Ironman Canada 70.3 - Triathlon

I calmly walked into the lake and once my goggles felt comfortable I just leaned into it and started swimming. I felt pretty good, my sighting seemed to be spot on and I headed for the first buoy. I had trouble passing a few swimmers blocking my way and I had trouble passing them but eventually I found a way through.
I approached the first turn buoy and rounded it a bit wide but now I was facing the sun and I lost sight of the buoys plus by swimming wide I wound up off course and pulling myself to the right rather than to the left as I wanted. I had to frequently sight and adjust my direction. I kept struggling with this until I turned around the next turn buoy and I could finally see the buoys and the finish. I picked up my pace and felt really strong pulling past other swimmers. I could now see the bottom of the lake and it was coming up fast as we approached the beach. Then I knuckle the bottom and I stand up. I leave my goggles and cap on and pull my wetsuit off to my waist.

I had trouble sighting and keeping myself swimming straight. Otherwise I felt good and comfortable in the water. I should have allowed myself more time in Whistler to get comfortable in the lake.

Coming out of the lake a wetsuit stripper grabbed me (nicely) and helped me down and pulled off my wetsuit in one big pull then picked me up like I was weightless (I weigh 180) and I ran straight to my T1 bag and followed some fellows into the tent. I was working to change on my own and a volunteer came up and sorted me out quite quickly and got me on my way. Coming out of the tent I saw the sunscreen ladies so I got buttered up - very smart thing to do today. Then I got my bike off the rack and quickly moved to the transition exit.

I can save a few minutes here. I need to pay more attention to my transition planning.

I crossed the Mount line which is at the bottom of a hill and I got on and started climbing. This bike route is not flat and there are no flats. It is all up or down. I'm pushing myself as hard as I can while keeping my HR down. In the first 30km I seem to be doing fairly well and coping with the climbing as best I can. As usual people are passing me although I am passing a few people as well. Passed a 64 yr old lady and cheered her on. I finally reached our Callahan turn around and an enthusiastic volunteer helped me mix up a bottle of my PHD drink and then I turned for the return ride heading north.
I still felt like I was making good time but the hills were relentless. Other riders cheered me on as I did them as well. They got a kick out of my "66" on my left calf.
The day is turning warm and other riders are sweating up pretty good. I am sweating but I don't seem to be suffering as much as the other athletes.
Now I am at 60 or 70 km and I reach the Rutherford Creek turn around and I am heading south into a pretty fair headwind and we're now looking at climbing back up the long hill we just came down. It seems like hours of climbing as we return to the Whistler Village.
I'm able to keep climbing but I am very slow.
Finally I pass the 70 km mark and I am just praying for a longish downhill to give me a bit of a break from the climbing. I just persevere and I'm entering the Village, can't be far now. I might even look like I am moving fast. I'm entering the final chute to the dismount line and I hear my wife cheering but I can't see her.
I pull up to the dismount line and I am off my bike and a volunteer takes it away from me.

I'm embarrassingly slow on hills. If I'm still this bad I'm not sure it is likely to change much. I just have to keep riding for my own pleasure and take it as it is.

Someone hands me my bag and Francois, friend from Penticton, calls out to me cheering me on. In the tent one athlete is in bad shape but the volunteers are looking after him.
I start changing and another volunteer is there to help me. I'm feeling really good and ready to go. I take the time to put on my buff that holds ice on my head while running. I'm going to need it today.
I'm coming out of the tent and yet again I hit the porta-potty - 3rd time today. I must be hydrating well.
I stop at the sunscreen ladies and get buttered up again. They tell me I'm burned somewhat. I think they saved me from burning a lot worse. As I run out of transition another lady yells out, "Go George" and I look to see a swim buddy from Penticton.

I'm too slow in transitions. I don't know how people can be so fast. I need to practice and take transitions more seriously.

I'm now wearing my bib number with my name on it so I get quite a kick out of people calling me by name and cheering me on. It really does help.
I am pleased to be able to actually run. I'm not fast but I am moving along pretty nicely for me. There are some uphills that I walk up but I am running on the flats and downhills. When I walk I am walking as fast as I can.
At each Aid Station I drink 2 coke, sometimes 2 gatorade and load ice into my buff. I take water and ice from any eager young volunteer that asks me if I want some so I am well hydrated and I eat some banana and grapes. If the grapes are cold they are a real treat.
Then there are young kid volunteers that offer to splash athletes as they pass and I never miss an opportunity to be splashed on my head and back. Very refreshing.
I found an athlete vomiting and I stopped to make sure he was okay and he insisted he was. Later I passed him on my return trip and he was running with a steep lean to his right. He did not look well but he was determined not to quit. I saw quite a few that were pushing themselves very hard but I would to.
On the run I was passed by another couple of swim buddies from Penticton and they each encouraged me on. I really appreciated seeing them out there.
Now people were saying only 5 more km even though it was more like 9km. I just kept going. The second half was passing much more quickly (to my mind) than the first half but then I realized I needed a potty break. With just a couple kilometres to go I had no choice but to stop and I lost 3 or 4 crucial minutes. Now refreshed we were running through people right up beside us and encouraging us on. It was really close and fun. I'm feeling pretty good. This is the most I've run in any of my HIM.
I'm in the village and a bit frustrated because there is no one to direct me and I'm not sure I'm still on course but then I am nearing the chute and people are cheering. I want to enjoy this but I am accelerating and everything is just a blur. I'm in the chute and it is narrow and people are cheering on both side and I see my wife behind the finish line and I am really running now and I feel really strong. I cross the finish line and I stop. I feel really good. Very tired but good. A catcher comes up to me and concerned about how I'm feeling, "Do I need Medical?" No. I'm good. They give me a cold water and I sip it but I'm not thirsty. She takes me for the finish line pictures and my wife comes up and gives me a hug. Then we move off to the side and she gets me seated (we brought cheapy chairs with us) and I sat checking out all the activity around me while my wife went and got my Recoverite.

I'm still very slow on the run and I walked too much but I ran about 20 minutes faster than my run at ChelanMan last year so it was some good out of it. I'll keep working on my run fitness. I think I still have room for improvement here.

I sipped my cold water and when my wife returned with my Recoverite I really enjoyed it with some chocolate milk. I didn't feel hungry for a while after the run so I didn't even check what they had for us.

After a while as I cooled off because I was wet with sweat I began to get chilled so we returned to our room and I just relaxed.


Next day we drove home to Penticton and I finally got to look up my results. I was a little over 4 minutes overtime so I am listed as DNF. I'm not concerned with this except that I did finish. I just didn't do it in the official time limit. I think it should be "OTF" meaning "overtime finish".




I'm old and slow. I should have started a lot younger but its too late for that. I had fun and I was strong enough that I didn't suffer or have to endure any kind of suffering. It was a good day for me.
Aside from picking a race with an easier bike ride I might also:
- Make an effort to save time in transitions,
- Eliminate any need for too many potty stops. I lost 8 to 10 minutes in 4 stops.
- I think my best hope for improvement is in my running fitness so I plan to keep working on that. After 5 years of cycling I don't hold out much hope for improvement unless I lose a fair bit of weight.


I was humbled by the hill climbs. A good rider wouldn't have much trouble but it was hard for me. I still loved it and wouldn't have missed it.