September 23, 2004
I Finished! Ironman Canada
2004 in 15 hours 52 minutes
15 hours 52 minutes of swimming, biking, running is a hell of a way to
spend a day. I was looking to do it a little bit faster (had
issues with not taking enough sodium and cramping on the bike) but I
finished, I'm an Ironman, and more importantly I was able to raise
$8,670 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thank you so much for your support--
the team raised $500,000 this year! It was absolutely incredible
and it was because of you that helped me finish the day and this crazy
9-10 months of training. Here's the video (Windows Media Player) of me finishing.
Race Day Highlights
The race itself was in Penticton British Columbia on August 29, 2004. It's a very beautiful place with Bay Area like temperature in the summer. We got there a couple days early and we were able to hang out a bit.On race day itself, I woke up around 4am for a 7am race start for the swim. The swim was fairly easy with about 2,000 others swimming along for 2.4 miles. There were a couple of divers waving "hi" at one of the turns and unfortunately my goggles were on a bit too tight so I had a bit of headache for most of the swim.
I got out of the swim and onto my bike. The bike was epic, 112 miles of country, rolling hills, and a couple of good climbs. Nothing harder than what's around in the Bay Area but it was still 112 miles. My wife, Coach Wayne, and several folks from the Ironteam family cheered me on at mile 100 and luckily it was all downhill for the next 12 miles.
The run (or walk) wasn't the greatest. I had cramped up pretty badly on the bike because I hadn't taken enough salt tablets (err...they melted in the rain the night before). I made the most of it and made sure to eat plenty at each of the rest stops - chicken soup, grapes, pepsi, gatorade, yummy! It was a long, day and evening and as it was approaching 11pm I made it to the finish line. The crowd at the finish was great, but more importantly the hot tub was still hot, the massage folks were still available for a little massage, and Katina and my teammates were there to cheer me on at the finish.
So what's next?
Well, I get to do it again next year. I'm on the IronTeam 2005
staff as the Web Captain and you can follow what's going on with the
team at http://www.ironteam.net.
There should be some good tips
there for triathletes and general working out. I don't have to
fundraise (to give my friends a bit of a break) but will be helping
some teammates fundraise mostly through parties and auctions,
etc. I'm doing Ironman Canada again next year and maybe doing another Ironman as well (either Cour d' Alene or Lake Placid). Anyhow, if you want to join the team (stop w/ the saracastic laugh, it's doable), let me know.
I can not THANK YOU enough.
THANK YOU!
-Rafael