Bike and Run

Since I am on my last day of full rest, I figured I better get this RR finished before I forget everything.

The Bike -

Exiting out of T1 I was in a state of panic. I wasnt sure what was going to happen out there on the bike, but I knew that I had to just ride my race and not worry about what anyone else was doing. I had ridden most of the course a few weeks back and the winds were insane, so all I could do was hope for a better day. And boy did we luck out! The entire ride was overcast with almost no winds, so the first half and the last half felt about the same for me. My goal was to never dig too deep so I could make it through the run, and it worked. I got on the bike and started to try to take in my nutrition, but I felt so crampy and sick and couldnt get anything in but water. I think it was from swallowing so much lake water. I was starting to worry, but knew at one point I would feel well enough to start taking something in. There of course were tons of people passing me, but they all had words of encouragement or something funny to say. The miles were clicking off and even though I couldnt take anything in, I wasnt bonking. I got to the halfway point with our special needs bags and stopped. I drank my coke and a rice krispie treat and took off my HR monitor strap (I think that was putting some pressure on my stomach, making it worse), and headed out again. I kept thinking to myself that if I had to I could stop and regroup, but I was feeling much better. I started taking in my carbopro/gatorade/salt tab mix at every mile and that helped too, and I felt so much better on the second half. I just kept waiting for it to get hard, and it never really did. I know I wasnt pushing to where I could have, but this was my first IM and I wanted to do a smart race. The most annoying part of the bike was that I had Lady Gaga's Born this way stuck in my head throughout the entire 112 mile ride. I dont know all the words, so I just had the first part going through my mind over and over again. Finally I just decided to start singing it, probably annoying everyone else around me. I came into T2 and to my surprise I was able to walk.





T2 - I didnt want to leave. Everyone there was so nice and helpful, and if someone had given me a beer at that point, I would have called it a day and hung out in the tent.

The Run -
I thought after I was feeling better on the bike, I thought that I would be able to break 13 hours. I didnt have a goal other than to finish, but at that point, I knew a sub 13 was possible. However, the bad (and good) part of an ironman is that everything changes. I started to run and immediately cramped up and felt like I was going to puke. So I walked. When I walked I felt fine, but as soon as I started running, I started feeling sick. I ran into a group of people who were all walking for the same reason as I was. They werent used to the heat and couldnt take in any calories. I told one of the ladies that if I ran I felt like I was going to throw up, and she told me that she saw two people who got pulled off the course for throwing up. I didnt want that to happen to me. Plus I knew that I only got in half of my calories on the bike and didnt want to throw them all up. At every aid station I took in water, coke and pretzels, and figured at one point I would feel ok to run, and if not, I would still finish and I was ok with that. Around the end of the first lap I heard my name from behind and turned around to see Beth kicking ass in the run on her last lap. And right after that I ran into my family and a few friends. The second lap was about the same as the first with a lot more portapotty stops. I do not recommend going into one during an ironman, as apparently people use the entire thing as a toilet and there was shit everywhere. Even on the toilet paper. Finally at the very end of the second lap they brought out the chicken broth and I had about two cups and instantly started to feel better, which was good because I think hell is having to walk an entire marathon. I started running and didnt feel sick. YAY! I got a lot of comments about how fast I was going, but I think that was an illusion becuase almost everyone else was walking, so my shuffle looked like a run. Now my new goal was to break 14 hours. My garmin was dead, so I didnt know how much time I had, but I knew it would be close. When I got to the last section and saw my family I heard Mike Reilly say Rachel Ryerson from Houston Texas needs to hurry in order to break 14 hours. I looked up and had about 20 seconds left and the crowd went crazy. I sprinted as fast as I could (which was probably a 10 min pace at this point) to try to break 14 hours. I knew the best part of the race would be the finish chute and I wanted to be able to slow down and enjoy it, but breaking 14 hours became my goal, and to do that I had to kick it up a notch. I didnt even hear my name announced as I crossed the finish line, but some nice lady was there to catch me and help me walk around and wouldnt let me go until I found my family and they agreed to take care of me.

Finally able to run - bloated stomach and all.


Giving my grandmother a kiss in the middle of the run.


"Sprinting" to the finish.



Realizing that I was about to finish this thing and trying not to cry.


Finishing with just a few seconds to spare


I dont know if it was because the mental image I had of what the ironman would be like was basically a death march, or if I was delirious from lack of sleep, but I enjoyed every minute of this event, and never really got to a point where I felt like I couldnt go on. Even at my worst and sickest, I still was having a great time. This is a huge testament to the volunteers and people cheering out there (especially my family and friends) because they really made this event and kept me going. Any memory of the pain I experienced passed quickly because on Sunday I was begging Chris to let me do this race next year. Congrats to everyone who finished IMTX! Now I am off to enjoy my last day of full rest before I ease back into things tomorrow. No more eating crap and drinking wine every night.