Tuesday, July 12, 2011

DNF Happens to the best and now me

Osoyoos Desert Half Iron race report

So what do you do when you want a challenge and want to try part of the Ironman Canada course you sign up for the hardest half Ironman 70.3 you can in Canada.

Well that is the Osoyoos Desert Half Iron

The only reason I deiced on this course was that it was a great chance to do a dress rehearsal for IMC my 'A' race for this year.

It really started the week before I use Infinit and have gotten use to it but being scattered brained I waited until I was out to re-order I also wanted to change my formula so I did that and sent an email for some more information, well I got in contact with Darcy he was a huge help and spent quite a bit of time with me on the phone to get my formula dialed in (oh I found out he is the president after my order was placed how often do you get the head of the company help you out)

I spent the week getting ready doing a few last rides and hitting my favorite tri store Tri It Multisport for clothing and nutrition and my new sweet Zoot tri bag those guys are the best.

I left Friday morning with my Dad one of my two man support crew we did the long drive up to Osoyoos hitting the Bike Barn in Penticton, then into Osoyoos got some dinner and relaxed, my Brother then showed up at 3am he is my second man in the support crew.

Got up Saturday and we all drove the bike course my brother kept saying it would not be a problem but in my head I new the bike cutoff was going to be tough very tough and I later found out that my Dad was thinking the same as me.

My Dad and brother went for a ride out to Oliver, I went for a ride on the run course to check it out and get the arms spinning a bit, good ride and got a chance to see the run and figure out some things that might be an issue with the racing chair.

We all went to the pre race meeting and I got a chance to meet Joe the RD, the head medic and the head official. We had a chance to talk about some concerns with the transitions, access and some support such as having my brother follow me on the bike and run. They were all very helpful and supportive and really wanted to make this a success for me. We got my equipment to transition and set up then off for a quick bite and off to bed.

Got up on race day and felt good headed to transition to find out that our plan to the swim had to change, but that was the only issue and took care of it.

Swim
- Got in the water and felt good talk with a guy at the start found out later his name was Nathan (oh he won the day) really great guy. The horn goes off and so do I now usually I just wait for the group to go by and I hang in the back but this time I decided to get in the mix not sure I enjoyed getting beat up but needed the experience, I fell back a bit but I felt strong and was going straight. I finished the first loop it felt fast the second loop was tougher but still felt good. Last year at the Calgary 70.3 I did the swim in 1:15 this time I was hoping for a 1 hour swim well this time I pulled out a 45min swim!!! I came in so fast that my support crew was caught off guard I felt great.

T1
- We thought it would be around 10-12 min but we hit it in 8min this was great considering I have to be lifted out of the water pushed across the beach, change and get on the bike so far so good.

Bike
- At this point we figure I will have 5 hours to do the bike this would put me past the official cutoff time but close enough that I would not be so far off it and would be able to continue on the run.
- The climb from the start to the top of Richter's is about 14km I just found a good gear and pushed up by the time I got to the top my average speed was 9km/hr, I go over the top and expect to tear down the back side well not much of a tear down with the head wind I could not get over 70km/hr slow for me, but I am feeling good and hope I can make up some time.
- I then hit the 7 rollers on the way to the turn around they crushed me I actually hit my highest max speed going down them. The issue with the handcycle is that its momentum drops quickly and since you cant stand or get over the cranks all power comes from spinning or just grinding up so its near impossible to power over any of the rollers as they are to long and get to steep at 7%-11% my average speed was going up but not enough but the head wind was coming down.
- I hit the halfway point at 3hours, 30min later then I wanted but I was still feeling good I could feel some fatigue but it was ok, I got back onto the highway and thought 'hey that feels like a head wind impossible mother nature wouldn't mess with me like that' well she can and did looking at some streamers on a line and sure enough it was a strong headwind, oh well just another challenge.
- Back to the rollers and knowing how fast I came down them I knew they would be tough going back I pushed up and over them, at around 50km in I had a feel sorry for myself moment but told myself to suck it up and I did, I hit the last aid station got some fluid gave a thanks to them for sticking around and off I went.
- The climb up the back side of Richter's felt better and faster so that was good, but then my brother got a call saying that I had missed the cutoff time and they where going to pick me up!! so every time I saw a van I thought my day was done I could see the top and really did not want to be picked up. Just as we are about to crest the top I hear my brother swearing then I see the van and I think how could they stop me a the top, I climb 4000feet and don't get a chance to tear back down to finish the bike!! I get closer they just wanted to make sure I was ok and if I needed anything super cool so I crest the top and start heading down into the head wind of course so no top speed but all good.
- Now due to my time I know I have missed the cutoff I also know that I can do the run in an hour and half but seeing the time I wont even have that so I just enjoy the rest of the ride down, and think back to what I have just done, I also expected to have all the road opened up again to traffic but no all intersections are still controlled so I slow down and thank them for sticking it out I get a police escort back to transition and I am done the bike.

DNF

Well that was it missed it by about 30min, still I got lots of support from everyone and Joe was there to see me in great guy.

I headed out to the finish to see some other racers in and grab some food, and got a chance to see what my finish will look like next year.

Hit the awards after talk to lots of great people and met up with Nathan who approach me at the start.

This was the biggest challenge I have done yet and learned a lot about myself and what I need to focus on more leading up to IMC.

Hard race but amazing support, organization and racers make this a must do race I will come back a crush this course... well maybe not crush just beat it up a little.

4 comments:

Rebecca Kelley said...

Dude, you swam faster than my best time (a little over 46 min at Rev 3 on Sunday). I did Ironman Canada last year and those climbs are definitely a challenge. Way to battle it out on the bike course -- you stayed mentally tough, which is arguably the most important aspect of this sport.

Anonymous said...

Wow, i went past you on my bike and told you that you were my new hero.. i was in awe...that somebody would be so mentally tough to do this race with their arms, on their bike..holy. My legs alone kill me, especially after the swim. I will be at IRONMAN CANADA hopefully catching you ...at the catchers end of the race.otherwise i will be there all day watching the racers. This would be my ultimate..a goal i would love to conquer one day..but i cant swim well to do this race..one day.

Anonymous said...

This is to both Brian and Anonymous, who is actually Suzy, love ya girl. Brian, I saw you out on the bike course and all I can say is 'WOW'. You are very inspirational to any person that has gotten out from in front of the televison and spent time, money and energy to accomplish a personal goal. You both will conquer many more challenges in your lives. Keep at it and remember that your body can take you far but your mind will take you even further. These endurance events are so mental and I am impressed that you both challenge one of the hardest courses in the Half IM stage. I have been involved in running and triathlons for many years and as I have said before, so much of what we do is in the mind. If you can dream it, believe it and push through the training you will always go further on race day. The most amazing dreams that we achieve are only realized by attempting them.
We cannot finish what we do not start. You both have proven that you can be mentally tough and in these events that is the most important asset. Good luck Brian with the training and we will be watching you inspire us at Ironman and waiting to welcome you across the finish line.
rlb

Brian Martin said...

Thanks everyone for the nice words and encouragement, I look forward to killing it at IMC
Brian