As I sit in the airport (on a super secret 24 hour mission to Washington DC), consuming more calories than I would care to admit I figured I would write down my experience with ironman #7. Most of you by now heard about the drama with the course and the race being slightly shortened. I'm not going to talk about that. It is what it is, and a part of this sport is learning to adapt to the conditions. We all got a lesson in that on Saturday.
I'm going to start this off by saying my preparation for this race was as good as I could hope for. I was as consistent as humanly possible and I really felt like I was making good progress throughout my training. I was confident coming into race weekend. But also nervous. Not about being able to complete the race, but more about hoping that my race would reflect all the hard work I had put into preparing for it.
The days leading up to the race were not ideal. Specifically Friday, the day before the race (also Friday the 13th so take from that what you will) was peppered with a series of unfortunate and stressful events. I got a call during the practice swim that our pup Loki was really sick and my parents were taking him to the vet. For those of you with fur babies, you understand how stressful that can be. But he was in good hands with my parents so we went on with our day.
After picking up my bike we realized that Raceday wheels hadn't adjusted the breaks to accommodate the race wheel, so back to expo we went. I did my shake out ride with the new wheel, felt good so we were ready to make the rounds and drop off my bike and gear bags in the now 2 separate transitions (the swim course was altered due to bacteria levels in the canal , turning the race into a pretty standard 2 transition race. No big deal). As Jeff was hooking the bike up to the rack in the bed of the truck, it slipped And fell on its side. He managed to catch the back end as it fell and spared the derailer, but the front end hit hard.
It became clear pretty quickly that something was wrong. The shifter was loose and wasn't shifting properly. I mostly panicked for 10 minutes before we decided to take it to a local shop. The expo mechanics were slammed and it would have been hours before they were able to take a look at it. The local shop was fast And they got the bike working again but said there wasn't much they could do about the loose shifter. I kind of just crossed my fingers and hoped everything would be ok.
At this point I was emotionally exhausted. I wanted to be off my feet by 11 and it was now almost 2 and we were just getting to dropping my stuff off in transition. It was hot, we were walking everywhere and I was NOT a happy camper. After grabbing some food and getting back to the hotel I prepared the last of y gear for the morning and got in my pjs to take a nap.
Jeff went off to run some errands then go to the gym. At 630 pm I received a phone call from him saying he had a small gym mishap and were calling paramedics as a precaution. The conversation went a little Iike this
Me: What?!?!? Are you ok?!? Did you hit your head? Omg I'm coming.
Jeff: no no, seriously I'm totally fine. They are just making a big deal so out it because it happened at the gym and they have to be careful
Me: um ok we'll get yourself cleaned up and come home to rest
Jeff: oh wait, no they are taking me to the ER. I guess I need stitches.
3 hours in the ER and 23 staples later ( Jeff and a full speed shin to box collision during a box jump) we were waiting to be discharged from the ER. It's now 9:30 and way past my bedtime on a normal day, let alone the night before an IM. To say it had been a stressful day was an understatement.
(Jeff is doing fine and he is a total trooper for spectating all day after this happened. )
Race day: early start. Pretty relaxed. Jammin to Lady Gaga. Starbucks via, egg whites, sweet potato. Gear check. Time to race.
The race is a time trial start, so I lined up around the 1:05-1:10 swimmers. Without a wetsuit I figured my time would be a little slower even with a swimskin. But, that was a realistic range so I went with it. The new course was great (but a little long we think) And with the time trial start it allowed for some open water to swim in. But as you would expect, slower swimmers seeded themselves in the front, which created some bottle necks around buoys. It got a little aggressive in these spots and I ended up swallowing a lot of nasty water. I knew that wouldn't feel great later.
I exited the water and looked at my watch. 1:09 and some change. Not my best but I'll take it! Off to T1 where some amazing friends were the to get me ready for the bike leg ( thanks Agustina, Shellie and Sumeet! I wouldn't have been able to pry that swim skin off my body without your help. Yes it took multiple individuals to accomplish this)
With all the DRAMA surrounding the bike course I was really interested to see how it would be. People were flipping out about the 83 turns on the new course, but I'm no stranger to technical bike courses during IM. For those of you that have been on the Ironman Wisconsin course, you know that it's filled with turns (103 to be exact) and hills. So the technical nature of the bike course didn't bother me. Stay steady, don't surge. Ride smart.
Basically do the opposite of everyone around you ( seriously guys- it's a triathlon, not a bike race. There's no such thing as a good bike with a bad run. If you hammered the bike and walk the entire run you just didn't triathlon correctly.)
To my surprise the course was fast and mostly pleasant. There were a couple spots where I could do without being on the freeway , but otherwise, I preferred this route over the old one. But with all the turns, down hills, and shifting winds, I had a hard time keeping my power steady. But my pacing was consistent and I felt good, so I went with it without pushing too much harder. After the swim I had developed some stomach cramps from swallowing gross water/too much air and I spent a lot of the ride managing that.
Transition to run: smooth, fast, left smiling. And then realized the volunteer had taken my bike so quickly it didn't occur to me to grab my watch off it. So I was going to be pacing this run off feel. Plan was to take is easy for the first 15 or 16 miles then give it all I have for the last 10. Looking at the data I actually did ok with the first half. Some of it was a title too conservatively paced, but as I hit mile 16 I felt so good I kicked it to 8:30. Nutrition felt awesome-gu,coke, ice and oranges . Yes.
And then the storm hit. We were running through a severe thunderstorm that dropped buckets and buckets of rain on us. Side walks and roads started to flood, lightening and thunder were crashing overhead. I was less than 5 miles from the finish when I came up on a small group of racers stopped on part of the trail.
"The race clock has stopped and they are postponing the race until the weather clears"
Well, that's... Different. I mean what do you do? At the time it seemed absurd to me that the solution to waiting out the storm was to have us stand around, unsheltered, in the middle of the trail. Turns out there were a lot of factors at play here. Too many to get into, but ultimately in a situation with few options, this was the best.
And so we waited. And waited. And as we waited groups of racers behind us started to pile up. Those people you passed 3 miles back? Yup they are caught up now. And a lot of people were ignoring instructions to stay where they were. Pushing to the front , continuing to run, you name it. It was a shit show. Temperatures dropped. We were wet and a freezing.
My estimate is that my group that reached the stop first waited between 40-50 minutes. Some people waited less than 5. Eventually were all allowed to mass start to continue the race. How were they going to work out these results? More importantly, how was I going to start running again after cooling down and standing around in the freezing rain?
Those 4 miles hurt. They hurt so much. After I managed to wiggle my way out of the crowds of the mass start, I picked up steam- but every step was a struggle. Up until the race delay, I was having (for me) a beautifully executed race. I stuck to my plan, my nutrition felt good, I handled mishaps ( there are always mishaps) with a clear and rational head, and not ONCE did I need to walk or take a break. So whyyyyyy on this great day, did we have this totally bizarro situation?! Such is life
The finish line always feels amazing. It really does. But I had a cloud hanging over head. My results (specifically my age group placement) were not what I had hoped or expected. Times as of now are completely off and we are awaiting the official time adjustments. How would the race have panned out if I didn't have to stop running? Who knows. I had the privilege of racing one of the most bizarre, and dare I say "epic" ironman races. It was an experience to say that least. I get a lot of personal gratification though, from improving and getting better every time I race, and I'll just have to wait and see how the results and times are adjusted.
But. I had so much fun out there yesterday. I smiled and cheered and slapped someone's butt. And sometimes that all that matters.
Thank you to all the volunteers for sticking with us through he storms. These events can't take place without you. Thanks to Coach Steve for always being the voice of reason and pushing me to be better. Thanks to all my friends that were out there spectating (specifically Sarah, Jess and Aaron) for being the weirdest and rowdiest crowd you could ever hope to run past. And of course thanks to hubby Jeff, who supports me no matter what and tells me to keep pushing even when I want to give up.
Special shout out to Team Wattie Ink and our sponsors ( especially blue seventy- those element goggles ROCKED)
Sent from my i
