Tri-ing to stay young!

For starters, I should have written this blog last night when I was stoked from the energy of the day and my strong finish. My apologies for this rant sounding clinical but 24 hours has a habit of dulling the excitement and yes, I am now the proud wearer of an Ironman tattoo. While at the Tattoo parlor, I met Suzanne, the lady who saved me from disqualification at the Shawnigan Lake ½ Iron. She came up to me and asked, “Are you my Bill”. During part of the conversation, she mentioned that her boat had been getting calls from race officials telling her to D.Q. me, as they didn’t think that I could finish. It was only her persistence that kept me in the race. I can never thank her enough. (Isn’t amazing how some people just keep showing up in you life.)
My race went better than I had ever expected. My swim was 10 minutes faster than my best training swim. My bike, although not quite as fast as some training rides, was smooth with no cramps. My run, once again not nearly as quick as I might have liked, was uneventful and I was able to finish strong running the last kilometer or so to finish at 14h55m. I expected, under ideal circumstances, to finish at 15 hours and was prepared to accept 16 hours+ in the likely situation that something went wrong.
My Penticton stay started Thursday evening with dinner at the Sumac Winery with swimming friends from Calgary. The camaraderie was great … unfortunately, the food was not! Dry chicken at $43.00 per plate; I won’t be going back.
Friday night was the Welcoming Dinner with several special presentations. I left pumped and ready to tackle Sunday. On Saturday I registered, took my bike and transition items to lock-up and spent several hours visualizing my race. I think that this was when I realized the significance of the event.
Sunday morning started at 4:00AM with breakfast of 2 fried eggs, toast and juice. I was at transition by 5:30. Unbelievably, there were hundreds of spectators there already to greet us. A friend from the Y Tri group called me over to wish me well; I started to talk and got caught up in the emotion of the event and had to walk away.
I’ll dissect the race for you tomorrow. I’m sure that I can cut at least an hour off the time with a bit of strategic training.
Talk to you tomorrow from the ferry;
Bill