What I hope to document here is my 13 Week Journey to my first Ironman Race. I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to do this. I may do it in a quick journal format with my random thoughts…which may be more for me than anyone else and not to exciting to read, but if your ever considering doing an Ironman or even just a triathlon…then you can read about what goes through my mind in the training process. Highs, lows, emotions, fears, rants, etc., etc. Enjoy! PS: Forgive any spelling mistakes as I’m sure I’m just happy to get it written down…chalk it up to fatigue from lots of training J
Wake up call…3 am getting out of bed was tough, I was tired and nervous. I took a deep breath and thought. Wow, this is the day, I’ve been training for over 9 months, I’m really going to do this. Then I laid back down in my bed with a moment of fear and wanting the comfort of my warm blanket to surround me and took a big deep breath. In my head, I would repeat the first of several phrases throughout the day. “It’s time to get to work. What do you need to do?” So I got up and took a hot shower to wake up and get warm. Then I ate breakfast, got dressed in my racing outfit, tried on my wetsuit one last time to make sure it fit, then got my gear together and used the restroom. Then…it was time to go. Deep, deep breath. Time for ‘focused calm” another one of my mantras that I used through the entire day.
Stacy and I headed down to the race site, my nerves had me snapping a time or two at Stacy, which bless her soul, she took in stride. We parked at the US Airways Building and got my gear bags, and began the walk to transition. Deep breath, deep breath, focused calm on the present. Once at Ironman village, Stacy gave me a big hug for good luck and I flashed my wrist band and was in the Athlete’s area. I headed over to my gear bags first, to add a jacket to my run bag, just in case I got cold, and added a few nutrition things to my bike bag along with my Garmin chest strap for when I came out of the water. Next I walked over to my bike. The energy was amazing in the transition area, all these athletes, prepping for their day. I really had everything ready. I added water to both my bottles, check my tires, noted that the front could of used some more air, but it was also what I was used to riding on. And I figured that with my luck, I’d drain all the air out of it, so I just told myself that it was good and I was ready.
IT WAS COLD! I had on my long pants, fleece top, jacket and beanie as walked over to drop off my special needs bags for my bike and run, it was under the bridge. It was good to just walk and loosen up and basically just keep warm. I dropped off my bags in the correct areas, and then stood in line at the porta potty. Then when I got back to my bike, I had about 10 min before my “schedule” told me to put on my wetsuit. So I just stood, breathed and took in the energy and excitement of the transition area. I also looked around to watch when others began to put on their wetsuit. There were a few athletes with nervous energy and chatter. But again that ‘focused calm’ came over me and I just relaxed, breathed and enjoyed the moment as much as I could.
At 6:10 am I started to put on my wetsuit, sprayed my ankles with Trislide ( to help get the wetsuit on/off easier), then pulled it up over my calves, knees, thighs, hips. Applied more trislide to arms and around my neck and pulled the suit all the way up. Had another triathlete zip me up and well, basically I had nothing left to do in transition. So I checked my bike one more time. Tires, water, sunglasses, nutrition. Had in my hand my goggles, two racing caps and was ready to go. The wetsuit kept me warm and I was thankful for that. I packed up my warm clothes, shoes and socks in my Morning clothes bag and headed over to drop it off and go stand in line at the red TYR arch for the start.
The waiting…… 30 min of waiting, standing there with 2700 other athletes, slowly getting colder by the minute, watching the sky turn from dark to dawn, move forward a few steps, smelling the water to the left of me, knowing I’d be jumping into 61 degrees very soon. Mantra: focused calm. Attack the water. Don’t stop. Breath. I will do this. Every now and then I’d turn around, my goal was to be near the back of the pack. I'd like to think I was, but it was really hard to tell cause I wasn’t tall enough to see.
Then it happened. The canon went off for the pros, and they were off. But that meant that we had ten minute to the age grouper start, and over ½ of us were still standing on the land. So the line began to move quickly. Energy began to buzz even more. I would describe what happen next as a pivotal moment in my day. The race volunteers, suddenly started running down along beside all of us yelling loudly. “ATHLETES, GET IN THE WATER NOW!! YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO RACE START, RUN THROUGH THE TYR ARCH FOR YOUR TIMING CHIP, RUN TO THE RAILING, GET OVER IT, AND THEN JUMP THREE FEET OUT IN THE WATER , GO NOW!!!”
Then it was just a mass run, we all ran through the arch for the timing chip, to the wall, climbing over the railing, and I remember walking up to the edge of the water, three feet, three feet, three feet, and waited for a space to be clear and jumped in….
SWIM
The water was cold, I went down a few feet, but my wetsuit popped me right back up. And here an amazing thing happen. I had no fear, no nerves. Just focused calm. So I calmly started swimming to the start. I actually swam rather quickly and got up to the first bridge before the start line and stopped. I didn’t want to be in the front, my plan was in the back. I remember bobbing there and rotating around to look behind me and realized…I was in the middle! I had a moment of panic and thought, I’ll let some athletes go by me, but then realized no, I would get run over, so I said okay, Just attack it. Attack the water and don’t stop. As I was swimming up to the first bridge, I hear all this screaming, for a moment I thought the canon went off, as it was really hard to hear in the water. But later looking back at the race, I realized it was the national anthem. Then BOOM!!! The canon went off and we were off!!! I began my Ironman Journey at 7AM on Nov. 20th, 2011.
I began swimming, my plan? Sight each buoy, don’t look at the bridge, and just go one buoy at a time. I put my head in the water and began swimming. To my amazement, I was calm, focused calm. I could tell my heart rate was low, my stroke was steady but calm and I was moving. Before I knew it I was at the first buoy, ran into it actually, so I was swimming pretty straight. My confidence took a huge boost from this; I was going to do it!! I then took a few breaths, zeroed in on the next buoy and away I went again. By the second one, the sun was rising. I took a moment to just take it all in. All you could hear was the sound of arms stroking in the water, breathing. I rotated a minute to look behind me and see more of the athletes swimming. The sun was beautiful coming up; I remember commenting to a swimmer beside me. “great way to see the sunrise!” she agreed. Then I got back to work. I continued to sight each buoy, focusing on the short term goal, rather then the daunting 2.4 miles all together. I had yet to swim over 4000 yds in practice, my shoulder limited me from doing that, and even though I knew I could do it, I just didn’t let myself think about it. So I focused on one buoy at a time, and next thing I knew...wow I was at the bridge , then, under the bridge, and at the turn around. I remember looking at my watch and it said 40 min. HOLY CRAP!! That was awesome. I was so excited, But yet, my mantra through the whole swim was: focused calm. And it worked. I at times needed to switch breathing directions cause by this time, the water was getting cold, my neck was staring to kink cause I was breathing only to the left. But not in panic mode. So then I switched sides, and did a three stroke breath pattern, wow, calm….. no worries, and I was relaxed. Just like I needed to be with my swim. It’s the “race warm up” I recall someone saying. You don’t blow all your energy on the swim; it’s going to be a long day.
As I rounded the buoy turnaround here is where things started to bottleneck up. First off, I was lucky enough to always find clear water, as in water that I could swim without getting beat up too much from other swimmers. I was prepared to get kicked, punched, swam over, like a bar brawl in the water I was told. But I rarely had anyone hitting me, grabbing my feet, or running over me. As we got to the turn around, I suddenly was surrounded by three guys. Big Guys, Clydesdales we call them in triathlon. Basically, male athletes over 200 lbs. These three guys, seem to have a beacon out for me, because I would swim straight, and they would swim diagonal and one at a time, they would all run over me, or my back half. One guy kept stroking and would smack me on the ass, of course, I did too if he crossed in front of me early. I just keep searching for clear water, but they always seemed to find me. I’m sure they added a good extra half mile to their swim by doing that. I managed to stay mostly to the right of all the buoys, but sometimes I’d be on the left.
I just was so happy and proud of how I could get moving and be at each buoy sooner than I thought I would. My biggest issue at this time was that I was getting cold, the wetsuit was good, but the water was still 61 degrees, and because of this, I was cramping in my legs. Since the turn around, my right calf started to cramp every time I tried to kick, so I had to stretch it out while I swam, then my left would go. Stretch it out, swim. Then I’d get run over by a Clydesdale, re focus, find clear water, kick, cramp, stretch, swim. This was my pattern. Basically I swam the last half of the race only using my arms and not even attempting to kick with my legs. I kept swimming, getting closer to the bridge, I could see the buildings on my left coming into view, I was getting excited that I could do this, but also remaining calm that I still had to make it safely out of the water. I had a few close calls here as people started to bunch closer together. One girl had an insane kick that missed my face by a few inches…she had power behind that kick, you could hear it from the sound of the water. I then was around the buoy and on the home stretch. I could see the TYR flags, and the exit steps to go up. I go closer and closer and closer…and finally I was there!!
I swam to a clear spot to the exit, they had volunteers helping to pull you out of the water. I swam up to the step, grabbed the railing with my left hand, a volunteer with my right, he told me to step on the bottom step with my left leg, and between the two of us I was pulled up and out of the water in a standing position, for a moment anyway as I swayed and started to sway backwards towards the water! I grab the railing harder and he pulled me forward. My entire body was like lead. It was the strangest feeling with all the blood in my arms and none in my legs. No lightheadness mind you, but just solid…lead. So my trek up the steps was baby steps. Right leg, lift left on to step, right leg, lift left on to step. Go slow, don’t fall. Once at the top I started to walk, slowly toward T1, then I was at the wet suit strippers. And it went something like this.
Hi! Great Swim. Okay turn around ( they unzip my wetsuit and then spin me back around slowly.), Let's take this off your arms, I muster some comment about watching out for my watch. Then my wetsuit is off my upper body. Ok, let’s lay down now (they grab my arms and sit me down on the ground, I lay back), Lift your butt up ( I do and my wetsuit is whipped off of my legs). They stand me back up, drap the wetsuit over my arm. OK GOOD LUCK! And point me in the direction to walk to T1. I wouldn’t say I was disoriented, but I was cold, and still figuring out what to do with my body to walk after being horizontal for over an hour. The coolest part? I frickin' ROCKED MY SWIM!! I got it in 1:34:15 hr/min/sec. I was so proud of myself. That was my best case scenario for the swim. If all went well And I did it!!!
T1
So , on to T1, transition from swim to bike. I walked through the chute away from the water, around bike transition. I attempted to jog easy a couple times, but my body wasn’t ready and I preferred not to look anymore comical then I did. I heard my name and was able to wave out to Walt who saw me in the chute. I then was in the bike gear bag area, I was handed my bag and I walked over and around to the women’s changing tent. I stepped into the door and that was it. It was MASS CHAOS, the place was entirely PACKED , every seat, table, space on the floor was covered with female athletes. Everything was everywhere! There were clothes, naked bodies, wetsuits, strewn about on every available space, chatter about how cold the water was, and people saying good job. And it was also about 20 degrees warmer with all our body heat, and that was nice. I dropped my bag by the door and got to work. Not much space to move, so it took a while to get everything done. Wetsuit on the ground, towel out of bag, dry arms, dry off feet and legs, put on socks, and shoes, and then rubbed hair briefly, re tied in a pony, and donned bike helmet. Put my arm warmers on, then grabbed my Ho Ha Ride Glide ( laugh if you will, but it helps save the girly parts on a very long ride!) and stuck some nutrition in my back pocket, next used the restroom and applied my ride glide. Then I was back in T1 to pack my wetsuit in my bike gear bag and double checked anything else I needed.I debated for several min on my bike gloves, and honestly was enjoying the warmer air of the changing tent. And finally had to tell myself that I didn’t train with them so leave them! But I put them in my back pocket just in case I got too cold. I then applied some sun screen, then headed out the door, and got slathered again with more sun screen, before being directed to the bike transition. I walked onto the bike area, and was all the way to the front, which was nice. What was even nicer is as I got closer to my spot, suddenly I heard my number yelled out, and my bike appeared beside me and I just kept walking to the bike out sign. Very smooth on the volunteers part! I was impressed. So Total time: 18: 36.
Bike
I walked my bike to the mount line and then I hopped on, there were about 5 other athletes around me, so I had to be careful because this was a no passing zone. So I just took it easy and began to pedal slowly. It was amazing coming down the chute, seeing all the people around us, cheering us on. And then we were on the Rio Salado Parkway and I was off. I listened to the advice of others, and several coaching friends, and just took the first lap very conservative. I was going fast from adrenaline, but I knew I had a long way to go. So I wanted to just let my legs get under me and go. The course is a 37.4 loop course that you do three times.
I was told, the first lap should feel easy, if you are racing then you are going to hard. The second lap you’ll speed up a bit, but not too much cause you still have a ways to go. The third lap, well you’re just plain going to hurt, and that means you timed it well, and just need to get through it.
With in the first 30 min I started my nutrition plan I mapped out. My watch would beep every 15 min to remind me to either eat, drink water/perform, take a salt tablet, pee. Yes, pee, but get off the bike at an aid station and pee. I’m not willing to pee off the bike, it's just not my thing, and I'm not in it to win it so I can afford the breaks. The aid stations were about every 10 miles, they had Ironman Perform, Water, banana, GU,etc.
I got in H2O my first 20 minute, then by 30 minutes I ate a Peanut Butter/Jelly sandwich in my Bento box on my bike, next 15 water, then Gu , then Stash, Salt tablet every hour on the hour, etc. I did this for the entire 7 hours on the bike.
As I rode down the streets, I finally got on to the Beeline Highway, the meat of the ride. I drove the course the other day so I knew that it was mostly a false flat for 10 miles and then a hill at the end before the turn around at Shea Blvd. Well, I must say I wasn’t as prepared for the false flat for 10 miles. It was no where near the false flat I do going up Skull Valley loop, but with a headwind, it slowed me down pretty good to about a 13 mph pace. It took me 1:20 min to get to the turn around. I grabbed water every stop to drink something cold. I then started back from the first loop and was flying!! I still had the head wind, but I was crusiing aournd 24 mph, with an easy pedal stroke cause I was still trying to conserve and I felt good. It took me another hour and to get back to the turn around at Rio, and I completed my first loop In 2:22:18 with an average pace of 15.77 mi/hr. I was happy. But man I was sore too. So I started lap two, and saw my friends Patrick and Sarah at the turn around and waved.
Lap Two was much different. I had in my head that it would be the same, I’d have to pace myself up the incline and then be okay with a break and coast down the return. Well, the wind had other plans, it changed. I had a tailwind of sorts going up the beeline highway, and averaged a good pace of 16/17mph. I stopped at an aid station to pee. Then I was in my mantra: focused calm, time to get to work. And I felt strong and good on the bike all the way to the turn around . Then the wind took over. I’m not sure how strong the winds were, but they pretty much made my return ride longer then my ride out and my first loop. It was just like I was back home in Prescott riding on Fain, it was so unpredictable that I just had to embrace it and go with it. I made it to the special needs bike bag station and stopped off and grab my bag, drank some of my Coke and put the rest in my water bottle, used the restroom for my Ho Ha and I continued on my ride. I hit the turn around at 2:25:49. I saw Stacy, Dave and Walt and they got some pics of me on my bike and video as well.
Lap Three I had succeeded with my goal, two down one to go, and I was hurting. I was tired, I was sick of the bike seat, I was tired of shoving down PBJ, Stash, Gus every 45 min. I kept going, I was on pace for a 7 hour ride and I wasn’t stopping now. I was going to get it. I was praying the wind would be less on this ride, and only time would tell as I got out there further. I got off the bike at two more aid stations here. But I recall as I rode by each marker indicating the distance…I was saying in my head “ Fuck Yeah!!!” It was a bit of a taunting when your on your first loop and the marker say 70 miles, its such a teaser, and you wonder when you’ll get there. But oh the bittersweetness of it, when you actually do get to that point and all your hard work has paid off. It was also pretty cool to hit the 90 mile mark, the 100 mile mark (My highest training ride was 85 miles in Flagstaff on Lake Mary, on a day that I bonked hard at two hours in), but I knew I could do the distance, I Just knew it! But I also knew that it wasn’t going to be comfy. So the ride ended up being better with the wind on the 3rd loop. What was also interesting to note, is that by each lap, the riders got less and less. I didn’t see as many riders on my way out each time, I passed more, so that made me feel comfortable that I followed my game plan and had more left in the tank then they did. By mile 80 I was starting to have trouble with my right leg. I kept feeling my Achilles tendon bothering me, so I’d compensate by changing my position for pedaling, then my knee would ache, or the front of my shin. I basically just kept shifting it from one position to the next as each one starting hurting more, and just dealt with the pain. I recall after I hit the 100 mark (“Fuck yeah!!”) I was hopscotching with this guy, first one of us would pass. Then stand and stretch, adjust, sit back down, and ride, then the other would pass, stand, stretch, adjust, sit back down and ride. We did this back and forth with each other close to 5-7 times. On one of them as I was passing him, I commented to him, “man, one thing I can tell you…my girlie parts aren’t going to see this bike seat til at least late spring!” He let out a huge burst of laugher with that! Then ,I was off the beeline highway, I was on the home stretch, 5 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile. Then I was in the bike chute, and ready to dismount off my bike. Once off…someone grabbed my bike, asked if I needed anything off it. I didn’t and I was on my way to the run bag to collect my stuff. My last lap was my fastest, even with all the pain I was having in my right leg. 2:19:34. A 16 mph pace. Overall ride: 7: 07:41 hr/min/sec. I was so happy with that ride. Again like the swim. It was the best case scenario, and I was super happy!!
T 2
I got into T2. I have a picture of me there, so someone was around, I think it was Dave, grabbed my bag and headed into the changing tent once again. This time it wasn’t as crowded. I actually had a seat to sit down at. I pulled off my shoes and socks, helmet. I put on new socks and my running shoes, I put on my running hat. I used the bathroom, I got some water, I just sat for a few minutes to stretch out my legs with a little extra attention to my right leg. Then I got up, handed my bag off to a volunteer, got a little more sunscreen put on. And headed out on to the run course. I was on my last event!!! Now I knew I could do this, but it’s not until you meet the cut off times of the swim and the bike and feel like you got a little breathing room.
Run
I believe at this time it was approx around 4:15 pm. I began my run. I ran into my support crew just after the first aid station where they got some pics and I some words of encouragement. I was on my 10 min run/2 min walk plan, and I kept with it. I started out slow. Keeping my pace at 10 min, but noted I’d creep up, so I’d slow down a bit. I was feeling that "brick" sensation in my legs. I also was well hydrated, as the bouncing on the run cause me to hit just about every aid station to pee, I was too hydrated. So I stopped taking fluids for a bit. I didn’t take in any nutrition until about 50 min in to the run. My stomach just wasn’t having it, but I forced myself to down a Gu with a shot of water, and I’d feel better. I also enjoyed some of the chicken broth, as I wanted to get salt in me, I was not getting in my salt tablets. I also was grabbing wet sponges at every station. My right shoulder felt like I had a knife stabbing me in the back from being down in aero for so long. So I’d take a ice cold sponge and squeeze all the water out on that spot, the next one? Over my head. And I was good til the next aid station. I did this all the way through the first lap 8 plus miles, and after that my shoulder felt okay. It took me 1:50 min to get through my first lap, I thought this was too slow, but when I hit mile 10, I was actually on track for my time.
I started my second lap in the dark. I remember running up past the Tempe Art Center, and Stacy was there to get a few photos, Dave was in there somewhere also and got some, but I never saw him. Then I was off again on my own, and found myself following these two guys. I zoned in on their conversation. One was saying that the Run cut off time was 10:15PM for the second lap to get pulled. My brain hears him saying that they would make it with time to spare, and then he says 8:30 pm. My brain registers…oh it’s 8:30? What? There is no way I can make it in that time for another lap, it took me to long for the first one. I need to move. So I picked up the pace for a few minutes, before my fuzzy brain could process the info. Now just a minute. You just got off the bike, you only ran for 1:50 min. there is no way it’s 8:30 already, yes it’s dark, but it gets dark quicker. So after telling myself that 3 times, I asked someone the time. 6:30pm, I had plenty of time and I was fine. I dropped back to my normal pace. So, I continued along my 10/2 pace, making pit stops in the bathrooms and across one of the bridges I matched pace with another female athlete from Texas. We started talking about the race how it was going, and what we were doing. By this time, my right leg was starting to let me know it wasn’t happy. And I was on the verge of trying to convince myself to not give in to walking more. But as I walked with this athlete. She said she was on her 5 run/5 walk plan. And I asked of she'd like a running buddy. She said yes, and we kept each other company for the rest of the race. We kept checking each other now and then, giving permission to the other to go ahead if one of us was too slow. But it seemed to work out perfectly. We chatted around the course to finish lap two. When things hurt…we simply ignored them, used humor, or shut it out. We walked all the aid stations, and then some of the hills. But we actually got around the second lap pretty close to the first lap.
The third and final lap. Wow!! Talk about some emotion. We congratulated each other that we had only 8 plus miles to go!! We kept to our 5/5 plan but I was starting to fade. I had what felt like 20 knives piercing through my right knee, on the outside by my IT band, and down on top of my shin to the ankle on the inside. It almost hurt more to walk then run at times, but I could only do what I could do. Slowly we passed the signs that taunted us from the first lap. 18 miles, 20 miles. As we came up the back side for the check point with the timing chip, we stopped off at one of the station's on the course that covered our entire legs from thigh to ankle with a Biofreeze like product. It worked wonders…for the first mile. Then It was forgotten. I even got a business card from the gal, but can’t say that I even know where that is. We passed each aid station, taking in a gu and a shot of water, I took my last Gu at mile 23 and was done, anything more I put in my body I would throw it up!! By this time, I was walking more than running and my trusty running buddy stayed with me, but I continued to encourage her to go ahead if she wanted to. And she said the last mile she would and meet me at the finish for a big hug. We continued on. And as we hit that last mile, I began running with her, but stopped after three minutes. I walked, I was going to run down the finishers chute if it killed me but I would do it. Then I was a half mile away. I found Stacy Dave and Walt, they snapped some more photos, and video of me, and then booked it for the finishline to get a photo of me there. I started to run again, but stopped, my right leg was just done. So, I was walking to just before the finisher's chute.I had about 1/4 mile to go, and a volunteer shouted out…KEEP GOING. YOU GOT 5 MIN TO THE 15 HOUR MARK. Well dammit, I was too close now to give that up. My goal was to beat 15 hours! So, I began to run..and there were a few others with me. But I slowed down to let them go. I wanted to take time to savor this moment. Then suddenly..I was at the finisher’s chute. It was a good 50yds long to run through to the finish line. What I most remember now, is that it was dark. Last year, the crowd was light up. So they could see you, and you could see them. But it was dark, and then I curved around the corner and could see the finish. It was like the light at the end of a tunnel, I could see the arch outlined by the lights, I could see the clock so I knew I had time, so I savored the moment as best I could. I jumped a couple of times, hollered out "Yes!!" Threw my arms in the air. High fived the crowd as I ran down the chute. Then suddenly I heard it….the thing I had been waiting for since the start of this race, since the moment I signed up for the race last year. Mike Riley calling out my name and saying….”Kristie Dodge…YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!”
My time: 14:55: 21
After the Finish
I crossed the line. I was greeted by a volunteer who wrapped me in a blanket, and asked me how I felt. She had gentle hands (covered with gloves) as she guided me to get my medal placed around my neck. Then I was handed my finishers shirt and hat. Then someone took my timing chip off my leg. Then she told me what to do, get my photo taken (below), then go to the medical tent for leg, as I told her that was my only issue, or to the athlete’s area for food, drink, massage. Then she released me. And there was my friends up on the staircase yelling like crazy, I waved to them, and then my running buddy was in front of me, and we gave each other great big hugs!!
Then I went over to meet my support crew. Got some awesome big hugs of congrats, a nice warm sweatshirt, and a few photos. Here is where I had my emotional moment of finally finishing my first IRONMAN (see photo above). And although it was funny to see all three cameras go up to capture the moment. I’m so grateful that I have it forever!! I then hobbled over to the food tent, forced a slice of pizza down my throat, a Pepsi. Chatted with a couple fellow racers for a bit, then found Stacy at the exit. I walked over to a hill and sat, there Dave bless him had grabbed all my bags, and then ran and got my morning clothes bag with my warm clothes in it. We chatted for a bit, gave each other some recaps of the race and day. And then I hobbled back to the car. More like walking peg legged as I had severe pain when attempt to lift or bend my ankle or knee. Stacy had to lift my right leg and put on my pants for me it hurt so bad. Once at the car, Dave buckled me in and loaded the car. Stacy drove me back to the hotel. Here I chatted with some other racers while we got back to the hotel room. Iced my leg for a good 30 minutes while I checked out myself crossing the finish line on line. Then I tried not to holler too loudly as I got a steaming hot shower and crashed in bed. I must say that I am very grateful for the grab bars in the hotel shower, because otherwise I would of had a tougher time!
I can’t believe I did it, it still doesn’t seem real to me. It’s such an amazing experience, and I’m so glad that I made myself during the race just stop, breath, look around and take it all in. What an amazing experience that I will never ever forget! I said it before, but I’ll say it again, Thank you SO much for everyone’ s wonderful posts on facebook and email with words of encouragement and good luck wishes up to, during , and after the race. You have NO IDEA how much it meant to me to help me feel confident and know I was ready!! Also a HUGE THANK YOU to Stacy Holyfield, Dave Crosby, Walter Morris, and Patrick Conway, for being my race support crew and helping me with everything that I needed over the weekend. Could not have done it without you!! I am deeply grateful!!
FINAL RESULTS!!
Swim 1:34:15
T1 18:36
Bike 7:07:41
T2 7:15
Run 5:47:34
TOTAL 14:55:21
TOTAL 14:55:21
The Recovery:
It’s been two months since my Ironman race. Of everything I have read. It is recommended to take two months off. For the most part I feel good. My knee is still a bit tweaky I had to start out running for only 30 min, and now can get up to 1:15 before I need to stop. I did zero exercise for two weeks post. Except for an easy swim on the last day of Nov before my membership stopped for a few months. This also let me know the pool was closing mid Dec till End of January for renovations. So my swim is done until February. Let’s hope they get the pool done by then.
I have run maybe a handful of times working up to 2x a week now and two runs around 5 miles. Continue to do run/walks for my knee also, which I really needed today as my back was killing me.
As I prepare for my next season for 2012. I am looking back at my race reflecting on what things I told myself I would do differently to make my experience better for next time.
1. I won’t train alone again, that was just way to tough. But, I did do it, and I will again if I have too.
2. Get a tri bike. Trek or Crevelo, but really I just want to get one that is a good fit for me.
3. New Pedals, a proper bike fitting. That could be some of the cause for my tweaky knee at mile 80 in the bike.
4. Buy a wetsuit, TYR Hurricane, by far the best wetsuit that I have used and like a lot Category One is fine. Okay…Maybe Category Three J
5. Hire a Coach, or online training plan. Even though mine was good, nice to have additional input, even for one time.
6. Diet, I did well, but I could do much better.
7. Lifting Program, Don’t STOP IT!! Core is huge! And the strength you felt at the beginning from lifting was not there like you wanted it to be at the end.
8. Focus on Speed in disciplines for the next training year. More speed work and technique in the pool, more spin on bike, drills for legs etc. speedwork/hill work for runs
9. Yoga/Massage with Strength Training- very important for recovery process.
10. Full Length compression tights? Even just the knee highs helped a lot!
Feb 18th, 2012
Three months post Ironman. I’m back on the training cycle. February 1st, I signed up at the Y and am swimming 2x a week now. I’m running 2-3 times at 5-6 miles each. Lifting 1 x a week,(TRX or wt training).
I needed to get back on some type of schedule. Otherwise I’m going to drive myself insane. I’ve been looking at my 2012 season. So far I have come up with a possible plan to work on increasing speed this year. To prepare for my next Ironman in 2013. J
So Possibilities:
Whiskey Row 10K May 5th
Mtn Man Sprint July 15th
Mtn Man Flagstaff Olympic Aug. 12th
Deuces Wild Tri Festival Sept 8-9th
Soma Half Tri Oct. 23rd
AZ Ironman Volunteer Nov 18th
Just a start and tentative plan. I think I can work in a 24 week to a faster Olympic tri for the Aug race…but I’m thinking that I still want to do some other things in June/July. Only time will tell. I also want to make sure I have enough saved for Ironman (650$ set aside) . And I wonder if I want to do the Olympic in Show Low or the Half? Soma for sure, that will be my “A” race if you will. Now how to organize the training plan.
March 19, 2012
Bit of a minor setback, the day before my birthday, I “pulled” something in my right leg while running. Felt on outside by my IT Band, but rotated around and was shooting nerve pain down my leg to the back of my knee. NOT GOOD!! I had to get a refill on my prescriptions for my Vicodin and Muscle Relaxers. I took a week off of training (which was hell!!) and am now slowly back to swimming and running. I also can feel my right shoulder tendonitis kicking in again, so all training session in pool are solely focused on technique and I top off around 2200 yrds. My Plan: I’m starting back up with my PT exercises I got from last year for my shoulder and back. I had some relief the other day for the first time, when I got home from my swim/run at the Y, I actually spent and hour doing “spring cleaning” while it snowed outside, and in the process was stretching out my lower body and for the first time in two weeks, didn’t feel like I had to rely on the drugs for pain management. SO…more stretching will be incorporated into my training regimen. As I have read, as you get older, the more recovery time you need, and more stretching is necessary. DAMMM…just didn’t want it to start the day of my birthday!! Geeez!!!
June 12, 2012
June 12, 2012
Finally after months of debating and planning, I got my Ironman Tattoo! The waves on the side represent the "swim", then use the two waves as "bike wheels" and the Dot as the head of the bike, and the runner, you have to really use your imagination and cover the bottom part of the M in the picter and the "runner" is running to the right. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd get one. Until I did an Ironman. It's a badge of honor. And it just looks cool!! :) What even more interesting...is I titled my album...."My First Tattoo!!" I wonder if that is a sign of more to come?
