Best swim of the year for me. I started in the middle of the herd closer to the front. So little contact I had to keep looking to make sure I wasn't off course. I decided to swim right up the buoy line to draft off the real swimmers. Didn't really work as I couldn't find anyone fast enough to draft off of. I took refuge on a few peoples feet after getting a bit fatigued but then took off again after a minute. The last quarter of the swim was insane fast, the current literally dragged me to the beach, it almost pulled me faster than I could stroke. Very cool.

Next time I'm going up front, it was still congested even where I started from.

Not too sure what took so long. I seemed to lose my drive to get my shoes on. Showed me that I need to practice this type of transistion more. I'm used to having everything laid out, not dumped out of a bag.

Practice

The time for my bike is misleading for me. I arrived in town 15 minutes early and considering the overall ride, it really blows me away. By the time I got into Oliver, 45 Kms into the ride, my hamstrings were seizing so badly I had to stand and bend over the bars to stretch out, this triggered the quads and they seized up. It wasn't until 120Kms that I realized what my problem was. I made concentrated blends of Infinit that I poured into my Aero bottle then added water. The problem was I had always pulled over while training to mix my blends, this time I did it on the fly and the solution never mixed. I drank concentrated Infinit and when that was gone, I sucked back the water that had been sitting on top of the Infinit due to the fact water is lighter than the Infinit. By the time I figured out the problem it was too late to get angry and I was already trying to save my legs by drinking all my Infinit (I had packed two hours extra in case I lost a bottle off the seat mount). I had 1 concentrate bottle on the bike and 2 @ BSN. I managed to limp into the Special Needs, grabed my 2 bottles and started drinking. I was only just over an hour away from Penticton with Yellow Lake in my way. I was actualy looking forward to the hills. They were the only things that did not trigger seizures. The flats and downhills were brutal. I was trying anything and everything but it was almost impossible to pedal, upstrokes would make either the front or back muscles of both legs seize and I couldn't downstroke due to the tension in the legs. I thought at times the muscle was going to tear away from the ligaments. I started to wonder as I decended from Yellow Lake if I was going to be able to run at all...but still my overall time really makes me wonder what I could have done if I was at 100%

duh. make sure I know how to make a blended drink, next year the Martini shaker is coming with me! Screw the extra tubes and CO cartridges...I need bar equipment and ice cubes!

This was long so i could take inventory of what I had left. Kari was right at the bike dismount line. She called out to me that she was so proud of me. I quivered. How the hell could I NOT keep going? She was there, parents, nephews, neices...all waiting for me to finish. It was a very good thing I had sunglasses on. I had a hard time taking them off...I moved to the change tent as fast as I could, sat down and started to put on my running shoes. 5 times my legs went on me, I didn't care, I was leaving no matter what. I slogged out of the tent and realized I forgot sunscreen. The girls standing next to the HUGE trays of lotion offered their services to which I demanded that it better not be Sour Cream like they had last year. I was shocked I had any kind of humor left.

The time was directly related to the issues with the bike, next year, 6:10 will be 3:05.

This was the strangest run ever. There are so many parts that just blended into each other. I ran with so many people, met lots of characters out there, and just struggled through it like everyone else. There are three parts that did it for me though; the start, my good friend Alex saw me off, just as my hamstrings shut down on me. He talked me through it and walked me a block before telling me to try it again. Off I went. It was nice having the encouragement. The second part was the return at the end of Skaha Lake. One other guy was loosing motivation as was I. I ran up behind him and threatened him that I was going to run off with his Kona spot. He ran after me and we just kept spurring one another on. I'd run up ahead after he stopped, then he'd catch up and we'd joke about who would be going on to the Championships. It made the journey back in enjoyable. The 3rd part was the weirdest part of the day. What I was looking forward to the most, I missed. I saw my mom and gave her a huge hug and kiss then took off, I was wondering where Kari was and scanned the crowds but there was no sign of her. I started high-fiving the people along the chute, startedright side then over to the right...I apparently slapped my dad's hand and missed Kari. The one person I wanted to share my finish with, I missed. I was so zoned out, I barely remember crossing the finish, I missed the words "Chris, you are an Ironman" but overall I was happy with my run. I was going into this race with the plan of learning for next time.

Carry a video camera so I don't miss anything

Went directly to massage after grabbing one lousy piece of pizza (cold and greasy) Hung around to cheer everyone over the finish line. Froze my ass of but it was worth it!! Very exciting, asked Kari to take me home, I was falling asleep on my feet. I woke up when she asked me if I was hungry. He hit Lil' Ceasars and grabbed a bunch of pizza for the room. Showered, ate, watched the end of the race from the comfort of the hotel room. Very nice.


Lack of proper nutrition