We went through all the usual pre-race setup stuff - reset bike computers, set the bike to the right gear for starting the bike leg, etc. Checked out the swim course ("an awfully long way to swim"), mapped out the transition routes. Nothin' unusual. Race morning diet was a plain bagel with PB&J and a banana about 2 hours prior, then a Clif bar and 1/2 bottle of Gatorade an hour prior. I think Jeff wrote up our diet for Friday & Saturday. I'll try to get it posted on my site later today. Basically consisted of a lot of plain bagels and protein, with very little fiber. Weather was perfect for race morning - cloudy and cool but no sign of rain.

Swim: 38:25
I was just so freakin' excited that I was going to finally beat a bunch of people out of transition (including Jeff), even if it was only because I got a head start! My wave was the third to go, after the 35+ women, 45+ men, 50 min+ swimmers, and a wedding party. I've got to get used to swimming in packs and learn how to draft. There's a tri club in Camas, WA that is going to start practicing drafting on the swim once a week and I need to get in on that action. I just get so irritated/flustered when people are swimming around me. I try to draft off of someone and they always end up being slower than me or they'll have a burst of speed and then stop and flip over or break into breastroke complete with the frog-kick. I always end up just moving out to the right or left and finding my own water. I can draft off of Jeff until the cows come home, but I usually have trouble finding a fast pair of feet in a race. I'm sure I'm giving away free speed. My pace was 1:45 per 100yd, which is pretty standard for my TT swims. However, I was certainly a lot less tired than I am after a TT - I stayed aerobic throughout the swim and that was my goal. Thank God for wetsuits :~)

T1
Came out of the water doing the usual dizzy-drunken stumble/run. Got to T1 and thought, "Hmmm…this women's bike rack area isn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be…." Then realized it was because there were only about 25 bikes left…people were GONE. Nearly half of the women started in the wave before me though, so things weren't actually quite as bad as they looked.

Bike+T1: 3:19:12 - Race results say 16.8 mph, but my bike computer said 17.5. I think they calculated it on 56 miles rather than 57.3 or whatever it was. I was about 26 minutes behind the fastest bike in my AG - can you say "slow course"??? I was happy with the bike, but there's always room for improvement. Riding the course in May and then riding the IMC course a few days later helped me a ton mentally.

Did Jeff mention that this course was FREAKING HILLY??? I purposely set my bike computer so that only cadence and time were displayed - I didn't want to know what my speed was. The course is a little strange - picture a figure 8. You start on the east side of the bottom loop and go south, then loop around and go straight north to the top of the loop. You ride the top loop 3 times, then come back down the east side of the bottom loop. The hill I was most worried about was on the west side of the top loop. Long descent, then a long steep ascent. Funny thing - that hill turned out to be cake! For the first loop, I didn't really even realize I was on it until I was halfway up the hill, flying past people. The real killer for me on this course was the long, gradual hill on the east side of the top loop. I'm sure I was going like 12 mph - just couldn't look. It was an especially demoralizing spot, especially when a draft pack would come hauling butt behind me. At one point, a pack came around and encircled me - I was not happy. The bike course was beautiful, and the support was fantastic. There's one spot at the top of the figure 8 where you come over the top of a hill and have a breathtaking view of the Pacific - the view made up for the beating I was taking from the headwinds.

I felt great on the first loop. My nutrition plan was to eat/drink nothing for the first 10 minutes and let my HR settle down. Then I planned to get 3 Clif bars, 3 shots of Hammer Gel, and 2 bottles of Gatorade w/ Endurolytes down during the course (plus a couple of bottles of water). To do this, I planned to alternate 1/2 Clif bar, a shot of hammer gel, and about 1/3 bottle of Gatorade, taking something in about every 15 minutes. I ate 1/2 Clif bar about a half hour in and then started working on the Gatorade. By about 1.5 hours in, I had downed a shot of hammer gel and most of the 1^st bottle of gatorade, and my stomach was a brick. I just couldn't bear to eat those Clif bars. I only ended up being able to choke down one more 1/2 bar during the last hour (for a total of one full bar). That second loop was not pretty. It really taught me something about these longer-distance races, though. You can feel like complete crap during one part of the race and feel great an hour later. By this time the clouds had burned off and the wind had picked up. The final lap was bearable - my legs were starting to get that Jello muscle long run feeling but knowing the end was near got me through those last hills. I was never so glad to get off my bike in my life (well, except for after riding Richter in May). Slugged down the last of my Gatorade/Endurolyte mixture and cruised into T2.

Run+T2: 2:03:42 - I was shooting for under 10 minute miles - eked by with a 9:57 average.
I was SO looking forward to this run. By this time it was pretty warm indeed, and I was incredibly thankful for the shady run. Changed shoes, grabbed my Hammer Gel flask and hat, and I was off. Made myself go easy the first couple of miles. Got to the first marker at 5:30 - had to do a double take and realized it was 1k, not 1 mile. A great tip from Gordo's page that worked well for me was to split the run up into four 5Ks (he's got a great write-up for pacing your first 1/2 IM - <http://www.byrn.org/halfpace.htm>). The idea is to run the first 5K easy, to get your HR back down and get your stomach feeling better after all that eating on the bike. You turn it up a little on the middle two 5Ks, then either hammer home the last 5K or cruise in feeling good. I was feeling so good on the run that I just decided to keep on cruising. I just wanted to see how I did and finish feeling good. Due to the sciatica problems, my longest run since mid-May was the 10K at Blue Lake. So, needless to say, I was a bit worried about the run distance. But I felt great and didn't have any sciatica problems. I took a couple of Advil during the last 5 minutes or so of the bike, then took a couple more during the second lap of the run because my right knee was bothering me. The Advil took care of it and I felt better on that run than I've felt in a long time.

I realized that I LOVE this distance. I get so frustrated on the run in a sprint or olympic because I know that unless I hammer the crap out of the run, I'm going to end up close to last in my AG for the run leg. I was able to get ahead enough on the bike (passed about 10 in my AG) that only 4 in my AG passed me on the run. I was much more able to relax and run at a comfortable pace without feeling like I was gonna be last (not that I really cared at that point).

Okay, a few things Jeff left out of his report that I need to point out. He didn't mention how freaking impressive the field was. This was not like any triathlon I have been to before. Of the 16 people ahead of Jeff in his AG, 8 were sponsored athletes. I'm not talking the local triathlon shop, I'm talking Nike, New Balance, Orca, etc. When he says he missed qualifying by one or two spots - the truth was the last guy to qualify was less than 80 seconds ahead of him. I was standing in line to see if we had pictures while Jeff was waiting to hear about the qualifying spots, and the guy next to me said that basically anyone in BC who doesn't already have an IMC spot comes to this race to try and qualify.

If you're thinking of a 1/2 IM for next year in the Pacific NW, this is an awesome one to consider. However, if you don't like a hilly bike course, don't do it. Jeff mentioned the two guys, Jim & Dan, that we met from Salem. Jim was really excited about this race beforehand and had been looking forward to it for months (if not years). We talked to him after the race (he won his AG, BTW) and he said he won't be back - he had no idea the course was that hilly. He also didn't like the run course - you did have to pay attention to the arrows to know where to go and to make sure you didn't trip on rocks and roots. It was mostly very smooth, but you did have to pay attention. He said he likes to just zone out and not have to think during the run. So if that's you, this is not a course you would enjoy. Personally, that's my favorite kind of run. If my mind is occupied with navigation duties, I don't think about how tired I am. I could run trails all freakin' day. Also, the support was OUTSTANDING. For the swim, there was always someone in a canoe or kayak within 50 meters of me and the course was well marked. On the bike, there was never a question about where to go, and the traffic volunteers were incredibly supportive. The only reason the course was longer than 56 miles was because there was road construction and a couple of dangerous tight turns that they needed to adjust, but they were very clear about the course change beforehand, and that it would add about 600m per loop. There were about 6 aid stations throughout the 2-loop run course, so you pretty much had aid every mile. The course was well marked and again, the volunteers were awesome. Got a big-ole fluffy hooded race sweatshirt and finisher's medal. We splurged afterwards and got massages - 10 minutes for $10 (Canadian). I'm thinking that's going to have to be a new part of the post-race ritual. Chowed down on the usual post-race pizza and Monday morning gooey snacks.

Oh…the comment about beating the nun - at Aluminum Man last year (our first oly), I got beat by a 71-year-old nun two weeks after she raced Ironman Canada. Many of you probably know Sister Madonna Buder of IMC fame. Well, she passed me at the end of the bike at Aluminum Man (yeah, I was on a mountain bike, but she was 71 so I feel a little lame using the MTB as an excuse). I beat her out of transition and she passed me on the run. Jeff's mom just thought that was the funniest thing. So, at this race, she started in the swim wave 10 minutes ahead of me and I passed her within about 15 minutes on the bike. I think I beat her by 1/2 hour or something. I'm so pathetic - the high point of my race is being able to say I beat a 72-year-old nun!! As a matter of fact, I beat all the women over 55! I'm coming after you people, one age group at a time!!! Watch out, all you 50-54 year old ladies - you're next!!

Thanks for reading!

- MG