Triathlon: Ironman Race Report - First Timer!

Saturday, November 11, 2006 - 12:12 AM

Rob from Windsor, reporting....






Somewhere in this mass are a few scared fish....

I have to say up front that the entire day was enjoyable and actually really fun…

There were a lot of high points and some lows but the training and work throughout
this and last season paid off… I never suffered nor even once felt like I was in
over my head.

The swim:

Race morning was freezing… seriously I think the temp was somewhere in the forties
but it was soooo cold!! I woke up and went to transition to drop my bags and change
into my wetsuit at the last possible moment. Managed to find Pete and we hung out
for a bit trying to stay warm and wished each other luck and then off to the beach
for a swim…

The water was warmer then the air by far which made getting in a pleasure I stayed
to the back and right (outside of the course) as I knew from prior days swimming
that there is a strong right to left current on this course. The waves were rolling
in but thanks to Matt and Shelley sending me pictures of massive surf on the course
from years prior they did not look too bad to me (thanks for the desensitization
therapy). Once past the sand bar and shallows the waves turned into a rolling swell
that was pretty big, add a bunch of inexperienced athletes at the back (myself
included) that are swimming every which way on the course and you have yourself a
human washing machine of elbows and ankles.

I am a new swimmer so the course for me was very challenging and tough to navigate
especially as it was difficult to tell where you were and where you where heading
with the swells blocking the view of the markers unless you popped your head out at
the top of a swell… I managed to kick out of the water with a 1:35 time a bit
better then the 1:45 I thought I would end up with… not bad considering how wavy the course was.

Upon coming off the beach I was stripped by not less then 4 wetsuit strippers that
were… well very enthusiastic… lets just say that I was glad I was wearing bib
shorts!!!… they took the wet suit and some skin very cleanly off of me and had me on
my feet and rolling in no time flat…


The Bike:

Transition was chaos - the tents where teaming with people going every direction, I
changed as fast as possible and set out for the 112 mile ride.

The start of the course was head winds that were strong but managable for the first
50 miles or so and I set a good clip with the idea of a sub six hour ride in mind. One of the benefits of being such a poor swimmer is that I was pretty much passing
people the entire ride even in the head wind.

I started right away with nutrition and hydration and lots of it. By 50kms I was
feeling great but slower then wanted due to the head wind so once the turn was made I ramped it up to about 40 to 45kms in the tailwind put my head down and held that for the better part of an hour and continued with a fast pace for the latter part of the ride.

I managed to squeak out a 5:55 bike which I was very happy with.


The Run

The run is a marathon 26.2 miles... or 26 one mile jogs with the 0.2 miles added
just to put a final nail in the coffin... I jumped into some running clothes and set
out on some very sore legs (in particular my knees) for a marathon, I was hoping for
a 4 hour marathon but the wheels fell off a bit, the course was flat and fast but
between my stomach and my knees my pace was slowed to a crawl. I also was very
hungry at this point and stole some pizza from a volunteer as well as a big piece of
brushetta from a lady having a party in her front yard. I must have looked pretty
funny eating pizza while running a marathon but I was so hungry. Anyhow the 2nd lap
was very dark which was nice actually as it was a little more relaxing for running
and nice and cool as well.


The End!!!:

I managed to ramp up my pace for the last couple of miles and ran to the finish
where I promptly collapsed and almost fell on my face. I was dragged to the medical
tent and weighed - apparently I lost 13 lbs during the race so they IV’d me with 2
liters of saline after which I felt 100%

Bottomline is I ended up about 12 hours and 25 minutes and finished 962 place out of
2200 or so competitors... all in all a good first attempt....

The amount of weight loss is staggering given what I consumed during the day here is
the run down:

- 11.5 to 12.5 liters of fluid (mostly gatoraid)
- 7.5 bananas
- about 6-7 oranges
- 13 power gels
- 1 slice of very good pizza
- 1 piece of somewhat stolen brushetta


Anyhow in general it was a great day I will do another one for sure very positive
and fun race and it was great to see 16 others out on the course from the area and
also fantastic to see so many Canadian flags on the course.

Of note is that there were 16 of us from the Windsor area doing this race... we all
finished well with several first timers like me finishing and some more seasoned
athletes managing a personal best...!!!

A gentleman 35 from montana did die during the swim... its unclear at this point
what happened to him... quite a shame... they will be releasing the results of the
autopsy once its completed


Rob Lovell
c/o the Running Factory

www.mynextrace.com
... fan and published author!