IM 70.3 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

We decided to venture out into destination racing and chose IM 70.3 Victoria, in BC Canada (or 1.9km, 90.1km, 21.1km) but course maps revised their distances to 86km bike and 20km run.

Prep: We bought Scicon soft travel bike cases from www.probikekits.com. After measuring the bikes, we found the standard road bike size fit fine so we didn’t opt for the triathlon larger size.  I did buy aero bar pads and derailleur pads for extra protection.  The case includes a metal U-bar that protects some of the rear derailleur but the cover protects the entire rear mechanism.  For peace of mind, the extra pads were inexpensive and worth it to me but not required.  We used the SpringSwim zip-up swag bags to fit in the wetsuit and empty bottles and bike shoes.  The space behind the fork was a perfect fit for the bag. The aero helmets fit perfectly on the middle post.  I laid the air pump in the base of my bag.  The cases include TSA locks too.  Only bike parts removed were the wheels which fit in their own padded pocket on each side of the case. CO2 cartridges are not allowed as carryon or in luggage so we bought them at the expo.

Accommodations:  We stayed at the Host Downtown Hotel Grand Pacific with a view of the Victorian harbor, near the famous Empress hotel and beautiful Legislative building. We were able to walk around the harbor and view the surroundings the day we landed.  The room was average so not much to brag about and 20 minutes from the race venue.  We later found out that Howard Johnson is the other host hotel which is across from the shuttle to take you to the race venue.  We will stay here next time for convenience and it is cheaper.  We can always drive downtown when we want to but it is inconvenient to stay downtown if you are there only for the race. The good news is everything is off the hwy 17 so you can’t get lost.  We were grateful for blackout curtains because the sunsets at 9:30pm and we were in bed by 8pm!

Checkin and logistics:

It’s recommended to check-in on Friday and drop off your bike because they only allow parking at the venue on Friday.  On Sat and Sun, you have to park at the Elk Lake Regional parking lot and shuttle into the venue for about 10 minutes.  You could cycle back and forth if you can manage all your stuff and have the energy.  On race day, you gather your bags except bike, get on a shuttle to your car, drive back to the venue and get in a line to park temporarily to grab your bike and leave.  Royal pain in the ass but they just don’t have the parking space.  It’s a very small venue for 1800 racers. This year, the race sold out for the sprint and half distance. It didn’t seem like Ironman was prepared for the large group arriving on Friday.  It was complete chaos at the check in with lines to get your card with bib# and then a line to get all your other stuff and people were angry.  MANY people chose to drop the bike Friday and check in and clearly they didn’t expect this given only the hours 2pm-6pm.  Our flight was late so we didn’t get to check in until 3pmish and after all the lines and putting the bikes together, we had 1 hour to ride before transition closed!  Bike check-in should have been open until 7pm since people were still getting their race packets at 6pm. We also found no food at the expo so I’m so glad I packed 2 PBJs in my bag just in case.  They were smashed but tasty enough for the bike ride!


Preview bike course: We opted to ride the sprint bike course 13 miles which took 50 minutes and checked the bikes in just before 6pm.  We skipped the Friday 5pm athlete briefing since we knew we would return Saturday and 3 more were offered.  We decided Canadians had NO IDEA what a hill was or rough roads!  Have they never been to Vineman where you are dodging potholes constantly?  We laughed along the beautiful route and when we hit the “big” hill at mile 6, we looked at each other and said “SERIOUSLY? WAS THAT IT? We road GWL 9x for that?”  Why yes we did!  How could this be 3400 ft of climbing? We thought it was fabulous!  (turns out it’s about 3000ft gain like my RIDEWITHGPS route suggested) I noticed we were in filtered shade a lot.  Even though the water was 72 degrees, the air would be in the low 50s at 6am so I was concerned about being cold without the direct sun for about an hour.  I decided to bring a bike jersey if I was cold on race day and test sun sleeves inside my wetsuit for my pre swim.  The bike ride has constant rollers of a few low % grade but there are many.  I think 2 hills are memorable at mi 6 and mi 50 and there’s a long grade at the end of loop 1 and 2. We drove the course on Saturday and took loads of pictures admiring the greenery, cows, horses, homes, berry and sheep farms. 

We noted 3 Horseshoe turns which would slow the fast momentum, the first being the worst after a long downgrade.  During the residential side, there is a long stretch into the wind and full sun and then 6 speed bumps but they are well marked and the center is flattened if you look carefully so you can miss the entire bump.  There are 2 aid stations on each loop.  The first is at mile 9 because of the sprint course so you don’t probably need a water bottle since you can just get it there.  We thought all the roads were fine but only intersections were protected for cyclists during the race and cars were zipping by during the race and the shoulder’s edge is rough. The highways had bike lanes but other streets did not however the lanes were wide.

Pre-run

We only had 20 minutes to run in the forest.  The trails are very well groomed and you are never in full sunlight for very long.  The views through the trees were spectacular and the filtered lighting was a treat.  I chose no sunglasses so I could see well for roots and there are a few but the dust does pick up so it did get in my eyes and I was covered in light dirt which means I was sucking in dust during the race run too.  That is not good for me so I knew I would need to control my HR to ensure I was not gasping for air. The forest has lots of low rollers and low grades and 2 memorable hills during mile 5, repeated at mile 10.  We ran the lake twice for 20km which is 12.8 miles. There is a very long upgrade that never seems to end in the middle.  All of the grounds are well groomed dirt with some gravel, no holes, a few roots and some random piles of horse crap.  I knew I would never feel over heated during this entire run.

 

Pre-Swim:

There is a small sandy beach but the race starts in waist deep water. Luckily the water stayed at 72 degrees while the air was 50 degrees on race day.  We swam the sprint course for 1000 yards and I wore my sun sleeves under my suit.  I never noticed them so decided to use them for race day.  I always train with sun sleeves and I hate freezing or overheating on the bike.  These worked out great for me and kept my temperature always in balance.  We noticed the swim course runs north and south and the current is east to west so the only time we really felt it was at the short turn to the other side.   

The swim course has an odd shaped finish to get you back to the beach so buoy #6 makes the swim course turn about a 45 degree angle to the beach.  Buoys are on your left the entire course:  6 yellow buoys out, 6 orange buoys in, a red on each corner.  The sun will be in your eyes on the return so I used mirrored goggles. The lake freshwater tastes just fine but not that clear.  Families and casual swimmers were playing in it without wetsuits.  Only a few racers were sans wetsuit, and some sleeveless and the rest wore full wetsuits. I noticed the swim exit required running through sand to get to the carpet and then transition is dead grass so your feet are filthy for the bike.  I brought an extra water bottle to rinse my feet because I hate that stuff in my bike shoes.  I am not a  podium contender  so the extra time for comfort is worth it to me.

I also noticed the Swim In is the same as the Run Out.  The Bike In and Out is the same place and at the opposite end of transition. 

 Sunday Race Day:

Due to our location, we were up by 3am and driving to the shuttle with our full tribags by 3:45.  We left our helmet with our bike in transition on Saturday. We were on the shuttle by 4:15 and at the venue by 4:30ish when it opened. It was already starting to get light.  We immediately hit the porta-potties before the lines started.  The racks were pre-numbered but still crowded together.  You were allowed your tri bag and were asked to put it along the side fences away from the bikes after emptying all your stuff. I was happy to wear a windbreaker in the morning with the chilly morning air.

It was pretty cool to hear the Canadian national anthem at the start!

 My Swim: 

There were 85 women in my AG/wave. I was happy that the last wave behind me was older women which meant there would be no men to climb over me!  I am a below avg swimmer in my AG and I’m ok with that because I have a steady pace and don’t like to fight for space.  I sighted every 4-6 strokes and was happily at the red corner without a hitch.  I knew to look for another red buoy for the next turn and as I sighted, I was suddenly at an orange buoy.  I started to turn and realize this can’t be right!  They snuck in a buoy before the final red one!  WHYYY??  As I started to correct my swim, a girl swam right into me trying to turn as well and I grabbed her arm and told her NO keep swimming straight! She thanked me and off we went.  Made the turn at the red and swam as straight as I could although a silver capped man was a serpentine snake all around me and drove me nuts swimming in every direction. I finally reached a red buoy again? Oh another change…this is the 45 degree turn to the beach.  I swam to the sand and stood up at 45 minutes.  Yep, that’s what I do about every swim course.  Steady Nellie.  This time only about 118 yards longer than necessary…a world record for me landing me at 57/86th place.

T1 is a bit of a sandy dirty run through dead grass to the bike.  Rinsed my feet and put on all my gear and took off to cycle. No bike vest or jersey needed as I felt fine and happy with the sun sleeves.  I felt good on the bike passing many cyclists.  This is always my favorite part.  I’m a slow swimmer so every time I pass a cyclist, it means HAHAHA speedy fishy, I’m still passing you on the bike! This is why I don’t stress about my slow swim speed since it’s just my warmup for the bike.  I’m just never going to get a lot faster at swimming. Transition took me 3:16 with .17mi travel distance

My Bike: 

I didn’t see full sun for 50 minutes so I was really happy to have sun sleeves on for a little extra warmth.  I never felt hot the entire day.  My bike ride was beautiful and exciting with constant rollers and only a couple memorable hills. The only issue I had was reminding myself to drink water because it was so cool.  I drank my front bottle with calories about every 15 minutes but I also should alternate with water.  I probably missed about 20 oz of water. The rollers, traffic and a little wind kept me busy and I was never totally comfortable grabbing my water bottle below.  I guess it’s from the IMAZ wind tunnel that has kept me cautious about letting go to get a bottle.  I saw too many crashes at IMAZ due to cross winds.  The 2^nd loop was more wind and I got chapped lips really badly.  I used my easier gears more often as my legs were feeling fatigued and the hill at mile 50 almost made my left thigh cramp so the rest was right leg favored for sure.  My goal was to watch my power and stay steady, not to power through with speed.  Bike time was 3:21 for 3035 ft climbing (not 3400 as advertised) and the mileage was only 54.9.  I earned 44/86^th on the bike.

 I rolled into T2 with a smile and thinking it was the easiest bike course I had ridden in a race and I just loved it!  And this thought distracted me into going down the wrong bike rack!  Half way down the line, I had to turn back to go around to the other rack.  It was one long line of bikes and no way to cut across.  This made my transition longer than necessary but I got out in 3:17 and .11 mi distance traveled.

My run: 

I grabbed my bottle with 100 calorie of carbo pro water , popped 2 salts  and 2 aspirins and took off for the run.  There are 5 aid stations each loop.  Supposedly they offer the standard PowerAde gels, fruit, ice water, Pepsi, Gatorade buffet but I never found any food except gels on my run during the course.  The water was as cold as Antarctica and took my breath away when I poured it on my head. The Pepsi was carbonated and I couldn’t swallow it.  I had almost 2 powergels during the run which made my GI very unhappy.  I really needed oranges or watermelon and bananas for the run- you know. REAL food!.  I really don’t like GU, especially powergels.  I had run the first mile already and then it was all new. 

 
 

The rolling grades were kind of fun but you did have to watch for roots on the edges.  A lady started to pass me and tripped on one and was flailing her arms to keep from falling as I grabbed her arm so she could stand up.  REALLY?  What’s the rush?  I kept thinking I could run an 11 min pace in this forest forever! There’s only a few short sections of total sunlight on the run course. I never broke into a sweat.  It was an incredible course.  Then the coughing attacks kicked in.  Dust. GAWD!!!  Thankfully I had 2 cough drops with me to get me through the next 2 coughing attacks. The double hills at mile 5 were painful but ok.  Not so on the 2^nd loop!  Mile 10 with 2 hills just crushed me and suddenly I couldn’t keep running to the aid station.  The legs were dying and it was a fight to run.  I realized at mile 12 that my stomach was growling and I was feeling lethargic. The final chute is short but still gratifying to finish. The total distance was short at 12.8 miles and it was my 2^nd best run after the bike but I could have done better if I had kept pace the last 5k. I still need to work on my mental strength!  I earned 47/86^th at the finish. I’m a forever midpack racer I guess finishing in 6:51! I was expecting a PR at this race but until I can be mentally stronger on the run, I will continue to end about this time always.

I was happy to receive my medal, meet up with Marcus and go for the food.  FOOD?  Oh they ran out!  WHAT?? I’m not that slow!  Hungry, filthy, tired and I was mad!  We waited for more food to be brought out while I was feeling faint.  Finally, Marcus was handed a cup of sausage links and I had a cup with a little salad and 2 small pieces of ham!!!!  That was all they had to offer!  We were so disappointed with the food that we just wanted to leave to eat immediately.  We packed our bags and headed to the buses to shuttle to the car.  All of a sudden, Marcus says, WHERE are we going??? Huh?? Oh this bus goes to the High School!! WTF??  Took a tour of the neighborhood back to the race venue, got on the correct bus to the car and saw the miles of cars on the freeway trying to go get their bikes!  Oh HELL NO!  We stopped and grabbed sodas and sushi to go at a nearby store and ate in the car waiting for traffic to die down.  It helped a lot and we had an easy time to park and grab the bikes and pack them up for the flight home.  We stopped at Boston Pizza and Pasta to grab food to take back to hotel.  They offer amazing healthy options for pastas, salads, pizzas, vegan, vegetarian, GF, etc. We ate there twice.  We really enjoyed seeing the beautiful sites around the Victorian harbor.  There were fresh flowers everywhere.

It was so nice to take the mini pizzas back to the room and eat and shower and rest all in one place.  We rested well and slept in until 9:30!  We had time for a fabulous breakfast at the ABC Country Restaurant and an easy time checking into the airport.  On the other hand, getting through customs in San Francisco was a nightmare.  Be sure you have 2-3 hour layover! There was a line to scan the passport to get a paper, a line to get the paper stamped, a line to get the passport and paper checked, a line to pickup the bags and then to take them to be rechecked for the next flight, then a line to go through security again! This took over an hour and although I complained about our 3 hour layover, our first flight was 45 minutes late so really we had just enough time to grab a quick dinner before the connecting flight started to board!.  Flying out of country takes a lot of extra time!  It’s easy to get out of the US, just complicated to get back in the US! 

 

The bike cases made it through everything without any problems.  If you decide to travel with your bike, be sure you rent a midsize car to carry it!  We had a 4 door jeep and it allowed both bikes to stand up and room for 2 tribags and 1 medium suitcase.  We just loved the course overall and want to return or we might try IM Calgary in late July.  Their time zone is 1 hour ahead but it sounds just as beautiful as Victoria! I’m personally getting bored with sun, sand, salt and concrete! Calgary’s rolling terrain and clear blue waters of Western Canada’s Rocky Mountains makes this race one of the most scenic on the circuit and has been voted one of the top-ten most scenic triathlons in the world by Triathlete Magazine.