Ironman Brazil and Mourning a Friend

Leaving T1

One of the hard truths about Ironman racing is that we have to accept the hand we are dealt on race day. We spend weeks and months preparing, trying to limit the variables, and take control of the things we can control. For the average age group athlete this means that you can literally spend your whole year focused on one race and then catch the bubonic plaque the night before. This doesnt happen often and the chances are very slim, so we continue to train, to plan, to race.

I came to Brazil in the shape of my life with expectations for a good race. I truly enjoy my trips to Florianopolis, which is why i have returned 4 times in the last 6 years. The thing that really makes the trip enjoyable is the group dynamic created by Ken Glah with Endurance Sport Travel. I have travelled to this race solo the last two years and each time have had a thoroughly enjoyable time with the old friends I see and new ones i meet. This makes for an extremely relaxed race week, which is always a good thing.

I dont want to ramble on too much about the details of swim, bike and run, but i will share some highlights/lowlights. I had a good swim. 52-something. Thats a good strong swim for me. On the bike i was riding well and sitting about 3-5mins behind the leaders when i punctured at km 50 (ish). Last year I started using clinchers on my race wheels so i could make the change quickly on just such an occasion, so i fixed it up and got back on my bike. From the splits it looks like i lost about 5-6mins. Not bad, but it could be better!!

One of the things i did lose with the puncture though was my proximity to the front of the race. I never did find what was in my tire and felt it deflating slowly through the remainder of the ride. I got off the bike about 20mins down. Even before i started the run I knew i was in trouble, GI-wise. I later found out they served tap water on the bike course and I drank 2 big bottles. Whoa!!! What a mistake! When situations like this arise, you arent just dealing with the time spent in the porta-potties, but also the loss of nutrition, the time spent running slowly, butt cheeks clenched while looking desperately for the next toilet stop. It can get messy. So, all things considered, i was quite pleased to cross the line in 4th place. Not the day I wanted, but the day i had. I cant be disappointed by the way i handled things and I certainly will not drink water on the bike if i come back next year!!

Back in the hotel after the race, I got the news that a childhood friend who had been fighting brain cancer had passed away that morning. Sometime during the second half of my bike ride, 3 times zones and half a world away, Alyson slipped away peacefully in a Calgary hospice, surrounded by family. Anyone who met Alyson knew that from the time of her diagnosis to her passing she dealt with the hand she was given with humility and took on the project of fundraising for future cancer-suffers with an energy and vigour that most of us can only conjure during childhood on Christmas morning. It has been oft said but it is so true that Alyson was a very special woman and will be missed by many.

Alyson and I became close in about grade 2, a time when many of my important friendships were forged. I remember that we would embark on various creative projects and games, as you do when you are 7 years old. One such project, that we would still laugh about as adults, was a book of songs that we had composed together in French class. I dont think it was an official class project but a task we simply took on for the fun of it. I can remember creating the tunes in our heads and carefully laying out the lyrics in a booklet that we stapled together with hand-drawn pictures. The center-piece of our booklet was a simple song called "Alyson joue au domino" and i can remember a day when Alyson and I took control of the class while a subsitute teacher was on duty. We each took half the class and sang "Alyson joue au domino" in a round. The last time I saw Alyson before she began to decline, we took great pleasure in singing that same song (in a round!) for ol' times sake.

So, back to Brazil. As i assess the ebb and flow of my race career, the good races, the bad races, the in-between, its difficult not to be effected by Alyson's story, her perspective on life and the value of the time we have. Somehow, flying to Australia and having my bike crushed by the airline, getting sick and having GI issues on a run course are all very managable problems that can be easily solved by accepting the way things are and moving forward to the next task simply because i am lucky enough to be here and do the things I love and hang out with the people i love and watch the sunrise on the day after and the day after that.

My deepest condolences go to those who were closest to Alyson. Her family and friends from Kitchener who i remember fondly and her partner Jared. I only met Jared once but i knew from the way Alyson spoke of him that she had a very special guy. My heart is with those who loved her most.

Goodbye my friend.

Myself, 3rd from left and Alyson (eating a giant hotdog) at what looks like my 8th (?) birthday party



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St. Croix Race Report

 Lowery Hill (Photo by Justin Fabian)

My season did not start out as I would have liked, but the disaster in Australia gave me the opportunity to plan a new race schedule for 2012. It didn’t take long to decide where I wanted to go. St Croix! This was more a decision of the heart than the head. I love St. Croix; the place, the people, the laid back atmosphere of the race, not to mention my wonderful homestay couple Ed and Linda. The fact that its one of the hardest bike courses on the IM circuit could not deter me from heading once again to the US Virgin Islands. 

 Homestay Ed and I at the awards party.

A couple weeks earlier, I had come home from Oz sick, stressed and bike-less. And then I had to wait. Wait until I had a bike to ride, wait until I felt well enough to train again. Wait. Slowly but surely things started to get better, as they always do. Jasper Blake offered to lend me his Speed Concept in the same size as mine. I had some blood tests done and a long talk with my doctor and we figured a few things out. And when I was ready, Clint and I settled on a race plan, starting with 70.3 St. Croix. A couple weeks later I was packing up to go Tucson to get ready for a hot, hilly race.

On March 21^st, Rosalee and I headed south to meet my mom, sister and nephew in Arizona. Mom and Lisa helped out with babysitting while I swam, biked and ran in the sun. I was starting to feel good again.

Once in St. Croix, I felt relaxed and ready. Race week was filled with laughter and good times with friends new and old. The afternoon before the race the rain came down in buckets and the streets of St. Croix became rivers. As the rivers receded overnight, gravel and dirt covered the roads. Race morning the rain continued and it rained on and off all day.

I got in the water at 6am and started my warm up. I had a plan for the swim and was able to follow it to the letter. Last year, the swim had been a gong show. The group I was with swam all over the place and our time was slow. This year, I planned exactly how I was going to sight for each section of the course to make sure we stayed our course! As expected, Nina Kraft and Mary Beth Ellis got away and I led a small chase pack coming out of the water in 3^rd with Angela Naeth, Jenny Fletcher and Marie Danais.

Climbing the Beast (Photo by Justin Fabian)

Out of transition, Angela predictably took off and I was riding with Jenny. After a few miles it was clear that her and I were well-matched on the bike and we ended up spending the whole ride together. When I started to lose concentration, she would come past and get me going again and vice versa. We were a good duo. The course was still covered in debris from the rain and there were large puddles everywhere. Some covered the entire road and we had no choice but to ride right through. Others were more like streams. Near the end of the bike a couple girls overtook us, but they didn’t make up too much time. I came off the bike in about 5^th or 6^th.

Jen and I starting the run.

Starting the run I felt a little sluggish and wasn’t moving as well as I would have liked. Within a mile I became aware that I was making up ground on the lead male (who was a lap ahead). As I got closer I realized it was Lance. He was clearly suffering a little on his final lap and I could hear him breathing hard. As I went past I said “Come on Lance!” But I don’t think he heard me amidst all the cheering from the crown. Say what you will but that guy works hard! Part of me was thinking I should run with him for the whole lap just for the cheering and publicity. But, as I started to feel better and ready to kick my run up a notch, I slowly started to pull away.

After the first lap I had overtaken 2 girls and was running in 4^th. At the turn around I saw that I was close to Nina and was starting to feel good. I picked up the pace and finally got her just before mile 10. Angela and Mary Beth were running their own race in an entirely different time zone, so it was up to me to hold my own until the finish line. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to finish on the podium.

As always, I want to thank many special people for their contribution to my racing. Now that I have a little family, it takes a small village to support my training and travels. Let’s start with my husband Clint whose faith in me is greater than anyone I’ve known. “Aunty” Shelley who continues to be an important part of both my life and Rosalee’s. Grandma Pearl who makes my training possible in Victoria and also makes Clint’s life possible when I am not there. Jasper who generously lent me his Speed Concept and let me drag it across the world. All the people who shared their time and opinions on my bike set-up when I was seeking answers. The guys at the Trek shop who put up with my relentless phone calls and dropping by. My mom and sister who looked after Rosalee during some big training days in Tucson. Good friend and training partner Marilyn who picked me up each day for swimming in the ghetto van, and always shares her time, wisdom and vast cycling knowledge generously. Bob, whose crazy mental training techniques got me to the race feeling excited and ready. Ed and Linda who opened their home again this year in St. Croix. Angela, Jenny, Marisela, Terenzo and many others who shared all those well-needed pre-race laughs! Love you all!

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