Friday, August 29, 2008

Pictures


Comin into Penticton, waiting for construction to clear up so we can drive the last few kms. Somthing that occured to me later, when you look at this pic what do you see? Do you appreciate the beauty of the rainbow, the lake wayyyy below and the mountains, or are you more concerned about the traffic and how you are going to overcome it. Just a ramdom thought I had, I believe we considered both, ha ha so I don't completely fail.
This is Curtis, what a poser eh? That's lake Okanagan down below.
Wooooo we are both looking slick and fast for Aug. 24th. This is in the hotel.
We are IRONMANS!!!! Ok not quite yet. ha ha









The calm before the storm. This is the race start area.









The pro start 15 min. before us Age Groupers.









Getting close, can you feel the tension?










Awayyyyyy we go!









A lot of bikes, you can see me takin off eager to get this ride started.







This is yellow lake pass, it's beautiful and comes at a tough point in the race 140-150km into the ride. Lisa awaits my arrival.







Ooops a little swapped around, here's my exit out of the lake.










The start of the bike, yes I do occasionally look where I'm going.










Richter Pass, 11km of climbing broken up in 3 sections.










Finally on my way up Yellow Lake. 30k to go and then a marathon.










The start of the marathon, who's that yelling my name??










So focussed.











Good pace, feeling good.








Along lake skaha, aprox 15km into the marathon.











Ohhhhh the finish is soo close, the legs are there I just can't feel them. I'm back into town, under 5km to go.










Finish!!











Ohhhh yeah baby, Ironman #2 feels good!!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

IRONMAN CANADA RACE REPORT

Hey all,

This could be fairly long, but hey, it was a long day, so there's lots to cover. Hopefully I will get the pictures soon to upload and maybe I'll steal a couple from Chad. :P

Soooo here goes nothing, the alarm finally went off at 4 AM. I was pooped from all the running around the day before so I actually slept great. That's the key right, make sure you're busy enough to get tired. That way you don't have time to fret about the upcoming day and you get tired enough to get some Zzzzs. I lay there for a few minutes, just letting it all soak in. How would the day go? I guess I'll find out, there's no more waiting I just have to go out and do what I've trained my body to do.

K, enough thinking time to get some food in me. Breakfast is fairly simple, I go on what I know works for me, instant oatmeal, ensure, bananas, and a muffin(poppy seed kind are yummy). Weird I wasn't too nervous yet. Last year I was freaking out at the start, it was sooo much colder and the water was sooo rough. This year I'm a year more prepared, I know what the swim will be like, I know I can protect myself. I'll get through it, the bike is where my confidence lies, and the run, well we'll just have to see. I'm a runner at heart still, I'm sure it'll come around. Back to breakfast, I ate my food as well as my tummy would allow. I had to give myself breaks from that as the butterflies were making it difficult to get all the calories in. Nothing new though, it would be bad if there were none.

The infinit was put into the bags, these are the special needs bags and warm up clothes bag. There's still much organization to be done. How would I carry it all, wetsuit, bags, bottles, cap, goggles, pump, etc. Later on I discovered that I should have used my back pack. I'm still not very organized at this, still things to learn uh? Who am I kidding I'm a IM rookie still. :P

Soo with breakfast down, stuff packed into the car we headed over to transition. It's still dark outside, kinda earie but there's still a calmness about the day. I know I'm ready, I'd done all I can to prepare myself for it. I hope the weather is good, but it doesn't worry me much, I'll be at the finish rain or shine, wind or calm. Lisa dropped me off pretty close and I walked the rest of the way down main street towards the lights. Lisa hugged and kissed me, wishing me the best. She knows all the effort put into this, she knows what this means to me. As I walked away, I already looked forward to seeing her on the course. Last year I did this alone, this year she's all aboard to cheer me on. What a contrast, oh sure she was with me in my heart, but it sure makes a difference when you're out there to hear/see your loved ones and know they are behind you 100%.

It was quite a walk and I needed to take a break, switching bags and resting my hands. First thing first, the special needs bags for the run and bike(these are bags that you may put what ever you would like to be received at 120km into the bike and half way through the run). I packed bottles of infinit which would be my main fuel throughout the day, some snickers bars and some red bull. I met Curtis there, it was soooo cool to go through the morning with him. We dropped our bags off, got body marked(by Susi, thanks Susi you rock!!) and headed off for a more pre-race prep. Fill up the bike tires, visit the poop fairy, and put on the wetsuit.

We had planned to meet Cam in one of the corners of the mens change tent. He was there and got to get ready with plenty of time to spare, I even got to put on some sun block this year(I burnt really really bad last year). There was a couple changing there and no one really noticed till later that there was a chick in the mens change tent till later. lol Oh well no one cared, everyone pretty much had their race outfits on underneath anyways. 6:30 and off the start we go, we still weren't sure where to start. I know Greg likes the right side, Cam favors the far left. What's a guy to do uh, go in the middle? I lost Cam and Curtis walking through the crowds, so I said my goodbyes in my head, wished them both an awesome race!!! I found Trevor gettin ready to rock lake okanagan, he swims with the best of them and I decided to stay near the right side. My thinking is everyone always says left side is better(cept for Greg) people always want to go wide, so I figured do the opposite of everyone else.

I saw Kelsey too and gave her a hug, I think she looked a lil fearful, but hey why shouldn't she? She's about to do an Ironman. I was much calmer then last year, it was nice not being afraid. Nervousness is ok, being scared stiff is bad. Somone sang the national anthem, Peter Reid fired the Cannon for the pros and we got ready for our start(the age groupers). I spit into my goggles, I really hope they don't fog up for the swim. My thoughts before the start, long clean strokes, glide, keep away from the feet, head up when needed, and keep moving. BOOOOOOM

The cannon goes off, ahhhhhh the first strokes felt soo good, finally the day is here. No more looking into the future, no more worrying, as that inspirational thing that I posted said, no more IM thoughts cause I'm finally racing in one. The start was actually pretty clean, I kinda thought it'd be worse. It is quite clean on the right side for the most part, except when the people start coming in from the left side. That's when it got a bit hairy maybe 400m into the swim, maybe the first bouy? I saw a couple goggles floating just below and I think even a swim cap. I guess someone's start wasn't as clean as mine. I swam untill people would bump into me, then I'd go head up, or push them away. It's frustrating sometimes when people swimming nicely beside you and decide to turn and swim right into you. At times I even pushed people straight, I felt like pointing, "There's the bouy, swim that way please!" I looked around a lot, noticed more of what was going on around me. I noticed one guy was steady and swam really straight so I sat on his feet for a while, till someone else stole my spot, damn him!!

The water was mostly calm, at times there were big waves, but I think they were from boats because they never lasted long. Soon I could see the first houseboat, it was a welcome relief. I'm not sure why cause I still have a long ways to swim, not even half, but it was nice to know I just have to swim over a bit and then back to shore. I expected the houseboats to be a gong show. I swam on the inside of the bouys for the most of the swim so that means I gotta take the inside line around the houseboats. I prepared for a full on fist fight, but it didn't happen. Weird like my swim start, maybe taking the opposite of what everyone else was doing? Like sure there was bumping, but I thought it would be worse. On to the next couple bouys, houseboat and then home. The second houseboat had me swimming seriously right along the houseboat.

Sooo back and on the inside of the bouys where it was nice clean water. I actually saw smooth swimmer guy again and sat on his feet for a bit again. Then took it on my own for the rest of the way. One other thing I noticed while swimming, I could tell my pace can't be that bad cause I noticed most of the swimmers around me had good form. I wondered in my head if they were sizing me up too? What would they think, positive or negative by my form? lol I know too much thinking, but it helped get me through the swim section. I also heard Mike Reily's voice still with like 1k meters to go. Funny cause I remember thinking Bull shit!! when he used to say somthing like, "Make some noise, they can hear you out there!!!"

Sooo came out of the water, checked my watch 1:09!!! Awesome, I was hoping for 1:10. That was encouraging and I was in good spirits running into the change tent. Someone yelled my name in there, I thought it was Greg, but he says it was someone else so I have no idea who it was then. The change went kinda slow, I see my T1 time was 3:46 so not too too bad, so away on my bike I go. Lisa had found my bike in transition so I saw her smiling face as I grabbed it and headed out.

The bike started out ok I can't remember who all yelled at me, it was nice having the support out there. I passed this chick and she yelled at me "gooooo legend, Darryl!!!!" It was Jenna, wow that was so cool to see her, I guess I should have expected it, it isn't the first time she's beaten me out of the water. She is a fish, so I wished her a good day and kept going. I kept tabs on the hr and noticed it was rather high. There was a touch of head wind going along lake skaha and I tryed to get the hr down. I wasn't paying attention to the others around me, zipping by me, more just the internal clock telling me to keep it going, but still 136-140 bpm, hmmmm a lil high. after McClain creek hill I tryed harder to get the hr down to more of a 132 which I got getting closer to Osoyoos. My neck and crotch were starting to hurt too. My choice of race shorts was a bad decision, mental note (make sure to test and use a newer pair for next year). Looking forward to the climbs.

There were some big packs forming by then and it was frustrating cause I couldn't even get around them. They'd all come by me, I'd drop back, even sit up at times. Then I'd catch up, have to pass them all IF I could. Somtimes I couldn't pass cause there would be 2-3 across. I think I even mentioned out loud(not angrily or anything) if you're not going to pass please move aside, you can't just ride freeily on the left side of the lane. Anyways the worst of it was just before Osoyoos and I was looking forward to Richter. That would help break it up, hopefully I can drop all these pretenders. ha ha

Wow I felt sooooo good climbing up Richter, I immediately got into my rhythm and my hr was co-operating at a nice easy 143. I kept it there all the way up and man I wish I had counted the bodies that I passed, it musta been like 50 cyclists. After cresting the top I immediately got down on the bars and hammered down the hill. I saw plenty of other riders needing some time to recover and or rest at the top and even on the way down. Not me, that was a baby hill, hee hee. I was passing cars on the way down some of Richter and the rollers. Is it weird that I actually looked forward to the hills? I hated going on the flats, looked forward to every hill climb, and mourned the loss of the rollers. I even let out a big baaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa for Susi on the first roller. I quickly looked around to make sure no one could hear.

I had one scare coming down one of the rollers, I tuck quite low on the aero bars and alternate looking up and looking straight down. Anyways I went over a big bump going very fast, I thought for a second I was going down. But I didn't and checked my bike to make sure the wheels were true and there were no sounds or anything kaput. There was a noise at times that I thought may have been caused at that point, but I kept going. I had visions of me toppling over my bars later when what ever the noise was breaks, ha ha.

On to the out and back section, I started feeling terrible here. I was out of infinit after the rollers and was onto using gateraide which didn't seem to be working with me. I used some of my gel too, but still felt crappy. My crotch was on fire and I had a bitch of a time getting comfortable on the saddle. My neck was hurting too, I kept looking ahead waiting for the special needs. I had stowed a red bull in the bag and was looking forward to it. Maybe that would combined with the short rest bring me around? I also looked for Greg but never saw him, was he that far ahead of me? He can't be, there were barely any cyclists at the start of the out and back. He tells me he saw me, but I didn't hear him. Oh well the special needs and turn around came, I quickly replaced bottles and stuffed the much needed drink into my pocket. I figured I'd wait till I was close to Yellow lake before drinking it.

The false flats area before yellow lake hurt too, I actually looked forward to the climb again. Weird hey, I was hurting yet still looking forward to the climb??? I guess it was my crotch that was the most unhappy out of my body parts. I drank the red bull and prepared for the climb. I also looked forward to seeing Lisa. She was going to be on the hill, and of course all the fans. Wow there were a lot and some friends I had met through Cam were there too, Shelly, and I forget the other lady's name. They barely caught my number, I had to wave, ride by, then I hear them yell somthing like, "Goooooo DARRYL!!!" you know thinking for the name and probably trying to read it off my butt as I'm riding away, hee hee. It's fine I forget one of their names too, maybe they should wear name tags on their butts too?

My foot was really swelling at this point too, it hasn't done that for awhile. I'd almost forgotten that I had that problem. I probably shouldn't have checked the watch but I did and saw at 120k already that my time was not going to be too good. I had high hopes of smoking out a good time, but it just wasn't happening. At the top of yellow lake knowing I had the long down hill I started feeling a bit better. It's nice knowing your close and absolutely letter rip on the way down. I barely touched the brakes at all and the nice zipp wheels held out fine sweeping in and out of the turns. I felt like a Tour de France rider. I musta hit 90km for sure, I passed people like they were standing still. There was even a near 180 degree turn going down and I barely touched the brakes going through that and remember passing a couple more people even in the turn. I guess maybe I was trying to make up some time? Or maybe just enjoyed going so fast? I could hear the whistle of the wheels with the wind hitting them somtimes even from the side, but I kept away from the brakes.

Back into town the feet were hurting still I prepared mentally for the run. The temp still wasn't too hot. There were a couple times around Richter and in the rollers where the sun came out and it felt warm, but for the most part I think it was cloudy? There must have been some sun out there cause I have a nasty burn by the seam of my pants. The space between the racing top and the shorts. This time I got out of my shoes properly before the run and came in nicely both feet on one pedal like Greg had instructed.

I had a touch of problems finding my bag, funny how the simplist of tasks can be so hard when your head is hazy. So finally failing and trying to find my line of bag numbers I just yelled it out and someone grabbed it for me, hee hee the volunteers are second to none here. Thanks a lot you guys/gals!!! This change went pretty quick and I headed out onto the run course. 2:46 was my transition time and my bike time with transitions was 5:46. I must admit I was a bit disappointed with my bike split, I thought I'd be a lot stronger then last year, plus new bike, nice race wheels and only 12 minute improvement. I felt super strong on the climbs, and coming out of T2 I felt good on the run now, so the cycling strength was def. there I just didn't see it in the bike split.

Oh well I was a lil low on fuel exiting T2 so I took a gel and washed it down with some water. I had misplaced my infinit for the start of the run so I just went on what was on the course. and I def. took advantage of it grabbing gaterade to drink, water/sponges/ice for the head. I stuffed ice into my hat to cool off, wow that helped a lot. As I said earlier I felt great heading out and started out with a snappy 7:30, I kept that pace up and my hr was in the low 150s. This was too fast and I had a feeling it was, but I kept going. I think part of me thought my bike time was a little slow and wanted to try to make some time up. I saw more supporters in town. Greg's mom put a smile on my face that lasted for miles. She said somthing like, "Darryl!! I'm Greg's mom he's 30 min ahead of you go catch him!!" I thought that was sooo cool, and it did give me some incentive to keep it going, a sort of carrot to catch. Oh sure I knew I wouldn't actually catch him(or I at least hoped I wouldn't cause that would have been disaster for his race) but it still gave me somthing to think about, at least seeing him on his way back. I also saw Chad and of course Lisa, they cheered and helped to keep my spirits up. I was doing 7:30's I could do no wrong, on the slight down hill out of town I even ran a 7:25.

But then things started to get tough, comin out of town the wind had picked up and much of the section along skaha lake is unprotected from the south wind. We had to buck quite a tough wind here. I had to pee quite bad by this point(I waited till I was out of town) didn't want to use a porta potty so I just went in the bushes on the side of the road. I'm sure it was quick but I noticed even then stopping and feeling a bit dizzy, then starting out again some of the spring in my steps was gone. It's oh oh time, I stopped measuring the miles and focused on my running, one step at a time. The wind was so strong I'd tuck in behind a fellow runner to block the wind. I think the one guy got a bit annoyed and tryed to drop me a few times. I made it to aprox 11 miles I think right at the rolling hills before I had to take my first walk break, up a steep hill. My legs were toast, and I knew I didn't have enough calories in me too. Hmmmmm 150 bpm is probably pretty bad for digesting anything. Oh well lesson learnt, the biggest most important thing in IM racing I've learnt is to have a plan, try to follow it, but know when to scrap it and adjust it. Here I had to change my race plan, I hit up the special needs. My adjustment was slowwww down take in more calories, keep the hr down for now till you can injest them properly. So I took my red bull once again ran some more but kept the pace down(didn't really have a choice here anyways heh heh) on the way back along the lake again I hit up the aid stations like an all you can eat buffet. I noticed they had water melon and it looked soooo tasty, I went for it literally. At one point I hit one aid station, a boy handed me a little piece and I grabbed it as well as two handfuls from the tray behind him, wolfed them down, then took a few steps and promptly went to the other side of the road and ate a pile more water melon from that aid station too. I allowed myself to walk to the next corner, then started to run again.

So this is where I had to walk at aid stations and I think I also added one more walk too aside from the buffet. As I ran I could feel the full tummy and the fact that my asthma didn't like so much work to do, digest and run at the same time. The hr was now at around the 120-130 mark while running which allowed it to break down the food/coke(forgot to mention I got into the coke at around mile 10) Well just before town, I walked a bit of the last hill and got to running. Now I started to come around, started to up the pace, hmmmm you can get back from a calorie defficet. Woooo hooooo I knew I could do this. This is where the rain started to come down and I kept running, probably back up to the 7:45-8 min pace again. It felt good to make the final climb in the center of town and get back onto main street. I hoped that there would be more cheers, but I think everyone had moved onto the finish.

Onto winnipeg and the lake shore drive(or w/e it's called) and to the last turn around. Into town I was once again running through aid stations. What a feeling to come back from what seemed like a total melt down and to recover enough to finish strong like this. Running out from the finish(you have to run out away from it, turn around and come back to finish) I'd look far ahead to see the turn around. I eventually saw it, but as I got closer I realized we got to run a lil further and that was the initial turn around for the start of the run. Eventually I saw it, just a little further, make the turn and back around the shore to the finish. My feet somehow carried me, I'm not sure how, but they did. I could hear Mike Reilly's voice calling me home.

Once again to finish my second Ironman in a personal best time of 10:46:19. My run time was 3:49 even with the walking!! Woooo hoooo it's all done, I stumbled and nearly fell over as the catchers "caught" me. They stayed with me and made sure I was ok to sit and recover before they left. Eventually I did go for a massage, I felt sick almost like throwing up but I didn't. I couldn't eat the pizza, I instead drank one of the power bar energy drinks. I met up with Lisa, she was happy to see me(I was happy to get that much deserved hug), she had told me she was yelling at the finish, but I didn't hear it. As you'll see in the finish pics when I get them, I was quite out of it. But that's what IM is all about, layin it all out there. Everyone does their best, some faster, some slower. The important part is that we finish. I'm sure everyone learnt more about themselves. I wonder how many thought of Simon W. when things got tough. I sure did, I thought of him tossing his hat aside and refusing to go quietly into that dark night(with 4th place that is). So in my own way I kinda saw the dreams of makin 10:30 slip away, that was my A race, my ideal race. I think it was doable, but it just didn't happen on the day. I'm really proud though, I thought the B(sub 11) goal was going too and I had to fight off the negative thoughts, regroup, fuel up properly so I could finish strong. I must have made up a bunch of time at the end and even passed a few people that had passed me earlier. The C goal as Greg states is the most important, which for me too was to finish.

To all of you I saw out on the race course thank you so much for all your words of encouragement. They helped more then you will ever know, I'm sorry I couldn't say much more, I really tryed. My thoughts and well wishes were definatly with you as we crossed paths. It sounds like most of you that I've heard from did sooooo well. Congratz too all, I'm soo proud of everyone of you. Cheers,

Darryl

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The big dance is tomorrow

Ok I'm starting to hit some more reality. Where has the time gone? I'm doing an Ironman tomorrow!!! Ok well today was kinda crazy, so much stuff to do. First off I went for a early morning swim with the IG grp. Picked up my wetsuit and found that he didn't do that great of a job, but I didn't complain when he only asked for 10 bucks. He fixed the seam alright(I forgot to mention there was a seam's thread that was unraveling) and put some glue/silicon on some of the cracks, but clearly missed some.

Ok we met for the swim, I stuck with Mark and Greg, practiced swimming on their feet. I'm getting better at that. I may try to draft more for this race in the swim, I'll try to find someone who's swimming straight and steady and stay on their feet. That'll also save me some body contact since he'll do the plowing and also allow me to not have to sight as much. We'll see how that goes. The swim done and on to the transition talk. We couldn't actually get into the transition as they were still setting some stuff up. Greg was patient, answering all of out questions, some were starting to freak out. Most of us kept our composure, and or tryed to hide it. lol I did a bit of both, I'm excited, nervous, pumped, staying calm all in one package. hee hee.

So we chatted for a bit in front of transition(we did a full loop around with the IG tour) till I decided enough was enough I want my damn jersey. So I went off to the expo to buy a few things, I also needed a gel flask, some water bottles and ended off with some cycling shorts and a timex watch to boot. Off to meet Lisa and then for dinner? I can't remember what else I did, I know there was more. Oh yeah I went for a short bike and run. I cycled to the transition from our hotel and when I got back, Lisa was ready to go run with me. Woooo hoooo maybe I'm rubbing off on her a bit? This is really the first time I've ran with her, she runs really well. It was just like 10 min since it was getting hot and I need to get off my feet.

We had to get me a ankle strap for my timing chip since I had failed to buy one at registration and now they were all packed up. Thank goodness the Bike Barn ended up having them so I picked one up there. So finally I had everything I needed for race day. One thing I really don't like about IM is all the running around. There's always somthing to sign up for, attend, things to purchase for the big day, workouts, and of course food/fluids. I kinda messed it up today, by the time I had everything and dropped my bags/bike off at transition I was starving. Sooooo bad to do the day before the big event.

We met Cam and Curtis pretty quick there and sat down for a cozey dinner. We were all scrunched up on a little table. I guess we kept adding how many people were going to be there, so we kept adding chairs. Oh well the food made up for that part as it was super delicious. I think I had cajun chicken alfredo. mmmmmmmmm yummy. Pasta Factory was the name of the place, we even got to check out the Olympic Marathon on the tv. Good inspiration!!!

After that we went to Tickle Berry's for Ice Cream and I drove Lisa to Yellow lake so she'd know what roads to take, what to look for, etc. I hope everything goes well for her on race day. Somtimes watching can be nearly as stressful as the race itself. So after that I got the rest of my nutrition ready at the hotel. I think I mixed a million bottles of infinit and got everything else ready. Here's toooooo Ironman, my day will start at 4 AM. :)

Friday, August 22, 2008

2 more sleeps

The big day is getting closer and closer. I failed to mention yesterday I finally got registered. I'm not sure why everyone has to get it done thursday early. I went later on and walked straight into the tent with no line at all. Curtis and I went for another swim. Today was an optional swim day on the schedule, I didn't originally want to swim, but Curtis talked me into it.

We had such a blast swimming the day before. We didn't go as far today as I was a bit worried about my wetsuit. I was getting cracks in the wetsuit by both arms and my crotch area. Yes it's cause I have a big package, what else would it be??? Anyways I noticed more water comin into my wetsuit and it was just more stretched out by my arm pits. hmmmm maybe I should get it fixed by buddy on winnipeg ave? There's a guy with a van and trailer from Ontario who sits on the street and repairs wetsuits. I had talked with him the day before and he thought he could fix it. I had no idea how good a job he'd do, as long as he doesn't make it worse. At this point all I want is for the wetsuit to stay in one piece till after race day.

So ya we got the swim done, I nearly caught a fish. The guy stayed still on the bottom by the sand till I closed my hand just over him. I know it was mean, but I knew he'd move on time. I brought my wetsuit to the guy and he told me it would be ready in the morning at 6:30 am. Who in their right mind gets up that early?? Oh that's right,.... I do we have a meeting at 7:30. Dammit Greg, I'm on holidays!!!

Ok so swim out of the way and more browsing at the expo. I still hadn't tryed out my new slick wheels. Sooo just before the athlete dinner/meeting Curtis and I zipped through the city to skaha lake and back. It was a bit windy so I could feel how the new aero wheels would feel. I could def. tell the difference but I had no problems controlling them. I'll be ready to fly on sunday. We rode to the convention center to see if I could buy a ticket for Lisa. There we also met Trevor/Susan Oseen. They looked fit and ready to go. I sooo hope they have a good day too.

So with the ride done also(I wasn't supposed to ride today, but I missed yesterday's ride and I needed to test out the wheels) I quickly ripped back to the hotel, picked Lisa up and went for the pasta dinner. I was a little disappointed with the dinner, last years' in CDA was soo much better. Maybe they tryed too hard? It's cool though we picked up some snacks on the way home to help with the hollow leg. Met some more friends at the dinner, got the low down on the rules. Nothing new there, penalty talk, but hey at least they kept it simple and relatively short.

Back home for another sleep, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek the sleeps are winding down, only one more left???

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Swim and dinner at Salty's

Curtis and I planned to meet for a swim first thing in the morning. I found it terrible to get out of bed. I'm not sure why I was soo tired, anyways I didn't quite make it on time. The plan was for a 10 am swim and I parked wayyyy to far away. The meeting place was the big boat. Curtis is always late so I thought I'd be fine, but alas he was on time today! Boy he must be rarin to go. :) With the long walk over to the boat(I parked at the other end, near the expo) it got me 10:20 before I could get there. Curtis wasn't there, I waited and waited, still no Curtis. It happens I figured he had slept in longer. Finally I decided I'd get my wetsuit on and swim, just as he walks up. I guess I had just missed him cause he figures he left at 10:20, arggggggggg. Oh well we got in for a pretty long swim, did almost all of the bouy line to the peach and back. The water was comfy, apparently it wasn't so comfy on wednesday.

So after the swim we ambled over to the expo, thought we might register if the line isn't too long. The line was long so we just walked around the expo, tryed some stuff, checked out IMC schwag in the tent. The jersey's looked really cool this year. I wanted to get one then, but I thought I'd wait a bit. Maybe not too long though, I think they'll sell out. Greg was around, he also was going to register but wasn't too keen on waiting that long. That's ok we'll all come back later and getter done. The race day wheels guys were there so I thought I'd get my bike and get the 606 combo since they didn't look too busy at the moment.

Got the wheels on my bike and met the IG gang at Salty's for dinner. I had salmon and it was very tasty, we all got to chat about our races. Discussed strategy, nutrition and generally tryed to encourage each other. Some looked nervous, I don't think I am yet, just excited to be there. Who am I kidding I was nervous, just not freakin out nervous yet. That comes race morning.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Off to Penticton

Hey,

Welllll Ironman weekend is here. I had worked my last day and here I was packing for the big trip. The laundry was done, had all the tri stuff in one bag and the clothing in another. Curtis and I had planned to drive out together since his family was comin out on friday or saturday. Lisa came over and we got everything packed into her car.

Wooo hooooooooo off to Curtis's. He was pretty well packed, with the car gassed up we headed out of town. Everything went with out too much delays. Some construction between Lake Louise and Golden, but I didn't mind too much. I think we left around 11ish? We had planned for 10 am so that wasn't too bad. We stopped in Golden. Our good buddy Cam was still working at Sobeys so we stopped there for some snacks and to chat with him. He's comin out to Penticton on thursday so we talked for a bit and headed off again.

We got some rain going through Sicamous. Does it always rain going through there? I think it does, I will be proven wrong comin home. We even got some ice cream at Dutchmens Dairy. What a treat, I know I know I'm not supposed to eat that crap so close before race day, but I did anyways. :p We ate subs also from subway and continued on. There was more construction just outside of Penticton, I think they were blasting rock or somthing. Anyways moving dirt/rock so we had to sit in our cars for a bit. Curtis and I got out and stretched our legs, walked around. I took a pee in the ditch. Soon enough we were allowed to finish up the drive.

The hotel wasn't that hard to find I just got a bit disoriented in town and ended up going the wrong way. It only wasted a bit of time though and we found it soon enough. Checked in, got our room and watched some tv before bed. Curtis was stayin in the Sandman, Lisa and I in the Granada. It was quite a nice hotel actually, lots of room for my stuff. I actually am allowed to take more stuff then Lisa for this trip since I got my tri gear. :P

Monday, August 18, 2008

Final Prep

Hey all,

I'm sitting here at work wondering what I'm forgetting. I'm actually not feeling the greatest, kinda weak, almost feverish(it could be all in my head). But I'm not panicking just yet, no reason to do so. I have a few days and I'll make sure I get my sleep,water,good food, etc. I have so much work, but I don't want to. My head is already thinking of the final preparations. The final workouts, what I have to do when I get to Penticton, and trying to remember if there's anything I need to get yet? Nutrition, bike ready, clothing, wetsuit, googles, running shoes, helmet, sunglasses, etc. I think it's all there, I'll go over it all in more detail.

I'm leaving wednesday(20th). Gonna make the full drive all at once. I think I'll leave around 10ishAM, driving out with my buddy Curtis. He'll be in his van, but his family isn't going out yet. I think they'll come out friday or saturday?

Thursday I'll register, maybe go for a open water swim. If anyone wants in I'm meeting a few friends by the big boat(I forget what it's called) everyone is welcome!! We're meeting at 10 am. Then register probably and go for a 30 min bike ride. I may get the rental wheels and head to Yellow Lake to try that descent with the zipp wheels. I know the winds may change some from race day, but I think it still may help knowing what it feels like and how to brace with the winding turns. Richter is pretty straight, it won't be a problem there. I think there is a IG dinner later on.

Friday will be off of training, just got the Carb loading dinner in the evening. Meet some friends there, call me??? (403 710 9716)

Saturday I may do a short swim/bike/run. Bring the bike in, and do a quick meeting with Coach Greg and the gang. They'll do a transition walk through, swim, tips, etc.

Sunday race dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Good luck to everyone I hope you all kick ass, meet all your goals, and most importantly get to the finish line in one piece. I'll have my cell there if you want to get a hold of me 403-710-9716 and I think we may have internet you can also add me to your msn runningman75@hotmail.com. It's also my email address. Cheers, talk to you all soon,

Darryl

PS: if you're dying to know how I am doing you may follow my progress through out the day if you go to www.ironmanlive.com There should be a link to Ironman Canada and then to athlete tracker. My number is 370 I think? They may even have some cams set up at the finish line and/or another place to watch. This can be kinda tricky knowing when I'll run by. Cheers,

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Check out simon's blog

Hey,

If you haven't yet, check out Simon Whitfield's blog. I think it was Andrew Ference's(yes the nhl hockey player) daughter doing the inspirational video. It's soooo cute, maybe what Simon needs to give it that little bit extra. GOLD MEDAL,...... GO WIN IT DUDE!!!! hee hee.

http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/2008/08/so-amazing-thanks-ference-crew.html

Thursday, August 7, 2008

In other news


Hey all,


It's been a crazy week. I am in taper mode, but still some workouts to do. Tuesday was a interval workout. They weren't too tough 1x10min IM pace, 2x5min half IM pace, 4x3min Oly pace. I may have pushed it a bit too much by the time I hit the Oly's cause my legs were complaining again. Wednesday the legs didn't feel too good in the 3x6min tempo(51 min total) I ran a really hilly loop and my legs said no way on the uphills, so I walked some of it if it fell during a easy section. Not quite what I had in mind but hey it's taper time, I can take extra rest if I need to. The swim in the evening went better, although I could barely get into the water. I don't know what it was exactly but it was freeeeeezing cold(Talisman training pool). I seriously stood by the stairs for like 10 min going in and out, in and out. Trying to get rid of the shakes, I would go in start shaking uncontrolebly and back out. LOL the lifeguard musta wondered what my problem was. Eventuallly I got in, I really wanted to swim since I haven't been that regular of late. Got a good swim in 5x200, 10x100 for the main set. I think I did 500m warmup unaided, the rest with the pull bouy. :P Today we got hills, shorter ones, but a little more intense. I think I'll ride them a bit more controlled this time(vs all out try to keep up with the IG train) ha ha.


Oh and I have some exciting news. Most of you know already, some might not. But Lisa and I are finally getting married in Sept. We've been hummin and hawin about the location, who to invite, planning, etc and got frustrated so we're eloping to hawaii. :) Tues. Sept 23 will be the date. No we're not staying to watch the IM, we're going to Maui. We're looking forward to the trip and of course the wedding. We're also looking at buying a house, busy life eh? Cheers,


Darryl

Monday, August 4, 2008

Hey all,

Monday:

Been looking forward to this ride for a bit. Curtis had conveniently skipped the country so no workout partner. Greg had offered I could tag along with his long ride this weekend, perrrrrrfect timing. We both don't like mornings too much so decided to start at 10 am. I was late, but I'm gonna put all the blame on the poor guy who had an accident at the corner of deerfoot and memorial. But seriously, I hope he/she's ok, either way they directed traffic to head south on deerfoot so I founda back route to downtown and across to Greg's. No biggie another 20 min for Greg to wake up, hee hee. We started out at a nice easy pace, good thing about riding with Greg. He waits and bides his time, there will be no hammering from the get go. Allows me muscles to warm up properly and give us time to chat too.

There were quite a few cyclists on Springbank road on the way to Bragg Creek. Nice day, a bit chilly but still nice. Not too much wind, a bit of a head wind going out, but that's life. We stopped in Bragg Creek to refuel, sorry Greg I only brought two bottles. Refueled and headed out to 22x and on to Millarville. This is the third time I've ridden this route, I absolutely love it. I'm also learning to know it's turns and hills and to know my aprox. location by the geography. Near the last turn Greg had me go on ahead while he visited with the Cows near by. I hope he didn't ummmmmm pee their lunch?!?!?! I went ahead and when I got on the smooth highway I felt good so I decided to givver a bit. It feels so good to giver on smooth highway, it feels so fast. I think Greg figured we were doing 40-42 into Millarville(no tail wind I think it was a cross). When I hit the cross road to turn into Millarville I realized I'd dropped a bottle. Aughhhh those stupid bottle launchers, I'll def. have to replace those before IMC. On the way back we looked at a few of the rough spots, but gave up soon. I hate those bottles anyways. My new nemesis for long rides is bottles that leak sticky nutrition ALL OVER MY BABY!! lol don't ask Curtis about me swearing a blue streak about my stupid bottles in the middle of no where.

So we get back to Bragg creek, refuel again and hit the ride home. We'd done a bunch of tempo work starting at Bragg on the way out. Greg wouldn't tell me when he'd just up the pace. I think the first time I didn't even clue in, I was just thinkin to myself hmmm this long ride pace is a lil quick, not sure I can hold this for the whole thing. Then he sits up and I realize that's the end of that session. I know I'm a dummy, :P It's ok though the moment my legs start to complain much I'm really good at stickin to the back wheel like it's glue. Thankfully I didn't have to draft that much, most of the tempo riding I stayed back a bit, although I'm sure my effort level was way higher than Greg. What can I say, the man can ride. Later on coming back into Calgary we played a bit of Cat and Mouse games on the last hills. I even surprised Greg and pulled ahead of him on one hill. Course he made a point of dropping me on the next longer hill, hee hee. My legs would have none of that one, no matter how much I tryed to coax them. This something like our conversation went, "GOOOOO one last hill Greg's going we can do this stay on his back wheel!" Legs respond with, "You're on your own, I got nothing left, it's totally your fault for blowing us both up on the last hill" Me, " We can do this at least try, keep in contact" Legs, " WTF do you think we, no I change that I have been doing for the last 150km we're done, OVER" Aughhh there's only so much the legs can be convinced. Hee hee Greg hammered by a roadie and buddy clung onto his back wheel. When I crested the hill I had visions of us riding in the tour and Greg waiting for me to bridge up so we could drop the poor roadie. So I put my head down and proceeded to claw my way back(bridge up). My legs and I were talking again(they recover quick) and I(Jens) bridged up to Greg(Andy) and together we took off ahead of the poor roadie. At one point I spit(it was a good loogie) and I turn around and there he was. What the.... he musta grabbed onto my wheel. I just towed him up to Greg(Andy) dammit!! Oh well back into Calgary and my lil Tour game was over as we hit the first street, back up from the bars. I also appoligized for spitting on or near(not sure which it was) buddy.

We went for a short run after, I think it was about 25 minutes. We started out pretty hard, but then half way through I started to bonk bad. I had to even walk a bit, could it be the red bull then lack of sugar after to keep the energy up. I doubt I got enough calories, but the pace was high at the start. Although if it was the pace it'd be the legs to go, not the blood sugar. Anyways it was an awesome day. Pretty much everything, some spinning, tempo, hard hill climbs, and some hammering. Andy and Jens rule the roads!!!! Wooo hooooooooo

Sunday, August 3, 2008

holy crap, SNAKE ORGY

Hey all,

Another great week went down in terms of training goes. We're not getting any hot weather, I've kinda given up on that before IMC. Oh well it's co-operating enough to get all the training in.

Thursday we had an awesome hill workout in Cochrane. Greg, me, Iona, Leslie, ummmm I think that was it started out at the Church again. Rode out to Cochrane together, not much wind to report. Perfect weather for some climbing. The first hill Greg and I stuck together, we started really easy, and I stuck on his wheel. We even got to chat for the first half of the hill that's how easy the effort was. Later on towards the top my legs started to complain. You see riding to Cochrane does not suffice for warming up the legs, they need one or two big steady climbs to get the blood flowing. Hill number 2 did that and Greg decided this team thing had come to an end. He steadily rode away from me, I tryed to up the pace and get back on his wheel, but just couldn't. He's a rock star and rode like it. Thankfully he'd always wait at the top for me and we'd ride down together. The 3rd climb I paused to take my sunglasses off and put them into my jersey pocket. Wow that was bad timing, cause he attacked and rode like a man posssessed to get to the top. I hear her rode to a personal best on that one and by the top I could barely see him, lol. So he waited for me again and I took the lead on the way down. Hey, it's the only way to get a bit of a cushioning for the ride up. I ride faster on the way down and after that 3rd rep I decided I didn't need to wait for him anymore. So I'd start the climb as he was still finishing the decent and give him someone to chase. On number 5 I pushed as hard as I could and didn't relinquish the lead till near the top. He came by and I stayed on his wheel for a bit. Then he pulled away. 5 hills in the bank, I think that's 15km of climbing and some of them were pretty hard. Woo hooooooo I kept it down to one water bottle so I could keep the weight down, hee hee and by the time we reached the Church I was nursing that thing. 2:45 ride with only one bottle, and I managed, but just barely. I could feel myself starting to bonk while putting the bike in the car. hee hee oh well no more workouts for the day. :)

Friday was a day off and Saturday Curtis and I headed out for a med. length ride. Funny cause 120km isn't what most people call a short ride huh. ha ha. Anyways we started out at Glenmore trail/Sarcee. The temp out wasn't super warm and when the clouds covered the sun it def. was a bit coolish. My legs complained for the first bit, I guess even with yesterday off there was still some soreness/fatigue in them from thursday's hill work. The body was still complaining about not being able to sleep longer. Curtis is so mean waking me up at 9 am. pfffffffffffffffft. I still craved the nap at Bragg Creek. We refueled and continued on south towards Millarville, 2 hours in, at the turn to head east into Millarville my legs still were not happy. If they were fine I probably would have said legs just continue on to Millarville, but no, we stuck to the plan, 60km/2 hours out and then we turn around. Just about this time my legs started to feel better. Greg wanted some tempo riding so I decided now would be a good time, and shifted up to hit the first hill hard. No granny gear for me, rode right through the top and kept going, head down all the way to Bragg Creek. Ok, my head wasn't down the whole way, it was figuratively in this case for pushing hard. I think we went from like 55 min out, to aprox 40 min back to Bragg Creek. Good effort as my asthma complained(coughing). We even got a few drops of rain, big big drops. Refueled again, chatted with some fellow riders and moved on back towards Calgary. Ahhh such a short ride, after a couple minutes I lit the pedals up again. After a couple minutes I assume Curtis is further back again. Not this time, he calmly rides beside me and asks if I saw the Doe with the couple of fawns beside the rode. I'm like...... (dude I'm friggen Time Tialing) aughhhhh that hurt my feelings a bit. He is getting so hard to drop, I remember spring when I wouldn't even have to push at all and have to wait for him. Not that I minded, if he got too far back, I'd just ride back for him. Now I have to go all out just to gain a few minutes on him. So eventually he drops off but then I feel the familiar thump thump. Yes you guessed it, a flat. Weird how when he stops getting them, I start. I had just got new tires on for this ride and now this?!?!?!?! So I jump off the bike and start to change it as Curtis rolls up. I figured I'd do it as fast as I could, see how long it would take me. I think it was about 12 minutes, and I did check the tire, there was a staple in my brand new tires. /cry Oh well I actually was relieved, can't do anything about sharp pointy things. So tire back in place I let Curtis know we were pushing hard till the first big hill coming into Calgary. So we both hammered away, it felt really good, he informed me we were doing 40-42km ph coming back from Bragg Creek with no wind aid. I think it was a side wind but I really couldn't tell, it was strange and gusted at weird times. Short 30 minute transition run after which also felt good. Lately it's been the transition runs that feel the best, it's the time when the legs are warmed up, no fatigue or soreness. I guess that's a good sign.

Today I went to Coral Springs to do a open water swim. Lisa, my fiance lives there so she got me in with her card. There were some dark clouds and some thunder so I waited a bit till the clouds moved on. Started swimming and almost right away decided that this was not a good place to swim. Sorry Lisa and thank you so much for getting me in, but the weeds are too much. As a kid I was completely comfortable swimming in that stuff, but I guess now it creeps me out. Most of the lake had weeds and at lots of places I had to swim directly through it. :( It's too bad cause it would be a good lake to swim back and forth in. It's not really big, kinda narrow and long and with a beach on each end you can do laps back and forth. Oh well I swam to the other end(beach) and back and called it. Maybe I'll go for a swim tomorrow at the Talisman again since today's wasn't long.

So I came home and headed out for a 75-90 minute aerobic run as per Greg's schedule. The legs were tired/sore so it took a while to feel good. I ran to Deerfoot trail, across, then along the Bow south a ways to Barlow/Blackfoot trail, across than along the bow north then west towards Prince's Island park. Didn't quite make it till there, my time was up, so I headed back and crossed over the Bow and ran around near the zoo. While running by the zoo, right near the spot I nearly stepped on the snake and yes right near the naked chick I was looking down and noticed another snake. He was sitting on the rocks along the edge of the path. The path is on the side of a hill so the rocks with the help of some fencing hold the path up. Hope that makes sense, so I see this snake, look a bit further and see another, then another and another, they were crawling all over the place, eeeeeeeeeep. I didn't count by I guess probably 2 dozen garter snakes sitting around perhaps mating??? I've heard these things do get together once a year, maybe it's that season? I noticed some shed skin, maybe they do that then too. Take off their clothes for some hard core action on the rocks wooo hooooooooooo. Oh well the rest of the run went well, I'm pooped now, very pooped. Tomorrow's the long ride, I can hardly wait to see what the IG has in store for me. Curtis is on his own adventure riding north to the Yukon in a rented RV. What a taper eh? I hope he has a good time and a safe drive. Cheers,

Darryl

PS: Take care Jenna, I'm wishing your dad a quick and sound recovery.