140.6 - It's Time

WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

Ok, so results aside, the IM experience was terrific. I expected to see a lot more human carnage than I did (or maybe I was just too zoned out to notice.) The volunteers were spectacular and the paper today said there 3500 of them. WOW.

SWIM - The water was a perfect 72 degrees. The race announcer made a joke that the water temp was 45 degrees and the newspaper printed it! hahaa! (BTW - 45 degree water would kill you after just few minutes.) I had a few butterflies when the cannon went off, but I was so consumed by thoughts of the bike that I wasn't concerned at all about the swim. I think I was too relaxed about it. I fell in with a pack of folks who were slow, and a few of them were backstroking, sidestroking, breaststroking... all of which are not common practice in triathlon. Anyway, I was 10 minutes slower than what I thought my slowest pace would be. Oh, well. I was 40 minutes ahead of the swim cutoff, so it was all good.

BIKE - My bike split was just over 8 hours. This was HUGE for me, as you all know, because I was terrified I wouldn't. The course was three 37-mile loops. When I got past the final turnaround point I had a good feeling about my chances to make it. I was at mile 84, headed down a long, fast downhill and I saw the sweep vehicles headed toward the turnaround point. WOOO HOO! They weren't coming after me!

The ride went pretty well. My left knee began to twinge a little at about the 3 hr point. I've been in that situation before, so I went into contingency mode and took care of my leg for a couple of hours. My experiment with eating the cooked yams was a big success. I needed real food after so much sports drink, cookies, gels, gummy bloks, etc. My Fig Newtons and bananas melted in the heat, so my eating consisted of scooping fingerfuls of gloop out of a baggie and stuffing it in my mouth. Of course, it ended up all over my face and my handlebars. Ha! I drank four bottles of sports drink + electrolytes and 3 bottles of water. I only mention it because you get into serious, serious trouble if you get dehydrated.

It was hot and a bit windy out on the course. Thankfully we only had a headwind going uphill once. The heat started to subside around 3 pm, so the run course wasn't hot when I got moving.

RUN - The run started great. I was so jazzed about simply being out there I was powering. When I rolled in to the place where I jumped off my bike to go get my clothes for the run there were 20 people all cheering for me by name - loudly cheering. It's a terrific feeling and I was cheering back and whooping it up. One of Coach Colleen's pals was screaming her head off for me.

The course was 3 8-mile loops that were so confusing you wouldn't believe it. It was like a scavenger hunt around town. There was an aid station every mile on the course. The aid stations were elaborate. They all had porta potties (unusual at big races) and each one had tables set up for ice, water, gatorade, food snacks (bananas, oranges, pretzels), chicken broth (for salt you need), and cups of flat soda (for sugar to boost your blood sugar level.) At the first 6 stations I took a piece of banana, an orange slice and soda. The sugar boost was such a lifesaver.

CONGRATULATIONS, BILL!

I'm pleased to announce that my friend Bill is now Ironman. He passed me on his last couple of miles before the finish and we shared a sweaty, tired handshake just before his huge moment in the spotlight. He worked so very hard for this accomplishment that I hope he basks in his own glory for a long time.

132.4

So, yesterday was race day. The big event. What we've all been waiting for. AND...

I did not finish the race. Sigh. I was at mile 18 on the run at 10 pm, which meant I had made it past the final cutoff point of the day. But, with 2 hours left in the race I made the call not to start the final 8 mile loop of the run course.

See, I needed to bang out 8.2 miles in under 2 hours then I would've been home free. But, anyone who's ever done a marathon can tell you that you don't get faster the longer you're out there. Add a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike onto it ... you don't get faster the longer you're out there.

The soles of my feet were covered in blisters, my knees had stiffened up so much I couldn't walk around corners or up inclines without a lot difficulty, and I was slightly nauseous. However, those are tiny complications in an Ironman. I was ready to gut it out and keep going. But. I knew the 17 hr finish wasn't going to happen. I needed 30 extra minutes to get the job done and the time just wasn't there.

When I realized I wasn't going to make it I walked over to a fence and began to cry as if my dog had just died. Two very sweet spectators called out to me, "We've been following you the whole time! You did great!" Of course, that made me cry harder.

For about 5 minutes my disappointment was immense. The usual self-pity started in, telling me that all my hard work for the past 15 hours had been wasted, etc. I was swallowed up by sheer agony.

I saw a quote on a poster out on the course that summed up my feelings about the whole day: "Any accomplishment requires effort. The only thing you can achieve without effort is failure." That gave me a ton of inspiration between miles 7 and 17 becauseI knew I had given every bit of effort I had from the time the cannon boomed out the start of the swim until I leaned up against that fence and crumbled.

I had several small victories. Some are small, like getting out of the swim, dressed, covered in sunscreen and out on the road on my bike in less than 10 minutes. I then made the final bike cutoff with 20 minutes to spare. Remember how I was so worried I wouldn't? I was yukking it up with the spectators. I had a terrific time on the first 8-mile loop of the run course. I had no flats or any technical issues on the bike. I didn't vomit, hurt myself, lose any gear, or trip and fall down. I was physically strong and alert the entire time. I just wasn't fast enough at the very end.

I will try another Ironman; not to banish any demons or to prove anything to the many people who didn't believe I could do this. I will do it again to go claim what is mine. I believe that I showed I have exactly what it takes to do an Ironman. A couple of small adjustments and I'm golden. I will have good memories of the event and the experience.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who supported me on this. The e-mails I got from everyone were fantastic and I appreciated them more than I can say.
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Love to you all,
Stac