Kona Ironman World Championships

Often a picture tells a tale much better than words.  I feel very lucky to have so many talented photographers in my world. All of the photos here are courtesy of Tessa (www.tessacapistrano.ca) with the exception of the shot on the bike from David McColm (www.davidmccolm.com).

I started my day feeling focused and confident. My training had gone very well and I really felt ready. Good preparation always equates to confidence on race day.

 

My first inkling that I wasn’t firing on all cylinders was during the warm up. I thought, “maybe I should have done a little run warm up”. I didn’t have much spark.

As the swim got started, I felt ok, but really only had one gear. As some of the faster girls pulled away, I would normally surge and try to stay with them, but in that moment I had nothing.

In the latter part of the swim, the oft-used analogy of the matchsticks came to mind.  The theory is that when you start an Ironman you only have so many matches to burn, so you need to be conscientious about how and when you burn them. My thought on Saturday was “I feel like I have no matches at all.”

I told myself that it was just taking a while to warm up. That happens sometimes. No problem.

But once I was on my bike, I very quickly realized that the flatness I was feeling was not going to be shaken. Mentally, I went between trying hard to break out of it, and accepting my fate. I got to 120k on the bike and felt like I hadn’t done anything yet. This is normally when it starts to hurt. Getting back to T2 was simply a matter of patience. At this point I was basically last in the race.

 

I started running and felt more or less the same. I kept running and finished the race.

 

As it happens, I got the timing wrong. I came down from altitude 12 days before the race, the same way I had in 2007 when I finished 2^nd at Ironman Canada.  I felt confident it would work again. It did not. I don’t know why I needed longer this time after my block at altitude. Maybe it’s because I am older? I really have no idea.

Some of the guys who I had been training with in Sedona felt the same way on race day. Ronnie, Macca, Bart- they all had a similar complaint. One of my friends found this video clip of Macca discussing the same topic:

 

So that was my day. All I can do now is learn and move forward. As the champ says "no excuses, i shall return".

 

Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this year so far. Most of all, my husband and coach Clint Lien. My sponsors, especially Zoot, Rudy Project, Sportexcel and Trek ProCity. My rehab people, but especially Rob Hasagawa who has kept me healthy for almost 2 years. Coach Daz and Rick who really got me to the race in good form. Not to mention all the other friends and family who continually help with the project that is my athletic career.

 

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Go time!

Thanks for the great pic David!

 

Did a fun photoshoot with David McColm a couple days ago and here is a little sample. Thanks to everyone who helped me get to the startline including Zoot Sports, Trek ProCityCycle, Rudy Project, Sportexcel, Dr. Rob Hasagawa, Pearl Lien and Shelley Thomson. And biggest thank you to my husband and Coach Clint Lien who made many many sacrifices this year!

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Training in Sedona with the D-Squad

After finding out that I had qualified for the Ironman World Champs in Hawaii, I was looking for somewhere to do my final build before the race. In an ideal world, I wanted a little altitude (but not too much) a little heat (but not too much), and good training partners. Oh, and it would help to have a good massage therapist and a good coach, and somewhere not too expensive…

I contacted my old coach Darren Smith who I thought might have a few athletes training in Sedona, Arizona and was very grateful when he agreed to help me out. Darren’s squad has been dubbed the D-Squad and his athletes have been increasingly successful over recent years. He is rightly considered one of the best coaches in the sport right now. The group in Sedona included some stellar ITU girls; Lisa Norden, Anne Haug, Vicki Holland and Jodie Stimpson, and an equally stellar group of Ironman boys; Chris McCormack, Ronnie Schildnecht, Fraser Cartmell, Bart Aernouts, and Cam Goode. Michelle Wu, Fiorella Dcruz and I represented the long course girls. There were also a handful of new-recruits and development athletes that were hanging around on various weeks here and there. I was certainly not lacking in training partners.

Darren himself was pretty much the same guy that I remember; smart, witty, and driven. He has worked very hard to develop himself as a coach and takes the same full-speed-ahead approach with his athletes. His success at the Olympics was not accidental. And from what I observed, I predict his success will actually increase over the next few years.

Darren also has a way of speaking his mind, right or wrong, at appropriate times and also at inappropriate times. Some people find this aspect of his personality difficult. I certainly used to when I was younger. Now that I am a little more “mature”, I find I can laugh more easily at his antics. Smart people rarely have a full range of social skills (sorry Daz, but its true ;)

Anyway. During my time in Sedona, I made some significant progress. Realizing I was gluten intolerant (see previous post), left me with oodles of energy and I was able to train hard. Clint and I made decisions on a daily basis about how to make the best of the group sessions, and I ended up putting together 3 pretty strong weeks. One day I got to ride 195km with “the boys”. Luckily, Macca wasn’t out to set any speed records that day and I was able to sit in and enjoy the ride. We even stopped for coffee. Michelle and I did a handful of quality long rides together, and I was grateful for her company. In the pool, I had Lisa and Vicki in the next lane, so I could look over and think, ‘so that’s how its done’. I was constantly taking mental notes. Noticing little things about stroke or about the habits that make people successful, stuff like that.

On the technical side, Darren had picked up some new things from his time in Kenya. We worked on the track and on a couple occasions when I was running off the bike, D would come out on his little mountain bike and bark instructions at me as I ran. I was impressed at how many pointers he managed to come up with. I mean, if I watch an athlete run, I can come up with 2, maybe 3 things they could improve on. Darren had a constant flow of thoughts that helped me. How to run uphill, downhill, crest a hill, arms, shoulders, push back etc, etc… It was impressive and very helpful.

In the pool, we made a couple subtle changes (no point reinventing the wheel 3 weeks before Ironman!) that helped me find a better rhythm.

And I can not forget the massage and rehab guy, Rick. Rick is from the Netherlands but speaks as if he is from London. He is genuinely good at his job and has the time and energy to do things properly. In the end, my long-term hamstring niggle cleared up, I have better range through my hips for running and I genuinely don’t feel like an old lady anymore.

And so, my time in Sedona has left me feeling fit, more proficient and more mobile. Not to mention with a few new friends to follow at the races. Most of the D-Squad are here in Kona right now training for the World Championship Series Finale in New Zealand which is a week after Ironman. Its been really fun seeing everyone and i look forward to watching them race.

Big thank you to Darren for allowing me this opportunity. Thanks to Rick for taking an interest in my hamstring and other ailments. Thanks to Vicki and Anne who put up with me for the longest… as well as everyone else who made me feel welcome.

I wish continued success to everyone!   

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Ironman New York, Ironman Canada and being gluten free

I’ve written 3 blogs in the last few months – in my mind.  Unfortunately none have made it from there to the page.  I need to clear these topics from my mental “to do” list before I can write the blog about my time in Sedona, which is currently in gestation phase.

 

Here are the 3 topics I will address quickly and efficiently (in case you are bored by one of them, you can simply move to the next); 1. My decision to pull out of IM New York at mile 16; 2. My observations at Ironman Canada; and 3. My gluten intolerance and how it changed everything.

Blog 1: Ironman New York Race Report

 

My goal this year was to race at the World Championships in Kona and in July/early August I still needed more points so I planned a 3-week trip that included Calgary 70.3, 10 days in Ontario at my Dad’s and Ironman New York. At the time I was 26^th in the pro ranking and thus expected to be leading the fight for the final 5 spots. Five days before Ironman NY, I got the news that someone had turned down her spot and I was in. I was going to Kona.

A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I was happy and relieved. But it left me in this weird situation in which I had traveled across the country, acclimatized, was tapered and ready for an Ironman race that I no longer needed to do. I contemplated simply changing my flights and coming home, but in the end, Clint and I decided that since I had 9 weeks in between New York and Kona it would be enough to rest and rebuild. So I went to New York.

Long story short, it turned out to be the hot, humid race that we expected and during the run I started to hear a nagging voice telling me that I should pull the plug. It was more an instinct than anything else. My heart wasn’t in it, I wasn’t doing very well and I didn’t want to destroy myself. I could have kept running, but I simply didn’t have the base fitness to have a great Ironman race. Before crossing the Washington Bridge to what I knew would be the hottest part of the course, I pulled the plug. I walked back down to the ferry and went back to my homestay.  

The decision was really, really hard on me. At first I thought I had done the wrong thing. I wished I’d had support out there to help me problem solve. I wasn’t sure. But, it only took a couple days for me to come around, to know that listening to my instincts is always the right thing to do. Regardless of what happens in the rest of the season, I feel like I couldn’t have done more than that.

Blog 2: Observations from Ironman Canada

David McColm caught me searching for my athletes on the IMC run course!

I have been working with Bob Palmer at Sportexcel for almost 2 years. Bob’s work revolves around a system that aims to get athletes into “the Zone” and keep them there, during races, training, and everyday life. I have really learned a lot from Bob. I would say that working with him has been life-changing in that I simply enjoy my life more.

I have tried to bring this experience to the athletes I coach as well. Not in a deliberate way, but just by making an effort to be in “the Zone” when I am around them so I can get the best out of them as well.

At Ironman Canada this year, I was biking around the run course looking for my girls and I was struck by how many people were absolutely NOT in the Zone. In fact, most people were in the antithesis to the Zone. They were in the anti-zone. They were complaining, making excuses, walking. Heads were hung low. Defeated already and still so much to go!

But not my girls… well, mostly ;)  Michelle struggled a little, was in and out of her zone for sure, but definitely had some moments there. Her 30min-PB is testament to that. Julie was shining like a light compared to the others around her. She kept herself centered and focused and earned herself a PB by 47mins!! Tessa also kept her composure, stayed in her Zone and executed a great race and a new PB for her as well.

It truly is amazing what a little focus and a positive attitude can do for an athlete in an Ironman race. I was so proud that my girls didn’t get caught up in the carnage around them. I can remember saying to Tessa (who, believe me, was suffering as much as the next girl) that if she kept focused and strong she would overtake hundredsof people before the finish line (I knew this to be true, because I had seen the state of those hundreds!) I don’t think she believed me at first. She later told me that she stopped counting after 138.

Congrats to my Iron-girls.

 

Blog 3: How being gluten-free has changed everything.

 

Ok, so here’s the story. I’ve been working with a Naturopathic Doctor called Kim McQueen, mostly in an attempt to get myself leaner for the big race in Kona. We looked at my diet, she gave me some simple advice (reduce fats, eat quality carbs..), all good stuff. As an aside, she told me that since I feel bloated after eating pasta I likely have at least some minor sensitivity to gluten, and that maybe, until we can test things properly, I should consider going gluten free, just until Kona. No problem. I can do that. I was already half way there anyway.

Five days later, I was warming up with our morning swim group and I thought, ‘I’ve never felt so good during a warm up before!’ It seemed kinda odd since I had also been training harder, longer and more than I have in many years. I felt so good, that I spent the entire warm up wondering what it could be… what have I changed? And then I knew. Gluten. It’s the gluten.

I am not even exaggerating when I say that changing to a gluten free diet has effected everything. My energy levels have increased. I’ve lost weight. I don’t bonk as easily on long bike rides and am thus stronger after 4, 5, 6 hours than ever before. I look forward to every training session because I am simply not dragging my ass out the door like I used to. I am feeling stronger.

If this was someone else’s blog and I was reading it, I don’t think I would believe it. I am not a “magical potions” kind of person. I believe in working hard and chipping away at things and looking for change in the bigger picture, not expecting miracles etc etc… Even my work with Bob that I described as “life-changing” took a year to ingrain, and I still work at it! But this, this was like someone sprinkling fairy dust on me or finding a magic bean. And for my next trick I will fly with the pigs then climb my bean stalk to the clouds.

 

 

 

 

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