Ironman Canada…the greatest race of them all.  Although I have done a limited number of Ironman and distance triathlon races, I still question if I will find one as incredible as Ironman Canada.  This is a race where volunteers (often kids) will run after you during the run course to ensure that you got the fuelling you wanted at the aid station.  It’s a race that will punish and enlighten all in one shot.  It’s a magical race and one I certainly hope to be doing again in the near future.  Until then, however, here is the re-cap of Sunday’s race, which was my first Ironman as a professional.  YEOOUUUU!!!

I showed up to the race still giddy about my interview with Paula Newby-Fraser from a few days prior and the sheer excitement of lining my bike up next to the likes of Belinda Granger with her super duper accent, Tereza Macel, and so many other incredible athletes who I have read about in magazines so many times.  Last year, racing as an amateur, the pro bike rack was something I drooled over during race starts, and I think I will always appreciate the opportunity to rack my bike next to the women I read about in magazines.  It is surreal and provides great inspiration to me.  Ironman race starts have an energy that I don’t think that can be duplicated, and although race mornings can be nerve wracking, it is good to take, even just a few seconds, to absorb that energy and try to store some of it within yourself for what lies ahead. 

Admittedly, I was very nervous about the start.  I am still an inexperienced swimmer and starting the swim with a small pod of professional athletes was daunting.  “Would I be able to hold any feet???  Would I be able to swim straight???  It’s GOT to be better than Boise!!!” These were thoughts that buzzed in my overloaded brain just moments before the start, but I just tried to let them be and begin to focus on the task at hand.  After some high fives with Sara Gross and Trevor Wurtele, I tried to keep Trevor’s last minute advice in my head as the gun went off…. “Just try and find some feet and hold on to them.”  5, 4, 3, 2, 1…it’s GO TIME!!!

The fast swimmers exploded off the front like a cannon and I just tried to stay calm and find my rhythm…and hopefully a group to swim with.  After a few moments, I noticed I was swimming at the same speed as some swimmers off to my right, so I backed off a bit and climbed on to the back of the train of swimmers.  Feet…yes…GOT ‘em!!!!!  This was very exciting for me, since I have never successfully swam off feet for the duration of a race.  At first, I didn’t know if I would be able to hold them, and was worried I would lose them at the sailboats over the turn, but I focused all of my energy and attention on holding those feet.  I managed to hold them and I jumped out of the water absolutely elated that I had finished my first pro Ironman swim with a group.  Certainly we were not the fastest swimmers of our little bunch, but it was a group, and I had not had to swim it alone.  YES!!!!!!  Mission #1 accomplished!!!

Now, off to the bike.  The volunteers in T1 were incredible and things moved perfectly.  The first 120 km of the bike were spectacular.  I felt great and was so happy with my splits and my computer readings.  Beyond this, I felt relaxed, under control, and comfortable.  And THEN came the out and back.  At about 120 km into the race, the unexpected happened.  A cable snapped and I no longer had any access to my big chain ring.  Nothing.  I felt panic and terror, but realized that I was lucky that I was still able to ride, and wasn’t at a complete standstill so I rode the remaining 60 km of the bike leg in my small chain ring.  At the top of Yellow Lake I hopped off my bike and manually tried to put my chain onto my big ring, but every time I hopped back on the bike, the chain fell off, forcing me to the get off my bike again and manually put it back on…since I couldn’t do it without my big chain ring.   After doing this 5-6 times, I realized that it was futile and that I was just losing more and more time.  Women I had passed starting going by me, and I knew I had to just keep moving.  I screamed and yelled for Tech Support like some sort of deranged whacko, but to no avail.  So, I spun my legs as fast as they would go, and tucked as small and low as possible for the 35 km descent back into Penticton.  It was very frustrating and stressful, but I was grateful that I was still moving forward and still in the race. 

The stress of those last 60 km though really did get to me and I failed to continue to fuel/hydrate properly. Once hitting the run, I felt, for the first time in a race, that my run legs weren’t there for me.  I didn’t feel good, and I realized that I was dangerously low on fluids and fuel.  At the first few aid stations I tried cramming solid food down and taking some fluids, but it was too late, and I knew it.  Now it was sheer damage control.  At around 9 miles, I realized I had to have a ‘movement’ of some sort but just couldn’t.  By the turn around at 13 miles I wasn’t sure how I would possibly continue in the state I was in, but realized that I had to try and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  At mile 15, I was able to have that ‘movement’ I was talking about – beauty I know – and I was shocked to see that I was actually bleeding internally.  It turns out that I had dehydrated so severely that my insides had actually ‘chaffed.’  At the moment I noticed this was happening on the course, I took a second to figure if I should keep going, but I realized that if it was something really bad, that my body would simply shut down on itself, but until then, I was going to continue.  The support of Sarah and Brian out there was amazing, as they just kept shouting at me to go on.  In my state of delirium I also remember seeing Lisa Bentley on the road who was shouting at me with such vigour…. “Don’t you give up!!!  DON’T you give up!!”  I kept hearing her shouting that for miles afterwards.  It was something to hold on to, that I could only hope would get me to the finish line.

Somehow, I was able to continue passing women on the run in this state, and around mile 16, I passed Tara Norton to take third place.  I felt no elation when I passed her.  I was too tired.  I couldn’t even say anything to her (….sorry, Tara…I hope I didn’t seem rude…I just couldn’t muster the energy to even speak!)  I was then following the volunteer cyclist for the leading men and women for the race.  The media motorcycle stayed close beside me taking shots, and as much as this may have been exciting for me at any other time, I felt nothing.  I just kept trying to run, knowing that I was on sheer survival mode.  A few miles later Sara Gross passed me and took third place over.  I ran behind her for a few miles, just staring at her legs moving like a trance.  I had no fight, nothing.  I figured if I had any fight left in me at all, it would have to wait until close to the finish line, because I simply couldn’t go any faster at the time.  So, I kept her in sight and just kept focusing on getting to the finish line.  Then at 23 miles, Sara’s knees buckled and she started wavering on the road.  Someone reached out and grabbed her, and as I went by, I saw her ashen face demonstrating complete exhaustion.  It was a very tough day out there for many people – especially on that run.  I do want to mention though, that Sara was a hero and FINISHED the race after spending 30 minutes in an ambulance after this, demonstrating the true spirit of Ironman…which is….NEVER EVER GIVE UP!  You are my hero, Sara.

I then ran the remaining 3 miles back in third place, knowing that as long as I could hold out for three more miles that I had third spot secured.  Haley Cooper was running behind me, and running well, but was far enough back that I knew I just had to maintain my pace.  As you run into the IMC finish the cheering crowds are overwhelming, but to be honest, I didn’t hear them.  I could ‘see’ them, but it was like a dream state of sheer exhaustion.  I was finished.  I do remember talking to myself in the last mile, urging myself out loud to keep going, that I could “do one more mile.”  The people cheering probably thought I was nuts…and at that moment….I truly was.  My run was good enough for the fastest female run split of the day,but down deep I was, and still am, disappointed with how the run went…but that’s just life and it’s also a fact of racing.  You sometimes have to just deal with the cards that you are dealt on the day!!!

Unfortunately, I missed the spraying of champagne with Tereza and Belinda at the finish line as I was instead rushed by wheelchair to get medical attention, but I could hear them in the background…and it sounded like one hell of a party, and I’m sorry I missed it!!!! 

To be very, honest, I am still processing the race…still re-living it…as it was a step in the right direction for me in my first year as a professional.  I learned and experienced so much that I think it will take a few more days to let it all settle in.  It was a tough day for a lot of people out there.  Although conditions ‘seemed’ to be good on the outside, they actually were very tough.  People really suffered out there.  At the awards ceremony, my friend, and fellow Factor9 athlete, Duncan, asked me what kept me going when things were tough and I babbled a few mantras and visualizations that had worked for me.  But when I asked him what kept HIM going, he said something that I think just has to be put out there for the public to read…hope you don’t mind, Duncan!!  He said, “When I am training for an Ironman I have to be away from my wife and two daughters a lot more than I would like.  So, when I am in those last few miles of the run and everything is screaming at me to stop, I think of them, and I think that not only do I owe it my myself to finish, but I owe it to them.” 

I think, Duncan, that you summed up the spirit of Ironman right there.   Congratulations to everyone who started and/or finished the race this weekend.  It was anything but easy out there, but you all found that glimmer of motivation to get yourself to the finish line (or for some of us…the med tent!!!) from somewhere deep within.  Great job, everyone!!!