Desert Half Ironman

Check out Gerry's race report from the Desert Half Ironman in Osoyoos Canada:

To preface this race a little bit, I had a really hard time getting excited to race this event. Nothing against the race itself, actually it turned out to be a very fun event. I think it had a lot to do with it not originally being on my schedule for the year, but with Honu 70.3 dropping their IM Canada slots it kinda needed to be done to fulfill the greater season goals. Also going into a race labeled as “Canada’s toughest half” on a day expected to hit the mid 90s doesn’t exactly sound FUN. Regardless I knew that I was fit and ready, and if I stuck to the game plan I’d have a good day and a solid performance.
Race morning I felt pretty relaxed, got everything setup in transition nice and early and threw on my wetsuit for the slightly longer than normal 2K swim. Did a quick warmup and got out on the beach ready for the start. You could barely hear the announcer where we were all lined up, but suddenly I heard someone yell out “five,” to which I thought, ok 5 minutes to the start... Then I heard “four, three, two…” and suddenly we were off!
Through dumb luck I’d ended up in the PERFECT starting position, as the eventual swim winner was standing on my left and he gave me a great draft away from the bulk of the field. After the first 300 yards or so realizing that staying on his feet was suicide, I pulled up and waited for the next guy. We traded places a couple times on the first lap of the swim until he gapped me ever so slightly coming back to shore. It was kinda a trip making the quick run on the beach by the crowd as the 3rd place swimmer at the half way mark, but still the pace was quick so I decided to let him go and swim solo and comfortably. Came out of the water with 2 other guys who’d caught me right near the finish with the announcer saying we were sub 28 minutes (27:27) which is a full minute HIM swim PR so thank you TYR ;-)
The bike course is what makes this race tough as it is a 56 mile out and back over the hilly part of the IM Canada course. Right out of the gate you’re on Richter pass, a roughly 7 mile “stair stepping” climb. Really hard to keep the pacing down where it needed to be early, but keeping a watchful eye on my powertap now I knew would pay off later.
Lost a few positions early on the bike, but after summiting Richter Pass it was pretty much a solo and uneventful ride. Tried to stay focused on getting my nutrition down and staying well hydrated, after all the run was going to be a hot one. Hit some headwinds on the way out, and I was a little concerned when I hit the turn showing 1:26 on my computer. But the way back was SCREAMING fast and finished at 2:36:55.
T2 was not my finest showing ever. I racked my bike and was looking for my shoes but couldn’t find them. There were shoes everywhere and none of them looked like mine. Turned out I’d missed my rack so I had to make a quick shuffle to get the right gear and I was off.
Start of the run felt really good. Settled comfortably into my goal pace of 7-7:10/mi and I was getting some gels and a good amount of fluid down. The first turn around was just under 3 miles in, so right about when you feel your best on course. Got a chance to see where I was on course (10th) and check out the other guys running. There were two guys in front of me that looked mediocre and didn’t have much of a gap so I got some motivation there. Also saw a couple guys behind me that were running really strong so I kinda knew right then where things were going to go.
Just before the end of the first lap I’d reeled in the 2 guys I’d expected to catch, and been passed by 1 guy who was looking really solid. As I turned around to start lap 2 I again looked at the guys behind me and knew I had plenty of gap, the guys in front weren’t coming back to me, and the temperature was rising so things switched over to a bit of a defensive running mode. It was a good thing I took on that strategy a bit early as between mile 8 and 9 is when things got unpleasant. The heat was really starting to hit me and I was having trouble at the aid stations getting enough water/coke/ice to keep it in check. Miles 9 and 10 were the worst where I had a side stitch, I was hungry, my mouth was dry and my body was hot. Just had to remember that the quickest way to everything I needed was to run there. About mile 10.5 there was an aid station where I stopped long enough to get down extra water, get the sponges/ice I needed, and throw back a coke to power me home.
Finished the run off in 1:35:52, a little slower than I’d hoped but given the nature of the course and the conditions I really can’t complain. Total time of 4:43:14 for 9th overall and 2nd AG was definitely the solid showing I knew I could have, and it guaranteed me the IM Canada slot I was after.

-Gerry

oh and one more thing; FREE post race massage is basically the best thing ever!