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IMC 2008 - The Low Down

Written by Administrator
Monday, 18 August 2008 12:22
The breakdown: MORRISON, JANELLE 1 - 30/W30-34 \| 01:10:47 \| 05:25:00 \| 03:17:58 \| 09:59:54 AYERS, JENNY 1 - 46/W45-49 \| 01:03:09 \| 05:58:15 \| 03:52:58 \| 10:59:02 MCMILLAN, SARAH 27 - 35/W35-39 \| 01:05:30 \| 06:16:48 \| 04:33:02 \| 12:02:27 SIMPSON, JULIE 81 - 31/W30-34 \| 01:37:41 \| 07:06:23 \| 05:05:07 \| 14:03:47 SCOTT, MCMILLAN 15 - 36/M35-39 \| 00:55:36 \| 05:05:38 \| 03:48:53 \| 09:54:44 SMITH, SAMUEL 13 - 34/M30-34 \| 01:05:18 \| 05:18:19 \| 03:36:38 \| 10:06:22 ISAKSON, CHRISTIAN 21 - 34/M30-34 \| 01:05:25 \| 05:23:43 \| 03:52:05 \| 10:25:54 JASPERSON, RYAN 29 - 30/M30-34 \| 01:05:59 \| 05:37:25 \| 03:45:42 \| 10:34:23 THOMPSON, BILL 33 - M30-34 \| 01:05:41 \| 05:33:55 \| 04:43:11 \| 11:29:42 SMITH, DARREN 42 - M40-44 \| 01:15:59 \| 07:04:24 \| 07:06:30 \| 15:50:00 Before I get into my personal story, I will talk about how everyone else did. Almost everyone had a great day. Unfortunately Bill was sick the night before with the flu. Given that it is amazing to see that he still did a 11.5 hours. He was really ready so it was sad to see this happen to such a great guy. His time will come and he has to be happy with a number of his other race results this year. Janelle hammered the run and was rewarded with a sub 10, top amateur woman and 8^th overall!!! And, if you remember, she had the flu a few days ago but recovered just in time. Jenny had another fantastic race to cap off a fantastic season. She ended up 1^st in her age group as well. And it was really nice to see Brian (her husband) get first in his age group which has been a long time coming. Sarah had a rough day. She sprained her ankle two weeks ago and thought it was fine. That was not the case. It was aggravated on the bike so it made for a really hard run. She is hobbling around this morning and it looks like we will go out and get a pair of crutches for her. I could not be happier with Sam’s day. 13^th in his age group in first Ironman. We have been working together since he signed up last year and the 12 months of due diligence really paid off for him. Likewise for Christian. He had an erratic schedule due to shift work and puts in a lot of hard work. It was nice to see it all come together on Sunday. I have not talked to Ryan today but it looks like he was bang on with our expectations. Julie was bang-on. A few months ago she was going to pull out of the race because she was very busy with other things. So, it is fantastic to see her re-assess her goals and follow through to get her first Ironman finish! And Darren. He continues to improve and overcome his disability. Although his overall time was slightly slower since Ironman Canada is a much slower course compared to Ironman Florida. He ran 15 minutes faster on the somewhat hilly Ironman Canada course. Here is my story: We were greeted with overcast ski’s and mild weather to start the day. The water was calm. The wind was out of the South so we had a significant head wind down to Osoyoo’s. From then on we seemed to have a lot of cross wind but nothing that would blow you over. Rarely, it seemed did we get a tail wind. Temperatures on the bike were warm and just about perfect all day. Onto the run there was a very significant head wind effecting run splits on the way out to the turnaround. Again, the clouds provided good cover but you could start to feel the heat. That headwind turned into a pretty nice tailwind on the way back. Just after the 10 hour make of the race, it started to rain. Luckily it was a fairly gentle rain and the temperatures remained warm. I had a pretty good day. The outcome was not what I was looking for but for the most part the day went well. I felt very fresh and my legs felt strong. My heart rate and breathing were really well even when I pushed at harder intensities. I started the swim quite hard to get away. The first 200m were a little tight but eventually the sprinters started to fade and us steady swimmers started to pass them. I was in a good pack but could see we were getting dropped so I made a move to get into the pack just ahead of us. Luckily another swimmer was doing the same thing so I jumped on his feet to help bridge. We made it. However, just before the turnaround I lost focus and lost the feet. I tried to get back on but decided to hold back and save my energy. Eventually a few swimmer’s from behind caught us and I tucked in behind them. The way back was much easier and very comfortable. On the bike it was nice to ride with a few strong guys. They were pushing the hills a little hard tough so I let them go ahead. Eventually I rode back up to them at a steady effort. We were caught by a bigger group just past Okanagan falls. With the headwind, I decided it was advantageous to ride with the keeping a legal draft distance. At times the pace was a little fast but it also slowed at times. We rode to Richter together. As it always does, Richter blew us apart. About four guys road up ahead and put time into me. While the rest of the pack dropped back. I just stuck to my plan and rode Richter steady. I got the word that I was about the 10^th overall age grouper at the top of Richter. It was really nice to head Steve King’s voice up there. My initial plan was to be conservative on the bike to ensure a good run. However, I decided to start pushing it a bit. I pushed a few of the rollers a little harder than I would have liked. I was in no-man’s land now. No one in sight in front or behind me. Dallas Cain blew by me before Cawston. He beat me at a race in Nelson just a few weeks ago and is a very strong bike/runner. I could tell it was easier to hang on his wheel (legal drafting) so I used him to pull me up to those guys in front of us. However, I was stepping above my pacing limits. The legs felt good though and didn’t yell back. In the out and back, he dropped me as he simply pounded up some hills that would have blown me to bits. I wanted to cruise to the turn around and then make a move up to yellow lake from there. And that is what I did. I pushed pretty hard in the out and back and passed a couple of guys. I kept it steady up to yellow lake and back into town. I was thinking at that time I would ride just under 5 hours. However, after talking to some others after the race it seems the wind slowed us a little more down than I thought it did. The run started with stiff legs and a not so smooth gait. I knew I was in tough. The pace felt easy (7:40s for the first 5 miles) but I could tell my legs were going to give out. Although at the time, I never let that though take control. I believed I could still hold on for a 3:30 marathon. I hit the turnaround near that pace and ran the hills solid. At this time I was in about 8^th overall for the amateurs and everyone else was a way’s behind. I was 6^th to start the marathon but a couple of fleet feet passed me. I was pretty happy with this position and told myself to be patient and pace it back to town and I would stay within the top 10. Unfortunately my legs had other plans. They really got tight and sore after mile 18. That made for a long final 8 miles. I would feel ok for a bit and then terrible. Eventually I hit the Pepsi regularly and that really helped me finish. All in all a pretty good day! Congratulations to everyone who put their hearts on the line and took the opportunity to toe the line on Sunday!
Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 August 2008 18:48 )

IMC 2008 Approaches

Written by Scott

Tuesday, 19 August 2008 18:10

There are 10 Factor 9 Triathlete’s racing Ironman Canada on Sunday. The 10 of us are:

Name	#	From
Ryan Jasperson	288	Portland
Jenny Ayers	92	Penticton
Sam Smith	469	Victoria
Bill Thompson	394	Portland
Christian Isakson	468	Portland
Janelle Morrsion	1856	Calgary
Julie Simpson	1893	Victoria
Darren Smith	959	Portland
Sarah	112	Penticton
Scott	144	Penticton

Tomorrow is the big day. I usually look really forward to race week. It is great to see everyone come to town and it is a lot of fun to catch up with old friends. However, this week had a really rough start. I rarely get sick and I don’t recall being really sick within a week of a race before. Which, I consider myself fortunate giver the fact that I have done over 10 Ironman’s.

I did my usual long ride on Sunday and then had lunch. Within a few hours of lunch I was on the couch in pain. My stomach was on fire. I have had the stomach flu before but nothing like this. Literally my entire midsection from the bottom of my lungs to the top of my waist was in sheer agony. I did not feel like doing anything. Talking even made me nauseous. The pain subsided with some medicine but I was really uncomfortable for the next 24hrs. And my stomach was off for the next few days after that. Friday was the first day that I felt absolutely fine.

So, luckily it was my taper and I did not have many workouts to do. I missed a couple runs and swims but that is about it. I got in some solid sessions late in the week and feel I am ready to race tomorrow. I am definitely well rested!

And, unfortunately, I was not the only one with troubles. Janelle (from Calgary) came down with a similar bug on Wednesday. She cancelled her Thursday travel plans and came out on Friday instead. Lucky for her, it was in and out in 24 hours. I saw her today and you would not have known she was seriously ill a few days ago.

So, there you go. Anything can happen on race week and there is not much you can do about it beyond damage control.

It has worked out well late this week to meet up with the 9 athlete’s I am coaching for this race. I had a good opportunity to talk to everyone this week and make sure they are all good to go. Everyone is in really good spirits (and knock on wood) are healthy, fit and strong to toe the line.

Not much else left to do. Just need to fire up my fuel bottles and stick them in the fridge. Watch a movie, have some dinner and hit the sack. Weather looks to be near perfect for an Ironman.

Tomorrow is simply about kicking ass from start to finish.

Check out the race coverage on www.Ironmanlive.com. The pro’s start at 6:45am and we all start at 7:00am.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 August 2008 00:27 )

Mr. Hulaman and Mr. Canada

Written by Scott
Thursday, 21 August 2008 12:20
Aleck is Mr. 2008 Hulaman. Another adventurous outing for Aleck in the Hulaman Half and is all told here. Darren travelled to the Canadian National Short Course Championships held this year in Kelowna, BC. On a very hot day and overcoming some adversity he was able to secure his gold medal. Unfortunately, his competition was too scared to show up but a gold medal at Nationals in his AWAD division is pretty cool! Here is Darren's tale.
Last Updated ( Friday, 22 August 2008 18:35 )

The Games Begin!

Written by Scott
Wednesday, 06 August 2008 03:39
Finally, the Summer Olympic Games have begun. It looks a little smoggy in Beijing. Hopefully it clears up before the marathon and triathlons come around. Apparently they are trying to induce some rain in the area. The games are open but we have to wait till the 17^th (women’s race) and the 18^th (guys race) triathlons to occur. However, the cycling road race is on today. The individual cycling time trial is on Wednesday, the 13^th. It looks like the first swimming final is on this Saturday. Friday the 15^th has the 10km on the track. August 23^rd is the Men’s marathon. The women’s marathon? Google finally failed me. So did the new search engine Cuil.com. But I found it! It is on Saturday, August 16^th. CBC is carrying the official coverage in Canada and NBC is doing the American coverage. Last weekend was a busy one with 6 Factor 9 athlete’s racing. Here is the summary: In Portland, OR: Aleck – Midsummer Sprint – Portland – 1^st overall in a new best time. Bill – Midsummer Oly – Portland – 4^th overall in a new best time. Darren – Midsummer Oly – Beat his best able bodied time before obtaining his chronic injury. Jennifer – Midsummer Oly – First time Olympic distance finisher and had a significant improvement compared to her last sprint race. In Nelson, BC: Scott – Cyswog’n’fun Quarterman – 2^nd overall – my cycling is back! Sarah – Cyswog’n’fun Quarterman – 5^th overall – says she was tired. Nelson was a fun day for me. Not so much for Sarah. They did a local head start. What I mean is, they had us all corralled to go over the swim mats prior to the race. Then they let us go line up. However, they mean hurry to the start line and 3-2-1 go. Me, who decided it was a good idea to get my face wet in the cold water, was swimming towards the start line when I heard 3-2-1 go. It made for an exciting start. I went HARD. Swim felt great and I had lots of people to chase. I almost caught the lead swimmer but he beat me out by 5 seconds. I still got the 2^nd swim prime though (and the 2^nd bike and run primes for the day). That was fun, I have never gotten a prime before. I also got to stand on a real podium. I have placed and won races before but I have never had the chance to stand on a real wooden podium. It’s all about the little things that makes events cool. Some pictures thanks to Melissa (who also enjoyed the race, although she admits she has some transition practice to do!):
Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 August 2008 21:45 )

Into the Pain Cave

Written by Scott
Friday, 01 August 2008 13:45
Aleck wrote me last week about being able to enter the pain cave in a race (a.k.a. dig deep, go to the well, suffer-fest). It was a very good question and there is a lot to it. Chapter's in books have been written on the topic and maybe even entire books (although I have not read one of those). One’s ability to enter the pain cave is related to a myriad to factors. Such as their ability, purpose, current fitness, mindset before the race, confidence while racing, pacing, nutrition and tolerance for pain. And there are more factors depending on how you break it down. To answer Aleck’s question, I sent him the three most pertinent points to remember this season on the topic. You can read more about why he asked the question and what my response was on his blog.
Last Updated ( Monday, 04 August 2008 20:23 )

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