The day before the race I was super nervous. We camped in oosoyos (20 minutes away from Oliver) and I put my wetsuit on to test it out before the race, and the water was freeeeezing! So I was concerned about the swim since it is my least favorite part anyways. Ben and my dad both went on a bike that morning; Ben's which was nearly 4 hours long up Ritchers pass. When he got back we hopped on the boat and enjoyed the afternoon on the lake, relaxing, before heading out to pick up my race package and checking in my bike. We also walked down to the water to check out the swim course, and oh man it seemed SOO FAR! It was pretty overwhelming. I know that I swim 2 + kms every time I hit the pool, but seeing it laid out like that it seemed like 100 kms. So i tried to imagine the 80 lengths of the pool that makes up the distance. That night we had some pasta, double checked my bike and gear, and I was in bed by 8:30.
4:30 am came pretty quick, and I was up and ate a quick bagle and did a triple check of all my gear. By 5:45 we were in the car driving to Oliver! We got there by 6:10, once I got into the transistion I headed straight to the line up for the washrooms. Unfortuneatly at 6:45 I was still waiting in line! and I still had to squeeze into my wetsuit and get down to the beach. I was getting stressed. So I had to abandon the pre race pee.
It was a staged start, so I was in the second wave with the females aged 19-44. Luckily the water was alot warmer than the water in Osoyoos, and I wasn't cold at all. A couple of minutes into the swim I started getting overwhelmed, and my chest tightening, but I just focused on making to each of the bouys and 46 minutes later I was done.. phew! I was so happy to get out of the water.
I then headed out on to the bike! It was a 2 lap course with some rolling hills, and it was really pretty. Mid way through my second lap my knee started aching, and I couldn't hammer on the pedals as hard so I took it back a notch for the last 20 kms. This is about where ben pulled up behind me on the highway! It was totally a fluke since Dad and him went to pack up the campsite and he was on his way back to the race, but it was awesome seeing him. Despite my knee I still came in waaay faster then I thought with 3 hours and 10 minutes!
Starting out on the run I was pretty light headed, and I didn't know how i was going to run 21 kms. It was also a 2 loop course, and the first loop was rough. I walked about 1-2 kms total on the first loop. It was soo hot by this point with a stifling 30 degrees. I started to get a killer headache, which I thought it was from the heat. But after I had a gel I started to feel better, so it must have only been low blood sugar. It was tough, I just concentrated on making it to the next aid station where I would dump 2 waters on my head and drink some gatorade. I saw ben as I came around the turn around at 10.5 kms, and I started to get emotional... then I started wheezing and having trouble breathing. The same thing happened when I saw my mom and dad late in the calgary marathon a couple of years ago. So I had to ignore him and concentrate on getting my breathing under control before I had a full blown asthma attack that could have ended the race for me. Then I saw my dad, luckily I had gotten my breathing under control by then and had to ignore him too for fear of it starting again. The second lap was WAY easier then the first. I think the big part was getting gels into me for some energy, since I hadn't had any gels in the last 45 minutes of the bike, and hadn't had any for the first 45 minutes of the run. I ran the entire last 10.5 kms and finished with a run of 2 hours and 34 minutes! Although that is alot slower then my personal best half marathon, I was pretty happy with that after biking 93 kms and swimming 2 kms. And boy, did it ever feel good crossing that finish line and hugging my champ and dad!
I jumped in the lake after the race to cool down, gathered up my stuff, and we headed to the post race bbq for some burgers, which have never tasted so good! On our way out I thought to check my official time, and I finished with an official time of 6 hours and 36 minutes and I placed 3rd in my age group! I was shocked! Last year I had been training to do it under 6 hours, but this year with being so sick for so long I had no expectations and was thinking more like 7-8 hours, so placing was even more of a surprise! So Dad and I stuck around for the award ceremony and I got a wine glass with "women 19-24 3rd place" inprinted on it with the oliver half iron logo, which i drank champagne out of yesterday ha! I was pretty stoked. Then we hopped in the truck and drove alllll the way back to revelstoke, ate some dinner, then passed out. It was a big day for all of us, spectators included! Now to get ready to do twice that distance in 3 months!
I learned a three big things from this race:
1) Nutrition!- on the bike I was getting gels into me every half hour, but on the run I didn't take anything for the first hour or the last hour of the bike and that killed me. Late in the race is when the energy is even more needed. It is amazing how fast those gels get into you too, within 10 minutes my headache was gone!
2) Keep my inhaler on me, and try not to get emotional when I see people I know. I truely appreciate having people there supporting me, but if I ignore you it is just because I am so happy to see you and I risk having an asthma attack. It was pretty scary for those 2 minutes when I saw ben and then my lungs constricted and I couldn't breathe. I thought I was done for sure. Thankfully I got my breathing under control. But just incase, I should have my emergency inhaler on me.
3) I like races where there are 2 laps. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle 2 laps of the bike and run in this race, but it turns out I loved it! The first lap is like an adventure, you don't really know what's around the corner, but then on the second lap you know exactly where you're going. You can pick points out and concentrate on just getting there.
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