The Toils and Spoils of Endurance Training: Whistler

Packing for my trip was rough. I had a panic last minute bike repair; I picked up my bike from the shop the day before I left. I had a cheat sheet of things to pack; I went through my list at least four times. I took a trip to the store for the stuff I figured I’d rather have and throw away then not have at all. I grabbed baby powder, sport band aids, and chapstick. I accrued everything I needed and separated it into various bags. I would describe getting ready to leave as panic without the stress. I knew I needed to think hard about every step I would take throughout race day in order to remember everything.

Riding into Whistler we passed tooons of bikes on the highway scoping out the bike course. I like to go into the event with a blissful ignorance. Once in town it was like athlete city with people of all ages with Ironman backpacks and shirts. An alarming number of people had “M dot” tattoos on the back of their calves, many with a surrounding maple leaf. And of course, a plethora of fit attractive women every angle you could point your eyes.

The town of Whistler is pretty nice and everything is walkable. Our hotel room is nice, but small. The hotels here seem to be pretty condensed to fit into the city. We arrived before we could check into the hotel, so I wandered down to packet pick up. There were so many tables to stop at in the tent, it was slightly overwhelming. I had to sign a paper that would either withhold my medical status, or allow them to release me as being “critical”, “stable”, etc. if anything happened to me. Every athlete got an Ironman Canada backpack loaded with free samples and town information, as well as the 5 bags to load with gear.

Once we checked into the hotel room I started loading my gear bags. I had a sheet of “1070” (my number) stickers to apply to my bags, helmet, and bike. I have a blue Ironman bracelet on my wrist that I have to wear for three days to let me into athlete only areas. They gave me a timing chip to wear on my ankle for the entire race. I can’t apply sunscreen until after I’ve been marked race morning with my race number. This morning (Saturday) I had to deliver my transition bags and my bike. In the morning I walk down with my morning bag (which will include the things I want when the race is over) and my bike special needs bag. I will get numbered, slather myself in sunscreen, and put on my wet suit. Then it will be time to rock.

Yesterday was my rest day. Today I did a short run with high cadence spurts to shock my body before race day. I ate fatty on Wednesday, back to normal on Thursday, and have been carbo loading Friday and Saturday. Today was a big carb heavy breakfast with low fiber and high glycemic index foods for the rest of the day. I have to wake up at 4-4:30am to eat breakfast so that it can digest before the race at 7am. I will drink a diluted sports drink in the morning before getting in the water. I will not eat again until I mount the bike 1.5-2 hours later.

Now to discuss how awesome this event is. Everyone here is super friendly. At the welcome ceremony I talked to a guy for an hour who was a volunteer. We were both alone, he saw my bracelet and we talked about the event for a while. He took my race number to see how I faired. While I walked away from bike drop off this morning there was another guy walking about my pace so we talked for the two mile walk into town. We exchanged race numbers to see how each other did after the fact. No one’s here to destroy other people or crush them into the ground, if you see another athlete you talk as if you’re best friends. For the first time in BC history there are shutting down a numbered highway for an event; I guess this is a huge deal. I guess the north town the bike course runs up to is literally trapped for five hours by the highway closure. Litter penalties are strictly enforced due to the reality of bears in the area. For dinner I found a Subway. I walked in and told them I wanted a six inch Italian with a chicken breast on them. I think I confused them, no cheese or veggies. I literally ate a piece of bread with a chicken breast on it. My family ate a pizza, it took a lot of will power to avoid eating any of it.

Today I have walked to drop off my stuff, walked around town, eaten several times, gone to the hot tub for an hour, ran, and typed this. It’s agony, the event is looming over me and I just have to sit here and wait. I want to get in the water and hear the cannon go off. I want to be in action mode instead of hurry up and wait mode. I feel strong and ready to rock, I can’t imagine sleeping much tonight.