Sunday, September 1, 2013

5...4...3...2.... Ironman Canada race report

Ironman Canada moved to Whistler this year.  And while I did the race while it was in Penticton and loved the race there, I have to say that Whistler certainly made the shift to a different city pretty easy!!  This vibrant, active, humming city just begs you to wander around town taking in the sights, stores, restaurants and cool air.  I know this race brought some unique challenges to the Province, particularly with the closing of highway 99.  Many, many thanks to the great people of Whistler and the Province of British Columbia!


 

 

This was my first race on my new Cannondale Slice RS.  I had a few good rides on it before sending it off with Tribike Transport.  I highly recommend using this service to get your bike to an event; it is so simple and was just what I needed to take a bit of the stress away from travelling with my bike. 
I was feeling a bit tired leading into this race, but when I got to town and jumped on the bike, I was feeling good!  I'm sure the cooler temps of Whistler compared to Tucson played a big part in that.




I was lucky, once again, to have an absolutely wonderful homestay family during the race.  I am always so grateful for the kindness and generosity of the folks who open up their homes to the professional athletes! 
Race day was absolutely perfect.  Wonderful temperatures.  Plus, get a load of my personal bike transport to T1!! 



The swim was off and I stuck to the feet in front of me to pull through the swim and stay fresh.  On the way out of T1, running with my aero helmet in hand, I pulled a classic 'Lisa' move.  Slipped, fell and the pointy end of the aero helmet darn near impaled me!  I would've laughed my head off had it not actually hurt a fair bit when it happened. :)
Got onto the bike and getting the legs rolling through the first couple rollers.  This course is an honest course; very hilly, some flats and constantly challenging.  My favorite!  I was a bit disappointed to not have my legs come around fully throughout the entire bike leg; I struggled through most of the bike but managed to move up 5 places in the field.  Unfortunately I lost time to the leader and had some work to do on the run.
Because I was feeling so poorly on the bike I was thrilled to get onto the run.  I started clicking off the pace and the miles, but was still 8 minutes back from the lead so I had to keep clicking them down.  After 4-5 miles I really started to feel poorly.  Dizzy, disoriented and oddly enough I really just wanted to go to sleep!  Never had that happen before.  Seriously if I would've seen a good park bench on the course, I would've laid down to have a nap!  I was trying different options (coke, salt pills, pretzels, etc) to see if I could come right, but the best I could do was hold steady and hang onto 2nd place!!
Despite all, this is my best Ironman placing yet!  I'm so excited to see my racing improve throughout this season so far; I feel I'm on an upward trend and I have an Ironman win coming soon.  The picture below was captured perfectly by Nils Nilsen.  It's important to me because it captures the look I give my dad, who passed away in 2000, each and every time I finish a race.  Here's to you, dad - we'll win one soon!



In this race I learned a fair bit about proper hydration and electrolyte balance.  I also learned that I can push through difficult situations.  I would love to come back to Whistler next year and give it another shot!



2 comments:

  1. Great recap! I just spoke with your old track coach at SIUE today and thought I'd look up how your season is going. Seems like you're doing great, and loving that new slice! Keep racing hard!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats again, Lisa on such an awesome race! You'll snag that #1 spot soon enough. I have no doubt!!! ;)

    ReplyDelete