mytrilife

Oliver 1/2 Iron Race Report

So, I'm back in Calgary after a fantastic weekend of racing in beautiful Oliver, BC. The Oliver 1/2 Iron was my first big race of the year, and was a warmup to my A race, which is the Canadian long-course champs in Victoria in two weeks. Here's how it played out....

The two weeks leading up to Oliver were not so good. If you read my last post about the fiddleheads.. that was the start of a sickness that is still affecting me 16 days later. Food poisoning, training, work, lack of sleep, all compromised my immune system enough that I caught a nasty bug. I didn't feel that bad, just a general sense of fatigue and a terrible cough for the last week, so I tried to keep up my training. My cough seemed to be improving as race day approached and some of my energy was returning, so I figured I had a shot at racing close to my potential.

I woke up race morning feeling a bit groggy after only about 4-5 hours sleep, and my there was a tremendous knot in my back from sleeping funny.. ouch.. it hurt to breathe deep! I gotta get myself an air-mattress for when I'm camping! I hammered back my usual pre-race meal of oatmeal and yoghurt and a good cup of coffee.. It was cool and a bit overcast... forecast was for light rain throughout the day.

I arrived at the race site a bit late, but quickly put on my wetsuit, sorted my gear and did body marking. Managed to get in a quick 200m warmup in the water. Tuc-El-Nuit lake was nice and warm, but the clouds had started to spit. I said a few words to some friends and lined up in the water not far behind the fast swimmer guys. My swim has improved by a fair amount this year, so I was hoping to get clear and hang in with some faster guys for a decent split. A wave start meant that only men 49 and under would be starting at 8am, with the rest of the field 10mins later.

Blam! The gun went off and the melee began, I was positioned pretty well, but still managed to get hammered a few times. At about 150m, my left goggle was knocked loose and it filled up with water. I stopped briefly to adjust it back to my face, and continued before I was swam over... not good to stop in a mass swim start! As I breathed to my left side I notice my vision was blurry and my contact lense was in my goggle. Damn. I spent the remainder of the first lap worrying I would lose my contact and have to spend the remainder of the race with double-vision. The knot in my back was also causing difficulties with my left stroke. I exited the first lap in about 16:xx and quickly set about trying to get my contact back in. Lyndsey's dad happened to be right at the swim turnaround and clicked this funny shot of me fiddling with my contact:

With my lense back in, I jumped back in for lap two. Several times I tried to pick up a set of feet, but noone seemed to be able to swim a straight line (or maybe it was me!). I just couldn't seem to find a rythm and my back continued to feel worse from the knot. I exited the water in 35mins! Later I would learn that all the swim times were slow.. I'm thinking the swim was about 150-200m long?

I'm pretty fast in transition usually, so T1 was smooth. I took some extra time to put on my cycling jacket.... I handle cold weather poorly, so I wanted to be sure I was warm. I forgot my toe warmers in Calgary, which I ALWAYS use unless the race is over 20C. My feet were going to be cold... uggh!

I proceeded onto the first loop of this amazing bike course, which is surpringly challenging, and passes 13 wineries in a big loop around Oliver. The first 20k I took easy... just trying to get the blood flowing in my legs. I didn't feel the usual zip at the start of the bike, but I figured my legs would come around. Unfortunately, they never did. I just couldn't put any power to the pedals on the flats. Strangely though, I was flying up the hills... a complete reversal for me. I hope this newfound hill climbing ability continues in Victoria in two weeks.... as the course there is very hilly. (edit: Victoria turned out to be not so hilly.. but mainly rollers)

About 35k in Rob went flying by me, I was sure I was going to beat him out of the swim, but did not expect him to pass me so early in the bike. I tried to hold his pace, but my legs wouldn't respond, so I just kept cruising as best I could. The knot in my back was making the aero position uncomfortable and causing issues with my neck as well. "Suck it up", I kept saying to myself. Lap 2 I just felt the lingering fatigue from being sick for so long, and I was starting to cough a bit.

When I finally arrived at t2, I felt a bit shelled. I dismounted my bike, but could barely walk.. my feet were completely numb! I thought it was the cold, but I know now it's my new bike shoes, they are cutting off circulation in my feet.. will have to try and figure out why. After racking my bike, I pulled open my plastic transition bag (to keep my shoes/socks dry in the rain), one shoe, two shoes, one sock.... where is my second sock?!?! I started to contemplate the run with bare feet... and the nasty blisters that would form. I went over to the fence where my warmups and swim bag were and started searching there. I found the sock in my swim bag, completely soaked with water... uggh. I put on both socks and exited transition.. my numb feet going clomp, clomp, clomp.

After about 3k my feet started to finally have some feeling return. It was then I noticed that my wet sock had a couple tiny rocks in it. ARRGGH!! I had to stop and remove the shoe and sock to get the rocks out. I ran well the rest of the first lap, and passed about 10 people, but I could feel I was about to run out of gas, despite generous amounts of cola. The last lap was the deepest into my red zone I have ever raced, my body was shutting down, but my mind kept it going, I refused to walk. I crossed the finish line in 5:02, and promptly collapsed with exhaustion.

Overall, I am satisfied with my performance, given the factors of the day. It's time to get some rest, get healthy (finally!), and tweak a few things before Victoria in two weeks. I want to recommend the Oliver half to anyone looking for a GREAT race. The course and organization was outstanding, the volunteers second to none.... and you can pick up some great Okanogan wine too!

posted by Greg @ 6/06/2006