Turning a new leaf!

2012. A new year and I decided it was time to shake things up a bit and tackle a new challenge. Now yes I realize its almost March but hey better late than never.

Over the last few years I have focused on going long. Last year I did four HIMs (Rev3 Knoxville, Rev3 Quazzy, Eagleman, and Rev 3 South Carolina), one full Ironman (IM Canada) and only one Olympic (Rev3 Quazzy) as part of the Revolution (Oly and HIM on the same weekend, part of 3 races in 8 days.) While that was a great challenge and alot of fun, having done a Full Iron Distance race each of the last six years, it was time to try something new.

So this off season, I looked at my training and my races over the last few years and decided I have proven to myself I can go long, so I took a page out of Macca's book and dedicated this year to trying to go fast. I still have The Revolution on my schedule (I done every REV3 Quazzy race and I'm not letting that run end quite yet :), but just primarily my focus this year will be to try an go fast. Of course we are talking fast for me.

So far my race schedule looks like this:

1) Rev 3 Knoxville Olympic: Got some serious payback for this course had a major PR on the hook in 2010, this year I want to finish that effort!

2) Rev 3 Quazzy Olympic and HIM (The Revolution). Normally the Olympic is the race I have to reel myself back on, but this year Sunday is just going to be a catered workout and Saturday will be the race.
3) Rev 3 Wisconson-Dells Olympic: Brand new race, plus the whole family should be come with me to the water parks. Should be a blast and some added motivation.
4) Rev 3 Maine Old Orchard Beach Olympic: Another brand new race, but early reports are the bike looks fast. Potential PR race.
5) Shoreman HIM: A very flat and fast course in SE New Jersey at the same site as the Jersey Genesis tri. Good shot at qualifying for USAT Half-max and maybe even my first AG medal.
6) Half Full Tri: New REV3 race for the Ulman Cancer Fund. Closest REV3 race to me and looks like I can get alot of folks to travel for this one. Have to support this race, but think it will be another catered workout.
7) Rev3 South Carolina Olympic: Absolutely loved this race last year. Did the HIM and had a great time and a great race. With the Collegate Championships in the Olympic, might be a great chance to see if I can hang with one of those rabbits and get a PR.

Been having a very productive and pain free off season so far (Unlike last year's foot injury), so thing seem to be lining up. My current Olympic PR is 2:36:40 from 2007 at the Lancaster YMCA Olympic. Would like to break 2:30 this year, and my super stretch goal is sub 2:25 and my first AG medal in my 10 years of doing triathlons.

Ok now that is on paper and out there, all I have to do is back it up. Time to REVITUP !!!!

Random Thoughts stuck in traffic.

Last night I was coming back home from an inspection at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. Life can be funny sometimes, one minute you are having a discussion with the Chief Nuclear Officer of a Billion dollar corporation, the next you are stuck in a traffic jam for over 3.5 hours because someone thought it was a good idea to shut down a section of the Penn Turnpike on a Friday afternoon and evening. 20 miles or so of stop and go traffic gives you plenty of time to think.



Random thoughts:
1) For the people at Jos A Bank and Kohl's if you can have 50-70% off sales or buy 1 get 2 free sales every single week it means your regular prices are way to high.
2) Last year I sold my first wetsuit a Blue Seventy Sleeveless at very steep discount to a brand new triathlete to help her overcome a fear of OWS do her first Tri. Now she's hooked and this year Team Rev 3 is sponsored by Blue Seventy. Good karma always come back to you!
3) Guy on the radio is talking about who was the tough athletic perfromance and Wayne Simmons of the Flyers who took a puck to the grill in pregame got 25 stitches, but played the game and scored two goals. However, I'll take Chrissy Wellington's win at Kona covered in road rash and spending the day before in the hospital yet coming out and winning it by running everyone down and holding off the defending champ. I also think Lance's Armstrong's comeback after cancer and kemo to become the greatest cyclist of all time is tougher than a few stiches to the grill.

4) Speaking of Lance, I still have seen the results for IM 70.3 Panama. How come Spanish soccer scores make it in USA today but not a major Triathlon with one of America's greatest athletes not.
5) Don't understand why people are so pissed at the New Jersey Governor for honoring Whitney Houston by flying flags in NJ Saturday. Whitney's life and works brought alot of joy to people, and she already paid the ultimate price for her bad decisions. If anything it honors her memory and enforces an important message: Noone is immune to drug addition, the best cure it to never start. Noone ever dubbed her a hero
6) Several of my Rev3 Teammates got some very cool Rev3 Sparkle suits. They are willing to model them on FB/Twitter/Blogs if enough people donate to the Ulman Cancer Fund. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=3051165870937&set=a.1734792762432.95246.1016959054&type=1&theater
7) Team Rev 3 is Running Across America. 21 days 3080 miles March 26- April 16, 2012 to raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund. Donate or get a group together and do a vitual run with us. http://rev3tri.com/america/virtual-run/
8) A car dealer is willing to give me $10,000 off and another always seems to be giving $5,000 cash back, or $5000 for my trade. Once again if you can stay in business doing that the MSRP is way to friggin high.
9) Hey AH! Just because I let one person in doesn't mean you have the clearance to dive in behind them.
10) If I got out, put the car in neutral and just pushed it for an hour, I could at least get a workout in, and I still would stay with traffic.
11) I would absolutely love to be disrespected with a 4 yr $60 mil guarenteed contract. How are you every going to feed you family?
12) Happy birthday to Michael Jordan and Jim Brown! Two of the greatest ever in the sports.
13) I still don't know what my New Years Resolutions/goals are this year.
14) SBR's Tri Swim products rock! Wish I would swim more so I could use it for what it is designed for. Save 20% all this month.

15) How many times do events happen where someone knew something wasn't right but didn't step up and say something because the more experienced people around them didn't say anything?
16) In the words of Geddy Lee, "All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers turn and look at the stars. All of us end up in the gutter, dreamers turn to look at the cars."

Enjoy the Ride!

Successful season?

What defines a successful season? Every year I set out a series of goals and typically I define success in terms of those goals. My goals for this year were to PR in the HIM and Qualify for USAT Half Max, To break 13 hours at Ironman Canada, to Qualify for USAT Nationals in the Olympic distance, finish in the top 7 for my AG in a tri this year, and to improve my USAT ranking score.

Well at the end of the year I only managed to do one of those as somehow I improved my USAT score for the year (really have no clue how that score is calculated.) Based on that I wouldn't consider this to be a very successful year. However, sometimes you have to look at things a bit differently based on the way the season actually played out.


2011 started out great, I was feeling great training well over the winter and feeling very optimistic, then I started to feel some pain in my left foot/heel which steadily got worse and worse. Turns out it was Plantar factias. Never had anything like it. Took 3 weeks off with no running, bought a PF boot to sleep in, bought heel cups, but nothing seems to work. FInally I learned how to massage it by rolling a can on the arch of my foot and it helped. But that just helped my manage the pain.

Started the season with a local race 5K for the 25 for the Metropolitan Veternatery Associates (the folks who operated on Cairo and fixed his knees) and Main Line Animal Rescue and actually won my age group. The next day I did the Revolutionary Run at Valley FOrge and I was in agony for the first 2 miles till in seemed to fix itself for a while but it was about 6 min slower than last year.


So I babied it as well as I could and then started to shift my goals and schedule around and my running really was cut back. So I thought, if I couldn't go fast maybe I could do some different. So I ended up doing 3 HIMs in 5 weeks(Rev3 Knoxville, Rev3 Quazzy, and Eagleman) and the OLY/HIM weekend double at Quazzy and 3 races in 8 days (Double at Quazzy and Eagleman). None of the times were spectacular, but using the Recovery Pump and First Endurance UltraGen I found that even my 41 year old legs could spring back. I even ripped of a 2:38 bike split at Eagleman (21.21 MPH ave) for my first 20+ ave split in any race longer than a sprint. All in all I had to call my little experiment a success and it was a great testamonial for Recovery Pump and Ultragen, both of which really worked for me.


Next was Ironman Canada. The race was without a doubt the hardest IM bike and run course I had ever completed. But I ended up making it even rougher for myself by shipping my EFS in my gear bag and sitting out in my transition bag in 90+ degree temps and guess what it went bad at the bottom of the first flask. As soon as I took it, my body rejected it and every other bit of nutrition I tried for the next 60 miles. Of course this happen right at the bottom of Reicter Pass, so I had to battle 2 1000 + ft climbs and the seven sisters unable to keep anything but water down. That was so friggin hard and I never wanted to quit more then I did. But something inside just wouldn't let me throw in the towel. I managed some amazing mental and physical damage control and found my way to T2. The volunteer at T2 will never know how much he helped me. I neer would have gotten out of that chair without his help and encouragement. So I waddled out to the marathon and an amazing thing happened, I got through it. I ran aid station to aid station, but I ran and kept running. Coming down Lakeshore Dr having overcome so much on that day, I never ever felt so proud. My second slowest Ironman ever 14:14 but I never had to work so hard in my life. Was that a success...absolutely!


Finally I did the Rev3 South Carolina HIM in October. First ever race post Ironman and a nice hilly course. So noone including myself saw a 5:35 coming, my second fastest HIM out of 16 tries and a 1:54 HM spilt in my best run of the season (and my foot was pain free for the first time all year). Didn't qualify for Half Max but my 2nd fastest HIM out of 16 attempts was very rewarding and unexpected.

After the Tri season was over, I did another 5K (5K for HOPE) in memory of Dawn Leach, a friend of my wife who passed from Breast Cancer this summer. Again I surprised myself by finishing 8th OA, winning my AG and getting a 5K PR by 1 second. That was definitely a success.


So was 2011 a success? In the end, I'd have to say yes!

Revolution 3 Triathlon - Come join the Revolution!

What make a great race? A challenging course, an exotic location, a top flight professional field, a race venue which rewards the family for coming to cheer you on, an outstanding staff and volunteers. Each person has their own specific criteria for what makes a great race, but very few Race Series have done better than Revolution 3 and succeeding in all fronts. Revolution 3' s philosophy is pretty simple, create a fun caring, family friendly atmosphere and create an event, not just a race, that satisfies the athlete and their entire family. That and attract some of the best professional athletes to come a compete side by side with you. I think they have succeeded ten times over.


I have been fortunate enough to have raced in 9 Revolution 3 events, so you could say I am a bit of an authority on the subject. I was there when Rev 3 burst upon the scene in their first event Revolution 3 Half Rev at Quazzy (CT) in 2009, Did the 2010 Rev 3 Series with an Olympic Rev in Knoxville, Half and Olympic at Quazzy, and the Full Rev at Cedar Point (OH). This year I tried the Half Rev at Knoxville, the Revolution at Quazzy (both the Olympic and HIM again), and did the inaugural Rev 3 Anderson,South Carolina Half. In nine tries Rev 3 hit the mark every time.



Why you ask? Well lets go down the list.
Challenging courses: The Revolution 3 Series course were designed by triathletes who know how much we love a challenge. The result in a flat state like Conn. the Race director created 2400 feet of climbing and 8 categorized climbs on the bike, and a hilly run to follow around the lake including a timed uphill mile; Knoxville with 4 categorized climbs, followed by a rolling run thru the green way, neighborhoods, and finishing at World's Fair park; Anderson with 1400 feet of constant rolling hills on the bike and a solid run, and a great full iron distance challenge at Cedar Point.

Exotic Locations: Rev 3 Costa Rica anyone. February in a tropical paradise anyone?


Top flight Professional Field: Craig Alexander and Terenzo Bozzone battling toe to toe at Quazzy in 2010, Miranda Carefree running down Julie Dibbens in 2010, and Julie holding off Miranda in 2011 at Quazzy, Matty Reed chasing down Cameron Dye at Knoxville in 2011, and Leanda Cave winning on the women's side. Bjorn Anderson rocketing out to a 20 min advantage on the bike at Cedar Point only to have James Cunnima run him down in 2010. Just some of the spectacular racing this series has seen. Plus no where else do the regular athletes get up close and get to meet and talk to the stars of the sport. I've posed for pictures with Miranda, Julie, and Craig at Quazzy, had Natascha Badmann sit down at a table with me, met Michal and Ammanda Lavoto, got asked about my race by Richie Cunningham, gone for a jog with Bree Wee, Heather and Trevor Wurtele, and got to quiz Matty Reed and Cameron Dye on their strategy for racing in the rain.


Family Friendly Race Venues: Triathlon is not the best spectator sport mankind has ever invented. Having two young boys, I know it is hard to keep them entertained at most races. Rev 3 took care of that. Races at Cedar Point a Six Flags type amusement park, the Dells in Wisconsin, one of the country's best water parks; Quazzy another amusement park give the kids (and wife/husband/posse) something to do while you are enjoying a 3-7 hour ride in the country side. Plus races at great beaches like Sarasota, and Maine, and the opportunity for a balloon ride at Anderson give your family lots of options. Plus events like movie night under the stars (free movie on the huge screen), concerts, the Little Rev adventure races, the whole family will enjoy the race.

Great staff and volunteers: This is another thing that makes Rev 3 stand out. The volunteers and staff are outstanding and are there to help make your experience first rate. People to pump up your tire race morning, the Tri Slide Lubrication Stations to get you set for the race, the aid stations are a party (the Disney themed aid station at Anderson, the Trakkers water experience at Quazzy) the Recovery Lounge folks and ART massage folks making before and after the race feel so much better. Race directors that want you to bring your entire cheering staff/family done the finishing chute with you.

Other extras: Rev 3 tends to have great race
swag too. Park admission tickets for Cedar Point and Quazzy, Hot Air Balloon rides at Anderson, TYR bags, event shirts, and long sleeve tech finshers shirts, great medals, Tri Swim products, GU, Jack Black Products, visors, and hats, and the medals are unique and original each year. Plus they take your picture before the race and show it on the big screen as you finish to give you the rock star feeling, your name is on your race number so the crowd can cheer you on, you get a personalized bike rack tag, wheel mount racks. Plus the race timing with lots of splits and family and friends can get real time updates, and the amazing web coverage and commentary of the race. The Quazzy 2010 webcast was better than some of the NBC Kona specials.

Bottom line: I have done close to 70 races in my 9years doing triathlon and the Revolution 3 series is the best. I have done plenty of subpar Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events but never a subpar Rev 3 event and that include the race I had a major bike wreck (Yes I can even tell you first hand the medical staff was great) and the race director hunted me down in my hotel room that night to find out how I was doing, what happened, and how he could make things even safer. That meant a hell of alot to me. Revolution 3 rocks so come join the Revolution, you won't regret it!

REV 3 South Carolina Race Report

Rev3 South Carolina Half Rev
2011-10-09
Anderson, South Carolina
United States
Rev3
72F / 22C
Overcast

Triathlon - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time = 5h 35m 21s
Overall Rank = 72/197
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 15/37

REV3 Triathlon SOUTH CAROLINA 2011 - Age Group Recap from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

I'm at 4:21 and Trakkers Teammate Jill Poon Anniversay surprise finish at 8:05 is very cool as well.

Pre-race routine:

Rev3 was my last planned race for this season and was the first time I have done a race after doing an Ironman, having done Ironman Canada on August28th. Post Ironman I found it to be a real challenge to get back into racing and getting into a racing frame of mind. Plus 2 weeks of recovery post IM and 1 week of tapering minimized the amount of training I could do. So I wasn't feel very optimistic going in. But REV3 races have alwasy been alot of fun, so I decided I was going to participate but not race.

The drive down to Anderson from the Philly area didn't quite go as smooth as planned, got about 60 min in and realized I forgot my bike shoes and had to go back. Then I went a different direction to "make up time" and found Rt422 at a dead stop thanks to road work. Ended up being a 13 hour drive after my false start. On the way down I was actually able to pick up the Phillies game on a Philadelphia AM station in the Carolinas, but then the Phillies choked which lowered my sprites even more.

Saturday I checked in at the EXPO at the Anderson Convention Center. Anderson is right next to Clemson University and it was homecoming weekend verse BC Saturday afternoon so there was a ton of traffic and Clemson fans everywhere. Fortunately Clemson won easiliy and everyone was in a great mood all weekend. Got a TYR swim bag, a hot air ballon ride ticket, an event shirt (got a finishers long sleeve tshirt at the end of the race too), a visor, and samples of GU, Tri Swim, and Jack Black products. Not bad. Sat thru the racers meeting and tried to visualize how the point to point course was going to work. Drove down to the lake and checked in my bike and then did a lap on the swim course (very easy). Found some wooden pilings after the 2nd turn bouy if you swung too far to the outside which was a very good lesson learned to stave off a collision on race day. Then hit the bike shop and got new cleats for my bike shoes and headed back to the hotel. Had a pre race dinner with my Trakkers teammates at a downtown restraunt (had a Hawaian Pizza) and then headed back to get some sleep. Dinner was a blast as everyone was checking the Twitter updates for the Ironman World Championships and hurried back to watch the finishes on line. It was scarry how many of the top pros I actually know or at least met thanks to being with Team Trakkers and participating in the REV3 series over the last three years.

Got up at 5:oo am and got my stuff together and drove to the convention center. Set up T2 which took about 2 minutes, and then got on a shuttle bus down to the lake. Was very dark still on the road to transition got set up and then chilled out in T1 and visited the bathroom before the lines got too long. The water safety crew wouldn't let anyone in the lake until the sun was up so I hung out at the start and watched the pros start, then headed to the chute and I was in the second wave of AGers out of 3. Note: they listed the overal results seperately for Men and women. There were 97 women finishers in addition to the 197 male finishers and was about 90th overall.

Mentally I had one of the worst pre races ever. Had a feeling of doom, felt bad, asked myself why I even bothered to come down, but i was finally able to snap myself out of that funk and remind myself I was here to have fun and not get stressed out. That and talking to my rack mates helped alot.

Event warmup:

A bit of walking but since we were allowed in the water before the pros started no swim warm up. Just got started and got wet after the gun. Water was pretty warm but there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing.

Swim
00:37:48 | 2309.71 yards | 01m 38s / 100yards
Age Group: 16/37
Overall: 95/197
Performance: Average
Suit: Hurricane Cat 5 full
Course: Couterclock wise loop from one side of the pennisula to the other. 4 turn bouys and a sandbar to negotiate


Large wave with all the 40+ males, clyesdales and relay and aquabikers and a relatively narrow start area where the rocks were cleared, made for a bit of a rough start. I was to the right and middle not really by choice but since there was nowhere else to go. Lots of banging and grabbing on the way out to the first buoy and a even got a kick to the throat, (fortunately not very hard, but it got my attention. Things started to spread out and I found myself pacing with a guy in blue goggles and a red suit and settled into a good rhythm. The mob spread out nicely after the first turn buoy and i rembmerd my practice swim and cut hard to the inside after the 2nd turn bouy to avoid the pilings. From there i diamonded the rest of the course probably adding some distance but it made the turns so much easier. Soon enough i made it to the end and wadded to shore stepping on those nasty little rock until getting to the cleared segment.


What would you do differently?:

Get a bit of a warm up and start harder to clear some space that way. But all in all a good swim.

T1

Nice smooth unhurried transition. No issues getting out of my suit, a few issues finding my rack stopped at the first tree not the second, and was a bit bummed that most of my rack was gone. Took extra time to apply sunscreen and pack up my T1 bag, then got going.


What would you do differently?:

Was pretty slow since i still wasn't in a racing mindset yet. However that was OK. The guy next to me didn't put his wetsuit in a bag, hope he found in the lost and found afterwards.

Bike
02:54:56 | 56 miles | 19.21 mile/hr
Age Group: 17/37
Overall: 75/197
Performance: Good
First 30 miles 1:40:21 17.94 mph Last 26 miles 1:14:34 20.92 mph
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Winding rolling course through the country side. First 30 miles was into a significant headwind 17-25 mph. Rolling hills through out but no that i would classify as very difficult. Number of technical decents including Millers bend, a quick downhill with a sharp left turn onto a bridge over a creek with a nice drop off on either side right into another climb. After mile 30 you headed back towards Anderson, twisting thru Penbrook? with a ton of turn in order to avoid the railroad tracks which was appricaited. Then back to town over some of the larger hills, past the start area into Anderson itself and highway 81 bypass and then back to the civic center. Joined back up with the Olympic course (which started later) for the last 7 or so miles.


Started out in 106 out of T2 an picked up 31 spots. Wind was rough right out the gate as was the first hill but i stayed on the big ring and grinded over it. Got into a good rhythm after that and stayed in the big ring the entire ride except for Miller's bend. The bend was about 14 miles in and was a hard left (most sharp truns are right handers) One guy had gone off road and down just before the bend and I slowed to make sure he was ok (a bit bloody but he waved me on). Got into a back and forth with about 3-4 folks where I would run them down and pass them and about 20 min later the would pass and pull way out ahead, then i would get my rhythem back and reel them in again. After 30 miles, I was still feeling good so I picked up the pace and got an assist from the wind and averaged 20.92 mph on the way back and really felt good even though this was one of the hillier segments. Once we joined back up with the olympic I got to pass a few more folks and felt pretty good. Alot of folk complained how hilly the course was but I didn't think it was bad at all. While it was constantly rolling hills, none of the hills were long or exceptionally steep and other than Miller's bend where I lost all my momentum I stayed in the big ring the whole time. Over the last 26 miles i did alternate standing and sitting on the hills but felt very good.


What would you do differently?:

Held back a bit too much over the first 30 miles, but that might had paid dividends latter, but had plenty in reserve to kick up the pace over the last 26 miles.

T2

Another slow transition. Took my time and tied my shoes and got some nutrition then had one false start as my hand pump was still in my uniform. Decided not to change socks. Also hit the potta potty on the way out, then hit the run out line.


What would you do differently?:

Go faster!

Run
01:54:34 | 13.1 miles | 08m 45s min/mile
Age Group: 15/37
Overall: 72/197
Performance: Good
First 1.3 miles 11:29 8:45 min/mile
Next 6.4 miles 58:20 9:07 min/mile
Last 5.4 miles 44:51 8:18 min/miles
Course: Couple of loop in the Civic center area then an out and back loop then a trip out to Main Street via the middle lanes and back. Finish at the Exppo after one last loop around the duck pond.

Started off shuffling along and had 2 people pass me and then 2 more, but I started feeling my legs come back to me and ran the second two down and started moving forwards. Was a mix of Olympic and HIM untill after the out and back loop, then the HIM turned away from the Civic Center and out towards main street. Had a 4 people pass my on that stretch before the turn around. Saw a bunch of my teammates and got a high 5 from Brian Fleshmann despite him having a rough day. Saw Jill Poon just before the turn around. After the turn i had a few more peopl pass me and I gave myself a little motivational speech and asked for a little more and my legs responded. I reeled 5 of the people who had pasted me back in and a few that passed on the first half and worked harder on the way home. brought my pace down about 50 sec/mile. Felt some discomfort in my quads and hammies but they didn't cramp as some around me did. Passed this dud e with bright racing flats on and pushed for home. Got one last guy right at the 13 miles marker and strode to the finish. Didn't look for my picture on the big screen till it was too late.


What would you do differently?:

Not much, well paced run Probably could have drank more EFS on the bike to stave of the cramps but i delt with it well.

Post race


Warm down:

Got my medal, shirt, removed my chip, and got some drinks and just sat on the grandstands watching the other finishers come by. Then headed out to the T2 and hunted down my bags and put on my sweats, then walked my stuff and bike to the car loaded up and headed to the hotel for a shower. Large chocolate Shake for post race hit the spot.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

2nd fastest HIM on a hilly course was pretty good. Not having an IM a month earlier and being in a better racing frame of mind couldn't have hurt, but i was very happy with my race.

Event comments:

Rev 3 did a great job again! Done the first races at Quazzy, knoxville, Cedar Point, and Anderson and Rev3 has done such a great job. Meeting the pros, stuff for the kids the little rev adventure race and a great staff and volunteers made this a great experience. Roads were a bit rough and the point to point course and 2 transitions was different but It wasn't a problem. Definetly will do this race again.

Ironman Canada Race Report

Ironman Canada
2011-08-28
Penticton, British Columbia
Canada
Ironman North America
94F / 34C
Sunny

Triathlon - Full Ironman
Total Time = 14h 14m 19s
Overall Rank = 1848/2880
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 322/497




Pre-race routine:

Ironman racing teaches you alot about yourself. It is about the journey as much as the final destination. You never quite know what is going to happen between the day you sign up 364 days in advance and hopefully when you reach the finish line. For me Ironman Canada was one of those races that has always a special meaning. Ironman Canada is the oldest and longest running Iron Distance Event in North America. This was the 29th year and it is one of those races the other athletes will tell you you have to experience. This was where the Hoyts showed the world they could finish an Ironman Triathlon. This is where Sister Madonna Budder showed us age is only a number lining up at age 81. This race is a perfect mix of nature and history. Penticton is on one of the cleanest and most scenic lakes (not to mention large). The bike takes you on an amazing tour of the Britsh Columbia country side and up two mountain passes and it by far the most scenic race I've ever done, and the run lets you explore the southern lake and be cheered on by some of the greatest Ironfans you will ever meet.

I actually was shocked last year as spot for Ironman Canada went on line as it frequently sells out before getting on-line, but I wasted no time and signed up in the first minute. That started a fun filled year of training, a few injuries, sicknesses, unplanned work trips, etc, which left me feeling under prepared for the swim and run (Due to Plantar Faciatis on my left foot which limited my running most of the year and I still haven kicked it. No real excuse for the swim other than didn't do enough), but felt good about the bike averaging over 500 miles per month since my foot problems weren't an issue on the bike. We made a 10 day vacation flying to Vancouver for 6 days and doing a ton of siteseeing (Stanley Park, Chinatown, Grouse Mountain, Capillo suspension bridge, Downtown, and Grandville Island) then drove to Kalowna for the last 4 days, driving to Penticton on the other side of the lake (about an hour's drive daily). Race morning got up at 3:20, ate a couple kewis and had a bottle of Ultragen and Tammy dropped me off at the race site at about 5:00am. Got my bottles staged and special needs bags taken care of, then got my tires pumped up and then got changed. Was about 6:30am so I got in the water and got a bit of a swimm in before the pro lined up. Water was great.


Event warmup:

After my warm up 5 min swim, I ran into a cute an very nervious Japanese lady who said the water was cold, but I was really a case of nerves so I gave her some positive words. They lined up the pros and ran through the field, announcing Jacqui Gordan my Team Trakkers Teammmate, who had to withdraw due to injuries from a bike accident. Sad she wasn't here but it did sent some positive vibes. Then they sang "O Canada." That was really cool since there we are waist deep in water and about 1000 people are sing along, never see that is the USA. It was a very cool thing I will alway remember. Then the pros were off and 2880 age groups lined up. A nervious 15 min and there I was left and middle of the largest starting field in Ironman history about to get underway. Another round of "O Canada!" for the age groupers and then it was time to go. Up went the flags and we were off!



Swim


Comments:

For the biggest starting field in Ironman history, the pack was pretty well behaved, at least in my part of the lake. We started walking up to the line then got going and was very surprised how little beating and banging there was in the first 400 meters. Don't get me wrong there were people everywhere but we stayed off each other pretty well and didn't try and swim over each other and it worked well. The swim leg out to the first turn went very well. Lots of feet to follow and caps to navigate off of. So I just got into a nice smooth rhythem and cruised along. Navigated right along the bouy line. There was a bouy every 100 meters which was good. At the first turn buoy I was on the inside and there was a major traffic jam as everyone converged. But again most everyone stayed cool and went with it and no major contact. The short leg went well also, but the second turn was ever worse then the first it was so stacked up. Had a bit of a cramp there which sucked. Finally got swimming again and since this leg was into the sun, I did my best to follow feet since I was blinded by the glare. Had some issues swimming straight due to that sun, and got banged around a bit more since I was crossing peolpe's paths. But when I had a good set of feet I went well. Still stayed on course and soon found myself back at the beach looking at the rocks and standing up. Good swim!


What would you do differently?:

Not much. Maybe some tinted gogles would have worked better but still a really good swim, and I felt good



T1


Comments:

Normal ironman T1. Hit the wetsuit strippers, got my bag and headed into a very warm changing tent. Found my glasses fogged up, got changed smoothly, had some problems with my bike jersey zipper, gooped up with sunscreen and then trotted to the porta potty before heading out the long walk with my bike.


What would you do differently?:

Go faster.



Bike


Comments:

The bike started out OK. With 2880 on the course it got pretty crowded out on the trip up Main street as we got into a good groove. Riding along the back lake was cool then we turned left and up Mclean Creek hill which was a tough little grind made a lot tough by all the people slogging up it spread out across the road. After that was a nice praved downhill with a few good technical turns. Right at the bottom there was a accident and gear spread along the road, which I was very fortunate to miss. The leg down to Osoyoos was smooth and fun. Got into a nice rhythm and made sure to hold back and save energy for the climbs. Passed through a few towns which came out in force to cheer us on. Started drinking every 10K and taking a shot of EFS each aid station. At about 35 miles, my race turned for the worst as I was taking my EFS and then all the sudden I was gagging and throwing it back up. Tried some liquid EFS and same result. This was a really bad sign. The day was getting hotter and I could keep anything but water down and there were 65 miles of climbing left.
Soon we hit Ritcher and started grinding up the bottom slopes. Ritcher has several tiers to the climb so you get a break every so often, and you don't quite realize how much you climbed until you look down the the valley below. 1140 feet of climbing. But the fans turn out in force and it was a party on the side of the road and it felt very Tour De France like. Coming up to the summitt they have an MC and they were cheering you on like mad. The MC on top hollered congratulation you just conquored Ritcher Pass which felt awesome and then you were absolutely flying down the other side on a crazy decent. I don't have a bike computer on the Kestrel but we were flying. Then came the tough part of the course. The seven sister are a series of rollers between Ritcher and the out and back. Very hot and exposed road and it never let you get back into your rhythm. At this point, I was very close to dropping out. Still could take in anything but water (even tried the nasty poweraid- stuff which didn't work.) My mouth was dry, my nutrion was shot, my stomach hated me, my back was really starting to hurt and I could stay aero, and there was a serious headwind. When the going gets tough, you find out alot about yourself. I knew one thing i had to do was slow down, reduce my sweat rate, and try and hang in their till my stomach would accept anything. I had to deal with the sight of so many folks cruising past me but if I was going to make it I had to swallow my pride and let them go. I grinded through the sisters, was able to take and hold down some fruit and water at the next aid station and I got through the worst of it. After what seemed like forever we hit the out and back and there was one last evil little hill which I didn't gear down early enough for and had to stand and grind as I stalled out.

The out and back is tough and again very hot. There was a mini out and back leg and two people flopped over in front of me at the turnaround forcing me to go off roading to avoid running over them. (They were fine, just embarassed.) FInally you reach the end of the out and back and hit special needs. I stopped and unclipped and traded out my bottles, and again tried some EFS with no luck. So now it was back into the wind and what the heck I can't get my left shoe to clip in. Spent the next 5 miles cursing at my shoe and doing everything to get it to clip in to no avail. So the last 35-40 miles were with my left foot sliding on top of the pedals which made the climbs so much fun. As if this wasn't bad enough, then the real messed up part happened. Aid stations 8, 9, and 10 were out of bottled water. The only fluid I could keep down and they didn't have any. They had a hose at 8 and 10 and a line of people. SO climbing back out of the out and back at the hottest part of the day, into a head wind, and starting up to Yellow lake, with no water or nutrition. I was in my own personal hell. I was able to take a bit of EFS and thank god for the lady in Aid station 9 who had a water bottle of Ice which got my to and over Yellow Lake. The Yellow lake climb is very gradual until it turns up for 2- kilometer or so stretches. Again the fans were out and very encouraging and entertaining on the climbs. Felt like a rock star again. Once over the top the headwind and rotten road made it rough even on the downhills. There was another short climb and then finally aid station 11 with some ice cold water. Yeah!!. After that was a major down hill with twists and turn where we were flying and then back to Penticton airport into town and eventually back to Main Street for the last 3-4 miles. Saw the runners going the other way. Felt great to be back and even better to finally get of that bike.

I survived the bike, which did put a smile on my face. Just about everything that could have gone wrong did. But I fought my way though it. That was very rewarding even then.


What would you do differently?:

Address nutrion issues, back issues. DOn't know it the EFS went bad sitting in the transition bags or in my gear bag, but that it something I never want to experience again. Never had issues with EFS before but the temps in the mid 90s apparently spoilled the liquid shot. The expo didn't have anything other than powerade, where is PBN when you need them!!!



T2


Comments:

Got off the bike and the volunteer took my bike and I slowly walked to get my bag and headed to the tent. I had one great volunteer help me in the tent, I just wanted to sit a drink some water for a bit and he encouraged me, then helped get my stuff out goop up with Trislide untied my shoes and the hosed me down with sunscreen. I really appricated his help and encouagement. Probably would have just sat there for 20 minutes without his help. Visited the porta pottty, pulled on my Trakkers hat and off to the run.


What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I was not in a good place coming in, so just getting out of transition was an accomplishment at that point.



Run


Comments:

I walked to the start and then took fruit and water at the aid station and started shuffling off. You start with a loop from Winnioeg to Westover, to lakeshore and do and out and back. The first half of that loop I walked alot but i started trotting before the end of Westover and I kept in up the rest of the way other than walking the aid stations and getting every bit of nutrition I could. They had the aid stations very close together in town which was perfect for me. The fruit (oraganges, watermellon and grapes) and cola revived me. By about mile 2 I was actually floating along pretty well. As you got out of town you passed a park with a tent full of rowdy fans who were awesome. Got a few comments about my green racing kit with matching hat (Very positive comments) which made my smile.
Getting out to the shores of the lake it seemed like almost everyone was walking, so I was actually passing people doing my 11 min miles. Met alot of cool people along the way, who would tag along with me. Met a cancer survivor, a few native indian Pentecton residents, and a 75 year old guy would was leapfrogging my with a walk run. Very few people were running the hills but I was afraid to stop. I could let myself walk through the aid stations, because there was a purpose to get as much water, ice, cola, and fruit down, then get going. At Eagleman I found once I stopped without a purpose it was a lost cause, so I kept trotting and actually didn't feel too bad. Hit the turnaround and got my special need bag with a nice Kiwi fruit. The hills were tough on the way back, but I slogged along. At mile 15 I took a pit stop at the porta potty. The last 7-8 miles my legs started to get very heavy and my pace slowed. At this point the sun was going down and it was cooling off and more folks were running, especially as we came back into town. The trip dowm Main street was awesome with folks lining the street and encouraging you along. Finally we hit, Westover and you could hear the finish line. At the end of Westover, I saw Tammy, Adrian, and Matthew who were a bit worried since i was about an hour behind my normal pace, but happy to see me none the less. That pumped my up as we got a few pictures. The last out and back on Lakeshore just seemed to take forever (mile 25 marker is as you turn on to Lakeshore)but the street was jam packed. When I finally hit the turn around (which is about 4 blocks further than on the outbound loop) I was feeling great. I started listen to the announcer (Mike Riley was at IM KY) but they were giving alot of information. I passed two more people on that last 1000 m stretch and wanted to stretch out so each of us had the finish chute to ourselves. They announced me "Andrew Rosebrook of Royersford, PA. Andrew is a 6 time Ironman finisher having completed IM FL, Kona, IM AZ, and IM UK." (No love for Rev3 Cedar Point but this was a WTC race)." With that i hit the finish line with a smile on my face.


What would you do differently?:

Getting to the end of the race on a tough day is what it's all about. Defeating that little voice inside your head, even when what that little voice is telling you makes all the sense in the world, is an amazing feeling. That was make i felt the first time I crossed the line at IM FL and the feeling was even stronger at IM Canada. Couldn't have done much different on this run as i paid for the mistakes on the bike but I still managed to pick up nearly 300 spots even with a 5:19, my second slowest IM marathon.



Post race


Warm down:

My catcher grabbed me, and got my medal, got some water, pulled my chip, got my to my picture, and got my finsher shirt and hat. Saw Tammy and the boys and gave then the finishers stuff. Then she led me to the massage tent. Very nice lady from Wilkes Barre, PA. Small world. Got a massage, had a bit of cheese pizza, got my gear out of transition, got changed to some warm dry clothes, then brought my bike and gear bag to Tri-Bike transport. Stuffed the contents of the bags into my gear bag and dropped them off. Then a long walk to the car and back home to Kalowna. Really wanted a McDonald's chocolate shake, but the shake machine was oos at West Kalowna. Long shower/bath and of to bed sore as hell. A good zipper hickey and two rub mark from my tri shorts, and a small sunburn at the elastic on the legs and on the aclies tendons of both legs and back on my hands.



What limited your ability to perform faster:

Unable to take in or keep down nutrition on the bike. Plus a few mechanical issues. Can't ever fully recover from something like that but I am proud how well I coped.



Event comments:

Absolutely great fans and greater volunteers, and the course was absolutely amazing. My catcher and T2 assitant were great.!

Organizationally there were some issues however. Running out of water on three aid station on the bike was pretty unacepatble (especially since there were 800 or so more behind me) and I did notice that the volunteers were filling up water jugs from the lake on the run at several aid stations on the lake. Don't think that was supposed to happen.

There were a ton of ambulences on course for bike wrecks and heat related issues on the run, and those folks were outstanding as well. It was a rough day and I hear there were over 500 DNFs. Not that the Race director can control the weather.

Medal wasn't as cool as some of the IM Canada onces I've seen from previous years, and not along of swag for $650.

All that said the race really was spectacle and a very cool event to have been a part of. The course is breathtaking in many ways, the lakes are beautiful and clean, and the support from the community and voluneers was second to none. Very happy I did this race,

For everyone who ever had a dream.....

Whenever I need a pick me up, when the long weeks of training become a grind, when life gets in the way, I like to look back at one of the best moments of my life. In 2007, one of my lifelong dreams came true when I crossed the finish line at Kona. October 13, 2007 at 8:43 pm HST, I did something I never believed was possible but yet I always kept that crazy dream alive. I wish every triathlete could experience what Kona is like, so I tried my best to let the readers of my race report get a small slice. THe full report can be found here: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=93818



The two parts I did best were the preamble and the finish. Reading these two parts still puts a chill down my spine. Enjoy!

The Dream:

For everyone who ever had a dream.....

When I was a kid I had all sorts of crazy dreams, scoring the winning basket at the Final Four, hitting a ball over the Green Monster, Throwing a touchdown pass to win the Super Bowl. However reality came along and made sure those dreams would remain just that. But I was part of a most fortunate generation that got to watch this sport of triathlon come into being and grow. I remember watching Julie Moss in 1982 on ABC Wide World of Sports and asking myself why would and how could someone push themselves to the point their body was shuting down just to reach a line on Alii Drive. At that point a dream was born, I watched Dave Scott (who lived a few towns down the freeway from where I went to High School) and found a hero. I watched Dave and Mark Allen battle, met a guy named Mike Pigg, but then my dream went on hold for 14 years as I "grew up" joined the Navy, started a family, got out of the Navy. But every year in December, I would watch the NBC Kona Special and the dream would be rekindled. New heros emerged Chris S., Sara Reinhart, Jon Blaze and I started down the path of chasing that dream again. In Nov 2006, I became an Ironman at Ironman Florida, and I thought that was as close to the dream as I'd ever come. But fate has a funny way of helping you out and on April 15, 2007 I saw my name on the list of Kona lottery winners. Dreams can come true!

The finish:


Now you are headed down Palani to mile 25 thru the last Aid station. Now you know you made it. The crowds which have been gone the last 15 miles are back in force and the closer you get to Alii Drive the bigger they get. Everyone is cheering you, you turn down and then one last turn onto Alii drive. Its magical. Suddenly you are flying down Alii, the positive vibe from the crowd and most importantly your fellow atheletes has you walking on air. These people understand and appricate what you have gone thru the last 13 hours. They don't care if you are a lottery winner and didn't qualify, they know whats going thru your head at this moment. Pure unadulterate joy. Your dream is 300 yards away. You enter the shoot and start going from side to side giving high 5s. And there is Mike Riley. Then you hear it "Andrew Rosebrook from Royersford PA....You are an Ironman!!!"




Follow the dream and never wake up! The journey will always be worth the price! Plus you may get to see something like this first hand.