Building Milage: Okanagan Shuswap Century Ride and Oliver Half Iron

As June came around and my mileage was increasing in preparation for Ironman Canada, two events were scheduled a week apart.

Okanagan Shuswap Century Ride

Mt first century ride (100km) was the Guardian Century Ride last September. Back then, 100km was further than I had ever ridden and the ride was a bit of a struggle for me. I knew that my fitness had improved substantially since then, so my hope was that this would be a good confidence booster. I also intended to use it as a test, a trial run for the bike portion of the Oliver Half Iron the following week.

I woke up to a hot, sunny day and with some friends, drove out to Armstrong, where the ride started and ended.  I got everything set up for my nutrition plan (1 gel every 30 minutes) and lots of water. Then after a brief speech we rolled out…. Straight onto a hill!

“OK, let’s start slowly then!”

Everyone was passing me, which by now you might think I should be used to, and I guess I am, but it never really stops being disappointing. There were still enough people around me though, as I pedaled onward. The scenery was beautiful and the range of people doing the ride inspiring.

Soon enough I reached the first aid station – about 25km in. This was also the turnaround point for those riders signed up for the shorter 56km event. Trying not to think about how nice it would be to just join the shorter ride, I hopped off my bike to refill my water bottles…which weren’t empty.

Probably need to drink a bit more then.

I made sure not to stop long and continued on my way. It was much quieter now, since many of the riders had turned around.

The route took us out through deserted farmland with rolling hills. I took the opportunity to test out my new aero bars on the empty roads, which kept me amused for some time. Eventually, we entered the not so bustling metropolis of Salmon Arm.

This was significant for two reasons:

1. It contained a hill that by all accounts (and apparently exaggeration was unnecessary) was so big and steep as to rival Mt Everest.
2. Atop this fabled hill, sat aid station 2.

As the hill in question loomed before me, with a little trepidation, I dropped into my lowest gear and began to slowly grind upwards.

“Keep pedaling, Keep pedaling, Keep pedaling”

Suddenly, I was at the top.

Am I allowed to say that the hill was an anticlimax?

That’s not to say it was easy by any means, just not as hard as I had been lead to believe.

That over, I stopped at the oasis that was aid station 2 and refilled my water bottles before getting underway again.

Everything seemed to be going well until suddenly I began to feel quite sick.

My legs lost power – I didn’t know what to do. I settled for eating another gel and willed my legs to keep pedaling. Another rider informed me that the final 10km were largely downhill and that we were almost at that point.

I hoped he was correct.

It seemed like forever, but finally we began to descend. I began to feel better immediately as I sensed the nearing of the finish. My GPS indicated four hours and eight minutes, far faster than I had dared to hope for, and definitely a good sign for the upcoming Half Iron.

I felt strong, my confidence high….and hungry!

Oliver Half Iron

Two months out from Ironman is a good time to test a long distance race. This was to be my longest race to date, and a chance to test the logistics that would be key at Ironman.

The race in question was a couple of hours away, luckily, my wonderful friend Lenora offered me a ride, accommodation plus her excellent company for the weekend. Thanks Lenora I couldn’t have done it without you!

Photo Credit: Luke Way

Check in for this race was the day before so we arrived early in Oliver, picked up our packages and racked our bikes in transition. Also in attendance at the race was Coach Luke of Balance point Racing. He offered some valuable tips on racing in the heat and helped me install a new water bottle to the aero bars on my bike.

The next morning we were up early to head to the start. I finished setting up my transition and waited nervously. I was unsure of how I would handle the distance and whether I could beat the cutoff times. It was already warm and it promised to be a very hot day – another thing to worry about.

After a short delay, we lined up for the start. The water temperature was only just wetsuit legal, not that this fact mattered hugely to me as a non-wetsuit owner. I was one of only a few ‘naked’ swimmers.

Thanks to the person who offered to loan me a wetsuit, I hope I didn’t seem too rude in declining! I hadn’t trained in a wetsuit, so adding one at this late stage didn’t seem like a good plan.

Right from the start, this race was uncomfortable.

I was struggling to breathe smoothly during the 2km swim, and strangely for me, I was cold! Predictably, most people passed me in the water, and I definitely had no trouble locating my bike when I got to T1 – it was still there, patiently waiting for me on it’s own.

The bike course in Oliver is rather pretty for the most part; a double loop that has only one serious climb. I was feeling sick right from the start. I tried to keep drinking and eating (following the same plan as I had used the week before in Armstrong); as well as swallowing salt capsules at regular intervals.

I kept riding, but the nausea didn’t go away.

Photo Credit: Luke Way

The first 30km or so weren’t so bad, riding past vineyards and admiring the views. Then we turned onto the highway.

“Right, we stay on the highway until Road 6”

Functional if not creative naming from the city of Oliver.

“Road 21 – OK”

I kept riding, the highway not quite so pleasing, but still surrounded by vineyards, and a rather mean rumble strip a foot to my left.

“Must be nearly there by now…Road 18, Dammit!”

More pedaling.

Road 11

“OH come on!”

After what seemed like forever, Road 6 appeared all of a sudden and we turned off in to a more rural road (read: bumpy).

A friend passed me (Yes, he was a full lap ahead of me, underscoring my feelings of inadequacy). He helpfully pointed out a pothole as he passed it, which I certainly would have hit as my focus was beginning to drift. I had been concerned that this could be a problem in longer races – and I still had another lap to go.

The second lap was more challenging than the first. I still felt sick and now I was tired as well. With around 20km to go I could barely keep my eyes open.

“This is not good.201D

My mind was wandering all over the pace as I tried to focus.

I tried to work out what was wrong. Was I not drinking enough? Eating enough? Taking enough salt? Could I mitigate this problem? I tried to drink more, but I was already feeling sick and it felt like I was drinking all the time anyway, how could I drink more? To make matters worse, this was all happening in slow motion whilst I was trying to maintain a passable speed on the bike course.

“Just keep going”

I wondered if I would make the cut-off (my notoriously bad in race maths indicated I should), I then pondered the merits of missing the cut-off. Wouldn’t that be nice? I’d be removed from the race, wouldn’t have to continue…

What was I thinking?

I pedalled onward and finally reached transition. An official informed me that I had indeed made the cut-off, so on to the run it was.

I headed out onto the run course.

“It’s only a half marathon, I’ve done this before”

But not after a 2km swim and a 84km bike and it was hot, so hot, over 35 degrees, and the course had little shade.

I tried to run, but had no energy. I didn’t know what to do…except keep plodding forward.

I decided that if I wasn’t going to quit (and I wasn’t!), then I had to throw all of my resources at this problem.

I began to focus on getting from one aid station to the next. I became *that* person at the buffet, pillaging each aid station. I ate, I drank water and Gatorade, I took salt tablets and used ice to try to cool myself. Normally I prefer to be a little more analytical in my problem solving, but I was short on time and facing a very long and very miserable 21.1km, so the shotgun approach was my only option and still I trudged on, not feeling any better.

At the far end of the run course, the organiser had set up a sprinkler. As I stepped into the spray, the cold took my breath away. I stood for a moment, letting the cold water run over me.

My head clearer, I ran on slowly, I was able to keep running, things were looking up. Aid station: Gatorade, water, ice salt, gel, run on. Soon though, I started to overheat again (damn you quick drying fabrics!), then like a mirage, a woman appeared, holding a hose and spraying passing athletes.

Photo Credit: Luke Way

I continued running from sprinkler to sprinkler, from aid station to aid station, I dared not look at my watch lest it told me I would miss the cut-off despite all of my best efforts. I was able to run the majority of the second lap (hooray for the shotgun approach and the wonderful citizens of Oliver and their hosepipes!).

As I finally crossed the line in 8:01:15 (seriously, it couldn’t have been just under 8 hours!?) all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. The run portion of the race had taken me 3:18, much slower than my plan and a huge disappointment. I was happy to have finished (or was that relieved), but the race definitely hadn’t been a good one for me.

Photo Credit: Luke Way

Luckily, I have some great friends to bring everything into perspective.

Photo Credit: Luke Way

As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and a few days later, I was able to see this as the achievement it was and the learning experience it could be. A triumph over adversity and a successful comeback on the run. I had gathered vital information that I could use to tweak my race plan for the future, hopefully slightly more analytically now.

• What I learned from a really bad race:

• Drink more early on
• Increase calories consumed per hour
• Add a source of caffeine to maintain alertness
• My friends are awesome
• The power to keep going cannot be understated
• Have a backup plan
• My friends are awesome
• The power to keep going cannot be understated

Guardian Century Ride

This was to be a test.

A 100km bike ride.

I wanted to prove that I could do this.

I wanted to prove I could do this NOW. Before it gets dark and cold and I am relegated to indoor spin sessions for the winter.

The Guardian Century Ride is hosted by www.balancepointracing.com and all proceeds go to charity, in this case, the local SPCA branch. It would be good to end the season on a high.

The elevation profile for the ride.

The cutoff time for Ironman is an average of 20km/hr.

This was my goal.

Five hours for a century.

I’d not ridden that far before, and whilst I was reasonably sure I could complete the distance, I was less sure that I could do so in a timely manner.

We started out at 8am, I was mindful of not starting out too fast which could cause me problems later in the ride.

Around 15km in I was riding alone, the lead pack were just getting away from me but I was staying comfortably ahead of the back of the pack. We were on a long road with no shoulder to ride on. That was fine, it wasn’t too busy. I was occupying my mind with important philosophical discussion and shopping lists and the like and enjoying being out on my own. A couple of cars came past me going quite fast, not unexpected, we were leaving the city behind, I noted this and kept riding. Then I heard a roar, a semi/articulated lorry came past

Too close!

I veered off into the dirt, out of its way, looking up in time to see the trailer come in front of me, with its back wheels nudging off the edge of the tarmac, where I had just been. I didn’t have time to think about that right now as I was in imminent danger of crashing into the ditch. I struggled to maintain control and breathed a sigh of relief when I was finally able to wrestle my bike back onto the road.

When I caught up with the group I discovered that having run me right off the road, it then nearly took out the lead pack as well. Luckily Karis wasn’t injured when she fell trying to avoid a collision.

We continued on slightly more warily, past the first aid station, into Winfield, and after a terrifyingly steep downhill to the lake shore, we began ascending what I can only describe as the longest hill ever. Would it ever end?

OK, maybe I exaggerate, but seriously, it was really long!

Finally near the top of Predator Ridge

Thanks to Karis for circling back! (and for taking this picture).

This brought us all the way up to Predator Ridge, where we were greeted by the second aid station. What followed was a beautiful and fast descent to the highway.

I was already a little twitchy from the earlier incident with the semi, and riding on the highway did little to improve my confidence at this point. I was very glad to turn off back into Winfield.

“Release grip on handlebar and breathe….”

After a while riding along the lake, our next challenge was another hill. Short and steep, this was only around 400m but with reported grades of 16% it looked almost vertical!

I started slow, dropping into my easiest gear.

“It’s only short, I can do this”

I saw people walking, I wanted to join them…but…No I didn’t!

The fight was on in my head.

“It’s so close”

“You can’t make it, you are going so slow you will fall over”

“I can make it, shut up brain you are lying to me.” Well, that’s what I told myself, in reality I was far from sure.

But what I did know was that my body can go much further than my brain tells me it can. (This was a huge revelation to me this summer and I am excited to see where this new knowledge can take me.)

I made it to the top.

I didn’t die.

After a quick stop to catch my breath (OK, it might not have looked quite that elegant), we pressed on.

Just another 30km or so left, and it was back on the road we came in on. I’ve already ridden this once, no big deal right? I was running low on power now, but I knew I was going to finish.

We pulled over the finish line at 13:13. Thirteen minutes over the goal. Disappointing.

However a check of my GPS revealed that I had spent 30 minutes stopped at aid stations, so my average moving time was 21.4km/hr a victory!

So…No stopping at Ironman then!

This ride was a significant one for me:

• I learned that meeting the Ironman bike cutoff (a big concern for me) is in theory possible, and with nine months to go, there’s still potential for improvement.
• I proved that if I keep trying I can achieve things I never thought possible.
• I discovered that I probably need to eat more to fuel the latter stages of the ride, good to know, and there’s lots of opportunity to work on that.

Now, off for a well-deserved burger – to benefit the animals!