First, thanks to everyone that sent me encouraging emails (I managed to check my email before the race) and I apologize to everyone that sent me emails after the race worried about what had happened. There wasn't internet at the cottage and not all of the Info Centres around the area had internet terminals for use. Besides, by Monday afternoon I was just a little bit sick of thinking about Ironman and was just ready to enjoy a few days of vacation.
So, unfortunately I didn't manage to make it to the finish line of my first Ironman. I managed to complete 92% of the 140.6 miles. Not too shabby. The short story (for those pressed for time) is that I had a better than I hoped for swim, an even better than I had hoped bike, the run started off great and just very gradually went downhill. At the half way point I threw up just after crossing the timing mat. I felt better after that and decided to walk a bit and see how I felt. At about the 15 mile mark I threw up again and felt a bit dizzy. I sat down at the side of the road and when another racer asked if I wanted first aid to come I decided that would probably be best and that was the end of my day.
The longer version (for those enjoying a cup of coffee and some free time)............
Thankfully race morning dawned calmed. The water on Friday morning was ROUGH due to some higher than normal winds and I was really worried that the swim was going to be very very difficult in those conditions. The locals kept assuring us that the winds were not normal and that things would calm down.
The water was indeed calm with wind from the south at 5 kph. We all stood on the beach and watched the Pros start at 6:45 and then at 6:55 we enjoyed the Canadian National Anthem and the canon went off at 7:00. I started very wide and also started very far back. How far back? Well, lets just say that the start line is in the water a bit and I was not only on the beach, but almost on a stair that led from the beach up to the road. I was talking to another woman with the same strategy: wait a bit until everyone was off and then head for some clearer water. It seemed to work. I didn't really have any difficulty. It was crowded and sometimes hard to find a clear place to swim, but I was never swam over, or clobbered or anything like that. So the swim was pretty uneventful. It is a single loop swim, so it really does feel like you get a long way from shore. When I got to the beach I glanced at my watch which said 8:13. I was shocked. My official time was 1:14:02. I had originally hoped for a 1:30, but after two distance swims at the pool in 1:16 I decided to change my goal time to 1:20. So I was thrilled with 1:14. I felt calm and relaxed during the swim so I knew the 1:14 wasn't due to working harder than I should have.
I will say that the wetsuit strippers are the best. I highly recommend them. You just lay down on the ground and they pull them off. I had never seen a wetsuit come off a body so fast. I walked the row of transition bags, and there was someone half way down the row to hand me my bag. The women's changing tent wasn't too busy and a volunteer was right there to give me a hand. She dumped out my bag for me and started handing me things. I changed my shorts, put on some socks, my cycling shoes, my helmet and my camel bak and I was good to go. I walked over to the racks to find my bike. It was here that I realized I had to pee. Too late to hunt down the port-a-potty, I am embarrassed to say that squatted down, pretending to look at something on my bike, and peed on the ground. Not a good start to the 112 miles to come!
The bike goes right along the main street of Penticton and eventually leads you south out of town. There is a very slight uphill grade as you head out of town, but really (with the exception of one short climb) the miles between Penticton and Osooyos (the start of Richters Pass) is flat. Wonderfully flat. It is a great time to just relax and save some energy as the middle portion of the course is the toughest.
There were crowds out in every little town we passed through: OK Falls, Oliver, Osooyos... and then lots of people up on Richters Pass. Having trained in and around Toronto where there isn't alot of hill climbing to be had, I was nervous about Richters. But it really wasn't all that bad. Sure, I was in my last gear available to me and I was turning the pedals slower than I might have hoped, but really it is just a long gradual climb and you just have to put your head down and keep going. Which is basically what I did. After you summit there is a nice stretch of downhill that if you continue to spin your pedals (even if there is no resistance) your legs feel quite fresh at the bottom.
After Richters the 'rollers' begin. I am trying to figure out why I have no memory of these rollers. Maybe because they were 'hills' I just kind of lumped them all together in my head under the heading 'Richters'. Maybe all I could think of at that time was getting to my Special Needs bag because I had a really bad headache from the swim and I wanted the Tylenol that was in there. Either way, it seemed to take a long time for the turn off for the out and back section off the highway which was where Special Needs was. But it finally came. I stopped for my bag, took the Tylenol and my fresh (colder) bottle of Perpetuem drink. Having Special Needs at 120km (instead of the usual 90km) is a bit like taking your lunch break at 2:00 pm; it makes the other side of the day go faster.
Really all that was left of the ride was the climb up to Yellow Lake. Like a few others that drove the course, my response to the climb at Yellow Lake was "That's it!?". It didn't seem nearly as horrible as everyone made it out to be. Well, it's pretty horrible. It's hot, you're good and tired. But the crowds there are huge and they do more than just cheer. They walk beside you a few steps and offer words of wisdom... to total strangers. It's pretty amazing. And then, as promised, after Yellow Lake there is a wonderful, glorious, 20km long descent into town. I am a bit of a nervous rider going downhill fast and I thought I would be sitting on my breaks during this time, but I got down in my aerobars and just let the weight of myself and my bike take me down as fast as possible. It was a riot - it was fast, it was a bit twisty and just good fun. Again, if you keep your legs moving here you can hit the bottom feeling fresh. When we got into town and headed east towards downtown the crosswind hit and I realized then how strong the wind was from the south. I had to actually turn my bike slightly into the wind to keep from being blown around.
I arrived in transition feeling happy with my bike time of 7:03:59. I had figured it might take me about 7:45 and I would have been really happy with 7:30. So I was thrilled. Almost everyone I know that has done an Ironman has told the volunteer that takes their bike from them "Take it, I never want to see it again". So I took it as a good sign that I didn't feel this way. I figured I must have planed the ride just right. Again, the change tent wasn't all that busy. There was a free chair and a volunteer right there to meet me. She helped me off my cycling stuff and helped me get my running stuff in order. This time I stopped at the port-a-potty and had a good long pee. I also took this as a good sign; I was reasonably well hydrated.
I stopped at the aid station just inside of the transition area and drank a cup of water and a cup of gatorade and then started out onto the run course. I felt good. I felt fine. I was just plugging along and I felt no better or no worse that I had doing a run after my long training rides and no better or no worse than when I started the run on my half ironman. So I just kept moving forward. The plan was to run between the aid stations, and then walk for one minute through the aid stations to get what I needed. I would take an Endurolyte capsule at every third aid station and a gel at every fourth. This was working great. But at mile six or seven I started to feel a bit of fatigue and by mile nine or ten I was feel nauseous. I was trying different stuff at the aid stations but I couldn't figure out what I wanted or what I needed. I was walking more frequently waiting for my stomach to settle.
I got to the Special Needs bag and took the one thing I wanted (a note from my best friend which I had saved to open). I went around the cone at the turnaround and then moved over to the side of the road and threw up. Someone from the aid station came by and asked if I wanted anything. But I felt better after throwing up, and walked on after having a cup of water. At this point I knew something had gone wrong and I was trying to figure out what it was. But I knew that I just wanted to keep moving forward. So that's what I did. I was careful to power walk (no strolling for me) and just keep on moving. But as I approached the 15 mile marker the nausea was coming back. I stepped to the side of the road and threw up again, but this time I also felt a little dizzy and unsteady. I crouched down a bit and threw up again. Another female racer stopped and asked if I wanted assistance and I decided at that point it would probably be a good idea.
There are first aid people at every aid station, and it was this guy that came to check up on me. He checked my heart rate (using my Polar monitor) and asked me some questions. He brought me some water and told me to sip it, but after just one sip I felt nauseas again and eventually threw up again. I told him then that I was done. I don't think he was surprised. Eventually the paramedics come by because they will be the ones to transport you off the course. They take your blood pressure etc. The worst part is they have to wait until they fill their vehicle to leave, so you spend a lot of time waiting around feeling ill. Eventually we had two others (that seemed in worse shape than me) and were good to go. I turned down the IV in the transport vehicle as I was feeling a bit better.
In the medical tent I tried to drink some water again but couldn't keep it down. The doctor that was looking after our section of beds suggested I try an anti-nausea medication before resorting to the IV. They give you a shot of something in the arm and it is supposed to work in about 15 minutes. So in 15 minutes I drank some Pepsi and felt fine (except at this point I felt very tired). The doctor then forced chicken soup on me since that was what he wanted me to drink in the first place (for the sodium). Once my blood pressure had come up they were prepared to let me go (even though I still hadn't peed).
I have to say that from the time I accepted help on the course until the time I left the medical tent, everyone was absolutely amazing. The first aid guy and the doctor in the tent were congratulating me. I said, "But I didn't finish!" but they said that to be at mile 15 at the time I was was something to be congratulated. Despite how busy that medical tent is, no one is rude or cold or in too much of a hurry to be kind. In fact, I rarely get that nice of service from my family doctor's office. My ONLY complaint with the procedure is that your family and friends have no way of knowing that you are there if you don't cross the finish line. So when I left the medical tent I had no way of finding Shayne amongst all the people at the finish area. I was just let go out of the medical tent into.....nothing but a crowd of strangers. I managed to borrow someone's cell phone and call him, but he didn't answer. We had agreed to meet outside a certain building on Main Street so I decided to just head there and hope for the best. After waiting about 15 minutes a couple stopped to see if I was OK (I was still wearing the shiny Mylar blankets they give you to stay warm). They let me use their cell phone and this time I got an answer. When Shayne came to get me with the car I just wanted to go home to bed.
When I woke up Monday morning I felt OK. I talked to John (our house mate) and I felt OK about the race, and not finishing. I tried to call Derek (my coach) but didn't get an answer and decided I wanted to wait and talk to him anyway. We went into town in search of greasy diner breakfast and one last meal with John before he caught his flight home. It was hard to see everyone downtown in their Finishers shirts. It wasn't until Tuesday that I woke up in the morning with the realization that I didn't get to see the Finish Line. I was sad then. I'm still a bit sad thinking about it, but really, it is just another race - a longer one than most, sure, but just another race.
The plan right now is to possibly vacation around Penticton again next year (it is a really beautiful location) and register for a second attempt in 2008.
Some analysis...
What do I think went wrong?
I will probably never know. The medical people called it dehydration. But I was not so sure of this having peed substantially before heading out on the run course and then being very careful to hydrate at every aid station. Right now the only think I am thinking it might have been is the Gatorade. I trained with Gatorade on my runs in the last month or so knowing that I would rely on the aid stations during the race. It is possible that it was mixed poorly. If there is a next time I will either opt to be self supported on the run or will stick to gel, water and endurolyte tablets. It is also possible that the Tylenol had something to do with it. Tylenol can effect your liver and kidneys when you are overheating which can effect the way your body processes liquids.
