First, I apologize for not letting you all know my race number (which was 1391). Everyone in my group had technical difficulties with their iPhone (the person forgot the charger), blackberry (the person's will not continue to hold a charge), or had a technically challenged phone (like me). And for the evil guy at the race weigh in (I raced Athena 39 & Under) who told me to "stop eating McDonalds" when I commented that the scale said it was more than I thought ... I'd been at the doctor the day before and it was 5 pounds lighter. I know I didn't gain 5 lbs in a day. You're lucky I only responded "I don't eat McDonalds" and not what I was thinking... my race result was in a small part for you...and besides I look pretty good!
I AM AN IRONMAN 70.3! I am so stinkin' proud of myself and my group. One person who raced with us and who is working on becoming an elite got a PR. Those of us who were doing our 1st 70.3 all finished, and were proud of our times too.
Here's my race report! (I woke up race morning with my song "Shiny Medal" in my head...)
Overall time: 7:39:27* (Reported time: 8:11:27. More on this later.)
1.2 mile Swim: 31:44
Before the swim start, I was so nervous I wanted to throw up and possibly run away. But I kept trying to keep myself calm and to keep my flight response from kicking in. I looked for Woman in Motion and found her when a friend of hers called her name... it was great to meet her in person! Sherry is super nice and it was great to meet her.
Then it was time to get in the water. The water was COLD! And God love me, I didnt' think about where I got in the water and ended up in the middle with the fast girls. I knew they were fast because I had met one the day before because she is a friend of one of the others in our group. She's almost an elite. But I couldnt' get out at this point and I couldn't move either because we were about to start. It made me even more nervous to be quite honest.
Then we were off. At first I was doing great. Swimming along but then no one was breaking away from me so the bubbles and feet kept coming and there was no where else for me to go. Then I hit a bunch of seaweed that wrapped around my neck and got caught in the wetsuit. So what happened? I panicked. God love me. Coach and I have discussed that this next year I just need to get used to races with lots of people because I can swim fast when I'm not panicking.
And thank you to the swimmer who stopped and asked me if I was ok when I was just bobbing along. It helped me realize I was okay and that I could do this. After 2 big breaths, off I went. I caught up with a lot of people who had passed me during my panic and ended up with 31:44. I'm pretty sure I was at least bobbing and panicking for about 3-5 minutes, but who knows.
I was frustrated with myself as I left the water because I could have swum faster, but tried to shake it off and pull myself together because I was not going to give up.
T1: 6:22
Obviously there is huge room for improvement here. Of course, the main reason my T1 was so long was... I couldn't find my bike. I was on the right row running up and down and I couldn't find it. Finally, I walked and found it. My guess is I was still a little discombobulated from the swim. I think I can safely knock of at least 3 minutes on this just by finding my bike (next time I'll put something brightly colored on the bar or something). But it is what it is.
56 mile Bike: 3:44:00 (Avg. 15 mph) Reported Time: 4:26:00
The bike. When you drive this course (as we did the day before), it appears less hilly than it is. The course really wasn't bad. I enjoyed it a lot, but what was not discernable in the car was that the "flats" really aren't flat. It's more like constant but minor uphills or constant but minor downhills are the "flats" and the hills are what they are... which turned out to be nothing more than 2% grades although some were short making it more difficult than others. I rather enjoyed it. There could have been better road surfaces - lots of cracks in the road with holes that you couldn't see until you were right upon them. Luckily we had ridden the course (via car) the day before so I already knew about the cracks and was doing my best to avoid them - not to mention pulling on bike shorts over my tri shorts after the swim so I could prevent tender parts therefore letting me ride my best race. (I slow down considerably when I am having pain in the saddle.)
The problem though was going up the hill right before the aid station at mile 18, my chain popped. I heard all sorts of crazy noise and realized my back tire wasn't really moving. I thought maybe the chain had jumped so I tried to shift (bad idea). More awful noise and the realization that if I didn't unclip, I was crashing. I unclipped safely and got to the side the best I could and walked up the rest of the hill. It killed me to be walking my bike. It killed me even more when all the well meaning people who passed me said "You're doing great! You can do this!" I wanted to scream back at them "it's not me, it's my F'N bike." But I didn't. I'd probably be one of those encouraging people if I saw someone like that too. I know this because later when I was passing people on the bike course who were having a hard time, I shouted words of encouragement to them.
Anyway. I made it to the aid station (thank goodness this is where I popped my chain, right?). Even with walking that last bit of the hill, I had done the first 18 miles in 1:06:04. I looked at my watch when I hit the aid station. I then talked to someone who radioed trying to find the bike mechanic. I then waited and waited. More than 32 minutes later, the mechanic had arrived, fixed my bike chain and the derailleur and told me that if I hadn't gotten off the bike when I did, I probably would have messed up my bike to the point that he wouldn't have been able to fix it on the course.
Thankful but a little frustrated in the lost time and all the people who had passed me, I was back in business. I tackled the hills and didn't even use the brakes on the downhills. Even the big downhills where I got up to 30.7 mph. So that in and of itself is a major accomplishment for me. I love the feather the brakes when I get scared and I didn't do it once. Now, I didn't say I wasn't tempted, but I didn't do it.
Facing an awful headwind on the last few miles into T2 was something. But I still passed a couple of people. : )
T2: 3:52
This of course should be faster, but based on T1 was quite the improvement. I'm not really sure why it took as long as it did other than I think I may have walked part of the way out of the transition area without thinking about it, and then started running. At least I found my spot easily this time. : )
13.1 mile run: 3:03:43 (1st 7 miles average of 14:33/mi.; last 6.1 miles average 13:24/mi.)
The run. My legs weren't hurting that badly at first. On the 2nd half my hips would start to hurt and my back would act up during the last 4 miles, but as you can see, I ignored it the best I could. It sounds sad, but I was running the best I could on the 1st half. I had forgotten my electrolytes back on the bike. Not to mention that at mile 3, I realized I forgot to pull off the bike shorts I had put on over my tri shorts to prevent an ouchy ride. But I wasn't uncomfortable in them, so it didn't really matter. I had my gels and was eating them every 2 miles or so as planned.
The water stops were not 1.2 miles apart as they said they were... and if they were, it certainly didn't feel like they were. And they had given out all of the sponges to the early runners - 3 to a person. No wonder there weren't any left for the back of the packers like me.
But I was not giving up. I started the run around 1:30ish and I knew I had until 5:06 pm until I ran out of time. I was determined not to DNF because of time. I had made it through a 32 minute bike nightmare, this I could do. So, despite having to pee I passed up all of the port-a-potties and had even decided that if I needed to, I would pee on myself if that meant finishing in time. Luckily, it didn't come to that.
Coming up on the 7 mile marker, a wonderful, wonderful man offered me a coke. Coach had told me that a coke part way through a long run was one of the best things ever, so I said yes. I think God sent that man and that coke to me because after I drank half of the mini bottle he gave me, it was like I had a new lease on life.
The other person that God sent me was a lovely woman named Amy who was doing the race with Team in Training in honor of her father who 18 months before had been diagnosed with Leukemia and just that week had found out he was in remission. I walked a moment or two with her, introduced myself and told her I did an event for TNT this year and planned to do one next year as well. We came up on an army sargeant volunteering with his new recruits at the water stations who poured cold water down our backs. It was awesome!
I told Amy I needed to keep doing my 4:1's so I could make sure I finished the race and invited her to run with me. It was such a blessing that she took me up on it. She was running faster than I had been but not at a pace I couldn't keep up with... and I tended to walk faster than she did. The longer into the miles we got, the more we pulled each other along. We did a couple of 3:2's in there too when the going got tough but we both were determined to finish and finish strong. Amy made the comment at one point that it was hard to keep going but then she thought of cancer patients and how they always had to keep going even when it seemed so hard. The rest of the race didn't seem so bad after that comment.
People we didn't know were out there cheering for us. They saw us running our 4:1's and racers who had finished yelled things like "that's the spirit! Keep running!" and bystanders who didn't know us at all would ring cow bells. One woman looked at me and I guess I looked like I needed encouragement and she shouted out "You can do this! You are an Ironwoman, I just know it!" I yelled out "Thanks!" As I passed her husband asked if she knew me, and I heard her say "No, but she looked like she needed a friend." All of these people out there helped me finish without knowing it.
Amy and I ended up finishing together and we hugged each other and told each other we couldn't have done it without each other. We finished with more than 1/2 an hour to spare. So, thank you Amy from Virginia! Running with you let me negative split my run and have a great time doing it!
I can't wait to see the finish photo of me at the end. I was crying but trying not to cry, so my face is probably distorted into a terrible look, but believe me when I say it was the look of victory and the emotion of the entire journey I have taken. It was (and is) the best feeling in the entire world.
I'm exhausted and aching at the moment, but I am thrilled and happy. I am an IRONMAN 70.3!
I already know what I want to do next. This next year, I plan to work on getting faster. I'm going to focus on sprint and olympic distance triathlons, I may do a couple of road races (running). I'd like to work in some weight training (at least in the off season) too. Once I get faster, perhaps in 2011, I'll do another Ironman 70.3. I liked the race and enjoyed the distance, but I want to be faster and more ready. I think the Ironman 70.3 was harder than giving birth, and it was an amazing experience. My only regret was that Mr. Darcy and the girls were not there to see me cross the finish line, but at the same time I know it was easier on them all to be at home. Maybe for my next Ironman 70.3, they'll be there.
They did leave me a wonderful message on my cellphone (they'd been checking the race tracker off and on all day) that made me cry. As did Angela's sister, Anna. I thought a good bit about Angela on the race course, especially the run, so the call from Anna was wonderful in 2 ways - Anna herself is great but it also was as though Angela called me too.
I am so proud of myself at this moment. A year ago running 2 minutes straight was super hard, and now I am an Ironman 70.3. Coach told me that 1% of 1% of the world's population does an Ironman 70.3 or farther. And I am now one of them.... and I have a sticker for my car, a t-shirt, a finisher's medal, and a necklace (a gift from Coach and Missy) to prove it. I will wear them all with pride!
One last thing that I cannot forget to say is Thank You to Mr. Darcy and to Angelfish and Ladybug. They have sacrificed their time, energy and money into letting me have the time in my life to train and to buy those things I needed for training. Without Mr. Darcy's undying dedication on Sunday mornings and mornings that he got the girls ready while I trained, this wouldn't have been possible. That's why this is not only my accomplishment, but theirs too.
Showing posts with label augusta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label augusta. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Friday 15
1. I realized this morning that in my sleepy state yesterday I missed my 200th post. Well, I didn't miss it, I just didn't do anything to celebrate it. So here's a minor celebration: 200 posts means more than 200 training days. I think I had an extra post in there once when I found out I was going to be in the infomercial. (The infomercial should be coming out shortly. As soon as it is available for public consumption, I'll add it to the blog for fun... if I can figure it out.) Either way, that's pretty impressive. I've swum, biked, and ran all that while... just a little over a year at this point. Yes, I know there are more than 200 days in a year but I don't blog on weekends for some reason, so training days occur more often than blog posts.
2. I am looking forward to Augusta. I watched an awful video of people at the Ironman Wisconsin where they didn't make the cut offs, and through my tears for those people, I have vowed that won't be me in Augusta. Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed and send our prayers from our lips directly to God's ears on that one.
3. I don't have my bib number yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you all know so if possible you can follow along.
4. Someone asked me the other day if I was going to do a full Ironman next year. To be quite honest, at this point, I don't want to. I miss the time with my family on the weekends. While I like the training while I'm in it, I miss hearing all the things Ladybug, Angelfish and Mr. Darcy were doing from 7:30 am to 1 or 2 pm when I'm getting home.
5. Besides the thought of 2.4 miles swimming then 112 miles on the bike followed by 26.2 miles running make me want to throw up just thinking about it. I admire all those who chase it and achieve it, all those who train for it and don't make it. It is an amazing feat and people who do it are amazing human beings. I am just not yet crazy enough to want to do it... yet. (I never say never.)
6. I didn't do the run yesterday. I emailed Coach, told her what I've done so far this week and how tired I was and she said to skip the run and if I felt good enough on Saturday to do 3-4 miles of running then. Let's hope that doesn't do anything to my race day karma, but Coach knows what she's talking about so I did what she said.
7. I swam 1500 m as scheduled this morning. I have to say I still love swimming the best. There is nothing like feeling your stretch all the way in your armpit as your reach out in your stroke followed by the sound of the whooshing water. I got in my zone and realized that 1500m felt like childs play today. 22:38 for 1500 m.
8. I decided to sign up for the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon with Coach. This is the reason why I never say never. In a million years, or even just 6 months ago, would I ever have thought I would be willing (or able) to run a 1/2 marathon. And this was kind of my idea. I thought about doing the Seaside 1/2 marathon but that would entail a weekend away from the family, hotel rental, gas, and the entry fee. While there is no Vera Bradley bag at the end of the Disney Priness 1/2 marathon, there are princesses, and a kids 100m run for the little ladies where they even get swag like their Trimommy does for the 1/2 marathon. And Mr. Darcy can be there, and we can (hopefully if reservations go right when Disney will finally let me make them) have breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle after the girls' race. I'm pretty excited about it.. and remember, I don't even really "like" running, although I like it well enough these days. Something about it is just calling me, plus the family will be involved. YAY!
9. Another little something to celebrate is that I called Angelfish's pediatrician because I never heard from the nurse about the new blood work from her. Turns out they're automating their files and somewhere there was a mistake and they were supposed to call us (duh). The doctor was really apologetic and I forgave her when she told me that the lab had mistakenly only sent the 1st page of Angelfish's blood work and that a week later she got the entire report with the full breakdown of her cholesterol test and while the total is a smidge high (187 where the highest is supposed to be180 for 3 year olds) that the breakdown itself was really good and we don't have to repeat testing until next year some time and that's just to keep an eye on it. Whoo Hoo!
10. Saturday is the little ladies' 1st soccer game. I can't wait. It should be fun and funny! I've already decided that if they don't want to play that is okay, but they'll have to stay for the entire game with their team. They are 3 after all, and I never really liked team sports until middle school. As a kid, I liked my swimming and tennis. Yes, I was on a "swim team" but other than relays it's an individual sport.
11. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Soccer with the girls, being with the family, some outlet shopping with my friend while our husbands and kids watch football and the kids play together, and a 30 mile bike and 6 mile run. If only the brick resulted in a shiny finisher's medal then I would say that it is the perfect weekend.
12. I've got the idea of that shiny finisher's medal from Augusta in my head and I'm not letting go. But I have promised Mr. Darcy that I would not return from Augusta with a tattoo. Not sure that I have anything that I really want to see on my body when I'm wrinkly anyway.
13. But shiny medals from races are another thing. I need to make a place for them in my office. I have a good idea of where I want to put them, though. Right where I can look up from the computer screen and see the girls' artwork on one side, some pictures of them, and then my medals and of course, my age-group plaque(s) (I only have one now, but I hope to acquire more eventually.)
14. A few minutes ago I got a friendly reminder call from ESI about the 70.3 Ironman Augusta and that I need to attend a meeting before I can pick up my packet. It ended "See you next weekend!" My hands started sweating. Good news is that I didn't want to throw up though.
15. Sung to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles:
Shiny Medal (shiny medal),
in my hand (in my hand),
Makes me happy (makes me happy)
Makes me feel fine (make me feel fine).
Shiny medal (shiny medal)
in my hand (in my hand),
Make me warm all over,
With a feeling that I'm gonna,
Love you till the end of time.
So here's to the long bike ride,
And here's to the swim -ming,
And mostly here's a toast,
to finishing.
Here's to the hot hot run,
I finished today.
And here's a bliss
That will not fade away.
It came to me when thinking about that shiny Augusta finisher's medal and how great it is going to be to hold it in my hand come September 27th. You may just hear me singing it along the course.
Have a great weekend!
2. I am looking forward to Augusta. I watched an awful video of people at the Ironman Wisconsin where they didn't make the cut offs, and through my tears for those people, I have vowed that won't be me in Augusta. Let's keep our fingers and toes crossed and send our prayers from our lips directly to God's ears on that one.
3. I don't have my bib number yet, but as soon as I do, I will let you all know so if possible you can follow along.
4. Someone asked me the other day if I was going to do a full Ironman next year. To be quite honest, at this point, I don't want to. I miss the time with my family on the weekends. While I like the training while I'm in it, I miss hearing all the things Ladybug, Angelfish and Mr. Darcy were doing from 7:30 am to 1 or 2 pm when I'm getting home.
5. Besides the thought of 2.4 miles swimming then 112 miles on the bike followed by 26.2 miles running make me want to throw up just thinking about it. I admire all those who chase it and achieve it, all those who train for it and don't make it. It is an amazing feat and people who do it are amazing human beings. I am just not yet crazy enough to want to do it... yet. (I never say never.)
6. I didn't do the run yesterday. I emailed Coach, told her what I've done so far this week and how tired I was and she said to skip the run and if I felt good enough on Saturday to do 3-4 miles of running then. Let's hope that doesn't do anything to my race day karma, but Coach knows what she's talking about so I did what she said.
7. I swam 1500 m as scheduled this morning. I have to say I still love swimming the best. There is nothing like feeling your stretch all the way in your armpit as your reach out in your stroke followed by the sound of the whooshing water. I got in my zone and realized that 1500m felt like childs play today. 22:38 for 1500 m.
8. I decided to sign up for the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon with Coach. This is the reason why I never say never. In a million years, or even just 6 months ago, would I ever have thought I would be willing (or able) to run a 1/2 marathon. And this was kind of my idea. I thought about doing the Seaside 1/2 marathon but that would entail a weekend away from the family, hotel rental, gas, and the entry fee. While there is no Vera Bradley bag at the end of the Disney Priness 1/2 marathon, there are princesses, and a kids 100m run for the little ladies where they even get swag like their Trimommy does for the 1/2 marathon. And Mr. Darcy can be there, and we can (hopefully if reservations go right when Disney will finally let me make them) have breakfast with the Princesses at Cinderella's Castle after the girls' race. I'm pretty excited about it.. and remember, I don't even really "like" running, although I like it well enough these days. Something about it is just calling me, plus the family will be involved. YAY!
9. Another little something to celebrate is that I called Angelfish's pediatrician because I never heard from the nurse about the new blood work from her. Turns out they're automating their files and somewhere there was a mistake and they were supposed to call us (duh). The doctor was really apologetic and I forgave her when she told me that the lab had mistakenly only sent the 1st page of Angelfish's blood work and that a week later she got the entire report with the full breakdown of her cholesterol test and while the total is a smidge high (187 where the highest is supposed to be180 for 3 year olds) that the breakdown itself was really good and we don't have to repeat testing until next year some time and that's just to keep an eye on it. Whoo Hoo!
10. Saturday is the little ladies' 1st soccer game. I can't wait. It should be fun and funny! I've already decided that if they don't want to play that is okay, but they'll have to stay for the entire game with their team. They are 3 after all, and I never really liked team sports until middle school. As a kid, I liked my swimming and tennis. Yes, I was on a "swim team" but other than relays it's an individual sport.
11. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Soccer with the girls, being with the family, some outlet shopping with my friend while our husbands and kids watch football and the kids play together, and a 30 mile bike and 6 mile run. If only the brick resulted in a shiny finisher's medal then I would say that it is the perfect weekend.
12. I've got the idea of that shiny finisher's medal from Augusta in my head and I'm not letting go. But I have promised Mr. Darcy that I would not return from Augusta with a tattoo. Not sure that I have anything that I really want to see on my body when I'm wrinkly anyway.
13. But shiny medals from races are another thing. I need to make a place for them in my office. I have a good idea of where I want to put them, though. Right where I can look up from the computer screen and see the girls' artwork on one side, some pictures of them, and then my medals and of course, my age-group plaque(s) (I only have one now, but I hope to acquire more eventually.)
14. A few minutes ago I got a friendly reminder call from ESI about the 70.3 Ironman Augusta and that I need to attend a meeting before I can pick up my packet. It ended "See you next weekend!" My hands started sweating. Good news is that I didn't want to throw up though.
15. Sung to Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles:
Shiny Medal (shiny medal),
in my hand (in my hand),
Makes me happy (makes me happy)
Makes me feel fine (make me feel fine).
Shiny medal (shiny medal)
in my hand (in my hand),
Make me warm all over,
With a feeling that I'm gonna,
Love you till the end of time.
So here's to the long bike ride,
And here's to the swim -ming,
And mostly here's a toast,
to finishing.
Here's to the hot hot run,
I finished today.
And here's a bliss
That will not fade away.
It came to me when thinking about that shiny Augusta finisher's medal and how great it is going to be to hold it in my hand come September 27th. You may just hear me singing it along the course.
Have a great weekend!
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