I raced my first Ironman 70.3 distance on Sunday, April 26, 2015.
I had done the training, and the race was here. After months of Melanie's coaching and working hard, it was time to race.
In the days leading up to the race, I was doing my best to keep myself from freaking out. I had never attempted anything like this, and I was SCARED! Since my birthday was the week of the race, I got tickets to Frozen Disney on Ice (cheesy!) and kept mind off of everything for at least one day. Also, as a nice distraction, I got my nails painted for the race. I could feel myself getting a cold, so I kept taking Emergen-C and drinking a ton of water.
The day before the race, I packed up all of my stuff and drove to Galveston to check-in. However, I wasn't expecting to stand in line for 2 hours! I finally got checked-in and racked my bike in transition. My bike was directly next to my friend Michelle! I headed to dinner with Crystal and the Alamo 180 group. They are a fun group. If I lived in San Antonio, I would totally be on their team.
I don't usually sleep well the night before races. To make sure I was good and rested, I took a half of a sleeping pill and that did the trick! I'm not going to lie. While I was lying there staring at the ceiling waiting to fall asleep, there were a lot of self doubt thoughts going through my head. Did I train enough? Was I strong enough? Would I finish the swim before the cutoff? I did my best to not let these thoughts get to my head before finally falling asleep. I got 6 solid hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 4:00am. Once I was awake, I just wanted to start.
Crystal and me before the race
Waiting in transition before the race. I look happy, but I've got butterflies in my stomach.
When I arrived in transition before the race, I found out that the water temp was 77 degrees and the swim was wetsuit optional. That meant that if I wanted to swim with my wetsuit (which would make me more buoyant) I would have to wait until the last wave. I knew my race would be long and close to 8 1/2 hours, so I wanted to give myself all of the time I could get. I swam with my age group without my wetsuit.
The last song I remember hearing before the race started was "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. Crystal and I were dancing to it up on the dock before the swim began. I mention this because this song was stuck in my head the entire race! There were so many nice people in my age group. I remember chatting before the race started with a woman whose first triathlon was the Tri-Girl super sprint last May. That was my first race too, so we bonded. After we jumped in the water, the announcer asked "How many first-timers?" and I felt like over half of the women in my age group yelled out. I don't know why that comforted me, but I knew I wasn't alone in my journey. Right before the gun fired, I yelled out "Good luck everyone" and everyone started yelling "Good luck" back. I love that everyone was so supportive.
The swim went better than expected. I am not the fastest swimmer, and I had said many times, "If I can get through that swim, then I'll be fine." The gun fired and I began swimming, but there were so many people around me and it was difficult to find a rhythm. I would swim a few strokes and the next thing I knew is someone's feet were kicking in my face. I did my best to get to the turn and then I got to the outside where there were fewer swimmers. I would count my strokes in my head and every 12-15 strokes I would look up and make sure I was still swimming in a straight line. About half way through, I started feeling nauseated. I'm pretty sure that I inhaled some saltwater and it was messing with my stomach. Also, I could feel myself getting a headache. I just kept saying to myself, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming!" When I got to the final turn to finish the swim, I had to hold on to the kayak for about 15 seconds to keep myself from throwing up in the water, but when the guy in the kayak asked me if I wanted a ride in I said, "no thanks" and got back in the water. Once I could see the swim out I knew I had made it.
I was really happy to see Jeff Farmer at the swim exit when I came out of the water. He was cheering for me and I threw my arms up in the air because I was so happy. I looked down at my watch and couldn't believe that I did it in an hour flat. Just an hour earlier I was worried I wouldn't finish in the allotted 1:10:00. SWIM: 1:00:25
I ran into T1 to find that my toe was sliced open and bleeding. I must have stepped on something coming out of the water. There wasn't anything I could do about it and it wasn't bleeding that bad, so I just put my socks and cycling shoes on and figured that would have to do. I ate some Cliff Shot Blocks and drank a half a bottle of water and left on my bike.
The first 15 or so miles on the bike were uncomfortable. My stomach was in knots from the salt water I inhaled and I just had to push through. It started raining and my glasses started fogging up. However, I was in race mode, and I'm the best on my bike. I had rode the course about a month before the race, so I knew what to expect. The first half of the bike I averaged over 16 mph (which is good for me) and I rewarded myself at the turnaround with a bag of orange slices which I had stuffed in the back pocket of my tri kit. However, on the way back, the winds had shifted and I had a headwind. Also, the clouds parted and the sun was baking me. I started getting a little light headed after pushing into that wind for 20 miles. I had to stop, pour some water over my head, take an extra salt tab and Gu, and breath for a second. My entire stop was under a minute but it was enough to rejuvenate me. Once I made the turn off the seawall, I started getting really excited because I knew that I was over half way done. BIKE: 3:58:42
This is where everything started to fall apart.
As soon as I dismounted my bike, I could feel that my legs were exhausted. I remember the pro at the pre-race clinic telling us that it was better to sacrifice a minute for several hours of comfort. So, I drank some water, went to the port-o-potty, ate more Cliff Shots, body-glided as much as I could, changed my socks and shoes (toe still sort-of bleeding), and reapplied sunblock and left for the run.
My legs were jell-o, but I ran as long as I could, which wasn't much. I tried to run, but I was overheating. I would take ice water at every aid station and dump it over my head and into my bra to try and cool off. Unfortunately, the water ran down into my shoes, and I had soggy socks for most of the run. The soggy socks caused blisters on my feet, but I didn't really notice until the race was over because of all the pain I started feeling in my knee. Every step I took I could feel my knee hurting. I hurt so bad and a normal person would have stopped running (or walking) to prevent further injury. However, there was no way in hell that I was quitting, so I kept going.
I enjoyed seeing fellow teammates and former teammates lining the race course and cheering for me when I cam through. I needed the words of encouragement from the coaches. I know they could tell I was hurting. I saw Bree from the Alamo 180 group and I finally got to slap her foam butt. I had seen tons of pictures of her silly foam butt on facebook, and it gave me much satisfaction to finally get to slap it. I know, weird.
I stole this picture from Bree's facebook page from another race. Bree, if you read this, I hope that's okay.
Around the end of the first loop I saw my friends Wes and Jessie on the side of the course. I was so happy to have a friends come out to see me race. I found Wes again around mile 6 and he ran with me for a mile or so. He kept telling me to run just a little because even just a little bit of running was faster than all walking. So, we would run to the end of the sidewalk or to the next aid station or to a sign and then walk again. He also talked to me about other stuff, probably to distract me from the pain. About halfway through the run, I stopped at the medical tent and had my knee wrapped and kept going. There were many friendly athletes on the course, and they helped me push through to the end. I wish I knew who they were so I could thank them. They would yell encouraging words or walk with me for a while. I couldn't have finished without them. Those of us at the back were all out there struggling together.
I took the run portion one mile at a time. I knew that if I could keep moving forward I could make it to the end. On the last loop, I could see the sweepers at the end of the race. They were about a mile behind me. I wasn't going to stop or slow down and get pulled off the course. As much as it hurt, I kept moving.
Finally, I rounded the corner of the last loop and saw the finish line. I started running. I saw Crystal and Doug waiting for me and that's when I started crying. So many emotions! I crossed the finish line and got my medal. I heard the announcer call my name and congratulate me. Holy crap. I just finished the Ironman 70.3! I did that! Heck yeah!
Crystal and me at the finish line with our medals. She pushed me to get into triathlon and I am here because of her.
Finish time: 8:50:49
It's time to recover and sign up for another race!
Results:
I have a DNF for my official race time. I had a few concerned messages from friends when I got back to my phone at the hotel. The good news is that I finished in 8:50:49. I crossed the finish line and got my medal. The race announcer called my name and I cried a lot of happy tears. However, my official time is DNF per the race rules (posted below). I guess this means I'm not going to the world championship. More importantly, it means I have to do this again and get a faster time. However, that DNF is not taking away the complete sense of accomplishment that I have right now. I'm a freaking IronWOman! Who would have ever guessed that I could do that!??!?
Proof that I finished
Tears
I'm so happy!
My run was 3:40:25, which is an hour slower than the Houston Half Marathon three months earlier.
Total Time Cut-off: The race will officially end 8 hours and 30 minutes after the final wave. Each athlete will have 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race. Any athlete that takes longer than 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race will receive a DNF and will not be eligible for age group awards and will not be eligible for IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship slots. Additionally, athletes that are in an earlier wave and finish before the final course cut-off but take longer than 8 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race will receive a DNF and will not be eligible for age group awards and will not be eligible for IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship slots.
Thank you:
Melanie Sun-Colvin
OnUrLeft Coaches and Athletes
Crystal Tomlinson
Wes Barnett
PR Elite Cheer Squad
Alamo 180 Cheerleaders and Doug Tomlinson
Audrey Piper Dunegan
Random Strangers
Jessie Allen
Lessons Learned:
1) Longer bricks during training. I would run for maybe 15 mintues if I ran after long rides. I need to do at least an hour of running after all of that cycling.
2) Swim when it's cold outside, the pool is heated for a reason!
3) Practice swimming with a mass of other swimmers to get more comfortable in the swim.
4) I need to lose weight
5) Going to the allergist helped, but I should have gone sooner.
6) I should put some band-aids in my transition bag
7) I need to figure out a way to keep my feet dry
