IMC 08 Part 1, pre race and swim

So, I started this whole blog thingy for my IMC prep. Good way to get my thoughts out and if someone wanted to read it, all the better. Well, I did it, I finished another Ironman distance race. There were times where I was on course where I wasnt so sure I was going to make it but seeing all the people, the signs they had (pain is temporary etc), my family, friends, team mates, made the voices in my head stop telling me to pack it in. Mind you, that was all while I was on the bike.... ok, and part of the swim where I was getting a worse beating physically than I have had in 500 hockey games....... ok, and MAYBE when I was just leaving town on the run course and getting dizzy and starting to cramp, but those were the only times.... so Im sayin anyway.

My IM adventure started off the week before with a little trip to Kelowna to do the Apple Triathlon on Sunday, Aug 17th. What a great event. It was coupled with an ITU event so I got to see some of the elites of our sport do their thing.

After the Apple, I went back to Salmon Arm to hang with the family and finish my IMC training. I got in two rides, two swims, and a couple of runs. On one of my rides, I had some form of explosive/fireworks thrown at me. What an interesting ride that was. Over the years, I have had lots of things yelled at me, been swerved at, had water (or I hope it was water) thrown on me, but the "screecher" was a first. Luckily, I rolled past it before it ignited. The rest of the time in SA was uneventful as far as fireworks go and on Friday, Stacey and I headed to Penticton.

As soon as we got to town, we headed to the IM Expo area to pick up my registration packet. I got in and out within about 20 minutes, all braceletted up ready to race. I got some ART done by the same guy that treated me just before World's. If you are ever in Vancouver BC and are in need of some soft tissue work, call me, i will give you his clinic number. I felt GREAT!!! I had signed up for a 30 minute massage too so Stacey got her bike stuff and went and demo'd a Cervelo P2C. The massage might have been a good relaxation rub, it certainly wasnt what I wanted. Oh well, its only money right?

We called our host family and said we would be there shortly. Well, that wasnt exactly true because after we finished at the athlete village, the truck wouldnt start. Kind of like the day I left for Canada, it just went click click click. Probably the last thing I needed just before the race. I had it checked before I left Camas, they said the battery was fine.... Good old Les Schwab, should have known better and had it checked by someone that only does battery's. Actually, a guy in Penticton said it was fine too. After getting a boost, we just drove to Marty and Laura's place and unloaded the gear, met some great new people, and settled in for the night.

Saturday morning, we got up early for a 7am swim. Too bad the truck wouldnt start. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Laura came out in her PJ's and gave us a jump and off we went. My friend Debbie was working with Blue Seventy and offered to let me use a long sleeve wetsuit for the race so I went down to test it out during their demo time. It fit like a glove and 15 minutes in it sure made me want to buy one but $600 isnt in the budget so I opted to take Deb up on the loan. Right after that, we met Coach Scott and had a short ride with him. Back to the truck, click click click. YAHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG!!

Another jumpstart, back to Marty and Laura's, kept the truck running this time, switch to race wheels, pack the rest of my TZ bags, throw everything into the truck, then back to TZ to drop my crap off.

I was pissed and stressed at the same time. Stacey calmed me down (thanks honey) dropped me off with my gear and parked down the street. After I got my stuff into the TZ, I went into the overpriced merchandise tent and bought her an "Ironmate" Tee shirt. She really earned that title on race day, more about that later. During the time I was doing my thing, she called the Dodge dealer to see if they could do some tests on the truck to determine what it was. Turns out, it was the battery, silly people that did the test on it at Schwabs, didnt load test the damn thing and instead of it costing me around $100 US, it was $215 CAD.

Anyway, it had to be done so the nice folks at the Penticton Dodge dealer had us on the road in half an hour. Two stops to get food, water, and wine (for our hosts, not me...... OK, so I had a glass with dinner, it calmed me down), then back to Marty and Laura's for the rest of the day.

I have to tell you, the afternoon dragged on. After I had finished preparing my fuel bottles for the next day, we watched the Olympics. CBC coverage was great. No Bob Costas or Al Trautwig to give us heartwarming story's, just good coverage. We watched the marathon on NBC as well as CBC and it was quite different, and thats all I have to say about that......

So, after dinner, lots of water, peeing 20 times, I finally went to sleep around 10pm. Although the house was full of people, only myself and one other, Clint, were getting up at 4am to do eat and get ready to race.

I drank my usual 700 calorie bottle of Sustained Energy and ate a banana. I kept drinking water, but my GI was doing its usual routine as well, flip flopping all over the damn place, thats all I need to say about that. Around 520am, Clint, his wife Kelly, and son Jacob, headed down to the TZ. That was the last time I saw Clint as we both went to finish our prep.

I saw David Christian, Mike G, Leanne, and Kaytee and ran into my friend Deb. She helped me get into my wetsuit (not used to top down wetsuit zipper). Beep, beep, beep, we all crossed the timing mats and I wandered into the cold water.

I didnt do a warm up swim, just dunked my head under the water to test my goggles. I made sure I kept my hands in the water to get used to it, talked to Leanne for a minute or two, gave her a quick hug, wished her luck, and got my game face on. I was going to need it.




7AM, Peter Reid fired the cannon and off we went. I started very close to the front, pretty close to the TZ/swim exit but the wall of people were lined up at least 50meters to my left. Its a free for all, and like i said earlier, I got beat up less playing hockey. I was seriously wondering what the hell I was doing during those first 400m or so. I got kicked by some breast stroker, in the side of the head and a few times I thought I would have broken fingers. I kept on keeping on and found some open water.





The first right turn at the house boat brought everyone closer together and of course, more pummelling. All in all, it wasnt so bad I guess, but getting back to open water was welcomed for sure. One woman kept going back and forth across my line but the rest of the swim was uneventful. Had she kept in a straight line, she would probably have done a much faster swim.

Swim, 1:15:59, 30 seconds off my IMF time, satisfying considering the swims that I missed.