Hey there,
Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I don't post when I have nothing to say, but if I have too much going on(lots to talk about) I won't post either. Weird huh? So when do I post? Well I would have posted earlier but I wanted to get some pictures up, now I realize that may never happen, if it does I'll just put them up on another day.
The recovery has been good, I didn't do anything for the first two weeks. Nothing, na da. I think now I've run 4 times, no swimming, no riding. Running is my main thing I guess, I'll always fall back on that. It gives me the most satisfaction. Yesterday I actually went longer and ended up doing 14km. Yeah longer then normal, the weather was awesome, I feel great(still felt great after the run).
K, lets see what else has been going on. Well the big day is coming up. We are leaving on the 20th for Maui to finally tie the knot. This girl I know has agreed to become my wife, no I didn't need to get her drunk or drug her to have her agree. So if you guys/gals have any warnings for her, you better hurry cause she's going through with it as of Sept 23. :)
They're ending the 40 yr/no money down thing so we had to quickly decide and buy a house. At first it seemed really tough. Our spending range made it difficult to find a lot of possibilities, but we managed to find one and are in the process of signing all the papers. It's official, we move in on Oct. 14. I couldn't be happier to get out of my neighborhood since someone tryed to steal my car a couple nights ago. They didn't steal it, but broke up the steering column completely. It's not the first time someone's tryed that(on a dif. car).
I think I'll be signing up for IMC 2009. I had thought about doing Cozumel, but there are too many unknowns like money, time off and where I spend it, etc. I like IMC and have only done it once, I like the course so why not do it one more time before I try somthing else. Hopefully I get in, my number didn't work on Sept 8 and I thought I was SOL, but they're opening it up again online for the general public. Maybe more people tryed to enter on the 8th like me??
Anyways I'll try to post some pics later, my mom came into town for a visit last weekend too and I have some pics of us going for a little hike. She hemmed Lisa's dress so that was nice for her to be involved(we're going alone to Maui). She also picked up some of my IM pics so she can brag to all her friends back home about her son rockin to a speedy 10:46, ha ha Next year we'll try to go even faster, Greg said I could so don't any of you tell me otherwise!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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
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.
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
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. :)
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???
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.
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
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
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