Pain is temporary, Ironman is forever!

Ironman Canada Race Report - August 26, 2007
Penticton, British Columbia, Canada

The morning started bright and early at 4am, but it definitely wasn't bright outside. Luke made me some oatmeal while I made sure I had all of my Special Needs bags and a couple of last-minute details for my bike. The day before I had checked my bike and my transition bags, which took a lot of pressure off for the morning of the race. At 5:00, we headed down the hill from our host's house to find a parking spot. There were so many nervous people driving around, trying to find a good parking spot. We settled for a decent spot and walked the rest of the way, following the large group of people. We finally got to the spot where Luke and I were forced to part ways, as only athletes were allowed in certain areas. I saw lots of teary goodbyes with lots of hugs and promises to see them at the finish line. Luke and my goodbye was very similar and I think even he got a little emotional. So I was on my own to drop off my Special Needs bags and get body marked. I waited for the most difficult 45-minutes of the whole day to get body marked. It was a little frustrating, but I basically was in a bad line-up and eventually found a volunteer to mark me up with permanent black markeras number 2094. After that, I headed to my bike to pump up my tires one last time and to fill up my bottles with my pre-mixed Gatorade. I hesitantly made my way to the timing mat where there was a constant stream of "beeps" making it sound like the beginning of the end. Once I went across the mat, I knew that there was no turning back. This was it. I was on my way to becoming an Ironman.

Racking my bike the day before the race:


The transition area pre-race:





Before the swim, I did a few strokes to "warm up" my body and prepare it for the 3.8km swim. Luckily, I ran into a Saskatoon triathlete and she helped to calm my nerves and we wished each other a great day. Soon enough the pros were off and 15 minutes later at 7:00am, the canon went off and the 2700 triathletes made their way across the massive water. Needless to say, it was intense. So many people making their way to the same destination taking approximately the same route made the whole thing a little difficult. However, I tried not to let the arms and elbows that occasionally slammed into my body disrupt my stroke or frustrate me. About halfway through I got a good fist in my right eye and had a lot of pain. So I flipped over to my back and took off my goggles as I did a bit of backstroke to recover from the pain shooting through my head. I have to say that I got hit by so many men that it was rather upsetting. I did not hit anybody, so I can't figure out how other people can hit me. It upset me a little, but I knew that this was not the time to think about it. So I flipped back onto my front and continued through the course. I came to shore and looked at my watch and was very happy with my 1:31 time as it was only 1 minute more than my goal. As I ran onto the beach, I saw Luke standing in the front row yelling and waving at me. I smiled big for him and yelled out a quick "I love you" before I headed to the transition area to be stripped of my wetsuit.

Before the canon:


After the canon:


A couple of aerial photos:




This was me coming out of the water:


The volunteers at this race were unbelievable. I've never been to a race quite like this before and it was so amazing to have people there handing the bags to us and wishing us well. It was so great. I quickly changed into my bike shoes and put on my helmet and gloves, took a gel, and headed out. Main Street of Penticton was absolutely packed with people. It was like coming in to Paris in the Tour de France. I wanted to go slow so that I could see my family. Sure enough, I spotted some of the matching orange shirts that they had worn with my race number on it and a picture of me ironed onto it. I waved and heard them shout out "There she is!!!" as I cruised by. I felt like a celebrity and couldn't help but have a big smile on my face. I knew that I had to enjoy this because the next 180km would not be as much fun.

Here I am having the time of my life... for the first 5 minutes of the bike ride:



So off I went to take on the bike course. It was hilly and windy and long. Honestly, I think I've blocked most of the 8 and a half hour bike ride out of my memory. Going up Richter's Pass was tough, but doable. The hardest part was the turn-around portion of the bike where you feel like you're not really going anywhere because you end up where you started, and you know that the whole time you're biking that part of the course. However, at the middle of the turn-around, we got our Special Needs bags, which was pretty fun. I put in some Ibuprofen (which I quickly took for my sore knee, neck, and back), some blue Gatorade (orange and yellow Gatorade gets gross after a few hours), and some crackers (so as to eat something that wasn't Gels, Gatorade, or Clif bars). I took a little time to eat my crackers and I headed back on the bike. The only thing that got me through that part of the bike was knowing that my family was waiting for me at the last climb of the day - the Yellow Lake Road. So I kept going, slow and steady (I averaged 22km/hr on the bike, which is by far the slowest I've biked in a race for the past 2 years). The wind was really crazy throughout the day and it took me by surprise a little. I mean, I'm used to the wind, but wind AND hills?!? I repeatedly swore at whoever designed the course. Eventually, I got to where my family had waited for four hours and I could see the clump of orange on the side of the road. I had a crew of about 10 people, including my sister from Yellowknife, my parents, my aunt, my 87-year-old tough-as-nails grandma, some cousins that live in the relative area, and Luke. It was absolutely awesome! Luke ran with me for a bit and everyone cheered, clapped, jumped around and took pictures as I biked by. I kept going with the energy that my family had given me. It was what I needed to get me through the last 30kms, which were also the easiest kilometres of the whole ride. I had never been so happy to be running as I was after that killer bike ride.

Two professional photos:



Here is me at the Yellow Lake hill:




My support crew waiting for me at Yellow Lake:


They waited for 4 hours for me to bike by:


(I have the best family ever!)

In the transition, I immediately noticed the sting from chaffing that had started in the swim and continued on the bike. I have never chaffed before in a race, but I sure did this time. I chaffed under my arms, at the back of my neck, and where my heart-rate monitor sat. I now have a new appreciation for Vaseline and the volunteers who were so kind as to apply it for me. Honestly, they were the best volunteers ever!

The run was my most dreaded part of the Ironman, but turned out to be the best part of the race. I saw my family 3 times before I headed out onto the long part of the 26-mile run. Before I left downtown, I gave all of my family big hugs and my grandma stepped out onto the road and said that she was coming with me. I laughed and said, "Let's go!" But I ended up going at it alone. I ended up passing lots of people throughout the marathon because I had saved my legs for this and also I was feeling good from the adrenalin. It is really amazing stuff. At the turn-around, I got my second Special Needs bag and ate some more crackers, took another ibuprofen, and drank some purple Gatorade (and ended up carrying the bottle with me for about 6 miles). After the turn-around, the sun went behind the mountains and I got to run in the dark. It was hard to tell where the inclines were (I walked all of the uphills and most of the aid stations), but it was pretty cool to run on this mostly deserted highway (because of the race). All I could see for miles were the purple glow-sticks that were given to us by the race helpers. It was pretty cool and I loved every single moment of it. I think that's what I love the most about races - the preparation is the hard part, but being there and doing it is the best feeling and I live in the moment more than I do in any other part of my life. It is a beautiful thing.

Here I am starting the marathon:


My 87-year-old grandmother drove 15 hours to watch me race:


Here is the professional shot of my run:




Coming into downtown was awesome. The crowd had gathered mostly at the finish line, but I got to see two of our hosts on the side of the road and they ran with me for a few blocks. I got to chat with them and they were so excited that I was doing well and could talk. Not only that, but I was smiling. I knew that the end was near... very near. So they dropped off and headed to the finish line themselves. I came around another corner and took my family off guard by seeing them before they saw me. They ran with me for a few blocks and were also impressed with how good I was doing. I was smiling, chatting, and genuinely having fun. They headed to the finish line while I did the extra 1km out-and-back before the finish line. It was crazy because I could HEAR the announcer saying names and I could hear the music and I was so antsy to get there. So I started sprinting and passing people. A couple of guys made some comments about my youthful age and I just laughed and waved. The last 50 metres is kind of a blur. I saw my family and I gave a whole bunch of high-fives as I came into the finish area and I closed my eyes as I crossed the line. I only vaguely remember the announcer say, finally, after 12 months of training: "Crystal Clarke from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!"







My space cape to keep me warm at the end of the race:


It was an amazing feeling and an amazing day. It was one of the best days of my life and I feel so privileged to have been able to be in such a race with such amazing support-people. Not only did my family come and be so amazing, but I have had a super supportive group of people in Saskatoon that dealt with me on an ongoing basis, from my chiropractor to my friends to my counsellor. I honestly could not have done this without the support of all of them. That being said, I have to thank Luke the most for putting up with me for the past few months. I have been training for this race for as long as we've been a couple and he has been more supportive than I could have imagined and I'm excited to continue our life together.

My support crew:


My mom and dad:


My biggest supporter:

Race Report: The Great White North Triathlon in Stony Plain on July 1, 2007

Two years ago I embarked on the Half Iron(wo)man in Stony Plain because it was recommended to me by my training partner and friend, Maybel. We did the race and I had a blast. It was my first long-distance triathlon and was by far the hardest triathlon I had ever done. It was at this race that the idea of a full Iron(wo)man popped into my head. Maybel had done Ironman Canada and she is one of those people that liked to push me a little bit towards these crazy goals. Luckily, I am very receptive as a goal-oriented person. So when I did this race 2 years ago, I finished with a time of 6:41. I knew that I would beat this time, but I had no idea by how much. I was hoping to be around the 6 hour mark, but I am quite happy with the 6:32 that I finished with.

But back to the beginning...
The day before the race, my partner had left to go to a concert with the promise that he would be here when I awoke at 5am the next day. So I spent the afternoon reading my new yoga magazine, stretching, mentally preparing, packing my race bag (twice), eating, and hydrating. I went to bed at the ripe time of 8:00 pm. I easily awoke at 5 with Luke just rolling in from the concert. I made and ate the oatmeal that we concocted that is rich with almonds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and soy milk. It is seriously so good! We eat it almost everyday and it felt good to be full. I wasn't very nervous, thanks to all the mental preparation I had done the day before, so it was easy to eat.

We went down to set up my transition from the swim to bike. My bike was already set up from the night before, so it was pretty easy to do. I noted the mud that was right by my bike and tried to count the number of racks to mine, but the whole transition area was an unorganized mess. The organizers had gotten new racks this year so they didn't have enough and I personally hate the A-frame racks. My bike never touches the ground making it difficult to unrack and rack.

I did a quick warm-up in the lake after I ate a Gu gel at around 7:35am, with the race to start at 8:00. With 700 people in the water at one time, I knew that the beginning was going to be pretty crazy and I was right. The gun went off and my most unfavorite part of any triathlon began. I am generally a middle-of-the-pack swimmer and I put myself in that position when lining up for the mass start. However, I think that some people who position themselves don't believe they should be there. That is the only reason that I can understand for people hitting, kicking, and swimming over other people near them. I learned after the race that there were problems with the buoys moving with the swimmers, so maybe people were sighting and not going straight because of that. It still doesn't explain the hitting, kicking, and pulling me under. It was very ridiculous and I wasn't happy with it at all. While I tolerate the swim and I love training for the swim, I dislike the swim portion of the triathlon because of the splashing, crowding, and hitting. It just doesn't seem necessary for age-groupers to do. A friend of mine said that I should start near the front because the fast people will just go around me and because they actually know how to swim, they won't hit me. I may consider this for future races. I came out of the water at 43:49, which is about a minute faster than last time. I was pretty happy about this. I was quickly stripped of my wetsuit thanks to some awesome volunteers and I was off to my transition area.

When I did this race two years ago, I was shell-shocked at the chaos of the huge transition area and of the rest of the race. So this time I was well-prepared thanks to all the time I had to myself the night before and my transition was fairly quick. So I was on the bike before I knew it!

The bike is always home for me in a triathlon and this one was no exception. I was hoping for an average speed of 25 km/hr, but I had an especially good bike ride and ended up with a 27.6 km/hr speed. I don't think I've ever held that speed for so long before. However, the wind was minimal (even though I did hear people complain about it, but I'm from Saskatoon where the wind blows hard) and the conditions were exceptional: not too hot, not too crowded, and my legs were feeling good. There was a bit of drafting going on, which I wasn't keen on (I play by the rules because I like the rules). There was also a sketchy part of the ride where Hearbreak Hill is situated by the river. There was a big pothole at the bottom of the hill and there was a crash of two people there, one of whom I know from Saskatchewan (a race organizer for the Frank Dunn Triathlon, Mark Nagy), and they were pretty scraped up. I don't think they were hurt more than some bad road rash. Hopefully they fix that part for next year! There was quite a bit of traffic on that part of the course, which none of us were excited about. Some big trucks were on the roads and with almost 700 cyclists on the road, it becomes difficult to share the road. Nonetheless, I finished the bike in 3:15:39, which is an 11-minute improvement from last time. I was definitely satisfied with my bike ride!

My transition to the run was smooth. I was very nutritionally ready thanks to the practice I had at Spin Off Spadina (the Saskatoon race two weeks previous). I have been practicing with gels and Clif bars and Gatorade and it seems to work well for me. I didn't have the urge to pee on the bike at all, which can be worrisome, but I know my body and know that I could have went, but wanted to wait until the transition area. I took some time after T2, which was at a different spot than T1, to go to the porta potty, which ended up being my only bathroom break the whole race. Sometimes I really think that my body and mind listen well to each other. I think it is because of the yoga that I do and the awareness that I have of both, and at times I think I can control my body through my mind.

The run was fairly uneventful. I knew what I had to do: slow and steady, walk through the water stations, drink Gatorade at every water station & soak my head with water, and don't push it too much. I prefer to finish a race strong, which is why I don't push it on the run. I lost about 3 minutes on the run with a 2:32 half marathon time. If I was just doing a half marathon, I would be content with this time. So to have this time with minimal running (ie. nothing more than 5-8km since last summer) was amazing to me. It just goes to show what is necessary and what isn't. Sure, my time would have been better with a little more running. However, I know that if I run too much or too often or too hard that I easily get injured. My number one goal of training is to not get injured, which means that the running is last on the priority list and biking is the highest. I met some cool people along the way: Nola from Calgary chatted with me on the bike going up one side of Heartbreak Hill and then we ran together for the first few kilometres until she cramped up, but she passed me later on; Kelly is the mother of two wonderful girls and has done Ironman, who also would love to finish the Half in 6 hours, and she finished a few minutes behind me when she cramped up near the end; then there was #456, a bald guy in a red jersey that leap-frogged me on the bike and the whole way through the run as he ran-walked, but he cramped up near the end and I finished on top. I felt like the tortoise, as I just pushed on slow and steady.

The whole run felt pretty good and I smiled and cheered people on the whole way. I thanked every volunteer for coming out to make the race possible. I gave every Saskatoonian that I knew a high-five and they were all impressed with how chipper I seemed. There is something about races that I just love. The energy of it all and every person there pushing themselves to the limit. There is no other way to know one's bodily limit until they reach it, whether it be a stomach cramp making you fall to your knees with only 4km left to go or whether it be an injury before the race and you having to WALK the entire 21.1km. It is an amazing feeling to know one's limits.

When I was 1km left to go, I felt so great. My stomach was not upset, my quads were a little sore and my Achilles heels were tight, but I got to finish the last kilometre strong. I came around the corner, heard the announcer say my name and announce that I was doing Ironman this year, and I shouted out a big "WOOOOHOOOO!" as I crossed the Finish Line and smiled for the picture. I finished the race with a final time of 6:32, 524th overall out of 622 and 28/33 in my age group. Wade Churchill, the race director, shook my hand and put the finisher's medal over my head. I thanked him and said, "See? Vegans can do it too!" (See here for the details on the food at this race). He laughed and gave me a big hug. Then I saw my partner with the camera taking pictures and he gave me a big hug. I was all emotional, as I always get after a race, and so happy to be done. I have graduated to a whole new level: an experienced triathlete. This one was my 10th triathlon, my second Half IM, and my first full tri this year. So exciting!

I am so glad to have done this race as it is great preparation for IM and it really boosted my confidence in myself at being able to complete my first IM. Not to mention, it is just a great, well-organized race.

Photos:

Transition area at 6am:

Setting up the transition area:

I'm read to go!

My camera-man and partner, Luke
Some nervous 700+ swimmers before the gun went off:

Off we go!
A sea of arms and neon swim caps - it must be a triathlon!
This is just the beginning...
Second lap (I'm waving at Luke in this photo)
I just dove in to start the second 1000m lap:
Coming out of the run at 43 minutes:

Transition 1: Utter chaos!

At home on the bike for the next 3 hours:
Transition 2
The end of the run: a half marathon of 2:32
A finishing time of 6:32
Happy to be done!