready to chase down those who left earlier. In the past I have gone out a bit too hard on the bike and blown up earlier than I would have liked. On this occasion, I tried to be a bit more conservative than normal from the outset.

I was moving through the field quite well early on with only one competitor passing me in the first 10k, that was Kyle. I thought he may have been going a bit too hard and let him go, being almost certain I would catch him a bit later on in the day. I caught the only other Aussie pro, Matty Clarke, at around 30k to move into third position. Still ahead at this stage were Jan Sibberson and Kyle.

I was steadily catching the next athlete in front of me, Jan Sibberson, and I made the pass into second position just beyond the town of Oliver, about 45k into the cycle leg. By the time I had reached Osoyoos, at around the 65k mark, I had whittled the margin to Kyle down to around 20 seconds. It was at this point that we encountered the first major hurdle of the cycle leg, Richter pass. I had read somewhere that this climb was 11km long, but it seemed shorter than that. I felt fantastic on the climb and made up the final 20 second deficit to Kyle within one kilometer of climbing to take the race lead and continued to build a lead right to the very top of the pass. I tried to save energy on the descent by getting aero and rolling for as much of it as possible. Following the descent, the course consisted of a short section of relatively sharp rollers before flattening out to undulations again prior to the final climb over Yellow Lake hill.

I got through the rollers in reasonable shape but started to struggle a bit with the flatter part of the course between 100k and 150k prior to the ascent up Yellow Lake. The good thing was that I was able to maintain a decent gap to my pursuers during this time and I am going to have to put that down to the efficiency I have developed with the use of the PowerCranks. Even though I felt very ordinary, I was able to maintain a satisfactory velocity during this period.

I was very happy to get to the base of the Yellow Lake climb as I knew that I was climbing well. In fact, I would have preferred 180k's worth of Richter and Yellow Lake passes. I summited Yellow Lake pass in reasonable shape and then had a mostly 20k downhill section to the finish line. I found the last part of the cycle leg through town extremely difficult. I was very fatigued and had to deal with a head wind as I rode down Main street towards T2. After the race I learned that some of those following the race thought I was having trouble with cramping on the bike, but that wasn't the case at all.

Generally I am not too concerned with my level of fatigue at the end of the cycle leg, because, in the past, I have been able to run relatively well despite being shattered at ride's end. However, the situation here was a little bit different, in the past I had been quite well prepared for the run, but this time around, my run preparation had been less than ideal. In the nine weeks leading up to the race I managed to run 17 times with two of those runs over two hours and three as part of a race. Most of the rest were significantly less than an hour. I was able to run 6 times in the last 6 weeks leading up to the race.

I had just come off a period of 14 months with very limited running due to injury, and my body was protesting at the initial surge of running activity when I finally became injury free. I first developed trigger points in my adductors, and noting that a contributing factor in this was likely to be weak gluteals, I started to work on my glutes like a madman. I overdid it, of course, and developed trigger points in my glutes, which have been the main problem for the last two months. There are tight bands of fibre running along the muscle belly of my gluteus medius. The race stressed the area even more and I can hardly put weight on my right leg at the moment it is so sore. The pain radiates down my ITB to my knee and also into my groin and my leg just collapses if I try to bend at the knee during weight bearing. I am about to undergo a course of acupuncture which I hope will help to rectify the problem once and for all.

The point I am making here is that despite my limited running, I was able to run a satisfactory marathon at the end of an Ironman triathlon and I have no doubt that the PowerCranks training contributed to this. In all honesty, I have never felt better at the start of the marathon in an Ironman race ever, my turnover was great and I was fast and efficient, as I am sure the spectators will attest. Despite this fact, Jasper was mowing me down and had erased his 5 minute deficit at T2 by the 9 mile mark. I thought I was running pretty well up until that point! All credit to him, he was charging. Jasper said in his victory speech that he was running scared right up until about two miles to run. I said to him after the race that as soon as he passed me, I knew I was racing for second and no one else was even in the same postcode. The mind works in mysterious ways at times. I guess it is better to err on the side of caution though, that is for sure.

Soon after Jasper passed me I started to fatigue a little, my step became heavier, and the rollers towards the run turnaround began. I held it together somewhat until the turnaround point and then for a further 5 miles on the way back before really hitting the wall. I knew that this was coming, you can't bluff you way through a marathon. The eccentric loading on my quads and calves was taking it's toll and wearing me down. It was at this point that I started to walk through the aid stations. Not a good move really as it is difficult to commence running again. The time splits to my main pursuer, Gordo, were diminishing too and I was extremely concerned that I was going to get caught, even though I had an 8 minute buffer with 7 miles to run. I can tell you at this point that 7 miles might as well have been 17 miles.

The biggest struggle came between the 20 and 22 mile points where there was a slight incline up to to Main Street prior to the descent down to the out and back section along Lakeshore drive. The incline was extremely modest, but it felt like I was running up a mountain. It is amazing the things you think about in situations like this. It was extraordinarily hard to stay positive at this stage of proceedings. I was literally taking it one step at a time.

My lowest moment in the marathon came between mile 22 and mile 23. I was on Main Street at this stage and there was still a slight incline to negotiate prior to the downhill section to the lake. I was barely moving and had to walk twice before pulling myself together. I was even thinking that I wasn't going to make it at all - the last 3 miles seemed insurmountable, I was worried about getting caught, god, I was a psychological mess. I was lucky to see one of my homestay hosts right at this time cheering for me and this gave me the psychological momentum that I needed. I got that shuffle going again and down the hill I went towards the finish. I didn't stop again after this point. Gordo was still out of sight with about a mile to run, so I was as confident as I could be that second placing was mine.

The only emotion I felt as I crossed the finish line was relief. Relief that the torture was finally over. I was a mess. My homestay host had taped my finishing interview on the local tv coverage and I watched it that evening. It was as if I had just been interviewed after one of my all night drinking binges when I was young and stupid. I spent some time in the medical tent, but escaped with extreme muscle soreness only. The type that you experience after your first Ironman ordeal.

All in all, I was very happy with my performance with less than ideal preparation. I showed that it is possible to race well on PowerCranks and the signs for the future are looking extremely positive. I will be better off for this workout, that is for sure.

Here is hoping that you all reached your own goals on race day, and if you didn't, don't despair, there is always another challenge just around the corner.

Cheers!
Courtney