Ironman Canada 2008

What a day -- or should I say what a swim!! Hahahahaha!! I had a remarkable swim this year. I took off almost 10 minutes off last year's time! Hee-hee! I still can't believe it. My friends and family who were following my journey via the internet couldn't believe it either. Charmaine told me, "I thought they must have made a mistake!" Hahahahah!! Last year, my swim time was 1:21:15. This year, it was 1:11:51. You have no idea how funny I think this is!!

As for the rest of the race, I was not happy with my bike split -- it's actually gotten slower every year, and this year was the slowest. My very first IMC was my fastest bike split, so I don't know what is going on there. My first IM bike time was 6:45:29, this year's was a snail's pace of 7:11:26. THAT is changing next year.

My run was better -- last year was 5:09:45, this year was 4:58:17 -- but I KNOW I can do much better than this too. So, look out next year! :) :) :)

I really suffered during the last half of the marathon. I began to pee at every aid station, and started getting dizzy and woozy. I became really scared -- terrified actually, because I knew how I could end up if I continued on that way. I did not want a repeat of IMC 2006, and almost started crying I was so worried. I stopped drinking water altogether and forced myself to take in Gatorade, chicken soup (at the aid stations which hadn't run out), bananas, and orange slices. My condition grew progressively worse and I was terrified beyond belief.

But, somewhere along the way, I started to feel a teensy bit better. I still was peeing much too much, but not as much as before. By this point, the pain in every single muscle of my legs and the blister on my right foot proved more of a distraction than my wooziness. It was so unbelievably hard to start running again after I would stop to eat and drink. I kept thinking to myself, "Why the hell am I doing this? I really don't need to do this to my body anymore. This is my last year of Ironman. I don't have anything to prove!"

Of course, this feeling lasts only until right before the finish line... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

So, a new PB for me: 13:28:35 -- 17:42 off last year's time. While I am happy with my race, I am not satisfied with my results and know I can do much better.

Now...onto the REAL highlights of my stay in Penticton:

1. Seeing this before I left home, I knew I was going to have a good race:



2. Swimming with Kelsey in the OTHER lake in Penticton -- the one where no triathletes are fretting about! BLISS! She invented a new stroke -- the "rocking horse." Hahahahaah!! You lie on your stomach, cross your feet at the ankles and then do a kind of breast stroke. It looks hilarious! I laughed so much at trying to emulate her -- she was like Loch Nessie bobbing around the water. Hahahahah!

3. After stepping out of the shower in my motel room, I bent over to pick up my towel, only to feel a fold of the cheap cloth shower curtain get caught between my butt cheeks. NICE. My immediate thought was, "How many other people has this happened too?"

4. Weighing in at IMC 16 lbs heavier than last year... then learning that EVERYONE had experienced the same inflated readings. Still, you have no idea the conversation I had with myself before realizing the scales were wrong!

4. Making deals with my body throughout the run portion -- My inner dialog went like this: "Body, I promise to not run with these legs for a month if you don't cramp up." Or my favourite, "Foot, if you stop that blister from popping, I promise to take very good care of you and put you up on the coffee table so you can watch movies."



Yup. It's the size of a flippin' toonie. And it didn't pop. Heh-heh-heh-heh.