Ottawa, Ont
Aug 30, 2003
The weather dawned a cool 14c, sun and cloud, with a strong NorthWest wind blowing. Except for the wind, the weather was perfect for racing. Having worken up a 1/2 hr ahead of my alarm clock, I got down to Hogs Back early, and I went through my planned pre-race shedule slowly and carefully, not rushing anything. I even had time to enjoy the Garfield comic book that I had brought with me for a few minutes - that brought chuckles from nearby competitors: "You must be relaxed." Yes,I was very relaxed, which I found surprising, considering what I about to undertake, and not having done it before, not being sure what would happen.
At 8:30am I had eaten my pre-race gel, stretched, and done the final review of my mental prep and motivational q-cards, and I was standing waiting for the start of the race. Not even a starters gun, or a whistle, just a "Start" shout, and we were off.
The first 8km run went ok. I ran and chatted with my running friends Michelle Elston, and then Donna Reid, as then came up to me, before they ran on ahead. Despite a small running and cycling warmup, my legs felt a bit dead and not quite there. No matter, I had got lots of time, and no rush, to get warmed up and I kept control of my pace. I felt slightly disbelieving, almost surreal, as it finally dawned on me what I was doing, participating in a 1/2 Ironman Duathlon race covering 119.1 km of distance in hopefully under 6hrs. I still had over 110km to cover before the end of the day. Oh man, what am I thinking?!? The first 4km went quickly (under 20min), but I don't think I was running that fast, I think the distance was a little short. In the second 4km, I needed water, but wasn't carrying any, and there was no handy water station, so I took a couple of sips from the water fountain between Bank and Bronson. I felt better after that.
T1 went smootly and quickly and I was out and on my bike in just over a minute. The 90km bike route was 6 laps, from Hogs back down Colonel By to nearly Laurier bridge, and back. With a strong NW wind, it was a headwind for most of the way out to Laurier (exceptions were passing Dowes Lake and between Bank and Bronson), and a tailwind for most of the way back to Hogs Back. The benefit of all those loops was at the end of each one having my gang of friends cheering and hollering my name. That was quite a Thanks to Donna M., who was taking pictures constantly, to Mandy, for her enthusiastic cheering "Andreeeeewwwwww!", and also to John, Brian, Mike, Bradley, Janet, Theresa, Teresa, Farida, and to others there that I didn't see or hear (not that I could hear anyone else over Mandy :-) ). The support you gave me was just fantastic, and it really helped me, as I so looked forward to the end of each bike loop so that I could see you all again. There were also a group of spectators between Bank and Bronson holding signs, including "Lance loves yah, baby!" and someting like "New bike, $1000. New tri clothing $100, Padded seat, priceless" They were just great!
I did the first loop too fast. Even going into the wind, it felt easy, and I wasn't pushing the pace, but I was just flying (well, for me, anything over 30km/h on a flat course is flying). I was quite pumped. I was able to get my pace under control in the 2nd loop, but I forgot to punch my watch to record my time for each bike loop like I'd planned until the end of the 3rd loop, so I don't know how fast I started. I was able to execute the nutritional plan I had laid out for the bike course, alternating taking a gel and a Gatorade bar at the end of each loop, sipping eLoad constantly from my aero bottle, and refilling my aero bottle with eLoad after the 2nd and 4th loops. The first time I refilled my aero bottle, my shouts of "Water bottle, top off" didn't seem to really register with the volunteers, so I had to grab the water bottle and open it with my teeth. Maybe I should have stopped by bike to do the refill, but I was able to refill on the move. The second time, after nearly colliding with a competitor who stopped his bike right infront of me, the volunteers were quicker, and I was able to do the refill quickly without having to use my teeth. I lost part of one gel as I didn't push the top of the squeeze-bottle fully closed, and it leaked all over my tri top pocket (and onto my leg as I discovered later). But that was ok, because the gels tasted aweful, so I didn't miss it (I don't know why it tasted bad, as it is a flavour I like). The road got crowded when the sprint tri and try-a-tri competitors were on the course, which was during my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops, but it wasn't as bad as expected it to be (Somersault did a good job of sending them off in waves, to spread them out). It got a little lonely again after they were gone, and it was just the 1/2 Ironman people left on the course. I stayed patient when I was going upwind in the 'wind-tunnels', even muttering about them to one group of cyclists as I passed them (wow! imagine, I passed someone on the bike! :-) ), and let myself go when the wind was behind me.
Michelle and Donna are both faster runners than I am, and I did want to beat them in this race, so I wanted as much of a lead as possible coming off the bike, so I kept track of how far behind me they were. My lead kept increasing each lap, until I had about a 10km lead on then by the last lap. On the other hand, my buddy Andy Fong was ahead of me (as I expected). I had difficulty picking him out of the crowds of faster cyclists, so I only saw him a couple of times, but he was pulling ahead of me. Good for him.
On the 4th loop I nearly had an accident. Coming back to the Pretoria bridge, I was with a group of other cyclists (they were passing me, as most people were doing during the race, so what else is new?), when a lady pedestrian, without looking, just non-chalantly walked out into the road. Other spectators and I started yelling at her, and she stopped right in the middle of the road, so we had to zoom around her on either side. What the &*^@#)! was she thinking?!? I don't think she was thinking.
At the start of the 5th loop, I decided to make a pit stop. My butt and left calf and neck were getting sore, and my bladder was full, so after getting out of the turn around area, I stopped, and made myself comfortable into the bushes lining Colonel By above Hogs Back falls. That was a relief. I felt so much better in so many places, it was worth the time lost. But the brief stop didn't help with the upset stomach that had bothered me for a couple of loops. It was at its worst after taking a gel - I even nearly threw up once. This was unexpected, as I had been taking gels on all my long bike rides all summer. Maybe it was the increased intensity as compared to my training rides?
At the start of the 6th loop, I was still feeling good and energetic, and was still cycling well, but the wheels started to fall off before I reached the turnaround at Laurier. My back and neck were bothering me more and more, and my legs, particularly my calf muscles, were really starting to scream. I had to drop into lower gears in order to maintain my 90+ cadence, and even then, the legs were having difficulty spinning that fast. My struggling was even more noticeable on the way back, as, with the wind behind me, I couldn't maintain the higher cruising speeds that had felt so easy on the previous 5 laps. And the Hartwell Locks hill, which I had pushed hard up to maintain my speed and momentum on the previous 5 laps, knocked me down to a comparative crawl this time. I was so glad that this was the last loop.
T2 went like clockwork. I changed my shirt, and then made a snap decision to also change my shorts. I also made a quick pit stop - my hydration was good - and then I was running. I was quite happy and feeling upbeat, as my time so far for the race was in the 'awesome' range - I had hit the 3hr time that I was hoping for on the bike, and my transitions had gone smoothly and quickly. I just was not feeling as good physically as I wanted to be coming off the bike - my calfs were just lumps of pain, and my stomach was still in slight upheaval. I asked Mandy for a leg change as I ran past her. She laughed.
The 1/2 marathon run was 2 loops of out-and-back from Hogs Back to Clegg St., with the 1/2-way turnaround just before the Hogs Back Locks. The first loop went quite well for me. Because of my stomach, I was a little leary of taking gels, and I delayed taking the first one until the turn-around at Clegg, but other than some flatulance, I had no other problems from that quarter. The calfs, on the other hand, hurt like #^%!@& but they didn't appear to be getting any worse. And I was able to find my running legs fairly quickly and settle into a good pace to finish the run in ~1:53. My energy level was good. I did consistent 10/1's (run 10mins, walk 1min) to help the calf muscles and to keep myself hydrating. I also took water at all the water stations. I saw Andy ahead of me, running well, much better than his run blowup at Muskoka, and Michelle, Donna, and Karen (who I had missed completely on the bike) running up behind me. Michelle especially looked very good. At the half way turn I took another gel, and told Donna M. "Ha! I feel better that I did an hour ago!" as she took another picture (that must be about 1,000 now of me for this race!). And I refilled my water bottle with eLoad (and I had enough eLoad for a 3rd bottle, if needed, but it wasn't on this day).
The 2nd loop of the run was a different story. My calfs got worse and worse. I noticed my stride length shortening, despite an increased effort level. And two new problems surfaced to take the place of my now-happy stomach: the bottoms of my feet felt like they were blistering, painfully; and my neck was getting sore and tight, with an ache spreading through my shoulders. Neither shoulder or head rolls nor finger massage seemed to help the neck, and the only thing that was going to help my painful feet was to either stop and sit down, or to jump in the Rideau Canal and swim the rest of the way to the finish line. I got a boost from the faster runners, including Andy, ahead of me as they approached me going the other way, appearing to be strong and fast and powering to the finish of their races. I stayed with the 10/1's (my race plan had me hopefully dropping them) because that was 1 minute of rest for the calfs, but getting running again became excrusiatingly painful on the feet. I took my last gel at the Clegg turn-around. Yah!I was finally heading for home. It took alot of mental power to keep my running pace and effort up. Even the slight uphills at Bank St. and at Hartwell Locks were a real test, as the all the pains seemed to gang up on me and re-double in intensity then. I saw first Michelle (looking awesome), and then Donna, and then Karen on their way out on their 2nd loops, and I was heartened. Coming down the canal to Hogs Back, I finally got the 'finishing spurt' that I was looking for. I powered up the slight hill at the locks and under the Hogs Back Rd bridge, spectators clapping, announcer calling my name, exclaiming "Yah! Yah! Yah!" to myself, and running right across the timing mats, before I stopped.
I got my medal, and then had to lean on the fence in order to stay upright. I told my body that it could stop hurting now because I had finished. Joan Hollywood pointed me to the medical ambulance, and I hobbled over there and had my feet briefly examined (just bad creases from the socks, nothing the attendant could do for them). I had failed to see/hear my friends at the finish line (Mandy had had to leave), but I was able to hook up with them afterwards, and cheer Michelle and Donna into their finishes. Andy told me that I was 2nd in my age group (out of 2) and I laughed so hard at that. I guess I HAD to go to the awards dinner at the Elephant and Castle now. You always win when you start and finish an event like this, and sometimes you even win a medal just for showing up. :-))
My thanks to Somersault Promotions for putting on this event, and all those volunteers who had a long day. My big thanks again to all my friends who I saw and heard, and those I didn't, who came out especially to cheer me and all the other competitors on. I couldn't have done it without you. And especially to Donna M. for all the pictures she took. To my friends and fellow competitors Andy, Michelle, Donna, and Karen, congrats, you all had a great race too! Andy and Michelle actually had to beat someone else to earn their age-group awards! And my biggest thanks of all to my coach Jane Armstrong, who patiently taught me so much about duathlon, answering my sometimes silly questions, and just told me that "You can do it" - what a confidence builder!!
Stats
=====
19/34 overall
14/21 men
2/2 men 30-34
8km run - 42:23, includes 1:07 T1
90km cycle - 3:00:10
21.1 km run - 2:00:01, includes 3:10 T2
5:42:32 official total time
as compared with my planned/expected/hoped-for times:
8km run - 44min
90km cycle - 3:05
21.1 km run - 2:06
transitions - 5min
total: 6hrs
Notes:
- except for pee break, bike laps were very consistent, even the last one (surprisingly, I guess it just FELT bad and slow)
- I should have changed my socks as well as the shirt and shorts for the 1/2 marathon run.
- 2nd loop on the run was 3:40 slower than the first one, but I still managed a sub 1:57 time, which I am VERY thrilled with.
- maybe I should switch to more solid food, less gels for the bike ride