IMC

[Sandy]

     Ironman Canada was held in Penticton BC on August 29 with 10 local athletes racing.  We talked recently about Ironman, about the distances; 3.8k swim, 180k bike and a 42k run, about how difficult it could be and about how inspiring the individuals are that choose to participate.   Have you been inspired?  If so here are a few things you need to know.
     To start there are Ironman races and there are Iron distance races and while they are the same distances, Ironman is a registered trademark so in order to call yourself an Ironman you must participate in an Ironman race.  In Canada there is currently only one Ironman which is Ironman Canada and has just held its 28th race.  Ironman races are so popular getting registered is a challenge.  For most races you must be onsite the day after the race to get your name in for the next year.  If you are participating in the current year you get first dibs at the next edition, if you volunteer you get second pick and then everyone else begins lining up as early as midnight in order to ensure they get a spot.  If you are interested in participating in the Ironman World Championships in Kona Hawaii, you can only qualify at an Ironman race. 
     Once you have registered for your race, training begins about eight months out.  Athletes will often train 15-20 hours each week doing two workouts every day, six days each week with the longest workouts taking as much as six or seven hours on the weekends.  Because the race will take between nine and 17 hours for most, effort should be easy or moderate practicing eating and drinking to sustain the working body for the duration.
     Race day begins at 5am with body marking, checking equipment, getting into a wetsuit and finally a warm up swim to feel ready when the gun goes.  Moving from one element to the next is orchestrated by a willing army of volunteers that help you off with your wetsuit, point you in the right direction, hand you water, rub your aching shoulders, walk with you while you struggle and catch you as you cross the finish line.
     Regardless of how long it took to cover the 226k on race day it is a challenge the following participants anticipated, relished and experienced with each other.  Fastest on the day was Kevin Beatty in 9:30:02 finishing 30th overall, 2nd in his age group which qualified him for Hawaii.  Other newbies Sally Woodchuck (11:35:15), Jennifer Tretina (13:41:38), Darryll Styles (13:15:37) and Darwin Ziprick (12:11:42) enjoyed their hunt for the finish line while veteran Ironman Dennis Hills (11:48:40) and Jeff Musson (12:32:34) set PR?s of 15 minutes and two hours respectively.  Last of our group but certainly not least were Sandy Musson, Janet Allaire and Wendy McCoy (15:47:32) who stayed together throughout the day, maximizing their race dollars.  When it comes to Ironman racing, it?s not the time you get, but the time you have and oh what a time we had!

[Kate]

"Like"
And congratulations to ALL of you Ironmen and Ironwomen!!

[Glo]

CONGRATULATIONS ALL   -   

[runningwild]

Gives me chills!  Congrats everyone!  Can't wait to pop into the store and see the pictures!

[David]

Congrats to you all!


 

So Sandy are you saying if someone new wants to participate in an Ironman in the future it's hard to register?


Dave

[Newt]

G'day Dave,

Depends on the particular Ironman you want to participate in some you have a few weeks to sign up online with and some fill up at the race site the day after the race.

Peace
Peter

[Newt]

You did great Ironman rookie Tony as well (11:35:15 128th out of 370), I think all the transistion training paid off just look at the time you made on Jeff during transistions. 

You would think they couldn't forget the cookie jedi master.

Peace
Peter

[Sandy]

They didn't...go Sally!

Dave if it is a North American Ironman branded race it will fill in minutes, hours, days at best.  If you are interested then I suggest you sit at your computer morning after the race and see if you can get registered.  If you want to travel you can usually wait a little longer to register for Ironman races in Europe, Cozumel etc.  If you don't care if it's an Ironman but just an Iron distance then you could probably wait until weeks before the race to register.  Caution this aproach though, for something as big as Ironman/Distance you want to commit, that's what gets you through the long rides, knowing that race day IS coming not MAYBE coming.

[Newt]

Sorry Sandy,

I didn't recognize Sally Woodchuck, I guess I'm out of the loop. 

Peace
Peter

[Jeff]

Hey Pete,

The Rookie/Sally/Jedi Cookie Master/Tasty put cookies in my transition bags, he knew I would slow down and eat them!
How's Crank training going?

[Newt]

Jeff,

That explains the slow transition as that would definately slow me down. COOOOOKKKIIIIEEEE!!!!!

Not much Crank specific just trying to get out on the mtb. Generally doing a longer ride Sunday mornings. Interested in Joining in? The poison Ivy is dying off though I'm not sure yet where we plan on riding this weekend as Cal was trying to decide between Here/Loomis/or a Hydroline ride.

Peace
Peter

[Jeff]

Keon and I are interested in riding Sunday, just tell us where and when.

[Newt]

G'day Jeff,

My place 8:30am Sunday morning. If that doesn't give you enough time to get out here then let me know.

Peace
Peter

[Jeff]

9 your place??  How long?

[Newt]

9:00am is fine. I'd like to go for minimum 2hrs, more if you are up to it, but I can always go out again later.

Peace
Peter