We arrived in Canada on Friday, 10 days before the race and spent a couple of days in the US and a couple of days in Vancouver before driving down to Penticton. We were staying at the God’s Mountain farm, recommended by my friend Nick, and it was a great place. Set on a hillside, overlooking the lake, the house had no TV and music and it was very peaceful, except for all the athletes chatting about their preparation and fussing over their bikes. I tried to avoid getting caught up in the pre-race atmosphere and we spent most of our time quietly reading books and cooking our own food. I did some easy training sessions and was feeling fairly good, but still a little bit apprehensive about the race day, given my recent form.
On the race day we woke up early, had breakfast at 4am and arrived at the start with plenty of time to spare. I was unusually relaxed, prepared my race nutrition, pumped the tires and even had time for a coup of coffee before heading to the swim start.
After checking my bike again and making sure all was fine I headed down to the water. The water seemed so cold at first! I figured it’s the same for everyone, thought, and headed out for a short warm up. The pros went of at 6:45 and we all waited for the age group start. At around 7 the gun sounded and we were off. I made a decision to swim on the right hand side, hoping for some clear water, but evidently I wasn’t the only one who had this idea and the fight for some space was on. It turned out to be probably the most physical swim I’ve done. I got pushed under the water a couple of times, had a bit of a panic attack the second time and decided to back off and swim out of trouble. I didn’t manage to find any clear water until after the turnaround. I’ve managed to get into some kind of a rhythm on the way back, but probably too late, as I saw 1:09 on the clock when I stood up on the beach. It turned out that perhaps I took it a little bit too easy, averaging 123 bpm heart rate.
After a steady transition and running though the ladies changing tent by mistake, I got on the bike and started at an easy pace. I knew the difficult part of the course was going to come after the first 60km and I wanted to save some energy for the difficult bits. Some people passed me going up the first steep climb up McLean Creek Road, but I just concentrated on taking on drinks and nutrition and riding steady. We had quite a strong headwind and I didn’t want to be expanding any extra energy, so I concentrated on stating in the aero bars and keeping a good rhythm. After 60m we got to famous Richter’s Pass and expecting a tough climb I decided to pace myself and almost immediately got dropped by everybody who was riding with me on the flats. It turned out that Richter’s Pass was not as tough as I expected and I got to the top feeling quite fresh so I’ve opened up the gas a little bit and was now passing everybody who dropped me on the climb. My 54x11 gear was working wonders on the down hills and I was riding strongly through the rolling hills on the out and back section and event the Yellow Lake climb didn’t prove to be too difficult. I rolled back into town still feeling good, but happy that the bike section was over. Bike split 5:10, which was a nice surprise as I was hoping for about 5:25, but the bike course turned out to be easier than I expected. I think I averaged 186W, NP 201, HR 134, making this probably the easiest IM bike ride I’ve done.
A quick transition and onto the run and the legs felt heavy and tired. I knew that the difficult part of the run comes after about 10 miles, so the plan was to keep it easy until then and push on the way back if I still had some energy left. The headwind on the way out was so strong and gusty that at times it felt like we were going to be blown across the road. A runner passed me after 10k and that made me angry, but I let him go hoping that I can get him back later. Sure enough he didn’t pull away too far ahead and I caught him just after the turnaround. I counted at the turnaround and there were only 22 age groupers in front of me. That gave me some extra motivation and I was catching people quickly. It was great to see the legend – Peter Reed on the side of the road commentating and shouting encouragement to athletes. As I got to the 20 mile mark my legs were gone and I knew the last 6 miles were going to be a struggle. The support along the route was fantastic and somehow it got me though to 24 miles and I was even able to pick up the pace for the last 2 miles, giving it everything I had. I crossed the line in 9:42 with a 3:15 marathon split and was taken straight to the medical tent by some over-enthusiastic volunteers. After 15 or so minutes I was feeling better, but the great thing about being taken to the medical was that some volunteers fetched my bags and I was able to get changed and keep warm. They’ve even let Alex into the athlete’s area. I was feeling pretty weak, but 6 cups of chicken soup and 4 slices of pizza worked wonders and I was good as new (almost).
I had a fantastic race experience all day and I was happy with how the race went and I can honestly say that I left nothing on the road and was able to give it everything I had. In the end I ended up 42nd overall, 12 amateur overall and 7th in my age group. It’s a shame I wasn’t able to take my Kona slot this time, but I hope I will be able to go in 2 years time.The Ironman Canada race is very well organised and the support is fantastic. The course is great – a fair, honest course with some decent climbing and a tough marathon. There was definitely not as much drafting as at some other races I’ve done and the 15 minutes head start makes it a fairer race for the age groupers with no drafting off the pros in the swim. I would definitely like to come back one day.
