IRONMAN FRANCE 2004 by Barb Scatchard
After a hectic week of finishing report cards and packing, I endured the14 hour transit day (night?) to Paris, France. For the day, my main concern was staying awake in order to adapt to the time zone as quickly as possible. After visiting Claire’s grandparents (and practicing my French), we took the “metro” into Paris to look at the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elyses and the Arc de Triumph. It was very cool to check it out in real life after seeing it in photos and on TV!
The next day we rented a van and drove to Gerardmer, a small town 450 km from Paris. We were very excited to see the lake and beach where the Ironman swim would be held and of course…the hills! The houses in this town cover a hill with a beautiful park, beach and lake at the bottom. At the top of the hill there is a ski resort with a ski lift only metres away from the highest house.
The race directors were so welcoming! We arrived at the Ironman office where they invited us to take advantage of the free massages and email access (available all week). He then took me to meet my homestay family.
As we pulled up to a very beautiful European house high on the hill, the entire family came out to greet us. They were very accommodating, offering me anything I wanted and arranging a time to eat dinner that night. They invited Claire and David, who were booked into a hotel, to join us and asked us, what type of food we wanted to eat. It turned out they cooked all our meals for us and insisted that Claire and David join us for every one. They didn’t speak much English so Claire and I got a lot of practice with our French translation skills (thanks to Dave). Later that week, we didn’t have to translate much however, Dave understood almost everything and he could even ask where the washrooms were (with all that hydrating!)
I never managed to adapt to their time schedule. Every morning I was awake at 3 or 4 am but tried to lay in bed and rest or read until at least 6.
Since we had arrived in Gerardmer, the weather was very cold and windy, with some rain, but the race directors assured us there would be “gros soleil” (a big, fat sun) on race day.
We picked up our race packages, which included a nice backpack and an Ironman France cycling jacket. That day we rode one loop (60k) of the bike course and although conditions were very windy, we enjoyed the course, especially the descents!
Race morning was calm and sunny, but cold! After leaving our sandals in the transition area and saying “Goodbye” to Claire, Dave and I realized that we had almost a kilometre to walk to the swim start on a gravel path! At 6 degrees, our feet were numb already but I could still feel the rocks under my feet even hours later. We were left with about three minutes to warm up and find a starting spot. The big, fat sun was very bright and for the last and longest leg of the swim I thought it better if I didn’t try to sight but to follow the bubbles. Surely others could sight better than I could anyway. I managed to see some fast feet come through and stayed on them for a while and then lost them, found some more and repeated this process a few more times until I hit the beach. My second sub hour swim in 15 Ironman races (59:19). I should leave the sighting up to others more often.
I raced through T1 and thought I had a pretty quick transition. As I approached my bike I saw that it was not very hard to find. I was sure I was the slowest swimmer in the pro field.
The bike course was fairly flat for the first 20k and still very cold. A few minutes into the ride, Claire informed me that I was 6th place woman which was good news. There was a woman (Zsuzanna) right in front of me so I thought I was in good shape. I usually make up places on the bike and run. I soon caught up to David, who’d exited the lake 4 seconds ahead of me and we rode together for the next 140km. It was good to ride with him. He’s always positive and smiling! At around half way on the bike the race director informed me that I was in 4th place. I was feeling really good and keeping my heart rate in a designated zone.
On my last lap of the bike my eyes started to burr, which is a problem that I’ve experienced in longer races. Dave and Zsuzanna had dropped back so I was on my own. I couldn’t really see where to turn until I was right on the markers and the rough, winding descents became difficult. Finally, a guy came by in an orange jersey, which was bright enough for me to follow. The last 10 km was on a flat, wide highway so I was O.K. I looked at my speedometer and was shocked to see that I was going to take over 6 hours to do the bike course! I hoped that it proved to be a slow bike ride for everyone, not only for me.
Anticipating the vision problem, I had eye drops in my run bag at T2. I took the time to put them in, after putting my runners on and I kept the bottle in my pocket on the run. I left T2 inside the top 5, and heard that there was a woman 4 minutes ahead.
I have come to expect the first mile to be very painful, but as I started the run, my legs felt surprisingly good. I got a few of my kilometre splits and was running anywhere from 4;20-4;40 for the first lap….perfect. A race official told me someone dropped out and that I was now in third place but I wasn’t convinced he was right. I came across Dave running the other way and was relieved to see him. I expected him to catch up anytime and I was anxious for that because it was becoming more and more difficult to see (the drops weren’t working). At this point, I couldn’t see the numbers on my heart rate monitor so I didn’t know at what intensity or pace I was running. At the end of the first 13 km lap (should have been 14 km) we ran along a gravel path along the lake. Small inclines that I couldn’t quite make out, made me to trip a few times, causing my legs to cramp. A volunteer tried to hand me a wristband, which signified that I had completed one lap. I declined politely thinking that it was some weird European gel. Good thing for me that she was persistent enough to run after me and insist that I take it. My legs felt good but not good enough to do an extra lap that day. Claire told me that I was 4th as she handed me my special needs bag. We were allowed to have someone we know hand us our special needs and we were able to get it three times. That was great!
The run course was three out and backs including two long hills that you hit both ways making 12 significant hills. I regretted not previewing the run course. These hills were even big enough for me to see! I considered stopping for medical aid but I couldn’t think of anything that could be done and they may have pulled me off the course. I knew from previous experiences, that my vision would become normal again after finishing. Really, I felt great but I found the distorted vision distracting and a bit frightening, as it had never been quite so bad. I did wonder how bad it would get.
I tried to stay positive and thought of things like how well my nutrition was going and how everything (besides my vision) felt great. I also thought of Kevin and how he guts it out in races and of my friend, Jill Savege. I kept her awesome running form in mind. I also thought about all the friends, family, training partners and students who were watching from home and all the support they had given me to make that race possible. It gave me motivation to finish the best I could. I don’t remember any women passing me on the last lap (or I couldn’t see them) but two must have because I finished off the race in 6th place with a time of 10:25. I was unaware of my final placing and time until I spoke with Kevin on the phone a few hours after finishing.
The experience in Ironman France has motivated me to have my eyesight problem resolved and I am now scheduled for laser surgery (this week). They seem very positive about the outcome. I can’t wait to race again with good vision. I have confidence in my fitness level and training.
I really enjoyed being in France getting to know such wonderful people and culture.
End