For those that just want the stats…
Athlete numbers:
* 2,787 registered athletes
* 2,588 race-day starters
* 2,445 athletes finished under the 17-hour cut-off
Race Division numbers:
* My division was M40-44
* 469 registered athletes
* 393 race-day starters
* 383 athletes finished under the 17-hour cut-off
2.4-mile SWIM:
1:19:35, #247 in my division, #1,436 out of 2,588 overall
112-mile BIKE:
5:45:48, #106 in my division, #521 out of 2,588 overall, 19.4 mph average
26.2-mile RUN:
3:34:56, #14 in my division, #112 out of 2,588 overall, 8:13 per mile average
OVERALL:
10:50:35, #52 out of 393 in my division, #300 out of 2,588 overall
And now the race report…
From the moment I finished Ironman Coeur d’Alene in June 2005 I knew that I wanted to do another one. And shortly thereafter I decided I wanted to do one of the most famous Ironman events in the world and do Ironman Canada. However, getting signed up for the event is no easy task and required that I make a trek to Penticton, BC, last August to be on-site to sign myself up for this year’s race. So I headed up for 3-days and hung out with friends, worked the Bike Lot as a volunteer on Race Day 2006, and then the following day got myself in for the 2007 race. And I have been counting the hours down from that moment until my race day.
Thursday (Aug-23) Penticton is ~9-hours away from home via road and we made the plan to carpool up with some friends for this year’s race. My training-partner and friend, Mike (5x Ironman Canada & 10x Ironman vet!), and his fiancé, Deb, met my beautiful wife, Karen, and I at our place bright and early. We got the race bikes secured to the bike racks, loaded all the gear in back, and were on the road for our adventure. We made plans earlier in the year to split the drive up into two days to make it more fun and race registration day less stressful. We spent that night in beautiful Leavenworth, WA. @ a wonderful B&B Karen and I had stayed at previously. It was a fun day capped off by a great dinner and beers on the deck overlooking the Wentachee River from our B&B deck.
Friday (Aug-24) We were again on the road bright and early and after a quick breakfast stop in Wenatchee we cruised straight north and into British Columbia arriving at Penticton just after the noon hour. Mike and I got ourselves registered for the race while the girls stood guard with the bikes and gear and enjoyed the park and shade. Registration went smoothly and we got all of our logistics taken care of before we headed to The Sandman Hotel to get checked into our rooms. That evening we all met up and went to the Pre-race Banquet held at the Penticton Convention Center.
Saturday (Aug-25) Karen, Mike, and I met up with some friends also staying at the Sandman for a short swim in Okanagan Lake. Kevin, Sharon, Mike, & I got our swim on while Karen went for a run along beautiful Lakeshore Drive. The water was cool, not cold, and very clear. We all swam a short 10-minutes and then loaded back into the rig. Then Kevin, Mike, and I got on the bikes for a short ride up HWY 97 to ensure all the gearing, braking, hydration, race wheels/tires, and whatnot were in fine working order. And everything was. The rest of that day was spent getting our Transition Bags filled up, getting the T-Bags and Bikes checked into the transition area, wandering around Main Street, and then having a nice dinner at a Greek/Italian place. Good food, good friends, good laughs - good stuff.
Sunday (Aug-26) - RACE DAY – We were up at 4:30am to see the morning dawning cloudy and foreboding as forecasted. At least it wasn’t raining. I ate what I could, had a cup of coffee, grabbed my stuff, and we all headed to the race venue. I wasn't too nervous at this point but I knew that would come on soon. Mike and I said our good-byes to our women and then entered into the body-marking area and transition. I got some air pumped into my bike tires, double and triple checked everything on my bike and in my transition bags before pulling on the wetsuit and finally (after 2-years of planning and waiting) made my way to the edge of Okanagan Lake and the starting line of Ironman Canada.
SWIM – After the Pro start at 6:45am I secured my swim goggles on my face, pulled my swim-cap onto my head, and then waited for the cannon to fire. This is when the nerves hit me. All of a sudden I wanted nothing more than to see my wife’s beautiful face in the crowd and have her wave to me. But try as I might I could not find her in the massive crowd lining the seawall on Lakeshore Drive. So a couple of deep-breaths and stretches later I felt better and started counting down the seconds to the race start. With this year’s race being the 25th Anniversary of Ironman Canada there were ~500 more athletes allowed to sign up than in previous years and during the swim you could tell. Once the cannon boomed and we were all off on our own day of adventure it got very crowded and stressful. I pretty much started right in the center of the pack towards the middle section and just did my thing. Sighting the buoy line was not a problem really, but the hard body contact was tough. I got hit hard twice on one ear, and took a blow to the face hard enough to move my goggles a bit. I fixed those right away and then put my head down to get back into a rhythm, if possible. Normally the swim will lighten up a bit after about the halfway point, but this one never did. It was crowded and bumpy the entire time. However, I felt relaxed and was pleased with my effort level versus progress being made. My goal was to complete the swim faster than my first Ironman swim (1:25) and I came in at 1:19:35.
BIKE - Wetsuit strippers had my suit off and in my hand in about 5 seconds and I was dressed and ready for the bike in less than 7-minutes. After clicking into the pedals I took it a bit easy the first half-mile or so up Main Street to make sure I could see Karen and Deb – and I did. A nice wave to them and I was off to ride the famous Ironman Canada bike course. And it was spectacular! It was still a bit crowded at this point in the race, but I was able to pass others pretty easily, and just being careful to avoid those that weren’t being too careful. The first hill climb is up MaClean Creek Road where in year’s past yahoos would throw carpet tacks on the road causing many flat tires and delays. I made that climb and then was off towards Okanagan Falls and the rest of the course. My nutrition and hydration plans are fairly simple…basically I make sure to get something solid (or a gel) in me every half hour and make sure to drain a water bottle every hour. That’s it. So with various combinations of PowerGels, bananas, a Snickers Marathon bar, a Clif Bar, plain Gatorade, Gatorade with 2-scoops of CarboPro, water, and my trusty PB&J at mile 80 or so I never let myself get hungry. After OK Falls we rode through the towns of Oliver and Osoyoos before turning right and making the climb up Richter Pass. After years and years of hearing about Richter Pass I was actually climbing it on my bike! Oh cool was that? Very! I loved it. It was tough and the sun was out and not making it any easier, but it was no harder than the hills of Bald Peak or Timber or Helvetia that Mike and I spent hours and hours climbing during training. After cresting Richter Pass there was a wicked fast descent not made any less scary by the strong winds that were blowing by that point! The wind…oh the wind. It sucked. It was blowing very strong and directly at us as a headwind for mile after mile. At one point I was pedaling hard, downhill, and my speed was 11.7mph. ugh. That was probably the low point of the day…or maybe it was a few minutes later when the rain started and with the wind made for some chilly miles. But soon enough the rain let up and it was only the wind I had to contend with all the way back to town. Shortly thereafter I rode the out-n-back to my Special Needs bag that contained my one and only special need – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat! It was warm, it was a bit soggy, and it was delicious. A few miles later I was climbing the incline to Yellow Lake at mile 90 or so. That one hurt. It is steeper than Richter Pass and comes very late in the bike ride so the legs are that much more tired when it arrives. But the crowd on this climb is lining both sides of the road and leaving only a 3-4 foot path for the riders to ride through. Just like you see on TV during the climbs of the Tour De France – it was very, very cool and very, very loud. After gutting that climb out it is literally downhill all the way back to Penticton. Once again on HWY 97 high above Skaha Lake I could see Penticton and the hotel where T2 was and where I could get the hell off the bike. I was ready to be done pedaling and I was ready to run. I wanted to finish the bike faster than my first Ironman bike (6:06, 18.4mph) and I came in at 5:45, 19.4mph. After 3-minutes in T2 I was getting my run on.
RUN – I love running. It’s still my best discipline of the 3 triathlon sports. About a quarter of a mile into the run I ran past where Karen and Deb were yelling and waving on the other side of the street where I’d be coming back by in a short while. I don’t wear a heart-rate monitor and always just run on perceived effort. So I ran as hard as I felt I could hold for the marathon in front of me. It was shortly after this point that I saw my buddy Mike for the first time that whole day! He had a few minutes on me and was running strong and immediately became the carrot dangling in front of me. A mile or so out-and-back along Lakeshore Drive and I came back around the corner where our women were waiting. I stepped up on the curb to get a quick smooch from the love of my life and then I was off and running again. One of my goals in any marathon (Ironman or stand-alone) is to not be forced to a walk when not planned. I always walk through the aid-stations, but I never walk between them. And I was able to do just on this day. I just tell myself “…just run a mile and then you get another little break…” and that works for me. So I’d run, and pass people, and enjoy the sights of Ironman Canada. I’d get to an aid-station and slow to a walk long enough to ensure I drank water or Gatorade (alternating each stop) eat something (pretzels, bananas, PowerGel) and douse myself with a wet sponge or cup of water. The marathon course is one of the tougher courses I’ve ever run in any marathon let alone an Ironman Marathon. There were many, many hills of varying degrees of steepness and length. The winds were not a factor at this point, but I knew they would be on the return. As I was nearing the halfway point I saw Mike once again and I’d reeled him in to within 1-2 minutes of me. But it would be nearly 6 more miles before I caught him. But catch him I did and it was great. The rest of way back with the hills and the once again strong headwinds we had each other to play cat-n-mouse with. Neither one of us had a lot left to give to the run course, but neither one of us was going to fall too far behind the other. At the aid stations I’d do my usual walk through (by this time I was drinking the gross, flat, and warm Pepsi) while Mike would motor out to another lead that I’d have to work hard to negate just in time to walk again. This kept up to about mile 24 at which point I stopped using the aid stations and we just beat feet for the finish. The crowds were once again intense as I ran the last couple of miles in town and I was loving every single minute of it! I wasn’t doing the Ironman shuffle, I was running and it felt great. I made the turn onto Lakeshore Drive once again to run away from the finish line (bastards!) before making the final turn and push to the Finish Line. At this point the wind was absolutely howling with waves from Okanagan Lake crashing against the seawall and sand blowing at us from the beach. But I kept on trucking, passed some people on the final stretch, looked behind me to make sure no one was close to mess up my finishing photo, raised my arms and crossed the line. Mike followed with his finish only 11-seconds behind…very cool. I wanted to finish the run faster than my first Ironman marathon (3:46, 8:37/m) and came in at 3:34, 8:13/m.
Final thoughts: I wanted to beat my Ironman PR of 11:29, but didn’t really know what to expect from the Canada course and day. Given the wind we had to fight for a lot of the bike ride and half of the marathon I am very happy with my end result of 10:50. And that got me my PR by nearly 40-minutes! I’ll take that on this course and being two years older any day! I loved having my friend and training partner, Mike, there on the course with me acting as my carrot. Thanks for taking my mind off the pain, buddy! And for letting me catch you. Ironman Canada was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I loved the entire race, venue, and road-trip with my wife and good friends. It was wonderful. I’m already planning to be there next August to get myself signed up for the 2009 Ironman Canada when I will be the young guy in the M45-49 age group. Holy crap.
Two last words – First, I want to give a HUGE shout-out to my training partner and good friend, Mike. What can I say, Dude? You were there for those 6:30am, 5-6-7-hour long rides in the cold, the wind, the rain, the sun, pedaling to save our lives from the gnashing teeth of the dogs in Vernonia and Timber, cranking out mile after mile after mile on the bikes and runs. It wouldn’t have been the same journey without you there pushing me.
And secondly, I want to publicly thank my wife, Karen, for her help and support during all of this. I know she was the one left home while I was out swimming the laps, cranking the pedals, or running the miles. It wasn't easy for her, but she was there for me when I needed her. And she was always the first thing I wanted to see when I got back home. Thank you for helping me become a 2x Ironman Finisher, Honey. I love you.
Click HERE to meet Steven
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