Ironman Canada
Whistler 2014: Race Report, Reflections and the Three Bears
Season Interview with Coach Patrick Available Here: http://enation.libsyn.com/jenn-edwards-team-endurance-nation-athlete-interview-and-cda-whistler-recap
*********************************************************************************
Getting to the Start
Line: “It doesn't matter when you
cross the start line or when you cross the finish line, just that you cross
them both.” - Unknown
“Will you do it again?” This was a question we heard often in the days
leading up to Ironman Canada (IMC). I’d
purposefully planned on doing IMC four weeks after Ironman Coeur
d’Alene (IMCDA) to test one of a few avenues of getting to Kona. Accumulating twelve finishes will potentially
earn a “Legacy” slot and a chance to race on the Big Island. Two IMs a year would cut the time in half and
if all went well by the end of 2014 I’d be at six finishes, with six more in “only”
three years!
Managing recovery and training in the four weeks between two
IMs isn’t exactly a precise science or a good idea from many perspectives. I arrived in Whistler with much less refined
estimates of my splits but in good spirits and without so much as a niggle of
pain anywhere. I was fairly confident
that barring any major catastrophe I could earn that sixth finish but a lot can
go wrong and finishing was certainly not a forgone conclusion. “Well, I
can’t answer that ‘till after Sunday!” was my response to those questions!
*** The Performance Management Chart out of Training Peaks: The blue
line represents “Chronic Training Load” and is an indicator of overall training
volume. It starts out as a very pretty graph
(in my opinion) followed by pretty ugly! **
*********************************************************************************
The Swim: Swimasstrophy
I was only half joking when I’d told Mark I had no idea
whether my swim time was going to be back to the 1:05 I’d turned in at a couple of my early IMs
or a leisurely 1:15. He figured it would
be somewhere in between and darn it he was right! If anybody ever asks me where to line up at
the IMC swim start I PROMISE to redact myself!
I thought I’d lined up similarly to last year where I had a relatively unencumbered
and successful swim. Unfortunately my experience
was a 180° from 2013.
*** IMC 2014 Swim Start: It was little consolation that Mark was out
there… somewhere… rescuing someone ELSE!
***
We all expect congestion in a mass start but significant body
contact continued ALL the way around the first two turn buoys and really didn’t
open up much at all ‘till the second lap.
I didn’t get the sense anyone was intentionally trying to clobber me, just
that there was no room to get into any sort of rhythm. I tried to swim further to the outside but as
the lone anchovy in the school going diagonal to the flow, let’s just say it didn’t
work out very well. When I saw 1:11 on the clock I was bummed – my
worst swim time ever in very good lake conditions. Oh well.
I figured this had already put me out of contention of a top-ten placing
in my age group like the 9th I’d earned at IMCDA but I stuck to the
mantra for the day of “emptying my tank” and had no intentions of phoning it in. I hustled through transition looking forward
to getting on the bike!
*** An Overhead View of Turn Two:
It looks so serene from here. ***
*********************************************************************************
The Bike: Strong,
Steady and the BooBee Target
I’d reduced my target wattage for the bike since IMCDA in
consideration of how I’d felt there and assuming I’d lost some power in the
weeks in between. As a result of NOT
crashing at the start as I’d done in 2013 and a very conservative
effort I felt REALLY good for the first hour and regained some optimism for the
day. That was buoyed further by an
exchange with a competitor going up the first ascent. “Hey, #642!
That was my number when I had my best race ever! I think you’re going to have yours today - it’s
a lucky number!” Who was I to
argue?
*** Postcard views like this ALL DAY LONG! It Doesn’t Look Like It –
But I’m Up Because This is a Climb! ***
I stuck to the plan for the entire ride and although it got predictably
more difficult to hold that effort. Even
though Whistler it is one of the toughest bike courses with significant
elevation gain there is a 30-mile segment late in the ride called the “Pemberton
flats” that is just that, dead flat. The
temperature pushed to over 95° and in a sick way I wished for the headwinds
that had plagued us at IMCDA. I probably
passed over 150 folks in those flats as the heat continued to climb and the collective
enthusiasm waned.
My revised nutrition plan was working well and being
thoroughly vetted in the heat. Nearing
the end of the flats I was quite rudely stung by a bee that made its way into
my top where boobs should be. In my
frantic digging around to flick out the (still stinging) bee I managed to fling
my stash of Wheat Thins out too. I know,
I know… Wheat Thins? Yes, five Wheat Thins an hour are a part of my (highly
sophisticated!) nutrition plan. They keep
my stomach from getting overloaded on all the sugar that makes up the REST of the
race day nutrition. Arg. Oh well - I was just about to start the
fourth hour and would only miss two “servings”. When I made the final turn to begin the 20-mile
ascent back to Whistler I still felt relatively good and was confident I’d
finish the bike strong.
*********************************************************************************
The Run: Gonna Get Run
Down? Not Today!
After a good transition I hit the run curious as to how I’d
feel. I began the mantra I’d planned for
the first half of the run: “comfortably hard, comfortably hard, comfortably
hard… ” My target pace at IMCDA had been just under a 10-minute-mile and in
that race during the first few miles of that race I’d actually had to hold
myself back. Alas, not surprisingly, today
was different. My “comfortably hard”
effort was turning in a 10:30 – 10:45 pace.
Although it didn’t feel great, it did feel better than in The Epic Bonk
of 2013. I was fairly
certain I’d be able to run the entire way, it just wasn’t going to be the 4:20
I’d run at IMCDA.
Somewhere out there a bear was having a little run of its
own on the race course. Although we did
see a bear on a reconnaissance ride early in the week I didn’t actually see
this one but it is a very FUN video.
Note the runner that decides she’ll go ahead a walk a bit as she passes
where the bear went into the trees!
*** Bear on the Run: Added a Swim in the Spirit of Ironman!
***
For the record, there is literally almost NO stretch of the Whistler
run course that is straight or flat so it is hard to gauge effort. The run
is constantly twisting, turning, up, down, asphalt, gravel, dirt - a smorgasbord
of trail and just what you’d expect for a nice Sunday trail run in a beautiful
resort town. Of course today we had the benefit
of aid stations and lots of people to cheer us on! I revised my race plan to go based off of RPE
(Rate of Perceived Effort) and HR (Heart Rate) for the balance of the run.
Miraculously, at about mile three or four, “comfortably hard”
started to result in a 9:45 or even a 9:30 pace. Awesome, I thought - the day is looking up! At
mile 13 I saw Mark for just a second and he told me I was in fourth place. Say wha???? He must have meant fourth off the
bike. I was fairly certain I wasn’t in
fourth at the half-marathon point. Teammate
Steve S. had made a “podium” comment earlier in the week and I almost laughed,
certain it was jinxed. Er…. well… that’s
cool but… um…. well it’s time to grab
the mantra for the second half of the run:
“Empty the tank, empty the tank, empty the tank….”
*** Again with the Postcard Scenery!
Yes, That’s a Floatplane in the Background! ***
Shortly after seeing Mark I bumped in to RTB teammate Craig
P. We had a quick chat about how our
days were going. I mentioned that Mark
just told me I was in fourth but that I usually get run down on the run so that
was probably wrong. “Well”, he said, “Not
today!” So, I added another
mantra: “Not today, not today, not today!”
To which I was promptly passed by a gal
in my age group (AG). Sad trombone. Time to HTFU.
I kept plugging away and made note of my HR determined to keep my effort
up. And then well, well, well, what do we have
here? I was about to PASS someone in my
AG! She was looking pretty dejected and
I made the pass with a few pleasantries and little worry she would rally. Score: Them: 1, Me: 1. Not today, indeed!
As far as I can tell there wasn’t any more passing in my age
group for the balance of the run. After
a quick high-five to Mark with about a mile to go I made the turn down the finishing
chute elated to be finishing strong, running and HAPPY!
*** If You’re Happy (To Be Done) and You Know It, Clap Your Hands! ***
*** SUPER Happy Here and Not Even Crying All Over Some Poor Teammate!!! ***
*********************************************************************************
Fourth Place!
“Can anyone tell me what place I finished?” I asked around in
the finishers area. The (otherwise
fabulous) volunteers looked at me like it was the craziest question they’d been
asked all day. Um, at IMCDA they had a
timing table and handed you a card with all your splits and placing, certainly
I wasn’t making this up! Without data
on Mark’s cell phone we had no way to know. Ultimately I ended up calling my
brother 3,000 miles away to get my finish. Fourth, indeed!
We spent the rest of the evening cowbelling on teammates to
the finish and relishing in a great day.
We knew there were three Kona spots in my age group at IMCDA and if that
held true here there just one spot would have to “roll down” for me to get a
slot. It was unlikely, but
possible! I tried not to dwell on it just
waited for whatever the award ceremony would bring.
Monday morning Mark and I headed to the Olympic Plaza for
the ceremony. We set up shop at a table
we shared with a nice couple I’ll call Mama Bear and Papa Bear. We shared our experiences from the race and
they were excited to hear I would be in contention for a Kona spot. Our Endurance Nation team collected First
Place in the Tri Club competition and I was called onto the podium to collect
my fourth place award.
*** BAM – On the Podium!!! ***
Next came the roll down.
We excused ourselves from Mama Bear and Papa Bear to make our way closer
to the front in case my name was called.
As anticipated, there were three Kona spots up for grabs. Fast Gal #1: Want your spot? Yes!
#2? Yes! #3?
Yes. Ouch, that hurt. Tears started to well up. Mark put his arm around my shoulders and
sheparded me to the exit. I hadn’t
expected to get a spot but it did hurt to be so close. I’d promised myself a maximum of a one-minute
pity party and let loose a few tears. I
swear I saw a couple in Mark’s eyes as well.
I pulled out the last mantra for
the weekend: Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. I am so lucky to be able to do
this sport with these great people in this beautiful place. Gratitude,
gratitude, gratitude. I managed to get
the tears under control within the minute allotted. As we
continued back to our hotel and we bumped into Mama Bear and Papa Bear. Mama Bear had tears streaming down her face
FOR ME! Hugs all around. Geeze lady, now I need to have ANOTHER one-minute
pity party. Gratitude, gratitude,
gratitude….
*********************************************************************************
Reflections
Yes, it takes me FOREVER to get my race report done! I think this is partly because I do a lot of
reflecting after the race and partly because writing the report is kind of like
me finishing that chapter and moving forward.
It’s cathartic!
* Compared to IMCDA I was, indeed able to keep my HR up late in the run. Also, coincidentally my average HR for both races was EXACTLY the same. Even though the time was a bit slower, it was hotter and I’d probably lost a bit of fitness so in retrospect it makes sense.
* My subpar swim may have benefited my bike. I’ve consistently had difficulty getting my HR to come down in the first hour of the bike. This year, it was almost 7 BPM less in that first hour. We’ll call that the consolation prize for the craptastic swim.
* After the race I was pleased to see that my “Variability Index” (VI) was 1.03, down from the VI of 1.06 in 2013 indicating I’d had a much steadier ride and metered my effort smoothly.
Overall, I’m really pleased with my effort on the day. Although I wasn't completely spent as I was
in IMCDA, at the most I figure I could have squeezed another couple of minutes out
of myself with better execution. The
third place finisher was 20’ in front of me and fifth place was 7’ behind me –
there wasn't really anything I could have done to catch third place and fourth
place was relatively safe.
Also, I’m proud of how hard I
worked this year. I spent fifteen weeks with fifteen or more hours of training
and four different weeks approached twenty hours. By working hard I don’t mean that I blindly
threw a lot of time at all sports, but I was very strategic in what I did, how
I did it, and why. In particular, I
listened to my body and backed off occasionally when something started to hurt or
I got a a sense of getting over-trained.
Sure enough, I did not get injured and stayed motivated. I also learned a lot and will have a few tweaks for next year. The “behind the scenes” part of this is how
well it went on the home-front. I don’t
take for granted that it “takes a village” to get an athlete to the start and
Mark is 95% of that. I also am humbled
by the the support of friends, family, teammates and training partners. What a great community!
*** There is a lot of support that goes into getting
this amount of training done! ***
Will we do it again? Yeah, probably. IMCDA suits my strengths and nobody is more
shocked than me that I can contend at IMC as well. With races not selling out the day they open
there isn’t an urgency to sign up but I suspect if this fall goes well I’ll be
signing up for both over the winter. As
long as we are both having fun in this crazy journey…. Anything is possible!
*** Hardware! ***
*********************************************************************************
