I am very grateful to have had the opening to participate in such an spectacular, event as the Iron Man Triathlon. I truly value living in a free and democratic country that is not only war free but beautiful beyond belief. To have 5000 volunteers for 2500 athletes is spectacular, and I commend the citizen of Penticton for chronic to do such an excellent job of hosting this event.
The journey to the starting line of Iron Man Canada in Penticton started about a year ago. I had completed 14 marathons and a handful of ½ Iron Man triathlons but the Iron Man all the time seemed so mind boggling and apparently out of my reach.
My Iron Man game plan was to:
o Hope for the Best
o Plan for the Worst and
o Expect the Unexpected
The biggest obstacle in my mind was the huge task of running a full 26 mile marathon after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles. How did these citizen do it? My friend Don Henderson described the marathon in the Iron Man as a more of a "pilgrimage" or journey to the sacred land.
I chose to compete in the Iron Man because I knew it would be a sacred journey into the unknown. I dreamed about completing it ever since I saw Paula Newby Fraser and Mark Allen conquer the procedure in Kailua Kona, Hawaii in 1992.
1. Hope for the Best:
I recently researched and wrote about two citizen who recovered from life threatening illnesses. They learned to embrace the journey of rescue and transcended their tragic circumstances. The key for both of these citizen was to visualize the end result. They practiced visualization daily and saw themselves as healthy and foremost happy sufficient lives. I followed in their foot steps and immediately started visualizing myself at the Iron Man discontinue line with my arms raised in victory and the crowd cheering loudly.
The determined next step was to hire a coach and come up with a feasible training schedule.
I did not have to reinvent the wheel in preparation for the race as I hired my friend David Kazakoff a 9 time Iron Man finisher. He wisely gave me my agenda 1 month at a time so I could keep focused and not get too concerned about the careful training near the end. The four key components of my training were:
o 1. Equilibrium --the 3 disciplines of swim, bike and run,
o 2. Focus --on the current workout only
o 3. Discovery --Enjoy all of the experiences and embrace this sacred journey
o 4. Fun --There is no point in doing all this training unless you enjoy the palpate and have fun. I have observed many triathletes train for the Iron Man with vastly dissimilar approaches. My two 2 heroes are Leslie Riva and Lori Allin because they all the time looked so happy and seemed to love every puny of their training and the race itself. I wanted to be like them!
Plan for the Worst:
I was astutely instructed to prepare for something to go wrong during training sessions and on race day itself. I had my share of challenges together with a fickle front derailleur, a rash of 10 flat tires and horrible cycling weather.
The most memorable training day occurred in late July. I was nicely on my way up island for my longest bike ride of the year (180km) when I got two flat tires in a row. I was only mildly irritated and merrily on my way until I heard the dreaded thump of yet other flat tire. I was out of spare tubes, 70 kilometers away from home and it was about 34 degrees Celsius. Luckily I packed a cell phone and had memorized the local taxi company's number. However, my mouth dropped when the dispatcher said he could not pick me up for other 3 hours! I ultimately managed to palpate my office manager Nancy who graciously saved me from walking home. Needless to say, I have a great respect and appreciation for loyal employees and cell phones.
Sunday August 27, 2006 was race day and I was ready. I was very fortunate and grateful to have the spectacular, hold of my girlfriend Laurie and her 12 year old son Taylor. They woke up with me at 4:30 and accompanied me to the start line for body marking and pre race preparation. Taylor supported me on my training runs by riding along side on his bike. I all the time wondered why he was all the time riding so far in front of me. Later I learned that he was embarrassed with me wearing my purple biking "spanky" pants. He couldn't let his friends see him with me!
When the cannon blasted to start the swim I was very excited along side the other 2500 competitors. I was going to have fun and treat this as just one long day of training. Within the first 300 meters of the swim, I was punched in the nose and kicked in the chin. I also heard a cry of, "get off of me!" I should have followed the swim strategy of the Iron Man triathlon author and specialist Ray Fauteux and stayed totally to the left of everybody! However, I remained calm and focused and had a decent swim. As I exited the water, the announcer was boisterously calling out all our names. Before I knew it, I had my wet suit off and navigated my way to the change tent full of naked bodies and wet suits. I found my bike certainly and was on the next stage of the journey. The bike ride was certainly spectacular. The first 60 kilometers straight through Oliver and Osoyoos was pretty easy and I felt very good.
I had driven the bike procedure 3 days ago so I knew that the involving hills started at Richter's pass and continued for other two to three hours. The view going up Richter's pass was certainly spectacular and I was certainly talking to citizen as I rode along side them. The drafting police were very lenient as it was almost impossible to keep 4 bike lengths behind the other bikers in such a big pack. We had aid stations every 10 miles and I just loved pouring cold water on my face and body! The hold of the fans along all parts of the procedure is totally awesome and I certainly appreciated Dave, Jennifer and Pheona cheering me on from their vehicle.
Aside: Even though I consumed about 5 bottles of Gatorade on the bike and the run I did not have to pee once! Apparently my body utilized all of these fluids.
The ascent up Yellow Lake reminded me of the Tour de France and I almost thinkable, officials to let us take our helmets off. The winding downhill felt spectacular, and I had tears of joy as I saw the view of Penticton and the airport. The bike part was nearly over and I was pumped full of adrenalin and as high as a kite!
Expect the Unexpected:
I was extremely relieved to get off my bike and into my nice comfortable running shorts. I had a good transition and was fueled up and ready to go. Nothing could stop me now because the run was my strongest event.
However, a funny thing happened just after the 3 mile mark of the run.
I planned on running a mile and then walking straight through each aid station. But after the 3rd aid station I could not run any more. I was exhausted, depleted and forced to walk. I had 20 miles left, struggling uphill, heading into the wind and it was 33 degrees Celsius! What was I going to do? It was at that point I heard the imaginary voice of my swim coach Malcolm telling me that I had gone out too hard on the bike and had nothing left.
"But honestly, I was holding back!"
I also remembered Paula Newby Fraser telling us that we good have a plan when something like this happened. My new plan was to get some dissimilar types of food inside me because I was certainly sick and disgusted with power gel. I tried many grapes and water but that did not work. My last hope was the special needs station at the half way point. I had settled a package of apricot baby food and a spoon in my special needs bag and I hungrily devoured it; but most importantly my stomach approved. I gently jogged to the next aid station and discovered oranges. My stomach liked them too! I was becoming stronger and in a few miles I was now able to run at a good pace for a mile at a time! My mood had drastically improved and I was no longer depleted and "supercrabby."
By mile 24, I once again became very fatigued after a nasty uphill. However, I was so close to the discontinue line I could hear the cheering of the fans. I was going to keep running no matter what!
My legs were aching and my proceed was shortened but I was magically pulled along by the cheers from the crowd and the voice of the discontinue line announcer! It was dark and I had difficulty seeing where I was supposed to run. Then suddenly a familiar voice yelled out my name and gave me a high five. It was Laurie! Her proximity and hold gave me a sudden burst of vigor and it seemed as if I was sprinting to the discontinue line. I was so close to the discontinue line when the Gods played one last nasty trick on my fellow competitors and me.
We had to run past the discontinue line for half a mile, turn around and come back. I was so angry but even more determined not to stop. I made it to the turnaround and ran toward the discontinue line. The next few minutes reminded me of a near death experience. All I remember was the certainly magnificent vigor from the cheering spectators and the blinding involving lights at the discontinue line.
All I had to do was keep running to the involving lights and I would be home. The cheering got louder and the lights got brighter. It seemed as if everything was in slow appeal as I neared the Holy Grail. Laurie snuck in front of the crowd to give me other high five as I neared the discontinue line. The announcer screamed out, "Here is your next winner!" I raised my arms in the air victoriously just as I had visualized a thousand times before and I felt the exquisite sensation of my torso pushing straight through the discontinue line ribbon!
And then for one brief moment...
Life was perfect.
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