Reprinted from www.runningroom.com Running Room Magazine July / August 2008
On Sunday, September 21, the gun will go off (actually a 105 Howitzer cannon) along Ottawa’s Rideau Canal to start the first-ever Canada Army Run. It’s Canada’s version of the Marine Corps Marathon and the U.S. Army Ten Miler and anyone who has ever taken part in those races will tell you that you can’t beat the carnival-like atmosphere, the distinct military flavour, the crowd support and the raw emotion. The Canadian edition, which featured a 5K and half marathon, is being managed by the organizers of the Ottawa Race Weekend.

“A Canada army run is long overdue,” says Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, head of Canada’s army. Fitness is such a huge part of a soldier’s life. We want to share that commitment with our fellow Canadians.” “And what better way to do it than by putting on a Marine Corps Marathon-style race?” That sentiment is echoed by John Stanton, Running Room’s founder and president: “We’re excited about the run. I have no doubt that anyone who takes part will come away feeling like they’ve been part of something very special.” Stanton says he believes that runners and walkers will be drawn to the event because Canadians are increasingly open about supporting their military. “I see that every day in Edmonton. It’s emotional when the troops come back from Afghanistan and you see the trees lined with people cheering and yellow ribbons everywhere.” He adds: “You know, Canadians see their military in conflict overseas or in times of trauma here at home—whether it’s helping out in forest fires, ice storms or floods. This is a chance to put a human face to the military and connect on a different playing field.” “Running by its very nature is the great equalizer,” adds Stanton. “No one cares what
rank you are or what you do when you’re running together in a 5K, 10K, half or full marathon. It’s all part of a shared experience.” “I think that just like the Marine Corps Marathon, women will be delighted to have a
young soldier give them their medal at the finish line and men will be inspired by seeing our men and women in uniform bringing them home.”

All local Results Here

I was writing to let you know that I am doing quite well (considering... ) I now have a feeding tube, and my energy levels quite consistently match my breathing rate and currently I am able to speak.

SO I am doing ok, and keeping on plugging away at this, I'm not going down without a fight. I am fighting this till the last breath, and despite the look in my eyes, I am scared at times.
I signed a DNR (do not resuscitate) order and am on palliative care now at home- which is nice because I get priority on handitransit to medical appointments, and my family doctor comes home to see me, and most procedures will be done at home... I am now on a pain patch of fentynol which I resisted for a long time.

My reason for writing is two fold.
1) giving you (not to the club, just to you no need to give a further update-but I do plan on making a spectacular skydive-actually a B.A.S.E. jump off New River Gorge Bridge (Oct. 18th) on Bridge Day when 450 people from around the world gather to the "most extreme sporting event" a 876f jump to the river below with a parachute (only one- no time to open a reserve anyway's if something goes wrong-its 8 seconds to the bottom). This will be live in TSN. That will be my 'last hurrah-once I come back from that trip, I would like to share with the club the experience -I think I am the only one in Sudbury to attempt a B.A.S.E. jump (8 only about 1000 people worldwide do it).

2) I wanted to ask you to consider something.

Could the Sudbury ROCKS club consider participating on the annual walk for ALS for me?
I wanted to do it this yr, but was not well enough-i waited too long. It is in June and it is in Delki Dozzi park (so people can walk their loved ones in wheel chairs.. it is predominantly a family event.. BUT they rarely get many people and not a lot of $ raised. The $ raised goes to LOCAL ALS chapter. This chapter helps us all in immense ways. Because of the nature of our illness we need things like ceiling lift (*i have one coming on Monday because I cannot lift myself out of my wheelchair into bed, toilet anything) and these are not covered by gov. insurance programs. These lifts cost over $5,000. They also have equipment such as tilting electric wheelchairs which are expensive ($15,000+ my racing chair new would of been $7,000 and my manual one was $5,000 what a difference in price).,

The ALS society keeps these equipment in their lending trailer, and lend them to people like me when we need them.. without $ we could never get these, gov. does not pay for this stuff all. *(they would rather put us in care facilities which to me costs more to keep us there then have the equipment to live at home.. but that's another discussion).

SO, would you, and Donna (*maybe ?) discuss the possibility to have the ROCKS (surely we can walk also if we can run :) )
to participate.
I know it is close to the ROCKS marathon, but if people are not running, they are walking it should be only good stretching before or after the ROCKS marathon.
Also, there is no entry fee, a picnic etc. after if people want to. It wont cost anyone anything, its just to go and try to collect a bit of pledges and go join those of us with ALS to walk with us.... to help raise some funds for the local chapter to keep having equipment to lend to us...

Good luck on the jump Minna . Donna and I will ensure the Rocks!! provide assistance with the ALS Walk in June. Vince

Be well,
-minna

The 2008 Muskoka Ironman 70.3 Triathlon was the largest single triathlon I have attended in Ontario, and possibly the largest single triathlon EVER in Ontario. The event had been sold out for more than a year, and the buzz in the air Sunday morning at Deerhurst Resort near Huntsville confirmed that a year's worth of anticipation was coming to a head.

For me, this race was an opportunity to get the long course monkey off my back, having struggled on the second half of the bike and run in my previous 3 long races. The cause was no secret; I had not been adequately prepared to really race those previous events, but my competitive instincts on the bike got the better of me and the results were predictable. The most recent of these in Bracebridge last month was even performed with the benefit of a power meter on the bike, so I could watch my demise take place on the screen in front of me as I limped in on the bike before departing on a 21.1km jog.

This time, I promised to ditch the ego and use the tool I had spent so much money on to help me ride to my current fitness, not my memories of past fitness. My race goal was to finish the run strong, which I figured for this course meant 1:31-1:35. To get there, I planned to follow the advice I gave my athletes on how to ride the course; warm up to Dwight (16km), eat/drink/stay aero to Baysville (62km), build effort through the tough final section of the course to T2 (94km). Power-wise, I wanted to see an average closer to 200 than the 220 I saw in Bracebridge, with a higher average in the second half of the ride. I knew that meant holding back more than I ever have in a Half IM, but I was committed to the plan.

Swim: 32:13

I had a great start on the left side and found clear water right away – I am getting good at that. I have noticed that recently I have lacked the desire to bury myself to hang with faster feet and was willing to settle into the 32 minute group, including a guy who was doing a 2000m free/back/breast set. That's the second time I have picked a draft like that – I wonder if it was the same guy!

T1: 2:56

Out of the water and my wetsuit thanks to the helpers at the exit stairs and the wonderful wetsuit strippers, and I was flying through the long uphill T1. Hey, I committed to pacing the bike, but I didn't say anything about T1! The high energy of transition always gets me going, and I simply can't help myself. Out of the water in 16th in my age group, onto the bike in 10th – yippee!

Bike: 2:47:59

Once I got riding, my power meter started lecturing me – slow down you goof! And I did, enjoying the scenery and the fun semi-technical riding of the opening kilometres. I was hoping to see some deer like days previous, but they must have been scared away by all the lycra. Soon my bike ego was receiving regular tests, as I started getting passed. Getting passed on a bicycle when you can do something about it just feels wrong. I wanted to tell each person that went by "I can ride…. honest!", but I kept my mouth shut. When I started getting passed by riders from the wave behind me,… well, at least I knew that I was executing my plan!

On the upside, my recent 35th birthday resulted in having the good fortune of racing in the first wave. The road was open, and there was no drafting taking place anywhere around me. I dialed into my steady effort on the highway, stayed aero, and enjoyed the ride. Holding back while maintaining focus is an odd combination to master, and I find having a power meter really helps with this. A few more bike studs rolled by, and I caught a few swimmers and female pros from the wave ahead. I also saw group after group of locals standing on the roadside in the rain, cheering us on. I can't say enough about how surprising and appreciated that was!

The rain had me drinking less, so I grabbed a couple of gels at the first bottle exchange in case I needed to supplement calories (I normally consume liquid-only, which can backfire in cooler/wet races). Long course nutrition is really a game of being 2 steps ahead of your needs, and this decision paid off.

My pacing was also paying off as I entered the final third of the ride feeling fantastic. I picked up the intensity slightly and enjoyed the hills on South Portage road and the final 9k on North Portage/Canal. I even re-passed one of the guys who went by in the early going, and put more than a minute into him in the last 5k – hey, this pacing stuff works! My ride took 2:47:59 to complete and was achieved on an average of 201W (226 normalized). Mission accomplished.

T2: 1:25

Uneventful – that's a good thing!

Run: 1:37:38

Physically things were good, and I picked off a couple of runners in my age group in the early going. Unfortunately, I struggled with some minor stomach issues. This was one of several Ironman sensations I experienced during the day that I had never felt during shorter races before. This was clearly not your average Half IM! I spent the remainder of the run on that "Ironman edge" between bonking and puking as I kept the fluids and calories rolling and weathered the bad patches while my body absorbed them. I also was surprised to find myself overheating. Despite the wet conditions, it was still too humid for my sweat to evaporate and I poured cool liquid over my head at every aid station.

The run course was challenging and had a bit of everything, with an extra helping of hills. I like hills on the run because it helps you maintain focus and provides an early warning system for an impending bonk. At this race, it also provided the Ironman sensation of becoming more leg tired than lung tired. I'll admit that while I used every trick in the book to manage the hills effectively, they still kicked my butt!

A couple of fast runners from 1 (and 2!) waves behind went by, but I saw exactly zero people in my age group anywhere near me in the last 19km. One guy of undetermined age was stalking me about a hole behind on the golf course, which helped keep me honest. I finished strong and knowing I had given everything I had, which is always a good feeling.

Finish: 5:02:09

After the finish I was reminded of the sincerity of my effort with massive cramping in multiple muscle groups on the massage table. I had fun trading war stories with other finishers and cheering my athletes and friends across the line. I had no idea what my time was since I don't race with a watch, but I felt I had accomplished what I had come here to do – run strong off the bike.

 

Post-Mortem

I will confess that I'm a bit of a results junkie, and analyzing the results after the race is part of what I enjoy about the sport. For this race, however, my results have left more questions than answers.

My first surprise was finding out that I somehow managed 4th in my age group (something so doubtful that I skipped the awards). I have the combination of a tough day and a relatively soft M35-39 to thank for that – for comparison I would have placed 7th in the M45-49! I will say that the award plaque itself is beautiful, and one of the many fine touches the organizers put on this race.

Other surprises were not as nice. While I can take pride in ranking higher in the run than the bike for the first time in 12 career half ironmans, my 1:37:38 run split was disappointing. I didn't have a watch, but I must have given away oodles of time between 10 and 16km when I was struggling with my stomach and the uphills. More confounding is that I'm not sure that my conservative bike ride really paid off in my final result. A couple of guys that I normally stay relatively close to on the bike and run obliterated me on that bike course by 10-15min and only gave back a few minutes on the run. I'm sure it was a real grind for them to race that way, but their result was still a heck of a lot better than mine!

 

In the end, the best conclusion I can draw is that this course suited those in full Ironman shape more than those in Olympic-Half IM shape. I am currently in the latter category, and it showed in my run time despite my conservative bike pacing. It also showed in the number of Ironman sensations I had on race day - an excellent experience to have as I prepare to go long again at the Beach to Battleship event in November.

Mike Coughlin

Race Results