I am IRONMAN!

Well you guessed it...... "I am Ironman!" (Ya gotta love Black Sabbath.)

Here all the data if you are into that kind of thing....my chip did not seem to register out in OK Falls for my 1/2 marathon time.

What a great city... I cannot say enough about the volunteers and their support. The best sign I saw on the course was: "The pain is temporary... Ironman is forever!"

I will let the photos below do most of the talking today, as I was blessed to have family members throughout the route taking the odd snap. That said, lets get down to brass tacks... shall we.

4:00 a.m. Tri-Guy checks out the signs.

SWIM:

There is just something about 3000 people all wanting to swim slightly under 4k together that gets you kinda amped. You could cut the air with a knife. Some people were down right nervous to people crying as they said goodbye to loved ones for what could be a 17 hour day of casual exercise. I even heard someone say that the saw someone throwing up at the whole idea of the start. I personally know of an athlete that did all the training (that's a whole year of their life) got to Penticton and saw a photo of the start and because of that they didn't even sign in and pick up their registration package, they stood on the sidelines and watched.

Me.... I like to think I exude a quiet confidence. I have had excellent coaching and I have swam the route several times. Other people in the water don't bother me at all.... we are all just trying to get along in the same little bit of watery real estate.

That's me on the left in the yellow cap

You can see why some people might have some doubts about the start...

As you will remember from previous posts, I put in some shampoo in my goggles to keep them from fogging. I have done this for years and trust me, it works well. Yesterday, I guess I did not wash all of it out, so in a rookie move, I was about 200m out when my left eye was giving me problems as the shampoo started to make its way into my eye, and it is not like you can stop to fix it. That said, what choice do you have. So I quickly did what I could. Seemed to help and I pushed my right goggle back on to create suction then put my head down. Well, in my haste, the goggle didn't seal right, so the suction drew in water into the goggle and now soap completely filled my field of vision. One more quick stop and it was all fixed. On the bright side, as I was drafting some guy, I noticed he didn't even have any goggles. As you can imagine... a lot of things get knocked off in the swim... caps, goggles.... I heard of a guy whose wet suits got un-zipped and he had to do the course with it open.

I love the mirage affect in this shot.

Where did he go?

There he is.... I am the first guy (blue goggles) behind the dude without a top in the center.

BIKE:

I hit T1 in excellent time and after coming out of the change tent The Giant was rarin' to go and I really had to work hard at letting a large majority of people pass me. My game plan was to settle the HR and find my legs and as much as The Giant wanted to go after the pack, I held tightly onto the reigns of my HR monitor and kept it easy.

Now you have to understand there is every type of athlete you can imagine here. It can actually be a little intimidating. People checking in with $15,000 Cervélo bikes and all of the best gear. There bikes are so light that they barely register on a scale. They have the latest and greatest tech, clothes and shoes. So with all that, you just kind of assume that they started the way you did.... you know.... you enter your first race using your mountain bike with slicks on it.... you swim in your tri-shorts 'cause you can't afford the wet suit and you run in your cross trainers. So you gradually get hooked and as you improve you make a move towards better gear. NOPE! Yesterday it was cemented very clearly for me that some people just have money and buy the best. I am guessing that they figure it is the gear that is going to get them around the course. I am saying this because as we hit McLean Creek road, I was passing people like they were standing still. I saw people out of the saddle at the slightest hint of an incline, dropped chains from bad shifting and people wobbling about on their bikes unable to keep a straight line. I am not surprised by the number of people I saw on the run with road rash.

I raced the race I wanted and through it all just kept giggling and singing... as a girl would pass, if her name had a song, I sang it. Let see.... there was.... Diana, Amanda, Laura, Rosanne(a) to name a few. Look folks.... anything to pass the time..... in fact at one point on the run I could not get the Logical Song (Supertramp) out of my head. Anyway..... my day was basically get passed on the flats and pass on the climbs and the descents.

The weather was the shits.. one of the worst in IMC history... some guys even got hail. I am so thankful for my arm warmers... they really saved the day. The wind was definitely a factor and I heard loads of people complain about it. Luckily for me, I was just like home.... I cannot think of a day without wind on the prairies. At Keremeos, the weather really started to turn and you could see people melt as the wind picked up so much that debris was blowing across the highway. We are now talking gale force winds the kind where every now and then you are getting blown off the road. I felt so sorry for anyone out there with the solid rear wheel... they would of had a hell of a time keeping their bike together. The to make problems worse it started to pour and hail on the ascent to Yellow lake and into Penticton making the roads nice and slick.

All in a days work... I hit the "Ess" turn on this massive descent into Penticon at about the 165K mark. It was the last big drop and although it was slick, I was determined to push it. I told myself "no dying" and attacked. I was able to pas about 5 people and the the speed wobble started.... right in the same spot that it hit Krauss a few years ago...... just eased on the brakes and managed to steer away from the cement balustrade and keep myself in the race. As with any major accident avoidance, it does not hit you at the time it is something that sneaks up on you about 2-3 minutes later. So .... predictably, I had this wave of panic wash over me on this little flat section.

The rest of the ride was a blur. "All's I know is" is that my Max Speed on my ODO reads 75.2kmph. I wonder where I hit that......

Cranking-it up to Yellow Lake

This part felt like I was on a stage of the tour.... there were people everywhere.

RUN:

I found my running legs easy.... we have done so many bricks throughout the year that it seemed no worries. I followed the plan and kept my HR low until mile 20. Aid stations were: Water/ Gatorade Mile 1, Coke/Water Mile 2 and Gel/ Gatorade Mile 3 - repeat. At each aid station, I stopped for 20-50 sec to drink/eat, as Pat and I had planned from the start. I knew that if I was going to put together a semi decent run, it was all going to be about pacing and let my body talk to me about what I had left in the tank. Man, am I glad I did. I am so proud to tell you that I ran every inch of that course (with the exception of the aid stations as previously mentioned). I ran every hill and I was so pleased as I passed more and more people. On the hills, I put my cap down and just stared at the ground in front of me and dug as deep as I could to get the job done.

My gut was the biggest issue.... as they say.... what you can eat and stomach on the bike, you might not even be able to force down on the run. Well, I got to tell you that those Gels became a torture. It was all I could do the get them in me, and each time that I did, it felt like someone was wringing out my intestines. The pain, at times, was maddening, but... funny enough... it would eventually go away as I ran it off.

There was definitely some "walking" wounded out there. I even called over an official to tell them that there was a guy passed out in the ditch. The official looks at me and says what mile is this, and I said 22, he looked at me and said that it was basically par for the course. I saw people limping like zombies, clutching various body parts as they ran, people trying to run with their legs apart as their groin was obviously chaffed beyond tolerance, people vomiting... you name it... everything that you might expect to see from people pushing themselves to the limit.

I just kept my visor down and sang Supertramp.

Waving hello to my adoring fans on the way out to OK Falls... aka Mom and Dad

Stopped to say hi to my brother and sister-in-law at mile 25.

Enough of that... I gots to go!

In the zone and heading for home

Hey everyone I am almost there!

About 700m from the finish

Run Forrest, Run!

THE EPIC FINISH:

It sort of surreal now, as I type this, but the run went by in flashes... I was here then... I was there... then.... I was somewhere else... but lo and behold... I was in the city and running out towards the Sicamous making that final turn towards the finish line.

I saw my family and I knew I was going to make it. Then it became all about the finish. I looked ahead and checked behind me. I had a good 100m to the next person and the person behind me was about 75m behind my with no hopes of a sprint. PERFECT. I have seen so many finishers photos with 5 or more people in them. I wanted it all to myself.

The last 50m are EPIC!

I basically have been thinking about crossing that finish line for a year. I decided that if there was room, then I would finish with an airplane that high-fived people on both sides.

So there I was...all alone. I start my final approach to the runway. The crowd went nuts. As I was all alone, the announcer, Steve King, had time to read my full bio and shout encouragement. It felt amazing... a whole year's worth of effort summed up in something so simple as running about like a three year old with your arms extended.... a perfect end for a guy like me.

Zoooooooommmm!

So I hit the finish line..... then everything changed. I hit the ground and every muscle in my legs screamed in agony and I had to be helped up by two "grabbers" as I was having a real hard time walking, let alone moving. They got me to the rest area and they decided I needed some chips, as the salt would stop the cramping. Well I had the chips and my stomach did its final death cramp and I was off to the port-a-potty to evacuate the contents of my stomach by the quickest means possible. After that, I was invited to spend some time in the medical tent as I could not stop shivering.... what a night, but it was worth every second of agony.

You cannot fake that smile.... that's the kind you have to earn.

Epilogue:

This morning, my family held a champagne brunch in my honour and I had my first sip of something alcoholic in a year..... sigh.

The bubbles tickle my nose

In the afternoon I napped and let it all soak in. I am done. I have as many days off as I want..... and I want a few.

For closure, Paul, Lori and I went to the awards ceremony and saw all the great people there and had a chance to put the final brush stroke on this absolutely perfect painting that was Ironman Canada.

For a lark, I went to check out the lost and found... I guess people don't value their pumps.

Tribalistic Finishers - Tri-guy, Lori, Scott, Brian (who one his age group) and Paul

I am extremely grateful to everyone for all their support over this long process. I know I could not have done this without you. Your emails and posts were with me as I navigated my way around what is considered to be one of, if not the most, challenging courses on Earth.... for that I am extremely thankful..... to give back to the blogospheric community, I am going to post a little treat for you all tomorrow, so stay tuned.

The Giant heads for home...........Bye Bye baby.... see you soon....