IRON-Y
3 Sep
My personal trainer deWolf has been preparing physically and mentally for the Subaru Ironman for the last twelve months. I was at the race last year to support my friend Mike who finished his third IronMan. This test of endurance has to be one of the most challenging events know to man, so I wasn’t about to miss seeing deWolf compete.
Once again, Alicia and I packed up my truck and drove out to Penticton. As we cruised down the highway, traffic suddenly came to a dead stop. There we were, in the middle of nowhere, sitting without music (my cd player’s been jammed forever) waiting for a wave from the traffic attendant. “I’d really like some tunes!” I whined pressing the button in frustration. Then just like that, my wish was my command: Chris Martin’s voice came out of the speakers. “Oh my god! I can’t believe its working! That’s crazy!?” Alicia squealed with excitement.
Every year all the hotels in Penticton sell out for this epic athletic event so I was forced to make unconventional arrangements. I’d found an ad online for a rental accommodation and I’d been corresponding with a lady by the name of Shannon. When we arrived at the address she’d provided me, Alicia I sat in the truck for a moment and stared blankly at the house. The front yard looked unmaintained and we both sensed something eerie. We stood at the front door with much apprehension; I rang the doorbell. The door swung open and an unusual looking blond man stood in front of us barefoot. “Hi PT Girl! Come on in. I’m Charles.” He motioned to us to follow him down a hallway and opened the second door to the left. “Here’s your room girls.” he leered. “I’m making spaghetti! As well I have another guest staying in the basement, he’s doing IronMan. Make yourselves at home” he mumbled as he walked away.
Alicia and I sat on the bed, backs against the headboard gazing at the dreadful sheep painting on the wall in front of us. “Where’s the TV?” Alicia asked. I shrugged, opening a bottled of wine attempting to stay positive. “Is Charles actually Shannon? I’m confused!” I said looking at Alicia as concerns started to brew. “Where in the heck did I have us staying” I thought to myself.
The house, although clean was an empty shell; no pictures, no ornaments, nothing at all to show signs of people living here. “Are we in Charles’s (aka Shannon’s) bedroom?” Alicia asked with a look of horror on her face. We gulped our wine in silence when all of sudden we heard a dreadful sounds coming from outside our window. I peered out and saw two kids ripping around the backyard. “IronMan brought his family!” I said throwing down the local tourist magazine I’d been flipping through. As fate may have it, the magazine fell open on page 7 and there staring back at me was an ad for the Summerland Lakeside Resort and Spa. “I’m calling!! Someone’s cancelled, I know it! We’ll get in!” Alicia looked at me with hope in her eyes. “Oh, ok… so no lake view… but you have a room? Great! We’ll take it! See you tomorrow!” I hung up.
“O.M.G. We check in tomorrow? Sweet!! This bedroom is probably rigged with spy cams.” Alicia laughed. “Let get something to eat, this place is giving me the creeps!” I said grabbing my purse. We ended up over eating and indulging in good wine at Theo’s Greek restaurant. Afterwards we ventured down towards Lakeshore drive to check out the IM festivities. Near the stage where a band was playing we saw Charles; he was eating poutine and dancing by himself a good ten feet away from the rest of the crowd. Alicia went straight up to him “Hey Charles, can we get a key to get back in?” “Nah! You don’t need a key, I leave the place open all the time!” he laughed sinisterly. Stunned, we forced a smile and walked away. “We’re going to end up on Dateline!” Alicia said seriously as we walked into the first pub in sight. We cozied up at the bar and ordered two more glasses of wine. All the bartenders were wearing IronMan 2010 t-shirts “I’m want one of those shirts and somehow before the night is over one of these bartenders will give me their shirt! I said believing myself. “Ahah! You’re funny!!!! … and we aren’t going to have pay for any drinks either!!” Alicia said attempting to manifest more good luck.
A glass of wine turned into a bottle. The place was hopping and then the bartenders’ decided to mix us some flame shooters. As the liquid courage started to run through my veins I began spouting off to whoever would listen “I’m going to sign up for IronMan!!!” No one seemed to really take me seriously as I sipped from the trough. (The Bartenders specialty; a bucket of all mixed alcohols)
We sat at the bar for hours chatting and laughing with many great, interesting people and as predicted we stumbled out at three a.m. with no bar tab and an IronMan t-shirt on my back! “Oh what a night!”
At 7:30 a.m. we were rudely awaken by the nonstop buzzing sound of a blender and kids yelling at the top of their lungs in the kitchen. I turned over and looked at Alicia. “IronMan is mixing the world larges protein shake!! I’m getting out of here!” Completely sleep deprived we showered, packed up and got the hell out of dodge.
We checked in at the Summerland Resort & Spa and were ecstatic with our new pad! “This is how we roll!” Alicia smiled. Our gorgeous one bedroom suite was equipped with a full kitchen, soaker tub, oversized fluffy bed, 2 TV’s and a huge balcony overlooking the lake. I sighed as we sat on the deck enjoy the sun “Some things are worth paying for… Minimzing the odds of being killed in our sleep; priceless!”
Lakefront view even though they told us there weren’t any available
We took a quick ride back into Penticton to wish deWolf good luck in person. The wind was blowing hard and the lake was extremely choppy “The wind will die down by the morning, I swear it will be calm for your swim” I told him. deWolf was oddly relaxed; not showing any signs of anxiety what’s so ever. “It’s just another day of exercise” he smiled.
The morning of the IronMan race came fast, even though I had another one of my typical sleepless nights. We rushed back into town to see the start of the swim.
deWolf is in there somewhere
As promised the lake was calm
As returning IronMan supporters we were pretty familiar with the bike route and managed to meet up with my trainer about 6 or 7 times along the 180 kilometers stretch. Each time we saw him, he seemed upbeat and looked strong.
deWolf looking good at the top of Richter’s pass
“Could I do this Alicia?” I asked hesitantly. “For sure you could!” she said. “What should I do? Should I sign up or not?” I fretted back and forth all day long, I needed a sign!
We veered off at Keremos to grab a bite to eat. Once we returned to the highway we weren’t able to find him again so we thought best to try and catch him near the start of his marathon. Standing at the seven kilometers mark the wind picked up and it started to rain. Alicia spotted him up the road and I waved my big homemade sign YOU ROCK!! He ran by us “Shoot me!” he said smiling. I laughed. “You’re doing great!! We yelled and cheered.
“Ok, can we go now?? I’m freezing!!!” Alicia shivered, jumping up and down; so off we went to warm up, clean up and rest up. We returned to the same spot a few hours later. Dusk made it hard to see the runners clearly but I know deWolf’s stride and saw him from afar “Here he comes!” I pointed and dashed to the side of the street. “Run with me.” he said. As I ran beside him I couldn’t help but feel extremely proud of him! He said his foot hurt but he didn’t even look that tired to me. “You’re doing so great! You’re almost done! You’re a rock star! I said as I handed back his water bottle. “See you at the finish line” I yelled as he took off.
As we waited for him across the finish line I watched the many other Ironman finishers rejoice with friends and family. I couldn’t wait to congratulate him; after all IronMan was the very FIRST triathlon he’d even signed up for and completed amazingly! Crazy, impressive and extremely inspiring!
That night I lay in bed with a slight wine buzz and stared at the ceiling replaying the day in my head. “Are you telling me I shouldn’t sign up?” I asked deWolf as we ran. “This was a great experience! You should definitely sign up!” he said after swimming 3.8 km, cycling 180 km and at that point being a mere 6 km away from finishing his marathon. My mind was spinning “I’ll regret if I do…but… worse, I’ll regret if I don’t!” That was my answer; I jumped out of bed, pick up my blackberry and texted my friend Mike “I’m signing up!” I typed. “Ok, I’m in!” he replied.
I slid back in bed. “Alicia, Alicia… Are you awake?” I whispered. “I’m going to register in the morning; will you line up with me?” I asked timidly “Yeah, I’ve already set the alarm for 5:30 A.M.” she replied. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and felt incredibly blessed to have such great friends. Thinking about the journey and challenges that lay ahead, a surreal calm suddenly came over me. “Tomorrow is the start of a brand new year!” I thought drifting sound asleep.
PT Girl xo
