In June 2010 I did my 1sttriathlon and was hooked on the sport, but not hooked on the idea of ever doing an Ironman. I actually said (on several occasions) I would never do one. In November 2010 I changed my mind.
Race morning, my alarm went off at 3:45am. I got a decent night of sleep so I was ready to go. I really don’t have much concept of time after that as I rarely wear a watch for racing or training. I was a bit nervous on the shuttle ride to the race, but less so than other races. By the time the shuttle dropped us off at the swim start there was just enough time to pump up my tires, drop off my gear bags, slurp down a gel, and wait in the obnoxiously long line for the port a potties. As we entered the water at the boat ramp I watched the people in front of me slip and slide around. The ramp had a nice slippery coating on it that I knew would I showcase my non gracefulness on at some point.
At 7am there is a faint noise to indicate the start of the swim. It was mass start of a few hundred people, so I waited for most of them to start as I didn’t feel like spending a lot of energy fighting people off me at the start of the long day ahead. The temp of the water was perfect for a sleeveless wetsuit and less choppy and salty than I expected. My biggest fear was having a run in with all the jellyfish we had seen floating around the day before. I put on some jellyfish protector lotion that my friend bought me in hopes that it might help. It didn’t. At about .75 mi I felt a horrible sting across the left side of my face and lips. Ouch! After I had reached the turnaround for the first lap the stinging sensation had lessened. On to the final lap! I wasn’t even to the 1stbuoy and another jellyfish decided to swim up against my left arm and shoulder. I tried to stay relaxed and not let it bother me as I knew the pain would soon lessen. The 2ndlap was a bit choppier than the first and I took in a few gulps of water, but the chop was manageable. I rounded the last buoy that lead up to the boat ramp and stood up to run to the swim finish. Oops, I had already forgotten how slippery the ramp was and took a nice digger. I took in a cup of water in the changing tent, put on my gear and was off to the bike.
From what I read about the course and had seen on our drive into Cambridge I knew that this bike course would be flat as dirt. While fields, trees and swamps are pretty to look at they are very boring scenery for 112 miles. The 1stpart of the bike was nice because it was an out and back, so you got to see the people in front and behind you. My plan at this point was to keep other racers in sight the entire bike, so that I wasn’t alone and bored out there in the wildlife refuge. This worked for the most part. I found a guy that was riding a pace similar to mine and we took turns keeping a 20 mph (from what he told me, because my bike computer was broken) pace through the 1stloop of the course. I’m not sure where I lost him; it might have been at one of the aid stations, but next thing I knew there was no one in front or behind me. Was I off course? There was a good 45 minutes through the refuge where I didn’t see another biker, but I passed an aid station so I knew I was on course. The marsh was flooded as suspected. My mini bike and I were very submerged in the water and I dropped into a lower gear for the first time that day to get through the mess. The bike is a two loop course and this 1stloop seemed to be never ending! Finally I caught up with a few riders and I followed them back to the high school, made a quick pit stop at the special needs bag pick up and onto the 2ndloop. This time I was not going to let these riders out of my sight! The 2ndloop went by a lot quicker as a group consisting of myself and 3 other guys took turns keeping pace. The marsh was more flooded than the 1stloop and the 3 guys I was with pulled ahead of me, but I refused to let them out of my sight. As soon as we were through the mass of water I picked up the pace to catch back up with them. I was getting very antsy to get off the bike now. I rode past one of the guys to ask what mile we were at. 109….almost there! I handed my bike and helmet to a nice gentleman waiting for me in T2. I grabbed my gear bag that someone was also readily holding and ran into the changing tent. Now, in T1 the tent was filled with other girls. When I got to the T2 tent it was empty. No volunteers, no athletes, just me. I thought to myself: where is everyone? I put on my run gear and drank a cup of water and then….I had no clue where to go. Oh man, I should’ve gone to that pre race meeting! I went to one side of the tent where the bikes were being racked, but the tent was pinned shut. I went to the side I had entered from, walked outside and stood there like a lost child. I asked a volunteer what I should do with my bag and where the run course was. She pointed to the sidewalk near the school and I went on my way. I passed through the crowds of spectators and kept following the sidewalk. Where were the other runners?? I started to ask people if this was the run course. No one seemed to know. Finally a guy waving the bikers into the school told me it was on the other side of the school. I’ve been running the wrong way!!! I headed back, hands waving in the air, yelling “I went the wrong way!” The spectators thought it was hilarious.
Finally onto the run course and my first marathon. The temp all day remained in the 70’s with a few drizzles, the run course was a bit humid, but not too bad. I felt pretty good until about mile 4, and then I started getting stomach cramps. I breathed through them and tried to keep it out of my mind. The run course was a flat, 3 loop out and back, so you see all the runners (some of the half Iron distance athletes were out on the run course when I started) and spectators. It was also nice because you could see the aid stations approaching. This became a downfall because as the miles racked up so did the pain and suffering on peoples faces, the people hunched over cramping, the amount of people vomiting. It started to affect my mental state. I pulled my visor down over to my eyes to block it out and kept my eyes focused on the pavement in front of me. The run went by faster than I thought. I believe breaking it down into loops helped. I looked down and saw the 20 mile marker and a big question mark came into my head, how will my body handle this? I’ve never run further than this before. I figured it was only another 10k so I tried to keep up a good pace, hoping I wouldn’t hit a wall. The cramping continued, but I kept taking in nutrition at the aid stations while running through as I didn’t dare stop and walk because I thought it would make things worse. After I passed the last aid station I ran as fast as I could (which I’m sure seemed faster than it actually was at that point). I could see the school and knew there was only about a mile left. I ran into the school parking lot and a huge smile came onto my face. I was almost there! The crowd was cheering loudly and yelling out race numbers as participants passed by. A feeling of relief and excitement came over me. The pain and cramping went away. I raised my hands and ran down the finishing chute. The early mornings, long days of training, sacrifices, set backs and the journey that lead to this finish line were over. My finishing time was better than I expected and the feeling of accomplishment was amazing! Time to celebrate!
Thanks to all my family and friends who gave me their support, advice, patience and understanding through my training. I appreciate your enthusiasm for me accomplish this more than you can imagine!