Ironman Canada - TriathlonFull Ironman

The cannon fired and we were off! I dove in and started swimming right away. The crowd pressed in from one side or the other sometimes but there was always somewhere to go and usually feet to follow. I was mostly able to swim steadily.

A few hundred meters in, something hit my head, hard, and knocked the goggles crooked. I pulled up for a few seconds to empty and straighten them. The next day I was asked repeatedly about a big red mark on my forehead. I was not sure where I got it, and assumed it happened later in the race, but now that I'm typing this out it seems possible that it happened here.

It didn't take too long before I realized I had forgotten the bodyglide on my neck. It wasn't too bad though, as long as I didn't turn my head at all to breath, so I was rolling a bit more than usual.

I noticed several divers sitting on the bottom, watching us, as we approached and rounded the houseboat at the first corner of the course. It was more crowded along the short leg between the houseboats. After we made the second turn back towards the beach, everyone spread out again.

I swam in to where it was really shallow because there were lots of big, rounded rocks on the bottom, right up almost to the beach. I was practically crawling over them through the shallow water before I got to a sandy bottom that I could walk on. I barely had time to pull the suit off my shoulders before I was at the timing mats. Note for next time: I think the sand went out lots further if we finish more to the right.


Lube on my neck, duh, otherwise it went pretty well.

I got my glasses, dropped for the strippers, got the bag, and walked through the crowd to some open space and empty chairs at the back of the changing tent. I had heard of volunteers helping people but I was on my own in the tent. I seemed to be getting a bit of tunnel vision and I was in no particular hurry, taking one step at a time. This included my open-finger bike gloves, another good thing. I knew right were my bike was, grabbed it and ran for the mount line under an overcast sky. The overcast was important because it took a while before I realized I had missed seeing anyone to apply sunscreen.

I could have moved a bit more efficiently in T1 and I should have looked around for sunscreen.

On the bike I tried to remember "don't eat the paste". My pace seemed easy and I was being passed a lot, though I did pass a few people too. The bike shop recently installed a compact crank and a 12-27 cassette for this race and the easier gears worked well. I was spinning past some people on climbs like Mclean Cr & another short hill, somewhere past Oliver I think.

Then the sun came out. There were still some puffy clouds and it was supposed to start raining later so I hoped I would be OK with just the sunscreen my wife had put on my back. Hope was all I could do about it at that point though. It got warm enough to worry me through the rollers and on the out and back section but I got lucky and didn't burn anywhere.

I was eating more power gels than usual, but they seemed to be going down well with water and I was still drinking the perpetuem regularly. I stopped to pee at an aid station half way up Richter without losing much time & refilled my water bottle. I was happy to sit and spin comfortably up the pass, often in the low 34/27 gear combination.

Once over the top of Richter I was able to tuck & fly on downhills. With the compact crank I ran out of fast gears quickly but even without pedaling I was passing everyone in sight on the descents. Anyone faster must have been long gone ahead by this time. I started pushing a little over the tops of the rollers to get into a tuck quickly. This eventually was my downfall.

On the Cawston out and back section there is another short out and back leg off to the side. I crested a bit of a rise, shifted up to my big ring, and started pushing for downhill speed like I had been doing, when I saw the right hand corner just ahead. I didn't realize how sharp it was though, and started to run wide towards the cones and the oncoming bikes. I grabbed the brakes, the back tire started skidding around, released the brakes, the tire caught, the bike snapped up and over, and I went down hard on my left side.

A volunteer from the corner came over and helped me up. There was a moment of nausea and dizziness but I shook it off. He said the scrapes on my back weren't too bad. The other road rash I could see wasn't bad either, except for some deeper patches on my forearm. I think the gloves helped. The helmet didn't feel right but with some twisting the liner popped back into place. We got my chain back on, and shifted back down to the small ring, and I was away again.

It was tough to find a tolerable position for my forearm in the aerobar pads and I realized pretty quickly that I had separated my left shoulder too. I've separated the right shoulder a couple of times in the past so I recognized what I was feeling. The separation is where the collar bone connects to the shoulder and I could ride all right in positions that held the two parts together. Drinking was awkward now though as I could only use light left hand pressures while riding one handed. To get my forearm out of the pads I was also riding sometimes with my right arm on the aerobars and my left in the drops position, or just sitting up.

At special needs I replaced my empty perpetuem bottle. The bubble wrap had worked well to keep the bottle cool. The sandwich was awesome! I had seen lots of people changing flats but had been lucky that way so I didn't need the extra spare tube.

The ride up to Yellow Lake was steady and seemed to pass quickly. The crowds and the atmosphere were amazing but I was a bit preoccupied. I did try to give back a bit by continuing to ring my bicycle bell lots, which many people seemed to like. Again, I was passing everyone on the cruise down from the pass to town.

It's hard to say for sure, but I think I could have pushed a bit more throughout the ride ... and not crashing would help too. :)

The shoulder was a problem when sitting down to change and to use the port-a-potties. It was also awkward reaching for stuff and putting on shoes but I got it done. This time I got sunscreened, of course that was just before it started raining. I was still in the transition area when I discovered that my shoulder didn't like running either but as long as I tightened the muscles enough to support it I could manage.

I saw some friends on Main St. and Leanne was over on Lakeshore but she missed me. Leanne's sister, Charlene, and her boyfriend were further up Main too. They had arrived during the day so he could sign up for next year. I kept up a run until I was out of downtown but the muscles supporting my shoulder were getting tired so I started walking. It started raining and I was walking lots to rest my shoulder. At this point I was sort of resigned to it. I was wearing really light shoes that I like for running but they weren't the best choice for walking and my feet were getting sore too. I walked much of the way to Okanogan Falls.

After OK Falls, I started running more often. It still bothered my shoulder to go for any distance but I figured I ought to "suck it up" and get done. When I ran I was even passing the other runners but I was still walking lots.

Partway back along the lake I met another guy, Ted. He was telling me about some ultra-running races and how he was finding it hard to run slowly. He said he would run faster for a way and then walk, which I said was similar to what I had been doing. Then he said "Lets find the next mile marker" and we started running. Ted would walk often, at aid stations, hills, or just because, but only for a few minutes before he was off again. Our paces matched pretty well and I just sort of followed along as we talked. Together we were making pretty good time and started reeling in some of the people that had been streaming past me. We decided we could get sub-14 for sure at this rate and should get to town before dark. As we went up Main street Ted was getting more and more excited, running further and faster with shorter and shorter rests. Approaching downtown I finally wished him a good finish, shook hands, and let him go ahead.

Then I saw Barry and ran with him for a few minutes, although at an easier pace, before he went on ahead to alert Leanne that I was coming. I walked a bit to save up energy for the finish, and started running again as I came towards Lakeshore drive and past the finish area. I didn't see Leanne on the first pass but did see a few people cheering that I knew. I walked some more in the dark out on the far end of Lakeshore, and tried to start jogging in from half way back. Leanne was on the side just before the bright lights and she finally saw me too! The noise was deafening as I headed into the lights. More tunnel vision as all I could focus on was the finish and I started to really sprint hard. That seems so dumb now but at the time I just wanted to fly to the line and be done. I just barely got stopped in time to stick my head under a finishing medal.

The catchers were nice. I didn't mention my shoulder to avoid the Med tent. All they would do is give me a sling and some pain meds, both of which I could take care of myself if needed. The catchers guided me to the picture area and then to some chairs where people were eating. My quads were cramping now and it was hard to sit, especially without using my left arm. The catchers brought me some pizza and a recovery shake drink before returning for their next catch. The food gave me a slightly unhappy tummy. Sitting might have been a mistake as it was very hard to get up. My quads felt like rocks, not a single stone but a pile of little round boulders from a stream bed. I skipped the massage, wanting only to go curl up in a dark corner. Walking back to room seemed to take forever with very slow, short steps. Made it. Charlene went to pick up my bike and bags.


Lack of preparation, disorganization, and poor judgment. As always, more training would have helped too. I felt like I was saving a lot for the run and then couldn't/didn't use it. Part of that was the injury but it was partially psychological too. Running with Ted towards the end of the run proved that I could have held a much better pace earlier but just didn't.


The race is awesome! The scenery, the volunteers, the spectators, the other participants, it's all so amazing. I'd like to try this again with some better training, and without the mishaps, to see what I could do.