Ironman Arizona Race Report Part I

Prelude

We arrived in Phoenix the Thursday before the race (which was a Sunday). Since we got there early afternoon, I went to check in at registration and lucked out because there was no line. Right away Jason and I noticed that athletes were walking around with their race numbers on already, along with their ages on their calves. Hmm, triathletes never cease to surprise me with their weirdness. At registration I was told you could get body numbered before the race, or in transition on race morning. I asked a fellow racer why anyone would get numbered beforehand, and he said "if you get numbered early they use a stencil, but race morning they only use a sharpie" and the look on his face told me that should explain everything, obviously. Uh huh. Another guy said he was getting it done early in case it comes off, so then he can get it done again. Right. I did find it amusing that the line for pre-body marking was really long, and athletes seemed ok standing around for up to an hour in the sun, just to get ink smeared all over them. Probably not the smartest thing to do pre-race.

Registration complete, souvenirs purchased, so we headed out to the Beeline (highway 87) so I could go for a ride. I wanted to get my legs moving after sitting on a plane all morning, and make sure everything with my bike was working. It was a super-calm afternoon, nice and warm with no air movement at all. Of course I got all excited thinking conditions for race day would be perfect. Ha ha on me! Anyway, I went for a spin up and down the Beeline while Jason hung out waiting. I really like the bike course, it is well-suited to the strengths I have cycling. I'm not a good climber but am content to pedal at a pretty steady effort for a long time.

Pre-riding on the Beeline.

Back at the condo, Kirsty and Heidi arrived so we hung out, unpacked, and visited. Friday didn't have anything on the daily program besides some pool time and the pre-race dinner. Candace arrived in time for that busy schedule, so once we were done lounging by the ice-cold pool (which would come in handy later but was kind of disappointing that afternoon), we headed to Tempe Town Lake for the dinner and pre-race meeting.

Dinner venue at Tempe Town Lake.

Saturday was the only day the race organizers had scheduled a practice swim, and swimming in the lake wasn't allowed any other time so Candace and I headed to the lake that morning. I got my wetsuit on and jumped in, and holy crap was the water cold. My feet and face were instantly frozen! Apparently the water temperature was 61 degrees F (16 C), which isn't the coldest water I've ever been in, but a bit of a shock when the air temperature is so warm. I didn't swim for too long, but mainly wanted to check out the swim exit as it seemed a bit of an issue.

The water level was lower than the stairs out; in fact the first step at the swim exit was just above the water line. That meant you couldn't step or even kneel onto the ramp at the end of your swim. I found the best thing to do was grab a few steps up and haul myself out of the water until I could get a knee on the bottom step. Not the most graceful manoeuvre, and I was wondering how that would go race morning when there would be dozens of swimmers all hitting the stairs at the same time.

Practice swim over, it was back out to the Beeline for another quick ride and then a run. Then check in the bike and gear bags, and back to the condo to relax (read: try not to freak out too much) and get some sleep before the really early wake-up call race morning.

Desert evening.

Where Are We?

Jason and I are on our way home from Arizona. Race was a success (report to come). We are waiting in the Seattle airport for our little puddle-jumper connection to the island. It feels as if we are somewhere else, however, as there is snow everywhere.

We only get a few days of snow each year, and it seems that it's come early this winter. I was hoping we'd miss it altogether. We need a good day of rain to wash this stupid white stuff away. What's the point of living in the area with the warmest average temperature in Canada if we have to deal with weather like this? I don't mind driving up to the snow when I feel like going skiing, but I don't want to live with it. Perhaps it's time to start looking for jobs in Australia...

Race report will be posted soon!

Pimp My Ride

In August I introduced you to my new bike. Of course, it's borrowed from Jason since he's not using it right now, but I'm calling it mine. I have a very important pre-race ritual, and that is cleaning every minute part of my bike and getting it all shiny and race-ready. I do it before every big event, and I find it almost meditative. So yesterday I spent some time cleaning the Transition.

Jason, unbeknownst to me, ordered some pink bar tape and flower stickers to personalize the bike and make it feel more like mine. It's now all "decorated", and at this point I don't see how he's ever going to get the bike back. He was, however, quick to point out that the stickers will come off easily and he's got spare red bar tape for when he takes the bike over again. Hmm, we'll see. I've spent so much time on this bike since August that it really does feel like mine.

The Transition is all cleaned up, tricked out, and race ready.

Goals

I am one week away from Ironman Arizona. One week! In some ways, it doesn't seem that long ago that I was a whole year away. However, I have come a long way in this past year and am glad this race is finally almost here! As with every big event, I have been thinking about what I want to get out of it. Additionally, of course I've had to answer "so, how long do you think it will take you?" about a thousand times, so should probably give that question some serious thought as well.

That's actually the easiest thing to answer. How long? A really long time. A co-worker asked me if I thought it would take between 2-4 hours. Ummm... you can't even drive the course in that amount of time. Thanks for the confidence in me though. I did Ironman Canada an entire decade ago, and my time was 15:17. I think I can beat that, even though I'm ten years older. Aging process be damned.

The swim. I started swimming again at the beginning of this year after taking several years off. I was always an ok swimmer, but getting back in the water was pretty depressing as I was a lot slower than I used to be. Duh. I have worked hard in the pool and am pleased to report that I'm pretty close to where I was ten years ago. I think my swim will be close to 1:10 for the 4 km, especially if I pick a good line, get a pretty good draft and don't get boxed in by the 2,799 other competitors. About six months ago I was thinking I'd be lucky to break 1:20, but now I'm feeling much more confident about the work I've done since then.

The bike. Kirsty and I have been focusing on the bike, as this is where I'll spend the bulk of the race. Let's face it, 180 km is no lunch ride, even when that's all that's on the agenda. I am REALLY hoping to break 7 hours (which is a lot faster than I rode at IMC in 2000). Even if my split is 6:59:59 I will be happy! I know I can break 7 on a good day; it may be up to the wind and luck (no flats...) to help get me there. The course is known for a rather intense headwind section, repeated three times, so I have been working on staying aero and still. I will do everything I can to get back into transition in under 7 hours, except completely shatter my legs as I still have to run the marathon!

The run. I have no time goal for the run. I am not a great runner, but Kirsty and I have been working on a run/powerwalk plan that I really like. My goal here is to always be moving forward and to hustle.

My real goal... is not time related. Time is what everyone has been asking me about, so there is your answer. But if you want to know my true goal for the day: it is to soak it all in and have fun. For even the speediest athlete, Ironman is a long day; longer than most people's work day. Therefore I think it's imperative that I enjoy it. I see too many people taking Ironman so seriously that they forget that it's recreation. After all, I chose to do this (indeed, I paid a large sum of money for the ability to participate). I have a fantastic and privileged life that allows me to make that choice, and I intend to enjoy the day. There will be points that I am marvelling at the beautiful desert scenery, points that I am feeling strong and powerful, and points that I will be wondering just why I chose to do this and feeling tired and in pain. But I plan to enjoy all that. To really take it all in and get what I can from it all, the good and the bad, the fast and the slow, the strength and the pain.

At the end of the day (literally, the end of the day), there is nothing that can really go wrong with my race. If there's a serious headwind and torrential downpour - really? Can't be any worse than some of my training rides this fall. If I get a flat tire, I will change it. If I get another flat, then I will wait for neutral support to see if they have another tire or wheel. If I get yet another, or if my bike undergoes catastrophic failure and I can't finish the race, that's ok as just doing the training was my real goal. Will I be disappointed? Of course, but it would be a pretty minor disappointment when put in perspective. If I can't finish due to fatigue (pretty unlikely) or push myself so hard I end up being carted off the course by medical (even more unlikely), I still did the training to get to the start line. If some unexpected scenario arises, I will roll with it to see where the day brings me to. I have a super-duper team of friends and family showing up to support me and cheer me on, and it really feels good knowing that I have peeps in my corner.

I believe I will finish the race. I believe I will finish strong and achieve all my goals. I will have fun and enjoy what the day brings.

Humu's Best Friend

My dog's best friend is a monkey named Julius. Not an actual live monkey; Julius is a stuffie. But to Humu, he is her best friend. She carries him everywhere. When Jason and I get home, she runs all over the house looking for him, and then parades around with him in her mouth for several minutes. She sleeps using Julius as a pillow. He is covered in perma-dog gob. He has a couple of nasty scars where she tore him, and he was rushed for emergency surgery to repair the wounds. She flings him up, around, snatches him out of your hand, tries to get you to grab him, licks him, places him on the couch... she even humps him sometimes. Yes, my female dog does that.

Julius and Humu hanging out.

She loves Julius so much that we even have a back-up Julius hidden away for the inevitable day we will not be able to repair a catastrophic wound.

Caught in mid-romp.

Nap time.

Happy Halloween

Our usual carving contest was suspended this year so Jason did the pumpkin carving honours instead. He decided to go with a Star Wars theme...

Morning Wildlife

I was up at the crack of dawn for a ride this morning. I don't do that too often as I'm not really a morning person (luckily we're well into fall so the "crack of dawn" is getting later...). I'm not much of a night owl either; I consider myself a solid midday-er.

I only had a short 2-hour spin on the schedule, and Jason was running a half-marathon in Shawnigan Lake about an hour's ride away, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to get on my bike early. There was not much light and still very much a chill in the air so my teeth were chattering as I started out (one of the drawbacks of living at the top of a hill is that you're guaranteed to be cold when starting a ride and cruising downhill). But I turned towards the river to take the scenic route, and was rewarded for my decision to get going early.

First prize was a massive California sea lion fishing under a bridge. He surfaced with a large salmon in his jaws just as I rode by. Second was a belted kingfisher squawking away, competing for decibels with a nearby Steller's jay. Next came a great blue heron, standing motionless on guard next to a creek. Finally, darting through the brush, scurried a mink.

Jason, on his way to placing second overall in his race, said the only wildlife he saw was the remnants of a Halloween party still going from the night before. The stillness and the subtleties are things you don't notice when you're hammering away. But they make a perfect backdrop to an easy recovery spin on a crisp fall morning.