Number 14 in the books

Roger’s World – Monday July 27, 2009

Number 14 in the books

Ironman number 14 for me was the hardest yet most satisfying one I’ve completed.

I battled a migraine all day, swam my best time ever, biked slower than I wanted, but still had a chance for an overall PB so I went for it on the run. However, once a PB was out of reach and my Achilles started acting up, I shut it down. I hate walking the marathon but after rupturing my left Achilles last year, I did not want to revisit that whole scenario once again. I gave it all I had and will live to fight the Ironman battle another day.

It seems that every year more and more spectators show up to watch this race and the atmosphere was incredible once again. You feel like a rock star out there. There is nothing like it. However, I must admit that there is a little magic missing. There is still some excellent local support but not like the early 3-5 years. There are less “characters” out on the course, a few less extra special touches, and a few of the popular aid stations are no longer there – Black Brook and the “Touch the Gold medal for luck” station by the ski jumps) but this is still a must do race. The local volunteers that are out there are still very passionate and appreciative of you being there, and we athletes definitely appreciate all of their efforts.

I still love coming down here, but after having completed my 10th Ironman Lake Placid, my annual trips down here might be coming to an end. It has come to a point where I don’t want to just show up here and participate. This is not my type of course and to do well here you must put in some serious training. I definitely love that challenge but and it may also be time to check out other summertime Ironman races (Germany, Switzerland, etc). Life is too short not to.

So what is in store of the rest of the summer? I plan to do the Bracebridge Half Iron (not sure about that right now though the way my body is feeling), the rest of the races in the HSBC Triathlon series, and I will give another Ironman a go at the Canadian 226 on September 5th. Yeah, I am a bit nuts but you probably knew that already. Below are some final thoughts.

The Good

1. Swam my best ever time without pushing it (1:16).

2. Biked the last 16 km well to put me in a position to go for a PB.

3. “Go hard or go home!” That phrase went through my head at the start of the run as I went for a PB. I knew that such an effort was going to hurt but I was glad I went for it.

4. Managed to race with a deep head splitting, nausea causing migraine. It arrived on the scene at 5pm the day before, I couldn’t sleep a wink, and finally left when I started walking.

5. A respectable return to racing after an Achilles tendon rupture.

Lessons Learned

1. I need to follow a structured training schedule and get in more long rides and runs. Since I was returning from injury, I didn’t want to do that this year. I wanted to ease back in to things. I did a lot of frequency but not a lot of volume. Prior to the injury, I performed well and was getting faster with a structured training program and with heart rate training zones that were determined by fitness testing. This will happen for 2010. Provided that my health status remains good.

2. I knew this before but recognized again that the Lake Placid course hurts. The nature of this course dictates that you cannot show up here on minimal training and hope to do well. There needs to be some specific hill and intensity work in your training.

3. I must keep swimming with the Markham Masters. I was 6 minutes faster than my previous best swim time yet not pushing harder. Am I actually becoming a swimmer?

Thanks

To my lovely wife of course, my father in-law for coming down to watch, Angus – my Ironman buddy in crime and his wife, and their parents for all their cheering support on race day. After watching on the sidelines last year, I don’t know what is tougher, watching or racing.