The Worst Day

Today started like no other training day, got up, prepared myself for an 80-100K ride with my friend Krista, Christine and Geoff.  

I met the gang at Bragg Creek and from there we road east on 22X towards 37th (we were going to tackle Road to Nepal). The first 35K was wonderful, no issues with my back and was down on my aero bars for most of the 34K and I was rocking my nutrition (today it was working for me).

We stopped on the corner of 37th Street for a little rest, and then it happened - I did not see who was at fault but I saw this...

I had just stopped at the corner when we heard a loud bang.  

We looked up to see the biker thrown into the air, the van swerved and the biker hit the ground. 

 

Strangers rushed to help.

The biker was crumpled and not responsive. I was surprised at how calm everyone around the biker was, including myself. We just all did what we had to do.

Three of us called 911.

My friend (Christine) was at the bikers side along with another man who were stabilizing the bikers head.  

Someone yelled, "ambulance is on their way, they said don't move him".

Christine yelled for blankets in case the biker went into shock. I ran across the road to the guy selling cherries, he gave me two coats. I ran back to Christine who covered the biker.

A nurse/paramedic came to the bikers aid (I think she was a biker).

Some people were at the side of the road, a young woman on the phone to 911 who was shaking (I hugged her to calm her down). Another young woman, the passenger of the van who hit the biker, was crying and said "we did not see the biker, he just came out of nowhere". I asked her to go back to her van and clam down and ensure the driver stayed calm as well (as calm and they could get).

Christine asked if someone could go to the corner of 22X and 37th and flag the ambulance down...it's hard to run in bike shoes but off I went. The fire truck was first to arrive and I waved them down. the ambulance was right behind them.

At this point I walked over to the van where the driver and passenger were sitting, the driver was shaking... and I mean shaking. I felt so bad for her, she kept saying that she did not see him, he just came out of nowhere. We talked, I hugged her, she calmed down.

A police man came to the van - "do you need a paramedic" he asked. I left her.

It seemed like forever....then the biker was on a stretcher.

They put him in an ambulance.

STARS was called they were there very quickly.

Again, it seemed like forever, they were getting the biker ready for the trip...

FINALLY they were off to the Foothills Hospital!
We waited till everything cleared up, we were all upset. We choose to ride home. 

 

I don't know how the biker is but I pray he is fine.

Please be safe when riding 22X or any other busy road and ensure you pay attention.

Maria Wilson, You Are An Ironman

This past weekend while Calgary was under water Jeff and I drove to Coeur d'Alene (CDA), Idaho and volunteered for the Ironman.

We drove to Creston, BC and visited with my mum and dad Friday (arriving in Creston around 11:30 p.m. Thursday night due to the flooding), the Saturday morning drove to CDA to pick up our volunteer t-shirt for our shift Sunday at 5 p.m. as catchers at the finish line.

Ironman Morning

Jeff and I woke at 5 p.m. and drove from Spokane (where our hotel was) to CDA to watch the start of the Ironman - the swim (my favorite party of IM).  It was a very organized swim start by age group and not the mass start you see in most Ironman events http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lity-YTZaRE

 

Once the swim was over it was off on the bikes (sorry forgot camera at the hotel).

 
After the bikes we went back to our hotel to rest for 2 hours till our catching shift started. 

Catcher at the Finish Line of Ironman

Well, when the athlete crosses the finish line at Ironman he/she is exhausted.  Some need help stopping as they have been moving so fast during the race they have a hard time coming to a full stop at the finish line and some need help after they stop just keeping upright.  It is a very rewarding volunteering job and the athlete is very appreciative thanking you over and over again and in some cases giving you a hug. 

Jeff and I started our shift at 5 p.m. and must have caught about 40 athletes between the two of us, that does not sound like a lot but there were about 30 catchers at the finish line at any given time and it takes you about 10-15 minutes to take care of each athlete.  In fact, Jeff volunteered till 11:30 a.m. catching and I worked till 8 p.m. - at 8 p.m. I was asked to help the announcer in the tower calling out the names of the athletes as they crossed the finish line, you know the guy who says "you are an ironman".  Well as the athletes crossed a certain section in the race, about a 200 meters before the finish line, their bib number came over a screen and I had to punch the number onto a computer so the announcer could read out their name and whatever info he had on this athlete.  It was really great cause I had the best seat in the house, I could see all the athletes as they came in and crossed the finish line.

The Best Part of the Ironman

Now the best part of the volunteering was during my catching shift.  A friend of mine Jennifer was in the race and I was hoping to catch her but, what are the chances?  Well pretty great actually, she came in under 12 hours and I heard her name as I was finishing up with another athlete, when I heard "Jennifer you are an Ironman" I booked it to the finish line to catch her.  We both broke down and cried, I was so happy that I had caught her it truly was a special moment for me.

11:30 PM

At 11:30 p.m. Jeff and I stopped our volunteering duties to join the party at the finish line to cheer in the last athletes in the last 1/2 hour of the race. Being at the finish line of an Ironman event is like not other finish line you have ever been too.  The spectators stay to cheer on everyone till the bitter end in Ironman, it truly is an inspirational moment in time as you can see from this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfm-lwhnjz8 

Ironman 2014

Well you guessed it, the day that I have been writing about finally came.  I signed up for Ironman 2014 on Monday morning @ 9:30 a.m.

I can honestly say that I am excited about this next adventure in my life!  I can't wait to cross that finish line on June 29, 2014 when the announcer says:

Maria Wilson from Calgary, Alberta

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

 

"Until you face your fears, you don't move to the other side, where you find the power."

I believe the quote above was from Mark Allen - IM champion.

 

Yesterday I did the first 1/2 Ironman of the year (next one is in July).  The race I did was the Chinook 119.1 (1/2 Ironman). 

 

I would be lying big time if I said the race was easy, but I did PB (personal best) in this race.

 

Swim was 2k and I loved it.  I warmed up 10 minutes before the race, stayed at the back of the pack and finished in 51:56 minutes (last race was 56:34).

 

Bike was 96K (most 1/2 IM bike distances are 90K).  The bike route was very hilly and I had a head wind out to the turnaround point - the first 48K took 2:12.  On the way home I talked with my legs, rather screamed at them out loud and advised them they needed to work harder.  So, the ride home 48K took 1:38 with another head wind.  The ride home was slightly more downhill so that did make it easier.  Total time on the bike 3:49 (last race was 90K and took 4:12).

Run was 21.1 and I hated it.  I started out the run doing a 6:38 pace for about 3K then realized I could not keep this pace up. It was on the run that I fought back and forth with myself about signing up for Ironman next year.  I was so tired on the run, I keep running and stopped once in a while to stretch (my back hurt from the ride) and really just wanted to stop for good.  I was ready to give it all up and get a DNF but I just keep going. 

 

The run was two loops of the same route, through Midapore and then down through Fish Creek with a hill at the end of each 10K up into Midapore to the finish line.  It was really mentally tough to do my first 10K then have to run past the finish line to do another 10K. 

 

Finally after 2:53 I finished the run and crossed the finish line.  (last race was 2:47 so it took my longer this time). 

 

Transitions - T1 & T2 total = 7:16 (in my last race T1 & T2 total = 5:21).

 

 

When I look back on it I don't think I ate enough on the bike and should have eaten more in my transition before the run so I would have more energy on the run.  I might try gels next month in my transitions and will def. eat more on the bike.  As for transitions I am going to try to get my T1 time down to 3 minutes - I took way to long in T1 this go round.

 

My overall time for this race was 7:42 (last race was 8:00) that is a difference of 17 minutes. 

 

How do I feel?

I was tired last night and am tired today, but feel better than I felt after any marathon I ran.  Today I mowed my lawn, weeded my garden and did laundry, but I also had a nap and had trouble getting up and down the stairs.

 

This weekend I'll be going to coeur d' alene to sign up for Ironman 2014 - yup you heard me correctly I AM SIGNING UP FOR IRONMAN 2014.