Ironman Canada - TriathlonFull Ironman

Coming from a non-swimming background this leg of the race is usually my most stressful. Not this time. I was a little nervous before the start - but so were the 2800 other people. Once the gun went off I slowly walked in near in back 20% of the massive crowd and simply started swimming. I felt no nerves, stress or panic attacks. After all these months it was a relief to be finally doing this.

About 1000m into the swim my old nemisis returned - my right hand started going numb. By 1500m I was having to pull on my wetsuit every 60 seconds to get blood to my hand but it wasn't working very well. At 2000m I accidentally tore a huge hole in the armpit area while tugging on the wetsuit. It helped a little but my hand and arm were completly numb by the time I reached shore.
Sighting was easy - actually I did little sighting. There were so many people in the lake that I just followed the crowd. There was some incidental contact but nothing too rough (except for one a-whole who punched me in the head about at 2500m).

I was very happy with my swim performance in general, even though I probably lost two to four minutes on messing with the suit. My predicted time was 1:25, my dream time was 1:20 and my 'I'll still be happy with it' ime was 1:30.



I need to address my wetsuit issue. I like the Desoto suit for shorter distances but the arm numbness can't happen again. I either need a bigger top, I need to cut the arms off my existing one or a new type of suit.

I took it easy in T1. Forgot a towel so getting socks on was a pain.
Got the suncreen (good idea).

maybe move a little faster.

I followed expert advice and took it easy on the first 65km to Osooyoos. That made climbing Richter's Pass a breaze. The heat started getting pretty bad for me, especially since I've been doing most of my training in the maritimes in 20C weather. I drank more than ever but I think I still got dehydrated becasue even after 8hrs. I barely peed at all. The suffering started just before the climb to Yellow Lake and the ride back into town (last 30km) was torture. I developed sore-spots on the soles of my feet under the pedal cleats and it took a lot of efferot to keep pedaling. The heat and exhaustion on Yellow Lake was the tipping point that caused my stomach issues that plagued the rest of my race.

My predicted time was 6:30, my dream time was 6:00 and my 'I'll still be happy with it' ime was 7:00.

P.S. To the genteleman named MALCOM (male 50-54 AG) who passed / fell behind me several times. I've no problem with guys weating man-kini tops but if you wear speedo bikin bottoms please don't let them wedge up your butt like a thong. The visual may have contributed to my GI problems later on in the run.


Drink even more. I don't know how but I should have forced it in.
I dropped my chain tewice during the race - but never during training. I'm not sure why but I need to figure that out.
I stopped for 3min. at special needs to eat some potatoes and pretzells. That was not necessary.

Slow. I was dizzy with the heat. Moved sluggishly though T1.

The first 1km was rough but then I got some sort of rhythm going and was actually running. But after 5km the wheels started to come off the bus. My stomach had shut down. NOTHING was digesting. I could barely take in water. My stomach built up massive ammoutns of gas and I felt like I had to burp but couldn't. It was very uncomfortable and by 8km it stopped me from running. So I walked. I walked a lot. I walked 13km to the turnaround. Then I kept walking back. I was staggering and dizzy at this point. The heat and digestion issues made me worry I would end up a DNF. At the aid station around 24km I had to sit down in the aid tent. This was a good thing. The 10min rest settled my stomach enough for me to continue. I kept walking. The sun set and it started to cool. Around the 34km aid station I rested 10min again and my stomach really recovered. I was able to run again for most of the last 6km.

1. Train in heat
2. Train more BRICs in heat
3. Drink more on bike
4. Jump in Skaha lake at around the 7km point to cool the body off. Then rest for 15min. That would have probably helped my tummy recover faster and I could have shaved an hour of walking off my time.

Found my wife and kids. Agreed to meet them in the exit area. Lost them. Walked around for 30min. looking for them. Swore I'd never do another IM again (recanted about 2hrs. later).


Heat and digestion issues. Need to train more to be better prepared for these.


Great race. I want to do this again but the next time I want to be really ready for it.