2007 Ironman Canada Triathlon in the books

2007 results data

Time DIV DIV SwimDIV S.OVR TIME PACE T1
15:13:40 M55-59 68/109 73 1937 1:26:38 2:17 12:16

B. DIV BIKE TIME PACE T2 RUN OVR TIME Pace
53rd 1847th 7:02:57 15.9 11:48 76th 2264 6:20:04 14:31

My fourth ironman race is done and from the times above it looks like I haven’t learned a damn thing. Well, actually when you look deeper it shows that I am 4 years older and more cunning, because I am doing the same times 4 years on but on half the training. heh.

I swam just 7 times - the first one being July 6th. I rode the IMC course 11 times last year, only once this year and my bike split improved by 7 minutes!

My “walk-split” has been the same regardless. This year my long run was only 23kms which I did 10 times starting in May.

Seriously, my running has been neglected and there is no point in continuing to walk a 6 hour marathon once a year at $600 per!

Race day was almost perfect weather, cool, dry, - just some pesky headwinds starting at the 80k mark lasting the rest of the day but nothing a Clydesdale can’t handle. Lighter people were being blown around sometimes nearly being stopped in their tracks. I just plowed on through.

My swim plan worked out perfectly. I hugged the buoys and finished in 86 mins without mishap. I use a farmer john wetsuit and in the past it has billowed out in the chest increasing the drag. 2 weeks before the race I hit on the idea of wearing a cycling jersey overit to stop the billowing. It worked perfectly. I recommend it.

My old steel Bianchi flew down to Osoyoos in 1:52:00 - that’s 35.69kph - making up 250 places, 60 of which I lost going up the Richter. I climbed the Richter in 42 mins. In training it usually takes me 34 to 46mins, so that was okay. On the descent cars travelling alongside racers to cheer “Daddy” slowed me down. I descend into roller number one at 75-80kph and they were tracking Daddy at 55. I had to brake. Bummer.

I sailed along well enough to Beck’s road in Cawston but had some cramping in my left quad that forced me off the bike. I downed 3 packets of salt courtesy of KFC and soft pedaled to the Special Needs turn around. The cramps never came back. I did however dismount at the aid station further down the road to pee, massage my foot, and stretch out my back, cost me 5 minutes.

Britt caught me at the Yellow Lake aid station and we chatted for a few minutes.She hung back a little, hoping her hubby Antonio would catch up as he had flatted. I sped on into town easing up at the airport and cruised into T2 in 7:03:00 The first 90k was good for me but the last 90k needs some work. The bike shorts worked out - no pain there, but my lower back was very tired and sore.

T2 was slow, 11:48, no explanation for that.

I started out for OK Falls with a sore back and unable to jog. I knew that by the top of Main Street Hill I would be able to run some and it turned out that way. Britt and Toni passed me by Starbucks and I took their picture. Larry caught me by the Peach and we jogged down to the Sicamous when I had to let him go. He finished 30 mins ahead of me. My walk / jog routine got me in by 10:13pm and could be an hour faster if my feet didn’t get sore. I changed sox at mile 16 but it didn’t help much. If I can solve that one I will approach sub-14 I’m sure. Next year.

Libor and Andy were waiting at the finish line. I got a shout and a wave from Larry and felt good enough to drive the 2hours home to my own bed, skipping the prize dinner Monday night, but deciding between a plate of pasta, sleeping in the car for a third night and being at home on Monday didn’t seem like a tuffie.

More thoughts later.

The Dukie Ride

Every August 12 since 1997 I do the Dukie Bike Ride in memory of my faithful mutt who died that day ten years ago.
At first, the ride was a way of coping with his loss, instead of just sitting around bawling my eyes out. Now it is a pleasurable remembrance of a creature I will miss for the rest of my days.


PoC
2 weeks to IMC

An Attitude is a tool not an ornament.

Whether you think your are suffering or you don't, you're probably right.

It's an attitude, and you get to choose your attitudes.

Choosing the attitude that helps you achieve your goals is part of the mental game - a part of sports, business and life in general.

Choose, "I am strong, I am light, I run like the pond skater skipping across the lily-pads" (pick your own phrasing) and you are more likely to endure the discomfort associated with running 30,000 strides over 42kms than if you choose the attitude,
"My feet hurt, my back aches, I can't do this!"

It is common sense really. Norman Cousins famously spoke about the language we use when talking about suffering with terminally ill cancer patients. He noted how the phrasing affected the attitudes of the patients - either positively, or negatively. Of course we should choose the positive approach every time. The point here is that our "attitudes" must per force be couched in language, therefore choose positive language. We think in words. Words affect how we feel. Connect the dots.