Preparations

I have posted some updates from my lead up to Ultraman Canada on Facebook, so now I am going to back up a bit for the blog, since some of you readers here aren't on Facebook or are just stalkers ;)

I had a mostly uneventful travel day Wednesday, July 28 to Penticton, B.C. They did not open my bike box in Chicago to inspect it, although they did swab all the bags of powder that were in my carry on. The flight to Vancouver took off on time.

On the airplane, I first tried to read the pages and pages of information from the UMC website, which I hadn't looked at since last fall, but then I picked up the airline magazine and found Sudoku in there and did an easy one. I read through everything else about the race and only found 1 or 2 things I needed to note. Then I dug back into "Secrets of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. Quickly I found some quotes that seemed to jump out of the page at me relating to what I am about to do. Here are a few:

"Plans are useful, but don't get attached to them; life has too many surprises. Preparation, on the other hand, has value, even if the future you planned never comes."

When I read that, it calmed me since I had needed to abandon my overly optimistic training plan in mid-April that I had prepared in September, 2009; yet I continued preparing by training and locating and communicating with a crew.

"All paths, all activities--professions, sports, arts, crafts--serve as a means of internal development, merely a boat to get across the river. Once you get across, you no longer need the boat."

When I read that, I did not think that after doing Ultraman Canada that I would no longer need to do endurance sports to continue my quest for self discovery; rather it reinforced my knowledge that endurance is my current vehicle of choice for taking that trip down the river! Also I felt blessed in the sense that I guess I was reading the right book at the right time to help get my head on straight for the actual race. My mind has gone through so many gyrations in the last 6 months, and just getting away from home without having to work was already starting to work its magic on my psyche.

Eventually, the woman next to me on the airplane decided to talk after I asked to see her iPad, and she asked about what I was doing, and I think her mouth was agape the entire time I babbled!

Once I landed in Vancouver, I passed through customs and picked up my bags--my bike showed up first, so of course that was a welcome relief. I began heading towards the next check-in and my crewmate, Lee, was waiting at a funnel area and spotted me. We hugged and she told me right away that I didn't look as "scary" in person as I do in photos online. It didn't bother me that she had said that, because I have heard similar before, although this became sort of a running joke as the week moved on. We hit it off and began sharing our collective lives and I knew she was going to be completely dependable and devoted to caring for me during this effort.

We had a rather large lunch of sushi and I had a small beer (well a small Sapporo--typically I get one of the big bottles when I have sushi, which I had not enjoyed since Goofy Challenge). Then we headed to the gate for the Penticton flight, where they were asking for a volunteer to stay behind due to overbooking. Not us! The flight to Penticton was nice, going out over the ocean and seeing all the mountains, some with snow. At landing, it was time to wait for bikes again, and Lee's arrived first followed by mine. An athlete from Argentina (Juan Craveri who ended up 7th overall) offered to drive us and our stuff to the hotel in the van he had rented, so that was nice.

When we got to the hotel, Richard and Mona of my crew had arrived and we began bringing in all the stuff into the one hotel room. It looked to be a really tight fit. As it turned out, Lee and I got another room because Richard is quite the snorer and Lee and I are both light sleepers. I should have done that anyway since fitting 4 people plus all my gear plus all the stuff the others had brought over for me plus 3 bikes (2 for me and 1 for Lee) made a tight fit, but hey, just another thing to take care of on this journey.

Thursday was a whirlwind of activity. I ate a light breakfast and then went for a run with Lee. We ended up running almost 40 minutes, and it was one of the nicest runs ever. We ran along the river/canal (Okanagan River), and I remembered doing a pre-race run there in 2004 before Ironman Canada. We stopped to literally smell the roses in the rose garden before heading back to hotel, we showered, then I and crew all registered (sign your life away). I got a nice backpack, hat, goggles (which I gave to Lee since I can't tolerate silicone gaskets), crew got a cooler and bunch of Hammer product samples, then I bought some clothes for crew souvenirs.

Next up we sent to Starbucks to discuss my fueling strategy and have some drinks. Once that meeting began, I announced to my crew, "It's all about ME!" Whenever one of them would get sidetracked about their personal concerns, I had to remind them that it was all about me, and they got back into lock step. That meeting took about 1.5 hours, then we went to the bike shop to get my bike tuned and get saddle and pedals of mine installed on the spare bike that Richard had brought (his granddaughter's). The bike shop guy remarked that I was last minute, but I think he was just fucking with my head. Then Richard and Mona went shopping for provisions and Lee and I went for a ride. I had to leave Skull Kingdom (the name I have bestowed on my new bike) at the shop, so I rode the spare road bike.

Lee got a flat about 1/2 mile from the hotel, and I helped her fix it (after she was concerned that a 60mm valve stem would be "too long" for her wheels and I reassured her that more stem length was not a bad thing) then we took off. We got some hills in and man was it hot. I mean HOT. Like 96, I think. Also I noticed the dryness with the wind into my face. Oh well! We had a nice 45 min. ride, got back and next up was to meet with my paddler.

Steve, my paddler from Australia but currently living in Penticton, picked up Lee and I (I wanted someone else with me all the time because it just helped keep me sane), and we drove through vineyards and orchards to a spot on Lake Okanagan (not the lake we swam in for the race--that was Skaha Lake--Okanagan is the bigger one) for a little swim. Steve currently works at the Blasted Church winery. If you didn't know, the Penticton area is the Napa Valley of Canada. Wineries, vineyards and fruit are everywhere!

This was the first time I was in open water since Lake Placid last year, so of course, seeing that huge lake made me a little frightened, but that was the point of this. Steve and I talked about how we would go, and I let myself just float, hyperventilate and then relax for a bit, then began swimming. It was after 5PM and the winds had picked up and we were going right into them, so it was stroke, stroke, SMACK in the face, stroke, stroke, SMACK in the face. Steve probably thought I sucked and wouldn't even be able to finish the swim. Steve and I practiced how I would get a bottle, we went out what seemed like a long ways, then turned around and it was much easier for me to head back.

We got back to the hotel near 7PM and then it was time for dinner. I ate a giant plate of mediocre spaghetti with meat sauce and chicken, had a beer, and then it was lights out.

Friday was the pre-race breakfast and briefing beginning at 9. I expected it would last about 3 hours, and I was right. Steve Brown, the Race Director, went through all the course maps to point out the really important stuff like cattle guards, chance of cactus and rattlesnakes, no-feed zones and big climbs. I was looking at the maps for the first time ever, but wasn't really able to internalize it all and just hoped my crew was paying attention!

After that meeting, crew went shopping and I began preparing all my gear for all 3 days. For Ironman you make 5 bags:

1. Dry clothes that you will wear when you finish
   
2. Swim to bike (your biking clothes, helmet, shoes, sunglasses)
3. Bike to run (run clothes)
4. Special needs bike (stuff you think you might want or need halfway through the bike like tires, tubes, special foods, clothing additions)
5. Special needs run (stuff you think you might want or need halfway through the run like lubricants, fresh socks, a jacket or special foods)

For Ultraman, I made 9 bags:

1. Dry clothes that I would wear after Day 1
2. Day 1 bike containing my bike clothes for Day 1, shoes, helmet, socks
3. Day 1 spare bike clothes, that would go into the van, which contained a complete change of bike clothes in case I crashed, chafed or whatever
4. Day 2 bike containing my bike clothes to start Day 2. This really didn't need to be a bag since I would get dressed in the hotel on Day 2. But it still helped to put it into a bag.
5. Day 2 spare bike clothes, that would go into the van, like Day 1 spare, since if I used the Day 1 spare I would still need another for Day 2.
6. Day 3 run clothes. This had to be a bag since at the end of Day 2 we end up in another town.
7. Day 3 spare run clothes/shoes. This had a complete costume change plus another pair of regular size running shoes plus a pair of shoes 1/2 size larger in case my feet swelled too much.
8. Spare bike parts. This contained many tubes, 2 fresh tires, an extra pair of bike shoes in case my primary pair failed, lubricants, etc.
9. Overnight bag. I packed this in my shiny new backpack, and it contained jammies and some nutrition powders to pack for our overnight stay in Princeton before Day 3 as well as clothes to wear at the finish line.
   

I got a lot done while the crew was out shopping for water, ice and other provisions and loading up the van for Day 1. When Lee finally got back, I then prepared my swim bottles (5 hours worth of Infinit), and showed the crew how to mix the Infinit. This was amusing as I am from US and the others all use metric, so I had to explain the difference between calories per hour and ounces (millileters for those crazy foreigners) of fluid I needed per hour. Also I needed them to know that Infinit foams up so you can't just mix it on the fly. In the end they did an A+++ job with the Infinit.

We had decided earlier in the day that we would all eat pizza for dinner in the room. Friday was a very long day, and as you can already tell, it wasn't like there was any downtime for any of us from the time we had arrived until race day. I probably could have eaten more pizza, but at some point (and this would become a pattern) I needed to choose between time spent eating vs. getting sleep, and I generally opted for the sleep.

And then the race starts tomorrow (Friday, July 31) at 6:45 AM. By the time I went to sleep on Friday, I was able to say that I was as ready as I could be, and ready to put myself into the hands of my crew. It's odd, but I was actually looking forward to the run--by that time, just like in an Ironman, I won't have to worry about waves, bike problems or how much sleep I'm getting (or not). But it will be one thing at a time--finish that swim, get through the rides, and those are the prices I will pay to get to Day 3 which is where, no doubt, I will get to enjoy much peacefulness for many hours!