Before any race, I usually keep the day before quiet. I sleep in a little (or try to), eat well and relax as much as I can (easier said than done, of course). I like to do a shake out run in the late afternoon – mostly to ease the nerves – and I get to bed early.

In Ottawa, the day before the Ironman was anything but relaxing. Saturday started at 6:00 a.m. At the top of my morning “To Do” list was a last check of my gear bags to make sure that I had everything in them for Sunday before dropping them off at two different transition zones.

A gear bag is exactly what it seems: a bag to hold our gear. In an Ironman, there are two bags- one for the bike and one for the run. Athletes pack each with the appropriate equipment that they need to either ride or run. What I did not realize when I packed mine is that I also needed to include my nutrition (electrolyte gels and high carb snacks) and that became a real stress. I did come up with a last minute solution and will go into more on that in another post.

The Ironman course in Ottawa is one of the few that has two transition zones. After the swim, we transitioned to the ride at Britannia Beach (Transition 1 or T1) but we finished in downtown Ottawa. This meant that we needed to drop off our bike gear at T1, then head downtown to drop off our run gear. To make things more interesting, we had to either drive or ride our bikes to T1 because it was too far to walk.

Rob, whom I swam with the day before, and I decided to ride our bikes to T1 (about 13km from our hotel) because it somehow seemed easier than putting our bikes in a car and dealing with parking once we got there. I also wanted to ride my bike to make sure that there were no unexpected mechanical issues. We met just after 9:00, dressed in our cycling gear and carrying backpacks stuffed with our two gear bags and shoes to wear after dropping off (or “racking”) our bikes. Somehow, we missed a turn while riding to Britannia Beach and ended up in Hull, Quebec. I knew that we were slightly lost but didn’t realize that we had entered La Belle Province because there was no welcome sign: Bienvenue À Québec. Fortunately, a few runners stopped to tell us how to get back to Ottawa and continue to Britannia Beach.

We were among the first to arrive at Britannia Beach which made the drop-off fairly quick and easy. I racked my bike, then dropped off my gear bag (containing socks, bike shoes, helmet, cycling shirt, cycling gloves, puffer, sunglasses, and two gel bars that I had stashed in my backpack). Our gear bags were kept in an area closer to the swim finish so taht we could grab them after the finish and put on whatever we need for the ride. On the way to the bag drop-off, I ran into my friend, Marlene, whom I have known virtually for several years, have literally run into her at a few races and became a fantastic virtual training buddy over the past year.

Once my bag and gear were checked, I met Rob on the shuttle bus to return downtown. We were dropped off at the Ironman Village and, from there, we walked about a kilometre to the second transition zone (T2) to drop off our run gear bags. On the way, a man asked me for directions in French, and I was actually able to help him. I am not sure what impressed me more – that I was able to explain how to get to his destination in French or that I knew where he was going.

T2 was behind Le Château Laurier and the drop-off was simple. Bags were hung numerically on racks so that we could easily find them after our ride, change into our run gear and head out for the marathon. My gear was simple: running socks and shoes, a running cap, shorts (in case I wanted to change out of my tri-shorts) and a running belt for my nutrition. I had no nutrition in gear bag but I was able to add some to my belt after my ride.

Now that our gear was dropped off for the night, we only had to walk back to our hotel (another 2km). On the way, I ran into a few friends from home and was really happy to see a few familiar faces.

The rest of the afternoon should have been quiet but the fire alarm went off in the middle of my nap. The entire building was evacuated and on the way down, two thoughts surfaced: (1) my bike was safely racked at Britannia and (2) I left all of my nutrition in my room. Fortunately, we were back inside after the fire department did a sweep of the building. All that was left, then, was to eat dinner and try to sleep a bit more before my alarm went off on Sunday morning.