Race Weekend Report (long)

Wed:

Finally time to go. I was packed and excited to get going. Not that nervous, plenty of time for that as the week progresses. The drive was about 7-8 hours, but it seemed to go by quick. I got there in the evening and got into the hotel in Spokane Valley. It was a nice location, close to everything and far enough away from Spokane. I gave my buddy Cam a quick call to let him know I was there, also talked to the GF back home.

Thurs:

Today morning Cam and I decided to meet and go for a quick swim in the lake. It was freezing cold even with the wetsuit on and it got me worried. I don't swim that well period because of the asthma, the cold around my lungs doesn't help. It took me a good 15 minutes to get used to the temp and even then I couldn't put more then 5 strokes together before I had to stop and catch my breathe. Oh well, the weather was supposed to heat up before the race a bit, so there was time for the water to warm up as well. We also registered today and I got to meet some friends of Cam's from Europe.

Fri:

I wanted more time in the lake so we went for another swim. The water had warmed up a bit so that was a nice relief, I could only hope that it would warm a little more. I had a much easier time breathing and was able to get into a good rhythm. However the water was quite choppy. Another reason for me to worry. Today we also decided to bike the run course. Cam had been here for all 5 CDA ironmans so he knew it well but he thought it would be good for me to get to know. Not to mention it would be the perfect distance for an easy ride. Then in the evening it was off to the Carbo loading dinner held in a tent. It was quite exciting and my nerves were already starting to show themselves as race day was only a couple days away. The meal was very very good considering they had to cook it for 2k + people. We had planned to show up and go somewhere else for the real meal after, but decided that this was edible and loaded up on it.

Sat:

Didn't do much today except check in the bike and transition bags. Everything has to be sooooo well organized. I've done 7 marathons and I gotta say Ironman is a LOT more stressful in the days before with all of the things you CANNOT forget. So I dropped off the bags, hung around the race site, got a picture with Paula and Greg(two former world champions) and drove back to the hotel. We went to Olive Garden later that evening for the second Carbo loading dinner. Later that night I got all my nutrition ready(infinit) and put it in the fridge for cooling over night.

IRONMAN DAY:

I got up in the morning around 4. I had breakfast, as much as I could eat. The breakfast consisted of Oatmeal, bananas, ensure, and some sport drink I think it was Poweraid. Drove over to pick Cam up and off to CDA we go. We got there with plenty of time and did all the necessaries. Dropping our bags off, washroom, body marking, bike check(filling tires). I was a bit rushed for time at the end as I went to the washroom later and had to wait in line. Ahhhh the first stress of the day, putting on my wetsuit in a hurry and trying to get to the beach on time for a warmup. It was freezing cold and I was shaking. I could have cryed I was soo nervous and with the waves being so big I really wanted to back out. I could see others were nervous about this too and Cam and others all told me that the people would mow the waves all down so I shouldn't worry. That helped a bit but I was still very afraid. They wouldn't let us get in the water before so this also worried me. How would the water temp be?

The gun finally went off and we all ran in. It took a while to get to swim, the first couple hundred meters consisted of dog paddling, swiming head up, and pushing others away from me. I actually considered dropping out. I was not enjoying this AT ALL!!! It's a good thing I didn't hear the announcer offering the option for a duathlon or I might have taken it. Eventually I got going and found that the waves didn't bother me much and that the water temp was fine. My forehead got really cold on the second lap and I went off course a couple times. I excited the water and checked the time. 1:24 Crap! Not what I'd hoped for. Oh well it really didn't bother me at all, I was just sooooo happy to get on the bike. I got the wetsuit off and ran off to get the swim-bike bag and saw Cam right there with me. I grabbed him and we got to exchange a few words as we were changing. Then off to grab the bikes and on to the bike course.

I thought I'd freeze with out arm warmers, but was pleasantly surprised as my arms dryed off quite quickly. My chest was cold for the first bit, but that dryed off too. I had the HR monitor on and made sure to keep the bike effort low. At least for the first lap to make sure I can take the necessary nutrition to last me the entire day. It wasn't hot(the high was supposed to be 20C) so I had to pee constantly. I guess I was drinking lots. I peeed 3 times on the swim and 11 times on the bike!!!! I guess I had trouble getting it all out, which is why I had to soo many times. And yes I peed while riding. My hamstring starting aching a little half way through the first lap and I started worrying about. I had had some problems with it earlier on in the month and I had to lighten up for a bit on the bike till eventually it went away. The bike was 2 laps, each lap consisted of a small out and back which had some small hills, Then a big out and back that took you out into the country. Loads of rolling hills there and a head wind on the way back into town. Everyone seemed to complain about the hills and wind, but honestly they didn't seem to bother me. I'd done a few long training rides in way worse which I'm sure helped me. I tryed to avoid the drafting as much as possible, but sometimes it was unavoidable. There's just too many people on the course, especially on the flat sections into the wind. My feet started to swell up a bit, but it didn't get too bad. At times on training rides I'd had to stop because of the pain in my toes. Supposedly your feet swell up and puts pressure on nerves between your toes. Anyways we got back into town and ran into transition. I was actually looking forward to running(my strength). My neck hurt sooo bad by that point I was happy to trade my bike for my bike-run bag. Bike split = 5:58

I changed in the tent and ran out with my bottle of infinit. The first part of the run was pretty uneventful. I was just relieved to be on foot and start passing some more people. Later on I found out that I went from aprox 12xx --> 34x in my placing by the end of the day. Aprox 900 people passed in the bike and run!!! By 6 miles I started to feel the effects of the long day. I wondered how I could complete this thing. I kept running but was starting to have doubts. I made it to the turn around of the first lap and actually was able to run the big hill. Around 11 miles I had to make a big decision. The decision wasn't to stop, but rather a change of strategy. I was starting to get wobbly/dizzy and really tired so I finished up the infinit and started on the coke and water at each aid statioin. I also allowed myself to walk through aid stations. I hadn't walked up till that point. So I started running between aid stations. The coke worked really well and I was even able to pick up the pace a bit at times. I still had rough patches. At times I didn't know how I'd ever complete it, my hamstrings and calves were fine, but I was just soooo tired. I made it to the shoreline again on the second lap, aprox 18 miles? Here I made a deal with myself. If I could just make it to the turn around I'd let myself walk the hill. So I slogged on aid station to aid station till I made the turn around. This must have been around mile 21 or 22? At this point I knew I could do it. I was soo happy I had run 99% of the marathon. My pre-race goal was just to finish strong(run most of the marathon) and I was doing that!! The miles went by slow but eventually I got to the last run and I could see the banner down the street in the distance. I actually felt great at this point running down the long street towards the finish. I saw the clock and realized I'd go under 11:30 which I was really happy about, and later on I found out that I had also gone under 4 hours for the marathon which was the goal. 3:54 was my run time. For a finishing time of 11:28.

Reflection:

The swim was a little tough, but my bike and run were perfect. What a way to end the day. I finally got to hear those cherished words, "Darryl Penner you are an IRONMAN!!" The finish was a little rough, after the massage I started puking and was super cold even with the blankets wrapped around me. The volunteers were great and waited on me hand and foot till I recovered enough to walk to the car. It was great to hang out with Cam over the weekend. Cam thank you soooo much for being so hospitable and helpful not only over the weekend but you’ve helped me so much through out the past year. I barely knew the guy at the start and you sorta took me under your wing and taught me so much about the race. I had to learn it all myself, but it helped loads to be able to bounce ideas off of you and find out what works for you. Thanks to Curtis for the long runs, I know you do em as much for you as for me, but I’m still very thankful for the friendship and the company over the long miles. We’ll of course continue with the long runs over summer as soon as I heal up. Thank you to family and friends who’ve all given me their support, it helped so much to have you guys behind me believing that I could do it and praying that I could accomplish this big dream.