Ironman Canada Race Report/Review

[CharityV]

So I've had a week to review my race and think it over and here are my thoughts:

TRAINING & PREPWORK:
I really wanted to focus on the bike this past year, as I feel that the fresher you can come off the bike the better. I did 10 centuries and quite a few 70-90 rides throughout the training process to get me ready. I think that was KEY to allowing me to run the entire marathon portion of my race (excpet for a porta pottie stop at mile 2). I rode pretty much everyday during my training for Canada...the spinning was a great recovery for my body after hard run days...and the killer CompuTrainer interval sessions during the Winter set me up to be in pretty good shape come Spring time outdoor riding weather. By the way...did I mention I LOVE MY COMPUTRAINER, that is the one piece of exercise equipment that I am on almost 5 days a week, with 2-3 outdoor rides thrown in as well.

The discipline that I spent the least amount of time on...if you couldn't tell already...was my swim. Yes, I have to drag my bum kicking & screaming to the pool...it's just not my favorite thing. That is the one thing I will change for Lake Placid next year. I am starting to get to the point that the only way I am going to get my time down to where it needs to be for a Kona spot (around 10:30-10:45) will be to knock off a good 15 minutes at least from my swim. Now that seems like a lot to most of you...but you have to take into consideration that there were some weeks I only made it to the pool 1, some not even at all. I knew I could do the distance, wasn't worried about that...just knew I wouldn't be super fast.

My run, I didn't change much from my regular run training that I do during the summer...lots of quality, no junk mileage. I have been having issues the past few years with stress fractures and such whenever I start throwing in those junk miles on the road. So, on a weekly basis I would only run about 3-4 times a week. Speedwork session on Tuesday mornings, tempo intervals on Thursday evenings and a strength (ie hilly) long trail run fit in somewhere in the week (Wed or Fri), depending on if I was racing on Saturday or not. My weekly average for running was 30-40 miles maximum, all quality.

I started my taper 2 weeks out from raceday, did my last 100 miler 3 weeks out, 50 miler 2 weeks & a 2 hr CompuTrainer session 1 week out. I continued to do 2-a days until my final week, where I tapered hard and fast, cut out 2-a days and distance but still keep in some intensity to keep the legs fresh.

RACE WEEK PREPARATIONS
This was the 25th Anniversary of Canada, so it was highly touted, etc, etc. Competition was super intense...Erik did a 10:34 and would have almost had to be a full hour faster to get a qualifying spot in his age group (they gave out like 13 of them!). For such a special Anniversary race, we thought they might give us some cool schwag....nope, nothin, nada. We got a poster and timing chip strap...that was it! Of course you get your COTTON finishers shirt and headsweats finisher hat...but for what you are paying we just thought we might get a little more. I tell ya, that Graham Frasier is BANKING...but hey, you can't complain about the quality of race, nothing beats them there. I guess that's the most important thing, perks and schwag 2nd.

Last year I had some GI issues on the run...so I wanted to make sure I nailed my pre-race nutrition. I started a fiber taper...yes I know, that sounds weird but I eat A LOT of veggies, green leafy salads and such, so I knew I wanted to taper that out. I don't eat many white refined carbohydrate meals (ie pasta), I tend to be more of a protein and veggie kind of eater. So Friday morning was my last "fiber" meal, bowl of oatmeal and fruit. After that I started to cut things out. Saturday night was a meal of marinara white pasta, pretty much no fiber at all - just highly refined simple carbohydrates. Drank an Ensure Plus right before bed.

RACE MORNING
Woke up at 4AM, drank 2 Ensure Plus (350 calories each) and ate 1 PB&J sandwich...that put me at about 1100 calories to start the swim off. Sipped Gatorade up until race start and downed a package of Clif Shot Blocks about 45min before swim start. Temps were a little cool but not bad, wind wasn't noticeable at that point either.

SWIM - 1:27
Swim went well, other than the usual getting nailed in the face by a few stray feet, etc, etc. I did almost poop my wetsuit when I saw one of the scuba divers at the turnaround houseboat...scared the living daylights out of me. I actually ended up seeing 3 of those guys throughout the swim, weird to see them but I guess it's almost comforting in a way to know they are there making sure no one goes under. Was amazed at how quick the swim seemed to go...was also pleased with my time (yes I know it's slow but, it's good for me), as it was about 5 minutes faster than my swim time last year at Coeur d'Alene (keep in mind I focused very little if any on my swim). The exit of the swim is pretty cool as people actually start getting in the water and forming a line cheering you on as you get out.

T-1 - 3min & change
Transition went well, I had rehearsed through my mind what I wanted to do in there to minimize as much wasted time as possible. Went and found my bag, ran over to change tent but purposely didn't go inside, no need and less crowded outside. Dumped my bag out on the side of the tent. Put on helmet, glasses and grabbed a trial size pouch of chamois butt'r I had put in my bag. Downed a bottle of Ensure Plus (350 Cals). Stuffed everything back in and I was off and running to the porta potties with bike shoes in hand. I knew I would have to pee once finishing the swim so I took care of that along with using my chamois butt'r (don't leave home without it, ha, ha!). Was off and running to get my bike, put bike shoes on when I reached it (wasn't allowed to have shoes clipped in on bike, otherwise I would have done that so I wouldn't have to run in my shoes to the bike mount). Ran to mount line and was off on the bike.

BIKE - 5:52
The way out from the lake is going up Main Street, which is just PACKED with people, very Tour de France like, people leaning in, crowding the bikers and cheering you on. While it is cool in many respects...you also have to be careful as it tends to get a little congested and you don't know what the spectators or cyclists in front of you are going to do.

Once out on the course I knew what I needed to do and what to expect. When Erik and I went up to the race last year to sign up, we rode the whole bike course the day before the race...so we were very familiar with it and knew what was ahead. As for my nutrition plan...I at 3 shot blocks every 30 minutes with only Gatorade in my aero bottle to drink. At each aid station I'd top off with Gatorade in my bottle and skwirt myself down with water...something I quite doing once passing the bike special needs drop off, as the temperatures really dropped and I was almost getting chilled.

Bike went well until about the top of Richter Pass...at that point it seemed to really cool off temperature wise and the winds picked up...which sucked. There is a set of quick up & down rollers on the back side of Richter called the bitches...a lot of times you can carry a good amount of speed up & down these fairly sizeable rollers. Not so on race day...the wind killed any momentum you had going and made it so you couldn't take full advantage of the downhill.

Got to the special needs drop off...about mile 70 of bike...picked up my bag and actually kept riding about 300 meters to get passed crowed. All I had in my bag was 2 Ensures, 1 tube & 1 C02 cartridge (was carrying 2 tubes & 3 cartridges on my bike already). Downed the Ensure (350 cals), put the 2nd Ensure in my rear bottle holder (for later at top of Yellow Lake) and put the cartridge in my tri jersey (I'm a cheapskate and I didn't just want to leave it there to get thrown away). Left the tube and was off again, took about 30-40 seconds. By this point I needed to pee, but I didn't want to stop at special needs station as EVERYONE was stopping there and there was a line for the potties. Rode another 10 miles to the next aid station and pee'd there, no lines and the volunteer even asked before I had even dismounted my bike if he could hold it for me...man, is that service or what! BTW....VOLUNTEERS ROCK....especially IM Canada Volunteers it seems, it is cool to see a community really get behind a race! Had a quick pee and was back on my bike again, about 1 min lost is all.

Was off and heading towards towards the Yellow Lake climb. Temps had really dropped by this time, storm clouds rolling in and the wind not being very nice...was wishing I had brought some arm warmers. Warmed up quickly though as I started climbing Yellow Lake. Was pretty cool...cars and people lining the road cheering you on...once again, very similar to a Tour de France climb. Got to top, downed my Ensure and was on my way back down into town. Had some NASTY cross winds going downhill, so was trying to take advantage of the downhill as much as possible but was also trying to be careful. The one pitfall of my race happpened during this time....I ate and drank TOO MUCH! Thought this would be a good portion of the bike to top of the calorie stores as you are going downhill...I at a full package of Clif Blocks as I was pulling into the outskirts of town and downed a good portion of Gatorade...mistake! At that point it also started to POUR...I was soaked to the bone when I reached main street...then all of a sudden it stopped and road was dry...weird. I think my bike ended up being about 20min slower than I wanted...but I know the wind played a big factor in speeds that day.

T-2 - ~2 MIN
Could tell as soon as I stepped off my bike I had eaten/drank too much, stomach was sloshing around. Not much I could do about it so went about business. Grabbed run bag, dumped out inside change tent, put on visor, socks & running shoes...grabbed my tums and I was gone.

RUN - 4:04
By this time in the day it was very overcast and windy, at times you got those strong gusts of wind that just blew grit and crap into your eyes and legs...the ones that hurt when it hits your skin...yuck! Didn't consume any water or Gatorade until mile 2, wanted to give my gut a chance to digest and settle down. First 2 miles were both 7:30's...too fast, slowed it down to right around 8:30's and tried to settle in after a quick pee stop at aid station 2. As for my nutrition on the run...alll I did was Gatorade & Cola...mmm, cola, gotta love it! Helped to settle my stomach and the caffeine was a welcome help! Ocassionally did a swig of water, but mainly just gatorade and cola...no gu, no ensure, no shot blocks. It was my goal to run until the turnaround point (13.1miles)...I was amazed at how fast the run went. Had some stomach cramps at times but just popped some tums and seemed to go away. Got to half way mark at just under 2 hours...then I just started setting 2 mile goals for myself, OK run to mile 15, then 17...then it started into every mile. Before I knew it I was back in town and had 1 mile to go! I never dreamed that I would run the entire marathon...was pretty excited. Was actually able to pick it up quite a bit once that last mile came as well....amazing what crowds & adrenaline can do for you. Before I knew it I was across and had a nice blanket around me. By the time I was feeling up to eating something...about 45min later...all the pizza was gone, they were waiting for another shipment....GGRRRRR, I didn't get any.

TOTAL TIME = 11:32

So, all in all I was pleased. Was hoping to be right around 11 hours but I think with some of the weather conditions I coudn't have done much better. Certainly have some things I want to work and focus on more next year, but was very pleased with my preparation and execution. Will do just as much bike prep work next year if not more...if there is one thing I could encourage any IM athlete to focus on...it's the bike!

Would do this race again, BUT....lodging SUCK! They totally jack their prices up...that is the one HUGE drawback to this race. Our hotel was a DUMP and we paid crazy prices to get it. If you plan on doing this race, plan on spending a TON of money on lodigng!

OK, there it is...a novel, I know!

Laters,

Charity

[Paula]

Great Race Charity! Given the weather I think you did an incredible job.

Sounds like you nailed it despite trying to take in TOO MANY calories (or too many calories at once?). I say make a high-powered cocktail of Ensures in a water bottle and sip on those calories over the whole time you're on the bike...
I had a blast tracking you and Erik...I actually saw both of you cross the line. How cool is that?

[CharityV]

Paula Wrote:I had a blast tracking you and Erik...I actually saw both of you cross the line. How cool is that?

Yeah...isn't that Ironmalive thing cool!!! I watched a good portion of Lake Placid this past year when it was going on...was fun to see.

I also found a cool link that has all of the Ironman videos for each race that you can download along with some other cool interviews and such. Here is the link if anyone is interested. I downloaded all the races and I am going to burn them to 1 DVD so that I can watch them this Winter while I ride the trainer. They are all podcasts so you can view them on your Ipods too.

Here's the link: www.ironmannorthamerica.com/nas_podcasts.rss

[LoganMike]

CV, Great report. I was happy to read it fo sure. I am looking forward to IMLP next year with you guys.

On another note, how in the hell do i download the mpg4's on that link? I am running on a mac and it simply comes up with some weird code that takes like 5 minutes to download. Needless to say, i have wasted the past hour doing this, with fingers crossed it will work. If CV does not know the answer,

hoe about you Sloppy, have any idea how to download these to a mac???

me

[Ballred]

Mike,

Try Apple + click, then select Save Target As. Then you can play in either iTunes or Quicktime.

Charity - awesome report, awesome prep, awesome race. Just a great job all the way around. Now I'm just waiting for Erik's! Could you expound a bit on 'junk miles'? I like the idea of cutting them out, sometimes I just don't know which half of my miles are junk.

Bill

[Guest]

Ballred Wrote:Mike,

Try Apple + click, then select Save Target As. Then you can play in either iTunes or Quicktime.

Charity - awesome report, awesome prep, awesome race. Just a great job all the way around. Now I'm just waiting for Erik's! Could you expound a bit on 'junk miles'? I like the idea of cutting them out, sometimes I just don't know which half of my miles are junk.

Bill

Mike & Bill,
I am operating on an apple as well...when I use the link it saves it as a bookmark in my browser favorites, then the new podcasts are just added under that bookmark each time something new is added. All I have to do is scroll down and click on it...it brings up a command box where I either tell it to save to disk or open in quicktime. Did you get it to work for you? On another note, I tried watching that DVD I made with all the videos last night...won't play on my DVD player...will only work on my laptop. I guess I can play it on my laptop and then hook my laptop up to the VCR to view it on the TV. Argh....technology!!!

Bill...good question on the junk miles, here is what I mean.

In college we ran twice a day everyday (thank god I'm done with that!). We had a harder main workout in the afternoon and in the morning we would do what I now consider "junk miles" just an easy 5K to even 15K sometimes as "recovery". Although the pace of that morning run was slower....the body was still subjected to pounding on the pavement. That is what I consider junk mileage...I NEVER, EVER do a "recovery" run...I don't want the pounding just to slog out some miles.

If I need a recovery workout...I'll get on my CompuTrainer and spin. Still getting the easy cardio workout I need without all the pounding. I also try to do almost all my running on softer surfaces (ie track, grass or trail). Now when winter time comes around....that presents an issue for me with snow being on the trails. I usually cut way back on my running in the winter, little if any speedwork...I spend that extra time on the bike. The bike is great...my body seems to respond well to back to back hard bike workouts, I recover quick and gain fitness fairly quick too.

OK...hope that makes sense,

Laters,

Charity

[LoganMike]

Damn it, most of the miles I did for IMAZ two years ago were junk! watch out IMLP I ma going ot be junk free, well, I will have some junk, but it will be man junk

So, I figured out the downloan thing, but shit, it takes my Ibook about 25 minutes to download one of the videos. I know I have a lot of stuff on my computer, but how long does it take your guys to download it???????????

On another note, I have been wondering about these "junk"miles for some time and really appreciate the explanation. Alright, looking forward to how long your computer takes and talk to y'all later.

me

[CharityV]

LoganMike Wrote:So, I figured out the downloan thing, but shit, it takes my Ibook about 25 minutes to download one of the videos. I know I have a lot of stuff on my computer, but how long does it take your guys to download it???????????

Mike,
What type of internet connection do you have...the faster the connection the faster those will download for you. I tried downloading a bunch in Canada from out hotels wireless connection and they took hours to download...a lot of times they would just time out. Works better on our wireless connection at home.