Ironman Canada : Official Thread

Thanks for starting this.  I'll be in Canada as well for my second IM.  I did CdA this year and loved the experience.  I'm looking forward to training with all of you!

Canada will be my 3rd IM.   IMAZ 2010, Cozumel 2011 (i have 8 more weeks of training)

I am trying to do a different one each year just to travel a little with my wife while racing.   I am not a good climber ( I am probably a bad one) but this is all about the challenge, right?.  the other option was St George but it is too early onthe season.

Do you all have accomodations yet ?  I am having a hard time finding a place to stay under $200.  everything is booked or $250-350.  I think they jacking up the prices which has me a little disapointed.   Any ideas or suggestion on where to stay would be appreciated.

Happy training

This will be my second time at IMC and I've volunteered at it twice. If this is your first time I'm sure you will be BLOWN AWAY by the support from the town.  You feel like a pro whether you finish in 9 hours or 16:59:59.  I'm a big dude (285 lbs last time I finished) and the climbs were very long but not super steep with the exception of a part of Yellow Lake and I feel like my fat would be a decent judge of the climbs. 

Enjoy your time and I would make an effort to stay in town for a few days either before or after the race.  Last year we stayed at a hotel in the middle of town and that was okay but this year we got a suite with a kitchenette right at transition and across the street from the lake for $175/night.  It's a beautiful town, not much in the way of shopping but you'll spend plenty on finisher gear on the Monday

There's a channel that slowly flows from Lake Okanagan to Skaha Lake and you can "go floating" and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Plus, the wineries all around you provide awesome tours and tastings and Summerland Sweets (a super popular pancake syrup company) is located like 20 minutes from Penticton and have tons of great stuff. They also have a tasting room of their syrups (apple pie is my favourite!). 

Anyway, unless you're going to qualify for Kona just finish the damn race and enjoy every second of the day, it's only your first time once!!!

This will be my first IM. I've been to Penticton several times to watch and often thought "what if?". So next year I guess I'll find out the answer to that question. 

Not sure how other first timers are feeling, but to be honest, I am already quite nervous about the whole thing. I've already had several "last person out of the water to an empty T1 except for my bike" dreams, hopefully those pass as my wife already thinks I'm strange enough without adding triathlon nightmares to the list  However, I'm trying to bottle that nervous energy and use it for training motivation. 

I've been told by several IMer's to relax, try to enjoy the journey over the next year and just stay as consistent as possible with training.  So that's the plan. I hope everyone else enjoys the journey as well.

Good luck to everyone! 

I really really agree with this!  ENJOY THE JOURNEY!  You will have plenty of moments of "why the heck am I doing this?", but more moments of sheer awe at what your body can do.  I had an absolute blast training for my first over the past year, and had to experience it all again.

One thing that really helped last year was the support of other BTers on the IMCdA thread.  I logged all my training since January, and it was very helpful and fun to have others track me and to track everyone else in return.  I hope this thread can provide that type of moral support over the next 10 months as well.

Bit of a delay no the community spots going up for sale. Wonder why...

I did Canada this year. Super, super race. I did not sign up 2012, because it was my first and thought 2 years in a row was crazy to do this. But now i sit and wait for the community spots to open, so I can potentially spend twice as much money.

I went thru the same thing the last few weeks.  I ended up finding a B& B for in Summerland about 15 minutes from the start line. I did not want to wait for the spring to see if I got lucky.   Good luck

Don't panic too badly. Things will open up but you do need to keep looking.  Last time I raced I stayed fairly far away from transition and it has its up side and its down side. The up side is that your family can see you on the race course near the hotel with few spectators around (downtown and by transition is often 3 or 4 deep with people).  The down side is that come finish time it may be tough for them to get parking and get to the finish area with ease.  The other up side to staying near transition is that it's where the action is leading up to the event and it's right at the shore of Lake Okanagan so walking to the beach and just hanging out is at your doorstep.  Also, after the race, you're probably not going to want to be riding your bike back to your hotel so you either need a friend/family member to wait for you to collect your things. If you stay near transition you can easily walk (read limp) home after.

They do jack up the rates for Ironman but I can't fault them as this is the town's big event of the year and supply and demand drive prices everywhere.

IMC 2012 will be my first IM, so excited.  My son, age 15, cannot believe I am going to do this

I used to say "I could never do a half IM"  I have now completed 3.  I used to say "I could never run a marathon"  I have now run 2 marathons and running my 3rd in December.  I can't wait to hear "You are an Ironman"! 

I am a slow swimmer too and will be swimming slow and steady at the back of the pack.

Looking forward to hearing about everyone's training journey!

Looking forward to racing IM Canada!  This will be my 7th Ironman.  I take Computrainer classes and on Tuesday night we "rode" part of the IMC course.....BEAUTIFUL does not do this course justice!!! 

Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Abbie