Looking Back-Ironman Canada 2007

I rushed out those IMC race reports without really talking about what worked and what didn't. So before I forget, here's the straight poop.

What didn't work

My wetsuit choice. I decided to wear my Orca sleeveless for the race, because the water was warm and I don't like the restricted feeling of a fullsuit around my shoulders. I experienced leg cramps after 2000m, and the most frustrating thing is, I had my Orca P-Flex with me, back in the suite. The P-Flex was race-proven at Ironman Wisconsin 2005 (1st place) and Ironman Arizona 2006 (2nd place), and I swam nearly 8000m in it during an ultra-swim at McKenzie Lake last summer, with no issues whatsoever.

What worked

Fortunately the swim is only ten percent of the race. My strengths are the bike and run, so despite getting out of the water in 1072nd place overall, I rode up to 153rd place and ran to 76th place, and seventh in the 45-49 age group.

What didn't work

My stomach. I ingested a bit too much water during the swim, so I had a full and slightly nauseous feeling for most of the bike and the first two miles of the run.

What worked

Rather than drink my usual two bottles of Gatorade per hour on the bike, I took in gels and water, and continued to do so on the run. Less volume in the stomach, and because of cooler-than-normal temperatures, I was able to get away with less hydration. Besides the all-important carbs, the gels now have electrolytes, so everything you need is in those little packets.

What didn't work

Nearly 2600 athletes on the bike course. I know this was the 25th anniversary of Ironman Canada, and everyone wanted to do the race, but please let's cap it to about 2200 going forward. It was nearly impossible to stay out of draft packs between Penticton and Osoyoos, and from the end of the rollers to Cawston.

What worked

The bike course, and the headwinds. Fortunately the early draft packs got blown apart on the climbs at Richter Pass and on the rollers, and the wheelsucks who weren't exposed there, succumbed to the strong headwinds or the final climb at Yellow Lake.

What else worked

The course. Still one of the few single-loop Ironman courses for all three events. This wouldn't be possible without the support of the communities of Oliver, Osoyoos, Cawston, Keremeos and Olalla.

The volunteers. First class, as always. No wonder this race fills up instantly.

The spectators. Especially on the climb at Yellow Lake. I felt like I was pushed up the hill from all their energy. Also in Penticton, lots of familiar faces.

The weather. Overcast, not hot, made for fast run times and very few DNFs.

The legs. I very nearly negative-split the marathon.

The Time Trial - The Race of Truth

I'm going off topic from triathlon, just for one post. The World Championships of cycling are currently under way in Stuttgart, Germany, and today was the time trial. The time trial is called "the race of truth", as it pits individual riders against the clock on a set course, usually 40-60km in length.

Each rider starts at two-minute intervals, so there are no draft packs to hide in, just each rider against the clock, and the elements. The strategy therefore is, warm up properly, then go ride the distance as hard as you possibly can. However, just like in triathlon, you must pace yourself; start out at a brisk pace, but keep some in reserve for a strong finish. The three or four time splits on a time trial course validate this strategy; without exception the winning time trialists increase their time gap over the next-fastest rider at every split.

Most Ironman triathletes are wanna-be Pro Tour cyclists, and we imitate everything they do (with the exception of, I hope, doping!) We ride the same bikes and wear the same equipment, but our time trial is 112 miles in length, and we have to run a marathon at the end of our bike ride. Often a new cycling innovation from the Tour de France will be seen next on the bike of a pro triathlete on the pier in Kona. We spend five hours plus, or fifty percent of the race, on the bike, so it makes sense to use equipment that has been proven by professional cyclists.

Today, Switzerland's Fabian Cancellera won the World Time Trial championship for the second straight year. Cancellera also won the prologue at this year's Tour de France, surprisingly won a sprinter's stage, and wore the yellow jersey for the first eight days of the Tour. Not a great climber, he moved into a support role for Team CSC for the remainder of the Tour, and did some strong work in the mountains, bringing eventual fourth-place finisher Carlos Sastre to the foot of the big climbs. Here are some photos of the World Time Trial champion from today's action:

Above, Cancellera leaves the start house. He is riding a Canadian-designed Cervelo P3C, of which there will be several dozen on the pier in Kona. He represents Switzerland, but wears much of his Team CSC-branded equipment.

That's the face of maximum effort; not a smile, but a grimace of pain. His speed averaged 48.4 km/h, covering 44.9 km in just under 55 minutes.

Cancellera wears the rainbow stripes and stopwatch logo of the UCI World Time Trial champion, and a second consecutive gold medal, for cycling in its purest form: Man against Clock.

Countdown to Kona

Scenes from last year...

Above, the finish line at 4:45 AM on race day, Kona, 2006. Right about that time, nervous athletes were queueing up for body marking.


Athletes are marked with their race number on their arms, and age on the back of the left calf. That number will be 47 instead of 46 this year, firmly in the middle of the 45-49 age group. The tattoos are the logos of all the Ironman races I've done.

From top to bottom, left to right:

Hawaii 2004 (hibiscus), Canada 2002 (maple leaf), the Ironman logo (known as the M-dot), Canada 2003, Canada 2004, Wisconsin 2005 (Madison's capitol dome), Arizona 2006 (cactus), and Coeur d'Alene 2006 (pine tree). Missing are Hawaii 2006 and Canada 2007. I'm still trying to work up the courage...

Hydrate, or die! That's the race day fuelling strategy to counter the legendary winds, heat and humidity of the Big Island.

17 days and counting, to race day...

The Tipping Point

I've talked in previous posts about the downside of qualifying at Ironman Canada for the world championships in Kona. The interval between is typically only seven weeks, barely enough time to recover, let alone put in a decent build cycle. However, if you manage recovery properly, I believe you can use IMC as a springboard to peak fitness on the Big Island on October 13th.

If you treat IMC as a ten-hour training day, then the following week consists of short workouts of low intensity. If possible, no running. This is counter-intuitive to the way you feel; fatigue aside, you are probably in the best shape of your life. I've had my best 10k run, 30km time trial and marathon times in the two week period following an Ironman. (In all cases though, I did not have Kona looming a few weeks away.)

Above, Ironman Canada is included in the first column, followed by a very easy recovery week. Not much running the following week, minimizing impact. The next two weeks are more typical build weeks, with the longest ride and run at the end of the build.

The second week, you can start to ramp up the volume, and add some intensity work to your swimming. Week three will see the return of a normal swim and bike schedule, and a gradual increase in running volume. Week four should have the longest bike (180km) and run (2:30 or longer) of the seven-week cycle.

This is my third trip to Kona, and I believe this last long run is a good indicator of success for the balance between recovery from IMC/build for Hawaii (the "tipping point" I referred to in the title.) If I feel wasted and/or have injury issues, it could be an indication of overtraining, and suggests taking a couple of days off completely. Fortunately, today's long run went very well; I ran 19.4 miles in 2:45, with a heart rate below 60% of max, and no injury issues. A great training run, especially considering the lingering fatigue of the 180km ride yesterday. So it looks like the training is on target.

You can now view my training logs at

http://www.workoutlog.com/log/public/gaulinm/log.cfm

Team Impact

Here's a group photo of Team Impact Multisport on the beach in Penticton, after our group swim, two days before Ironman Canada. The coaches are top center, Olly Piggin in black and Kevin Cutjar in white. Team Impact had 52 of 53 athletes finish the race, and several qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

http://www.imcoaching.com/Scrapbook.htm#imc07

Ironman Canada Race Report - Finale

When you've done enough of these darn things, you know there is about a 10-second window that you can look good to nail the finish photo, because before and after you look and feel like you just want it to end. Note the hard-working volunteers behind me, getting the finish banner ready for 7th-place pro female Lucy Smith.


So I blew the swim by wearing my Orca sleeveless, which is too tight in the legs and gives me cramps after about 2000m. I noted this in my training logs, (which are only helpful if you read them later), so that just proves that you are never to experienced to make stupid mistakes. I have DNFed 3x when using this suit, so I am going to cut it up and use it for tire patches. I could easily have blamed my swim on the shoulder injury from my bike crash in May, but honestly it felt fine, and I was doing great in the pool leading up to race day. Oh well, Ironman is never won in the swim, yada yada yada...



The bike went great. I was in Penticton for training camp in early July, and the wind was from the north the day we rode the course, so it rode exactly the same on race day, just cooler. I knew to make time with the tailwinds, and just hunker down and gut out the headwinds. My stomach wasn't feeling too good, probably chugged too much lake water during the swim, so I went with gels and water throughout the ride.



I got a bullshit blocking call on the Cawston out-and-back, (I stayed out to the left after passing a paceline that would have made Lance proud) but it only cost me about 30 seconds and gave me the opportunity to empty the dead bee out of my helmet. I caught back all the guys who passed me by the foot of Yellow Lakes. I topped with Greg Bradley, and we hammered hard back into town. I really drilled it down Main St to set an IMC bike PB, and second-best IM bike split.



During the first two miles of the run, I had leg and stomach cramps that had me well down the list of reasons to continue. (My dad being there was the kicker.) But my mile splits were sub-8, so I waited out the suicidal tendencies and by mile three, got dialled in and felt like I was going to be fine. The rest of the way, I had only one mile split over 8 minutes.I saw lots of familiar faces racing and spectating, so I drew energy from them and gave some back. Coach Kev came by a few times on a bike and told me I was having a great marathon. Him and Tom Evans were keeping Dave Matheson focused on a big AG win.



I ran by my old coach, Cal Zaryski of Critical Speed, at mile 16. He said, "10 miles to go Myles, the race starts here." I thought, how true, it all boils down to pacing, so that you are strong for the last 10 miles of 140. In Ironman, it's not necessarily who's the fastest, but who slows down the least at the end. So I didn't slow down.



I had to dig deep the last six miles or so, as fatigue was causing come cramping. I passed into seventh place in my AG in the last 1000m, and kept looking back to make sure he didn't have a better finishing kick. He didn't!



I crossed at 10:03:23, an IMC PB, and my second-fastest IM. I also had an Ironman marathon PB at 3:24:03, which was the second-fastest in my AG, slower only than the winner. So other than the swim, it was a really good day. Great battle in my age group, the 45-49, only six minutes between 2nd and 8th place. The winner, Anthony Frost, went 9:34:01, and missed breaking Bruce Burns' ten-year-old record by 21 seconds. Anthony won the 45-49 at the Apple (an Olympic-distance triathlon in Kelowna) the previous week, and was third overall there. When you can bring short-course speed to Ironman, you are going to kick some ass, as Anthony did. Very impressive.



My coach and a couple of tri-buddies who know my race history said this was my best Ironman, despite a quicker 9:53 at Ironman Arizona in 2006. IM AZ was a flat course and a calm day, so I would agree re: the bike and run, but the swim was a mental gaff that cost me 5-6 minutes. (My IM best swim is 1:08, ironically at IMC 2004.) So I would say, not an "A" race, but a "B+". However, considering I couldn't lift my left arm over my head in early May, I'm pretty happy with it!


At the awards dinner, our table consisted of Sara Gross (2nd female), Chris Brown (3rd male), Kyle Marcotte (6th male), Dave Matheson (1st, 35-39), Cat Brown (2nd, 25-29), Marty Heck (6th, 35-39), Kevin Cutjar (20+ Ironmans, many sub-9s) and me, the old guy bringing up the rear. I was surrounded by Subaru jackets as we wandered off to the after-party! It was a great capper to a really fun week. Congrats to all, and thanks to all the friendly faces who came out to cheer us on!

The Acromioclavicular Joint

A brief pause from IMC race reports here to talk about the acromioclavicular joint (otherwise known as the AC). Even though I recovered enough to race well, there are long-term implications of this injury that can't be ignored.

Before, with normal shoulders, at Ironman Wisconsin, September 2005.

When I crashed back in May, I went over the bars and landed hard on my (helmeted) head and left shoulder. I knew that I had a severe shoulder injury due to the pain in that area, and the new bump that appeared. However, I learned that evening in Rockyview Emergency all about separated shoulders; in my case a grade-three separation. After a few days, the shortness of breath that marked the punctured left lung were gone; two weeks later all the abrasions had healed, leaving me with some unexpected tattoos; three weeks later the pain from the bruised ribs abated enough that I could get out of bed without well-considered contortions.

After, check the new shoulder hump, at Ironman Canada 2007.

However, the protruding clavicle is still there, and will be for life. The success rate for shoulder surgery to correct this is not good; it's merely cosmetic in effect, and is reversible. This is the worst part:

Several studies have looked at what happens to the AC joint after this injury. It appears that many people, whether they had the joint repaired surgically or not, will need an operation at some time in the future. The injured joint degenerates faster than normal. Over time it becomes arthritic and painful. This process may take years to develop, but sometimes it happens within one or two years.

http://www.orthogate.org/patient-education/shoulder/acromioclavicular-joint-separation.html

What to do if this happens to you? Aggressive chiropractic and physiotherapy treatment, and if it is due to someone else's negligence, aggressive legal action. Don't take this injury lying down.

Ironman Canada Race Report

Now that the warmup splash is out of the way, time to get on with the REAL race! (Mark Creery photo.)

The Swim (2.4 miles/3800m)

1:15:08

The good news is, it wasn't my worst Ironman swim ever. The bad news is, it could have been a lot better, based on how well things were going in the pool leading up to the race. I would love to blame it on the shoulder injury, but the truth is, the shoulder felt fine. So instead I'll blame it on my wetsuit! Back to that shortly.

Considering that this was the largest mass swim start in Ironman history (2588 brave souls), I had a really clean start, with no contact in the first 1000m. Then just the usual incidental swarms every few hundred meters. As I passed the second turn at 2000m, I snuck a look at my watch: right on pace at 37 minutes, and I figured I could negative-split.

About 100m later, both quads and calves started to tighten up. Then I remembered why I didn't wear this suit for Ironman races; it's too tight in the legs for longer swims. So I spent the rest of the swim doing everything I could to shake the cramps out. At long last, I was out of the water in a brutal 1073rd place, do-oh! The most frustrating part is, I had logged this problem after the last race it had occurred, and forgotten about it. In addition, I had another wetsuit that I had raced the last three Ironmans, back at the suite.

Oh well, my race really doesn't start until the bike anyway, and because I was putting in 8000+ meters per week in the pool, I wasn't tired; just mad at myself. But I put the swim behind me, and chanelled my energy into turning the pedals over.

Next: Let's Ride!

A Front-Row Seat

Lisa Bentley, the 11-time Ironman winner and winner for the third time at Ironman Canada, posted her finish photo on xtri.com. I got my folks into the VIP area for the day, and there they are on the right as Lisa wins her third IMC. Dad in sunglasses, June in pink.

I checked my finish photos, and found they also made an appearance in my special "eyes closed" picture. Dad in his sunglasses is just above my left fist, and June is just to my left ear. They were so supportive and respective of my pre-race needs, and clicked well with my 87-year-old host and good friend Peter Egglestone.

The highlight of this Ironman Canada for me was, how my folks connected with the locals, and how my connections with the local triathlon community made me feel so at home. A big thrill was local triathlete Dave Matheson winning the notoriously tough 35-39 age group. On race day, he pulled off an outstanding marathon of 3:12, and finished 21st overall.

Back to Business

"There have been a couple of good studies done at Ironman Hawaii that have looked at post-race physiology, and one of the most startling things they found was that muscle enzymes, which show muscle trauma, remained elevated four to six weeks after the race. So you need at least six weeks off after an Ironman before beginning to build for another race."

Dave Scott, six-time Ironman champion, speaking at a Timex Science of Speed seminar.

Ironman Canada was two weeks ago, and Kona is in five weeks. If you do the math, it's clear why so many pass on Kona spots earned at IMC. It's hardly an optimal recovery period. However, a good training cycle can still be achieved, if you pay close attention to recovery, particularly in the first two weeks.

I did only a very easy ride two days after Ironman Canada, and didn't train again until the following Saturday, with an easy 25km spin. Sunday, a ride to the pool for a 30-minute recovery swim, and a 60km spin on the flats on Monday. A couple of technique-focus swims, and some intervals on the bike, rounded out the rest of the week. Saturday was a 100-km ride west past Bragg Creek, which felt very energizing. An early 3000m swim with a 1000m power set this morning was followed this afternoon by a 10km run. This was my first run since race day, due to a blister the size of Rhode Island on my right instep. It probably saved me from myself, though!

A Hard Lesson in Proper Pacing

While running the 10km loop out my back gate in Fish Creek Park today, I got to witness a fellow runner blow himself to bits due to poor pacing. At about 1km out, he went by me at a very brisk pace. Once I calmed my ego down, I thought, "well, good on you if you can hold that for a while." Down in the park , I could still see him up ahead (he was wearing a red shirt, easy to spot) but the gap was not getting much bigger.

Near the halfway mark, he was walking, picked up briefly to a rather labored-looking run, but quickly resumed walking. As I passed him, he got it going again, and stayed on my heels for about 200m. I listened to his breathing, which got more ragged with every step. I heard the telltale sole-scuffing of fatigued legs failing to pick up the feet. Then, the sounds faded. (I swear I did not purposely surge to drop him!) 5km into a 10km run, and he was cooked, all because he didn't pace himself properly at the start.

The Negative Split-It's a Good Thing!

Proper pacing results in finishing stronger than you start. This requires starting off more slowly than feels normal, building to a manageable pace for the distance, then picking it up during the last third. If done right, this results in a negative split, meaning you ran the last half faster than the first half. Nearly all recent endurance records have been set using the negative split, including the current marathon world record of 2:04:55.