The days leading up to the race were very relaxed. We were originally going to fly in Friday afternoon but ended up changing flights and arriving Wednesday evening instead. I think that made the world of difference in helping me stay calm and focused and it also meant that we were able to get in a couple of practice swims and become familiar with the race site. I really enjoyed those morning practice swims in Tempe Town Lake, not because the water was so lovely (!), but because it allowed me to loosen up my muscles, get comfortable in the lake, and just enjoy hanging around with friends and relaxing. It was a great start to each day.
Inevitably the time leading up to the race passed all too quickly and before I knew it, the wake-up call, the alarm clock and my Blackberry were all singing in unison. It was 3:30am on race day. I’d actually been awake for the past 30 minutes, and every hour on the hour prior to that, but I felt really refreshed, excited and ready to go. After a quick breakfast and sunscreen application, we made our way to the car and drove to the race site. We got there pretty early, around 4:45am, and it was still fairly quiet. Transition didn’t open until 5am. We had plenty of time to setup the last remaining items: nutrition and water on bikes, pump up tires, put nutrition in special needs bags. Once that was finished, I left transition with some other T3’ers and hung out until the start of the race, chatting to each other, laughing, putting on wetsuits, more sunscreen, and wishing each other luck.
I then realized that I hadn't seen Gordon for over half an hour. We hadn’t even shared good luck wishes and kisses yet! I figured he must have needed some time on his own to collect his thoughts and prepare for the race, he tends to like being left alone before the start of races. I was hoping that I would see him on the way to the docks, or even in the water. So I made my way to the docks with Liz and Jim, who I have done most of my training with over the past 6 months. To the sounds of “Right Here, Right Now” we jumped into the water, which was surprisingly not too cold. Then we swam slow and easy over to the start line. The air was pumped full of energy. Everyone was happy and excited and nervous. The crowd was already cheering. The water quickly filled up with over 2000 bobbing swim caps. I still hadn’t seen Gordon so I yelled out a “Good luck Gordon, I love you!” in the hope that he might hear me (no he didn’t, as I found out later, but it was worth a shot!).
Then all of a sudden we were off! It felt like a washing machine in there, but I was very careful to watch for people around me. I didn’t want to get a broken nose or black eye! So I carefully swam around and through the masses. Surprisingly the mass start didn’t seem too bad and I started to settle into a rhythm. It seemed as though I fairly quickly reached the bridge, which I thought was the turnaround point, but the turnaround point was probably another 400m beyond the bridge and it felt like I was never going to get there! Finally, we got to turn around. This is when it started getting tough because all of a sudden I had a couple of men trying to swim at me. Not around me. But at me. I had to be careful about which side I breathed to, in fear of getting an elbow in the face!
I managed to finally find some space on my own again, and everything was okay for a while. I didn’t feel tired at all in the water. I guess all the swimming these past 6 months really paid off! Then finally I was at the final buoy, again more fights with big, aggressive men who were trying to swim at me, I think I may have shoved one of them and swore at another… but then I was being pulled up out of the water by the volunteers and the swim was done! 1:09:20, an awesome swim time for me and about 5 minutes ahead of my goal!
I picked up by “swim to bike” bag and ran to the women’s change tent. I quickly got changed into my bike gear – I decided to completely change from swim briefs into bike shorts for the ride. Some people do the whole thing in tri-shorts but I wanted to be comfortable. It was also quite funny how I had no sense of modesty and completely stripped down without a care in the world! I ran out of the tent, had sunscreen applied by a volunteer, had my bike handed to me and then I was over the mount line and on my bike pedaling out of transition to the sounds of the crowd cheering. It was an exciting feeling. It didn’t take long before the crowd thinned out and I was able to settle down and start focusing on the long ride ahead of me.
The good thing about a 3 loop course is that I had a lot of opportunities to look out for all of my training buddies and cheer them on when I saw them! I got passed by a couple of my T3 buddies, who are faster cyclists than me, but I enjoyed the small satisfaction of having beaten them out of the water. But still, it pays off to be faster on the bike than on the swim! Anyway, I quickly settled into a groove, pedaling steadily but not too hard, taking in my nutrition every 15 minutes, enjoying the scenery and looking out for my friends. By the turnaround of the first loop I still hadn’t seen Gordon, so I figured that I must have beat him out of the water (yay!). However, I was expecting him to pass at any moment. All thoughts of that disappeared, however, once I hit the turnaround. For some reason I had not noticed the wind that was gently pushing me out to the turnaround point… and all of a sudden I found myself pedaling into a strong headwind. So my thoughts switched more to survival mode – okay, need to conserve energy, keep the cadence high, don’t push too high a gear, stay as aero as possible, keep the legs fresh, keep drinking, eating… it was exhausting pedaling into that headwind, that’s for sure. I came to the end of the first lap and it was great to feel the energy of the crowd again and to finally stop pedaling into the wind!
I enjoyed the first half of the second loop immensely. I was probably averaging 25mph out to the turnaround. I felt fast and smooth. Then before too long I was back in the headwind again, which was even stronger than on the first loop. At this point my friend Marla caught me and we started our game of leapfrog. It was fun being out there with her. We spent the next loop and a half passing each other – I would pass her for a while, then she would pass me. It was definitely a highlight of the day to be out there on the bike course with her. I was also stoked that she hadn’t pulled away from me yet! I was so happy to get to the end of the second loop and start out on my third, and final, loop of the bike course. Again, it was fast heading out to the turnaround point, then again almost at a standstill coming back. I didn’t even stop for my special needs bag, as I hadn’t got any flats and the idea of Pringles wasn’t as appetizing as I thought it would be. This last part of the ride was tough. The wind had really picked up by now (up to 25mph with 35mph gusts) and I was just slogging it out, trying to get done. I remembered the pre-race advice from my friend Mike, who told me to make sure and look up and smell the roses from time to time. I did try that. I looked up to see the roses and muttered to myself that there weren’t any bloody roses at all. Sorry Mike, I tried!
Loop 1 – 17.32mph
Loop 2 – 18.79mph
Loop 3 – 14.79mph
Eeek, that third loop was sloooow!
After a long 6:35:12 I was finally off the bike, yeah! But what was this? My lower back was killing me. So I walked through transition, picked up my "bike to run bag and headed over to the change tent. I wasn’t as spritely as my previous run through transition! I saw Dr. Chris Seller’s by the tent, he had been treating me back in Austin for my shin splints over the past month, and he told me to get on the table and proceeded to do some active release therapy on my lower back to loosen it up. After a few minutes I felt so much better, got changed in the tent and was good to go!
It was only now that I finally allowed myself to think about running a marathon. All during the bike the thought would come in to my head “shit, I still have a marathon to run!!!” but I would keep squashing it and focusing on the task at hand – cycling. But now, with just the marathon ahead of me, I finally started to think about it. The bad news was that I realized that I could walk the marathon and still make it by the cut-off time of 17hrs. Not the most positive way to start the marathon!
I started running and didn’t feel too bad. Tired, yes, but nothing hurt. I caught up to one of my T3 buddies who was on the start of his second loop. He was walking. I think I saw that and sub-consciously registered that if one of the fastest people in my group is walking then it’s okay if I walk a bit too. Thus started the battle of the run/walk for the next 25 miles. When I was running I was holding a pretty decent pace, but I would suddenly find myself walking for no reason. I’d see a hill and decide to walk it, or a rest stop and decide to walk through it. Right from mile one I threw my nutrition plan out the window, thought “what the hell”, and started drinking the cola, the chicken broth, and eating cut oranges. Those oranges were the tastiest food I’d had all day… delicious! But I was still sick of being out there and just wanted to be done. I tried to walk as fast as I could when I was walking, but I really should have been running. I know I had enough strength and stamina to run that whole marathon, but mentally I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
I saw Gordon on each run loop. I think he knew I was hurting because every time he saw me he would yell out some encouraging words. I remember saying something like “I hate this, I just want to be done”. Mentally I had checked out. He looked good. Tired but strong and determined. I tried to make encouraging comments to people around me, saying quite a few “good onya mate, looking strong there”. One of the more exciting parts of the run was at the end of my first loop when the women’s leaders ran by me. That was pretty cool. Except for the fact that I still had two loops to go. Somehow I made it through and finally I was out on my final loop. It was getting dark then, still reasonably warm and windy. I kept plugging away, running, walking, head down, cap pulled down, trying to wave at people when they called my name, thanking the volunteers at the aid stations. Around mile 24 I realized that if I kept running I would beat 13 hours. But then I talked myself out of it and thought, who really cares, isn’t 13:15 good enough? That means I can keep walking! Then I realized that I just had to finish this thing. So I tried my best to keep running and sprinted from mile 25.5 all the way through to the finish line. I came around that corner, saw the finish line, sprinted towards it, shared a few high fives with some kids in the crowd, then ran through that finish line. It was so good to be done!!!
Finish time was 12:58:27. My goal was 13hrs. I beat it!
Crossing that finish line felt so good, just to be done. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel emotional at all. Of course I was proud of myself, definitely, but mainly just tired and happy to be done. Oh, and completely adamant that I would never do another Ironman.
As I reflected on the race the following morning, I thought about the drive and determination required to train for and finish an Ironman. The sense of accomplishment at finishing such an event. The sheer ability to keep going when you don't think you can go anymore. It gave me goosebumps to think about what I had just done. It made me want to do another Ironman.
