It's never perfect...

Davis knocked on my door at 5:45 am with a Tim Horton's Coffee and bagel for me. All night I slept lightly. When I started to sleep I could hear and feel my pulse from my previous night of debauchery thumping from my chest. Then, halfway through the night, I started sweating. The bed was soaked. When I got up to go to the bathroom and came back, it went from being just wet, to wet and cold.

Absolutely, remarkably, when Davis knocked on our door and I did get up, I felt normal. I put my heart rate monitor on and it was down in the low 50's. Yes, I averted disaster, or so I thought. Everything was going to be okay, well not really. We were staying in a 5 star hotel and the toilet was plugged.

We had them fix it yesterday but it got plugged again last night. When I was changing in the washroom I saw Reid had left a couple of gifts in it. Sure enough, it was race morning and my stomach was rumbling. I had no choice. By the time Reid and I were done with that toilet it looked worse than an outdoor porta potty at the Ironman.

Sharon drove us to the site and was able to drop us off right in front of the transitions so we didn't have to take a shuttle bus. It was just perfect. Or so I thought.

I got everything set up in the transition zone and had about 90 minutes to burn before my wave. It's funny, Alice and Sharon were saying that when they saw me in the water I'm talking away to everyone. I never really noticed before. They say everyone else is quiet and look worried and I'm talking away. They must be right because in those 90 minutes before the race and after the race I met so many new friends.

I put my wet suit on about 20 minutes before the swim start and immediately felt claustrophobic. My chest felt tight, I was a little panicked. I didn't even want to do the swim. I was thinking that I felt this way because I abused my body a couple nights earlier and mentally wasn't there. After about 10 minutes, that constricted feeling went away and the wetsuit felt natural. Thank goodness. It was a good lesson, from now on, I'm putting the wetsuit on early to adjust to the tight feeling. Normally I put it on just before the horn goes off and work through the constriction during the swim, which can be a little scary.

Finally the horn went off, which is the sound to a 5 hour plus day of racing. Within the first 50 meters my left goggle filled with water. Then within the next 10 meters I was caught in the "washing machine" with everyone around me and got kicked in the head. If anyone says triathlons are not a full contact sport, they haven't done a triathlon.

My swim felt pretty good. I felt like I was strong and doing well. My only problem was sighting. I felt like I was going all over the place. I was also looking for the swim to end. I didn't look at my watch until I came out of the water and when I looked at it, it was a depressing 39 minutes. I was expecting 36 or less. At that point I was disheartened and just wanted to get this race over with.

They stripped me out of my wetsuit and as I started running to the transition, a women grabbed me and said you have to come with me. I was like saying to myself "what?", "don't you see I'm in a race"? "I gotta go". Then she said, "you don't have a timing chip on"? Sure enough, I looked down and I forgot to put my timing chip on. Awe man, it keeps getting better.

She ran me to a table and gave me a new one, then logged my name into their records. It must have taken at least a minute. I can't remember, I was just thinking that my race is over. So much for beating last years time. I finally got the chip, put it on and was back in the race with the intent just to get it over with. The good thing about an Ironman event is that it's organized and world class, they even have people checking to make sure you have your chip on.

Aside from the timing chip problem, my transition was okay. I wasn't my recent fast self and I made sure I drank down some ensure before I left. It was the first race in my new Shimano's and although they are way nicer than my old pair, they are more difficult to run fast in. The toes for some reason are really high in the air and have to run on your heels. It definitely slowed me down.

When I got on the bike, initially I felt okay, then about 2 km into the bike I remembered how hard this course was. It is relentless hills, there is not many, if any stretches that are flat. It was the strangest bike ride I've had all year because I was getting passed by people. I just had no leg strength. I tried to push it, but just didn't have it.

I was still doing okay and my speed was similar to last year. But last year I did this race two weeks after the Louisville Ironman. To my amazement and surprise, I think, over the course of the race, three guys who were 51 years old pass me. I had a guy 61 years old try and pass me and a girl, but that's where I drew the line. I really sucked it up and didn't allow that to happen.

Don't get me wrong, I was having a strong ride. But just not the strong race rides that I'm used to. I rarely have someone pass me. This was a new experience. For most of the ride my heart rate was at the 140 bpm or less. I couldn't get it higher. My legs were too fatigued. I knew I should have tapered more. I did one ride with Rich and Davis that I shouldn't have done, but I wanted to show them around my beautiful riding routes and let them make sure they assembled their bikes correctly.

The good news is that my new seat worked great. Around the 30 km marker, I decided just to set a goal of having a good ride and enjoying it, while pushing as hard as I could without over excursion. Around the 80 km mark I was so relaxed that I became tired. I've never been tired like this on the bike before. I was so tired I could have fell asleep. In fact, I actually and seriously thought of pulling over and finding a spot in the woods to lie down and have a nap.

The only reason I didn't was because I was racing with the Sohors. If it wasn't for them, I think I may have stopped and had that nap. I've also never had to pee during a half Ironman. I've always been able to hydrate myself perfectly and make it to the finish without stopping. Today was different. I had to go to the bathroom so bad on the bike that I eventually had to stop. There's no worse feeling than seeing guys pass by you, who you passed earlier.

The bike was 4 km longer than most half Ironman's. As I was was coming into the transition I rode by Craig Alexander who was less than a kilometer from the finish. I looked at my watch and realized that he was going to break 4 hours, which is amazing for this course. Not only is it a longer course, but it is one of the hardest on the planet. I do remember the announcer saying that he was running at a 3:15 per kilometer pace. He finised with a 1:11 half marathon. Unbelievable.

I got in from the bike and did achieve my goal, I rode as fast as last year, over 33 kph. I got off the bike and had to pee again. I did my transition shoe change, put on the captains hat and detoured at the porta potty and was off. I felt really good running right from the start. My sleepiness was gone.

The captains hat took my attention away from looking at my watch. The crowds were cheering the captain on and yelling at me "go captain", "go skipper", "love the hat", "where's Gilligan", "you must have a big boat", "whey to go captain stubeing" and my favorite was "are you chasing Ginger or Maryanne". I never realized that wearing a hat could be so much fun. I easily had over 200 people yell comments at me.

At the two kilometer mark, after going up one big hill, I looked down at my Garmin and saw that I was running at a 6:05 pace. Yes, a 6:05. I couldn't believe it, I thought my watch was broken. I was flying. I was passing everyone like they were standing still. The only problem I had was that I forgot to turn my heart rate alert off before the race and it was beeping like crazy. There is nothing more annoying in a race than someone having their heart rate alert on.

I kept running and tried to figure out how to turn it off. It must have taken me 2 more kilometers to figure it out, looking down at my watch the entire time. I was hitting all the buttons, scrolling through windows. By the time I was done my overall pace had slowed a bit. By the 5 km mark I was at 6:59 average pace and feeling strong. I caught Davis at the 5 km marker and he was hurting, I could tell. His legs looked like lead and he was shuffling. Davis is a good runner and has a nice style, at first when I saw him, the style was so laboured I wasn't sure if it was him or not.

I ran by him and said "whey to go Chief" and I could tell he was already in pain. Not good with 16 km left to go. Afterwards he said that for the first time in his life he got of the bike and had NOTHING in his legs. From his first step he knew he was done. I kept running and picking off everyone, by the turnaround I was still averaging a 7:09 on nothing but hills. I just felt great. I realized at that halfway marker that I have a really good shot at beating last years time.

The last 8 kilometers was tough. On pretty much most of the hills I had my eyes closed and was digging deep to keep the pace up. Needless to say for most of the run my heart rate was between 148 - 159 bpm. What kept me positive was all the cheering of the kids at the aid stations, other athletes and the spectators along the way. They were all yelling out and cheering the captain on.

With a kilometer to go to the finish, there was one more hill to climb. There was a guy I was running up on and I closed my eyes in pain and "bang", I ran into him. I moved to the outside and "bang" I drifted into him again. I apologized and told him my eyes were closed. The coolest thing happened. He gently grabbed the back of my arms and pushed me forward. Like he was helping to guide me.

I ended up finishing the run in 1:34:54. It was an awesome run. I then checked my times from last year and I was exactly 1 second slower in the swim this year, I was 1 minute slower on the bike (due to a pee) and I was 12 minutes faster on the run. And a whole lot slower in the transition zone. I also checked the stats and even though I didn't have my best bike ride, I still beat the pro Lisa Bentley. I always beat her by just a little, she's my benchmark. So I figured if she was slower than me, then I didn't have all that bad of a ride.

Davis finished in 5:57. He blew up on the run and did a 2:11. He was really upset. He was hoping to finish much faster and had put a lot of pressure on himself. He was in disbelief on how the course ate him up after all the training he did. He couldn't believe the hills, especially on the bike.

Rich finished 30 minutes faster than last year at 6:59. He too had to suck it up and dig really deep. He said he didn't walk once and near the end, when he realized he could break the 7 hour mark he had to pick it up. When we saw him cross the finished line, he was exhausted. No smiles, he just sat down and I thought he was going to die. He told me, never again. This is his last half Ironman. He said he wouldn't go to Clearwater if the flight, the hotel and the race fee was paid for with two free hookers. I asked him if he'd go if he got three free hookers. Then he said, "now your talking". It was funny, one of the lady volunteers overheard him and burst into laughter.

We went to the awards presentation afterwards. Following the awards was the Clearwater roll downs and based on last year I thought Davis and Rich would get a spot. I guess word got out that last year they had leftover spots because the place was packed. While we were waiting, Davis and I got a picture with the winner, and current Hawaiian Ironman Champion, Craig Alexander. If you look at the picture, I didn't get to close to him for his own good, I stunk like sweat.

FYI, it turned out that Craig also lost his timing chip after the swim and took off without it. Richie Cunnigham, another pro, picked it up, caught up to him on the bike and gave it to him. What sportsmanship.

When Craig heard that this was Davis's first Half Ironman, he commented "you really picked a tough one for your first one". It turned out that Davis didn't get a spot, but when it got to Rich's age group, Rich almost did. There were rolling down a far way and I thought he just might get one. I could see he was getting pumped, I was starting to get pumped about the possibilities and just before it got to him, someone else took the spot. Damn, although it did add to the drama.

We finally got out of there by 6:30 pm, got caught in typical cottage country traffic and 3.5 hours later we were home. Originally the plan was to party tonight and shave Davis's beard, but Davis could hardly keep his eyes open. I was showered and ready to go. It ended up that Sharon, Alice, Rich and I sat at the bar, had good conversation, cocktails and cigars.

Davis wants to party tomorrow before they leave at 6 pm. I can hardly wait till they leave, only because my liver need's a break.

Swim - 40:08 / 2:01 per 100 (102nd AG)

94 km Bike - 2:50:43 (32nd AG)

Run - 1:34:32 (11th AG)

T1 -4:39

T2 - 2:08

22/196 age group

133 / 1335 over all

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