Ironman Canada - TriathlonFull Ironman

This was a funny one.

I started dead center about 10 rows back. I can swim 2:00/100 no problem, and have been faster still on my last Oly/HIM but this time I was concentrating on taking it totally easy, no extra effort, no fighting, just follow the bubbles. 5 mins here is 15+ on the run. So I was expecting around 2/100 because of the draft and the wetsuit. 4-6 strokes per breath, no high hr. I shortly found out I sandbagged a bit more than I expected!


I gotta figure out my hard but not too hard pace for swim. Expected a 1:10 to 1:15.

I wore desoto long sleeve cooler shirt, and the riviera shorts under the wetsuit and the stripper guy had no problem yanking the suit off. Had a volunteer help me sort out my stuff. I spray my own sunblock - always. No race is worth skin cancer (runs in the fam). I also put on gloves with the desoto skin cooler helmet beanie. Stopped to get a coat of their sunblock cream and bolted for the bike.

Quite the surprise to run out to my bike and see the racks almost completely empty! WTF - over half the field is ahead of me. Got a tall order, but also have all day to do it. :) Whatever, make sure the Garmin is synced and my power display is all good.



Hard to screw this up with all the help. Next time I will skip the gloves and just pad my bullhorns more.

Bike: P2SL alum with vision basebar, brake levers, PD ski bend aero bars. Stock compact crank and a 12/27 rear. Speedworks bento, the xlab superwing (only 1 carrier on the dead rear with micro bag). 1 cage on the frame. Aerodrink light up front, with custom pvc 310XT mount near the shifters.

Flat kit was 2 butyl tubes, 3 co2, inflator with trigger, multi tool, chain breaker, spare link, crackpipe, 2 park levers, self stick patches.

Rear wheel was a Kinlin 32 spoke box rim, Vitoria Corsa Evo CX 23mm at 110 with wheelcover and powertap SL (I think). Front was a used flashpoint/404 clincher with a 20mm Vitoria Corsa Evo CX at 115. Both with mich latex tubes.

Helmet was the Lazer Tardiz (only one that fits my huge head)

Bike is all about being humble. There is no point going 5:15 and walking the entire run. You are riding your bike to the start of a running race. Rich from EN hammered this home on the free DVD "Long distance" and I really tried to take it to heart. There is no good bike split. There is only a good bike+run split. Listening to some guys talking about how awesome their bike splits were while I'm running past them means NO the bike splits were not awesome because you're walking 5+ hours.

I knew I had done a decent execution when I got to Yellow and felt really good. The climb was not a problem at all, just spun up like my commute hill all season.

For nutrition I went with 1 shot of EFS flask every 30 mins, 3 clif bloks every hour and then alternated Perform or water depending how I was feeling. So 300 cals/hr + whatever I drank. Dumped 1 water bottle on my cooler arms and back every station (sorry). No real heat training in Calgary this year as it's barely been over 25 but I felt really good for the whole bike. I was worried about the helmet but it was a non-issue.


NO aerodrink. I'm done with that mess. I will convert to the front horizontal bottle holder for races with handouts on the bike. I dunno if I'll keep the single rear holder - I didn't use it once. Just the frame and aerodrink (soon to be torpedo).

Oh and figure out why my front derailer is so touchy lately as I dropped chain on a climb (badly enough I couldn't get it back without getting off)

Again, another V helped me organise my stuff, I sprayed my own sunblock then went and got the cream. Shoes have my knotted speed laces from France (very funky). Potty stop and out the door.

Change into running shorts. Mine were fine but sticky from all the powerbar crap and they have no pockets. 30s more would have been fine with me in exchange for new shorts.

Do not wear triathlon running shoes with holes in the soles when there's water everywhere.

Again, I read a lot of race reports and advice from dudes way faster than me. I got my vdot number from my last HM and 10K and had my paces nailed to the wall. 5:30ish for the first 10k then 5:15 for the rest until finish or wall.

First few K, exactly as everyone says, you feel great and want to go fast. Ack sub 5, slow down, keep it 5:30, ack sub 5 again - idiot stop doing that it's hot out. But HR is low, come on maybe you can do a 3:30 (close to standalone) no no no slow down, lot's of run to go BACK OFF, don't outrun your fitness, but common, etc etc etc. That went on for awhile.

It got REALLY hot right, but the long sleeve cooler shirt seemed to work great because of the wind and the sponges keeping everything wet. Also asked the V's to put ice in my top spine pocket which kept the blood cool.

Funny thing about the ice in the neck pocket - it clinks. One time later I was running alone and though "Hrm, some dude is going to pass me running in bike shoes!" - but it was just my own ice clacking away.

My hat got super heavy being wet. That was unplanned. Also the shirt had crap pockets for running - anything in there bounces. Should have brought a small belt for a flask. I carried the same EFS gel bottle in my hand for almost 3/4 the race before finally tossing it. :)

My FEET. Ugh, I knew about making sure the hoses etc didn't get the feet wet but the sponges were running down the legs and the shoes have drain holes in them for Oly/whatever other tri races. So stepping in puddles meant wetter feet. By the halfway point I felt the soft squishy feeling of soon-to-come big blisters on both feet bottoms.

So the first half was a decent 1:55 for me (paced slow, was secretly hoping to pick it up) but lack of 30+km running and the wet feet (and probably the heat) did me in and I did several walk-run segments before running in the last 5km.


Pace a bit slower % on the run, and do some more +30km runs even if they are under pace. I had two 30km runs everything else was in the 20s. I gambled that I could get away with skipping the really slow long runs. I was wrong.

Obviously the heat was a factor, but with how much support is available I can't use that as much of an excuse. Now my wet shoes and feet, I absolutely can and will plan for that in the future.

Now that some time has passed I wonder how much the foot pain really bothered me vs me using it as a mental pass to walk. I guess it really takes several IMs to get the wall idea down and be able to deal with it properly.

Not much - I felt pretty good but obviously totally exhausted. Had a slurpee and Burger King and went to bed. I wanted to go back down to the line but wife and kids and barely being able to walk won over.



Lack of long (2:30 hr+) runs. Heat. Wet feet.



Great race, already chomping at the bit to have another go, but with the little kids this will be the last IM for 2-3 years. I will use the time to get faster at running and work on some short course bike.

I would love to hit 10:59 next time.

Went for a 5k run on Friday, and an 9k run on Sat. Totally flat speedwise but I feel good. Legs are still sore so I'm still taking it easy for the next week or so. Haven't hopped on a scale since race day - hope it's not too bad.

This was an awesome race. In a perfect world, I might have run down an 11:30 or so but whatever, it is what it is and I'm ok with everything. And the day was HARD so no matter if it was a 9:00 or a 16:59 everyone paid their dues.

I can't WAIT to be back.