2010 Ironman World Championships – How I got there
I Finally Made It!
Last November I made a commitment to qualify and ultimately compete in Kona this October. The adventure started when I agreed with Jody Sanderson that we would train hard over the winter then race Ironman China on March 14th. I entered in December and Fiona started writing my training plan. I was able to gain reasonable fitness as it was a decent winter. I also managed to get away for a couple of training camps which helped the fitness.
The trip to China was something we were really looking forward to. Fiona and I had never been to that part of the world and the island where the race was held was meant to be the Chinese equivalent of what Hawaii is to the USA. We even planned a trip to Hong Kong with Jody and Larissa for the week following the race. When we arrived in China, we already had doubts about the race venue and logistics and accommodations. To make a long story short, the race was not what we were expecting. We swam in the belly of a dirty river which is what we believe made us ill. Fiona was so sick on the Friday night before the race that she was not able to even start. I felt ok the day prior but woke up the morning of the race not feeling great. I assumed that it was due to race nerves which were making it difficult to get my pre-race meal in. Race day ended up being very hot and humid with the temperature reaching 38 degrees and 90% humidity. The swim was frustrating as it was 4 loops with 5 turns per loop. The ride was terrible as this is where I was vomiting from 20 to 120 km. It was a 2 loop ride and I stopped after one loop to talk to Fiona and Larissa. They knew something was wrong as it took me so long to complete the first loop. I explained that I wanted to continue as I was not quite ready to give up. I struggled through the next 30-40 km but after giving up on trying to take in my nutrition, my stomach started to settle down. I finished the second loop a bit quicker than the first and prepared myself for the marathon. I managed to finish it but not without being sick a few more times and being severely dehydrated.
The result was 11 hours 8 minutes, which put me 12th in my division. As this was a smaller race, there were only 5 qualifying spots for Hawaii. Once we returned home, Fiona and I started to put some thought to the rest of the season’s races and determine where I would try again.
After some research and some planning, we decided that we would both do Ironman Coeur D’Alene in Idaho on June 27th. I was able to enter by buying a community fund slot and Fiona emailed WTC to request her Pro entry. Our training and focus for this race started almost immediately. We arranged our travel plans and talked to a couple of our friends that had done the race before.
When we arrived in Idaho, we were greeted by the owners of the Heaven on Earth B &B. We arrived very late due to a missed flight in Seattle which ended up in a five hour drive to Coeur D’Alene. On the Friday before the race, we went to register and have a practice swim at the race start. It only took a few moments to realize how nice this town was. It had a great beach and park where the transition was and a really nice host hotel.
The weather turned out to be quite nice for the time we were there. It had been unseasonably cool before our arrival. The water temperature was a chilly 61 degrees and as it was a fairly large lake with an onshore wind, the choppy waves made for a rough swim. The beach start was quite wide so finding space was not an issue. I started mid line at the front. There were not any serious problems with congestion which gave me lots of clear water. The only issue I had was at the first turn when a kayaker found himself in the middle of the pack of swimmers. He was trying to direct us towards the next maker because the field turned too sharp around the last mark. The kayaker lost his balance and attempted to catch himself with his paddle and smacked me in that back of the head. I thought I was going to black out but managed to compose myself after a minute or so. I continued the swim and finished in 57 min which put me 5th in the division.
Once I got out onto my bike, I tried not to get concerned about the number of people passing me. I always know that many guys over cook the bike ride, especially at the start. So I just let people go and tried to do my own thing. This was also a two loop course through some very pretty roads. Many sections felt like riding in Ontario’s cottage county. The first loop was decent with my average watts only a bit less than planned. The second loop started well too. Then at about 120 km, I noticed that my front tire felt a bit soft. I was able to still ride as it wasn’t flat to the rim so I just kept going. I realized that it needed to be changed at about 140 km when we had to turn around a pylon and the wheel slipped. I immediately pulled off the road and ripped off the tubular and put the spare on as fast as I could. This was a frustrating time as I watched so many guys ride by. The tire change went about as smooth as it could and I got back on my bike in probably 3-4 minutes. I told myself that I handled that pretty well and to not give up on having a good race. When I arrived back to transition, I figured I’d ridden about 10 – 15 minutes slower than I thought I would. The final split ended up being 5 hours 30 minutes which left me starting the run in 26th place.
The marathon course had some neighbourhood sections through some nice areas then it went out onto a nice road that followed the lake shoreline. One of the last things that Nigel said to me before this race was “it’s all about the run; make sure you have a good run”. This stuck in my head right from the beginning. Almost immediately, I started catching people. My goal was to put together the best run of my Ironman career. I knew that if I did, I would be able to be competitive. With the two out and backs per loop, I was able to see Fiona 4 times. She was a great motivator for me because I knew that she would run well and that it would keep me going on pace. In the end, I ran 3 hours 33 min which was my best Ironman marathon to date. I passed 15 guys in my division so ended up 11th. As this was a much larger race than China and my division had 430 guys racing, there were 10 qualifying spots in my division. All I needed was one of the top 10 to pass on the spot and it would roll to me. As it turned out, 2 guys passed on them so myself and the guy behind me got our tickets to the big show.
Fiona and I were so pleased with me qualifying and her finishing 10th in her first Pro race. We shared the news with friends as soon as I picked up the package the morning after the race.
Since Jody managed to get his Kona slot in China, we now had to plan our trip to Hawaii. We knew this was going to be amazing.