Wow, another Ironman. This technically marks the 6th Ironman I have participated in over the past 3 years. Like I said in my previous post, each time I do one, I learn more and more about myself and yesterday did not disappoint.
Before I get into details, there are so many people I need to thank!!
Your love and support has carried me through the thick and thin of this year. First, my family! Mom and dad, Joelle and Claude and the most AMAZING husband! I am so fortunate to have the lifestyle and support that allows me to do what I enjoy. Thank you Bridget and Colleen for the “race kit” and ongoing encouragement! You two are the best! Thanks Tasha for the “sperm helmet”. Thanks Carole for some awesome coaching! Thank you to my sponsors: Brooks, Pyrasports and Pamela’s Products (best gluten free cookies!). Thank you Megan (Forbes Nutritional Consulting) for getting me on track this year with my nutrition. Ironman really is a “team” sport; or at least in my opinion it is.
Now back to IM Wisconsin 2009! I was never signed up to do this Ironman until Oceanside this year when I had another horrible ½ Ironman race. I really could not think of another triathlon I would want to do in the face of another failure than IMWI. A lot happens to the ego and enjoyment of the sport when you put a lot of time in it and don’t get the results you know you can achieve. I was crushed at that time and needed to re-focus my energy back to the “roots” of the sport; the enjoyment factor!
So, I took off to France, road my bike and enjoyed; then I got down to business for IMWI! I made myself a promise to do everything that I could to ensure I prepared properly for the race (in my control). I am in the best shape of my life at the moment and knew I could have a GREAT race in WI should “everything go right”…but, it’s Ironman, anything can happen….
Sunday morning started out early for the breakfast and as I was going through my routine, I realized “hey, I made it a whole year without doing an Ironman” (which is unusual for me) For some reason, this struck me as a refreshing change….weird things go through your head at 3:30 am.
Ok, on to the race, won’t bore you with unnecessary details. Swim was awesome!! My fastest yet! I felt strong the whole way through. I did something brave and started with the “inside group” this year; this lead me to have a perfect “line” through the swim and a great draft! Yes, it was a rough start, but when isn’t it? Oddly thought, one thought that just kept reoccurring through the swim was “this might be the last time you are in the water for a long, long time so enjoy it”.
Now to the bike; things started out great. Had the usual…OMG, tired, tired feeling for the first 2 miles then settled in and brought the HR down by the time I reached Verona. I had my nutrition planned out; eat everything I packed and then there are an extra 300 calories in special needs bag. Before I go any further, I need to explain my nutrition plan, because it is important as to how the rest of my Ironman unfolded. I was relying on Carbo-Pro and gels (and a few Cliff block shots) with a majority of my Carbo-Pro mixed as a concentrate in a bottle that I would squeeze into my aero-drink with water to dilute it. I started the ride with 2 bottles of pre-mixed Carbo-Pro at proper concentration that I would replace with the water/Carbo-pro concentrate after they were consumed.
Seems pretty simple, right? Well, yes it is until you look down and realize that the sponge in your aero-drink is gone (and I had used electrical tape to ensure this would not happen!!) so my aero-drink was spilling over ½ it’s contents all over me when I was hitting the bumps in the road (you forget how spoiled you are riding in Boulder with the perfect roads until you ride elsewhere!). This would be no-good nutrition wise, because I would lose ½ my nutrition from spilling if I were to put the concentrate with water in the bottle, so I figured I would sip from the concentrate and then chase with water. I decided to have a few gels before switching to my “new” nutrition strategy and was feeling great; I made sure to keep the salt and hydration under control as it was heating up. Between Mt Horeb and Cross Plains I put my plan into effect (concentrate Carbo-Pro does not taste good!), but it soon became apparent that this was not a good idea. Around the ½ point, I had bloated out and my belly was sloshing; I was in trouble. I had to stop the Carbo-Pro concentrate. Special needs contained a few more gels and a rice-krispy treat I had packed “just in case” and I happily took them and started on my rice krispy treat although feeling nauseous as hell. Then, the inevitable….everything started coming back up…I feel really bad for the person(s) riding behind me. So, the series of events in the second loop until Cross Plains goes as such: gel, water, salt tablet, throw up…again, and again…I just could not allow myself to stop eating because if I did that would be the end of it; I wish I could say I was having fun on the bike, but I wasn’t.
Until, I stopped at Cross Plains. That is where my Chicago tri-club friends were at. I decided that it was my goal to make it there till I stopped to take some preventative measures. Plan of action: Immodium and tums and salt and rest. I stopped to fill up my bottles and group myself and then as I was heading back out, I spotted Bridget, Colleen and Jillian. I stopped for photo op and a quick chat. Sometimes all it takes is a familiar face and some encouragement when you are at the lowest of lows to bring you out of the slump. As I was leaving, Bridget yells to me “be careful and HAVE FUN” which really helped me snap out of it. Here I was miserable, sick and hating biking, which defeated the whole purpose of the race. It was then that I decided to “back off”. I took the pedal OFF the medal and began to take in what was going in around me. I knew it was going to be one of “those days” where I was going to hurt like none other; sure as hell a lot more than when you are having a “good day” but if I was going to go through with it, I wanted to make sure I was doing it for all the right reasons.
Colleen checking in with me. I was looking for some Tums, LOL!
Me, getting ready to finish the bike up. Looking/feeling pretty gross right now....
Out of T2 I stopped to see Gregory and dad; Gregory had been doing his homework, knowing that Kona was in sight if I had a good run. 5 minutes to chase down the girls ahead and I was golden, however, the only thing that went through my head was “2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, only 1000 calories” I need to go into preventative mode before I even think of running a strong marathon. So, off I went, paying attention to the HR monitor…which, I turned off after 2 miles because it was ridiculous. I was taking in gels, and keeping most of it down…but, it was too late and I knew it. I was thinking of what Carole told me “don’t walk, just don’t walk” and I kept that up till mile 4 when the dizziness and heat started getting the best of me. I walked; at first I felt bad and “mentally weak” and then I asked myself “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING??” I had 22 more miles to go and at the rate I was going, I was NOT going to make it. Rule #1 when it comes to Ironman, FIRST GOAL IS TO FINISH BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN! (After a broken bike fork at mile 95 in Florida, things take on a whole new meaning). So, I moved onto my backup plan…walk and run, walk and run…crawl if necessary, but make sure to cross the finish line and NOT end up in the medical tent. I watched my age group girls run so strong and I could pick out the winners at certain points when they would pass in the opposite direction. Parts of me were envious, but that was quickly forgotten when I focused on “MY” goal, to finish and the great feeling you have after such an accomplishment. I was having the “BEST” race I could have considering the circumstances. I WILLED myself to move when I thought I would drop and when my legs would start to shake, I would just keep shuffling.
I met so many amazing people out there yesterday; chatted with a Timex pro who was having a similar bad day, chatted with the United States Air Force Team that was out there as a Team racing, chatted with other age groupers who had come out and faded like me, walking the hills and shuffling the straits.
When I made my way up to the capitol to start loop two, I saw Gregory and dad again, handed off my HR monitor, and told them it would be a “while”. Dad asked me “are you going to finish or drop out”; which is the same question he asked me 3 years ago during my first IM when I came into T2 pretty close to transition cut-off shivering and cold and I told him “NO, I WILL WALK THE WHOLE DAMN THING IF I HAVE TOO, I HAVE THE TIME”, and I went off determined to make it, without a cut-off time looming but a long 13 miles of time to think…
And this is where it gets good…more to come
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