IMC 2011

[GinnySellars]

 I have read a few race reports from friends still aglow from their recent accomplishment at Ironman Canada, brimming with pride and grateful for the support from friends and family. I have spoken to the athletes that I coach, and I’m genuinely in awe of their epic journey in the face of high temps and energy sucking wind. So why do I feel flat and empty with my own journey. I’m trying to sort out what I wanted from the day, what was fair to expect from myself, and where to go from here.

The set up:
Approaching my 11th year of Ironman racing, I felt ready for a change in direction, but  wanted it all to culminate in a 10th Ironman in Kona, which happens to be on my birthday, for which my husband had already qualified. Ta da!

The plan went awry when I didn’t qualify for Kona in Utah in May. I quickly registered for IMC, because I can fix anything!

Between these two events, I had the adventure of a lifetime, racing TransAlp, a 7 day bike stage race from Germany to Italy.
Meanwhile, I wanted to plan my future, start back to work in Speech Pathology, keep my five year old active, support my husband in his work and prep for IM and Xterra.

The pre-race thoughts:
Everything was in place. I felt as prepared as I’ve ever been for a race. I felt confident that I could possibly have a best performance, and Kona was well within my abilities.
For the first time in 5 years, I prepared for 2 days without family. I could focus on the race prep completely with no mini-golf or marathon board games, sleeping and eating on my own agenda.

Unfortunately this prep didn’t work for me. There was no joy without sharing it with my little family. I wanted to tuck my daughter into bed, and go over all the little details with my husband the super coach.

Race day:
I did everything to perfection, including drinking water right out of bed, eating the right stuff at the right time, getting the perfect parking spot, remembering my pump and fuel, having plenty of time to sort out transition and to warm up in the water. I was ready to rock.

I lined up with confidence, next to those with my PB swim time, sang the national anthem with gusto, then got assaulted for an hour and 15 minutes. It began with the usual elbows and knees, then moved on to full body dunking, head smacking, goggle tugging, and rib kicking. That’s not swimming, and my time was disappointing but I got out of the water, determined to turn the page, and do what I love to do...ride a bike.

I transitioned smoothly, got waves and cheers from friends, bolted down main street, made sure that I got a massive cheer from the Kalrats at the Husky station to fill my heart, and got on my way.

It didn’t feel right this year. As I attempted to rip it up towards Osoyoos, I felt average. Last year I could see the caliber of rider around me, and felt buoyed and excited that I could bolt off the front of the group to avoid a draft. This year I felt exhausted by the poor riders around me, sucking wheel, then passing me and forcing me to drop back to get out of the draft. When I stood up to jump, or planned to power past a group, I felt empty.

It got hot. Stinky hot, and windy. I took water at every aid station and doused myself from head to toe. Despite staying focussed on nutrition, I went from a little flat, to feeling drained.
I knew at Yellow Lake I would see Andrew and the BPR crew. I had mentally rehearsed my climb, how I would be powering up in standing, no time to stop, but would blow a kiss, and power on into Penticton. Instead, I limped up the hill looking for a lower gear, nearly cried when I saw a wall of BPR colours, stopped for a kiss, and said “tell me I don’t suck”. I felt pathetic.

Getting off the bike is always a pleasure, and it was impossible not to to grin from ear to ear with the positive energy coming from the crowds. As I approached the transition I realized that I had seen very few women out on the run course. The thought dawned on me that maybe I wasn’t the only one struggling on the bike. This pepped me up a little and I whipped through transition with a new attitude.

I started the run at a fairly controlled clip, and fast turnover. My breathing was relaxed, and I now felt I had a very good chance of turning this race around. My friend Jen asked if I wanted to know my position as I set off from town. 12th place, with 4 girls within a couple of kilometers.

I began the hunt, and caught 4 girls within five kms. That’s when the party ended, and the suffer fest began. My diaphragm threatened to cramp, so I kept it at a shallow quick breath. This shut my speed down tremendously. I went from a 48min 10km, to 55min 10km pace. And so it went for the whole darn 42.2 km. There was no drama or change throughout the run. I just pitter pattered, with no chance of ramping it up. I did pass two more girls, but I had friends spotting so I knew I was two positions and 8min out of a Kona spot, and could do absolutely nothing about it.

There were still joyful moments such as seeing special friends digging deep on the run course, and having cheers and support from the BPR crew and Kalrats friends.
I have never crossed a finish line without a feeling of joy and sense of accomplishment. This was no exception, except that the feeling didn’t last for very long.

Post-race thoughts:
So I don’t have the tattoo, and I don’t put stickers all over the car, and as much as I’d never admit it to Graham Fraser, Ironman is a massive part of my life. For a decade, it has been part of my identity, my daily drive, and the force behind so many adventures. I decided that I’m ready to move on to other adventures, and had the master plan to finish with Kona with Andrew. In some strange way, I feel that with my less than excellent performance, I lost that opportunity to complete things the way I’d like.

I watched the girls ahead of me, and they deserved their Kona spots. While I felt really well prepared for this race, there were countless moments where I opted out of a training opportunity in favour of picking up Maddy early from daycare, or coffee with the girls, or making waffles with our family. I was happy with my choice in the moment, and need to acknowledge that when I’m 10 minutes slower on race day.

OK, I’m over my self-indulgent week of self-analysis and disappointment. After a massive year of training with two IM races, and a 7-day cycling race in between, I’m ready to simply play in the park, take piano lessons, enjoy my new job, and treasure the wonderful life that I lead.

[JasonK]

Wow Ginny, that was quite the read!  Sorry to hear about such a tough race.  I guess we just have to take the ups and downs as they come and make the best of it.  Weather it racing, life or work I definitely need to have a more positive attitude.  Thanks for sharing and being real!

[GordM]

Ginny, you are such a champ! Congrats! Not many people have accomplished what you have in your lifetime, so be proud!

[kiwichris]

A great report Ginny, and a performance that still kicks the ass of most people out there. I was looking forward to cheering you on in Kona - but will have just as much fun cheering WITH you!!!! See you soon
Chris

[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 !!!
I’ll break this report into 3 parts ... Swim ...  Bike  ... and  Run.

Swim

I have spent a lot of work in the off season in the pool and in open water trying to get faster. In training, I am faster, but for some reason all I could muster was a 2:00 min/100 pace. The swim was total argey bargey and I was being hit from all sides for at least 1km. This probably slowed me down but I’m not that uptight about the contact. I do however need to be more aggressive in the water. I would never let anyone take my wheel ... why would I let somebody take my feet
The last 1800m leg towards the Peach was tough. I was dropped from my group and was leading another ”chase group”. I spent too much time out front and there was a pretty good chop going on. In the end, I was able to come out of the water pretty fresh and ready to RIDE.

Swim Time: 1:16min

T1

T1 went really smooth Surprising quick ... sub 3 mins

Bike

Once I got on the bike it was game on. I felt VERY strong right from the get go. A sub 5 hr ride was definitely possible. I was hitting 50km/hr down Main St with no problem. The only problem was weaving around all the racers. 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 1200 racers on the bike portion alone and was never passed once  I felt really good all day on the bike and my nutrition was spot on. I had 800 cals of Efly supplemented with water and zone caps as well as Ediscs. I had the same amount of calories in my Special needs bag. It was the perfect amount. This year I drank WAY more water and that definitely helped. It was amazing to see the Andrew and the BPR contingents on Yellow Lake. Thanks for all the support … It really helps. The descent off Yellow Lake was a little tough as there was a pretty good cross wind. I was starting to think a sub 5 hr time would be tough but I just tried to hammer. I have to say that the Cannondale Slice that I have is just the perfect bike for me. I can get a super aero set up and I felt comfortable all day. In the end I went just over 5 hrs, but I was happy with my bike.
Bike Time: 5:07

T2

The Bike to Run transition was much quicker than last year. I’m learning more and more about transitions every year. I swallowed a ton of salt caps in T2 and hit the road.

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. As always, I just kept running hoping the pain would go away. It did, but I just could not get my speed up to where I wanted. I was going 5:30min/km pace and I needed to speed up by 30 secs. I carried gels and zone caps/ediscs with me as well as a water bottle. I didn’t want to be without water on such a hot day. 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 4:07 . 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. Andrew and Luke were on their bikes with some much needed tuff luv. After that, Beckster and company was there to cheer me on and that was enough to get me to the line. In the End I did a 10:34:00.
Run Time 4:07

Honestly, I’m a tad disappointed     as I know I can go faster. I was hoping for sub 10hr IMC and a Kona spot .   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 make the next jump in my fitness and I’m looking forward to a big year in 2012. Special Thanks to Becky for looking out for me and making sure everything went smoothly all week.
Special Thanks to Andrew, Ginny, Mel and Scott for all the guidance all year long.
Special thanks to Eric Jewell for sharing IM St G and IMC with me. I look forward to racing with you again in 2012 even tho you say you are retired :-)
My final comment is something that Becky reminded me of that I said when I finished the race ... I was quoted as saying ... "IM's are tough !!!" Unless you have done one, it's tough to explain how brutal they are. The concentration and focus required to be successful is insane. Not to mention the raw athletic talent and dedication required. I am very proud of Super G who was right behind me the whole day. I know I will see her line up at next years IMC and she better be ready to follow me straight to Kona :-)
Tx for reading !!!
SC

[JasonK]

Nice work Simon!  Definitely sounds like the IM is TOUGH!  I get inspired reading these posts and thinking just how hard these races must be.  Deep down inside it make me want to do one.  Keep up the good work and hope you can dial that swim and run in for 2012!  That takes some serious dedication already planning for next year.

Roughly, how much time do you need to shave off for a Kona slot?

[SimonC]

A 10 hr IM will most likely get one a Kona Spot.
So a 30 min reduction in time is needed ... TOTALLY doable.
It will take a change in attitude and a new approach to training.
More to come on this but I am excited and up to the challenge.

[JasonK]

Ok.  Someone mentioned you needed to shave off an hour and I was thinking that's a tough pill to swallow but 30min seems like a realistic goal!  I assume the majority of the time will be made on the run but if you came out of the water sooner do you think the bike time could be faster if you had fewer bikers to pass?

[SimonC]

9:30 will guarantee a Kona spot ... 10 hrs is the minimum and is probably cutting it tight.
It is unbelievable on how many people I need to weave around and break around corners for in the first 20 km's. I'd love to see Rapp or Wurtele go 4:30 starting the bike when I start :-)
So ... A faster swim would mean less people who are in my way so my bike would be faster :-)

[Majo]

Yes, he was swerving like crazy through that crowd when I saw him zoom by on Main street, coming from T1!  Good job Simon...!

Majo

[GinnySellars]

Thanks for the post Simon. I've been wanting to hear about your race for 2 weeks!

I've been thinking about the swim quite a bit. There will be quite a crew training for IMC next year with Luke Way and Chris Willett taking it on, and multiple prep camps. I'm thinking it would be very helpful to swim in a pack in the lake, in chop, and learn to be efficient in less than perfect conditions. I think we need to be able to change cadence and swim form for different conditions. I'm not sure how to get out of the mob, but still be able to draft and pack swim.

When I saw you pass me like I was parked on McClean Creek, you looked determined to pound out a superb ride. It is more impressive starting from further back, because you never get a line of legal drafting riders to keep pushing the pace. You did that totally solo, passing the entire way and having to slow much more through aid stations etc. It would be easy to slack, because you still look like a rock star relative to those you are passing. Sounds like you totally learned from Utah, and pounded the water, and got your nutrition right. Good on ya!

So that run. It's hard to run through foot pain for half the race. That takes a whole lot of mental and physical energy. I'm wondering if you could have run faster by allowing your bike time to be 5-10 min slower. Did you notice your cadence slow, or your breathing suffer? Were you still able to take in coke or gel on the run?
The other thing I'm wondering about is run intensity in training. While it takes more time to recover from a hard run, I think it may be important to run with higher intensity over the last hour of a long session to challenge the breathing. This may not have been your issue, but it was certainly mine. After breathing fairly hard for 7 hours, my breathing is shutting down for the final 3-4 hours on the run.

I love that every Ironman gets you more fired up, and determined to improve. As much as I'd love to catch you out there, I'd rather see you DEMOLISH IT!

[GinnySellars]

OK...3 weeks post race, and things are looking totally different. No need to sell the tri bike. No need to take anti-depressants. It finally dawned on me that part of the picture for feeling blue after IMC, is massive fatigue, and little/no exercise for a couple of weeks...this makes for a very grumpy Ginny!
Well I'm BACK! I took a spot to Xterra in Maui, and just had an awesome training weekend at Silver Star. Thanks to Big Ring Schultzy for keeping me company in the Snake Pit in the sleet and rain, and for reminding me to finish the brick even though it would have been easy to quit in the rain. So as much as IMC was wickedly hard for me, and pleased how fast I've recovered. Sounds like Maui is a wee bit warmer than here too