The Oliver Half Ironman

I finally got that opportunity to ride the main section of the Ironman course this weekend. I figured it was about a 125km route from Oliver to the top of Yellow Lake, and across on Twin Lakes Road to Okanagan Falls, and back to Oliver. I felt fairly strong heading up Richter’s Pass, the infamous 11km climb after Osoyoos that pretty much defines Ironman Canada. With all it’s hype, Richer’s Pass is really not THAT difficult, but I think that is more because it comes early in the race (after the 60km mark) and is a fairly steady climb. You can pretty much stay seated the whole way up, and I’ve even seen people ride in their aerobars. Personally, I’d prefer to stay comfortable going up that climb, and save as much of my back as I can. No sense in creating unnecessary back strain to gain a couple of minutes on that climb.

The next section were the rollers into Keremeos. I counted seven but I could be mistaken. I made a decision to climb the rollers out of my seat, just to see if that helped. I have to say, it felt like the right thing to do. Keeping my momentum up through that section helped just to make me feel stronger and more like I was making some progress. I wasn’t pushing hard, but just steady and strong. I practiced a LOT of mental phrases and words to myself to keep up the power. Here were some of the ones I remember:

“Strong legs, relaxed body… Strong legs, relaxed body”

“Every hill makes you tougher”

“You were made for this”

“Go, go, go…” – as I approached the crest.

I’m learning to keep the language simple and easy, and just repeat it over and over again. This is extremely helpful, by the way. If you allow yourself to just drift with the ride, you begin to lose it mentally when you get fatigued. It’s never a question of “if I get fatigued” at Ironman… It’s WHEN… So, you have to control the words and phrases you say to yourself. Any “I can’t do this” statements only become self-fulfilling prophecies. I learned in running to try to focus on hitting each mile marker strong, and in cycling you really do need to make your own language.

This came in especially useful as I approached the climb to Yellow Lake. From Olalla (just outside of Keremeos) the climb is about 4-5 km to the top, but it comes at a later portion of the race. Your bike starts to feel about 10 pounds heavier, and it’s extremely important to keep your momentum up through this stretch. As an example, I caught myself about 1km in drifting off in my concentration, and when I snapped out of it, my heart rate was at 130, which is well below the 145 bpm I was hoping to maintain as an average. I was, essentially, “dogging it”. I don’t believe in getting the heart rate high in the air during a long ride, but my base level training heart rate for biking is tested at between 145 and 162. And that’s where I should be aiming for. Being on the low end of that isn’t bad at all, but being in 130 means I’m just coasting. You gotta give a LITTLE effort.

I made it up the road to Yellow Lake, with tired legs for sure. I was so elated when I hit the top, believing the worst of the hills to be over. I turned right onto Twin Lakes Rd, which cuts away from Penticton, and all of a sudden… HILL… Not just a hill, but a fairly steep grade for about 400 meters. I don’t remember this… Okay, I figured, after this it’s a fairly good downhill. WRONG. Another set of rolling hills…. At this stage of the game, I’m wasted. My legs are tired, I’m running low on energy, and I just want it all to be over.

But, I sucked it up. I figured this stretch makes this ride harder than the Ironman course in terms of climbing, and these extra add-ons were only going to make me stronger. So, out of the saddle, I climbed the next roller. I started to feel better, and settled in to prepare for the next hour. Dropping into OK falls, I had 22km back to Oliver, and I got into the aerobars for the most part all the way into town. I passed quite a few riders who were out testing out their bikes for the race the next day.

The race on Sunday started off a little precociously, with a rainfall in the morning that threatened to make the 90km ride a little tougher. I was set to volunteer at the bike aid station at the 38km and 78km (it’s a two loop course) mark. When I got out to the aid station, I had a full on parka and rain pants. Within minutes, the rain stopped, and it started to warm up quite a bit. The road was dry within 30 minutes. Amazing! And perfect for the racers. Over the course of the day, I managed to improve at the art of handing off water to riders as they sped past me. The trick is in how you hold the water bottle. You have to turn your right hand so that your thumb and index finger are down, and hold the bottle in between them from the top. That allows the riders to grab the bottle out of your hands with ease. The next trick is to get some momentum and run “backwards” as they come by. As I mentioned on another website, if you don’t do that then a rider coming in at 20km/hr is grabbing a stationary object. That’s tough to do unless you are Tarzan…. And it can also be dangerous… So, you run a little with them so that it is easier for them to grab.

I have to say, I feel very adept at this now!

I met a lot of great people this weekend. Lori Bowden was there (top Ironman athlete in Canada), as well as a lot of folks from the Ironcops team. It was great to meet some new Ironcops teammates from around Canada. That will make the Penticton weekend more special already! Also, our B&B was amazing. It is called “Above the Orchard” and it is great. Especially for athletes.

Watching the race got me excited for the next one, in two weeks. Actually, less than two weeks! It has all started…….