Three
Yesterday Julia, David, Lara and I returned home from Penticton, B.C. where I finished my third Ironman triathlon.
Last Wednesday night I had the mini-van mostly packed and ready to go. A year ago we didn't leave home until close to noon and ended up driving through the mountains at night, which wasn't much fun. This year I was determined to get an early start. By about 7:30 Thursday morning we were on the road. Xiang stayed home again because of band camp - not to mention the fact that we barely got her back into the U.S. on our way back from Vancouver after RSVP.
We stayed in room 109 at the Sandman hotel. It's not a five-star resort, but the rooms are clean and comfortable, and it's close to the start. Whenever we were in the hotel, the kids were either watching a 24-hour cartoon channel or playing in the swimming pool. It was nice having a room on the first floor with a door that opened into the pool area.
Friday I picked up my registration packet. I bought a small 15 mm open/box wrench at Canada Tire so I didn't have to lug around my 8" Crescent wrench in case I flatted on the bike. I went to the pasta feed that night. The food wasn't bad, but certainly not worth $20 - the price of a guest ticket. I ate and left before the "let's get fired up" speeches and videos started.
Saturday I checked in my bike and equipment. A couple of people noticed my fixed gear. We spent a few hours relaxing on the beach in the afternoon and then ate at Salty's for dinner. That was probably the one minor mistake I made. I was still tasting and feeling the red curry seafood platter the next day. Note to self: avoid spicy foods the night before an Ironman.
On Sunday I woke up around 3 am, an hour before I set the alarm to go off. I was trying to follow Steve Born's advice about fueling for an Ironman. If you're going to eat breakfast, he recommends eating 3-4 hours before the start. I had a bottle of water with 2 scoops of Hammer Perpetuem and a roll with PB&J. I also started swallowing the first of some 30-40 pills that I had organized in two pill boxed, mostly for the bike. It's hard to say how much of difference the stuff from e-caps made. For sure I don't think it hurt anything except my wallet.
I got to the swim start with plenty of time to spare and ended up sitting around for quite a while. That was ok, but I barely made it to the start line on time because we had to walk a block or two from T1 to the beach and everyone was trying to squeeze through the entrance at the last minute.
I was just a little nervous about the swim, because I hadn't done more than 30 minutes of non-stop swimming in the pool this year. The farthest I swam was 1.2 miles at the two 1/2 Ironman races I did earlier in the year. With over 2000 people starting at once, the swim was pretty physical. The good thing about having so many people around you is that it's easy to stay on course and you can usually draft off of someone. Between the dinner the night before and all the air and water I was swallowing, my stomach didn't feel very good, but it didn't affect my swim much and I was sure things would improve once I got on the bike. A year ago in Coeur d'Alene my swim time was 1:24:00. Last year at Canada it was 1:26:34. This year I finished in 1:25:17.
The bike was the part I was really looking forward to. About a month ago I bought a brand new Van Dessel single speed from Jon Puskas for the low, low price of $750. I was thinking about something like a Gunnar fixed gear when Jon offered to sell his bike to me. Since the hub was only threaded for a free wheel when I bought it, I had Bill (at Cycle Path) build me another wheel. I didn't get the bike converted to a fixed gear until about a week ago. Previously, I had never ridden a fixed gear. I did a hilly century up the east side of Mt. St. Helens with the 38x17 free wheel after I bought the bike and then I rode from Seattle to Vancouver during RSVP. That and a couple of weeks commuting to work was all the mileage I had put on the bike before Canada. Not only was I doing my first long ride on a fixed, but I changed my gear ratio from 38x17 to 38x15. At 140 pounds I don't have to carry much weight up the hills. In fact, I enjoy climbing, or at least I'm just addicted to the feeling you get when you finally reach the top. But I was surprised by how much faster I was able to climb compared to everyone else around me. No one passed me going up a hill, and I was flying by people like they were standing still. I thought I might be pushing too hard for 112 miles, but even on the climb to Yellow Lake I managed an all out sprint for 100-200 meters near the top. The downside (punny) was descending. Everyone passed me going down hill, and by the end of the race I was sick and tired of anything more than about a 4-5 percent grade. I decided that extra brake levers on top are the way to go. It was so uncomfortable leaning over to constantly apply the brakes. There was no way I could control my speed with my legs. On the way back to Penticton I must have been passed by a few hundred people. At the bottom of the last hill, Jeff Petska caught me. I raced to keep up with him and we crossed the finish line together. That was neat. (Jeff and I did a lot of riding together last year before he moved to Arizona.) My bike split was 6:54:20. I only stopped once to pee around 75 miles. During the race, someone said I should get an hour taken off my time for riding a fixed gear. That sounds about right to me. Last year my time was 6:23:35 at Coeur d'Alene 6:50:33 at Canada.
I actually felt pretty good for the first 6 miles or so of the marathon. I wasn't even stopping to walk the aid stations. Then I started slowing down and by the 1/2 way point I was completely spent. Not too surprising, I suppose, considering I hadn't run longer than 13.1 miles all year. I saw Puskas around mile 8 or 9. It's incredible how motivating it can be to see someone you know during the run. After the turn-around I saw Jeff running about 2 miles behind me and that was the last time we saw each other. My marathon time was 5:15:40 compared to 5:50:04 at Canada and 4:38:48 at Coeur d'Alene last year. David and I crossed the finish line together. He really pushed me the last mile.
I didn't sign up for the Ironman next year. I really wanted to, but with the 508 in October, I thought it would be better if I didn't. However, there is Ultraman Canada July 30-August 1. Hummm...
Last Wednesday night I had the mini-van mostly packed and ready to go. A year ago we didn't leave home until close to noon and ended up driving through the mountains at night, which wasn't much fun. This year I was determined to get an early start. By about 7:30 Thursday morning we were on the road. Xiang stayed home again because of band camp - not to mention the fact that we barely got her back into the U.S. on our way back from Vancouver after RSVP.
We stayed in room 109 at the Sandman hotel. It's not a five-star resort, but the rooms are clean and comfortable, and it's close to the start. Whenever we were in the hotel, the kids were either watching a 24-hour cartoon channel or playing in the swimming pool. It was nice having a room on the first floor with a door that opened into the pool area.
Friday I picked up my registration packet. I bought a small 15 mm open/box wrench at Canada Tire so I didn't have to lug around my 8" Crescent wrench in case I flatted on the bike. I went to the pasta feed that night. The food wasn't bad, but certainly not worth $20 - the price of a guest ticket. I ate and left before the "let's get fired up" speeches and videos started.
Saturday I checked in my bike and equipment. A couple of people noticed my fixed gear. We spent a few hours relaxing on the beach in the afternoon and then ate at Salty's for dinner. That was probably the one minor mistake I made. I was still tasting and feeling the red curry seafood platter the next day. Note to self: avoid spicy foods the night before an Ironman.
On Sunday I woke up around 3 am, an hour before I set the alarm to go off. I was trying to follow Steve Born's advice about fueling for an Ironman. If you're going to eat breakfast, he recommends eating 3-4 hours before the start. I had a bottle of water with 2 scoops of Hammer Perpetuem and a roll with PB&J. I also started swallowing the first of some 30-40 pills that I had organized in two pill boxed, mostly for the bike. It's hard to say how much of difference the stuff from e-caps made. For sure I don't think it hurt anything except my wallet.
I got to the swim start with plenty of time to spare and ended up sitting around for quite a while. That was ok, but I barely made it to the start line on time because we had to walk a block or two from T1 to the beach and everyone was trying to squeeze through the entrance at the last minute.
I was just a little nervous about the swim, because I hadn't done more than 30 minutes of non-stop swimming in the pool this year. The farthest I swam was 1.2 miles at the two 1/2 Ironman races I did earlier in the year. With over 2000 people starting at once, the swim was pretty physical. The good thing about having so many people around you is that it's easy to stay on course and you can usually draft off of someone. Between the dinner the night before and all the air and water I was swallowing, my stomach didn't feel very good, but it didn't affect my swim much and I was sure things would improve once I got on the bike. A year ago in Coeur d'Alene my swim time was 1:24:00. Last year at Canada it was 1:26:34. This year I finished in 1:25:17.
The bike was the part I was really looking forward to. About a month ago I bought a brand new Van Dessel single speed from Jon Puskas for the low, low price of $750. I was thinking about something like a Gunnar fixed gear when Jon offered to sell his bike to me. Since the hub was only threaded for a free wheel when I bought it, I had Bill (at Cycle Path) build me another wheel. I didn't get the bike converted to a fixed gear until about a week ago. Previously, I had never ridden a fixed gear. I did a hilly century up the east side of Mt. St. Helens with the 38x17 free wheel after I bought the bike and then I rode from Seattle to Vancouver during RSVP. That and a couple of weeks commuting to work was all the mileage I had put on the bike before Canada. Not only was I doing my first long ride on a fixed, but I changed my gear ratio from 38x17 to 38x15. At 140 pounds I don't have to carry much weight up the hills. In fact, I enjoy climbing, or at least I'm just addicted to the feeling you get when you finally reach the top. But I was surprised by how much faster I was able to climb compared to everyone else around me. No one passed me going up a hill, and I was flying by people like they were standing still. I thought I might be pushing too hard for 112 miles, but even on the climb to Yellow Lake I managed an all out sprint for 100-200 meters near the top. The downside (punny) was descending. Everyone passed me going down hill, and by the end of the race I was sick and tired of anything more than about a 4-5 percent grade. I decided that extra brake levers on top are the way to go. It was so uncomfortable leaning over to constantly apply the brakes. There was no way I could control my speed with my legs. On the way back to Penticton I must have been passed by a few hundred people. At the bottom of the last hill, Jeff Petska caught me. I raced to keep up with him and we crossed the finish line together. That was neat. (Jeff and I did a lot of riding together last year before he moved to Arizona.) My bike split was 6:54:20. I only stopped once to pee around 75 miles. During the race, someone said I should get an hour taken off my time for riding a fixed gear. That sounds about right to me. Last year my time was 6:23:35 at Coeur d'Alene 6:50:33 at Canada.
I actually felt pretty good for the first 6 miles or so of the marathon. I wasn't even stopping to walk the aid stations. Then I started slowing down and by the 1/2 way point I was completely spent. Not too surprising, I suppose, considering I hadn't run longer than 13.1 miles all year. I saw Puskas around mile 8 or 9. It's incredible how motivating it can be to see someone you know during the run. After the turn-around I saw Jeff running about 2 miles behind me and that was the last time we saw each other. My marathon time was 5:15:40 compared to 5:50:04 at Canada and 4:38:48 at Coeur d'Alene last year. David and I crossed the finish line together. He really pushed me the last mile.
I didn't sign up for the Ironman next year. I really wanted to, but with the 508 in October, I thought it would be better if I didn't. However, there is Ultraman Canada July 30-August 1. Hummm...
posted by Sabertooth Salmon at 6:02 AM
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