Ironman Eve

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with emotions, definately nervous, but also a lot of good emotions. At this point, there is nothing more that I can do... so I'm trying my very hardest to just enjoy every moment and take it all in. It's not just every day that I get to compete in something like this, or have my very own entourage of special people making me feel even more special.
There's not too much more for me to say other than my bags are packed, my bike is checked-in and my body is fully saturated with an enormous amount of water! The weather is supposed to be 32 degrees and sunny, could be better (as in cooler), could be worse (rain, snow or hotter), but regardless, I can't change it.

We've had such a fun week! My mom, Alison and the girls drove up with me on Wednesday, we picked up AR in Kelowna. Following Ironman tradition, we stopped at Mission Hill Winery to roll down the hill and lay in the grass. We thought this picture was neat because it shows 3 generations of sisters in our family:

My mom and AR drove the bike course with me on Thursday. I wanted to do this because we didn't have a chance to come and do our training weekend that was planned in July (nasty forest fires). I'm not sure if this was a good or bad thing (driving the course)... was great to refamilarize myself with it (I biked it twice before), granted, now that I think about it, knowing how big those hills are isn't necessarily better. I do however believe that I'll get through the bike on race well with the memory of the best ever fresh fruit milkshake that my mom and I got at The Bear Fruitstand just before the Yellow Lake climb (around 150 km into the route). I might even be tempted to stop on race day (someone remind me to throw $5 into my special needs bag!): Fresh fruit milkshakes were not originally apart of my pre-race diet plan, but it was worth every calorie!


I got in two really nice swims. It reminded me how much I like swimming in open water, but also reminded me how enourmously big the Okanogan is! I suppose it won't feel quite so big when I'm fighting through 2600 other competitors tomorrow morning (stress!). Putting on the wetsuit is actually more work than the entire Ironman. If you can squeeze your arse into one of those things and not die in the process... then you can complete an Ironman!

My biking friends, Sara and Keith. Sara and I have been through a lot this summer. A. LOT. I'm so happy we hooked up through our coach, and even though I'll be out on the course, I'll be cheering for her all day while she completes her first ever Ironman. Chances are... we probably won't see each other till next spring because we've both mutually decided that our bikes are retiring Monday morning for a good LONG break!

Alison, Aria and I went tubing down the canal, which was SUCH a highlight! This is how summer should be spent! We are so "water" deprived in Calgary, so it was so great to not only have water to go to, but options of which lake or river wanted!

On Friday morning it was the ever famous Ironman Canada Underwear Run. I've never participated before, but this year, not only did I participate... I had company!!! Aria and I ran the entire 1 km together... in nothing but panty's, well... Aria got to wear a tshirt cause it was first thing in the morning and a wee bit chilly, I was not granted the Tshift luxury. Because she was definately the youngest competitor, we were right near the back of the pack, even though we weren't far behind! Unfortunately, I think this made us a good "photo target" and I think my nearly naked body and panty's are going home with a lot of visitors to Penticton via their digital camera's. Lucky them (or not).

Pre-Panty-Race Pose:

A real up-and-coming-future-Ironman (who also happens to be nearly naked):

Wish me luck for tomorrow... the next time I write... I'll be and IRONMAN (#2)!

The final week

This is it!!! This time next week, I'll be running somewhere along Skaha lake (hopefully at this point on the way back!), and I'll have already completed my 3.8 km swim, and 180 km bike. Looking at the forecast, chances are that I'll be sweating my buns off in 30 + degree heat as well. I really can't believe it's so close, I can't even believe that I'm one week in to my two week taper!
There are moments when it hits me, and so does the anxiety, this is really a huge deal for me, a personal goal that I will be so proud to accomplish. I know I've done it before, and for people who do Ironman's year after year, maybe the accomplishment diminishes over time. But for me, the 2nd one is just as big a deal as the 1st one! I suppose I've already completed a huge portion of the whole experience, the training - but I still can't believe that on Thursday I'll enter the registration tent and get my very own athlete's wristband. Craig and I have been talking about it a lot this week (not sure if he likes it or hates it, but at least he humors me), and we've come to the conclusion that I would be crazy if I wasn't nervous/anxious. I wonder if even the pro's - like Jasper, for example, still get nervous. I bet they do, because no matter how good you are and no matter how many world championship titles you've won, it's still an Ironman, and that is still the ultimate challenge in endurance athletics. So, I guess it's completely normal that I'm a little stressed out, and resolving to that decision almost makes me less stressed out, if that makes sense.

I like to be extremely organized, so I have devised a plan for the day. I am well aware that ANYTHING can happen on race day, and chances are that my "plan" will be nothing like the way that the day actually occurs, but I can at least pretend to be in charge:

Pre-Race:
I am going to eat my dinner the night before on the earlier side. This will allow my body to fully and easily digest everything, and also make it possible for me to have a snack before bed. I'm going to be lights out by 9:30, with the hopes to be sleeping by 10, generally I don't have too much of a problem falling asleep. Craig will be forced to sleep on the floor to ensure that I have no annoyances or disturbances during my sleep (just kidding - but he will get a very boney elbow jab in the ribs if he so much as peeps during the night).

Race Morning:
I think I'll be up by 4:30 ish to start getting in all of the millions of calories that I will be attempting to force into my guts. I probably won't actually have to get going until 5 ish though, so I think Craig can just bring me breakfast in bed. I'll be drinking and eating as much as I can in the morning (well planned out high carb - low fiber meals). If history repeats itself, this couple of hours will be the most high-emotion for me. I remember being extremely anxious, stressed and nervous the morning of the race in 2007, but also remember feeling really excited, proud and relieved that I actually made it to the start line (a pretty huge accomplishment in itself!). If this is the case, I'll have to be extremely cautious with my digestion because nerves and my bowels have a very intimate relationship. I think I would rather sacrafice a few calories in the morning to save myself from the quad workout of multiple squats overtop of a port-a-privy! Also, if history repeats itself, my dad will do what he does best, and he will be more stressed out that I am.

Swim:
Even though Coach Carolyn is a faster swimmer than I am, my plan is to start with her, wherever she plans on going. I am definately a believer of "seeding yourself accordingly" - in fact, my biggest pet peeve are slow runners who think that they should start as close as possible at the front of the pack during a road race. Don't they know that they are going to annoy all of the stronger runners that they elbowed their way through before the race started, as well, they are just going to be passed by these annoyed-stronger-runners, which, in my opinion, sucks. Getting passed sucks! However, in this case, I'm really hoping to get in Carolyn's draft for the race (although I don't think my luck would ever be good enough - but here's hoping anyways!). Most of all, I didn't get a chance to start IMC 2007 with Carolyn because she wasn't racing that year (too busy training for the World Championship in October), it would be neat to start with her as she's been involved in my entire triathlon life. I think Carolyn usually starts off to the side, which is much better than starting right in the middle of the pack, in my opinion, probably the same as being on the front lines of WWI.

T1:
I'm definately taking the time to pee, or else it will come back to haunt me early on in the bike! Even if the line up is 4 hours, it's worth it! Otherwise, both my transitions in IMC 07 were approximately 7 minutes, which is slower than it could be, but faster than a lot of people, so I'm happy to stick with that.

Bike:
In many peoples opinion, the race shouldn't even start until 60 kms into the bike, when you reach Richter's Pass, so it is always recommended not to take it too fast or too hard for the first third of the bike. It's pretty flat, so it would be easy to hammer through it, but that would be dumb because I would totally pay for it the second I turn the corner after the Husky station and see the never ending hill that I have to climb, which I like to refer to as Satan's playground (aka Richter's). I'm going to set my 10 minute alarm on my watch to remind myself to take a drink from my aero bottle every ten minutes. If I don't have the alarm, it will be when I'm passed out from dehydration that I remember to drink anything. I'm also going to eat a Clif Block or couple of Sports Beans (jelly beans for sports - best invention ever!!) every ten minutes. I'll be drinking Eload Endurance - doesn't taste that good, but it will be worth it cause it has the best digestable and usable sugars, as well as a ton of electrolytes. I'm going to drink water at the aid stations (if I need it) which will help me survive the sugar overload taste. I'm also going to cut up a bagel and a couple of Clif bars to snack on along the way. In my special needs bag, which I get at 120 km, I think I am going to put two oatmeal cookies in it (I love cookies!!!), and couple of different options of bars (clif bar, granola bar). Who knows what I'll feel like, but chances are, I'll have eaten the cookies in about 2.5 milliseconds. I'm not going to put any chocolate in my bag because I'll be tempted to eat it, and that's probably not a good option at that point. I'm hoping that I don't have to stop at all before the 120 km point, but chances are I'll have to have a bathroom break before then, and I am incapable of peeing on my bike (although highly recommended to me by a number of people). I just can't, don't know if it's physical or mental or both, but I can't.
After Yellow Lake, the last 25 km (or something like that) are all down hill - best part of the ride!

T2:
If I could make some suggestions to the IMC administration, it would be to add a full service spa and shower to T2. I would use it, and I wouldn't care how long it took! Just kidding - the biggest goal is to not get sucked in to T2 because I know I'll just want to sit down and rest. The longer I'm there, the harder it is to get started again. I am planning on changing, even though my tri suit would be fine to run in, I know that at that point it will feel so nice to freshen up! Plus, I prefer to run with sleeves (tri suit is sleeveless) because when I sweat a lot (and if it's 30 +degrees, there will be A LOT of sweating), I can get chafeing in my armpits (which I like to refer to as chub rub).

Run:
I'm pretty nervous about this part because even though I would say I'm strongest as a runner, it's going to be A LONG time before I even get to the run! Plus, heat affects me the most on the run, and the first part of the run will probably be the hottest part of the day (late afternoon), however, considering that it is late in August, it will get darker earlier, and probably cooler than a July evening. Too hot, then probably a bit too chilly. Like all marathons that I run, I'm going to run 10 and 1's (as in, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute). This is the Running Room method (which I was a participant in for my first marathon and then an instructor of for many years), I really believe in it. In the numerous marathon's I've run, I've zoomed past people that don't stop for their walk breaks, and I've still run 3:30 marathons (which is a pretty decent pace). I get my run special needs bag half way, 21.1 km, where I will definately be indulging in my chocolate bar. At that point in the race, I don't think it's going to give me any negative effects and it might just be the boost that I need! Otherwise, I'll be carrying my fuel belt with more Eload and sports beans. For the second half, in 2007 (after about 11 hours of hardly eating or drinking anything due to cramps) I started drinking Pepsi at all the aid stations (I think aid stations are every mile or maybe every second mile). If I have to drink Pepsi again, then it's a good option. I'm hoping to just stick with the 10 and 1's the whole way, but if I need to (hopefully not), I'll maybe go down to 7 and 1's or 5 and 1's. We'll see, but my biggest goal is to not stop running at all (except for my chocolate bar break and regular scheduled walk breaks). Of course, no matter how I feel, you can be sure that I will be running down Lakeshore Drive with my head held high and a look on my face saying "I could keep going, I'm not even tired!". Then I'll cross the finish line and promptly collapse into the nearest volunteers arms.

It might not be the perfect plan (ie: chocolate bar in my special needs bag), but it's my plan, and I'm stickin' to it!

On a more humerous note, some people at work were asking me how everything was going for my race and when it was. Someone else piped up from across the Nurse's station to say she has a friend who just completed an ironman. She was very proud to announce "Yup, she did it in 2 hours!!!". Either her friend is a genetic freak, or perhaps she got an Ironman and a Sprint distance triathlon mixed up. I didn't want to sound totally snobby (umm, slightly different type of a race), so I didn't correct her. But I REALLY wanted to.

My mom, sister, nieces and I meet AR in Penticton on Wednesday, everyone else joins us Thursday and Friday. I'll be sure to update again before the race!

This was at the end of our holidays last week... I could have stayed another week though!

Training on Holidays

This week has been SO wonderful, and it’s not even done yet! Holidays are good for the soul, so refreshing and exactly what I needed! Not that my life is uber stressful or anything… but enough that summer holidays are a must!
In a nut shell…. On Wednesday Craig and I flew to Vancouver and drove to Seattle. We had such a great time, we shopped till we dropped (well, I shopped, Craig sat at Starbucks), we had a beautiful dinner on the harbor, and we stayed in the most beautiful hotel that I have ever stayed at, the Fairmont Olympic Seattle. The next day we had fish and chips on the harbor (I watched Craig eat it…), breakfast on the wharf, and a bit more shopping. I did however manage to get in a workout in the hotel gym, it was incredibly humid because the gym (which was much nicer than a typical hotel gym) was in the exact same room as the pool. I was soaking wet after a 90 minute run on the treadmill (BORING!!!), and it definitely wasn’t from the kids who were splashing me from the pool (well, maybe a combo of that and my excessive amount of sweating).

We then took the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria where we spent two days at Auntie Rosie’s house. We LOVE it at AR’s, we had a great time! I was particularly excited for two things, my run and my swim. On Friday morning, bright and early, AR and I went to Thetis Lake for a training swim that I did with Coach Carolyn. It was so great to see her, and nice to have company and some fairly important coaching tips for the last long swim before the race. We did 4500m, so it was pretty long. Much to my very pleasant surprise, I came out of the water to see that the national team was out doing their Friday morning training swim. I also ran into Jasper Blake. It was no big deal, nothing at all, just a World-Class Triathlete and IMC first place winner and I on the same training schedule. The truth is, I wanted to run around screeching and screaming like teeny-bop girls when they meet the Backstreet Boys, but I managed to contain myself and just act like I totally fit in with the national team. Like I said, we’re on the same schedule, so obviously it’s no big deal, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they invited me to just join the team… I mean, just because we happened to be swimming in the same body of water at the same time pretty much puts me on the same level. I did document it with a picture, which I plan on having a developed hard copy available for Jasper (we’re on a first name basis now) to autograph when he comes flying across the IMC finish line in first place.

After my swim, AR and I went into town to have a quick coffee (herbal tea) and visit with our good friend Adam O'Meara. That’s right people, I was out for coffee with another PROFESSIONAL triathlete. Quite frankly, it was almost too much for one day. Adam had some great tips for me, particularly in the nutrition/digestive situation that I am extremely grateful for. We also made a plan to race together in the Sooke half Ironman in September as a relay team (currently accepting applications for a swimmer), this is the race that will be presenting the Bruce Bowman Memorial Scholarship to a junior triathlete (through LifeSport). I’m not entirely sure how I feel about racing together on a team with a pro, incredibly honored, and incredibly nervous… kind of a once in a lifetime thing for an athlete like me (I mean, not that I’m not practically a pro – Hello, I was swimming with the national team!).

On Saturday I ran my all time favorite running route in Saanich from AR’s house. I had to cut it a wee bit short because it’s a bit longer than I was scheduled for, and I actually ran into Coach Carolyn (no pun intended…) while she was out for her last long ride for her Ironman training. She knows l like to push my long runs a little bit further than I probably should, especially at this point in my training, so conveniently she biked by just when I was nearing my turn around point (and contemplating just going for a little bit longer…). I turned around when I was supposed to….
We’ve been holidaying in Nanaimo ever since then at a beautiful beach house that my parents rented for all of us. It has been glorious in every way, perfect for the kidlets, and great for training. I got another open water swim in, the lake is perfect here. Unfortunately there are a lot of motor boats in the lake, so as a safety precaution, my mom and sister accompanied me in the paddle boat (Pro’s always seem to have an entourage, so it’s was fitting for me). It all turned bad when the paddle boat rudder went dead (not sure how that happened!?!) and I had to tow the paddle boat, my mom, and my sister home with a very strong head wind. Not good for my taper, not good at all! I think we got stuck in the Bermuda Triangle, cause the paddle boat just wouldn’t go anywhere. I laughed pretty hard after I spent the next 90 minutes sitting on the toilet peeing out all the lake water that I swallowed!

Tomorrow we head to Vancouver for the day to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We have an afternoon at the beach planned, and a big dinner at Tia and Tio’s (which means… A LOT of GREAT food…and family of course). Craig and I are heading home after that. To be honest, I could handle another few days, which is very rare for me, usually after a week vacation I am ready to head home to my own bed and my baby (the cat). This really has been the perfect vacation in every way!

Starting Wednesday, when I’m back to reality, I only have 6 days before I leave for Penticton!!! It’s the final stretch, I’m officially in my taper (which means Craig has to cater to my every single need as I must be off of my feet as much as possible!). This summer has flown by, the last three months of training feel like they just hardly started and now it’s almost just another chapter in my history book! Kind of bitter sweet…

I am currently accepting suggestions on how to calm my nerves which are starting to flare up. Now that I’ve trained with the pro’s, I have a reputation to keep up… that’s enough to make me nervous!

Game Plan

I guess it's been a little while since I blogged... I was having writer's block, and it rained all last week, so I couldn't get my long ride in (I refuse to go on the trainer for more than 90 minutes!), which is generally where I make my weekly blogging plan.

So here I am, less than 3 weeks till the race (Holy Shizit!!!), and a day before I go on family holidays (Yippee!!!)... It's time to make a serious game plan.

I finished my last really long ride of the year today, 180 km (but it was actually only 177 km - I cheated, just slightly), last week I did a very long run, and a very long swim. I've trained pretty darn faithfully, I haven't skipped any workouts (except for a couple of bad weather days where I just altered the workout), and I over trained the distances in the swim and bike. I have an entire cupboard full of various gels, bar, drinks, and tablets, I carry spare tubes and CO2 cartridges in all of my purses, my tri suit and race day outfit are ironed and ready to go (just kidding - the heat would be awful for the coolmax!) and I now bath in my wetsuit so that I can have daily time trials for the wet suit strip. I guess there is nothing to worry about... except... I'm starting to get a wee bit stressed about all the other zillions of possible things that could go wrong that are out of my control.
There's nothing I can do if my bike freakish-ly snaps in half going down Richter's, or if my wetsuit splits down the middle when I take my first stroke, or if my stomach just won't digest anything, or if it's 500 degrees that day, or if a slow moving herd of aardvark's block the race course for hours at a time making us miss the 17 hour cut off time... You just never know, ANYTHING could happen!

Oh well, I'm trying not to think about it, but there are just so many possibilities!

As for the things I can control:

• I'm going to try my very hardest to get a minimum of 8 hours of a sleep every night until the race (very diffucult for me with my work schedule cause I often work late at night but I love getting up early in the morning)
• I'm cutting out alcohol until the race (very easy cause I hardly ever drink anyways)
• I'm going to try and cut out caffeine almost completely, but I'll make an exception for the odd evening shift that I can't survive without it (it's funny - cause I don't even like coffee, I only drink it when I work in the evenings - probably cause I've been up since 5:30am and I don't even start work until 3pm)
• I'm going to try to take my rest days as REAL rest days. Usually on my rest days now, I still go out for a nice long power walk (I LOVE being outside), or because I have extra time (no 3 hours of working out), I usually try to do all my housework, etc.
• I'm going to try my hardest to stay positive and think positive thoughts - no dwelling on various freak-accidents or uncontrollable weather situations
• I generally have a very healthy diet, but I'm going to put in just that much more effort to cut out preservatives, sugar or junk, just to make sure my body is as clean as possible.
• I'm going to limit my spending money when I shop like a maniac in Seattle this week, this will be a true challenge of self control - hello, outlets! (how did this one make it on my Ironman game plan list?)

Craig and I leave on Wednesday morning for a week of much needed vacationing! We are flying into Vancouver and then driving to Seattle where we are staying for 2 days. Then we move onto Victoria, where we are so excited to spend time with Auntie Rosie and the rest of my family for a couple of days. I am also thrilled to run my all-time favorite running route in Saanich, and get a swim in at Thetis with Coach Carolyn (I LOVE Victoria!). Then we spend a few days up-island in a holiday house on the lake. Basically, this is a PERFECT vacation, the perfect combination of shopping, eating, relaxing, training, and good quality time with my fave people (in no particular order).

Before I finish... In honor of the AWFUL summer weather that we've had (less than 2 weeks of actual nice sunny days!)... I'm going to start off my new-found positive thinking, positive ideas, positive everything regime by pointing out what we DIDN'T have in the last two months:

And if for any reason these pictures make you miss winter... DON'T WORRY! You'll see this weather in approximately 3 weeks (September 1st).

An Ironman's Prayer

Dear God,

I don't think I ask for a lot, so I'd like to cash in on some points and make a few requests.

First, on Sunday August 30th 2009, can you please insure that the mercury in Penticton, BC, does not see any higher than 25 degrees (20 degrees would be ideal). Also, please dry up any rain clouds and make the wind stand still - at least between the hours of 7am and midnight. Please make Okanagan Lake look like glass because it is so calm. And let's be honest, we've had enough with all the forest fire business... it's time to stop.

Please keep the race course safe and clear of any hazards, potholes, debris or crazy spectators. If someone chooses to be an idiot and get in the way of bikers going 50 km/hr, please strike them down with lightning (only a little zap - no permanent damage).

Please help me to control my temper while plowing my way through the mass of 2000 fellow athletes during the swim start. If I happen to elbow someone in the face, kick off goggles or swim directly on top of someone, please do not hold me accountable for my actions. Desperate times.... desperate measures. It would be REALLY great if I could just catch a draft in the first 200 m and then just get pulled the remaining 3600m (hint hint).

If I happen to swallow a mass amount of lake water from previously mentioned "swim attack", please allow my kidneys to go through rapid filtration/elimination, so that I can pee it all out during my pee break in T1, prior to commencing the bike.

Speaking of the digestive system: please turn my guts and inards into "digesting machines" so that I can hold in enough calories and nutrition to make it through the day. Cramps, stiches, spasms, loose BM's, or tummy ache's of any kind will NOT be welcomed in any way. Please keep them far, far, far away! If you can let me stomach power gels for just this ONE day, I promise, I will make Food Bank donations for the rest of my life. Further, if I can stomach at least 5 liters of gatorade, I will volunteer at my local Food Bank!

Please protect all of the volunteers and bless them for all of their hard work. May they enjoy their stale, cold pizza and oversized tshirts (kindly provided by the great folks at IMC), as they deserve the reward.

Especially bless my friends and family who have been such an AMAZING support to me during my training! In fact, because I KNOW that I could never have accomplished any of this without all of my amazing "crew members" please bless them with a TRUE Ironman experience. It would be ideal if we could all experience every aspect of the race together, so I am requesting that we all wake up, the day after the race, with the same excruciating pain, tight hamstrings, raging hunger, and every bone/muscle/joint/tissue equally stiff. If I can't touch my toes, I think we should all experience that together - they deserve it!

Please completely erase from my memory what it feels like the run a marathon after biking for 180 km. I don't need any recollection, whatsoever, of that. I'd rather just NOT know...

Maybe I'm asking just a little too much with this one... but could you please, please, PLEASE pull some strings and make the "Ironman Canada Finisher" cap, t-shirt and medal all come in a PINK option. It would match my wardrobe much better!

If you can take these requests into consideration (you're God, so I know you can do anything!), I can garuntee that for the remainder of my days: I'll never text while I'm driving, I'll floss my teeth every night before bed, I'll make sure my children eat veggies every day (future iron-babies), I'll never ride a bike without a helmet, I'll go to church once a month, I'll help sick people breathe better and I will never, NEVER, wear polka-dots and plaid together.

But MOST of all, just let me cross the finish line for Uncle Bruce, with a smile on my face (*and a new PR*).

Editor's Note: I am aware that bargaining with God is not standard Christian practice, however, in this particular situation, God and I have "an understanding"