“Hold My hand, and
walk joyously with Me through this day. Together we will savor the pleasures
and endure the difficulties it brings. Be on the lookout for everything I have
prepared for you: stunning scenery, bracing winds of adventure, cozy nooks for
resting when you are weary, and much more. I am your Guide, as well as your
constant Companion. I know every step of the journey ahead of you, all the way
to heaven.
You don’t have to
choose between staying close to Me and staying on course. Since I am the Way, staying close to Me is staying on course. As you focus your
thoughts on Me, I will guide you carefully along today’s journey. Don’t worry
about what is around the next bend. Just concentrate on enjoying My Presence
and staying in step with Me.” (Devotion on verses John 14:6; Colossians 4:2)
From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young
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| Bike check in |
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| training ride to check out the hills |
The night before the race I could barely sleep. I could hear
Damien tossing and turning beside me so I knew he was feeling the same. I could
also hear Josh crying and coughing with croup and I felt like a horrible mother
that I wasn’t getting up to him. Instead that duty was passed on to my Mom and
my sister and I will forever be grateful to them for their help!! I knew they
had a long day ahead and it would be even longer with broken sleep. Damien and
I had done bits of the course over the past couple days so I had an idea of
what was ahead of us. The swim was still terrifying me! We had done a practice
swim earlier that day and the water was very choppy. If it was still choppy in
the morning then I’d be swallowing a lot of water in the race. On a
brighter note we rode the hilliest part of the bike course and we found it very
manageable!! All the training on rattlesnake point and 6th line paid
off! Our bikes and gear bags were already checked in for race day but I still
couldn’t sleep….
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| Checking our gear bags in on Saturday before the race |
4:30am the alarm went off and it was a relief!! I wanted to
get up and start the day!! After our wakeup showers Damien and I split duties –
he was getting the prerace breakfast and coffee ready and I woke the kids and
got them dressed. The boys were such troopers as I woke them up whispering
“It’s race morning!”. They’ve been excited about this day for a long time so
they didn’t complain too much! Damien and I headed down to the bike transition
early and left the boys with our amazing supporters!!
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| Damien pumping his bike tires |
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| Sooo nervous in the morning |
The nervous energy in the bike transition can only be
described as electrifying. You could feel it in the air and see it on
everyone’s faces. I personally felt like I was going to throw up and kept
looking at Damien to keep me calm. I felt so much relief that we were doing
this together and that he was there to make sure my tire pressure was right and
my bike was looking good. We were feeling pretty good about everything and then
I remembered… our energy bars for the bike!!! We left them back at the condo in
neat little bags ready to take with us!! I freaked out – Damien calmly called
Sherra and asked Pat to run up to the condo and grab them for us. By this time
they were already at the village so I want to give Pat a HUGE thank you for running
back up to get them. Nutrition or lack of can make or break a race and we left
ours behind!!
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| Our friend Derek on race morning |
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| The boys in the morning |
After getting our bikes ready we headed over to the main
stage to be body marked. We saw all our supporters at this time – it felt so
nice to see everyone!! All the kids were half asleep and very cold, but they
were being so good and just staring at all the craziness around them!! My
sister gave me a big hug then she noticed I had on my lululemon pants with an
old sweater. She said “Kris – do you want to borrow my lululemon sweater so you
will match?” At that point I was so nervous I was going to pass out and she
wanted to make sure that I was matching!! I loved it so much and it reminded me
of that awesome way that Sher cares. In the hospital with my Dad she always
made sure that his major needs were looked after, but she also made sure the
little things were in order too. She would take out her pedicure set and fix my
Dad’s feet. She would take out the chapstick and make sure he wasn’t too dry.
She always brought hand cream and made sure his skin was looked after. I knew
this was Sher’s way of helping and I really appreciated it!
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| "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13 |
We then proceeded to walk the 800m to the swim start! At the
start of the walk I was sooo nervous. At one point the thought came into my
mind – what if I just say that I can’t do this, is that allowed? J
Just as I was thinking this we walked past the lake and saw the most beautiful
view. The water was as smooth as glass and the sunrise was gorgeous. I had
asked all the girls from my bible study group to send me verses that I could
think about for the race. They came through with some amazing verses and I kept
thinking of one of them “surprise us with love at daybreak, then we’ll skip and
dance all the day long.” Psalm 90:14. So there it was – God surprised me at
daybreak and I knew it was going to be a great day. Now it was my turn to skip
and dance all the day long!!
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| "surprise us with love at daybreak, then we'll skip and dance all the day long." Psalm 90:14 |
At the swim start we got our wetsuits on, gave everyone a
big hug, and then headed down to the beach. I had found out at the race
briefing that it would be a beach start instead of the usual start where
everyone is already in the water. I was worried that people would be trampling
on one another as they all raced into the water. I went to the beach with
Damien and watched as they started the pros before us. I kept looking at the
big clock – 10 mins to go. I just wanted the gun to go off because the
anticipation was killing me!! A man beside me looked at the verse on my hands.
He told me he loved that verse too and we wished each other a great race. The
time was getting closer. Damien and I gave each other a big hug and kiss and
said our goodbye for the day. He was heading to the front of the pack and I was
making my way to the back of the beach! The countdown began and the gun went
off. From where I was there wasn’t any trampling and people weren’t even
running! We were all calmly entering the water like we were going for a
training swim. I loved it!! The first 300m were a little crazy though. Every
time I would find some space to swim it would quickly be filled in with other
wetsuits. Just when I thought I was on a roll people would swim at me from
another direction and I’d lose my rhythm. At one point I heard a guy yell out
“This is insane!!” and I agreed with him completely. I didn’t once feel panicky
though like I thought I would. Instead I was kind of chuckling at the craziness
of it all. Finally things started to spread out a bit and I found someone’s
feet to follow behind. The water was so clear you could see everything! Very
different to the murky Kelso lake water!!! I was looking at my watch under
water and looking at my tattoos. Then I just kept looking at those feet in
front of me. I was thinking that she had very nice feet and I was wondering if
someone was following mine and I started to regret that I hadn’t gotten a
pedicure before the race. Funny what you think of to pass the time!! Then we
hit the first turn around! It started to get congested again as everyone was
staying close to the bouy. I heard someone say “Is it the turnaround already”
and I was thinking the same thing. I was actually enjoying this swim!! On the
stretch back to the beach I followed someone else’s feet. This was a man’s feet
and he was kicking a lot. I loved it because the wake made swimming so much
easier!! I was trying to stay with him but then I noticed that he was swimming
all over the place and decided that my own straight line would be faster. It
was kind of funny as the random person would swim into me and I’d see them
going in all directions. That was probably me too because spotting in open
water has never been my strength!! The
swim finish was shallow for a long time so there was a lot of running in the
water before you got out. It was a funny feeling getting my legs to stand up
again and run. Finally I crossed the swim finish line and the time read 1:24!!!
As I was running towards the transition I saw that they had wetsuit
strippers!!! This was the best thing ever!! I ran to 2 volunteers and they told
me to lie on the ground and they ripped my suit off me in seconds!! This
would’ve taken me forever!! I thanked them profusely then was on my way to the
500m run to the bike transition! It was along this run that I saw our support
group!! It was so great to see them and I couldn’t help but have the biggest
smile on my face!! I WAS DONE THE SWIM!!!!!! One leg down – 2 to go!!
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| Done the swim!!!!! |
The bike transition was so organized! I ran in and someone
yelled my number and another volunteer grabbed my bike gear bag. I was trying
to get my stuff on and get out of there as fast as I could but noticed that
some people were drying off and changing into bike clothes. I guess they were
in for a more comfortable ride than I was!! I put on my new pink arm warmers!!
I was so pleased with my purchase and I even got a few comments on them on the
bike course!! I had an all black race outfit so I had to jazz things up
somehow!! I headed out for the 180kms ahead of me!!
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| Damien on the bike course |
The bike course was amazing! All I can say is that I enjoyed
every single part of it!! I loved the scenery which was unbelievably
beautiful!! I loved the energy of the spectators and the volunteers!! One
section of the course went through the old village of St Jovite. I felt like I
was in the tour de France as I was biking up paved roads and people were
running along the course yelling French things at me and ringing cow bells.
That town exploded with energy and biking through it was a joy! The hilliest
part of the course was up Ch. Duplessis and the scenery made up for the hills!!
I saw Damien twice on the bike. Once on route 117 and he was looking great!! I
yelled out “Hey hun!!” and the person next to me thought it was neat that my
husband was in the race too. And another time as he was finishing his last loop
and heading back to transition!! I gave him a little cheer! One lady biked
passed me from Collingwood and said she liked my arm warmers – I noticed she
had the same and we wished each other well in the race. Then there was Spencer
from Alberta. I could hear him coming a mile away because he chatted with every
person he passed. He came up to me and we talked for a quite a while! He used
to weigh 250lbs and his neighbor who was a doctor told him that while he was
shoveling he was going to have a heart attack one day. He decided to make a
change and signed up to this race in the Clydesdale category – for men over
200lbs. He has lost tons of weight and is feeling better than he ever has. He’s
trying to get his wife into the sport and bought her a pink tri bike for her
birthday. She was ticked it wasn’t diamonds. I could see her point but I would
secretly have loved a pink tri bike!! He asked me about my story. I told him I
was doing this for my Dad to raise money for brain cancer. He told me his Dad
died of lung cancer and thinks of him a lot while he’s training. We seemed to
see one another a lot on the course. He would race pass me on the downhills and
I would race passed him on the uphills. The last loop of the course went
straight uphill then finished with a long downhill. I felt really good so I was
passing everyone on the last uphill section. Then on the downhill everyone with
fancy aero bikes with aero helmets and more weight flew passed me. One nice man
came passed me and told me I needed to gain more weight if I wanted to be
faster. I had never heard that before!!! I finished the bike course on a high!!
I couldn’t believe it was over and I couldn’t believe how much fun it was!! I
raced into transition and was amazed at how fast 6hrs and 47mins felt!! I was
also amazed at my time. I never thought I would do anything under 7 hours. In
training I would always finish a hilly course with an average of 24kms and here
I averaged 26kms. Very excited!! 2 legs down and 1 more to go!
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| bike course |
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| Me on the run |
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| Damien on the run |
In transition I fumbled with what to do with my gels. I was
trying to get them on my race belt and that took a lot of time. I managed to
get 2 on then thought I would hold 2 more in my hands. As soon as I ran on the
course I saw our amazing supporters!! I didn’t see them at all on the bike
because we were going too fast so I was soo excited to see them!! In the
beginning of the run I was trying to hold back! I sprang out of there with a
pace of 5:10. I knew I couldn’t maintain that over the marathon and I had read
many race reports that said if you slow down in the start then your body will
thank you for it later. I eased back to a pace of 6mins. I was feeling really
really good. My strategy was to walk every aid station to make sure I drank all
my fluids. I realized that my stomach would never be able to handle the gels
that I painstakingly put in my fuel belt so I threw those out and came up with
a new plan. I would rotate coke at one aid station then energy drink at the
other and water all the time to wash it down. I also discovered that they had
warm chicken broth at some of the aid stations so I put that in my rotation as
well. I figured I would get all the
sugars and salt I would need this way. The
longest section of the run was on an old railway line that was covered in fine
gravel. I broke it up into 4 sections to make it seem more manageable. The
first loop felt good and I saw Damien right away as he was finishing his first
lap. We gave each other a high five and it was so nice to see him!! As I was
starting my second loop I saw Damien again at his 41km mark! I knew he had
1.2kms to go and he was having an awesome race!! He would be so happy with his
time and I was soo excited to see him!! I gave him a huge high five and massive
cheer!! It gave me the burst of energy I needed!! I imagined his finish and
everyone there to see him! He did it and I was almost done too!!
The volunteers and spectators on the run were amazing!! We
had our names on our race bibs so I would hear people yelling “Go Kristen – you
can do it!!” or “girl power – looking good!!!”. Many of the volunteers at the
aid stations were dressed as super heroes!! Their energy would keep me smiling
and really made the race special! The hardest part of the run was at that
dreaded 30km mark. At this point my body was really tired and I knew I was
close but still far enough away. I was on the long out and back of the railway
line and it suddenly started pouring with rain and there was a little thunder
too. I started to get worried in the downpour that I was going to freeze. I
didn’t pack anything in my special needs bag and I really needed to finish
before the sun went down if I wanted to avoid hypothermia!!! I knew my spectators
would need to take the boys home in this rain! I started to worry about the
Chariot in the thunder and figured that Pat and Sherra wouldn’t keep the boys
in it!! All of a sudden it felt like it was just me and my Dad. I thought “This
is how it all started Dad so it feels right that this is how it should finish”.
I was feeling a little out of it at this point so to be having conversations
with my Dad was perfectly normal. I told him that I really needed him now and
that we had to finish this together. I felt like I could feel him linking his
arm in mine and for a moment I could even see the details of his hands. Where
his wedding band was on his finger, where the creases were on his palms, and
the grease under his nails because he was always working on something in the
garage. So that was it – hand in hand we finished the end of the long railway
line. And at the end the sun came out and the most beautiful sky emerged from
under the clouds. There was a lake at the end of the trail and the water looked
like it did in the morning. So peaceful and so beautiful. My Dad got me through
the worst and I was almost done now!!! I thanked him – he must have some pull
up there with God to give me such a great sky to finish!!
Everyone around me was getting excited to finish!! This nice
man from Switzerland started talking to me in French – at this point I couldn’t
even muster up enough French to say that I didn’t speak it, I could only give
him a blank look. He easily switched to English and congratulated me on being
near the end!! I congratulated him too and he said that a week earlier he had
finished the Ironman in New York! I told him he was crazy and he said “That‘s
what my mother told me too”!! He continued to chat with me but it was hard to
hear him and I felt so bad that I kept asking him to repeat himself. Finally I
said “I’m sorry but at this point it’s taking everything in me to just move my
legs over. I’m sorry that I’m not much of a conversationalist!!”. He laughed
and understood!! He told me if I hurried then we could finish under 13hours!!
At this point I hadn’t been paying attention to the time. This race was only
ever about finishing and I had some idea of what time I thought I could do but
I never thought it would be under 13 hours!! The course looped into the village
where the finishing shoot was lined with people cheering and giving you high
fives!! It felt amazing to go down there and I saw my sister at the very end!!!
She had the sign that I wanted with me to cross the line and I gave her a huge hug
as she passed it to me. This race was all about my Dad and I wanted to honour
him in the finish!! I held the sign up and crossed that line hearing “Kristen
you are an Ironman”. 12:57!!! I couldn’t believe it!! What an awesome, awesome
day!!
I saw all our family at the end!! The adrenaline was fueling
my body at this point and I was so excited to see everyone with a huge smile
that I couldn’t get off my face!! Then suddenly I could feel the adrenaline
leaving and I started to feel very sick. I needed to sit down so Damien took me
to some chairs and we hung out there for a bit exchanging race stories. He
finished in 10:46!! That was an Ironman PB for him and his best marathon time
ever! Sounds like that caused him to spend a good chunk of time in the medical
tent afterwards but he was feeling much better now!! It’s crazy what we put our
bodies through voluntarily!! I watched as other athletes were enjoying the
beer, poutine and pizza that they offered at the finish line. I could barely
muster a couple mouthfuls of chocolate milk at this point but was wishing I had
the stomach for more!! After a while we met everyone at the village and got our
bikes and gear bags. Then we headed back to the condo, had a much needed shower
and just hung out with all our amazing supporters!! That was probably my
favourite part of the day – enjoying the aftermath with my Dad’s brothers,
sister and families and my mom, my sister and our families!!! I was so honoured
that they were there!!
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| Our supporters (and my mom taking the photo) |
I’ve been reflecting a lot on the day this past week!! I
can’t believe how much I enjoyed it!! If I could think of one word to describe
the race it would be “joy”. Because that’s what it was!! It was a joy to swim,
a joy to bike and a joy to run in such a beautiful place with some amazing
people. I keep telling Damien that I don’t think I was meant to enjoy it as
much as I did. Maybe I didn’t push myself enough – or maybe it’s like
childbirth and I just forgot about most of the pain because the finish
overshadowed it!! I feel like the race summed up so many things about my Dad.
He wasn’t a complicated person, he didn’t like drama – his favourite saying was
“keep it real, let’s keep it real”! My Dad lived life with joy!! So that was my
race – no major complications, no crazy dramas, just pure joy! If I could
experience so much fun skipping and dancing to the love of God at daybreak then
imagine how much more of that my Dad is experiencing!!
I’ve been asked a few times if I’ll do another one again. I enjoyed
this race so much that I’m not totally against the idea. The training was
definitely the most demanding part and took up so much of my life. If I was
ever to do one again it would be when my kids are much older. But I also know
that if I was to do another one it would never be the same as this race. This
race had such a huge purpose from beginning to end and I carried that purpose
with me the whole day.
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