25th
It hurts either way
Nailed swim and bike splits: actual 1:19 vs. projected 1:15 for swim, actual 6:34 vs. projected 6:30 for bike. Especially satisfying because, in the swim, I held back a lot due to it being my first iron-level race and came out of the water hardly tired or even breathing hard and, with the bike, I wasn’t too confident as it’s my weakest my leg and the Ironman Canada course is particularly challenging. I’ve focused exclusively on endurance basework this year, so I’m really looking forward to next season when I start putting in some heavy-duty speedwork. Nailed it. Ecstatic.
The run, however, was pretty awful. I was running low on fuel at the end of the bike and was expecting to take down a few gels and bars early in the marathon, but I ran into GI trouble and just couldn’t get in or keep down any food. I was aiming for 4 hours but that goal pretty quickly went out the window, as did the fallback goal of running 10 minutes + walking 1, and even the next one of running 5 + walking 1. I ran what I could and walked the rest. One thing and one thing only saved the marathon, a conversation with a guy named Dean at around mile 17. Dean made one very important, very insightful observation: “It hurts either way.” That observation, 4 words, provided all the clarity I needed to try and run the remainder. I didn’t make it in terribly good shape or time — dizzy and nauseous, 1.5 hours off my projected time — but I made it and I made it running. From the looks of it, Dean finished about 40 minutes after me.
It hurts either way. Thanks, Dean.
