This was my second Point to Point race so I had a better idea as to what to expect and this time I was able to see both transitions and have some idea how it would work. That did make me feel better. My only problem was that I still had not quite figured out how the bike course got us into the city limits, but there are worse things to have a bit foggy.
Woke up at 4:20 and didn't quite remember why my alarm was ringing so early until I saw my race kit. One last check on my gear piles and I did the final bagging, I did good the only thing I forgot was sunscreen and this frozen Ensure Drink I wanted to test in my T2 bag. Had my 3 eggs on a slice of bread for breakfast as I headed out to the car. Saw a neighbor out for that first smoke of the day, made me smile thinking it must suck to have a habit wake you up like that, mind you.... a pot and a kettle come to mind. Drove over to the Grey Eagle Casino where a whole bunch of buses were waiting to take us out to Ghost Lake. I had to chuckle as the driver had Google Maps on her I-phone and was checking it rather often. Honey if you make a wrong turn you have a bus full of people that know where we are going and probably will not be worried about letting you know how to get to the lake.
So I arrived around 5:30 or so and did the last min organization duties, borrow a pump, put bags in right spots, stand in porti lines (2 at site, 2 at home), took pictures of the pros running with there bikes to the mount line I think I got one for each pro, sit and not get to excited too early, I chatted with people I recognized from my first learn to run class all the way to Iron Man camp last month, Phoned Natalie who was in a wedding party in Vancouver. I finally got the wet suit fully on at 8:20 and went and stood in the water with 107 of my new closest friends waiting for the final count down. I lined myself up near the back on the left side of the ramp.
The horn goes off and so do we. I did pretty good to the first marker I was drafting off someones feet for most of it and the bumping was minimal. I rounded the marker and thank goodness my Mom and Sister found out about prescription goggles that I was wearing today, I fear if I had not been wearing them I would never have been able to distinguish the markers and the boats. I only remember seeing 6. Two near the start, 2 on the bridge structure, and 2 at the far far far end. I would have liked to have had a waterproof garmin to see how much extra distance I put on by not seeing the next marker. The course is like a big rectangle so I clicked my watch at the half way point ish and it said 0:25:28 I liked that even though sighting was not fun. Well on the way back the wind picked up just on the other side of the bridge. I remember seeing the bright orange marker not move for a while, this is where I saw the boat with divers on it pulling a guy in a yellow swim cap onto it. he must have been out there for a while as this wave wore white caps. so the waves are starting to build now I realize that they were not white caps but they were getting to be very large from my perspective. I realized that I would have to adjust my aim to that I almost cut the corner so that I would swim into the waves at an angle and let them push me back a bit each stroke so that I could get to the marker. I finally got to it and then it was straight to the dock that I knew was there but couldn't see. I asked one of the people in the canoe what boat should I aim for. there was this great big yellow sailboat in the way of the dock, I remember seeing 3 sides of that boat so you know they were swinging around pretty good on their mooring point. Finally got to the dock and was standing.
Swim Done: 25:28 at my half point, 33:27 for second for official total 0:58:55 - 3:06/100m
I had my wet suit mostly off but not past my hips so the strippers had some extra tugs to do to get the silly thing off me. Dumped my bag out and could have been a bit more methodical on steps to get dressed as this was my first dump the bag transition. Wasn't shy and took a handful of Chamois cream and applied with volunteers watching, was glad I did as there was no issues later. Someone helped me pack my bag with my wet gear. then I ran in cycling shoes half way down the parking lot to the end of transition. I counted 3 or 4 bikes left in the lot. Grabbed Thor fumbled with the garmin to get it turned on (it's getting old and cranky) and ran the length of transition then the driveway to the stop sign. Looking back at the graphs my heart rate was above 160 as I finally started riding.
Transition 1 Done: 0:06:13
I had a good tail wind pushing me along Hwy 1A and it was great I was in the big ring flying along around 40k/h for a while until the first corner. Man I took that corner fast looking back and then their was the uphill grind Grand Valley Road is what it was called and appropriately named as the view would be nice if I hadn't had my nose to the grindstone. There was a little down hill stretch with a bit of a side wind I took advantage of this moment to take care of what I couldn't do in my wetsuit even though I tried. My fellow athletes will understand this previous sentence those that don't skip it and keep reading :) I finally caught up to my first athlete on the bike probably 30 min into the ride I had been watching about 4 up in the distance and had finally caught them. I passed about 5 people on this climb to hwy 280 where the aid station was. I went right through as I had my Beef Jerky sticks and a bottle and half of Nuun. I started the day with 2 bottles and in my first hour only drank half of one. looking back that was warning sign #1.
From the aid station to Cochran it was pretty much down hill and there was brand spanking new pavement for parts of it. It was such a lovely change from the chip seal on the climb. There was a lot of volunteers on the road all with a stop sign for traffic entering the course, some of them looked like professional construction traffic control people. I was feeling very good on the first half, I was surprised to see a timing mat halfway on the bike guess it helped on the track the athlete on Ironman.com. So as we went through there was more police presence on the intersections and more traffic. As I went up the hill out of Cochran I was passed for the 3rd time by someone that was not in my wave. I was glad they gave us the climbing lane up that hill, and at the top there was a couple that had pulled over opened all the doors on their car and cranked up the tunes, something I wish more volunteers would do but that's just me. Cars were backed up for long stretch along hwy 22. Finally got turned off Hwy 22 and that potential road rage zone onto hwy 250 and watched a small plane landed as I came up to the airport.
When I got to the 2nd aid station at 70km I tossed my empty water bottle and grabbed a 500ml bottle of water from a guy. I drank the whole thing as I went through transition, I kept my eye open for full bike bottles that I could get to replace my tossed one. I got to the end of transition and there wasn't any. I finished the little bottle and tossed it. Warning #2 this is 2:30 into the bike and I had 1.5 L of Nuun and that 500ml bottle of water. a few KM later I reached down as I was trying to drink and eat each 10 min when I remembered (need to set a beep for IM) I realized I had maby 4 good slugs of water left in the bottle. My mind said no worries it's only 20km that's your bike commute and you don't use water for that now do you?
So we get to the interchange that I all this time thought we turned at, the one that goes past Calaway Park and the volunteer says go straight. For a micro moment I panicked thinking this would take us over another hill, but it is what it is popped into my head. So I keep going east until this wacky corner and half way through it I recognized Mike W voice calling my name. Crossed over Highway 1 and caught another group of riders, even this one roadie that pulled up and asked which race this was wished me luck and then DROPPED the hammer and was gone. I saw Jen who introduced me to my coach on this corner where we turned and ended up on this little road that I didn't think was a road that I probably will never be able to find again. She told me Greg was just ahead of me. Traffic on Glenmore was backed up quite a bit and once again I was glad we had our own lane to use. Had some punk lean out his window and tell me I should quit as I was in last place. Then I passed the guy in front of me and thought to myself HA! We turned onto 37th street and I got into an easier gear and just spun down the incline to T2. I was trying very hard not to think of how thirsty I was.
Bike done: first half 1:35:56, second half 1:42:55, total 3:18:51 - 28.6km/h (a new personal best for bike average speed in a race, also first one where transition times not included) Avg HR 150
I got to my rack at the far end of the zone and this transition went a bit more smoother than T1 as I just dumped the bag on the grass. Some guy down the rack was saying he had 4 flats today and he never had more than 4 in a season so his day was done. I counted my blessings that I didn't have any and walked out of transition switching modes on the Garmin. I heard someone yell out "tear up the run course, or not"
Transition 2 Done : 0:03:34
As I left T2 a volunteer said that water and bathrooms were around the corner so I thought I would walk to the water and drink 2 glasses, I could tell I was very thirsty at this point and it was 1pm getting into the hot part of the day (wx.ca says it was 25 at 1pm and rose to 29 by 5pm) I got to ran past the finish area which was packed with spectators so I put my head down and forced ran myself trying to remember all run drills I have ever been told. My fear was that the Evil Nurse lady would pull me from the course if she saw how bad I felt. (Evil Nurse lady has harassed me at both attempts at Sylvan and also at the Innisfail sprint where my cousin Andy damned near told her to fly a kit) So I had history with her and I really didn't want to speak with her at all today. I heard my name a few times but I didn't really react to it as I was thinking but at the end of the crowd I heard "Fast Feet Randy! Fast Cadence" looked over and there was the lady from The Endorphin Daze Camp that taught us running drills. I couldn't figure out if she was telling me that I had fast cadence or that I needed to pick it up" I was confused. After the crowd disappeared I had a walk break that lasted longer then I wanted but by now I really wanted that drink of water and I had noticed that my skin was moist but I wasn't really sweating. Warning sign 3, I saw the sign for aid station ahead so I put 2 salt tabs in my mouth so I could swallow them when I got water. well what little moisture in my mouth melted the casing before I got to the aid station so I got a good hit of dry salt that I ended up spitting out in a great big white puff when I coughed. This is where I realized that I got modes switched on the garmin but I didn't start the timer, so I lost about a km of data but I didn't really care.
So we got to the canoe club and I stopped at the aid station to get more fluid. So we had to run back past the finish area and there was a sign for aid station ahead, now I don't know how much warning they felt you needed but the aid station wasn't for a long way after the warning sign and I thought I missed it. I saw Celine and probably rather panicky asked if I missed it. I felt like a real fool for walking past the finish area but I wanted water and NOW. All of a sudden Greg came up behind me as he had stopped at a porti. I met Greg when I was in Learn to Run at Kensington 2004, we have been running in a group together for the last year so I know we run at a close pace. He was desperate to ditch his water belt and was asking different volunteers if he could leave it with them. I yelled and said leave it by the porti they aren't going anywhere and the volunteers kept saying ask this person well ask this person. That gave me a 4min break 35 min into the run. I wanted to have a running partner so I waited for him. It felt good to have someone to talk with during the run to get the mind off the strong desire for water and since both of us were not having stellar days we pushed each other. We played games like we would run when we got to the first shadow. It worked nicely.
The out and back on 37 street was evil, out in the hot sun and uphill. But the kid giving out sponges at "T" corner gave them to you full of water it was so good. I have to figure out the best place to put them for the best effect but I wished they had ice cubes for my hat as well. so we dragged ourselves up the hill and I was feeling the urge to take care of nature at the bottom of the hill and couldn't wait much longer at the turn around aid station at the top and those ladies had Ice cold sponges it didn't click in to ask for ice for my hat here.
I told Greg as part of our head games that it was all downhill from here except the climb out of Weasel head. It worked for the most part and we ran for longer stretches before the urge to walk took over. I was starting to feel better around the 12km mark about where they had a timing mat. I had a sponge on each shoulder, one down my back and Ice finally in my hat. The lady listed everything she had to offer and I jumped at the word ice. We ran into the trees and with all that water on me and the temp dropping I was ready to run but Greg said that he was getting worse as time went on. He mentioned that he wanted to finish within 8hrs and he started 20min before I did so we had some work to do. There was an aid station at the top and I decided to take flat coke for the first time running, knowing that once I started on that sugar train I had to ride it to the end I had been taking sips of gel from my flask but coke was an evil type of sugar to be used in moderation. Greg had tried it with bad digestive effects at a race before. So now I was feeling right as rain considering I was 7 hours into an event. Greg and I followed this couple on power wheelchairs it was nice to have them as pacers for as long as we saw them... they go fast just so you know. Oh and we saw future olympian Jordan Bryden as we came down the south hill.
I did pretty good going up the north side hill to our "lost" aid station that I had desperately looked for before. I was getting into a routine at the aid stations, toss the old sponge, get a new one, drink poweraid, drink coke, drink water, pour whats left on head, and go. It worked so I am going to have to remember that order for the big race at the end of the month. Greg and I stayed together till about 3km to go, we would run till he walked and this one time he just said "go on without me" I asked again to make certain I heard him right and then I left my running buddy and ran up to these two guys that were ahead of us. I walked with them for a bit and when the volunteer said there was 500m left to go I looked at them and asked "Gentlemen shall we finish this race on a strong note?". We started to run and I left them behind as my vision started to blur on the sides and I knew that there would be no more walking. I remembered this quote by Lance Armstong "Pain is Temporary, Quit lasts forever"
Run Done: 1:59:17 first split @ 7.5mile, 1:16:43 for last 5.6 mile, total 3:16:00, 9:16 min/km, Avg HR 136
I broke the banner as I crossed the finish line and noticed it's soft feel as it came accross my chest. The medical volunteer grabbed my arm and said "I will tell you that you are severely de-hydrated right now as your not sweating and your cold" the other med guy took me to sit down in the shade and got me some ice water and an orange juice to drink, asked me how many times I urinated on the race, 1 bike 1 run was my answer and he smiled and said "you'll be fine" My best friend in the world Dan Giberson appeared from somewhere and I don't remember what he said. I laugh now as I remembered so much of the race but I can't remember what he said. A little boy came over and asked what size of shirt I would like and I got some pizza before leaving the finish area.
-------FINAL------ ---------------------- ------------- --- --- --- -------------- ----- 1.9 km 94 km 21.1km
Category --------SWIM---------- ----- ----------BIKE--------- ----- ---------RUN----------
Pos Time Name City Sta Cty Rep Plc/Total Cat # Cat Ovr Time /100m Tr1 Cat Ovr Time km/hr Tr2 Cat Ovr Time /km
-------- -------- ---------------------- ------------- --- --- --- -------------- ----- ---------------------- ----- ----------------------- ----- ----------------------
1007 07:43:33 MILLER, Randy CALGARY AB CAN 96/102 M30-34 1651 101 1030 58:55 3:07 6:13 87 896 3:18:52 28.4 3:34 96 1026 3:16:01 9:18
Some People I know that I could find their stats
1036 08:07:18 HADLINGTON, Greg CALGARY AB CAN 122/126 M40-44 1216 120 990 53:26 2:49 10:28 124 997 3:30:05 26.8 7:33 122 1044 3:25:48 9:46
1005 07:41:48 BLADON, Stan CALGARY AB CAN 7/8 M65-69 456 7 907 49:09 2:36 11:02 7 996 3:30:03 26.9 6:10 6 995 3:05:25 8:48
844 06:47:39 SMITH, Ernest CALGARY AB CAN 19/24 M55-59 430 10 517 41:19 2:11 9:33 14 723 3:07:19 30.1 4:19 22 907 2:45:12 7:50
875 06:54:51 HUGHES, Dale AIRDRIE AB CAN 65/76 M50-54 696 70 1021 56:47 3:00 10:02 65 859 3:15:35 28.8 4:00 54 738 2:28:29 7:03
299 05:34:19 HUNTER, Amber GRANDE PRAIRI AB CAN 11/67 W30-34 825 26 359 39:03 2:04 4:44 15 482 2:55:03 32.2 1:54 7 224 1:53:37 5:24
23 04:28:07 HUNTER, Darin GRANDE PRAIRI AB CAN 2/174 M35-39 150 7 110 34:08 1:48 3:19 5 47 2:26:50 38.4 1:13 2 12 1:22:39 3:56
Dan helped me get my bike and bags out of transition and we walked over to the casino halfway there we realized that there was probably a bus that we could have hopped on to get to my car. I drove him back to his car and then went home and called my girlfriend Natalie and then went to bed and slept through a good rainstorm.
The day after I went to Ricky's for the biggest breakfast I could buy and then I went home and slept some more. I worked on writing this between naps all day. I feel much better now that I have slept, I am not hating my 3 steps from kitchen to bathroom in my house, heck I even thought about going for a bike ride today.... then I took another nap. Overall I think recovery today went very well which is good the last time I thrashed myself about a week ago it took a few days to bounce back. Ready for the next 4 weeks I think I might be. Next story after IRONMAN CANADA August 30. See you then.
Lessons Learned:
Good thing I didn't use my neoprene swim cap thanks to Cory @ TCR for schooling me on that point at Camp,
I got to swim in some waves and learned quickly how to go into them. Now that I know IMC will be glass flat (cross my fingers).
Set a timer to remind me to drink more as I think I don't as often on climbs unless I think about it.
Running with somebody will help you through the dark patches
Coke doesn't mess me up as bad as some people
Thanks everyone for supporting me in this thing I do
Randy
1 comment:
That's a great story!! Keep it up!
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