So THAT's who that was...

The article I have set up a link to above is written by Linsey Pickell, who won the Oliver Half Ironman this weekend. As she points out in her article, she really came out of nowhere to win the race and also to set a course record. Her race account is there along with her thoughts on turning pro.

I have begun to notice the obvious… I should say, the obvious has started to hit home. In order to get better, you have to dedicate yourself to getting the job done. All great performances began with an unwavering dedication to the task and a hard work ethic to take you through the journey. There is no easy way to success. And there is almost always risk involved.

I talk about dreams a lot. Not dreams as in “I dreamt about this”, but dreams in terms of what I want to be or how I want my life to go. And what would be ideal for me. I have found myself throwing a “dream” out there and quickly suffocating it before I start thinking any further. Nowadays, I catch myself in that pattern. What is wrong with believing you are destined for more? Many of the finest people I know have risked greatly to achieve what they desired. My friend Vince, who recently qualified for and ran the Boston Marathon, is a good example of this. I’ve mentioned him before, but it bares repeating, because the single-minded pursuit of his goal to qualify for Boston became so focused that you just knew nothing would stand in his way. But I think that came not from simply setting a goal and achieving it, it came from an unwavering sense that he would do this, no matter what it took.

In Linsey’s article she talks about going pro and having that transition period from being just one of us folks, out there trying to finish our first Ironman, to someone who could compete and, eventually, win. It all came down to a belief in yourself. It’s taking a look inside and thinking “if I do enough, I will make it…” I think when you take the “could” out of it, and say “if I work hard enough, I WILL make it…” you leave yourself little alternative. It’s dramatic, it’s bold, and it’s just what we all need.

Most of the people I know who actually read this blog are training for something. So, I’ll say this, eliminate “could” and “maybe” from your daily language. It’s too passive. It’s too wishy washy. It’s time to decide are you “in” or “out”. If you’re “in”, then spend the next few days/weeks/months dedicating yourself to what it is you are training to accomplish.

As for me? I keep that sub-10 Ironman in site. It’s a lofty ambition, but I know I have it in me when I put the pieces together. Will it happen this year? I have a better chance now than I did 4 years ago. I have the swim and run to make it happen… Can I put that bike together at the right time and the right place? That’s what 2 ½ more months of training will teach me.

I realize for that goal to be achieved I need a solid and consistent bike riding ability, and I need solid base level endurance with an ability to kick it up. I know it’s a long shot for this Ironman coming up, but this race is where I take my consistency and put it into practice. Who knows where I will get, but I know that I’ll be closer than before. Gordo Byrn, in his book “Going Long”, suggests that a good mental technique is to live and train “like an Ironman”. Act like a winner, act like a competitor. Be gracious, and live to a standard, morally, ethically, and with your training be pure, committed, and in the moment. In other words, pretend you’re already there.

And that’s a good reason to have a blog, by the way…

“In my mind, I am an Ironman”… - me

I received some good news last night on my ride. We started out at the Burnaby Velodrome and rode intervals to Port Moody. The biggest breakthrough was my ability to maintain a “threshold” pace for 2 intervals of 22 minutes and 33 minutes. This doesn’t sound like much, but I have had that limiter (referring to something that held me back) for a while, and being able to really hold a heart rate for a long period. This felt good. I felt I could push and hold the pace for a longer period of time. As in running, the feeling of being able to push a little harder is so important, as it allows you to run your “endurance pace” knowing that you are holding back enough to get through the distance. In a ride of 180km (or a run of 42.2) if you feel you’re on the edge the whole time well, you’ll be toast.

Tonight is a swim… It’s pouring rain outside now so this will not be a fun day outdoors, but we have the swim at 2^nd beach and then speedwork after that. And tomorrow, I have my first Sasamat Lake swim with the North Shore Triathlon Club… There is supposed to be a barbecue after but we’ll see how the weather goes.

“In my mind, I am an Ironman…”

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…….

First trip to the OK...

I have this semi-excited feeling right now as I am about to make the first trip to the Okanagan for training this year... I'm heading to Oliver tonight to volunteer at the race. Of course, I do plan to get a nice long ride in on "the course" as we Westcoast Canadian Ironfolk call it ("the course", referring to the Ironman bike course).

This is also my first chance to really try out my "system" for races. I recall last year I bought a front water bottle (to fit in my tri-bars) and I cut the straw too short. Of course, I never realized this UNTIL the race itself, when I struggled to reach over enough to drink. That is not a good thing... Lesson learned! Of course, I know the rule of "never do something in a race you haven't done in training", but sometimes you need a not-so-subtle reminder!

Biking the course will also bring back some of the familiarity. It is always advisable to simulate the race as much as you can in training, so that you know how to approach each and every section of the race. We are so lucky to live close enough to practice this regularily. I've biked the course once aside from the Ironman in 2002, and that was about a month and a half before. Even that one time was helpful, as it allayed my fears about the course. Now, I'm going to be biking it for tactical purposes. I am going to figure out which approach to take at each section, based on my energy reserves. My goal is to stay in a base mode as much as possible, attack the rollers between Richter's Pass and Keremeos, and have something left to spin up the hill to Yellow Lake.

I'm going to go with 3 power bars and 5 clif shots, with three water bottles, one with e-load, and the other two with water. Part of training is also training yourself to eat on the bike. This will work out to a 120km ride (Oliver to Osoyoos to Keremeos and back to Oliver). I'm also going to grab some "Sharkies" (healthier gummy bears) as snacks to have in my mouth when it's dry.

In order to get the ride in before I need to be at package pickup, I'm going to get started around 6am. Since I need to be at package pickup before noon, I am trying to give myself a bit of a cushion to work within.

Should be fun. Last time I practiced on this course, I drove up to Penticton the night before, slept in my car, woke up in the morning, drove to Tim Hortons, ate 2 donuts and drank a cup of coffee, set up my bike, and then started riding, with a set of directions in my pocket and a prayer....

This time I at least have a bed to sleep in... Seems a little TOO convenient for me. Maybe I'll just have one donut this time for old times sake.

Exploring the world...

Yeah, I'll admit that my next few thoughts are jumping ahead of the game a little. After all, it's more important to focus on the time at hand. I have 3 months (actually, less) until the Ironman Canada. These are going to mean long training days and lots of dedication, and also some discipline in my mental training to keep focused and forward...

But, you gotta admit, going around the world, racing Ironmans in different countries, is a cool thing to try. I'm not going to pledge "every Ironman in the world I shall race", but I certainly wouldn't mind trying a few.

I've had my eye on Ironman Austria and Australia for quite some time. I don't know why, but those two hold the greatest pull for me. Australia is raced in late March, and Austria is in July.

I love the atmosphere surrounding Ironman Canada, and the friendships, community and enjoyment surrounding this event. I wouldn't trade that experience in for the hope that another race might be better, but I think the lure of adventure definitely guides most of my decisions. It would certainly be fun to try.

I do realize there are some obstacles, financial and career-wise, that need to be considered in thinking about these kind of things, but just putting the idea down on paper, I have a feeling that somehow I am going to find a way to seek out all that this sport has to offer, and continue my adventures somehow. Just putting it down on paper... Just a thought.

Back to reality:
I am finding that I am becoming a stronger and stronger cyclist, especially on hills. I have broken through that "pain barrier" of giving a last ditch effort at the crest of some high grade climbs, which was something that hadn't happened. It's definitely giving me some confidence on the bike... Again, it's all about making sure your bike at Ironman has as little effect on your run as possible, so I'm shooting for efficiency. This weekend I'll be in Oliver, BC, to volunteer for the Half Ironman. I'll have an opportunity to hit the 11km climb of Richter's Pass for the first time this year, and I'm eager to get to it. While Richter's pass is not THE killer part of the course, it is one of the defining parts. 11km of straight climbing at around the 60km mark of the race. It has the power to tire out the legs, making the rollers towards Keremeos, and the final climb to Yellow Lake, a struggle in survival.
I need to get in about 130km or so, and so this climb with be great in the middle of this ride. Rather than fear it as I once did, I'm excited and enthusiastic.

It's a far cry from where I used to be...

As for tonight, I have speedwork and a long swim in the outdoor pool. It's quite muggy out today, but it's warm and the signs of summer are making their presence known.