Ironman Canada - Whistler, BC August 25th 2013

Ironman Canada - Whistler, BC 

Yup - it went well, as in really really well. <brag> I finished IMC in 9h 39min and 17sec, KQ, 4th place in my AG, 24th overall including the Pro field, which leaves me as 10th amateur overall if I did the math right. That's an IM PR on a course that Matthew Russell called the hardest Ironman course he had ever ridden. </brag> Mission iSUB9 is still out there - but not on this course and in this year.

2013 has been an interesting season. Moving from SF to NYC, living out of a suitcase, hip injury, lack of decent outdoor rides, no +M2 Revolution, arrival of the +CycleOps 400 indoor trainer, buying an apartment, running 57 times around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir in Central Park, Rev3 Quassy, 3rd AG IM 70.3 Syracuse and finally sharing life full-time with +Nicole Dubois - the year had it all so far.


Whistler is a perfect venue. An abundance of housing options, restaurants, parking, etc combined with people that live the outdoors day in and out makes for a great race. I saw equal amounts of high end mountain bikes as I saw pimped TT bikes. On the run there was a section where folks were riding a terrain bike on BMX and MTBs. Good choice!

But let's cut to the chase:

Race Day..::..Pre:
3.45AM Alarm. Good night sleep comes to an end. Coffee, recommended by doctors worldwide for breakfast followed by a plain 'kaiser' roll (pun intended) and some nuts. 4.45AM wake up Nicole and get ready to drive the 5min to Whistler for the shuttles. 

Athletes were allowed to take the shuttles, while poor spectators had to walk 45min to the swim start (room for improvement). iPod on - focus on. I arrived in T1 and all that was left to do was pump up the tires (CA_EN tyres) and get in line for the Port-a-John's (where did that name come from?). 
There weren't enough - as usual.

But the lake was amazing. So clear, perfect temperature, beautiful setting:

Photo credit +Nicole Dubois 

Race Day..::..Swim:

Despite my best effort to improve my swimming time, I didn't. Oh that is so frustrating! Argghhh! 

OK, otherwise uneventful, although I thought it was pretty crowded for almost the entire first loop. <opinion>I am still a HUGE fan of the mass start. It's part of the game. SwimSmart may comfort people, but I am going to predict that it won't save lives. The number of events is far too small to draw any meaningful conclusion on that. Numbered buoys, etc. are all good and welcome, it makes sense, but keep the mass start.</opinion>

Race Day..::..Bike:

The bike was a lot of fun, mainly because I was able to make up lost ground. After looking for my bike in the wrong aisle in T1 I quickly caught up with Jessica Yin, who eventually came in 4th in her AG and scored a Kona slot!). From there it is a net downhill to the bottom of the climb up to Olympic Park where they held the Nordic events, which is a ~6 mile climb. Gary Rafferty was looking good on this climb. I truly enjoyed the climb and the vistas of the Olympic structures - so inspiring. 

Best cheering squad

Superfast descent back to HWY99 and stepwise climb back up to Whistler for some cheers by the many spectators, the blue people and +Nicole Dubois.

After Whistler you have an 'endless' downhill - I almost couldn't believe how far it stretched. It's crazy long and you know that you have to come back up. Partly worried - partly excited I plotted the day ahead and concluded that this will play out well for me. Knowing that I am good climber, the only thing that I was missing right now were an extra 10lbs for the downhill!

Town of Pemberton was very lively and lined with spectators. What follows though is the dark spot of the course. A long ~20 mile Florida-Flat out and back. Me and 2 other guys in my AG were clearly working legally on this until we got gobbled up by this massive draft pack. This was TdF style peloton riding. I tried 3 times to break out in the front, only to be out-sprinted by someone who then would sit in front of me at a slower pace. Oh this was so frustrating. I almost lost my race MoJo. I know part of the problem was the course design, but a lot of people took advantage of it. 

My solution was to sit in the back, a good 10m behind the last person, and try to not get a penalty. Did I benefit? I don't know. I know that I was capable of riding faster than most of the people (since I passed at least 5 of them earlier when riding solo), but I was now also saving energy. On the flip side, my HR dropped and I lost focus. In the end this was the decision I made to come to peace with the situation, I figured that I would roll up the field on the climb back to Whistler. Comparatively speaking I also wasn't taking advantage of the pack with a clear separation between me and them (Kudo's to pro female ahead of me who did the same). The frustration was fueled by poor marshaling - the penalty tents were empty. 

But now back to the course, uphill for a solid hour+ or so and breaking clear of the pack within 10 minutes. Sad/funny that now we had a referee handing out draft penalties on the uphill! Naturally the same guys I was riding in close vicinity earlier where now back together - justice after all.

I really wanted to break 5 hrs on the bike, but it didn't happen on Sunday. Maybe it would have worked without the flat out-and-back in Pemberton, but who knows. In the end, this was a super split and poised me to do well on the run.

Race Day..::..Run:

Swift transition into the running shoes and out on the run. 2 loops of mixed paved valley path and gravel. Very windy and partially shaded. An excellent run course. After St.George my definite favorite. Great job organizers. I struggled on the first lap and lost about 3x2 min having to stop at the bathrooms. Very frustrating. So I ended up passing the same guys 3 times, I wonder what they thought. It was fun with the out and backs to see the Pros, as well as the crew: Jessica, Gary, Adam and Jason.

Lap 2 was fantastic. I wasn't running nearly the pace I intended to run, but I clearly budgeted my effort well as I was passing people all the time. Of course some just came off the bike and were on lap 1, but at the turn around I got a good look at the folks in my AG. I hadn't figured all of them out, but had a pretty good idea who is in my AG and where they are. 

The turn-around really marked the beginning of the best racing I have done so far I think. I was running a good clip and just on the edge of going too fast. This is the first IM where I didn't drop my HR towards the end. Slamming coke I was able to pass even the guy that I thought I could never pass - and unlike other times I passed people I must have done it with such dominance that none responded. 

That put me on the final mile well clear of the next competitor and only 30s behind #3 (which of course I didn't realize). I was able to enjoy the finish line, greeting people, smiling, stopping for +Nicole Dubois and finally doing a silly move across the line. 

Still featuring Pro Time

Race Day..::..After:
Very excited about my performance and the outstanding results from my fellow +M2 Revolution team mates:

Jessica - going to Kona
Gary - IM with a newborn!
Adam - first timer
Jason - looked strong on the run
Walter Lee - last official finisher

You rocked it, eh!

Doing a practice swim

I never thought I would ...

... but I did! 

Preface: Last fall I entered the lottery for the NYC Half Marathon in March. Chances of getting in were pretty high I think as this event hasn't gained nearly the popularity that the Full Marathon has. But why should it? 

Then for me, it was a nice Half event early in the season with ample time to get in shape for and kick off the Tri season in style. Needless to say - I got in. With moving etc. training was tough, but fortunately running is about as easy to do while traveling as it gets. I was really on a roll with speedwork and all until I strained my iliopsoas muscle in early January. Diagnosed kindly my my friend Guenther Effinger.

I have never been injured. 

Never. But this was bad. It just wouldn't go away. I even flew to Thailand and rested for 2 weeks with only swimming and cycling in the hotel gym maybe twice. But it wouldn't go away. I had this nagging pain in my right hip that would get worse when I overextend the leg, as you do in 'fast' running. Early February I took one week off from training all together and eat Vitamin I like candy. That seemed to have worked and I was able to start running in 15min increments at a painfully slow pace (for me). 

So here comes NYC Half March 17th! I pick up my Bib on Thursday and since I predicted a fast finishing time I was seeded in one of the 4 first corrals - prompting the volunteer to say 'Wow that's fast'. Little did he know that I hadn't run more than a handful of runs prior. 

So my plan to PR was canned but somehow Saturday night it dawned on me that I shouldn't run at all. I felt some twitching again after a longer (laugh here if needed) run earlier in the week so after all, what's the point of going for a slow jog for more miles than I had run since last year only to aggravate the hip again? 

The point is - there was no point. 

So yes for the first time ever I actually paid money for a race entry and didn't even show up at the start line. I felt a bit silly, but I know in the end it was the right thing to do. I am gunning for IM Canada as my number 1 race this year. So if not running this event will help me to be competitive I can take the punch to my pride. 
Now if it ever stops snowing here, I can go outside and ride at least.