Ironman Canada-2010

[Andrew]

What an incredible day of racing!!!

I am so proud of all the BPR athletes who competed on a truly challenging day. With rain and hail, wind and cold temperatures. I wish I could have been there to see everyone across the line. And I will look forward to hearing all the details when each of you have had a few moments to collect your thoughts, and are ready to reflect on your accomplishments.

Simon - 10:32 in his Rookie Performance - looked very strong all day
Ginny - 10:49, and third in her age group!
Lore-Ann - 11:48 - WOW!!!
Tushy - 12:53
Courtney - 13:07
Atsuko - 13:15
Mardi - 13:21 - almost didn't start this race due to a hip injury...a truly gutsy performance!
Tamara - 14:05
Daniel - 14:23

I am sure I have missed a few in my post-Ironman state, and I apologize for that, and once again, for not being there to witness first hand the depth to which each of you had to dig at this year's race. I have never seen such cold and windy conditions. Ginny reports that she stopped on the descent into town, and nearly gave up on the race, as she was so cold, that it was simply to dangerous for her to continue. She braved the last few miles, and had no idea how well she had ridden to that point, which set her up for a very good overall time. But this shows how tough every athlete must have been to fight through on such a difficult day.

Once again, I am so proud of everyone!

[Andrew]

We are missing information on Liz Kozak...after a good swim, we have a split for her trip down to Osoyoos, but have no further information. I presume the wind a rain were too much of a challenge to overcome, and hope she is recovering this morning from her efforts.

[kiwichris]

Hi Guys,
I was lucky enough to see most of you cross the finish line

Ginny - what a truly gutsy performance with your lack of run training - AMAZING
Tushy - WOW - did not believe it when you were running down the beach again
Courtney - well done - looked great down the finishing straight
Atsuko - looked smooth and composed
Mardi - did not realize she was racing - could not believe my eyes when she went running past
Daniel - believe he had 3 flats - way to keep it going

On my side of things
Eric - 11.53 on his debut - looked a little cold but finished stong
Stephen C. - 12.30 - knocked a tonne of time of his PB - struggled on the run but had a good swim and bike to finish well
Dorrie - had a great day - 13.15 after suffering a separated shoulder 8 weeks ago - so could not train as planned. Surpassed all expectation

Was the toughest day I have seen down there - I am in awe of everyones accomplishments!!!!

Hope the recovery goes well - enjoy some time off with the family!!!

Chris

[Matt]

I had a chance to go and watch parts of the race and cheer some of you on.  Congratulations to all of you - a very inspiring day, especially considering the weather!  I am checking daily for some race reports - I can't wait to hear how it went:)
Cheers!
Matt

[GinnySellars]

Ginny's Ironman Canada 2010 Report

I have a few strong memories attached to each race I’ve done. I won’t think about IMC 2010 without thinking about torrential rain on the bike and tremendous support out on the course. I suppose it’s a long time since I’ve raced at home, and I didn’t really realize how great it is to have the BPR team, Kalrats, and friends from all over the Okanagan valley encouraging me to keep pushing onwards. I don’t always need that much support, but for this race, it was critical.

The possibility of doing IMC began at the Desert 1/2 Iron. The deal was that I needed to be able to run pain-free for 2 hrs before I could commit to IMC. I took a qualifying spot at  the Desert, then got down to training. While I finally kicked my plantar fascia issue, I quickly developed acute achilles tendonitis due to my new ability to run! It was too much too fast. But....I really wanted to do it, so chatted it over with Tamara, my physio, and decided it would put back the recovery for the achilles, but I would not do any irreparable damage. Not a great way to start the race, but I was stoked be a part of this amazing event.

I had been sick with nerves during the week, aware of the intense effort to come. Strangely the couple of days prior I was super relaxed, maybe even a little sleepy.

Race morning was great! I saw a ton of friends volunteering in transition on race morning. We were a little chilly, so waited until the last minute to don the wetsuit. I went down to the beach with 2800 people, and somehow saw the whole Revelstoke crowd, Sue and Tara. Cathy stood on the beach with a broken collar bone and a broken dream to race, but bravely supported her son attempting his first ironman. I lined up far left...until I noticed it was super packed over there. I then worked my way back towards the buoy line. The start was easy peasy. No drama. I was using my cadence meter to keep the intensity controlled. It felt a little too slow, but I was committed, and felt ‘safe’ keeping up my rhythm. The mayhem ramped at the turn-around and I was thumped a bit, then made my way home through the chop. I didn’t work super hard, but felt confident and happy throughout. Goal time: 1:10, Race day 1:09:56.

Transition was busy, but pretty smooth. The highlight of the bike start is seeing BPR lining Main St, and a huge crowd of Kalrats at the Husky station. I gave them a wave and they cheered me out of town. With 2800 athletes, and a pretty average swim time, the biggest challenge was staying legal all the way to Osoyoos. It felt like a bike race, as I was either hammering or backing off trying to get out of the peletons that were accumulating. It paid off though, as I watched people get penalties in groups that I avoided.

My nutrition was bang on for the weather. I decided to go with 200kcal per hour instead of 350. My goal was to avoid porta potty time on the run, and that starts on the bike. I stuck with eFly, Zone Caps, water, and gels. I began to feel the exertion at the out and back. It was cooling off considerably, and I had been working hard into the head wind over the rollers. I got lazy and forced a shift into the big ring too hard, and jammed something. I ended up with a racket in the big ring, but it was still getting into the gears so I decided not to over-think it. Heading up towards Yellow Lake the wind kicked up, and the gusts were pretty incredible. Then came the rain. Very hard driving rain. Fortunately I was still climbing at that time, and the core temperature stayed up. My fingers were numb at the base of the final climb, and I couldn’t ‘paw’ the gear low enough, so the legs took the brunt. I saw Jan Kehl on the first climb and it picked up my mood, though I was sad not to see Andrew and crew but understood the weather was not conducive to cheering. I forgot there were two more rises, and the Kalrats came out in force on the next climb, then BPR on the following climb. I stopped for a quick kiss at the top, yes...with Andrew....and began the cold descent. The rain broke for about 2min then the tap turned on again. A river crossed the road, and I had no brakes. I got scared. No petrified. I decided it was just not worth it. I turned into a pull out to warm my hands under my arms, and planned to hail down a vehicle. I was torn up inside contemplating my first DNF, but felt paralized with fear and cold. Well no ride came forth, so my plan to quit didn’t come to fruition. I ventured down trying to keep the shiver wobble to a minimum. The temperature rose the whole way down the hill and I was grateful to be safe and sound. Goal 5:30, Actual 5:35.

Being a local race, my special friend Trish directed me in transition, and Stephen took my bike. (sorry about the brief foul language Stephen). I then had a short cry, just to release the stress of the ride. I had three angel volunteers unclipping my helmet, putting on my socks and shoes, rubbing my shoulders to warm me up.

I left transition and Luke ran alongside me, convincing me I could ‘kill it’! The treat was that I couldn’t feel my achilles at all. In fact I couldn’t feel anything from the knees down! I had 10km of little treats as friends cheered, I got to kiss my daughter, and Andrew gave me a pep talk. On towards Skaha lake, I just kept consistent, trying to keep the effort off the achilles and on to the hip flexors instead. I just hoped they would last with my new-found ‘wog’. I saw 50min at 10km which in hindsight was my goal pre-injury, so a little too quick. I alternated aid stations with gel/water, water only, coke and water. It was going pretty darn well. I decided to run the aid stations, but walk when it got super steep. The turn around came and went, and so did my hip flexors and achilles. Now it was pure will over coming the discomfort. Kathleen and Scot were out on their bikes, and were a ray of sunshine as the winds kicked up. I spent the next hour or so, just scanning for Vernon friends on their way out to the turn-around...it’s kind of like bird watching, lots of waiting for a brief peek of something amazing! Back onto Main St. the legs were tightening up. I had to stop every km and stretch the ITB. I begged my legs to hang in there, as I was so close to the finish! The Kalrats came out in force and cheered me in, then the BPR crowd, and finally I got to run with Madeline on the home stretch, a kiss from Andrew, and heard Steve King welcoming me to the finish line. Goal: 3:40, Race day 3:56.

Total time: 10:49, 3rd in AG. There is no greater feeling than having a challenge that almost beats me, then somehow discovering the strength to complete that goal. This time I relied on my support crew more than I planned, so thank you for sharing your pure energy with me.

[SimonC]

IMC has come and gone and all that is left is the intense muscle and joint pain that seems like will NEVER go away as well as a great sense of accomplishment tempered with an OCD need to go WAY FASTER !!! As this was my first IM distance race, I had no idea how the body would hold up over the complete distance. Also, nagging injuries had me questioning how the run would go ... So armed with the appropriate amount of bottles, gels, pills, voodoo symbols, etc  ... I headed to Penticton on Sun AM (Heavy Early BTW)  to begin my race. I’ll break this report into 3 parts ... Swim ...  Bike  ... and  Run.

Swim

By far this is my weakest sport. I have worked very hard with the help of Mel Spooner to “Be the Leaf Delivering Mail Thru the Hula Hoop while Trying to Act Like a Beaver (inside Joke) ” This event also caused the most stress as I was fearful of all the “Argey Bargey” that can occur in a  IM race. With this in mind I headed to the water with 2800 other dudes to start the swim leg. I wasn’t really too sure where to line up ... middle, left , right I chose middle left as it looked to have a little more room ... relatively ... It was still full of swimmers !!!  The nite before the big race I said to Ginny  ... all I wish for is to have 10 strokes of open water before  the argey bargey started ... I also said that I hoped Jesus himself would come down from heaven and pull me thru the water !!! Well ... Jesus was absent in the water on Sunday but there may still be a God as somehow I managed to get at least 15 strokes in without getting mowed over. For the first 100 m I was able to keep a very comfortable cadence which was well within myself. I was able to find some good feet and settle in. The swim felt pretty good and I was feeling pretty comfortable in the water.  As I mentioned to some, there were moments of pure serenity in the swim where it was just me and my feet ... beautiful feet. These moments were always disrupted by someone crashing into me. I have learned to stay calm and keep moving forward in these crazy portions of the swim. I retrospect I wished I had paid more attention to the buoy numbering as it would have given me more reference points, but I was VERY happy to follow the masses. As expected, each corner was full of argey bargey but still manageable and still comfortable.  Before I knew it ... I was at the last corner and headed back to the peach. This as many know is the longest stretch but it seemed to go quickly. When I got closer to the beach the water gets pretty shallow and pretty rocky. For some reason, with about 20 m to the shore everyone seems to stand up and walk on the rocks This was new to me as I’ve been taught to swim as far as you can. I probably made up a ton of spots by swimming to the shore. I did have to swim around a ton of people though, but at least I didn’t walk on rocks !!!!  Even with that, there was still a ton of people funnelling thru the gate which seemed to take about 30 secs. In the end I clocked a 1:16:01 which is a 2:00 min/100m pace which is what I expected to swim. I was 1585th out of the water so mid pack. Goal 1completed !!! As an added bonus the wetsuit strippers absolutely ripped the wet suit off my body ... I kept thinking about the story that Gin told about her famous wetsuit stripping experience ... I was not so lucky as everything stayed on ... Next time 

T1
T1 went really smooth ... IMC really has their $hit nailed down as my swim to bike run was ready for me.  I didn’t even bother to go to the tent. I just sat down on the grass and put my helmet and arm warmers (a good decision) and ran to my bike with my shoes in hand. I was in row 30 which is as far away from the swim exit as you can get  ... also is a long run in cycling shoes to the bike mount area. My friend Eric Jewell was there in transition was there to help me out with everything he could help with ... Thanks Eric !!!  After the long run to the bike mount area, it was time to really get the race started !!!

Bike
Once I got on the bike it was game on. With most tri’s, the bike portion usually becomes a real passfest, and IMC was no different other than it was a pass fest on crack. The passing never stopped until I hit T2. In fact, I passed over 1378 racers on the bike portion alone and was never passed once  . In the early portions of the bike portion it was difficult to pass as there were dudes all over the road. I crossed the yellow line a few times due to sketchy riders and I received 2 warnings from the Tri commies. I had to watch my lines after that cuz apparently 3 strikes and you are out.  It was a pretty uneventful ride until Richter when things started to get exciting. I felt really good so I laid it down on the climb and started passing more dudes. Along the way I met up with Ginny who was riding REALLY STRONG and it was clear she was having a good day. We talked briefly and then I was ordered to lay it down … so I continued to power up the climb. The weather slowly started getting sketchier with wind and rain and was getting pretty damn cold. By Yellow Lake it a full on storm. It was amazing to see the Andrew and Becky contingents on the Mountain especially in that crappy weather. Thanks for all the support … It really helps. The descent off Yellow Lake was brutal. My full disc and 80 mm front made for some sketchy portions but nothing I couldn’t handle. I did however see some really bad crashes on the descent and that is never good. The descent was going well until I hit the flatter portions near Penticton around KM 170. When I tried to power on the flats again after the cold and wet, my quads started cramping up. I’ve never had trouble like this before. When I stopped pedalling they would cramp even more so I had to keep pedalling as this was the lesser of the 2 pains  I started to wonder how I was going to run a marathon. I made it back into Penticton with some of the female pros and hit T2 for the final leg. When all was said and done my ride was 5:15:15. I was shooting for close to 5hrs so mission accomplished considering the conditions.

T2
The Bike to Run transition was a little frantic as I was in some serious pain. Some excellent pre planning advice from former local Pro Janelle Morisson had me packing some serious happy pills in my T2 bag. I swallowed a ton of salt caps in T2 and changed into a pair of Dry socks … which was the best thing I could have done as I would have had a blister for sure. I got up and started running and everything hurt …

Run
The early part of the run was very painful. And most concerning was my toe as some may know I have had some issues and have received serious medical treatments / phisio recently. Between the cramping and foot pain … I was getting disheartened. I figured that I had nothing to lose so I ramped this up to my race speed / cadence (5min/km @ 95 cadence). Within a few Km’s the pain went away … again there must be a God !!! Things went well for about 10 km’s then I started having some cramping issues and GI stress. I’m not sure how this occurred but I started taking on some Gatorade instead of water with the Eload Gels. The cramping slowed me down a little and my body was starting to hurt everywhere. I made it to the turnaround in OK Falls where I had some more magic pills in my Special needs bag. Some more salt pills and a couple of Tums and I was good to go … except for the strange look from the OK Falls locals as they watched me self medicate !!! The return trip home was REALLY hard as everything started to hurt but surprisingly I had no IT or toe pain … but everything else hurt. I was slowing down and there was nothing I could do about it. I ran the whole marathon and averaged a 5:30/km pace. My time was 3:50:47. My goal time was about 3:30 so some improvement is needed here. Coming into Penticton was awesome … I was greeted by the local Kal Rats group who were freaking out … Especially Mel Spooner who was doing Jumping Jacks … Thanks Mel !!! The closer I got to downtown the more the support increased. Scott McMillan was next to cheer me on with support and tough love … Thanks Scott. The next in line was Killermartin and crew with some serious cheering … Thanks guys.  After that, Beckster and company was there to cheer me on and some final cheering from Maddie and Andrew was enough to get me to the line. In the End I did a 10:32:00. Honestly, I’m a tad disappointed    as I know I can go faster. I was hoping for sub 10hr IMC so there are things to work on …
It’s clear the swim and run need work. Cadence issues are apparent in both the swim and run and serious structural work is req’d over the winter. I’ll be looking to Ginny and Andrew to help me out over the winter.  My clear focus will be IM races next year with a possible return to early season Cat 1 road racing … we’ll see how the wind blows. Thanks for reading this long winded dissertation.
Special Thanks to Becky for looking out for me and making sure everything went smoothly all week.
Special Thanks to Andrew, Ginny, Janelle and Scott for all the guidance all year long.
Special thanks to Eric Jewell for taking care of me in transition and at the F/L.
SC

PS Attached are my polar files from IMC

[CraigJ]

Very inspiring race reports!
After browsing these posts all season, I just had to reply. The courage, determination and commitment shown by the BPR team, and the IMC racers in particular is nothing short of incredible! What a journey, and results to be proud of. The individual paths taken to get to the finish line will fuel stories for years to come. I look forward to hearing more, and even adding some of my own!
Well done!

[Tamara Dantzer]

Tamara D's Report:) ( a view from the back of the pack )

This was my first race at this distance and I was really happy to be lining up with "heart attack" Mike, my husband who had decided to at least participate in the swim and a portion of the bike- he had only a loose plan.
Swim:
Unlike Ginny and Simon I chose to start on the far right- there was no one there and I thought I won't get pummeled too badly.  I gave a quick kiss to Mike and a "be safe"  just before the final countdown.  Well I was wrong about being pummeled- It was a washing machine from start to finish- what I didn't think through was that I was going to be on the inside of all the corners- Yikes! In the mayhem my watch got ripped off which played a role later in the day.
In the end I was happy with my time- I never felt taxed with with my resp system or muscular system so swimming in the crowd had some benefit.
Time 1:04

T1- The volunteers were awesome- though I wished I had just taken my shoes in my hand until I got to my bike as it was racked quite a distance away.

Bike:
Well I was on the other end of the spectrum than Simon- I think I got passed by 2000 or at least it felt like it- and from my perspective it seemed like everyone was riding in huge packs flying by me... but really I enjoyed my ride I was hoping to do a sub 7hrs but with the wind I was happy with the 7:06 ( I missed the huge downpour those at the front got) My nutrition seemed bang on I had 1 gel and a bit of carbopro left at the end but I think I had planned on packing extra so I wasn't concerned. It was awesome riding up yellow lake with all the RATS there along with all the other fans! It was a huge boost:)

T2- again the volunteers were awesome! So much help and it was so nice to see some smiling faces like Trish there!

Run: It started out pretty well- I was expecting about a 5 hrs marathon hoping for 4:45.
I had to grab my garmin from the bike since my watch disappeared in the swim. I was right on track for the first 8 miles I had my gels for nutrition and was taking sips of water frequently ( I had a hand held bottle) It was great seeing Ginny as she headed back to town and I kept my eye open for some other friend- I was alos happy that for me that wind was a tailwind blowing me to the turnaround:)
then a couple of things happened- 1) my Garmin died so I had no idea of the time or my pace- and I progressively just felt down- no energy- I would walk a bit and try and evaluate why I was walking. Legs? nope legs feel good, heart rate? nope that was way below BP, RR? nope breathing well in check..hmmm belly? well I did feel kinda off but doesn't everyone?
So I remembered Mel told me to pack something in my special needs bag that I would love - a little treat- since I couldn't decide I had packed all sorts of little stuff- candied ginger, gummies, york peppermint, pretzel- ...once I got there none of it looked good I grabbed a piece of ginger and headed back but by now I was mostly walking first just the hills then I just tried to count steps since I had no watch... I would pass the aid stations and nothing appealed to me I just took water and a gel every once in a while- 3 miles out I decided to try the coke.  It was great to see everyone there Mel and the crowd!  I managed to sorta run the last 5km in. I finished the run in a disappointing 5:45
I did See Mike at about mile 16 which was great- and I asked him when he was going to stop and he said the finish line!
After I finished I sat down with my space blanket and some melon and a bit of coke and a few chips- I really wasn't feeling good but I thought if I could just lay down it would be better- so I found a patch of grass to wait for mike but a volunteer saw me and asked if I was ok- I said yes but they said my lips were a weird colour  so took me to the med tent to warm up.  Unfortunately then I threw up the melon and chips:(- the upside is then they give you an iv:)
so after 3 liters of fluid and 2 different anti nausea drugs ( and more throwing up) the Dr said the med tent was closing and he couldn't send me home still so sick- so I had to go to the hospital via ambulance Mike had been looking for me for 2 hrs- somehow the message never got to him that I was in the med tent but he manged to spy me just as they were loading me up in the ambulance! a few more hours and 1 more iv and anti nausea drug did the trick so I finally got home to sleep at about 2:30am
Lesson Learned - Obviously I did not "nail" my nutrition on the bike or run- I realized when I was unpacking that I still had about 4 gels left- though I could have sworn the night of the race that I finished them and in talking it over with Mike and counting the calories I realized I made a mistake in the calculation in the carbopro- I missed about 600-800 calories that I thought I had!!
I have no muscle soreness ( yae) but my belly is still unhappy- it doesn't really want to digest anything other than rice and broth- hopefully that won't last too much longer.
Even with the sick belly- I am still really happy that I participated:) and soooo happy for Mike that he was able to finish. Now we have another year to work out the problems and try again next year:)

[GinnySellars]

Great reports Simon and Tamara!

Simon, I did the same thing at the end of the swim...those rocks were MASSIVE! Why was everyone walking? I did the duck and weave too till I hit sand. I think you should be really pleased to go from a non-swimmer to a 1:16 first shot. Most importantly you kept your head about you in the mayhem.

Tamara....1:04!!!! You are superb! I bet the change tent was still a spa at that point!

Simon, so great to see you on the ride. I kept thinking "he hasn't passed me yet...weird. Must have rocked the swim". I kept waiting for the familiar swoosh swoosh of rocketing rider. Your brief visit was great timing. You woke me up from my reverie and I enjoyed looking at the back of a BPR kit while you snacked etc. Nice to see you cutting through the field. Bet you wish you had a parka on the descent! Glad you stayed upright.

Tamara, rock solid ride on that day. Good choice to stay back out of the rain You are right that run nutrition begins on the ride, and it sounds like you could have used some of those calories, especially since you felt fine on the run, just didn't want to move. Likely just empty. You can't really make up for it at that point without getting sick, though you may have wanted to walk and get more coke in the system, then try intervals of running. Sorry to hear how sick you were, and glad Mike identified the 'body' before you got in the ambulance. You are such a drama queen

Simon, I was hoping your sore toe would not be a show stopper. Kudos for working that kind of pain and discomfort. I think you did a great job getting ready for the endurance of the run, but perhaps would have been stronger if you prepared for the muscular attack on the run. Next year, I think we need some more functional sessions to build the eccentric strength, and ability to get some stride length even at the end such a long event. This year was a GREAT debut into your IM racing. You should be super proud of a 10:32 on that difficult day.

I loved sharing the day and prep with you two!

[SimonC]

Somebody has a nice pic in the local paper today ... Her name starts with a G !!!
 

SC

[GinnySellars]

So far people have told me I resemble various animals of the canine nature....including Pitbull, Doberman, and my favorite...the rabid Shitsu. I take pride in that they are all pure bred.

[Joel J]

I am so proud of all of you! Wish I could have been down to watch but I wasn't brave enough to bike down with the possibility of showers... I am not worthy of being your team mate!

EPIC RACE

[Daniel Auger]

Here is my report on a very interesting first IM.

Since a difficult swim last year at the Oliver half IM, I am always a bit nervous before a massive swim start. To avoid a big tight pack of swimmer, I positioned myself at the far end of the beach after a good five minutes warm-up. The swim went very well overall. In the third leg of the swim, I developed a cramp in my left calf. It felt like a rock was forming in my leg. I was concerned that it would cause me problems later on. I had never experienced this during a swim. I stopped kicking for a while and the pain gradually dissipated. I resumed kicking and then the same problem emerged in my right leg. A break in kicking again solved the problem. I finished the swim without any other issues and exactly in the time I had planned for (1:07).

There was great support from volunteers in the transition tent. It was full packed. I got on the bike feeling well and strong. Problems started in Oliver. I and a few others around me received a 2 minutes penalty for drafting. I think the fat lady on the motorcycle just wanted to demonstrate the power/authority she had that day (I may sound rude but I have to let it out my chest). With so many cyclists, there was no way we could keep the minimum distance between each other. Oh well, I figured that 2 minutes was not the end of the world. Shortly after, I got a flat tire on my rear wheel. I got off the bike and fixed the thing. In inspecting the inside of the tire, I sliced the tip of three fingers on the steel strand that had punctured my tube. I did not feel anything at first but realized something had happened seeing the blood on everything I touched (then, I started to feel it...) I put on the only tube I had I went back on the saddle thinking that I had received  all my bad luck for the day. When leaving Oliver, I experienced my second flat. With no spare tube, I decided to ride to the next aid station which I thought was at the Osoyoos turn off. I rode standing on my pedals to minimize the weight on the back wheel. The aid station was further than I thought so I started to walk the first climb after the turn off. Shortly after a fellow racer showed a tremendous amount of compassion by tossing me the tube attached his saddle. While I was fixing the flat, I guy (angel) showed up from nowhere with a floor pump in his hand. Alleluia! I could almost see the light beam from the sky shining on this guy. Could not find anything in the tire thus I thought it was a pinch flat. After fixing the second flat, I attacked Richter Pass. I was feeling good given the ‘’break’’ from the two flats. At km 100, flat again. Fed up, I decided to ride on the flat tire to the next aid station at the Keremeos turn out. There, while waiting for the Bike Barn guys, volunteers found me a floor pump and a bucket of water to repair my tube (I was carrying patches). I found a second steel thread in my tire. Luckily (again!) a volunteer had Leatherman pliers to assist as the strand could not be removed just with fingers. Happy to have fixed the problem and not having to wait for the repair van to show up, I got back on the bike confident that things would go well from now on and did not think too much about the huge time lost. Anyway, it was interesting to pass some people three times in the same race. I did not experience the afternoon heavy rain but was cut in the wind storm that came with it and rode on wet pavement in the Yellow Lake area. I finished the bike with a disappointing time of 7:37.

I started the run with an injured foot. The pain was manageable for a while but as my body was compensating to minimize the pain, other problems started emerging. I then decided to walk a good part of the first half to avoid making things worse. Coming back I did a bit more running. Another disappointment there but no real surprise as I was experiencing some mild pain walking the day before.

I learned a few things during this race:

•   My nutrition plan worked well
•   I need to work on my running and strengthen my feet
•   Stay away from blown up truck tires. A local cyclist and mechanic told me that this is where the steel strands found in my tire likely came from. When a recap tire disintegrates, it shed steel filaments.
•   Cary two spare tube in a race.

I enjoyed the experience despite the bad luck and it can only go better the next time. Volunteers and supporter throughout the race were absolutely awesome.

[GinnySellars]

Oh crappy luck Daniel...Such a bummer that you had to deal with all that on your 1st IM! So unfair.

It becomes a different race when you have to stop/walk/wait for so long. Your nutrition changes, the day becomes that much longer, and the wind goes out of your sails knowing you are hours behind what you planned. I'm REALLY impressed with your tenacity, resourcefulness, and determination to finish. I guess this means you are coming back to have the race you know you can do!!

[Daniel Auger]

Yep. I will definitively go back. It can only be better from there.