Also, this is long, I tried to keep it as short as possible, I tried =)
Time Summary:
Overall: 14:04:32
2013 time: 13:23:40
Swim time: 1:30:52
2013 time: 1:31:12
T1 time: 4:06
2013 time: 6:14
Bike time: 6:55:47
2013 time: 6:31:13
T2 time: 2:18
2013 time: 5:32
Run time: 5:31:29
2013 time: 5:09:29
Background:
The year of 2014 was all about getting fat, I didn't have any big race, I had no goals and no motivation, I got lazy, and I got fat. I hit 200 lbs in the summer and it was a warning sign!
During a family trip last summer, I was going through Facebook as usual and I saw Ellie's race report. I started following Ellie after 2013 Ironman Whistler and I got really inspired by him. I got really motivated reading Ellie's race report, it's when he worked hard and won his age group, also earning his spot to Kona, such an inspiration. I decided to reach out to him, maybe learn a thing or two or just making more friends. Long story short, he's been my coach even since.
I used all that negative energy from last year, set my goals and started training for Ironman Canada 2015.
It hasn't been an easy journey, without getting into too much details, besides IM training I also started a new job in September which requires me to work night shifts, and long hours (10 hours and 12 hours), and weekends, and travels (Dallas in May and Morocco in April). One of the darkest moments was biking on a stationary bike for 3 hours at Hyatt Casablanca, that's almost as painful as it could get.
In additional, I hurt my back at the beginning of the year from lifting luggage, and had also hurt my neck from lifting furniture. There were days that I couldn't turn my neck at all, and I had been swimming with a snorkel for couple weeks because of that, not fun at all; in fact, it was full of frustration and very painful, literally.
However, I got through all that, I always tell myself that, "If it's easy, everybody will be doing it!"
Fast forward to 10 days before the race, I started to get sick, I thought it was my mind, it started to mess with me early this year, but it was as much physical also, I was coughing and sore throat, etc.
I swapped around my work schedule so I got to take some time off before the race, which was a great idea. Mabel and I drove up to Vancouver on Thursday night, and up to Whistler on Friday morning. Since I did this race in 2013, I planned not to get too caught up with all the excitement at the expo, my plan was to finish all the check in and mandatory things, then just eat, relax and do nothing as much as possible.
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| Having lunch with Mabel at our fav crepe place |
After athlete checked in, we walked around the expo even I am not planning to get anything but somehow stopped at a booth that had some helmet deals. Without much thinking and just looking at the discount price, I got a Giro Air Attack helmet. :)
Mabel signed up for yoga and she headed to her class and I went back to hotel start thinking what to pack. The backpack this year is pretty cool, also, and they have gotten a beer sponsor this year. :)
And packing was definitely one of the hardest part of doing Ironman.
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| The after and before |
Same plan for Saturday, just got up and eat, checked in bike and transition bags, then back to hotel and do nothing! I was able to take a nap in the afternoon which was very nice, I knew that I probably won't be able to get much quality sleep that night.
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| @ Rainbow Park, after checking the bike in. |
Just as expected, I couldn't sleep much the whole night, I set my alarm clock at 3:45 and 4, and I was already awake before the first alarm went off. I woke up, washed up, ate and tried to pooped, but couldn't.
Got ready before 4:30 and headed out to the parking lot 4, It was pretty cold in the morning, I thought about wearing two jackets and a pair of shorts over my tri kit, but I only took one jacket, which was a mistake. But it's ok, I wasn't freezing cold, just colder than I'd liked. I dropped off my special need bags (which I didn't use) and lined up for the shuttle bus. Talked to this guy from Texas during bus ride and that helped to take my mind away from the race.
Arrived Rainbow Park very early, i think I had like 2 hours of spare time. I checked my bike and was walking towards the T1 bag area and I spotted Robert. It was like the best thing happened at that moment, we just talked and talked and talked the whole time, it helped to clam me down before the race, and it's very nice to catch up also.
The time has came, we started walking out to the beach and got ready by 6:45 ish, tons of people were already out there. We started swimming out to the starting line right after the female pro took off at 6:55. The short swim out was pretty crowded, and the short wait felt like forever, all these waiting was driving me nuts.
Swim:
At 7:00, there's the gun shot and off we go!
My plan for the swim is to always get comfortable, settle down and try to conserve energy and be as efficient as I can. The first couple hundred meters was like a human washing machine, as they call it, i kept on getting sandwiched, for some reason people just love me and kept on swimming towards me from left and right, it's all about the love from Ironman athletes. I got kicked couple times, slapped couple times, nothing serious, nothing out of the ordinary. I got into my rhythm and I just kept moving forward, one stroke at a time. I checked my watched right before the first lap, i think it was 40 min ish, right on schedule.
The second loop was also uneventful, and that's exactly what I wanted! During the swim, i felt the rain was coming down hard, but at that point, there's nothing to worry about except to finish the swim.
Getting close to the coast and saw the IM arch, I just kept swimming until my hands hit the bottom, then I got up and started 'running'. I saw a wetsuit stripper right in front and I just laid down and I got stripped, don't you love the stripper at the Ironman race, lol...
2013 time: 1:31:12
Pretty consistent, I will take the 20 seconds improvement =)
Transition:
I grabbed my transition bag and just kept walking forward. There were like thousands people in the tent and no space at all, I just kept moving and exited the tent and saw this little spot on the side, I put on my bike shoes, sunglasses and helmet and off I go.
*Lesson learn from previous race, there's no reason to slow, nor sit and relax and chill at an ironman transition, it's still a race and every second counts.
T1 time: 4:06
2013 time: 6:14
Bike:
While in transition, I hit the lap button one too many time by accident and I thought it said 1:40, so mentally I was discouraged a little bit. It is what it is, the swim is done and i can't changed the history I let that thought go and just focus on the bike.
My plan for the bike leg was NOT to push at all and stay in zone 2 as much as possible. I would definitely want to settle down before arriving Callahan, that was my game plan and my main focus. Being at the moment and that was the hardest thing to do, you felt all that energy and people started to pass you and you just need to hold back and let them go. Be patience Bruce, Be patience!
Anyhow, I stuck with my plan and heart rate was slowly dropping from 170ish to 150ish and around 145 before starting the Callahan climb, success! I'd take any success over the long and brutal day of an Ironman race. As hard as it felt like, it was all in my mind, I found that I wasn't going much slower even though I wasn't pushing at all, that's a good lesson learn.
Lesson Learn - There's a good reason why these are called endurance races. it's supposed to be endurance zone of 2 instead of hammering zone of 4-5.
The climb up to Callahan wasn't bad at all, it actually felt easy, heart rate was low, I felt that I was slacking off and it was suppose to be like that! After the turn around point it was all downhill and it was fun. The downhill and steady climb back to Whistler was also uneventful, the rain was coming down pretty hard on us and I was only wearing the tri kit, I guess I was kinna lucky that I didn't feel too cold on the bike.
Then, I noticed that something was hitting my left heel, I looked down and it was my crank. the middle screw part was coming out slowly, I tried to turn my heel outward while pedaling, it helped a bit but if that part kept coming out, it would still hit my heel. Also, I started to worry that it may came all the way out and my crank may fall out?? that was the last thing i want, so I decided to stop and check it and tried to fix it. Luckily, I could just use my finger and turn it back in. This mechanical issue ended up causing my three stops, or four, I don't remember exactly.
Before the race, coach and I talked about peeing on the bike/run, and I was planning to do that. However, the problem is I have never tried it before. While heading out to Pemberton, it was all flats with a tail wind and I was keeping a good pace. I started to feel I need to pee, but at that point I didn't feel bad enough so I let that feeling go.
After a while, I felt that I needed to go again so I started trying, I tried and I tried and I tried, and I found that it's almost impossible to go on the bike! I kept trying, I moved around, I tried to speed up a bit and stopped pedaling and just focus to pee, it happened! That feeling was so great it's like you have accomplished something amazing, lol.... But then you realized that it was just a tiny bit. After that, I tried a couple more times, but the urge to pee is so much greater than my ability to do it on the bike. I arrived the turn around point and was heading back from Pemberton, there was a head wind coming back, plus I wasn't able to stay aero position because I needed to pee so bad. so the pace was much slower. At that point, I really really had to go so I gave up on the bike and decided to go at a water station.
Lesson Learn:
Never ever try something new on your race day. I knew this before, and I have always been telling people NOT to do that, but I made the mistake. I should have trained for it if I am going to do it during the race, or forget about it.
Eventually I stopped at a water station and I peed! Omg, it was like the longest pee I have ever had and it's probably at least 20 times more than on the bike, volume wise, it was such a relieve!
After that, I got back to my plan, just steady climb back to Whistler. It was a long long climb back, it was cold and gloomy and rain was on my face, but I did this in 2013, and I also rode the course last year, so I knew exactly what to expect, I just put my head down and climb, one stroke at a time. now that after the race, I don't remember it was extraordinary bad, so the fact that I was saving energy at the beginning of the bike, having a game plan, knowing what to expect and prepare my mind, all these has paid off.
Climbing back to Whistler wasn't all that bad, I think it could call that a success.
Big thanks to the volunteer who takes our bike, I promised I only peed a little bit, not too much. lol...
Bike time: 6:55:47
2013 time: 6:31:13
not the time I wanted, but that wasn't my focus. I successfully stayed in zone 2 as much as I can, and I successfully peed on the bike, I called it success =)
Again, over the years, I focus too much only on time and be too harsh on myself. The fact that every single race is different, it's never really apple to apple comparison. I also learn from the experience and set small goals along the way is equally important.
Transition 2:
T2 was relatively quick and fast, I just grabbed my bag, found a spot, took my bike stuff off, wore my socks and shoes, grabbed my visor, racing belt and sunglasses and go. I started put stuff on after I started running so I can save some time.
T2 time: 2:18
2013 time: 5:32
This is a big success. 2 min ish is as good as any distance that I did, and that's less than half of 2013.
Run:
The big focus for the run is the same as the bike, settle and stay in zone 2 as much as I can, be conservative and hold back for at least the first lap.
Lesson learn -
I always know that keeping a low heart rate is super hard at the beginning. However, during this race, I found that reaching high to zone 2 is even harder in latter part of the race. There's so much more to learn about heart rate and racing.
It felt like every single muscle in your body was screaming and wanted me to stop, and here's come the worst problem. The fact that I was wearing the tri shorts from the very beginning of the race, it has became a big piece of sand paper and it's been cutting me raw. I did put cream in the morning, but after the swim, pouring rain, pee, and sweat, it was cutting my inner thighs, butt crack, and the worst, my balls. (sorry for TMI, but you've been warned at the beginning of the post, lol...)
Being a profuse sweater, I get cut on legs and different places all the time, but my balls is the first time. I could deal with the pain from muscle, my legs, and the soreness and pain from everywhere else, I have been there, I have dealt with it, I have expected the 'dark place', what I didn't expect was the balls pain. It was hellish, I couldn't even walk, not even pee. I did went to honey bucket twice, and it was burning like crazy.
at that time, looking at my watch, and considered my condition, I was doing the math and i knew that my race was done, I wasn't going to beat 2013, and I definitely wasn't able to stay in zone 2 anymore. However, I wasn't totally done, there was no giving up and I haven't even considered a DNF, I just keep walking and run whenever I can, one step at a time, every single step bring me closer to the finish line and that's the only option I had.
Run time: 5:31:29
2013 time: 5:09:29
Overall: 14:04:32
2013 time: 13:23:40
Passing the finish line was awesome, there's something unique about finishing an Ironman race. I am proud of myself to just make it to starting line, and also finishing. Honestly speaking, I am also disappointed after the results, but it's ok, it's always a learning experience, learning from my mistake and make sure it doesn't happen again.
After this race, I can say that doing an Ironman is not the most painful experience, taking a shower afterwards is definitely way worse.
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