Redman Triathlon 140.6 (pretty long-winded, but I couldn't help it)
'Mornin ladies! Here is a not-so brief report from my iron distance race yesterday. The good news? I finished. That bad news? There's no bad news- this was the greatest day of my life!! And so I digress...
The day started when I woke up at 3 am to get ready and eat breakfast. The first thing I did was apologize to my muscles, and tell them that I was very sorry for what I was about to put them through- but that they'd understand when we finished together (yes, I talk to inatimate things).
We live across the highway from the lake where the event was taking place, so travel was thankfully not a problem. I always need to be up extra early, because inevitably I lose something, and must re-check my gear a ridiculous amount of times before I leave the house (can you say obsessive compulsive- on race days- yes I am). Anyhow, I headed to transition at 5 am to get everything together. I met up with my training partner, and other friends from our tri-club to talk and relax before the transition area closed, and we were summoned to the water for the start. I was so calm and relaxed- like I've never been before. This was the biggest race of my life, and I had not one nerve in my body. It was the most peaceful feeling to stand on the beach, hear the anthem, and pray with my friends. What a great way to start a race!
The swim:
mass start with about 400 people (yes, very small race- I can't imagine the races with 2000+). It was a beach start, but we had to walk a good 150 feet into the water until it became deep enough to swim. The lake started out fairly calm, but after the wind picked up, things became choppy and difficult to sight. I'm convinced I swam 3 miles out there because I was soooo off course on a number of occasions. Following people didn't help much, as we were all blinded by the sun and waves. The swim was a counter-clockwise triangle. Half iron distance swam once, and full distance swam around twice. The swim itself was not too bad. Only got punched once (yeah!), and didn't have anyone swim over me. Pretty combat free swim. I have problems with my hands going numb when I swim (I'm guessing poor circulation, because my swim coach sees nothing wrong with technique), so from about 900 meters on my hands were numb and hurting. No problem tho, some occasional backstroke and hand shaking (which looked like flailing apparently because a kayaker came to help me from drowning :) ), and my hands cooperated as best they could. I finished the actual 2.4 miles in 1:37, then had to hike up the beach for an official swim time of somewhere in the 1:40 range. Embarassing side note- we had wetsuit strippers, and my suit got stuck on my apparently massive thighs- they drug me across the grass then had to get 2 other women to help pull. I needed reinforcements brought in to take my wetsuit off. Ha! :D
T1- pretty uneventful. I was in no hurry, so took my time. I had a personal assistant in the tent who laid out all my clothes, put sunscreen on me, and helped me with every detail. I felt like a celebrity (or at least like someone competing in Kona).
The bike:
I'm not the strongest biker out there, so going into this I expected a 7-7:15 hour split. The weather was beautiful, high 60's to start, mid 70's to finish. The wind, however, had other plans. We had NW sustained winds of 14 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. The first 25 miles of the course head straight north and then straight west (read: headwind all the way). Then we turn east and south, so the tailwind was pretty nice (although why does the tailwind never help you out as much as the headwind hurts you?). The first loop wasn't too bad. The second loop was not kind. I went to the "dark side" about mile 70- when the wind had finally taken every ounce of energy/strength/mental toughness out of me. Thank goodness there was an aid station at mile 83, or I might have stayed in my funk for much longer. Thanking all the police/volunteers along the way did wonders for making me feel better when I wanted to stop. At the turnaround, the tailwind caught me and it changed my attitude and the rest of my bike ride was pleasantly happy. Final time- somewhere in the 8:10 range. I'm a talker by nature, so going that long without talking was very difficult for me. I made up songs about the cows, streets, aid station folks, my bike- anything to keep me busy. I'm glad the field had thinned out enough that nobody was passing me because I sang out loud and in my lounge singer voice. I had to do something to enterain myself. :) When I got to the end of the bike course, volunteers were yelling "dismount." I told them that dismounting my bike was MY PLEASURE. I love Oscar (my bike), but I think we need some time apart. He was a trusty steed yesterday, and I thank him for carrying me for 114 miles (the course was intentionally long b/c of police/city issues).
T2-uneventful again. I moved so slowly, but it's not like a speedy transition was going to help me win the race. I took my time, brushed my ratty helmet head, and headed out to go run a marathon. The idea of running was so exciting to me at that point- anything to do that didn't involve a bike.
The run:
This was the best-feeling marathon I've ever had (granted, I've only had 2 other marathon experiences, but this was the best I'd felt at any of them). I was feeding off the energy of the specators, the volunteers, and the runners heading to the finish line. It was a great run. An out and back run, done twice. The only "bad" thing is that the halfway point is right by the finish line, and so as I'm heading back out, I'm hearing all the cheers and excitement from those finishing. Made me want to get back all that much faster. I seemed to pick up stray men along the way (not vagrants, just participants who needed someone to talk to). I ran about 7 mies with various men, then finally had to excuse myself to finish alone. At mile 20, I felt so great that I "sprinted" to the finish (which at that point was a whopping 10 min/mile- but compared to my 15 min/mi walk/run- it felt like a sprint). Part of Ironman for me was the mental game I had to play to make it to the finish line. I knew I could finish if I was talking and taking my mind off of things (which lots of people did, and I think that's great for them), but I wanted to finish alone and with my own thoughts. Sounds weird, but I wanted to experience the pain, the frustration, the mental breakdowns alone. It pushes me to my limits and makes me dig deep to pull out. I like to test myself tho, physically, mentally, spiritually, heck- even socially as I've abandoned my friends to train for this baby for the last nine months. I wonder if I have any friends left.... :) I don't know for sure, but I think I finished my marathon in a little over 6 hours.
I've imagined my finish line moment over and over for the last couple months, and in every scenario, I'm crying hysterically and overjoyed. In reality, I high-fived the (truthfully) 10 spectators left at the finish, and smiled and jumped and ran across the line in 16:24 and some change. I didn't cry once. I don't think I had any more water in my cells to lose. Then my muscles started screaming and cramping and I had to go to the massage tent for some rubbing. Gotta love free massages. Sometimes I think I do races just to get the free massage at the end. :rolleyes:
Overall this was the most amazing thing I've ever done. If I can do it, so can anyone else. It's within everyone's grasp, if they have the time and willingness. It's proved to me that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to, and can accomplish even the most difficult of tasks.
Thank you ladies for all your support during this process. RM was the one who got me thinking I could do the full (when I'd only originally thought about the half), and her inspiration was a driving force. Thanks to you, RM!
You all are the best internet friends a girl could ask for! :D
As sick and twisted as this may sound, I'm coming back to Ironville again in the future. I'm going to give myself 3 years to forget this one, build my biking skills to where I want them to be, and then I'm back on the iron train. Anyone want to come along???????
An Ironman and then some!!!
CONGRATS!!!! I was thinking of you this past weekend. I just got back from a loonng (too long) weekend of drunken dabauchery (sp?) in Vegas, so I wasn't able to check in. But I hope you felt my vibes out there. They may have been drunken vibes- but they were vibes nonetheless!! :D
It really IS an awesome feeling huh?? I just remembering wanting to do it again so I could feel that rush of crossing the line!!
But take my post race advice.... TAKE IT SLOW!!! Do NOT rush back into training!!! Let your body tell you what it wants to do- and for how long!!! I was mortified when I couldn't run a mere 5 miles after IMAZ, but my body just wasn't recovered. You don't want to make yourself sick, so do nothing but REST, REST, REST!!!
Congrats again, and glad I was an inspiration to you. It makes me laguh sometimes to think that *I* could inspire anyone!! ha ha ha :p
