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| Military Awards: Me & Emma (U.S. Navy) (Photo Credit Mike Lemaire) |
So seeing as I have been blogging about most of the week’s
activities, this post will solely focus on race day. It’s a day in which I
considered not even starting the race. It’s a day in which I considered making
this my last Ironman World Championship. It’s a day in which I considered “walking”
the run. And it’s a day in which I became the Military Division Champion at the
Ironman World Championship. Never give up! Press on towards the goal…Philippians
3:14.
So I woke up shortly before 0340hrs. I had my alarm set for
0345hrs but it amazes me how the body seemingly knows when it needs to get up. I
had my usual race day morning breakfast of a couple eggs, a bagel with jam, a
banana, a glass of orange juice, and of course a cup of coffee with a little cream.
Besides that, I was sipping on a bottle of F2C Glyco-Durance. I had slept ok,
but I was still not feeling at 100%. I had gotten a stomach bug before leaving
Ottawa and I just couldn’t seem to shake it. Everything I ate just seemed to be
going through me and being in the heat certainly didn’t seem to help. I wanted
to race, but I was concerned that my stomach would be a factor, but I didn’t
know how much.
Dad, Eric, and I headed down to transition around 0445hrs.
Dad dropped us off at the corner of Palani and Kuakini Highway. I dropped off
my bike special needs bag (behind the hotel) and then proceeded to body marking
and weigh-in which went super quickly. The lines hadn’t really started to form
yet and the volunteers were being very efficient getting people through. I
dropped off my nutrition at my bike, pumped up my tires, and did a quick once
over on my bike. Then it was time for the waiting game. As soon as the Pro
Women were off, they started allowing the age group men into the water. So by
about 0640hrs I was headed into the water and out to the Roka Buoy on the far
left of the swim course.
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| Male Age Group Mass Swim Start! |
At 0705hrs, the cannon sounded and we were off. The water was super flat to the point where you could actually see the turn-around boat (the
Body Glove dive boat)…I don’t ever recall being able to see it at the start
before. I had planned to stay wide left and slowly start veering to the right
in order to avoid much of the chaos of the mass start. It seemed to work
relatively well and there was some contact initially but nothing too significant.
I probably ended up veering a little more to the right initially than I wanted.
The swim was quite uneventful with the typical contact at the beginning, more
contact around the turn around boat and then some more contact as you got
closer to the Pier. I wasn’t able to catch a set of feet on the way out but
managed to draft for most of the return trip. I was a little disappointed to see
1:11:xx on my watch as I exited the swim, but all things considered it is what
it is. Official swim time was 1:12:01.
Through transition efficiently while taking the time to put
on sunscreen and Compressport calf sleeves and socks. It was onto the bike
which I anticipated would initially be congested. As I rode up Kuakini Highway,
I passed Ben (my team mate). Once out onto the Queen K things started to spread
out. I started to slingshot past people and I was optimistic that the draft
packs would stay away. Well, was I ever wrong. 10-15 guys pass me clearly
drafting (I’m ticked off), I drop back and ride legally, regain my composure
and then proceed with passing the “pack”. I put a surge in for a few minutes
after passing the remnants of the pack and then settled into my rhythm. Ten or
fifteen minutes go by and then the “pack” passes me again. Ok, so now I’m getting
torqued, regain my composure, ride legally, and proceed with passing the pack
again. Same thing, put a surge in after passing the pack and all should be good….wrong.
Fifteen or so minutes go by and then the massive pack passes me…40 or 50 guys
some of who near the back are riding on the bull horns…WTH! Pause, breathe,
relax, and I remind myself that this same stupidity happens every year. Let the
pack go, ride legally, and then make a move. Motorbike pulls up slowly by the pack
in front of me and gives blue card to one guy for blocking and then moves on.
WTH…seriously only one card in that whole pack. I slingshot myself past the
pack, put a little bit of a surge in, ride my effort for ten or so minutes, and
the “pack” reappears. I’m just about losing my mind at this point. Calm down,
let the pack go, ride legally, recover, and then let’s hammer our way through the
pack another time. Hopefully this time it will be the last and it is. So by the
time we hit Waikoloa I’m back holding my effort, doing my thing, with no pack or
at least none I see. I’ve been forcing myself to stick with my nutrition plan, stomach isn’t happy, but lots of water seems to be helping. Staying cool with
cold water from the aid stations is also a blessing.
The climb up to Hawi was calm, too calm. Almost no wind…wow!
I’m wondering when the wind will start. Hit the turn around, still nothing; hit
the descent, still nothing; climb back to the Queen K, still nothing. Fully
anticipating the headwind will appear on the return trip, but it doesn’t. Nice
steady effort and suddenly I am back in Kona rolling into transition. I’ve followed my nutrition plan, but my stomach isn’t feeling great. Absolutely stoked knowing I’ve just ridden a
4:34. Power 202W average, NP 214W, VI 1.06.
Nutrition: 1 x 400 Calorie, 1 x 800 Calorie, 1 x 600 Calorie
bottle of Glyco-Durance (Strawberry-Kiwi + Unflavoured) plus an additional
scoop of Electro Durance for each 100 Calories of Glyco-Durance. In addition to
the Glyco-Durance, I had 500mL of Red Bull at special needs.
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| Heading towards Ali'i Drive |
Through transition, lots of sunscreen, and out onto the run.
My legs feel great, my stomach isn’t happy, and my body feels like it is
shutting down. Out Ali’i Drive and I’m quickly realizing my body isn’t liking
this. I’m frustrated, knowing I want to race, but realizing the body is just
not willing to go there. I walk a couple aid stations on the return trip. Ice, cold
sponges, and water seem to help, but I feel like I need to walk. The stomach
doesn’t like Gatorade or Red Bull, but it seems fine with Coke. I tell myself
to keep going as the family is waiting on Kuakini Highway near McDonalds. I
make it there walk a bit, shake my head at my Dad, and point to my stomach. I
see Claudia (I'm hoping I'll get some sympathy and a hug) instead she points and says “get going”. (In reality she probably waived and said some words of encouragement). I start running again and I make it to the
end of Kuakini Highway and then decide to walk up Palani. I feel like a
failure. I tell myself pace yourself, walk the aid stations, keep the body cool,
and see what happens. I really feel like I should be walking, but I don’t
really want a repeat of 2013 so I keep running (though it seems more like a
fast shuffle). I know Alex (my team mate) is only a minute or so ahead of me
and Michael Brown reminds me of that as I go by him. I have no idea where the other military
folks are. I finally make it to the top of the Energy Lab and Brett King passes
me (I’m shocked, I figured he was way out front). Down into the Energy Lab to the turn around
and now the dreaded climb up. I pass Brett (I didn’t see him at first); we run
together for a hundred meters; neither one of us is feeling great. He says he
will need to stop at the next blue rocket so I figure I might as well press on.
I make it out of the Energy Lab and I convince myself that
it’s home free from here…just do my best and finish. I see Mikael Lemaire
(another team mate) and he screams at me to get going as Alex is just up the road.
I finally manage to catch Alex. I check that he is ok and then keep going. I
see an Every Man Jack uniform up ahead and realize that it’s my buddy Matt Davis
from the USAF. I catch up to him thinking that we can jog it in together. We briefly
walk and chat and then he tells me to get going. At this point, I realize that I
might be in the lead for the military division…not really sure, but that’s
enough for me to bury myself. My left quad is close to seizing up, I can feel
it, but I ignore it and keep pressing. I complete the final climb up the Queen
K to the top of Palani and then push my way to the finish. I’m absolutely
exhausted, absolutely spent, and completely zoned out.
I had no clue what my finish time is and absolutely no idea
what my run time was. After getting a post race massage, I was finally able to
get over to Training Peaks to obtain my results. I was shocked to learn that my
final time was 9:11:45 and that I had run a 3:17:13.
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| A coveted Umeke Bowl from the Ironman World Championship |
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| A close-up of the inscription on the Umeke Bowl! |
My placing was 186th Overall, 39th in
the M35-39 division, 127th Age Grouper, 2nd Canadian Amateur
(4th Canadian Overall including the Professionals) and 1st
Military Division.
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| Me and my team! Thanks for the amazing support! |
