I'm not going to lie, it has been extremely tough for me to train for Ironmans, run a new business (we hit hour two year anniversary on 9/1/11), be a good future husband to Ashley, get enough sleep, and more all at the same time. Part of me is relieved to have Ironman Canada out of the way and I am relieved that I am not racing Kona in five weeks. I will actually get to relax, and have a vacation with Ashley that is not focused on "race prep" and keeping me off my feet!
The other part of me though...the competitive side...the really driven side...the hungry side....is of course constantly replaying things in my head thinking about all the "what ifs?". I'm anxious to get out there again and use everything I have learned in training, race prep and race execution to finally be able to nail the distance and do what I am capable of. But for the next year, it is going to be best for my overall mental health to take a break from IM and probably any out of the area long distance races. 2013 will be the next Ironman year for me.
Lets just get down to the race:
Penticton BC- Awesome town. Everything that it is cracked up to be. This town supports the crap out of the race, its safe, friendly, and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous! The race organizers really put on a fantastic event and I can see why this specific Ironman has always had the reputation of a "must do in your lifetime" race.
SWIM- 1:07:35(33rd in Age group)- Ow, did not expect this from my training, but I have come to expect it from my recent races. I have just struggled with keeping myself together in the open water swim. I had all the things in my favor, due to my bad eye sight: Sable Water Optics Goggles- these things NEVER fog..very worth the $50 price tag & a very simple swim course with tons of huge orange buoys every couple hundred meters----- But I just could not keep myself pushing hard and swimming like I do in practice. Granted I did get elbowed hard in the nose and eyes (about 10minutes in), I had to flip on my back to make sure my nose wasn't bleeding and let the water out of my goggles. After that, I tried to play the drafting game and felt I did a pretty good job of it...it just doesn't show on the swim split. Whatever! out of the water-
T1- 2:38 (about a minute slower than the pros, but faster than 99% of the people)- I got a pair of good strong college guys as my wetsuit strippers and jetted off into the transition tent. First thing I noticed in the tent was there were WAY MORE athletes in there than any Ironman transition tent I have ever been in. Probably a couple hundred at least.... I passed most of them in the tent. And ran out to my bike.
BIKE- 5:29:44 on the race clock ( My actual riding time per my Garmin is 5:19:20)- FLAT TIRES SUCK! After riding smoothly through the field up to the McLean Creek steep climb, and then flying at only 220 watts through 40km in 1:00:00 flat--- yes that's right. I rode the first 40km at Ironman Pace in 60 minutes. Only a few years ago, it was my goal to beat 60minutes in a 40km bike during an Olympic Distance Tri. This course starts out fast and I was happy and ready for the challenging parts of the course to show up and test us. I had moved steadily through the field and my legs just felt phenomenal! Then around 30miles in I heard the noise. THE NOISE. Yes, its a noise that all of us triathletes and cyclists hate to hear. I had a flat. This was my first flat tire in a race (half iron or longer) in the 6 seasons I have been racing. Only my second flat in a race ever (I flatted at age group nationals in 2008 half way through the ride) But this was the first time I had to change a flat in a race, knowing I was up against the clock and watching hundreds of riders pass me up while I was on the side of the road......10 minutes later I was back at it...but I was concerned. I knew I was likely giving up 7-10 minutes to some of the top guys in my age group in the swim already...and to lose another 10 minutes meant I would need to execute the rest of my bike and then have the run of my life to get close to a Kona Slot. I carried on and tried to execute the rest of my bike exactly to our original plan. Climbing the two mountain passes in the race- Richter and Yellow Lake- was soooo cool! At times it felt like the tour de france or giro di itaalia with fans lined up on both sides of the street cheering you on! 100 miles in when its time for some long steep windy descending, I was very happy with myself staying in the aero bars most of the time and just being really aggressively aero going down hill. The last two miles through Penticton I just tried to focus on staying in the moment and getting mind right for the marathon to come.
T2- 2:54- Took my time here and just wanted to gather myself to go out and still "race" my marathon.
At mile 3 things were not all that much better on the breathing front, but my legs just felt so good....I thought of Ashley and my family back home watching and tracking the race, and all my friends, training partners, competitors doing the same back home, and my coach....I said the hell with it and decided to just turn my body loose and start nailing my Marathon Pace. I was running 7:15/mile from miles 4-10 and it was great! This is the first time I have been able get into my groove on the run in the three Ironman marathons I have done. I was passing people left and right, it felt easy on the legs (still hard to breath but who cares about breathing if you are gonna get a kona slot?), and I was getting all kinds of Props and Kudos from Athletes and spectators on the course. 6 miles in I saw Chris Bagg running the other way 4th overall in the Pro Race! I was soooo Pumped for him. It was the coolest moment of the day for me. (Chris is a local pro athlete I have always admired and spent enough time with him and his fiance Amy (the super spectator!) the days leading up to the race to call them both FRIENDS now...., definitely good people to have in your life)---see Bagg's 4th place pro race reports HERE. Anyways, I kept plugging along, dialing in the nutrition, hitting aid stations and keeping my body cool with ice...at mile 10 or 11 it gets a little hilly out on the course and because of my breathing I decided to take it real chill up the hill. Just short choppy steps. Nothing to elevate the heart rate too much. Down hill I would pick it up a little, but found that the jolting and bouncing that goes on when running fast steep downhill seemed to bother my sideaches. Not too long after about 10-12 minutes before I was going to hit the turnaround I started to see my age group competitors coming the other way. i did the math and saw how far I was still behind them....at least 20-30minutes I figured. This is when I sort of lost the "fight" i still had in me...and I went into "just get to the finish mode". It was extremely difficult to deal with the breathing issues and the side aches when I knew I was just out there to get to the finish.... this is the hard part about when you always set high goals and expectations for your self. When you hit the goals you are on cloud nine....but when you go through what I was going through in my head those last 13 miles on sunday...well, I'm just going to stop talking about it now because its depressing! Anyways, a fairly uneventful last 13 miles that I averaged in a dismal 9:15/mile pace. I did however have one of the team TBB Female pros (Maki Nishiuchi) running directly behind me from miles 15-20. She said a couple times "you are so strong!", lol, which was a good tactical choice of words to keep me working for her. She seemed to be happy letting me do the work in a head wind at 8:45 pace and I actually felt pretty happy having some sort of "purpose" out there on the course. I felt important. Here was a pro athlete using me to help her do her job, and I was running well enough for her to just keep running behind me. After 20miles she took off, I had done my job and she was ready for the last 10km push. I remembered in training how much I would imaging the moment where I would be 10k from the finish and how I would up the pace and leave it all out there. Its funny what Ironman can do to your motivation and competitive desire after 7-9 hours of laboring, sweating out in the heat....I did not care about anything these last 10km. I just wanted to keep moving forward and get this event done with. I got passed by 5 or 6 guys in the last couple miles...I did not care. I could have sprinted and flew past a 40 year old in the last quarter mile of the run (much to the pleasure of the encouraging fans) but what would that really accomplish in the long run?? What I was happy to do, when I got to the finish shoot, was go and high five as many of the fans as possible. I realized for a brief moment that what I saw as a disappointing day, was being seen as a remarkable accomplishment by so freaking many people out there....Sometimes I just need to be happy that I can go out there and do what I love to do...winning or losing, hitting goals or falling short...I still get to do what I love to do. And that is what is most important.
Next up- I still have my plane ticket stamped for KONA!! Although, I won't be racing on the big Island, I will be out there to support all the local athletes and have a blast watching the World Championships of my favorite sport. I am excited! What's more exciting? Probably that I am getting married two days later on a Kona beach to my best friend, biggest fan, and love of my life, Ashley. There is still lots to look forward to for Joshua Monda!
As always thank you to my huge support network- Ashley Bird (soon to be Monda), Pops, Mom, all my family and friends. Coach Ciaverella. All my Pace Multisport Teammates. Athletes Lounge. GU Energy. Open Meadow Alternative Schools. GrindStone Collection Strategies, Inc.!
