My race report for anyone interested. Hope it helps in your training and racing.

I don’t know what to think. I am happy with the day but am not, in fact I was very depressed as I came across the finishline cause I know that I could have done better. Some of us take longer to learn all the tricks for doing this animal called Ironman. In retrospect seeing as I started out this triathlon journey back in 2004 with my first sprint. I haven’t done all that bad. It’s now 3 IMs completed (2 in one year) and I have learned something big each time.

IMC 2007 for me

The day was great. Started out with a cloudy morning and all went fantastic leading up to the cannon blast. I was beyond pumped for this puppy and all went fantastic according to plan until about mile 16. That is where the rubber hit the pavement and I had complications. I must learn to set up for this time in the future. I thought I did, but alas, it didn’t come out right. After talking with Willie he saw what the prob was and brought it to light, thanks man.

Swim

Got in the water and peed like 4 times into the wetsuit. I think THIS should have been the first sign of things to come. So it was a great swim, for me. Seeded myself in the middle of the wash machine. Strategy was to get dragged as far as I could and draft as best I could to people around me. After doing the handful amount of these races I am not afraid to get jostled around. Sure there were a few hits and bumps along the way but I could take that. So for the first line out to the houseboat turnaround it was really uneventful and all went well. Just tried to pace, get comfy, focus on form, sit and draft and let everyone else sight for me. Just settled into the water as fast as I could and kept the stroke consistent. After the first turn around all was well. Then the second bouy going back to the beach, good. I finally saw the divers under us and they were waving. Prettty cool. Still kept with the group of people. More hits and pushing towards the beach. I think I took in half the lake of water hehe. In the latter part of the swim it was weird cause the wave surges started to push us towards the beach; some waves. It felt like riding waves. I drafted as much as I could between people. Got to the beach, looked at the watch and noticed it was a minute under my PR swim time so quickly sprinted for the swim exit to have swim PR for me in IM 1:09:58hrs. I was happy goin’ into T1.

T1

As I ran into T1 I pointed to a group of strippers and poof! The wetsuit was off. Quickly grabbed my T1 bag and ran to the side of the tent where I dumped all the contents out. Quickly got dressed and ran for the bike. Quite uneventful, not much time to think. It all went quite inately and I did the job in 3:31min.

Bike

Great bike, felt great despite the slower time than back in 2005 but, that was cause the winds were against us (head-on) all the way out to Osoyoos and then back to Penticton. Legs felt great and I was cruising at the HRas I wanted. Told myself as I started out, listen to Gordo and Lisa. Both said “let the HRs drop now” take it easy. Get them down and then start the bike. I passed many, many people and stayed with a group of speedy guys. We interchanged positions along the way and rode very fast, the fastest on the course along the journey from Mclean Creek to Osoyoos. Yes there was a bit of a headwind but things were going well for me. After McLean Creek hill I started the nutrition and hydration. Ate the cookie I always did and drank primarily water. By Vaseaux Lake I had to go pee. In retrospect, I should have gone or stopped to go pee, but held it in. Why? I don’t know. Just kept drinking water and building the volume up. At this point I thought to myself, should I drink more? No, you’ll just have to pee more and that means stopping, wasting time. This pee on the bike I am not to crazy about and I didn’t want to lose time I guess, big prob. Yes, this was going through my head. It wasn’t that hot and I felt like the electrolytes were all fine as was the hydration. By Vaseaux Lake I started to eat the sub I brought. After that I felt full and continued on, eating and drinking sips of water. Each bike aid I took in a bottle of water and a bit of the electrolyte sol’n I had. Still the urge to pee did not get more. I thought I was doing fine. At the Husky stn. the sun came out and we started the climb up Richter. All well. I passed several people and HRs were in tune with the zones I wanted; capped it at Z4. I crested with HRs in check, just like I wanted and descended to the rollers. Legs felt like always after Richter. No pedalling on downhills ever throughout the race. HRs were in high Z2 and low Z3 as I planned and in the training rides. I took the advice of Dave and didn’t pedal. Out and back was uneventful except I did stop to pee, only once throughout the bike at mile 70 I remember after that not until about mile 3 or so of the run. In retrospect not enough and the reason for the time at finish I find. Took on another 1/2 coldcut sub and Red Bull with a gel at special needs. Man was I hungry. Ate all and pressed on to Yellow climb. Again, passed a few people and then came to a bunch of people that I shared the climb with. Some people (speedy guys) passing me, but I forced myself to stay the plan. I knew if I did what I had to I could run a good mary as I wanted. Got to the top oof Yellow and relaxed knowing the worst of the ride was over. Again, did all descents with no pedalling, shaking the legs free of lactic acid and the start of each decent. The winds were brutal now towards Penticton, head on. Took on the remaining water I had and finished the ride to T2. In town I passed a bunch of people. I was pedalling with a very high cadence (>100rpm) to T2 and stretching the calfs, getting the legs ready for T2. Got off the bike and felt a bit disillusioned. Ran well though, legs were not too bad cause I spun them alot before coming into T2. Bike Time: 5:45:32hrs.

T2

Andy was at T2 in his volunteer shirt and quickly came to my aid. He kept saying how great my time was and how great I was doing. Mentally I think he was trying to make me feel good. He said I was “speedy” LOL! It was great to have your son get you ready for the remainder of the pain fest. He was awesome, thanks man. He came with water and gator. Helped me unpack the bag and get my stuff laid out. I felt tired though, like someone had hit me over the head with a 2×4. The ride took alot out of me to this point. Fresheness came back later though. I got on all the stuff, took the 3 IBs I had planned, was pointed to the run route and off I went. Time 4:42min.

Run

Started the run nice and easy, focus on fast turnover. For the first 2 miles it was pain and weird to get going; I felt very lethargic and drained. The fatigue was hitting me. Took on nutrients as I ran quickly. I knew that I had to slow down and lower the HRs. I HAD to get to Z1 as in training (like Dave told me) if I were to survive the run. By mile 3 I was feeling really good and started to run normal; went pee again (second time since swim). HRs also came down and I was back into upper Z1 and very low Z2 (5beats). Walked each aid stn. and took in a gell with a 1/2 to cup of water cause I remembered that the gel had to be diluted to be absorbed. BUT , I was also afraid of taking in too much like in IMAZ and feared that I would barf; didn’t want that either. So just kept this up for the first half of the run. All was going fantastic and I was able to run pain free looking at the scenery and just having fun. I was thinking at this point. Please, please do not let the quads hurt like in 2005. So far so good. Took in another 2 IBs at the 10mile point too w water, just in case. The run was turning out like a Sunday long run. It was fantastic. To this point I was having alot of fun. I came to the turn around at the beach of Okanagan Falls and drank the red bull I had in special needs and ate 2 more IBs. That was it. Took too many IBs and in order to make myself not take any more I threw away the bottle. This is where I looked at the watch. Iwas good for a 10:45 finish time cause i knew if I kept up the pace it would be an easy slide to home base. Just as in the long runs in training. I trusted that the training I did was good. That gave me confidence that Icould do this. I just kept moving, uneventful. I was even able to run up the hills we had passing alot of people for the back route. Feeling great. All those hills gave me lots of good training. Went pee at about mile 15. This is the tur point. It was rather yellow. Dehydration! I didn’t even think about it at that time. Just kept plugging along and at about mile 17 it hit, the quad pain. Kept up the nutrients though (water and gator), but it came on pretty fast. At about stn. 18 I had to walk it as the pain became worse. The by mile 21 I stopped and stretched. Man were they bad at this point. I could only run about 500-600m and then stop to walk cause the pain was getting bad. The repeat of 2005 reared it’s ugly head. The same prob. I had back then, exactly! But I had attributed that to the lack of long training and muscle development. Guess not though. Peeing only once on the bike and 2x in the run is not enough as I have been told. I should have also remembered the 4x in the water before start too! Well, the remainder of the run for the last 6-7 miles was a serious “gut out” fest or mental and physical anguish. I don’t know which was worse at this point cause I wanted the finish time I planned for, I could taste it. But slowly, I saw that sub 11hrs. vaporize before me I had set myself up for. I kept trying to convince myself I can do it. This though and drive worked for the first 100m of the pace pic-up but then the muscles said they can no longer go. And so this went on and on. HRs were also at times into Z5 as I tried to get moving. I slowed to get them down. Now in the wanted high Z2 and low Z3. I know I could complete the race like this. I did this distance so many times in training. To feel better I tried everything. I can even remember trying to take on some beef broth, more gator, another gel and of course water but nothing was helping the pain. I even started to push the pace to 7:30/mi for as long as I could hold it but the pain was so bad I had to stop. 2-3 times I remember crouching, which hurt SO bad and feeling so down. I was mostly angry at the quads. It was bitter anger. I think this is the time I really felt serious hatred for anything in my life; a pit of stomach anger. The desire to do something so strong and not have the power to do it. Something like a person with a bad onset of MS I guess. I “think” I can understand what they must be up against. Anyways, I pushed in and pulled through all the remaining power I had. The last km was excruciating, again, running with gritted teeth and grunting with each step. I walked for a while and then down the chute to run across the line. As I crossed I had to lock the knees to stay upright. Andy and Toni were there. It was great to see a familiar face. The first thing I did was bend over and lock the knees to just stay upright, just sat on something, some gatorade wagon thingy. That is where I broke down.

In retrospect I don’t think I should be so harsh on myself. It’s a decent time, but as those that do this sport and put all the effort into it, it becomes a bigger thing. Especially if you have that hunger. I respect all that finish and cross at what ever time. We’re all Ironmen and women. I just wanted this result to turn out different. The pacing was as planned and rehearsed taking into account what Rich Strauss had said.. All went well until the last 9 miles. “9″ from finish is a number I will have to get across. In retrospect I have learned another lesson from IM to take with me for the future. Live and learn.

Position Overall: 506/2445
Final Time: 11:19:11 MICHALAK, LIBOR RICHMOND BC CAN
Place in AG: 102/393
Cat: M40-44
Race No.: 1155
Swim Time (3800m): 1:09:58
T1: 3:31min.
Bike Time (181km): 5:45:32hrs.
T2: 4:42min.