Ironman lessons...

Lessons are best learnt from losing, not winning. At least that’s what the losers say.

Since the race ended, I’ve been trying to put Ironman China in perspective. It’s hard to accept a DNF, even when it’s justifiable.

Before I list things that I’d do differently, I’ve got to say that training hard and not finishing an Ironman race sucks. It shakes your confidence. Within moments after dropping out of the race, I no longer felt like an Ironman. I didn’t even want to wear any of my clothing with the Ironman logo on them. I didn’t feel worthy.

Within a couple of days, I snapped myself out of it. I was able to look at it logically and with no emotion. In hindsight, thinking on race morning that I still had a chance to race well and qualify for Kona, because my stomach was no longer rumbling, was at best, wishful thinking, and at worst, delusional.

The minute I got food poisoning, I didn’t realize it at the time, but my race was over. With all the purging and diarrhea, it was the equivalent of not eating anything for three days leading up to the race. The last meal I digested was probably Wednesday night. It’s no wonder I couldn’t get rid of my hunger pains race morning. Why was I surprised I even had hunger pains? I was foolish enough to think it was just because I didn’t have my customary pre-race bagel and coffee.

The second problem was lack of sleep. I didn’t anticipate how much jet lag was going to screw up my system. We arrived on Tuesday and I didn’t get my first good night of restful sleep until Sunday, post race. It may have happened a day or two sooner, had it not been for Thursday nights purging every 20 minutes. That night I didn’t get a wink of sleep.

The third problem was poor acclimation. It was unseasonably cool when we arrived. It didn’t warm up until Thursday and race day it hit 40 C / 104 F, which was unseasonably hot. I was expecting race conditions of 26 C. With that said, I’m not certain how much the weather would have affected my performance if I was 100% healthy. It wasn’t the heat slowing me down so much as my lack of energy.

On a positive note, my training and fitness before the race was strong. At no time during the race did I experience muscle soreness from lack of training. In fact, I must have been well trained to keep going for 10 hours in 40 C heat with strong winds; all while my body was dealing with the internal after effects of food poisoning.

I know my body was Ironman racing fit for certain. The problem was I only had two hours of fuel in my system from what I ate that morning. I had my best ever Ironman swim, knocking 9 minutes of my previous best. And for the first 40 minutes off the bike, with strong head and side winds, I averaged close to 35 kph. After that, I had no more fuel in the tank and it became a mental struggle to accept my plight and try to finish in a positive frame of mind.

Also, for the first 15 minutes of the run, I was running below a 5:00 pace. My legs felt strong, but after the initial adrenaline rush off the bike wore off, I had no more energy to continue. In fact, my legs would have much preferred to run, they’ve never been trained to walk long distances. Even though it was hot, I think I could have managed through it if I was 100% healthy and rested. I did in Louisville and it was near as hot and I’ve improved since then.

So there you have it, my race day evaluation. Now, what did I learn from it?

First and foremost, I didn’t put enough value on the non-training part of my race preparation. I did 14 weeks of hard and committed training, struggling through the challenges of training over the winter, and “flushed” it down the toilet through carelessness and ignorance. I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself knowing that Chris McCormick, one of the best in the sport, made the same mistake and suffered the same fate, but I’m wired to be self-critical.

If I could turn back the hands of time, I’d do the following things differently. Please keep in mind I’m making this list based on the goal of “racing” the Ironman for a Kona slot, not “participating” for a finish.

I shouldn’t have selected Ironman China as my “A” race.

I didn’t do research before hand. I was motivated to go to China solely based on past Kona qualifying times and thinking I had a good shot at earning a spot. I discounted the climate, jet lag, pollution, different cultural foods, poor communication, poor food handling, my nutritional requirements and the difficulties associated with winter training.

If I were to do it over, I’d want to do the majority of my training in a warm climate. I’d get to China at least 10 days before the race and I’d have to figure out how to maintain eating a healthy North American diet. One other obstacle would be trying to find safe roads to train on. Realistically, I don’t see myself doing Ironman China again.

On a positive note, I’m very proud of myself. I did what very few triathletes have ever done; I trained for a warm weather Ironman in a Canadian winter. It was mentally difficult and I stayed committed and consistent. I consider it an accomplishment unto itself, and although I never want to do it again, it gave me a sense of personal gratification knowing I did it.

I need to be more realistic, strategic and prepared.

I’ve drunk the Ironman cool-aid. I love the way I feel being in Ironman shape. It’s vanity at its finest. The problem is, without an off-season, my body will eventually breakdown and my mind will reach a state of burnout. For the past 12 consecutive months, I’ve averaged well over 1000 km of training per month, which is not sustainable and I’ve been lucky up to this point that things haven’t gone wrong. Although, lately, I intuitively feel my performance will start to decline without an active recovery off-season.

I need to research and select Ironman races more carefully. Unless I turn professional and can train full-time anywhere in the world, I need to find races that compliment my current training environment.

I’m going to focus on Western Culture Ironman races with a similar climate to what I train in and that are held between July and the end of September. If I travel outside of North America I need to give myself the proper amount of time to acclimatize and eliminate jet lag.

It goes without saying that for the last week before the race, I need to be very careful of what I eat. I need to eat things that I know are prepared well, whether by myself, or others. I definitely will not eat at any pre-race buffets of any kind.

I’m changing my priorities and goals…

Ironman training during the winter months and abstaining from alcohol, for me, is not fun. I’m sure Alice would also agree. We have both had to put up with my laser Ironman focus and forego those “sitting at the bar” or “outside on the patio” moments; having cocktails, good conversation, going to bed late and sleeping in. I’m not saying I want the pendulum to swing the other way, but it does need to end up somewhere in the middle.

Although I want to earn a spot to Kona, I no longer want to make it my “over-riding” goal. The best races I’ve ever had are when I least expect them. When I qualified for “Clearwater” at “Steelhead”, I wasn’t focused on a Clearwater spot I was focused on setting a PB. The Clearwater spot just happened to be an added bonus; it was the “icing on the cake”.

I want to have a good race at Ironman Lake Placid. Lord knows I need it as a confidence booster. If I go in with the sole purpose of qualifying for Kona, my mental state during the race will be predicated on how I’m doing compared to others. My new “overriding goal” is to train hard, do the best I can and compete within myself and if the results are Kona, it’s an added bonus.

I need to remember that Ironman is a journey, not a destination. At some point during every Ironman, you’re forced to “look deep inside yourself” for one reason or another. Ironman China was no different for me, this time my revelations of wisdom and personal growth crystallized post-race. In Louisville, they came at the 16-mile mark of the run.

I think I’ve learnt more in preparing hard and not finishing Ironman China, than I did finishing Ironman Louisville. Louisville was a sense of accomplishment and showing that anything’s possible. China was a “gut check”.

Recovery & Travel Day – no training

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