Last Sunday, I completed my Ironman! I can't believe this journey has suddenly come to an end! Here is the play-by-play...
Pre-Race
I arrived in Madison on Friday early afternoon, after several late nights at work earlier in the week, what a way to start the big weekend. My emotions ranged from super excited to super anxious – mostly I couldn’t believe that the race was already here! Wasn’t it just yesterday I volunteered and subsequently signed up for this? Once on site, I actually found myself less nervous as I registered, picked up my bags, etc. Friday afternoon, I went for a swim in a WAVY and CHILLY Lake Monona – mostly to wear my sleeveless wetsuit for the third time and confirm that it was, indeed what I wanted to wear on Sunday. Remember…no new equipment on race day!
Saturday I dropped off the transition bags and my bike, and organized my spectator bags for my wonderful friends and family who were coming to support me. I was so excited to see them along the course! Went to dinner with my family, including Rob, his parents, my dad, my brother Jon and his girlfriend Jen, and my cousin Alec who goes to UW Madison. We had a good time, but this is where problem number 1 of the weekend happened. I thought I was ordering an old standby – pasta with arrabiatta sauce. Well, this particular arrabiatta sauce had a CRAZY amount of red pepper in it. It was tasty, but did not agree with my digestive system. Lets just say that I was up most of the night with “digestive issues” the night before the race. Got up for good a bit before 4am to try and eat, and could not even smell food. Well, this is not good. I’m about to embark on a LONG day and I can’t eat breakfast. I’ve had a nervous stomach before races in the past and so I know how it usually feels, but this was different, and I’ve always been able to choke down my pre-race meal. Not this time. Digestive system was not happy with me. I decided Gatorade would have to be my pre-race calories….
Got to the race and dropped off my special needs bags and loaded my (luckily) liquid nutrition on the bike. Got to have one of my training buddies, Becky, body mark me with my number! I saw her throughout the day volunteering and she was so helpful! Tried to eat a PB&J and literally could not choke it down, the smell of food was making me nauseous and my stomach was feeling bloated. Not fun. The fact that I couldn’t eat was also making me more nervous! I was really hoping my stomach would start to feel better once the race started…but really, my stomach was off all day from the start. On with the show!!
Swim - 1:14:27
The 2.4 mile swim takes place in lovely Lake Monona and the time limit is 2 hours and 20 minutes - we started at 7am. The water was 67 degrees (that's cold). The swim is two counterclockwise rectangular loops with the long side along the shore. The starting "line" is about 100 yards across and 50 or so yards deep. For the swim, I positioned myself to the shore side of the ski jump which is about halfway across the starting line, about four rows back. Got super excited when Mike Reilly (the voice of every ironman race) started asking us who was going to be an ironman today. I couldn’t wait and I was grinning from ear to ear! Cannon went off (a cannon always starts the ironman race) and getting beat up started with 2500 people starting to swim all at the same time. I had expected a rough swim so overall the roughness was what I expected. I was focusing so hard on getting around people and avoiding flying elbows, that before I knew it, we were at the first corner buoy! Moo’ed with the rest of the crowd (the first turn buoy is nicknamed "moo" corner) and then continued on. I would say I spent about 50% of the swim with relatively clear water and 50% mixing it up. Never got kicked super hard or the goggles knocked off, but definitely took a couple body blows. And what was with all of the super hard kickers!! We have over 138 miles to go, people! Why are you kicking so hard!???!! I had to stop 3-4 times and take a 20-30 second rest and let my stomach settle. Still feeling the effects of the digestive issues from the night before, but I pushed through. My shoulders/arms started to get really tired the backside of the second loop. Just relaxed and try to keep my form smooth. Saw about 1:15 on the clock when I got out of the water. Just about right – I had been expecting 1:10 or so, but this was fine given the contact and the stops to let my stomach settle. I was just happy to be done swimming without any major issues!
T1 - 10:37
Got my wetsuit stripped by the volunteer wetsuit strippers (I wore my bike shorts and top under my wetsuit which is what most people do) and ran up the helix (the transitions take place in a convention center called Monona Terrace which is right along Lake Monona. To get to inside the building, you run up the parking garage exits, which are the turny kind, and its called the helix). Took my time in transition as I didn’t want to forget anything and really I was just trying to soak up the experience. I had a really helpful volunteer who helped me go through my transition bag methodically. Stopped at the porta potty as expected given my stomach problems and ran to get my bike from Becky. Out the transition and down the helix, 10 minutes was fine with me!
Bike - 6:58:42
I bought a bike after I signed up for the ironman a year ago and basically started from scratch with my bike fitness. I am so excited that biking has become a part of my life over the past year! I rode the course this summer probably about 10 times, as I just fell in love with it. The course is a 14 mile "stick" which goes southwest from Madison to Verona, and then two 42 mile loops from Verona which go through the towns of Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains. Then the 14 mile stick back to Madison. It is almost constant up and down, there really are no flat parts. There are not alot of long climbs, but its just pretty technical. Most of the ironman community will say that its one of the toughest bike courses of the U.S. races. The time cut off for the bike is 5:30 pm, or 10 hours and 30 minutes after the start of the race.
I was pretty excited to be out there one last time for the year and enjoy the beauty of the course. My goal for the 112 miles was to average 16mph including two planned stops. I figured this would leave me enough legs to handle the marathon. It was REALLY hard to hang back on the stick and the first part of the loop. People were flying and clearly on a “high” from feeling fresh early in the race. The rules about drafting are silly hard to follow if you start the bike in the middle of the pack. Seriously, it was end to end bikes the first loop. Luckily, since my swim skills seriously outpace my bike skills, I was spending most of my time being passed, which was fine with me. I’ll see you later, all you men who are going to blow up at mile 85 (and I did see alot of them)!
Second problem of the day – my fully charged garmin watch/gps decided to conk out 20 minutes into the ride. Don’t care that I couldn’t see cadence and speed, but I would have REALLY liked to see my heartrate (especially since I knew it was already elevated due to my stomach issues) and have the beeping for nutrition! Luckily, I had worn a backup timex, and was constantly checking that to stay on top of my nutrition. Every ten minutes I took a swig of regular strength infinit (which is a custom sportsdrink which provided all of my calories and electrolytes) and every 20 minutes I took an extra 4 ounces or so of water. Goal was ~200 calories of infinit per hour and about 36 oz. of liquid. I was going to have a snack size Pay Day (~100 calories) at the end of each loop. I made it to Cross Plains before my stomach said get to a bathroom quick, and that was where I had planned to stop so it worked. Stretched a bit and started on the sisters (three biggest hills of the course) – I LOVE THIS PART OF THE COURSE! Was able to see my family and friends and was so excited to see them out there! High fived my brother at the top of the hill, and almost took my arm off. Finished the first loop in about 3:20, a bit ahead of my plan.
Started out on the second loop and the wind had picked up significantly, it ended up being one of the windiest times I had ridden the course this summer. Going down G and 92 was pretty brutal. And I could tell everyone’s mental state had changed. It was much quieter out there on the course! Again, barely made it to Cross Plains before my stomach gave out and stopped again for bathroom/stretch as planned. The second time to the hills, I felt pretty great. Some were walking up the hills but my legs could handle it. Saw the family and stopped for a minute or two to talk to them and let them know how I was doing. Again, just trying to enjoy the day, and I was!
I think this is about where I stopped paying close attention to my nutrition. By the time I was back on the stick on my way to the terrace, I was feeling pretty thirsty. Being tired, I was not paying as much attention to my watch and stupid broken garmin wasn’t beeping at me. Just tried to drink as much water as I could on the way back, as it was definitely hotter. Up the helix and get me the H off of this bike! Right on target with my time though! And no mechanical issues or flat tires (I’d take a broken garmin any day over a mechanical!).
T2 - 10:37
Again took my time in transition. Super helpful volunteer who I chatted with along the way. Change to running shorts and body glided up my feet – did not want any blisters, and I only ended up with one small one in the end. My mom and running buddy Lee had just arrived in Madison and were standing just outside transition and I stopped to talk to them for a bit. ANOTHER stop at the porty potty. Saw my husband Rob on the way out of transition and said “well, my stomach survived the swim and bike, but now I’m about to start jostling it around with every step and this could get REAL interesting”. Any runner knows that a jostled sensitive digestive system will send you running for the nearest bush and I was honestly worried that I would have to stop at the porta potty every mile. It didn’t get quite that bad, but read on….
Run - 5:55:26
I LOVE to run. Earlier this year I qualified for Boston. I was a runner before I was a triathlete. I was so excited to be out on this course in particular because I would be able to interact with the wonderful crowds. So how in the world did I end up with an almost 6 hour marathon? MY STUPID STOMACH!
The 26.2 mile (marathon distance) run goes through the UW Madison campus. Its a somewhat hilly course with alot of out and backs, which can get kind of old. But running through campus is amazing becuase there are so many people out watching! Started out running probably about 9:30 pace (but really I never had any idea how fast/slow I was going since my garmin had died). Walked through the aid stations (drinking water, having a couple potato chips for salt) and up the hills as planned. 3 miles in, first porta potty stop. Continued running through Camp Randall and saw my fam on state street! Stopped to talk to them, I just loved seeing them out there! I volunteered last year at the turn around on state and Tony who I volunteered with was there again – high fived him round the corner. On my way back to the turn around, I started having serious problems keeping my stomach happy. I couldn’t hold any kind of pace without triggering serious nausea. Tried to run 5 minutes, walk one minute. Around mile 8-9 I started having chicken broth at the aid stations. Shortly after that, for about five miles, I felt amazing! I thought I had pulled myself out of disaster and my stomach had decided to cooperate. I even told my family and friends that I was back! Stopped to talk to John and Natalie, Katie and Greta, Kristin and Jill, all around the halfway point. I really wanted to enjoy the day and interacting with my amazing crew was part of that!
My "good" stretch was short lived though…around mile 16, things came to a screeching halt. I could not run without almost throwing up. I was so nervous that if I started throwing up, I wouldn’t stop. More porta potty stops. I tried to run one minute walk one minute and I could not run for 30 seconds without triggering issues. This was a dark moment. I have ten miles to go and I can’t RUN??? At this point I had no idea what to do – I have been drinking and the chicken broth had seemed to work, but now things had gone to awful so quickly. I was even more frustrated as my legs felt fantastic! They were sore, but no cramping or unusual pain issues and I had energy left to give but I could not get my stomach to agree. At the second time at the state turn around, I was almost in tears when I saw my family and crew. I wasn’t worried about not finishing, but I was so frustrated with the prospect of walking ten miles, especially when my legs felt so good! My husband got my family and friends to spread out, and the rest of the race, someone was at every mile waiting for me. So amazing. They truly got me through this race. I was just chugging water and trying to choke down more broth in the hopes that I could salvage something, but I never felt any better. About mile 22 I found Stephanie, who was also walking the last few miles. We chatted about our days, and before I knew it, it was mile 25. I’ll be darned if I’m going to walk the last mile of my ironman! It was slow, but I ran that last mile! Running the final few hundred yards with all of the people watching and seeing the finish line was emotionally overwhelming! I couldn't believe I was at the finish line already! Overall, I was over an hour slower than my expectations, but I crossed that finish line with a smile! I had done it – I am an ironman!!! My total time was 14 hours, 29 minutes, about two and half hours ahead of the final time cut off of 17 hours/midnight. PLENTY of time to spare!
Post race
Took a few pictures with my amazing support crew, who I can’t thank enough. Went over to the med tent to see if they could do anything. They weighed me and I had only lost ONE POUND during the race. Hmm. Apparently I had been drinking enough! Still was not hungry in the slightest and my stomach still was not right. I will never know if things would have been different if I hadn’t started off the day down for the count.
But that doesn’t really matter and one thing is for sure, I had so much fun out there. I knew I wasn’t going to break any records in any case, so I wasn’t afraid of stopping to chat and interact with my support crew or the volunteers. I hope that made the day more interesting for them too. This race is so full of amazing volunteers and spectators. To the hundreds of random people that cheered my name as I ran or rode by, THANK YOU! To my parents, Ron, Dria, Jon, Jen, Kristin, Jill, Katie, Greta, Aaron, Shalini, John, Natalie, Tracy, Alec, Lee, The Lutes Family, Becky, and of course my wonderful husband, Rob, THANK YOU so much for being out there with me on that day. Thank you to all of the people who emailed, texted, and called to wish me luck and see how things went. Thank you to my training buddies over the course of the season. All of you collectively made the journey and the day I became an IRONMAN amazing!!!
Next day I woke up and wasn’t all that sore – definitely have been more sore in the last few marathons I’ve run. Kind of made me mad since I know I had more fitness left to give. Two days later I was already thinking about when I’m going to take on my next ironman :). I can’t believe how much training and racing this race has changed my life. I am in the best shape of my life, I have discovered my love of biking, and I have been able to reevaluate what is truly important to me (and no, its not JUST triathlon :) ). I can’t wait to take on the next adventure - thank goodness I have the Chicago marathon in three weeks (running with my husband), and training for the Boston Marathon will start in a couple month
I'm sure I will have more reflections and pictures over the next few weeks, and I'm going to get a tattoo to commemorate my ironman :) so stay tuned!
