Great White North Half Iron Man Weekend

---Friday ---
I was in a bit of a tizzy when I arrived in Stoney Plain. I had found the camping it was $20 a night in a field with no fire pits or tables in the tent area. I drove the opening 10km of the bike route and had a bit of a low opinion of it but it changed as I drove the rest of the route later in the day. I was struggling a bit because I couldn't find the package pickup location, so phone call to DCOM and Domonika to Google things for me and get back on track.

Got my race number (446) and I saw Steve King the announcer I waited my turn to chat with him and he remembered me from Sylvan last year!! He wished me luck and I let him get back to his work. I decided to drive the rest of the course and I am glad I did because it was nice to see this "Heartbreak Hill"..... that's it?? HA HA HA, I've been up bigger hills than this GAME ON!!! It started to pour rain as I got to the far end of the course, I found out later that this rain cancelled the Drag Race that Wanda and Rob were at.

Got back to the race meeting and Carbo load, the food was incredible, there was a group playing Japanese Drums and then the info chat. In my little opinion the info session went longer than I felt it needed to be, it was 9:30 by the time I got out of the overheating Hockey Rink/sauna that had no air circulation.

---Saturday---
I woke up with the sun and drove to West Ed Mall. I saw all I needed before the mall even opened. So I call Wanda to find out what their plans are.... I somehow previously agreed to meet everyone at West Ed. so I ended up walking that mall a good 6-8 times I think. I got back to Stoney to ride the Run Course so I would know where I was going the next day. I had thought Leah would arrive after the ride but she left a message saying "where are you camping??" Yet again my comunication skills failed, I thought I had told her where the campground was but I had not. So Supper back in Edmonton with my full Super Sherpa Support Team. Wanda, Robert, Leah, Andy, Candi, Erin.

Leah and I drove back to the campground and got her tent set up the fastest ever. It was funny the camp operator stopped us thinking she only paid for one and that I was free loading. Not realizing that I had been there for a day already.

---- Race Morning----
The Rain woke me up at 12, 2, 4 apparently I did get some sleep as it was reported that I had a good snore going on. I think I gave up on sleep at around 5:30 and started packing up. I discovered that between my groundsheet and tent there was a good puddle of water where I was laying. Gotta love that rain, I did ask for rain but I hoped for it on the run not now.

As this race has assigned bike parking I didn't feel the need to be there at 6:00am when transition opened so it was nice not to rush. Leah helped me keep calm in the middle of all the race nerves, I don't think she realized how much help she really was. I hadn't saw the rest of the crew but at 10 min to start I had to take care of me, I found out later Rob ran up and had the camera zeroed in on me but I dove into the water at that very second.

I had rented a wetsuit and I hadn't had a chance to get wet with it yet so the first few strokes were a surpise as I felt fast. I didn't seed myself at the back of the pack like I normaly did, I wanted to try swimming the the school of fish to see what I could do. I didn't get spit out of the school till 300m I think. I kept a good line and I saw race caps ahead of me and behind on the first lap. I say the fast guys caught me on the last 200-300m of the first lap. I even had one try to draft off my feet until he realized that the fast guys were on my right and I wasn't keeping up, so he went left and cut me off in an effort to get back in the pack. If I remember correctly the first leg of the swim took me 9min first lap and about 12 for the second. I would look at my watch at the markers to see how I was doing and I would do math praying it added up to less than 70 min. It did and I got out of the water in 1:06:08 (576/578) I had two finishers behind me and Rob told me there was another out there that didn't make the time.

SWIM DONE 1:06:08 - 576

The tranisition didn't go very smoothly Candi got a video of me so it will be cool to look back and see what I could improve on in the future. It had started raining as I swam so everything that was dry when I set up Transition was now wet and cold. It took me a while to realize it was raining as I swam.

The bike, I struggled a bit for the first few km and I had a guy trying to pass and I didn't hear him untill I heard .....ocking, crap I was blocking the guy AGH! so he flew past me!!! I didn't see him again. I got through town and was feeling good and down in the areo bars. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't as comfortable as in the past and then I realized the vest I was wearing didn't have pockets in the back and I had stuffed my spare tube in the front pocket and it was bumping my belly everytime my peddle went around.

at the 30km mark I saw the race leader heading back into town. He looked smooth in the areo bars. I kept an eye out for the few people I knew in the race but I didn't see anyone on the bike. The hill didn't kill me off and I felt good. On the last 20km I ended up catching some people that had been infront of me for a while, looking back I probably should have been slowing down to get ready for the run but I felt fine so I kept on going. I had kept track and counted 15 people behind me. I know only 4 people had passed me (3 had mechnicals who I had passed earlier) I had my computer on the heart Rate page so I couldn't see my bike time and when I got into town I checked the clock and got very emotional realizing that I had knocked off almost half an hour off my Sylvan time. But it wasn't the time to celebrate yet I still had to run and I felt ready to run.

T2, it was very weird going into a transition that you had not seen that morning. but I had volunteers pointing me all the way to my bike rack. I got changed and my feet felt numb only for a bit not like Wasa. I ran out accros the timing mat just as Steve King asked the people crossing the path to look to their left for runners, I didn't slow a step and said rather loudly "Hello" and frightened a lady that crossed infront of me who got out of the way damned quickly.

BIKE DONE 3:32:16 - 533

So I ran for probably .75 of a km and then walked a bit, started running again and met a lady I passed then she passed me later. Her Crank had fallen off and she rode 12km one legged to the corner where the race support was. she was cramping up something bad but kept on going. So for the first 5km I walked mostly. I can't explain it the mind was willing and excited to do well, legs seemed fine considering what they had done already, belly felt a bit funny possibly too much liquid as it was not hot out and my sweat rate was down. I even stopped at a toliet on the first loop. From km 5-10 I would describe my run as a stumble run/walk. I got out to the turnaround point and the desire to puke had left and the mind was beginning to win the argument with legs to move faster and for a longer stretch.

I tilted my visor down so I couldn't see much more than 10feet of pavement and it seemed to trick me. I started running more than walking. I skipped a few of the aid stations and the belly stopped complaining completly. Then it started to rain around 13k I think, it wan't bad but as I started the last loop it started raining UBER hard!!! I thanked every volunteer I saw for playing in the rain with us today as they were just a soaked as the runners. I ran through puddles as I would if I was running with Jacqui. I started singing "Row your Boat" and shouted at the rain saying "DO your worst!!"

Then this guy on a golf cart showed up with a lady I saw way back on the course on board "I'm going to drive this loop and come back to pick you up, were closing the course early"

WHAT THE F**K????????!!!!!!!!! I emotionaly went from I'm doing well and going to finish Yay... to rock bottom... in one second. I got to the end of the loop on the turn to the finish and a guy on a bike says "did he talk to you?" I said "crap this is the second Half I didn't get to finish.. it's only 2km from the finish" An older lady looks at me and says "Run fast and he won't pick you up" Head down and GO. I ran like someone had just stole my bike and I had to chase them down so I could go Kimbo Slice on them. I refused to look behind me for the golf cart.

I turned that 2nd last corner and I could here the music of the finish line. I put my head down and zoned out everything but the green line in the pavement. I know I heard my family calling out to me on the last corner but I don't remember seeing them. I ran and remember Steve King saying very good things about me, the race director was infront of me with my medel and a big smile. I looked at the medel and babbled something about I finaly got one. I looked up for the first time in a long time and saw my Bro with a huge grin on his face.

RUN DONE 3:10:00 - 570

I" got 'er done" just as the banners some volunteers had on the course.

Half Iron Man DONE 7:48:23 - 567 of 578

Post race --- A lot of photos were taken and hugs all around. I felt like an idot that I had to ask someone to untie my shoes but I couldn't bend over to do it. I was able to complete sentences and didn't babble like in the past. Got back to my car at the lake and I was able to change into my race shirt and some dry loose pants. I had spent 9 hours wearing my bike shorts and was very happy to get out of them.

We had coffee at starbucks as we waited to contact Andrea for supper. We went to That's Amora (sp?) it was a garlic resturant and it was SO GOOD... I have to find one in Calgary. I got Wanda to drive my car as I wasn't certain if my legs would switch from gas to brake safely. We got back to Sylvan and I rember when I went to bed I left a light on and Wanda said she could shut it off from upstairs. I litterly rolled over and the next thing I heard was the shower in the morning. I must have passed out like I had drank a 26 to myself.

----Monday
I am able to walk fairly good except for going up stairs. 3 weeks till Sylvan HIM and then I will drink my face off



It was a good weekend and thanks to.....

-Family that cheered from the roadside in the rain
-My fast friends that were defenitly finished before the downpour
-the volunteers cheering and keeping us fed/safe/modivated/on course
-Friends and Family that couldn't be at the race but were thinking of me
-Coach Mike Pascoe who has kept me on track through my ups and downs of trying to balance my training and the shiftwork lifestyle
- My Teammates that have had to give turnover to a braindead fool that just got out of the pool and only can think of food
- My Crewmates Moe & O'Neil that have spent so many Nightshifts these last months talking about athletic and life adventures good or bad.
- "doctor" Dan for helping convince me that I am not as crazy as I appear and that I can do this, even if the agreement 4 years ago was that we should do a Triathlon together