|
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
It’s been a little over two weeks since completing my first IRONMAN, and it’s a mixed bag of emotions for me. Summing up the day has been hard, but here is how she unfolded (this one may get a little long so I apologize in advance) . . . Race Morning I got up and had my oatmeal, went over the plan with the berserker clan (aka . . . the IM scooter gang), and then headed down to transition. I have had the chance to see the video taken of me in the morning, and the best way to describe my appearance is petrified! The only thing I could think of all morning was the mass swim start . . . Will it be everything I’ve heard about? Everything leading up to the swim was a blur. At some point, I checked my tires, dropped off a special needs run bag, got body marked (with the wrong number), etc. . . . 2.4 mile swim (The Good) The start was everything I had heard and then some!! I made my way out to the start line and treaded water for 5-10 minutes while waiting for the gun. The funniest thing started to happen as all those spaces filled up around you . . . you attempt to hold your position, but as more and more people surrounded you and the water started to churn . . . the pack got tight . . . really tight. That’s when I realized maybe I was a little too close to the action for someone with my swimming ability; but it was too late to change, and I decided to go with the flow. The “novelty” of this race was over within seconds of the gun going off. During the first few minutes, I received a punch to the nose that sat me upright and had me checking for blood (this shot to my beak has left me with some pain and a crackling sound every time I wipe my nose). Anyway, just when you think the pack has spread out, everyone converges on a corner and it feels like the start all over again! Because this is a two loop course we had to wrestle through 7 of these corners. Coming out of two of the corners, I received kicks to my left eye, which made me feel like my eye had been sucked into my goggles. With all that said, the swim was a blast!!! I had predicted I would come out in 1:15 & I came out in 1:14:48. I immediately thought if I was that close on my prediction for the swim, I would be spot on for the rest of my race . . . so far so good. T1 was a long one. It was made even longer by the fact that I had the wrong number written on my arms! My number was 349 & the number on my arms . . . 439. Long story short: I grabbed my bag and a volunteer said I had the wrong bag; I switched bags and then had to switch back to my bag. So after all the confusion, I started my bike with a 9:18 transition! 112 mile bike (The Bad) My plan for the bike was simple . . . follow the nutritional plan & ride like I’ve trained. Right from the get-go, I was having some problems with my body. Most people would have begged to have our race day conditions, but for me it was a bit chilly and my body (5.4% body fat) responded accordingly. I had some unusual things happen on the bike which I have never encountered before during training, and at 40 miles in, I knew I was racing just to finish. I’m pissed at myself for allowing my thoughts to jump so quickly to the finish with nearly 100 miles of racing still to go, but I did. I had no power and a slight muscle problem occurring in my upper abdominal area which caused some minor breathing issues whenever I attempted a deep breath. I have ridden this course and know what I am capable of, and this is why it was so demoralizing when my body didn’t respond. For the final 70(ish) miles, I struggled. I didn’t stick to my nutrition & my right leg began to cramp with about 25 miles to go. This signaled the beginning of the end. I came off my bike in 6:21:44 which was 45 minutes off the target. T2 was a little slow at 6:36. A little sunscreen and a stop in the port-a-potty, and I was off. 26.2 mile run (The Ugly) My run was a disaster. I ran the first three miles with very shallow breaths & then mentally fell apart. I really can’t remember a lot of the run, but one spot in particular made it much easier. Somewhere around 17 or 18 miles I saw Neal & Trudy . . . you would think just seeing part of the “berserker clan” out there would be enough to get me going, but it was actually a question Neal asked. The question: How much did you pay to do this? This question brought a huge smile to my face (probably the only one in the last 9 hours). I believe this is what made my second half just a little quicker than the first. I finished with a 5:39:56, which was mostly walking. Add it all up and you get a whopping 13:32:20!!! Overall the day included a few unexpected challenges, but as they say in Ironman racing: nothing is guaranteed! I finished about 3 hours off where I thought I would be, but at no point did I ever give up. I had a great group out there to support me and hope that next year I can uphold my end of the deal (I finished a little too late to get Das Boot L). Anyway, thanks to Neal, Trudy, J, Vin, Auds, Cal, & Jerry for being out there. Also thanks to my sponsors and everyone for the emails, texts, & phone calls before and after the race! I have already signed up for 2009 & am looking forward to giving it another shot. Next stop: TBD Cheers, -=Berserker Poke
|