Ironman Canada

[Andrew]

Here I am am, 1:00pm in the afternoon PST, and watching anxiously to see how the BPR and friends handle the bike course in Penticton. I have been able to see everyone's swim results, and it looks very promising for some great races.

Sean leads the crew with a 1:02, and inches closer to breaking the 1:00 mark each time he jumps into the water. He has some time to make up on the guys in his age group to get his spot to Kona. Eric swam well, and made up some time on Sean early in the bike, and we are all hoping he does not run into the same cramping issues that plagued him in Oliver and Osoyoos.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Blair are tearing up the course, with Carl, Paul and Randy close behind. Tim Cooper is staying strong, and it seems Paul has not let his chronic sholder injueyr hold him back much, as he wa out of the water in under 1:20. Go get 'em guys!!!

As for the women...local pro Janelle Morrison swam a decent 1:05, and was riding well through the first half of the bike. She has an amazing marathon background, so you may hear more about ehr later in the race, once she laces up her shoes.

Meanwhile, the entire crew of BPR/Vernon ladies were aout of the water within 10 minutes of each other, with Kathleen at 1:10, Ally at 1:13, Michelle at 1:16, Trish at 1:18 and Kara at 1:22. They are sure to see each other out on the bike course, and I hope they find some energy to cheer for each other as they ride past.

In the mean time, I had an opportunity to partake in a really fun off-road duathlon in Yellowknife. It was the proto-typical Northern Race. Casual start line, so many black flies, that the kids were hiding under their parents blankets, and a course that was marked with occasional flagging tape, to keep you guessing. The ice, and gentle exercises I have been doing have helped remedy the niggling ITB problem I developed last week while focusing on dryland training. So, I was happy to participate, and run pain free on both of the short loops through the forest. The ride was fun on a borrowed MTB bike, and in the end, the general atmosphere was so fun, that it was worth the effort. So, I ran hard thinking of all our crew racing the hearts out in Penticton, and rushed home to try to catch the updates as they are posted on the Ironman site.

Go team go!!!

[GinnySellars]

What an incredible display of grit and determination! I was inspired by the courage shown under difficult conditions.

-Kathleen had a broken wheel and had to wait for ages to replace her 650cc
-Sean had not recovered from an ultra taxing race schedule, and had the sense to drop out
-Michelle can count her workouts on two hands due to a season of forest fire fighting
-Ally battle stomach pain for 110km on the bike, then had the guts to complete
-Jan had excrutiating pain in all the wrong places, but took ice, battled the nausea, and completed
-Aaron rocked the course, but suffered heavily on the run in the heat and smoke
-Trish had a solid race, and kept it steady and sure under tough conditions
-I haven't heard from Paul, but he was consistent throughout the day and finished his first IM
-Peter raced strong. On a different day he may have had faster splits, but he put together a hot first IM

Before it becomes a distant memory, write down your race report, and please share it with us. I'm dying to hear the nitty gritty.

I was damn proud of the BPR jerseys on the course. You all showed strength and perseverance. As my own race approaches in October, and nervous of having to dig that deep and find the guts to rip it up. Thanks for the inspiration!

[sean]

Here is a synopsis of my day for Ironman Canada 2009.
We arrived in Penticton on Thursday and registered without incident.  Did a short ride and run on Friday and a very short swim on Saturday.  I had loads of rest and felt prepared going into Sunday.  It's funny, people had been asking all summer if I was excited about the race and I felt somewhat ambivalent.  I had been working on my bike, was hoping to improve my times in all three disciplines--specific goals for this ironman.  Previously I just wanted to survive.
Sunday came and the swim started.  I tried to be on the far left but drifted into the main field and had to battle through but did try to draft a bit.  Only one brief upset of my goggles--I am glad I put the goggles under my swim cap--I think that saved me losing them and swimming 2000m with no eye protection.  I think I sighted a bit better--hard not to when surrounded by other swimmers and I think working with the paddles helped my arm turnover.
I finished the swim in about 1hr 18plus minutes--my goal had been less than 1hr 20min so on track.

I transitioned quickly for me and felt really good for most of the bike.  I decided this race to use carbo-pro and gels as nutrition.  I think in hind-sight I need some solids and will replace the gels with fig newtons.  I was refluxing a bit of the gel and carbo-pro everytime and was in aero.
The wind after yellow lake was a bit demoralizing and I also was uncomfortable on my bike and not thinking-- my chain came off twice due to poor shifting of my gears on my part and my left big toe went completely numb--this happens to me after about 100km usually so I had expected it.  My bike time was 6hours and 38min.  I had hoped for 6hrs and 30 min but overall I am happy with the result.  I hope to do a proper bike fitting so I can comfortably ride.

Now the run.  Sean met me in transition to let me know he stopped after the bike--he knew I would worry if I didn't cross paths with him on the run--I think he also knew I would need encouragement to start the run.  He was right.  I felt a little nauseated and could feel my left foot.  My transition time was a bit long but I took some advil and electrolyte tabs and water.  I tired to run but didn't feel well.  I swa Sean and my parents on Main street--Sean suggested taking in water, ice and I would settle into a pace I could manage.  He was right--I walked up main st---not easy as everyone is cheering and I really wanted to run.  After the second aid station I started to feel a bit better and started to run.  I walked the aid stations and up several hills(last year I had been able to run more on the marathon).  My overall goal had been to finished in less than 13hrs.  I realized I would not meet that goal but at about 10km left I felt I could beat my overall time from last year which was 10:20.  So I tried to pace myself and did make it in at 13:16.  It was not the run I wanted (5hr 10 min--I had hoped for about 4:45-4:55) but it was great to see everyone on the run.
I feel I learned more from my races this year than I did last year good and bad--I am going to work on my nutrition--there is nothing worse than nausea.  I also want to keep getting my swim time down with better sighting, work on my run cadence and the mental aspect of keeping running and not giving in and try to get comfortable on the bike.

[Andrew]

That last report was courtesy of Juliann, despite it being posted under Sean's name...they share the same computer access it seems.

I have been privileged to witness some of Juliann's training this summer, and saw her crank out 5:30 hours in the heat of the summer, and then suffer through a 30 minute treadmill run immediately after, so I was pretty sure she had what it took to have a great race. When so many other faced insurmountable pain and suffering, it seems Juliann was able to overcome the challenge on a very tough day.

Time goals are always very difficult at Ironman, due to the drastic changes in temperature and wind conditions year to year. This year, that was especially true, and I think Juliann's time was very strong, and shows her great training to be faster on this day than she had in previous years.

One last insight. I think her comments on race nutrition are very good, and Sean's advice to slow it down and take in some water at the beginning of the run probably saved her race. The nausea was likely due to a combination of the heat and dehydration, and not due to any fueling issues. So, straight water was the answer, with some time to let the treatment take affect. A great example of identifying the issue, and coming up with a solution that makes sense. Not always easy towards the end of a long race.

Great work Juliann!!!

[IronVictory]

Here's my race report:
I really felt I was ready for this race which was my first Ironman. I knew what my goals were and I had finally figured out my nutrition which I had struggled with for so long.

SWIM
The swim was horrible! It was a real battle ground out there. I positioned myself to the far left and made a bee-line to the sailboat. It was way worse than any half-iron I have done. I could not get away from any of the flailing arms and was stuck in the pack for almost the entire swim. I had no open space at all, so during the final leg, I said "screw-it" and swim on the inside of the buoys so I could get some space. Goal: 1:20 Actual: 1:24

T1
I had decided to wear my bike shorts over my tri shorts to save my tender butt. My buddy put his bike shorts on under his wetsuit, but I decided to put mine on in transition. What a mistake! You know how hard it is to get tight shorts on when your legs are wet?! It was a struggle to get them on which ate up valuable time. Lesson learned here.

BIKE
The bike went ok overall. I made sure I was strong from Penticton to Osoyoos and made it in great time, without overdoing it. When I started climbing up Richter, I felt a little tingle in my left calf which I had never felt before. It was just a slight tightening, but I knew something was up. I kept drinking and eating per my plan, but by the time I had reached the out-and-back the little tingle had now turned into a constant pull. I started drinking more and taking ZoneCaps. Going up Yellow Lake my calf muscle really tightened. I made sure I was drinking lots, and downed more ZoneCaps - but I knew I was in for it during the run.
Goal: 5:45 Actual: 5:58

T2
This transition was uneventful, although I had to go to the bathroom. I couldn't believe I still had to run a full marathon!

RUN
Starting the run I did the quick shuffle that Ginny had told me to do which was great. I kept my pace quick but didn't speed up until way down on Main street. I felt good up until the 18Km mark, then things changed. That little tingle I felt up on Richter now reared it's ugly head and turned into a full on excruciating cramp. It was so bad, my leg would actually give way and I would almost fall over. I immediately started walking through every aid station and took in Coke and chicken soup when they had it. This got me through to within 20ft of the next aid station. So the rest of the run was a struggle as I had to run with this painful cramp. The positive thing is my fitness was great as I was not tired, it was just the cramp that was slowing me down. Goal: 4:00 Actual: 4:30

My finish time was 12:09 (which is the exact same as my race number: 1209 - how creepy is that?)

When I originally decided to do this race, I had set a goal of around 14hrs to complete it. Being my first, I didn't know what to expect so I set my goal high. In February I had knee surgery to correct a torn meniscus, which set back my training. At the mid point of the training season I was feeling very strong and thought maybe I could do the race in 10-11 hours! Then I ran into some cramping issues so I had my bike re-fit and those went away. Then I ran into huge nutrition problems which were never really solved until a month ago. Overall I was happy with my time and it was a great experience. Did I enjoy it? Not sure. The whole day was a struggle starting with a 3:30am wake up and for all the amount of training I put in, all the family time I missed, all the money I spent, honestly I'm not sure if it was worth it. I am glad I did it though, as it was on my bucket list, but I think I would like to concentrate more on half iron's as it is such a good distance where you can go hard, have a life - and have fun!

[GinnySellars]

Jan Kehl: 1st Ironman PART 1
My goal was to complete the ironman in the allotted 17hours and I did that.  The day was much different than I expected but in the end I met my goal and am proud of my accomplishment.  I will add that I feel another ironman is in the future someday, more on that later.

I got a decent sleep the night before the race.  During my previous days in Penticton I was feeling nervous, my stomach had butterflies, and I kept wondering to myself, why?  What was I nervous about?  I wasn’t going to win the race or my age group or qualify for Kona; I was simply here to finish, proving to myself that I could achieve what I once thought impossible.  Yet I couldn’t convince myself otherwise so I accepted I would be nervous.  I think the fear of failing and of the unknown was taking its toll but I still slept fairly well and stayed out of the sun and the heat.  I kept hydrated and fuelled and spent lots of time lying on the hotel bed with my feet up.  Watched the new Star Trek movie, I liked the green girl Kirk made out with, pretty funny.

When 4am came around I was up and ready to go, ate early and lots.  I prepared my water bottles with “eload”, which wasn’t going to be available on the course and I was concerned I would run out during the bike as I knew it was going to be hot.  Headed down to transition just after 5am. Got marked up and dropped off my special needs bags for the bike and run.  As I headed to transition to pump up the tires I realized I must have put my morning clothes bag in with one of my special needs bags.  I thought to myself, wow, my first task of the day and I’ve already screwed up!  Adrienne came around to the fence where my bike was.  I pumped up the  tires, added my water bottles, set up my Garmin watch on the bike, passed the pump over the fence to Adrienne and headed off to the grass area by the swim start.

I heard there was close to 2700 people in this race, more than any other ironman race ever so I was quite surprised when I bumped into just about everyone I knew who was entered that day.  It was comforting to connect with so many others from Salmon Arm, Vernon, and Kelowna, I realised how many other people have impacted my training and helped motivate and get me to the start line. 

[GinnySellars]

Jan Kehl PART 2
As soon as I was into my wetsuit Steve King, not the author or my parents next door neighbour, but Ironman Canada’s famed announcer announced the timing mat was open and ready for athletes to enter the swim start area.  I was over right away and quickly headed to the far side of the start where the family would be expecting me.  Can’t remember how early I was there but after some kisses for the girls and hugs for mom and dad it seemed like the pros were off and we were all singing “O Canada”.

When the start went off I was calm and ready and it wasn’t as maniacal of a start since the water was so shallow and we all walked out to deeper water for the first 50m.  I felt great in the swim, and for the first 1600m didn’t have much in the way of contact with others.  I kept telling myself, this is it, I’m actually doing an Ironman, and I can’t believe it’s actually happening after all the training, all the stress, all the days off, the minor injuries, the fear, and the day was actually here and I was ready!

I didn’t wear a watch for the swim so I didn’t know how well I was doing but it felt consistent with my normal pace of 2minutes / 100m.  Things were going so well until I got shocked back into reality as I turned the first leg and promptly got smoked in the side of the head by a very diminutive but very tough woman.  I know she didn’t do it on purpose, at least that’s what I will always believe, but she rang my bell pretty good and I had to stop and take a few breaths and fight the instinctual urge to swim over top of her.  The back leg of the swim was a nightmare, there was no room and it was a fight to keep any pace up.  Once around the last leg buoy it was much roomier and I felt good so I picked up the pace and passed many swimmers.  I enjoyed passing the others and savoured the feeling as I knew the swim is my best event compared to the other competitors and I knew many of them would be re-passing me later on the bike or run.  The last buoy seemed to take forever but eventually I could see lake bottom again and came out the water with a time of 1hr 14m.  2 minutes ahead of my goal of 1hr 16m.  Great start, and feeling great too!

My coach Ginny reminded me earlier to not waste any time in transition so I grabbed my bag, ran into the tent and changed as fast as I could.  I got outside and called for sunscreen, when the volunteer slapped it on I felt a stinging pain on the back of my neck, guess I forgot to apply glide to that area and my wetsuit chafed it raw in the swim.  Oh well, no time to worry about that, I grabbed my bike crossed the exit timing mat and after two failed attempts to click into my pedals finally got it going and took off.  Later, I was mildly disappointed when I found out my T1 time was 5m 17s, I thought I was faster than that.

I looked for my family in front of the bmo but they were nowhere to be seen, turns out I had already passed them, they saw me and cheered and yelled but I didn’t hear them.  I felt great on the bike, I was off to a dream start but didn’t want to hammer it too hard on the start of the bike so just spinned easy and tried to bring my heart rate down.  I soon realized that I hadn’t turned on my garmin and when I did it took forever to get a satellite signal due to moving on the bike.  Oh well, no big deal, I knew on Maclean Rd hill I’d be going slow enough to pick them up.  One of the best moments of the bike for me was seeing Ginny and her group at the husky station where the route turns to head down Skaha Lake, I got so much cheering from them it lifted my spirits even more than I was already enjoying. 

Once at the Mclean Rd turnoff, the first and steepest, although, very short, climb began and of course I was going slow, slow, slow, and everyone kept blowing by me.  I thought to myself, geez, I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t ride up Silver Star Mountain three times in training?  I may have had to walk my bike up all the hills, but, eventually the hill was over and I passed lots on the downhill portion when we got to Okanagan Falls.  The ride through Oliver to Oosyoos was nice and my pace was good, the wind wasn’t too bad and the scenery is second to none.  There were lots of flat tires on the bike route, this being my only ironman it was hard to decide if there were more than normal, but I didn’t see many flats in the half ironman in Oliver which shares a portion of this race, I was very happy to not have a flat myself on the day and even more happy to not have the crash that I saw later in the race. 

Once in Osooyoos the big 11km hill up Richter pass begins, there were tons of spectators cheering us on up the hill and I felt great to be treated like I was actually worth all the fuss.  It was hot, and windy and I was feeling a little sluggish but once I got to the top I kept thinking that’s it!  Richter Pass is behind me!  The descent down the backside was scary fast, I hit 78km/h which isn’t all that fast compared to elite riders but for me it was fast, and with the wind, it was scary, it was the fastest I’ve been on my bike. One question I want answered is why do I lag behind so much going up but going down I literally blow by others, it turned into a bit of a joke on the rollers as I kept being passed on the way up and then I repassed other riders on the

[GinnySellars]

JAN KEHL PART 3

way down again and again.  Something to do with physics, or the bike or my riding style, but it was weird especially when I blew by another really big guy which threw out my theory of momentum.  Anyways, it was very sad and sobering to see a women who was ahead of me on the bike had a bad wipe out, she was lying on the ground with one leg at a bad angle and I knew her day was over, she was crying and in pain, and I felt sick for her as volunteers were helping her and I could hear the siren wailing in the distance.  The traffic along the rollers to Keremeos was heavy and I was beginning to lose my good feelings about the ride, it was noisy, windy, smoky and hot and I was getting a bit worn out.  I kept thinking about my special needs bag at the 120km point. 

Finally got my bag and downed my sandwich and put the coke in my bottle cage, I wanted to make sure I used it to help me up Yellow Lake, the refined sugar and caffeine working as a pick me up when I needed it most.  Yellow Lake is known for its steep pitch at the end stages of the ride, I was worn out and tired but knew that I could get up Yellow Lake and it was mostly downhill from there.  The best part of the hill was the amount of spectators, literally hundreds lining both sides of the road making a narrow path for one or two riders.  It looked like a scene out of the tour de france last hill stage.  It was very emotional and motivating to think of all these people out there cheering on their family, friends, and anyone else crazy enough to take on the challenge.  Ginny told me she’d be out there and I saw her and Chris and gave them big high fives and I could tell Ginny was surprised to see me there already so I knew I was having a good ride.

Once atop Yellow Lake the ride took a brutal turn for the worse.  There are still a few more climbs I had conveniently forgotten, and the wind was blowing fiercely.  Hot, smoky wind in my face blowing so hard that even on the downhill parts it felt like I was getting nowhere.  When the highways joined at Caledon I was getting miserable and my butt and groin where killing me, I was done with this ride but had 20km still to go! 

Eventually I made it into Penticton and headed back down Main Street to transition.  The crosswalks along the road here, although lined very nicely with beautiful brick work suck royally when it feels like crossing cattle guards on thin bike wheels.  Once into the downtown area things picked up again as the crowds got huge and the road gradually descends making the last km a fast finish.  I glanced over to where my family was to see my dad taking a picture of someone else, I yelled over to him but I was gone and into transition again.  I knew this transition would be slower as I forgot to take my garmin off my bike before the volunteers took it from me, plus I stopped for a quick loo break.  I ran back to my bike and got the garmin, went out the wrong way, back tracked and finally made it over the T2 timing mat, turns out my T2 time was 7m 3s, not what I wanted but good enough.  The best part as I headed out on the run was I had a 6h 45m bike split.  Better than I could have wanted on a tough riding day!  I was ahead of my planned time and feeling great and ready to beat my best and only marathon time of 5h 36m.  I was looking at a 13h 30m Ironman time and if the run went as well as the first two legs I could go sub 13h 30m!  What do they say about counting your chickens?

As I headed out onto the run I didn’t feel great but that was to be expected.  6h 45m on a bike takes some time to work out.  I followed Ginny’s advice of quick short strides and knew that I just had to loosen up and the run would start to fall into place.  I passed the bmo sight where my family should be but my dad was busy taking the picture of the mens second place finisher, so he missed me again, however, it just so happens that as he took the picture of the second place pro, I ran into the picture and he got me in it too.  Weird!  Anyways, I didn’t see Adrienne or the girls and my mind started playing tricks on me as to where they could be.  Turns out they were on the opposite side of the road yelling at me but I didn’t see them, also, the last place my mind should have been was worrying about them, I needed to focus on what I was doing.  As I made the turn around at lakeshore I headed back and saw the girls and mom and dad, they later told me they could tell something wasn’t right.

I kept with my run plan, running for a mile to each aid station then walking the aid stations and feasting on the bounty provided.  This worked for about 10k.  I made it out to Skaha lake and saw how slow my time was and how much naseua I was experiencing I knew I was in trouble.  I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so sick to my stomach.  I was retching and dizzy and thought maybe I didn’t ingest enough water/salt on the bike.  My stomach felt somewhat bloated and my groin kept giving me a dull throbbing pain.  A pain similar to that of being kicked in the groin.  I told myself that it would pass and I needed to change it up a bit so I started taking coke at the aid stations and drinking lots of water with eload sodium tablets to make sure I wasn’t deficient.  This did not help and the groin pain got worse to the point where I had to walk. 

At this point, I’m going to explain what happened which includes some male anatomy issues that might make some uncomfortable.  Believe me, it made me uncomfortable!  I believe what happened was, on the bike ride, one of two appendages got caught between my seat and my body causing a crushing of said appendage.  Unfortunately I didn’t notice at the time because on long rides the blood flow and nerve sensory can become impaired due to body position.  As it turns out, once on the run, when blood started flowing and nerves, unfortunately, started coming back to life, the pain associated with this body part was incapacitating.  The feeling of being kicked in the groin was very accurate because in a way that’s exactly what happened. 

I spent the next few kms trying to adjust myself for comfort but I couldn’t find any.  The pain was so intense that I was dizzy and close to falling over, which I knew if I did, I would most likely be prevented to continue.  The worst of it all was the nausea.  I couldn’t eat or drink and I knew if that continued I was done.  I was starting to panic.  I can’t describe very well just how I felt emotionally inside.  The first feelings where of denial, that I just had to suck it up and keep going, however, as the time kept rolling on I realized that my dreams of a 5h 30m marathon where over, this was hard to take, but I knew it was true so now onto Plan B.  But I didn’t really have a Plan B.  I knew I was going to have pain in my knees on the run so I was mentally prepared for that, I was not even a little bit prepared for what I was going through.  I find this very interesting as I spent so much pre-ironman time worrying about my knees and that never materialized.  I wasted lots of energy on something that never happened.  But I was presented with something so bizarre and unexpected that it nearly did me in.  Talk about accepting things you cannot change.  Who knows what the day will bring you, anything can happen.  I am just so grateful that I actually got to finish, and better yet, keep both my testicles too! 

That’s my take on what was happening to me.  I made a decision to tell a race official about my predicament, she pointed me to an aid station about a km up the road, turns out it was an ambulance with two paramedics.  I told them the issue and they gave me a physical assessment in the ambulance, as I sat on the cot I was thinking, is this how my day ends?  God I hope not.  My dream finish time was done but I had accepted that and now just wanted to finish in 17h.  I put in so much time and effort and my family sacrificed so much for me.  Yet I was saying in my head, its only a race, its only one day, there’s always next year.  But I didn’t want next year, our family couldn’t afford next year, I had to do it now. 

The attendants and I discussed the issue.  Anyways, they rule out a possible “torsion”, which I know because it happened to my brother in law, and ask if I want a ride home or to continue?  I continue, and resign myself to pass out or finish whichever comes first.  The last thing I do in the ambulance is take the anti-inflammatory I had on me for when my knees started to hurt, I figured this was as good a time as any and prayed I could keep it down.  I actually remember looking at the pill so if I did puke it up I could find it in my barf pile to choke down again.  Nice!

The best part of this time was meeting up with another runner.  Sonny Sellars from Omak Washington, State, has completed 13 Ironman races.  He decided at the start of the marathon that he didn’t want to run it, and knew from past experience that he had more than enough time to walk it and still finish in the 17h time limit.  I don’t remember exactly when we met but I know it was after the ambulance and I know I was in bad shape, very much wanting to quit, miserable that my day was not going the way I wanted and generally feeling sorry for myself.

Sonny kept my spirits up and urged me to continue, we chit-chatted the whole way home.  I couldn’t have asked for better company.  We made it to the half way turn around at Okanagan Falls and headed back.  It was at this point that I started to feel better, I don’t know if it was the anti-inflammatory, the ice, the walking, the company or a combination of it all but the relief was palpable and I walked the next 20k in relative comfort.  We met lots of people, everyone out there doing their best and getting it done, people from Toronto, Vancouver, Florida, Penticton, Colorado, Missouri, some of the people couldn’t talk and were close to their limits.  I kept feeling better, and continued to gain strength and energy.  I knew I was prepared for the Ironman, even though the pain had turned the run into a walk I knew I had trained well and was benefitting from it late in the day.   

When we got into town and there were more people I was high fiving and thanking everyone, it was a wonderful experience, I knew I was going to finish, I felt great, I met a new friend, I knew my family was there waiting for me and I couldn’t wait to get to the finish chute.  Sonny gave me good  advice about how not to end the finish chute too quickly, he said you have to go slow, walk from side to side high fiving both sides, enjoy the moment, make it last.  As we got near the end I felt so good I had to run, I ran the last few kms down lakeshore drive to the finish chute.  It is a sight I will never forget.  I remember thinking to myself during the week how as the finish chute was being set up how intimidating it was, knowing what it was going to take to actually get to it.  Now here it was a 100m ahead of me with the music blasting, the lights flashing, steve king calling in the names, and me heading down the final stretch.  My mom and dad were right at the start of the chute and this time he saw me and wasn’t taking someone else’s pictures.  I gave mom and dad big high fives and even though I was coached by Sonny on how to do the final chute properly, I did rush it in all my excitement.  I stayed on one side and high fived everyone along the way.  Adrienne and Georgia were right in the front along the chute so I stopped and gave them each a smooch, then high fived it to every last hand reaching out until I crossed the finish line. I had passed Shannon earlier in the chute without seeing her but she was there watching me and cheering me on.  I remember grabbing the ribbon and kissing it, throwing it down and turning just in time for the finish photo.  I was so happy, so very, very happy!  One of the best moments in my life.

People have commented on how fresh I was at the finish.  This had to do with walking so much of the marathon.  But I also know that I was ready and prepared for this event, and for that I’m proud of myself for taking this seriously and not skimping on my training.  My time was very slow due to a 7hr 36m marathon, and it was not what I had wanted but it’s the race I was given and I’m just so grateful to get to finish.  The day after the race I found out that many more people than usual dropped out for various reasons and worst of all one man actually died during the swim portion.  It’s the first fatality in Ironman Canada’s 27 year history and puts into perspective my day.

The awards ceremony was great, Sister Madona Buder accepted her first place award with a standing ovation. She’s 79 years old!  When she crossed the finish line in 16h 54m she made history by becoming the oldest Ironman finisher in the history of the sport worldwide.  Derek Woodhurst came first in his age group and is going to Kona, it was cool to be sitting beside him when he accepted his award and hear the little town of Salmon Arm get mentioned. 

Its kind of sad that its all over, and now I have to put in place some new challenges.  I will do another Ironman, I want to use what I learned from the first one to have a better race next time.  Think I’ll wait till the kids are out of the house and Adrienne will be happy to get rid of me for long training days.  Until then, thanks for all your support and encouragement, I truly believe anything is possible.