Great White North race report

The Great White North triathlon in Stony Plain was the first half-Iron distance race I had ever done, way back in 2002. I had a couple of decent results at the Olympic distance the previous year, so I decided to get serious, and enlisted Cal Zaryski of CriticalSpeed.com to see if I could make a go of this triathlon thing. Through his structured training program and by training with a strong group of athletes, I managed to qualify for Ironman Canada at GWN, with a top-ten finish in the 40-49 age group, in a time of 4:50. Little did I know then, but that was a personal best that would follow me for several years!

After coming close to beating that time at Stony Plain the following year, I wandered about the endurance world for the next eight years, accumulating 13 Ironmans, at least double that number of half-Irons, and seven marathons along the way, but missing GWN mostly due to timing. So when planning the race schedule for 2011, the Oliver Half and Great White North seemed like a good bridge between running Boston in April, and racing Ironman Cozumel in November. I have family in Edmonton as well, so it was a good opportunity for a visit, however I wouldn’t be able to sip a Scotch or two with Dad on this trip!

Inspired by my friend Chad, who won the men’s 40-44 age group at Ironman Coeur d’Alene the previous weekend with a sub-5-hour bike and a 3:10 marathon, I came up with a new plan for this race: Take a chance on the bike by going harder than normal, accept that my legs would be more fatigued on the run, and just suck it up. This based on the belief that I can run a lot faster on tired legs than I think I can, as evidenced at the Boston Marathon back in April.

I don’t normally cyber-stalk my opponents before a race, but there was one Ironman Canada spot up for grabs in my age group, and I was interested. The guy most likely to take it was Jaimie Roth, a long-time peer who I was lucky enough to befriend in Hawaii back in 2007. I was just coming off my divorce, and was travelling alone to Kona for Ironman Hawaii. He and his wife Carolyn and a group of their friends adopted me for the week, which I will appreciate always. Jaimie has a killer swim-bike combo, so I figured I would be chasing his vapor trail all morning. Appropriate, since his nickname is “Fartman”!

The race day forecast was sunny and 22, with possible afternoon thunderstorms; not a worry since most athletes would be done between 2 and 3 PM. When we arrived at Hubbles Lake, it was calm with a light wind and high overcast. This made for good swim conditions, as the cloud blocked the glaring morning sun and made sighting to shore easier.

I chose to wear a sleeveless wetsuit; the water was warm enough and I prefer the mobility. It was pretty crowded around the turn buoys on the two-loop course, but I didn’t have too much contact and emerged from the water after surging hard the last 400m. In the scramble to get my wetsuit stripped, I missed seeing the clock, and had no idea that I had just swam a PB of 38 minutes.

I had a slow transition; normally I would leave my shoes clipped into the pedals, and just ride on the tops until I got some momentum going, then slip my feet in and fasten them up on the fly. This is a great time-saver and I’ve done it dozens of times. However, I was worried about my wet feet slipping off on the immediate climb out of T1, so I lost some time putting them on. I was 230th or thereabouts coming out of the water, but probably 180th by the top of the hill. Once onto Highway 16, it was time to play reel-them-in for the next couple of hours. I finally looked at the clock time on my Garmin; it was 8:44 so I assumed I had gone over 40 minutes on the swim; all the more reason now to hang it out there on the bike.

I had set a goal power output of between 240 and 250 watts, with a limit of 300W on the climbs. At the halfway point, my average power output was 245W and the elapsed time was 1:10, so I was right on target, power-wise. Extrapolating that to a 2:20 bike split was not likely, because the climbs were in the second half of the course, down and up the North Saskatchewan River valley. I got a good look at the front of the race coming the other way from the turnaround: There was Jeff Symonds way out front, clearly on a mission. Paul Tichelaar was next, then Timex athlete Kyle Marcotte. I recognized the blur of John White with his distinctive helmet, then shortly after went Jaimie, a good ten minutes ahead. Well, I thought, all the more reason to keep the foot on the gas!

After traversing the valley both ways, I had a slight tailwind going north, which grew stronger as I turned east. I was having trouble maintaining 250W, perhaps I’d gone a bit too hard in the first half, but otherwise had good energy and was doing 35-40km/h. To this point, the bike leg had been uneventful, until a bee bounced down my tri top. His last act was to bury his stinger deep into my sternum, at which point I gave him a firm, goodbye squeeze. However, I left his corpse in my shirt; if I ended up in anaphylactic shock in the ditch, I wanted evidence for the paramedics!

The next moment of unneeded excitement came at the last corner north, when the draft marshall moto decided to turn around right in front of my line. Aside from the dismount line at T2, that was the only time I touched my brakes all morning. My bike split was 2:25ish but including transition, officially 2:28, good for third in my age group. I was now in the top 60 overall. Meanwhile, I hadn’t seen Katherine at all during the bike, but I thought that maybe I just missed her in a crowd of riders.

It was good to see very few bikes in the racks in T2, and I knew I had ridden hard, but my legs felt good. Just out of transition, a friend ran alongside me, and broke the news that Kat had pulled out of the race after the swim. Some days you need to make the tough choice not to continue, and she made the right choice, based on her mindset at the time. Afterwards I made sure she knew that I understood the demons she faced, and that I respected her decision. There’s always another race, another day.

As usual the first few km of the run were filled with mental struggle, and a ticking off of the reasons why I do this. One was; what’s the point of a good bike split, if I don’t close the deal on the run? Then a listing of The Evidence; yes, I trained to run this pace with fatigue. Finally, “I GET to run a half marathon”, not “I HAVE to run a half marathon.” By kilometer 5 I was feeling positive and had a solid 7:15/mile pace going, my HR was under 140, still aerobic, and I was picking off runners one by one.

To that point I hadn’t really paid attention to what my elapsed time was; I was on autopilot racing my plan and everything felt right. So with under 3 km to go, I checked the clock time: 12:32 PM, I was on pace to a PB, and would probably beat my goal time of 4:45! I picked it up a bit, and passed a few more runners in the last 2 km, including the 2nd place athlete in my age group. As I rounded the last corner to the finish, the race clock said 4:42, for a new half-Iron PB by eight minutes; nine years later, nearly to the day!

So when the dust settled, Jaimie took the much-deserved win in the men’s 50-59, using top bike and run splits in our age group, and got the IMC spot. He also set a new age-group record, with a stellar 4:29 finish and 21st place overall. I took second place and 43rd overall with the third-best bike and second-fastest run in our age group, and managed to get an IMC spot via the rolldown later that afternoon. Alan Mcallister, who finished just 21 seconds back of me, had an incredible race at 59 years of age to stay with us youngsters. Alan ages up next year, so watch out you 60s! I hope I can still be laying it down like that when I grow up.

Advice and learnings from this race:
1. Stick with what works, in this case, shoes on the bike for a fast transition.
2. Log your races, and re-read them regularly, to remind yourself of what works.
3. Bring the evidence on race day. By evidence, I mean proof of your ability, based on recent training and racing performances. This will help you get through the rough patches.

Special thanks to my big sister Michelle and her guy Jack, who endured five hours of watching a race where I was out of sight for all but about 5 minutes! And to Dad, who was there in spirit.

Oliver Half 2011 Race Report

Greetings, this is my first race report as a member of TEST (Team Endurance SpeedTheory). TEST is a group of Calgary-area triathletes who are passionate about the sport; and under the SpeedTheory banner, are helping to grow triathlon at the grass roots level.

I’ve been in the sport of triathlon for 10 years now, but have never raced the Oliver Half; however it’s been on my wish list for a while. I’ve raced several other Outback Events races, and Joe and Sarah Dixon and their team always ensure athletes have a great race experience. My girl Katherine had done the race in 2007, and was back for another go after a great Desert Half last summer, followed by her first Ironman (IMC) and Boston Marathon since then.

Our goal race this year is Ironman Cozumel in late November, so I had an opportunity to focus on some early-season racing before the Ironman build cycle begins in August. First was the Boston Marathon in April, so I would have a good run fitness springboard leading into the seven-week period before triathlon season began in Oliver.

The week following Boston, I went to Impact Multisport’s Easter base camp in Penticton, and piled on nearly 300km of cycling in three days, including most of the Axel Merckx Gran Fondo course. My legs felt heavy on some of the climbs, but fortunately we were riding Zone 2 effort much of the time, so I was able to balance some quality cycling base miles with recovery spinning. This strategy paid huge dividends in the weeks that followed; once I recovered from that racing-and-training block, I felt bulletproof during both my bike commutes and long Saturday rides.

With three weeks of swim, cycling and core focus following Easter, I was soon able to ramp up the running to 90-120 minutes again, which included tempo intervals and negative-splits to stay sharp. I also added 10-20 minute transition runs after all bike sessions. The swim was coming along well; we joined a weekly Masters’ Swim group and I was getting some good technique pointers that were helping reduce my split times; in the pool, anyway. (Insert foreshadowing here!) Race-fitness-wise, I felt good to go for June 5th.

Race weekend brought clear skies and temperatures pushing 30 degrees. There was a strong, warm wind from the south on Saturday, but Sunday dawned clear and calm. Me and the rest of the geezers in the mens’ 50+ and womens’ 45+ waded into Tuc-el-nuit Lake at 7:14 AM, the last of three start waves, appropriately wearing our grey swim caps. The start waves were small enough, under 300 bodies each, that there was hardly any contact in the early chaos. One guy kept impeding my line to the first turn buoy, so I had to execute the log roll maneuver to get on the other side of him, so he could swim off course to the left as he seemed determined to do.

After the first turn buoy, there were three orange buoys, then a large gap to the next yellow turn buoy. I found it very hard to sight to, but eventually had a bead on something yellow in the watery blur ahead. Unfortunately it turned out to be a kayak, and by the time its paddler got my attention, I was well off course. Once I got redirected, my left foot cramped, so I swam club-footed for a couple hundred meters while it subsided. At last, after never really feeling a good flow throughout the swim, I was back on terra firma, where I nailed the wetsuit strip. Finally, something went right! Note to self: Don’t make a race your first open-water swim of the year. From the race clock, I figured my swim time was 40ish; brutal.

It was a long run from the beach to transition, but fortunately I was back in my element, and posted up one of not many sub-four-minute transitions. I need to do more events with long transitions, so I can bury some of those lost swim minutes. The results later confirmed that I went from 290th after the swim, to 223rd out of T1!

Onto the bike, and time to claw my way back into the race. While I had not done Oliver before, I knew the course well due to numerous training camps in the Penticton area over the years. This was also my first race with a power meter: My Cervelo P2 now had a Quark Cinqo, paired with a Garmin 310XT, which Cam at SpeedTheory had expertly set up.

Unfortunately I forgot to hit the Start button, so I don’t have any power numbers to dissect from the race. However, I knew from my Computrainer that I could hold over 250 watts for a 40km TT, and had averaged 211 watts while riding the IMC course with a Powertap at last year’s Ironspirit camp. So I stayed in a band between 220-250 watts, and limited myself to 300 watts on the climb out of town. After 20km, this seemed to be a valid range; my heart rate was 145-150bpm (tempo) and my speed was between 35-40km/h on the flats. I also geared to keep my cadence above 90 RPM, to keep the legs fresh for the run. Early on a couple of guys took a dig at me, including one of my age-group rivals, but I held firm to my target power output, and eventually they faded back.

Just after turning off Highway 97 onto Tuc-El-Nuit Drive for the last loop, I sensed I had some company. Sure enough, there was a cyclist about one bike length back; close enough that I could see his shadow if I glanced down. After several km it was apparent he was not interested in riding clean, but I ignored him, kept to my power target and hoped for a draft cop to appear. Eventually he passed, and began an annoying pattern of surging ahead, then dropping back again.

From his race number, mid-400s, I though he might be in my age group, but I was determined not to get into a bike race with him. Soon, another rider in the mid-400s got into the same pattern, then a younger guy also joined in. Meanwhile I kept out of their drafts as best I could, and rode my own ride. None of them had power meters, and it was interesting to see how much energy they were using, playing leapfrog.

I thought I had dropped them for good with a few km to go, but all three did a final surge past me; and the younger guy said to me, “Well, you didn’t make it easy for us!” No, but I made it easy for me; my legs felt great due to avoiding energy-sapping games on the bike, and I was about to start my strongest event. Judging from the race clock time, I had done the 93km ride in about 2:30, which would be a new half-Iron PB.

After another quick transition, I hauled it purposefully out of T2, ready to claw my way up the standings some more. The short climb past Steve King caused a few zingers to fire in my quads, but they subsided around the corner as the course flattened, then went downhill. I was so focused on getting a run rhythm going in the first km, that I missed passing all three of my bike leg cohorts! A quick look back confirmed this. Now the goal was, don’t get passed, by anyone!

I had forgotten how to switch my Garmin to Run mode (Note to self: RTFM), so I left it in Bike mode, where I still had HR info; and speed in MPH, instead of pace. If I stayed at 8 MPH or better, that would be a 7:30/mile pace, or 1:38ish half marathon, so my target became the number 8. My HR steadied around 145bpm, mid-zone 2, and I fell into the good rhythm that makes time and distance shrink. The mid-day heat was intensifying, but there always seemed to be an aid station right around the corner, where I slowed just enough to get wet with sponges and swallow a cup of Gatorade. The mesh back of my SpeedTheory tri-top by Sugoi was a real blessing!

The turnaround of the two-loop course was a welcome milestone; I mentally treat the last half of the run leg as the descent following a long climb. I gulped an Accel gel (which I had found really effective late in my long training runs), then promised to myself to pick up the pace from the last turnaround at the 17 km mark. Just past there, a couple of my age-group rivals went by in the opposite direction. I figured they were four minutes back, a safe gap, but all the more reason to keep the foot on the gas. I was so zoned out I nearly missed Kat going by a couple of minutes later!

I ate my last Accel gel, then leaned into it and began repeating my Boston mantra: Smooth, Easy, Light, Fast. The legs were NOT light on the last undulations, but the magnet of the finish was pulling hard now; nothing left to do but the finishing “kick”, if that’s what you can call it after 70 miles. The finish line is at the bottom of a steep access road to the beach, and my main concern was to not fall flat on my face descending it on tired quads!

Powering down, I collected my towel and finisher’s medal, got a kiss and wet hug from our girl Melissa, who was watching her first triathlon up close; then had a quick dip in the lake to bring the core temperature down. After the usual post-race chit-chat with friends, Missy and I went back up to the finish to watch Kat finish a gutsy performance that included a bike PB. Officially, I went 4:58:53 for 4th in the men’s 50-54 age group, and 42nd overall out of around 800.

At the front end of the men’s race, the top three spots were swept by Penticton triathletes. Local pro Jonny Caron led from the gun to finish in 4:19. Scott Tremblay, usually the top age-grouper at IMC, was a close second at 4:20. Scott will be racing as a pro at Ironman Coeur d’Alene later this month. Justin Birks held off Ynuk Bosse for third by a mere 11 seconds to finish in 4:25, despite coming off an injury that limited his run volume.

On the women’s side, Karen Thibodeau of Langley, Jen Maclean of Victoria and Cailla Patterson of Kelowna took the top three spots, with Karen and Cailla winning there respective age groups.

Lessons Learned: I need to work on the open-water swimming; as the improvements I’ve had in the pool lately did not translate to the lake. I should probably get to know my Garmin a little better too!

Positive Takeaways: Consistent fuelling and pacing on the bike and run meant I had good energy levels throughout, and was able to finish strong, with the third-fastest run in my AG. And with sunny skies and calm winds, it was another great day for racing in the sunny Okanagan!

http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2011/multi/OliverHalf2011AG.html

The 112th Running of the Boston Marathon, Revisited

Here's a flashback to the Boston Marathon earlier this year:

http://www.imcoaching.com/Myles%20Boston%202008.htm

Resurrecting The Blog

I've been thinking about resurrecting this blog for a few weeks now, especially since I've just started ramping up my training for Ironman Arizona on November 23rd, and there are some interesting training challenges coming up as another Calgary autumn settles in. In addition, today is the third anniversary of my first (and hopefully not last) Ironman victory, winning the 45-49 age group at Ironman Wisconsin in 2005. Since then, I've raced five more Ironman triathlons, a couple of Boston marathons, and worked/lived/trained in Cuba, the Middle East and northern Italy. So if the related stories don't interest you, the pictures might!

Back to training for IM AZ. I am 11 weeks from race day, and the serious volume is kicking in. I had a pretty good base of fitness coming in to this build cycle, but turned an ankle over a couple of weeks back which forced me out of a local Olympic-distance race, and off of running for a week. I used this as an excuse to go easy for a couple of weeks, and recharge mentally. It's been a long training year, as I was training for the Boston Marathon since January. Much of that training was done in stupidly hot and humid weather (which I love) in Yemen, or in stupidly cold weather (which I freaking hate) here in Calgary.

I went to Ironman Canada as a spectator; and had a great training day there with an 11km run in the morning, and a 130km ride following the bike and run courses. It was a fantastic day, seeing the pro male and female athletes at the front of the race, then cheering on friends on the run course. I'll do it again next year, then sign up for 2010 so I can race it as a 50-year-old!

I started swimming and weight training again this week after a couple of weeks of slacking, and managed a 300km cycling week, thanks mainly to Monday and Friday off. Funny thing is, 17 hours plus of training, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Triathlon is so simple: No politics, no judging, no perceptions. Just beat the clock. The clock never lies!

Below is last week vs. this week. There will be some bigger weeks ahead!

Kona Pics!

Before The Race

Alcatraz

Well, the heading says "Before The Race", and this was on the flight to San Fran. Lower left is the Golden Gate bridge, middle right is the infamous prison island of Alcatraz. The also-infamous triathlon known as Escape from Alcatraz takes place here. Athletes jump off of a perfectly-good boat just off Alcatraz' rocky shores, swim to the mainland, then complete one of the hardest bike and run courses in the short course triathlon world. Yes, despite it favoring the stronger swimmers, it is on my to-do list.

The view from the kitchen of my third-floor condo on Ali'i Drive. I left the lanai (deck) doors open all week, so I could hear the ocean at all times.

The man-made beach below, with barbecues, picnic tables and beach loungers. The barbecues were in demand every night for al fresco dining, complete some nights with spectacular sunsets.

The view to the south, overlooking the condo pool in the foreground and the public shore access pool in the background. The shore pool is fed by the ocean tide spilling over the end, and is often full of fish. It's about 20m long, and I enjoy swimming in it more than the condo pool.

The volcano Mauna Loa makes a rare early-morning appearance before the vog (volcanic fog) rolls in.

DigMe Beach, the site of the swim start. The Kona pier, site of the transition zones (ie: the bike parking lot) is on the immediate left. This is a great place to check out the fittest in the world, of the opposite sex. (and the same sex, if that's your preference.) Thus the name.

I referred to the Kona pier as the center of the triathlon universe, but it is only so on race day. Before and after, Lava Java is really it. An iconic meeting place, you can rub shoulders with the top pros in the world, and meet your buddies for an awesome breakfast and superb Kona coffee. Just across from the ocean on Ali'i Drive, and a short walk from Ironman village.

Mauna Loa from the Queen Kahumanu Highway. The graffiti on the lava in the background is created by race fans using pieces of white corral picked from the beaches. On the Big Island, nature provides her own version of environmentally-friendly spray paint.





The sign marking the entrance to the Natural Energy Lab, the geographical low point in the marathon beween miles 15 and 19. The sun reflects mercilessly off the lava, and if the Homomuku winds are blowing down off the mountain, you are basically running in a convection oven for four miles, at the hardest point of the run. I took this shot from the bike course, but runners actually see it from the opposite direction. The solar panels in the background obviously soak up a lot of Big Island heat!


Can you guess who is a big-time sponsor of the Ironman World Championships? Well-deserved too, their stuff works. Saved my butt in the Lab. Try to get through a race without it!

Jaja comes out to play

Sorry for the crude posting here, I posted this on Calgary Tri and Bike, a blog for bike weenies. So I need to provide some background info ahead of this story. Here it is.

Laurent Jalabert was one of the top cyclists of the 90s and early 2000s. He has won many stages of the tours de France, Italy and Spain, and was ranked number one in the world for several years, just prior to Lance Armstrong's reign. In my humble opinion I believe he is a more well-rounded and versatile cyclist than you-know-who.

Jaja brought his endurance legs into the triathlon and marathon world, running a very solid 2:50ish at the New York Marathon. He then got the attention of the triathlon world by going 9:20 at Ironman Switzerland, with an expected ass-ripping bike split followed by a world-class marathon of 3:10. Fortunately for us mortals, he is only doing the sport "for fun". Hahaha, me too. Takes all the pressure off.

Jaja blows away Kona
Darn, I think a newbie is supposed to be humbled a bit here in Kona. Jaja was not in the least bit intimidated, pretty much replicating his IM Switzerland performance. He went 1:15, 4:45 and 3:10 for a stunning 9:19 and 12th in the ever-so-humbling 35-39 age group. I got a good pic of his bike, but I am bandwidth-challenged right now so I will download it later. It is a very inconspicuous looking Look 486 with Jaja's name engraved on the top tube. The man himself was not there when I took the pics, but unfortunately after i had turned in my dry bag he showed up complete with a cottery of media hangers-on. He has a very cool tattoo on his chest, and is much smaller than you expect. Surprisingly, did not use an aero helmet.

I talked briefly in some broken French to one of the media dudes, and i think i got across to him what a big deal we all think it is, of jaja coming out to play with us. In my opinion the man backed up the hype with a hugely solid 3:10 marathon, proving he is not just a bike stud. He also swam the same split as his open-water wetsuit swim at IM SWI. He's obviously been working on the fish thingy.

Yeah, Lance, Jaja is setting the standard for ex-Protour dudes in the afterlife. Are you man enough?

Tales From the Lava Fields

OK, so here are some random thoughts and observations from race day.

Laura Sophiea

At about mile 14 of the marathon I ran up to a very cute 51-year-old, several time age group champion Laura Sophiea. Laura had a very memorable ad in Triathlete magazine, using her bare back to promote Mack's earplugs of all things. She's a wholesome and healthy-looking gal who could pass for 31, and could rip your legs off on race day. I chatted her up a bit, but she was pretty down about her race, and it's hard to come up with something motivational in that situation. So I threw caution to the wind anyway and said, "Stay positive, you look great", and carried on.

Yeh way to go doofus, giving advice to a several-time world champion, like who the hell am I? I ran away feeling like I had been snubbed at the high school dance.

Laura won her age group by seven minutes. Must have been the sage advice she received, or maybe in spite of it?

Miranda Stacey

Early in the marathon I ran by a gal who had a very unusual running style, elbows way out and feet stomping hard. Something tweaked in the two percent of brain function I had left at that point, and I looked back and recognized her: Kiwi Miranda Stacey, who I ran about five miles with at Ironman Arizona 2006. On that day, thru race-day verbal shorthand we got to know each other a bit, but I respected the fact she was in the money and I didn't push her for chit-chat. When we passed four-time Ironman winner Bella Comerford, I told Miranda she was now a few hundred dollars richer, which got a brief chuckle.

We ended up on adjacent massage tables after the race in Arizona; she finished seventh among the pro gals and I had an Ironman-best finish of 9:53, and just missed the age-group win. We exchanged a look that bridged time, distance, age and sex; it said, "Yeah that was an awesome day!"

I wish I could have said hello, but I was on a mission, so no time for reminiscing. I'm sure we will cross paths again, though. Ironman is a great crossroads for connecting with old friends!

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

In the early part of the run, cruising thru town, a group of Australians yelled out, "Aussie aussie aussie!" as I ran by. Shortly after, another group of Aussies, same thing. WTF, I thought, and humored them with an "Oy oy oy!" reply. Then I realized my Impact Coaching tri top is the Aussie team colors, green and yellow (and black. Contrary to popular belief, the Aussies do not sport the red, white and blue of their flag in international competition.) My coach, Kevin Cutjar, is an Aussie so the color scheme is no accident. I've always liked it because it is very distinctive, and you can pick it out from a mile away.

Anyway, I enjoyed dual citizenship all day. Aussies caught up on the colors, and Canadians who know the Penticton mainstays of Impact Coaching and the Bike Barn (I was wearing their ultra-comfy bike shorts). In addition, there are spectators who have the athlete guides, they look up your number and cheer you by name as you go by. This is a little spooky at first, because you look around for a familiar face and don't find it. Then you just wave and carry on.

A Front Row Seat

The cool thing about racing Kona is you get to see the pro race unfolding right before your eyes. This year was marked by the absense of the usual suspects, and the attrition of those who toed the start line. Faris Al-Sultan did not start, defending champ Norm Stadler was hurling his guts out early in the bike, defending female champ Michellie Jones waited until mile 70 to spew. Natascha Badmann crashed out early. Desiree Ficker was beautiful as usual, but a non-factor.

So the table was set for a change of the guard. Chris McCormack finally walked the walk and won his first Ironman world championship. He has mouthed off the last few years about being the best triathlete on the planet. I agreed, but with the reservation that he has to win here to back the yak. So he did, and with a world-class 2:42 marathon to cap it. Macca has won at every level now, and yes he is the best triathlete on the planet, for now. I posted a picture the other day of the best triathlete ever, Mark Allen. If Macca wins six Ironman titles, then he can join Mark and Dave Scott as legends of the sport.

Great day for Oz, with short course and 70.3 powerhouse Craig Alexander coming in second. I'm not a bit surprised, the guy has awesome speed that carries well at the Ironman distance. Bike stud Torbjorn Sindballe hung on for third, with a sub-3 marathon to prove he's not all about the bike. Two-time champ Tim Deboom, fourth, the guy is back.

I have no comment on women's winner Chrissie Wellington. She came out of nowhere after winning Ironman Korea seven weeks ago. When I saw her on the Queen K, she looked like she was doing an easy recovery run. I believe there is a dues-paying process that needs to be honored here in Kona. Enough said.

Canadian Samantha Mcglone, former Olympian and current 70.3 champion, is the real deal and came in second. She is the female Craig Alexander, and will win one day. Aussie Kate Major was solid again and rounded out the top three.

So Canada has a new hope at the Ironman distance. Australia has three athletes in the top three, oy oy oy!

Kona Review - short version

Good afternoon, I am sitting on the beach eating a banana the size of my forearm, and sweating profusely. (It's a local banana, go figure!) Fortunately I have a cooler full of Bud to slake my thirst. Bud and bananas, yum!

My feet are so swollen I can barely get them into my crocs. Do I care? Not a bit. My next race is the Boston Marathon in April. Lots of time to recover and decompress.

Here is the short version of race day:

Swim:

I started about a third over from the very popular left side. The first 200m was a thrash-fest, but the water opened up once the better swimmers got by me (which was almost everyone!)

I chased some feet pretty much the whole swim. My swim cap came off at the turn, so I just tucked it into my skinsuit and kept going. I did a quick time check and was on pace for a 1:16, but the current was outgoing, goodbye negative split.

I had an awesome set of feet to follow on the return trip, the guy was wearing white and had a nice tight kick, so he was a great pace bunny. If not for chasing him I probably would have swam well over 1:20.

Out of the water, up the steps and into the shower: a very weak 1:19 but a Kona swim PB. Great way to start the day!

Bike

Before the race I talked to German pro Thomas (Hell on Wheels) Hellreigel about his choice of shallow rims. He felt we were in for a return to the typical Kona conditions, ie: windy as hell. Good call Thomas, Madame Pele delivered in spades. We had a head or crosswind all the way up to Hawi, then the same treat going back to Kona.

The only change from a typical Kona sufferfest, was the wind came off the ocean all day, so it had somewhat of a cooling effect. Somewhat.

So it felt like a headwind about 80% of the ride, the only breaks being the delirious descent from Hawi, and the last few miles into town. Otherwise it was a freaking grind, but I felt good, passed a ton of people on the climb to Hawi, and even more on the way down. Then I chipped away at some riders on the homeward leg.

I was really impressed by the strength of the athletes around me, young and old, male and female. When I got passed, I just reminded myself that these are the best triathletes in the world. No shame there.

I hammered it hard in the last few miles, and nailed down another Kona PB of 5:40, nowhere near my best of 5:08 at IM AZ, but pretty darn good for a tough day on a tough course. The best part was, my legs felt great for the run.

Run

I have never felt so good going onto an Ironman run course. I was suicidal only for the first mile, when I took my split and realized I was running a 7:20 pace! Ouch, slow down. I dialled in my desired 8s and churned down Alii Drive, feeling quite solid. I even knocked off a few sub-7:40s to put some time in the bank. (Sorry Coach!)

When I got to the climb at Palani Drive, I started out running at an easy shuffle. Then I power-walked the rest of it. A guy and a gal passed me on the way up, but I re-passed them on the Queen K and put them behind me for good. So that was a 9-minute mile.

It looks so weak walking up Palani, but I think it is a good strategy. There are 16 more hard miles at this point, so it makes sense to conserve some energy. Hell, also known as the Natural Energy Lab, is just a few miles away!

I blitzed the aid stations, doing sponges-water-gel-ice in the hat-sponges again. I probably passed two or three athletes per aid station by not lingering.

At mile 15 we turned off the Queen K and descended into the 4-mile inferno of the Natural Energy Lab, also known as Hell on Earth. As I headed down the gates of Hell, a somewhat cool breeze greeted me. WTF, I thought, are we catching a freaking break here or what? Yes, my 3:30 marathon was within reach!

I got thru the timing mat at the turnaround point, and wondered how soon that would register with whoever was following the race. Only 7 miles to go, that's an easy jog back home in Fish Creek Park. Except, this is the Ironman World Championships, it is now time to go kick some ass!

I had a very serious swoon at the last turn down in the Lab. Problem-solving time. I slowed to a walk, and thought, WTF is happening? I am not walking the last seven miles in Kona. F)ck that! Then I realized I didn't get any calories at the last aid station. I reached into my shirt pocket for my bailout gel, inhaled it and bounced back immediately. Way to go, Powerbar!

A couple of guys who passed me while I was regrouping were quite surprised to see me rise from the dead, and put the boots to them.

I got the bit between my teeth and leaned forward, keeping the hands high and tight, continuing to blitz the aid stations. I kept thinking of Coach Kev's advice: Great marathon=great Ironman. Also Jill Hunt's two easy words: Hold Pace. Then my two easy words, for hot days: Stay Wet!

The run back to Kona was just awesome, I felt bulletproof and chewed thru the field pretty well.

With about three miles to go, I came up to a couple of really tall guys, one wearing US Army and one wearing US Navy togs. I recognized Navy guy as Geoff Cleveland, one of the best Ironman swimmers on the planet, who beat me for the age-group win by a mere 4 seconds on his home course at Ironman Arizona. I made a point of re-introducing myself, then showed him the heels. I have the utmost respect for Geoff, don't get me wrong, but scores need to be settled. I took a few seconds of pleasure, and passed on to complete my mission.

Even the long climb just before Palani felt easy. Once I turned onto Alii, there was a guy on front of me. I entertained the idea of coasting in easy behind him, but the blood rose up to my eyeballs and I found yet another gear. I had Alii Drive all to myself for about 20 seconds, high-fived to the right and the left, and nailed the finish photo. Then I became a helpless mass of dehydrated flesh. Off to the med tent for chicken soup and ice packs!

So I finished 33rd in the world, in the 45-49 age group. Got the Boston spot too. Not bad for an old guy who couldn't lift my left arm over my head back in May! This race is something else. Stupidly tough, but very satisfying. My apologies if I seem rather cutthroat about this whole experience, but I've had a tough year and have a bit of chip on my shoulder, right where my left AC ligament used to be. It's all good now, though!

Mahalo, and thanks for following,

M G

Photo time

Saturday evening we were out winding down the big day at Don Drysdale's in Keauhou (the LA Dodgers pitcher who threw two no-hitters in a row) and in walks Mark Allen, a legend of the sport and six-time Ironman world champion. I got his attention by going slack-jawed, bug-eyed and pointing at him and saying "That's Mark Allen!" so he very graciously came over to our table, shook hands all around and congratulated Jamie and I for getting it done. He has a great coaching business going, Mark Allen Online, and put five athletes on the podium. I have several of his pearls of triathlon wisdom rattling around my brain at all times, and called on a couple during some tough times on race day. That's me and fellow 45-49er Jamie Roth of Cochrane feeling the vibe of the greatest triathlete on the planet.

My race buggy, and my aero helmet. The Canadian flag was a big hit, even with some Americans.

10:37:13: A New Kona PB!

On my third try, I FINALLY put together a good race at the Ironman World Championships! I had Kona personal bests across the board, and my third-fastest Ironman marathon of 3:30. Here are the splits:

Swim: 1:19:41 (Pathetic, needs work.)
Bike: 5:40:07 (Very hot and windy!)
Run: 3:30:35, 18th-fastest marathon in my age group (Male 45-49).
Total 10:37:13, 33rd of 166 in the 45-49 age group, also a Kona PB.

Interestingly, the marathon course is now a Boston Marathon qualifier, (talk about multi-tasking!) and the qualifying time for my age group is 3:30:59. I already have my spot (from Boston in 2005), but when I heard this announced at the carbo dinner, I decided to give it a try anyway, just to prove to myself that I could do it. There are much easier ways to qualify for Boston, like running an open marathon on fresh legs, but I liked the challenge, and was happy to be able to pull it off.

This was my 10th Ironman, including three Ironman world championships in five years, so it's probably time to pack it in. Yeah, right! I think I can do better here, I know what needs to be done, and I'll be back. Nothing like a good race to keep the fires stoked!

Race review, pictures to follow.