World Triathlon Championship, Part 1

What a week! What an experience! There were so many spectators from various nations cheering for any and all. Aside from the fact that I do not know how I did, where I placed etc as of this minute, the event was well run. Funny thing, they have all the preliminary results posted EXCEPT for my category so Im kind of flustered about that. I called the ITU and they said they should have it squared away today sometime.
I arrived in Vancouver after a 5 hour drive. My hip and butt were very sore so I called a chiro office that was listed on the Triathlon Canada website and they said to come in around 6pm which was perfect timing as I got into the downtown area at 530 pm. I saw the clinic director, an ART instructor, and after a full history and exam, he got down to business. Mostly when I get treated with ART, the provider concentrates on what I tell them to but James did his own thing and constantly rechecked range of motion and muscle tone. After he finished, I felt GREAT!!! Better than I have ever felt after any type of treatment. I left there with no limp and no pain.
Accreditation for the Team Canada Olympic distance athletes was scheduled from 6-8pm so I headed down to do that. I still had to be classified but they let me sign in anyway. One less thing to do the next day. The registration tent was almost empty and I was in and out in 5 minutes. I drove back and met my nephew for dinner and then back to his house for the night.
The classifiers for AWADs were open from 730-1300 so I got up early, fought traffic and found a place to park at the team hotel. With the bike racks on top of my truck, there werent many options for parking but the Marriot lot was tall enough. I paid $25 to park for the day, wayyyyy too much if you ask me but it was my room for the day. I went to the Tri Canada office to try and exchange my jacket but they didnt have anything bigger so I was stuck with the one that is too tight in the shoulders. No worries though, its a nice jacket. Back to my room (truck) and changed to my bike gear so I could ride down to the classification area. It was raining pretty good and I was happy I brought my rain gear but was wishing I hadnt lent my rain bike to someone.
I was nervous about getting classified because I wasnt sure how they tested/evaluated the injury. I brought along a letter from a doc that checked me out before as well as some written notes from a physio friend of mine that specializes in treating stroke patients. His evaluation, although very informal, was only of the affected limb whereas the other evaluation was done from a whole body/lifestyle/physical ability point of view. There were two women, an MD physical medicine specialist, and a physio. Both of them specialize in spinal cord injuries so I was happy to hear that. They also had heard of Brown-Sequard Syndrome when not too many others have. I still get frustrated when I have my muscles tested and I cant push back against resistance and it overwhelms me. Its been 5.5 years and I still whell up when someone does a neuro exam on me or when I have to talk about it. Im a big baby, what can I tell you.
After they had done a thorough exam, they put me at ease, telling me I was >15% impaired in my left leg. Now I get an official card that I will take with me to other events so I dont have to be classified on an event basis. I have never been so happy to hear that Im worse off than I thought. After classification, I left their booth and ran into some other AWAD athletes from Canada and other countries and chatted for a while. I had planned on riding a lap of the bike course but when I realized the time, I had to get back to my room (truck) and change into my team kit for the AWAD briefing in 30 minutes. Leisurely rode back, changed, and took a cab to the meeting.
Tri Canada had screwed up, they had scheduled the team meeting at the same time the ITU had scheduled the AWAD meeting. The Tri Canada luncheon (I heard later) wasnt the best. Plus the athletes had to pay $20/person for lunch. The ITU provided lunch and it was very tasty. The technical committee for the ITU had a decent presentation and for the AG athletes, it was probably fine. For some of us gimps, not so much. There were concerns about transferring the wheelie athletes from the water to their chairs. Other concerns about the distance to from T1 to the bike mount area. On the big screen, the TZ was confusing as to how we were to get in and get out of T1 and T2 but they soon sorted it out. Technology (powerpoint) has nothing on someone using their finger or a laser pointer to show the route.
I met some great people at the lunch, other AWADs and the volunteer handlers. At the time, they were going around asking if each athlete needed a helper/handler, and I said no. Later I changed my mind because I wanted my sister to be able to come into the TZ to take photos etc and to help me carry my stuff in the AM so I got her a wrist band.
After the AWAD briefing, all the Team Canada athletes had to hustle back to the team hotel for a group photo. Its a good thing the clothing Tri Canada chose included a rain jacket because it had not stopped raining since I got to Vancouver. There were over 600 athletes outside in the pouring rain but it was fun seeing all the red/white clad people standing on the stairs. We had to wait for Simon Whitfield to come before they could take the photo.
After that, I had nothing to do for 3 hours while I waited for the pasta party to start. I had spoken to some of my team mates and they werent going but I knew my Ironheads team mate, Lindsay, was going to be there for the 530 feeding so I decided to go. Free food, wouldnt you?
The pasta feed was at the Vancouver Aquarium. I used to go there as a kid and loved it. I hadnt been there in probably 20 years or more though so I was excited to see it again. They had it set up so you had to go through all the exhibits to get all the food. At the entrance was beer, wine, water, juice. Next came the salad bar. I ended up talking to some TC team mates from Kelowna and will probably meet up with them for IMC. Pasta bar was next, and of course, the desert room. Lots of fruit, little amounts of sugar desert, good for athletes but left me wanting a big bowl of ice cream. I found Lindsay and gave her and her room mate a ride back to the hotel and drove the bike course on the way. It was just like I remembered from watching the youtube video. The hill didnt look that bad from the truck but I had a good idea how to ride it. Gas was cheaper (not by much though) than the price of the hotels in the area so I went back to my nephews for the night.

Lindsay and I planned on meeting at 10am to ride the course so I was up and gone early again. I did a 15 minute run at 9am (felt GREAT), checked into the hotel, and changed for the ride. The rain had stopped and it was a nicer day than the previous two. I met Lindsay at her hotel and we headed out with another USA team member, Cy. He wanted to tag along since he didnt know the way. It was a nice easy ride and my HR didnt get above 150 on the hill. Mostly it stayed around 110.

After climbing the hill, my back started to tighten up so after we finished, I rode to the chiro's office that I saw on Wednesday. The doc I saw wasnt in on Friday's but one of his associates said he would see me. I should have listened to my gut and passed on the offer but I came back at 2pm and got treated. By that time, my back was even tighter and no amount of stretching was helping. After the treatment, I might say I felt a hair better for about a minute after standing up. After that, I walked back and lay down in my hotel room. I had completely wasted $50 getting the treatment but too late to complain about it.

Bike check in was from 330-830pm and I was still unclear about the TZ and what I was supposed to drop off. I called a team mate and he suggested not leaving anything but my bike down there. I rode down to the TZ and met a few more AWAD's. I walked back with a BK amputee from Austria, Martin. I had offered to have my sister help him at the start and at T1 with his prosthesis as he thought he didnt have anyone to assist him. Turns out, the ITU got volunteers for all the AWAD's and the next day, we found out he didnt need her help.

Met up with my sister, Michelle, and after dinner, I popped a bunch of Advil for my back pain, made sure my bottles were prepared for the next day, packed my T1 bag, and then I tried to get to sleep. I had a 4am wake up call and I was probably asleep by 1015pm.

Race day continued on next installment