Ironman Canada…return of the Rainmaker 27

Well, I did indeed finish Ironman Canada yesterday.  It was a rough second half of the day.  The first half went fairly well, but the run was pretty brutal in the 95*F heat.  I PR’d in all three sports (and overall), but missed my overall goals with a total time of 10:38.

I’ll be putting together a full report sometime tomorrow morning…in the meantime, it’s time to fall asleep again.

Ironman Canada…return of the Rainmaker 0

Well, I did indeed finish Ironman Canada yesterday.  It was a rough second half of the day.  The first half went fairly well, but the run was pretty brutal in the 95*F heat.  I PR’d in all three sports (and overall), but missed my overall goals with a total time of 10:38.

I’ll be putting together a full report sometime tomorrow morning…in the meantime, it’s time to fall asleep again.

Ready to start! 22

I think I’m all set.  Here’s the quick picture tour:

I went to the athletes banquet last night:

And then the subsequent officials briefing for the rules.

After which I walked across the street back to the hotel, but I did skip the Psychic Demo:

This morning I swam and then biked, and then following a nap I unfolded all my bags (Morning Dry Clothes Bag, Pre-Bike Bag, Pre-Run Bag,  Mid-Bike Bag, and Mid-Run Bag).

And then as usual I laid out everything I had for each section of the course, to ensure I had all the items covered.  Nutrition would come later…

After that I headed down to the transition area to drop off my bike and bags:

First up was finding my rack, which happened to be in just about the exact same place as last year:

After saying goodbye (well, really just goodnight) to the bike, I went on to drop off the bags.

First I dropped off my “Swim to Bike” bag, which contains my cycling shoes and helmet.  For this race they aren’t allowing non-pro’s to put their shoes or helmet on their bike.

Then I wandered over to look at the Bike to Run bags.  I decided against dropping off this bag today, and instead will ditch it tomorrow morning.  Too much to deal with nutrition wise that I didn’t want to have to juggle everything mentally in one day.

And finally, tonight after dinner I put together all my nutrition.  I’m using Infinit Nutrition (custom blends) on both the bike and the run.  And just in case on the run I also have backup with EFS gel (which I was using previously).

So with that, I’m ready to roll.  Coach Alan and I have put together a race plan that should result in a good day.  For me, it’ll all come down to the run.  And more specifically – miles 6-13.  Mentally those are the toughest for me.  It’s by the lake, quiet (no spectators allowed there), and you haven’t hit the turnaround yet.  Ironically my fastest miles last year were actually 15-26.2  Assuming I can keep running, then I’ll be in awesome shape time-wise.  While you can never control anyone else’s race and thus slots to the big dance, I’m obviously looking for a sub-10 race (by a fair bit).  I’ll avoid detailing out exact splits, as the only way to guarantee a slot is to be on the podium, so those are the times we’re shooting for.  It’ll just be a matter of executing a nice run.

Hope to see some of you out there!

I’m number 175, which you can track all day long on Ironman.com.  Swim starts at 7AM PST (three hours behind Eastern time).

See ya – and thanks for all the folks who have e-mailed, texted, or called!  And now…I’m off to bed.

Ready to start! 0

I think I’m all set.  Here’s the quick picture tour:

I went to the athletes banquet last night:

And then the subsequent officials briefing for the rules.

After which I walked across the street back to the hotel, but I did skip the Psychic Demo:

This morning I swam and then biked, and then following a nap I unfolded all my bags (Morning Dry Clothes Bag, Pre-Bike Bag, Pre-Run Bag,  Mid-Bike Bag, and Mid-Run Bag).

And then as usual I laid out everything I had for each section of the course, to ensure I had all the items covered.  Nutrition would come later…

After that I headed down to the transition area to drop off my bike and bags:

First up was finding my rack, which happened to be in just about the exact same place as last year:

After saying goodbye (well, really just goodnight) to the bike, I went on to drop off the bags.

First I dropped off my “Swim to Bike” bag, which contains my cycling shoes and helmet.  For this race they aren’t allowing non-pro’s to put their shoes or helmet on their bike.

Then I wandered over to look at the Bike to Run bags.  I decided against dropping off this bag today, and instead will ditch it tomorrow morning.  Too much to deal with nutrition wise that I didn’t want to have to juggle everything mentally in one day.

And finally, tonight after dinner I put together all my nutrition.  I’m using Infinit Nutrition (custom blends) on both the bike and the run.  And just in case on the run I also have backup with EFS gel (which I was using previously).

So with that, I’m ready to roll.  Coach Alan and I have put together a race plan that should result in a good day.  For me, it’ll all come down to the run.  And more specifically – miles 6-13.  Mentally those are the toughest for me.  It’s by the lake, quiet (no spectators allowed there), and you haven’t hit the turnaround yet.  Ironically my fastest miles last year were actually 15-26.2  Assuming I can keep running, then I’ll be in awesome shape time-wise.  While you can never control anyone else’s race and thus slots to the big dance, I’m obviously looking for a sub-10 race (by a fair bit).  I’ll avoid detailing out exact splits, as the only way to guarantee a slot is to be on the podium, so those are the times we’re shooting for.  It’ll just be a matter of executing a nice run.

Hope to see some of you out there!

I’m number 175, which you can track all day long on Ironman.com.  Swim starts at 7AM PST (three hours behind Eastern time).

See ya – and thanks for all the folks who have e-mailed, texted, or called!  And now…I’m off to bed.

Ironman Canada – Underwear Run 11

Well, technically it’s called the ‘Underpants Run’, but – essentially all the same.  For those of you who’ve been around the block a while on this blog, you might remember I stumbled into the back of this last year during my first Ironman.  This year though – I came prepared (translated: I read the sign on the Starbucks door the night before).

This annual tradition is simply a casual jog around the finishing region/streets here in Penticton, BC.  The distance is marked as a 3K run, but it basically includes a swing through the hotel to wave at all the people on their balconies, and then a stop at the lake’s edge to confuse the rest of the athletes getting in their swim workouts.

But first up though – is signup.  You pay $10 to get a special pair of undies, all benefiting charity.

After that, you stand around a bit (while wearing just a bit) as everyone else anxiously awaits the start.

Then…it’s time for the athlete’s oath.  This ceremony involves repeating a specific pledge covering a wide range of topics – all critical to the run, and life in general as a triathlete.  Because I’m all about covering the details, I captured the following video (you’ll have to likely visit this page if reading in an RSS reader).  Well worth it!

After that, it’s time to head on out!

Above we’re swinging through the hotel – if you look closely, you can see people out on the balcony.  One girl even ran right out the front of the hotel and pulled off her pants to run along in her underwear.  That’s getting into the spirit!

Then we rounded the corner to the front of the lake.  The tents you see are actually part of the transition area for the race.

Once there, we went through a number of stretches and other rituals.

After that we eventually would wander on back.  The whole thing is pretty short, but also fairly funny.  I bailed off the end at the beach as I had to get in my workouts in for the day, so my run was a bit short.  Though, if you combine my efforts last year, with my efforts things year – I think I’ve almost got the whole course covered. :)  No pun intended.

Btw, if you want to see all the Ironman Canada action from last year, here’s all the posts I did:

Ironman Canada – Day 1 – Travelling to Penticton & the 5K race
Ironman Canada – Day 2 – The expo, registration, driving the bike course, and the banquet
Ironman Canada – Day 3 – Registering for next (this) year, final preparations in transition area
Ironman Canada Race Report – Yup – the whole thing…one post.
Ironman Canada – When the clock strikes midnight – What happens at midnight at the finish line
Ironman Canada – The day after – All the ‘official’ things to do the next day while in pain

And…just for fun, the lead up to those two posts (written a year prior to that):

T-365 Days – My very first post to the blog, written one year from IMC
Ironman 2008 Registration Slumber Party – My second post, about sleeping in line to get registered

So with that, I’ve given you plenty of take-home reading material.  I’m going to take nap in preparation for this year’s athlete banquet this evening.  Tomorrow (Saturday) is filled with gear bag drop-off and transition goodness, along with another workout…which, btw – if the last two days are any indication – things are going darned pretty well!  Catch ya tomorrow!

Ironman Canada – Underwear Run 0

Well, technically it’s called the ‘Underpants Run’, but – essentially all the same.  For those of you who’ve been around the block a while on this blog, you might remember I stumbled into the back of this last year during my first Ironman.  This year though – I came prepared (translated: I read the sign on the Starbucks door the night before).

This annual tradition is simply a casual jog around the finishing region/streets here in Penticton, BC.  The distance is marked as a 3K run, but it basically includes a swing through the hotel to wave at all the people on their balconies, and then a stop at the lake’s edge to confuse the rest of the athletes getting in their swim workouts.

But first up though – is signup.  You pay $10 to get a special pair of undies, all benefiting charity.

After that, you stand around a bit (while wearing just a bit) as everyone else anxiously awaits the start.

Then…it’s time for the athlete’s oath.  This ceremony involves repeating a specific pledge covering a wide range of topics – all critical to the run, and life in general as a triathlete.  Because I’m all about covering the details, I captured the following video (you’ll have to likely visit this page if reading in an RSS reader).  Well worth it!

After that, it’s time to head on out!

Above we’re swinging through the hotel – if you look closely, you can see people out on the balcony.  One girl even ran right out the front of the hotel and pulled off her pants to run along in her underwear.  That’s getting into the spirit!

Then we rounded the corner to the front of the lake.  The tents you see are actually part of the transition area for the race.

Once there, we went through a number of stretches and other rituals.

After that we eventually would wander on back.  The whole thing is pretty short, but also fairly funny.  I bailed off the end at the beach as I had to get in my workouts in for the day, so my run was a bit short.  Though, if you combine my efforts last year, with my efforts things year – I think I’ve almost got the whole course covered. :)  No pun intended.

Btw, if you want to see all the Ironman Canada action from last year, here’s all the posts I did:

Ironman Canada – Day 1 – Travelling to Penticton & the 5K race
Ironman Canada – Day 2 – The expo, registration, driving the bike course, and the banquet
Ironman Canada – Day 3 – Registering for next (this) year, final preparations in transition area
Ironman Canada Race Report – Yup – the whole thing…one post.
Ironman Canada – When the clock strikes midnight – What happens at midnight at the finish line
Ironman Canada – The day after – All the ‘official’ things to do the next day while in pain

And…just for fun, the lead up to those two posts (written a year prior to that):

T-365 Days – My very first post to the blog, written one year from IMC
Ironman 2008 Registration Slumber Party – My second post, about sleeping in line to get registered

So with that, I’ve given you plenty of take-home reading material.  I’m going to take nap in preparation for this year’s athlete banquet this evening.  Tomorrow (Saturday) is filled with gear bag drop-off and transition goodness, along with another workout…which, btw – if the last two days are any indication – things are going darned pretty well!  Catch ya tomorrow!

A special message from The Girl 26

Yesterday after getting home from work, The Girl had a little present all wrapped up for me.  After I delicately opened (read: tore open without regard) the carefully wrapped package, I found myself a new t-shirt – designed and imported exclusively from The Girl’s own single-item clothing line (she actually makes really impressive dresses too…but I don’t generally wear them).  She had mentioned earlier in the summer that she was going to work on a t-shirt that I had to wear while up at IMC this year, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  But, after seeing presented it to me last night – it’s pretty kick-ass.

Thus, I give you – my official t-shirt:

On the front it features a moose, with the a maple leaf outline in red.  And on the back it features…well, it’s pretty obvious what it features…me (and 140.6 miles, the distance of the Ironman race).

On the two sleeves we’ve got more cool stuff.  First up – my right sleeve - offering a pictorial of all three sports:

And on my left sleeve, our Coach’s logo (we both have the same tri coach):

Awesome, huh?

HOWEVER!!!!!  THAT’S NOT ALL!

She also made a t-shirt for herself – and hers is pretty rockin’ too!  Here she is modeling it off this morning:

That’s my bib number on the front, traced in the outline of…well…a bib.  Along with the prerequisite Ironman Canada text.

And on the back:

Well, I’ll let ya read the text for yourself. :)

And the good news is she got the OK from work last night to be able to come along for the full trip. Woohoo – road trip! So her and I are bailing out to Seattle later this evening and then up to Penticton (the race site) early Thursday morning with the rest of the family.  Catch ya on the flip side!