IMC 2009 RR

Some inspiration for the day.

Swim start and 2600+ of my best friends, at least that's what you tell yourself as they're pummeling you.

Putting on the shoes by my bike. Ready for a good ride!

Riding up Yellow lake, it was soooo nice to see Lisa/Mom there. I think I looked forward to it from the start of the bike.

Going out on the run, feeling good!!

Coming into Ok falls.

Going out for the second half of the run. This is the climb out of OK falls, I hadn't walked yet!

Where's that finish?? I think this is within a mile to go. Just have to do the out and back.

Here's the finish, there's Katie in the background. She had a great race and won her age group!!

No Comment needed here.

Here's me kicking(KISSING) ASS at IMC, well Dutchman Dairy that is.

Hey there,

Here's the race report finally, although not as late as some of them have been. The race went well, another PB. Fairly happy, although of course there's always room to improve and for me again for the third year in a row it'll be the bike that needs more improvement. The conditions were tough this year, but it's the competitors that you race for a kona slot, not the conditions. Either way I need to ride faster. Anywho with out further delay here goes...

Race morning:

I got to the transition really early, 5 am, which is when they said it would open. Still had to wait a bit. Got the special needs bags into their appropriate boxes first, then went into transition and put nutrition onto the bike and pumped up the tires. Then off the washroom all in like 30min, now what do I do with the rest of the 1.5 hours. Oh well I found Trevor/Susan and eventually Cam and we hung out chatting and waiting in line for another go with the poop fairy. I even met Julie and got a good luck hug. So eventually with like 20 min to spare got down to the beach for the start. Sorry Lisa/Mom I didn't get over to the fence to say the last good byes. I wanted to get water in my wetsuit and get ready.

Swim:

I lined up on the far right side, I bit too far right. Last year it seemed to work fine cause everyone goes left and it's actually very un-congested on the right, at least till later when everyone moves over. This year I went too far right and ended up manouvering over a bunch of rocks in knee deep water. Oh well it helped split it up. I had basically no body contact for awhile. Even at the first sail boat corner I had a clear line right on the inside. But people keep thinking it's congested on the inside and go wide k(I like my clear inside line)?? Not sure why the speed boats have to go by so fast, we got huge wakes at times from that. Oh well didn't bother me, I didn't really even try to draft, just swam my pace. I could tell I was in good company as the swimmers around me looked good. My first IM I could tell by the crappy form around me that my time would be slower. The bouys comin back to shore always seem to take long. I guess you're looking forward to the end and the shore already looks pretty close. I'd see 3 more bouys, swim to the next, put my head up and see 3 more bouys, swim to the next, and still 3 more bouys?!?!?! Oh well eventually I did see 2 more, then 1 more, then ground. Got up and looked at the watch, hmmm 1:06 not bad.

Bike:

The transition went by pretty un-eventful except the tent was sooooo full. I opted to run barefoot to my bike and put on the shoes there. Lisa and my Mom were waiting there on the outside of the fence that is. My bike was pretty much the same place as last year. So I got the shoes on and out I go with Cheers from Lisa/Mom. Yayyyyy I made took it easy at first, sat up and enjoyed the ride through town. I like to start out slow, wait till I'm out of town, then slowly start my nutrition. As soon as my stomach felt ok I started sipping infinit. Once out of town down on the aero bars and start pushing a bit. I made sure the pace was easy at least till OK falls. I took in a lot of nutrition on the bike, don't be alarmed it really worked out well. I ended up taking 5 bottles of infinit(160 cal a bottle), 7-8 gels, 2 banana halves, 2 bottles of gaterade, and 2 bottles of water. A pelaton came by just before Richter just like last year. There were like 40 riders with like 2-3 side by side. I would sit up and let them go by, but then there would be more riders coming by. It was really frustrating, but we were close to Osoyoos I figured the climb would break it up and I'd never see these guys again. The pass was uneventful, there's not much to say I just climbed it, pretty easy, felt great. The rollers were tougher this year, I guess that's when the head wind started. Oh btw we didn't actually have a tail wind on the way to osoyoos I looked up at the husky and it was dead calm. At least till we turned around and climbed over Richter, then the wind started on the other side. :P Oh well I don't mind wind and everyone got it. I kept swapping places with the same guys, I didn't really mind it, it's just the way things go. I forced myself to take nutrition even when I didn't feel like it. I took in a lot more than in training. Last year I crashed around the out and back section. This year I got tired but still had lots of calories in me. I had a monster drink at special needs but I didn't end up using much of it. For Yellow lake I was starting to get fatigued, but didn't mind it. We were sheltered in the pass so didn't feel any of the wind till we crested Yellow lake. Comin down I couldn't get enough speed, even the big 360 degree corner I didn't have to brake at all, I pedaled all the way through it. And another hill that I usually hammer over with the down hill momentum I ended up having to shift way down to get up and over. My toes were swelling up and getting numb. I unclipped my shoes on some of the down hills and shook them out, to try and get some blood back down there(to the feet). Back into town and off the bike, I ended up tossing the bike towards a volunteer, they caught it just fine.

Run:

I couldn't pee the whole bike ride, somthin about the heat so by T2 I still hadn't gone. So I took my time and went into a porta-potty to do my thing. Came out, got some quick sunblock on my shoulders and off I go. I felt awesome comin out of T2, the legs felt great. I started out too fast just as last year and had to slowww myself down. I kept having to tell myself to slow down and relax. The first miles were like 7:45, then later it went up to 7:30. I just couldn't run 8s like I had vowed I would for the start of the marathon. I was relaxed so I kept it going. I made sure to put ice in my hat, the heat didn't even feel that bad. I guess I'm a heat runner. I noticed the smoke towards the end of the bike, maybe that was sheltering me now for the run?? I have exercised induced asthma but I never coughed till after the race so I don't know if it ever affected me. So aid stations came every mile I usually took a gaterade and a water at each one. Later on I changed to a coke and a gaterade. Then when the ice had melted in my hat I'd add more water. At times they'd hand me a big ziplock bag full of ice which barely fit under my hat. Last year I started walking a the hills, not this year though. I nearly ran all of it and would have if I hadn't made the mistake of not taking in enough electrolytes for the run. Last year I had infinit in my special needs bag, but it was cooler then I threw it away and this year I didn't even bother. For the hills by OK falls I just remembered all the hills Curtis and I ran, kept it steady, shifted into a low gear so to speak and shortened my stride. I kept repeating to myself short steps, keep the legs moving, you're NOT going to walk. After the turn around in Ok falls you get the special needs, I had a monster energy drink in there but I didn't bother with it. I just took a gel and kept going. I don't even think I stopped to walk while ripping the bag open. All the way out of the rolling hills I kept it going. Greg came by at times, it really helped and motivated me to keep the pace up. At 18 miles my calves and even groin started cramping, aughhhh I could feel them both twinging. I felt good and really thought I could run the whole thing, but now with 8 miles to go it wasn't to be. I decided to walk through aid stations first, trying to get in more coke and gaterade. Although it's not really what I need, I know I was low on sodium/electrolytes. It frustrated me cause I felt ok, I could have run, but my legs would make me stop every mile, then later with 4-5 miles to go I even had to walk at times between aid stations. Oh well I kept it going, ran as much as my body would let me. Eventually I got into town and hit up the finish line. I knew Katie was coming and at the last turn around she was just behind me. I pushed as hard as I could coming in, I wanted to keep ahead of her. She finished just behind me, but I didn't find out till later since I was off to throw up and hit up the med tent. The bag of IV did wonders for recovery, not only that day but the next day I def. wasn't as sore. Cheers,

DP