This is my Journey into the World of Ironman. It's my journal/documentation of the ups and downs of what it takes to be an age-group athlete training for an Ironman triathlon. This is more of a way for me to remember what I am doing over the course of the training season, as any Ironman Athlete can tell you, sometimes the days can blur into one training day of swim, bike, run after another. So, while some may not find this at all interesting, those that wonder...could I do an Ironman? Do I have what it takes to do an Ironman? I give you a peek into my journey and days to complete my next Ironman. Forgive any misspelled words/awkward sounding sentences. I'm pretty happy just to get them down on paper. Consider it a test of your mental skills to figure out what I'm saying. I hope you enjoy reading my journey.
Overall Training Totals:
Swim 157,679 yds 65:00 hr/min
Bike 1502.2 Miles 124:07 hr/min
Run 517.7 Miles 112:13 hr/min
Other/ 29:45 hr/min
Strength
Overall Training Time: 331:09 hr/min
The Weeks before Race Week.
I know I like to write up a full short book with my race reports, so If you just want to read the race report....scroll down to highlighted RED title/headline for race day.
I'm went into this race, not honestly sure if I was going to finish. I knew in my heart I had the will and desire, but I knew my endurance was not up to where it really should have been for this race. My coach and I had multiple conversations and emails about if I really should toe the line. She was worried for me, as she should, she has worked with me for three years and knows me well. And while she did this, she also said she would support me in whatever I choose. And so with much contemplation, I decided it was better to try and do it, then give up and not even start. Isn't that what people say? A DNF is better then a DNS? I had been training since January, so I had endurance under my belt, but just not the long bike rides. I hadn’t been shy talking with people and expressing how I seemed to be self sabotaging my training since June, and honestly, I think it started before that. The whole year just kinda felt off. It’s hard to explain, and really I don’t know that I can, but I knew, I could not give up on this, otherwise, I would feel like the last 9 months had been all for nothing.
So I packed up my car, and drove three days back to Michigan on August 8th, then spent five days in Michigan getting acclimated to the lovely humid weather, attempting to get in my tapering and then, once again, I packed up my car and headed for Mont Tremblant, Canada.
I rolled into Mont Tremblant some 13 hours later, in the dark, in the rain, around 10ish at night. I had planned to be there around 6ish. But I didn’t get out early enough, and then traveling of course always takes longer than planned. I was very happy to finally find the condo, after a bit of a wild goose chase, with not being able to call my teammates, or find the condo on the map, having no cell service in international Canada (even though I added the plan). I was huddled over my map on my Outback screen in an electric car charging station parking lot, scanning it for a street name that looked like the one I was supposed to go to in the email. The directions were somewhat confusing but I managed to find the street on the map. Then when I found the right streets to turn on to, it was blocked, so after a second turn around, I just went around it and finally giving up, I stopped off at a different hotel. I walked up to the front desk, and waited for a lady talking in French to a guest who had actually found their rental. When she finished she spoke to me in french hello....I paused and then said, ”I’m Lost”, I told her, and she taking a moment and looking at me, looked at the directions and easily started talking in English, "no, your not", then directed me a couple 100 yards down the road where the rental was located. Once I knocked on the door, I was greeted by big hugs from Erika and Marc. And gave a brief update of my fun adventures, and Marc helped me figure out my phone,so I could call my parents to let them know I made it and wasn’t dead after 12 hours of silence.I unloaded my stuff and then crashed for the night after chatting for a bit with Erika and Marc. It felt good to be there. Oh, and the bed was super comfortable…and I took full advantage of it, as not having one of your own is the hardest thing for me when traveling.
I woke the next morning refreshed and relaxed, had breakfast with Marc and Erika and her mom. We headed out and stopped off to get a picture with the BIG M-Dot, then a Big Chair, then headed down to the swim start. I’m a bit superstitious when it comes to pre-race stuff. So I normally don't swim if I don’t have to before the race, mainly because “something” happens that seems to prevent me from getting in my swim. Well, deciding that all happened back in good old USA two days before with my car flooding, I took it as a sign to go for it.
So my workout from the coach…swim to the Coffee Boat. She knows me well. We checked in, changed into our wetsuits, and took off for the 800 yards over to the coffee barge. It was a bit weird to see the bottom of the lake, the water was pretty clear, but then to see the drop off where it went really dark, kinda got me a bit freaked out. Without the sun, it was darker, I wondered what it looked like if the sun was shining? It was a bit wavy too, but I got in a comfortable rhythm and got out to the coffee boat, where I had a nice little shot of expresso with cream. It was quite good. I would of enjoyed a second one if we had stayed longer, but swimming in place was getting cold, so we headed back. Once back on land, we rinsed out our suits, signed the wall, and then walked back up to the condo, took a quick shower and headed down to go check in at the race site, literally about 100 yds from the condo.
We got checked in, got our wrist bands, weighed, and got our very cool backpacks, and walked briefly around for a bit, picking up some IMMT gear. Surprisingly, they had all the Finisher Gear already out for sale. It was hard to look at, but I was not willing to touch it, or buy any so I didn't jinx it at all. I also tried not to look at the race medal that was displayed at the expo area, but finally, I saw it by accident. When I looked at it, I got a bit emotional, inside my brain said, “I really want that medal”.
My emotions through the entire time leading up to the race were all over the map. I’d have moments of fear, moments of strong confidence, moments of tears, moments of feeling like a fraud for not having done all my long bike rides. Moments of happiness, joy, excitement. I went through the entire range several times a day. It was a rollercoaster. It was exhausting. So the best way I could really stay sane was to totally treat this race, as if it was my first race. Which technically, for Canada, it was. So I took pictures, lots of pictures to remember all the moments of the trip. Lots and lots of pictures. I probably annoyed some of my friends on Facebook because I took so many, so I apologize for that. But it was my way of coping with the emotions and the nerves. It kept me calm, focusing on just enjoying the moment and being present. We headed up the gondola in the town, we walked around the town, then relaxed for a bit in the condo before heading back out to get groceries, have lunch at an amazing Italian place, and then relaxed some more, then we vegged out and watched the Olympics on tv, then off to bed.
We woke Friday morning, had breakfast, and headed out for our “40 min” bike ride. Which we got side tracked by the beauty of the course, ended up on the path we would run on, and took a few more unplanned detours, and some how came in about 1:20 hour/ minutes later, on the other side of the course. So, we decided that we just had ridden our extra time for the next day. We got back, took showers, and relaxed. We again, explored the town a bit, going up to the top of the little gondola again and enjoyed the yumminess of a BeaverTail treat (think fair food, elephant ears with flavor of your choice, My choice, Nutella and Bananas) We then jumped in the car, and drove the bike course.
Again, my emotions were all over the place, I was kinda glad I was driving, because I could focus on the road, and not on freaking out. There were several big hills that had me nervous, but over all they seemed mostly rolling, and I liked rolling hills, as I can use them to get me up the other side. I started to believe that this was doable, I could do this. Then we came to the back side and last small loop of the course. Oh. My. This was only about 6 miles long, out and back, but it was insanely short, “punchy” hills. 8% grades. Lots of them. What I did enjoy was seeing Ice Bins at every aid station already set up and in place for race day. I would at least stay cool if the race was hot. IMMT was definitely making it a red carpet experience for the athletes, I was super impressed. We got back to the rental, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until it was time for the athlete dinner. Again, it was a red carpet experience, all under a tent, big screens everywhere, arial dancers with sweet music (yes I found the song and downloaded it). I’m pretty sure I’m now spoiled with IM in Canada. It was again, wild to be standing for the Canadian anthem, and how cool that Mike Reilly was there!!!! I didn’t realize that, until just before he was announced, I looked over and saw him sitting at the table right next to us. I then got even more emotional, I really wanted to be called in by him. I had to finish this race. Deep Breath. It was fun listening to the announcements in first French, then English. I had a few more moments of tears. Getting encouragement from both Marc and Erika when things were said through out the night. I couldn’t look at them at the time, cause I knew I would burst into tears. So I focused on the screen, or what they were saying. I was able to meet up with my friend Ocky, and finally meet his wife, Shannon, who was also racing, we all got to hang out for a bit and catch up. Then, if that wasn’t awesome enough, after the dinner, they had a live band, which ended with fireworks at 9pm. Someone told me the guy was very well known for doing fireworks for all the very “big” event’s in Canada. And the songs were "themed" for triathlon while the fireworks went off. It was a very good night. We then headed back to the condo, did a bit of Olympic watching, then off to bed (my comfy bed).
cool bird like animals(people) on stilts.
Mike Reily
Just in case the swim had to be cancelled due to the weather forecast.
The Cool Birds....
Maple Flavored Ice Cream. Who knew that would be really good!!
I woke Saturday to sunny skies and the day was just beautiful, mid 80s, barely any wind. Of course, today would of been the perfect weather day for the race, but alas, Mother nature would have different plans on race day. Way different plans. Today’s plan was to just get all my gear bags ready, watch the Women’s Triathlon for the Olympics, and then get the bikes dropped off and bags checked in to the tent. The rest of the day was relaxing, having dinner, putting on our race day TriTats and getting to bed early. I got emotional again, so I put on my headphones, and got really quiet, spent time visualizing the race, the transitions, praying for a safe and successful race. then I laid down to go to bed. Tomorrow was the big day.
Post donut eating, Olympic Tri watching...relaxing time.
Victoria Grace all ready to go....
all the women (all 20% of us) were on the right side...directly in front of the men's changing tent.
It's like they were asking for one of us to accidentally run in the wrong area. We had the two tiny flags/area on the far left.
run from the swim
Oh Mother Nature.....
Ha...that second story condo was ours....it was NOT a sign that the medical area was right there.
Race Report for Ironman Mont Tremblant, Sunday, August 21st, 2016
It’s 4:30 AM. I can hear my teammates moving around above me getting up. I roll over in bed, take a deep breath, and then sit up. Today is the day. I’m going to participant in my 4th Ironman. I put on my Team FC Race kit, and I eat some breakfast, I mix up my AM UCan drink for the bike. I have been testing it out on my last few long rides, and it seems to be working for my stomach okay. I use the restroom, and then I sit for a few minutes and breath. I tell my teammates to go ahead without me after we take our race day photo, as I just need a few moments alone to “regroup”. It’s surprisedly warm for 5 AM with the humidity. A good sign hopefully for not being too cold for the day. Mother Nature wanted to make herself known. The weather is forecasted for 100% rain. And thunderstorms. All day. Three options were formed by Ironman and reviewed with us during the athlete dinner in case the swim needed to be canceled due to the weather. Part of me, freaks out and prays that we don't have to swim, part of me really wants to swim. I turn on my music and play my power song one, two, three times, then I grab my bags and walk out the door and down to the race site.
Transition
I head down to the race site, only 50 plus steps from the door of the condo that we rented (score Erika on that one, it was perfect!!). I walk into transition with my bags, I get to my bike, I check my tires. I tap them oh so slightly to let out some air, as I have been informed (thanks Ocky) that I should lower the tire pressure for wet rides. And then I get all my bottles on my bike. Super concentrated U CAN in the one bottle, and two bottles of Rocket Fuel from Base Performance on the back, my BASE salt tube between the aero bars. I fill up my water bottle, stuff in a few of my things in the bento box, then….I’m done. In the corner where the stage is, the announcer talks first in French, then in English, there is a band playing live music, it’s not the usual up beat rock, but more soothing. Surprisingly, it feels very calming, since I normally play my Eminem to get pumped up. I hear nothing about any options about the swim, so it’s a full go. Nice, okay, that's what I really wanted I realize, if I'm all in, I want to have a fair full race. I walk over to the bike and special needs bags and drop them off in the garbage bins, then, I head over to the tent to drop off my bike and run bags for transition. I love that it’s all indoors, my stuff will stay dry. I head back to the “secret porta potties" out behind the transition, see the line, and realize it will be easier to walk the 50 steps up to the condo and use my toilet, Score!!
After I pee, I head down to the swim start. It’s a good 10 min walk to the start from bike transition. As I get closer, I veer off onto a grassy area and start putting on my wetsuit. I spray on my TriSlide, pull on my right leg, left leg, pull up over my hips, timing chip on my left ankle. Then I grab my swim cap, ear plugs, foggle wipe and goggles. I head on down into the beach area, and notice everyone tossing their Morning Clothes bags up into a dump truck. Haha! Best way to transport 2400 plus bags I suppose to the finish line.
It's now about 45 min out from the start. The music is going, the crowds are getting bigger. Then, they do the national anthem, the Canadian Anthem. It still gets me that I’m not in my own country, that while I’m still on the same Continent , I’m not in the USA. I’m the foreigner. As the song ends, a fighter jet comes straight overhead flying over the water and over us, it tips it wing as it flies away. I finish my UCan drink, go toss my Morning Clothes bag into the dump truck and I head down to the beach to find my spot with the other women wearing the light….pink….swim caps. Ahhh, pink. Guess it’s becoming sort of a tradition now. I have to wear pink swim caps, why jinx it now right? The countdown begins for the pro men. And then, just as the canon is about to go off…ZOOM!!!!POW!!!!!! The Fighter Jet flies over head the opposite direction and buzzes the athletes and swooping up over the water, fireworks go off as the cannon is fired!! Wow, by far the best start to an Ironman race I’ve ever been too. From then on, every 3-4 minutes for the next half hour, the fireworks go off signaling the start of the next age group. As the last age group to go, I got to watch each one, and it was kinda cool, a good distraction. I also got to get in the water for a few minutes before the swim and get my pre-race pee out of the way. Yes, I peed in my wetsuit, four times, then I got back in line to get ready for the start. I looked for Erika to wish her luck an give her a hug, but I never found her.
For those who wonder why I got this picture....My high school mascot was Dudley Do Right.
We are the Northwest Mounties.
I was nervous, somewhat unnervingly calm, but nervous. Really, it was more of emotional roller coaster nerves. That insane amount of mixed feelings was going on in my head, wondering if I really should be here, then knowing I was not sure if I deserved it. Over the noise, I heard someone yelling my name, and I looked over and saw Ocky, my friend in the crowd. I ran over to him, he got a pre-swim pic of me, and then gave me a great big hug and told me I could do it, just to believe in myself and I will cross that finish line. That’s when I lost it. All the emotions of not knowing if I could do it or not came out. I started crying right there on the beach. Ocky gave me another quick hug and a few more words of encouragement, and I walked back to where I was planning to line up wiping away the tears, trying to control my breathing and get the tears under control. Fireworks exploded for the age group in front of us….we were next, it was time to get going. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. The voice in my head said.... "I’m either all in or all out, what’s it going to be?" I took a deep breath in.....and out... and told myself very calmly. “I’m All In”. At that moment, I accepted that I was where I was with my training, all I could do now was focus on what I needed to do for the next 17 hours, and see where it got me. I walked under the swim arch, and adjusted my goggles one last time, put in my ear plugs, took a couple deep breaths. Boom, the fireworks went off and I headed into the water to start my day with the plan to finished 140.6 miles in under 17 hours…..
Before the waterworks...
Can you see me? Green and blue goggles, top middle, slight left
In I go...
SWIM
I walked out into the water and up to my waist, found my space and started swimming, the water looked dark, I knew it wasn’t cold, but it just looked dark with the clouds keeping the sun away. I sent up a little prayer for no lightening while I was in the water and started swimming. The beginning was a bit of the usual washing machine with everyone trying to settle into their position, throwing elbows, bumping into each other and get their day started. Then suddenly, a huge mass of bubbles came up from under me. And I freaked out wondering what was down there in that black below me. My first thought was, “is there a diver?” then I saw a hard kick and thought, oh maybe it was that. Later, I would learn it was a diver. They were there, under us, keeping an eye out. I slowly got into a rhythm, trying to calm my panic attack that always liked to try and creep up at the start of the race. So, I focused only on the next buoy, and not the whole 2.4 miles.
I got into my rhythm and was going well until I got to buoy #8. Here, the water was starting to turn into swells. I was really glad I had my ear plugs in, because waves/swells usually make me start to get motion sickness. I noticed to, that the water was pushing me out and away from the buoys, so I had to swim toward them at a slight angle. I could only think as I got closer to the turn, “Fuck, the way back is going to suck”. Whew, no kidding, it totally sucked. By the time I hit the turn buoy, I was being pushed further away from the course. I was swimming into waves that seemed to come in at a diagonal. I was swallowing a lot of water every time I came up to breath. I tried to feel the water and match my pace with the waves, and it seemed to work as I was able to not drink as much water, until I hit the last turn buoy and I was hit with what felt like a huge wave/wall of water. I immediately swallowed a mouth full of water, and every time I tried to catch my breath, I swallowed some more. A minor panic started to began. This really was going to suck. Luckily, I was able to tap it down by counting my strokes in 6’s. I would take six strokes and then look up to sight, move like only five feet forward, Repeat: 1 2 3 4 5 6, look up, sight, move five feet closer, 1 2 3 4 5 6, look up, sight, move five feet closer. 1 2 3 4 5 6 look up, sight, move five feet closer. The frustrating part was the swells, now ocean like, were so strong that I felt like I wasn’t moving, It felt like it took three times as long to go from one buoy to the next. I began to wonder if it would take me almost two hours to get into the finish, that would cut into my bike time, and my transition time. I didn’t have that luxury. In order to stay on the buoy line, I had to swim sideways at an angle toward the buoy, otherwise I was drifting out away from the buoy line.
That was the back 1/2 of my swim…1 2 3 4 5 6 look up, sight, move 5 feet closer. repeat, repeat, repeat, with the occasional swallow of a mouth full of water. On a good note, the water tasted fresh and clean, nothing compared to the waters of Tempe Town Lake, or Boulder Rez. I wasn’t worried about needing antibiotics after my race. When I got to about the fourth buoy to the finish, I happen for some reason look at my watch, it said 1:26 hr/min. Wow, I was actually pretty shocked at that, I thought I was going to be way over. So I put my head down and kept swimming….1 2 3 4 5 6 look up, sight, move 5 feet closer, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Finally, finally I was swimming closer to the blue arch, I could hear the announcer, then finally I scrapped my hands on the bottom and stood up. I pulled off my goggles, and walked up out of the water, under the arch, and on into transition.
Swim Time: 1:41:05
the loooooong red carpet
the long red carpet run from swim to bike
T1 --- 10:48
I headed up the red carpet and was directed off into an area to the left, this was the wetsuit strippers, I had already started to take off my Garmin watch. I learned that I always some how, hit the button wrong and started my bike time in T1. One stripper offered to hold my watch, and three gentleman helped me lay down and whipped off my wetsuit, stood me up, and I was on my way, after I grabbed my watch. Now, my coach told me I could NOT waste time in transition. I had to get in and get out. The only challenging part? I had to run up a long red carpet from the swim exit, into town, into the Transition Tent. The longest run transition I’ve ever had. I made it in 3:17 min/sec with an additional :30 second stop in the bathroom to pee. Then I was out, running into the tent, grabbed my bag, running to the far right, so I didn't accidentally run into the men’s tent, and then I sat down and got to work. I grabbed my towel to dry off my feet, put on my socks, bike shoes. Pulled my hair in a low ponytail, put on my helmet. Grabbed my sunglasses. I debated as I pulled out my rain jacket. It wasn’t raining when I ran in, but I knew it was coming. So I set it aside, rolled up my wetsuit, and threw all my swim stuff in the Bike Bag, and then grabbed my rain jacket and headed out the door of the changing area, as I started to put it on, I noticed I had my arm warmers too, So I just started to put one on my right arm, pushed it down around my wrist. I noticed pretty quick as I walked into the bike transition, I was getting hot already, so I started to unzip my arms off my bike rain jacket. I ran over and got my bike, tied the other arm warmer to the aero bars, and then headed down out to the transition arch.( I stopped just after, not before) and took off my jacket arms, and stuffed them into my pockets. Then I ran under the arch….over the timing mat and on to the most challenging part of my race, the leg that would make or break my day. I sent up a little prayer, clipped in, hit my watch and off I went. Time to get to work.
Bike
Not Me, but this was the bike...mostly all day long.
The rain came almost immediately once I was on the bike, a nice steady rain, then at times, a monsoon type rain. The only good thing about it, was that it was a warm rain, it was also in the mid 70s. So, unlike St. George 70.3 back in May, I never got cold the entire day. Just wet, I never dried out. I begin the first loop of the bike. I had to focus on biking strong, but also biking safe and steady. I couldn't afford any mistakes, or a flat, and I could not stop. Time was my enemy. I noticed quickly that my sunglasses fogged up pretty strong. I had to push them down on my nose, and squint under my helmet to try and see the road through the rain, then my glasses would un-fog, and I’d push them back up, only to repeat this for the first 15 miles of the ride. Then, finally, out of frustration, I just pulled them off, and shoved them into my sports bra, and squinted my way through the rest of the course while rain pelted my face and eyes.
This does not justice to the amount of rain falling...
The cut off times of the bike were burned into my memory, I reviewed them many times last night, and prior to leaving for the race. I focused on keeping a good pace, while not burning out my legs so I could get through both loops with some energy left for the run.
One fun bike moment was while I was coming up to one of the last few hills on the first turn around at LaBelle, I was pedaling down the hill, and I looked up to see that the horizon in front of me was gone, it was a solid wall of white. Yep, monsoon rain. It was definitely an interesting ride. But I felt comfortable on the bike, I wasn’t pushing over my limit, but I felt strong. I kept taking my Ucan, and I was feeling focused, I felt “clear”. So I pedaled into the wall of water, thankful for no lightening and got to the first turn around, I clocked my time in my head. Then as I turned around ,I was greeted by a strong headwind and more pelting rain. Where the heck did that come from? I did the only thing I could. I put my head down, within reason of course and pedaled. The hills didn’t feel to horrible at this point, only the wind and rain was frustrating. Then, I came up on La Conception Hill. Now this hill, this one was a bitch. It was long, and it was never ending. I stayed focused by counting my pedals. 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2. All the way up the hill…1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2…….etc. , etc. I saw the time cut off for the second loop, I clocked my time in my head, and moved on. Soon, I was down and on the bottom loop pedaling through the little town of St Joviet. Back around that turn around and I was heading back up the highway and back on Monte Ryan and heading back to the final part of the first loop on Champin Dyuplasis. (Loving renamed by myself unofficially, as the “Ass Kickers” ). It took me a good 25 minutes to make it up those ass kickers, and even then, it felt like it took twice that to get up all the hills. I was aware this time, that depending on how this went, I would know my time to finish the second loop. I had a moment or two of darkness as I was pedaling up one of the “punchy” climbs calling in my head 1..2…..1……2……1……2 with each slow pedal of my legs. I refused to get off and walk, so while I was slow, I kept pedaling and going. Then finally, I was at the top, turned around and…..WEEEEEE!!!! that down part was really fun (top speed in the rain, yeah, I know not the smartest, 40.2 mph). While there were a few more small punchy hills to climb, it was mostly downhill. I still had to be very careful with the decents, as the roads were very wet, I remember to always feather my brakes as the coach remind me with the rain. There were a lot of people who I had to pass, and yell on your left. I was careful to stay off any painted lines, as that was a recipe for disaster. But I also couldn’t slow down. Not until I had made the first cut off on the bike and know if I had a chance to complete the bike portion. Then, before I knew it, I was back in town and turning right onto the road with the turn around. I pedaled up the road, the crowd was super loud here and cheering. Honesty, it was the best crown support of any race I had been too. There were supporters literally along the entire bike course, in the pouring rain, cheering all of us on. Screaming “Bravo, Bravo!!!!” It was a pretty awesome feeling. Then I saw it, the turn around and the strips across the bike path to mark my time, to send out to anyone checking the race where I was on the course, I rode over the strips, heard the familiar “beep, beep” and then looked down at my watch. 3:52 hr/min. I was 40 minutes ahead of my anticipated lap time. 40 minutes before the cutoff? did I really have 40 minutes? To some athletes, that I'm sure this seemed very slow. But to me, with the way my training year has been, I was quite happy. I had a 40 minute cushion, I didn’t feel tired, and I still had one lap to go. It was at this moment that in my heart, I knew, I would finish the bike and finish the race as long as I was smart. I had a few tears in my eyes, but then I re-focused and got back to work. I still had a long way to go. And while I had a 40 min cushion, we all know that anything can happen, and I wasn’t going to take any chances.
Awesome crowd support!
Rainy Race Day
I headed out on lap 2 of the bike. I stopped at the special needs and I took about five minutes total. Mainly, I had to pour my three new pouches of U CAN into my water bottle, while swirling it to mix into a nice pasty gu (yum), and shaking it, before adding the next one. It got a tad messy with the rain and I couldn’t open the packets with my wet hands, so I had a volunteer attempt to help me, but I ended up doing it on my own, that was the only place that the volunteers didn’t seem to be super helpful. Then off I went, Lap 2 was basically a repeat of Lap One. Rain, Monsoon Rain, Light Rain, Windy Rain, Bitch of a hill at La Conception…looooooooooooong. 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2, look up, seriously? head down 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 , look up, F$#@@, head down, repeat. I made it through the town, back up Monte Ryan, and then on to the Ass Kickers…I was dreading these now as I was tired, my legs were hurting a bit, so I just focused on one hill at a time and just believed I could do it. 1 2…..1…..2….1…………2……………1…………2, Oh shit, a quick unclip and I saved my butt from a nasty fall. I was reduced to walking up the rest of that hill. I could actually walk faster in my bike shoes, then ride. So I just kept moving. I was forced to do it with one more short punchy hill. I never in my life have walked up a hill on a bike, especially in a race. But I excepted that it was the safest at that time, since riding, I would have fallen. What I deserve for not doing all the work, If I had done all the work on the bike, I wouldn’t have had to walk. I made it to the top. and I enjoyed the ride down. I recall someone in the middle of the road this time, telling us to slow down, be careful.(( I learned after the race, there was a horrible crash, where a guy coming down, lost control and slide into a guy coming up the hill, head down. It was pretty serious, both were in ICU if I recall the posts after)). And then telling us just one more hill and we were on our way in. I didn’t recall that last hill, so when it came up, I joked with another girl pedaling up it, that “I don’t remember this being here on the last loop, and if he was lying to us, that I was not going to be a happy girl”. Luckily he was almost right, there was one more hill, but it was quite easy to use the momentum from the last downhill to pop up and over the top. Then, I pedaled off the hill, and the crowd came into view, and I turned right and pedaled my way into the transition of the bike. I did it!! I had completed the course, and I still had 35 minutes to spare, Not to bad for the second loop. My first thought was..... I really am going to do this!!! I was going to run across that finishline and get that big beautiful medal. I was going to be an Ironman today for the 4th time. I coasted up to the dismount line. I unclipped and stopped. And handed off my bike to the volunteer, and then walked into T2 and headed to the final leg of my race.
7:56 hr/min.
T2
While I still had time to spare, I was focused on not staying to long in transition. As I started to walk through transition on the red carpet, I gave up and stopped and took off my bike shoes, then I was able to lightly jog on the soaked red carpet into the tent. I grabbed my bag and again took a hard left to avoid running into the men’s changing area, and ran in and sat down about 3/4 of the way down on the women's side. At one point I happened to look behind me at the “black” curtain because I heard something, surprisingly I could see through it and got a few not so wanted views on the men’s side. I turned back around and got to work. I pulled off my soaked socks, and let my feet dry out as I pulled off my helmet and put on my visor. I pulled my sunglasses out of my bra and tucked them in my helmet. Then I went to work on drying off my feet, it took forever. I even asked a volunteer if they had a extra towel, and dried them again. I had a few choices of socks in my bag, and had decided to wear my compression socks from the start. When I went to put them on, I realized that my feet were still not really dry, and it took a good 2:30 min/sec to put on each one (yes, I timed it, as I was trying to be quick). Well, there went a quick T2 time. Once I struggled them on, with some comment about ‘Oh the struggle is real!!” and got a few laughs from another gal doing the same thing, I got my shoes on, put on my race belt with number, threw on some quick deodorant (yes, it makes me feel better knowing that I don’t stink for the first 13 miles of the run), and then after asking what to do with my bag, I left it in my seat as instructed, and I headed out to start my run, with one quick potty break at the start.
T2 : 11:53
Run
The run was, like the bike, two laps. 13.1 miles each. The first 3-ish miles were hills, up and down, up and down. And the sun peaked out for the first time that day, giving a pretty light to the trees and the lakes. I started out at what I thought was a decent pace, every time I looked at my watch it say 11:25 or 12:35. I thought okay, I am doing alright, I’d walk the aid stations as I had planned, get my fluids on board/salt, then get back to my pace, and when I did get in the 11:25 zone, I’d slow it down just a bit. I knew it would be tough to maintain that for the second loop if I went to fast on the first. I walked the hills, then jogged the downhill and straight aways. I walked the aid stations. This was my current focus. I focused on form, but I had a tough time with keeping my 90 cadence. I just moved. I made it to the turn around, and headed on back, somewhere in here I saw Marc, He gave me a big hug, excited to know I made it off the bike! Even as he moved the other direction, he was yelling at me “I”M PROUD OF YOU!!!”” I holler back “Same to you!!!” As I started heading back into town for my second loop, I started to calculate my time. Where was I at? I was going to do my first lap in a 3:15 hr/min pace. Right where coach thought I would be.
Ahhh, I'm thinking this is when It started feeling crappy, or more crappy. I was unable to take anything in.
Ironically, I was able to calculate the times, and conversation from Km to Miles pretty well in my head the entire time during the race. The reason that this is funny, is that normally, in all my other races, I have brain fog by this time, and I can’t calculate ANYTHING in my head. But it was pretty clear for me. I’m wondering if part of that had some thing to do with using the Ucan, keeping my calories and nutrition right on the bike. But, what wasn’t clear, was my gut. I was having trouble with drinking or eating anything by mile 11 ish. So I was only really able to sip water and spit it out. I got to the special needs, and there I had a Rocket fuel mixed and ready, I had a Cliff Bar too, but I wasn’t really feeling to good to handle it. So I just carried both until I was ready to try one. I walked up the hill after the special needs, and I was greeted at the top of the hill by a bunch of fireman, that was a nice surprise. As I jogged down, I could hear Mike Reilly calling people in, and it was a bit torturous that I had to still go do another lap. It was cool to here lots of “BRAVO KRISTIE!!! BRAVO Kristie!!!!” from the crowds, I had to ignore them when they said, “almost done”, which of course, I had to veer off to the right and take the second lap, alone, while every one else was running in. I stopped at one point to turn and look up at the clock tower, I needed to know the time. I couldn’t read it…but when I asked some people in the crowd they told me, it was 8:05, I had plenty of time. I had 3:55 minutes to do 13.1 miles. Of which I had just done in 3:15 hour/min. I would do this.
I ran down the second lap chute and back out onto the course, the crowed thinned out here. I was in vomit mode by this time. And decided, if I had to do it, I might as well get it going. I took about half of the Rocket Fuel, I debated about throwing the rest out, but decided I may need it. So while I let the Rocket fuel work it’s magic, I walked the hills. I ran into Marc some where around here, and while he wanted to give me a big huge again, I stopped him, and said. “nope, vomit mode, high five only”. We high-fived, I told him great job, and I’ll see him at the finish line. So off I went, walking. I could do nothing else. I felt like crap, it was almost dark, so I had my headlamp ready. After about 10 minutes, I feel a bit better, so I tried to run, and had a wave of dizziness and nausea. Wow…ok…walk, just move forward and try again in a bit. I definitely hit the wall around mile 15. I was also not walking very straight, I only knew this because as it got darker and the flood lights turned on on the run course, I could see my shadow, and I’d kinda weave from the left to the right and back. It was pitch black out on the back part of the course, there was just enough light to see the flood lights up in front, so I turned on my headlamp on the red, so I could see the trail but not blind anyone. I did have a few moments of panic, when I would hear a rustle around me, and wonder if I was going to be some bear’s snack, only to have a runner sneak up on me coming the other direction with no light. By this time. I was walking, I was walking the entire last lap. Each time I tried to run, I was hit by dizziness, nausea, balance. So I knew I just needed to keep walking, fast. So again the irony of it all, was that I was able to calculate the math in my head. If I kept walking at a 15:00 pace, and I would make the cut off, by 45 minutes. I could run in at 11:15 if I was able to keep the pace. I was closer to a 15:30- 16:00 pace, but I kept walking. I tried taking salt, but by this time, I could take nothing, not even water, it was a swish and spit. Somewhere along the back of the course, I threw the rest of my Rocket Fuel away and my Cliff Bar, I was only focused on walking as fast as I could, as straight as I could and not fall over. A Medic came up on his bike, and talked to me for a bit, he asked those usual questions to make sure I was safe to continue. He actually said I was going a pretty good pace, and I was still walking straight, I kinda laughed and said, well not really, but I’m doing okay. He stayed with me for a bit longer, then moved along to check on the next athlete. I didn’t really focus on anything, usually the mind likes to wander during this time. I just kept repeating in my head, 15 min miles x 30 Km with 42 total equals a 12-13ish Km which is 8 miles. I have 2:25 hr/min to go miles which is 2:00 hr/min. I can make it, I can do it. Just keep moving, faster. Then my watch beeped and I looked down.….."low battery". Shit.
I cussed at my watch, “You will NOT stop on me now Dammit!!! You will give me 8 more miles, then you can shut off!!.” I click it off, then kept walking. It beeped again with 7 miles to go, Repeat above scenario. Again at 6 miles to go. Then at 5 miles to go, the sneaky bastard didn’t even beep, it just quietly shut off, and when I looked down to see what my pace was, the screen was dead. Shit, shit, shit. Ok, I knew I had 1:30 to make it 5 miles, I can do that, just keep moving, fast. At each time I came upon a volunteer or a spectator, I’d ask them, what is the current time. They’d respond with you have plenty of time, it’s _________. I’d thank them, and keep moving, calculating my time in my hand, using my fingers to tic off the miles vs. 15 min. and I walked, well, weave down the pathway. As I came, I then made a short walk down a dirt path, then turned around and headed back into town toward the hills. I asked someone the time? It was 11:05, I saw the sign 38K. What? that’s 5 K to go, I still have 3.1 miles to go, and I only have 55 min, what? Walk faster…walk faster. I could feel everything hurting in my hips, with every step my lower back screamed with a jarring pain. I so wanted to run, and I tried, wave of dizziness. Dammit. OK, just move, walk, faster, NO WALK FASTER!!!. I finally had to stop and stretch out my back. I so desperately wanted to lay down and pop my low back/SI joint, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up. So, I ignored the pain and kept walking. Fast.
As I was moving toward the finish line, some where in the 2.5 to 2.0 mark, I came upon three people in the dark. Suddenly, I heard them screaming my name. "Kristie!!!!! Kristie!!!! Go Kristie!!!! You're doing great!!!! We are so proud of you!!!" "keep going" " you did it, you made it off the bike!! we have been waiting for you!!!" I looked over at them and wondered who they were, they were talking to me as if they knew me. Then, the lightbulb went off. My New Jersey friends I met, walking around the expo two days before!!!! (They were up visiting the area, and just came to watch the race, they had no one they were cheering for. We chatted for awhile, I talked briefly about my fears of not possibly finishing on the bike, as we parted ways, they asked for my race number, and said they would be out there cheering me on during the run, and would pray for me to have a good race.) And here they were, at the 11th hour, one of the only few spectators that were not at the finish line, cheering the last finishers in. I smiled big, and thanked them for being there. They kept talking to me and I waved as I kept walking, saying I so wanted to stop and give them a hug, but I was on a time limit. They kept hollering and told me to go get it done. They were so proud of me. I wish could have remembered their names, because It felt really good to have them there, I got a boost of energy. With another wave of my hand above my head, I disappeared off into the dark and on my way to the finishline.
I could hear Mike Reilly, off in the distance to the right, the music was blaring, he was calling people in, I could smell the air, the water from the lake, I could see the moon rising in the sky around the clouds. All so beautiful...and I walked, faster. I wasn't sure where I was on time, I just knew I had to move. The last aid station came into view, I walked through it, it was much quieter now, not many people, but they clapped, "bravo!!! bravo!!!" I declined all they offered to me. I could not do anything more. I rounded the bend and came through the parking lot of the hotel where the Special Needs was, no one was there, it was eerily quiet, the lights were off, and it was dark, and for a moment I was concerned I took wrong turn. But then I saw some tables and knew this was the special needs area. I walked around behind it, and started up the hill. I was on the cobblestone, I knew what that meant. It was soon all down hill from here, and to the finish line. I started to jog and passed all the fireman, who were still there, as promised, cheering me on. Then, I could hear the crowds even more. I ran down the hill and finally, I turned left, into the finisher chute. I was almost there.
Everything kinda slowed down, and sped up at the same time. The lights were bright, flashing colors along with the bright white light that pulls you into the arch. The Noise of the crowd was loud, the music was loud. All the pain disappeared, the dizziness disappeared, and I started to run, I kept trying to tell myself to run slow, savor the moment, but I was too excited, and I was running down hill. As I came around the corner, there was Erika, her Mom and Marc, screaming and hollering!! I high fived them all. I wanted to stop and give them all a hug, but I couldn't see the clock on the finish, and I had no idea if I was close to the cut off, so I kept moving. I ran down the chute, arms up high in the air. I high fived everyone I could! Then I heard the familiar voice of Ocky off to my left above the roaring crowd, I high fived him and I think he grabbed my hand. I tried to look at the clock to see the time, I wanted to stop and give him a great big hug for his support at the swim start and helping me release all that emotion and be able to relax and focus on the race, but I kept running. I heard Mike calling me home, I heard him call me an Ironman, I high fived a few more people and then I ran down the last of the hill, and as I ran past Mike, I high fived him as well. I ran up to the top of the finishers arch, and I stopped and stood for a moment as I threw my arms up in the air. I DID IT!!!! I DID IT!!!! Holy Crap!! I actually did it!!!! I was an Ironman x 4!!!!
Overall Time: 16:39:55
I jogged down the chute and stopped at the bottom, I leaned down for a minute to blessedly stretch out my back, then I stood up and looked around. Weird, usually you are greeted by some volunteers who congratulate you and take off your chip, and then put the medal around your neck. I looked around, blinded a bit by the lights and saw people standing, looking at me. But no one moved.
Then a lady with a medal came up to me and this conversation followed:
Lady: "Congratulations!!!!
Me: "Thank you!! Wow, I feel like ran to fast down the finish chute, I kinda feel like I need to go back through and do that again!!!"
Lady: You did great!!! So I'm going to have you come stand over here (guides me to the spot to take pictures) and we are going to get a picture of you holding the medal, and then send you a photo."
My brain didn't register. "ummm, wait, what???"
Lady: "Well, I'm so sorry, but we ran out of medals, the last 20 of you, we are going to have to get some more made and mail you your medal."
Me: "What??"
Lady: "We have never had this happen before, we are so sorry, but we ran out of medals. We didn't expect so many to finish. (91% I found out later). We will send one to you, we will have more made up."
Me: "Seriously???"
Lady: "Yes, Unfortunately, I'm serious".
Me: "Well, how long will it take?"
Lady: "I honestly don't know, I can't answer that for you." awkward pause..... "So, let's get your picture"
I stand there a bit dazed, and honesty a bit deflated, I'm not getting that BIG beautiful Medal that I worked so hard for? That I struggled for? and didn't think I was actually going to get? I took ahold of it, it was heavy, heavier and twice as big as any other one I got. I held it up and smiled as the guy took my picture, and then she took the medal back from me before I could really look at it.
Me: "Well, how long will it take? like a month, two months???"
Lady: "I honestly can't tell you".
Me: "Well, I want to make sure you have the correct address, when I signed up for this, I lived in a different state."
Lady: "We will mail it to the one on file."
Me: "Well, I can't remember if I put down my Michigan Address, can I write it by my name?"
She hands me a pen, and I write down my address under my name and bib number. Double check to make sure I didn't write it down wrong.
Me: "So you REALLY ran out of medals?? That's like the only thing I really wanted, I didn't even plan on buying any finisher gear. I just wanted my medal".
Lady: I'm so sorry, we really did."
Me: "Can I hold it again?" I was in a bit of a state of disbelief. Well, shit. Is this Karma? for not doing the work on the bike? I felt deflated. It was a bit anticlimactic. I went from being ecstatic and high running through the finish, to bummed out in a matter of minutes. Even though I knew the medal in the end, is just a material item. But, it represented the struggle, the symbol of all the hard work, of all the insane highs and lows in training this year, the tears, the self sabotage, in the journey of the training, and of the race. And all I got was my picture taken.
A volunteer, then came up to me, and walked me back to where they removed the timing chip. Another athlete was now getting told about the medals. I stood there happy I was done, but somewhat sad also. I walked over and collected my finisher's hat and shirt. They then directed me into the athlete tent and offered me some food, or Coke or Pizza, and good old Canadian Poutine.
My mind flashed to the Canadian classic dish of hearty french fries, fresh cheese curds, smothered in brown gravy and topped with optional bacon, well known in Canada for its "day after" curative powers. I politely declined and tapped down the urge to find a trash can and vomit. And then a Coke was placed in my hand. I walked toward one of the benches to sit for a minute and process for a minute that I didn't have a medal. And then Marc and Erika came running/walking in from the back of the tent and give me great big hugs and smiles. I told them of how they ran out of medals and that I didn't get one. And I got to look and hold Erika's a little closer. After sipping on my Coke for a bit, we got up and walked over to where they had another spot to take photos, and Erika let me hold hers, while taking another photo.
I wish we would of gotten one of all three of us there, but I kept thinking, it must be a joke, hoping someone would run up and say, "oh, we found some, here you go". But, no one did, so we sat again for a few minutes. I think Marc ran and grabbed me some food. I think I had a couple bites of pizza, and then we recapped race briefly. The midnight hour was upon us, so we tried to walk over to see the finish, but were kinda blocked, so we stood at the end of the athlete's tent and screamed and cheered on the midnight hour. Mike Reily called in his last athlete, did his speech, and hollered out his usual ending. "YOU. ARE. AN. IRONMAN!!!!""
Then, we walked over and grabbed my morning clothes bag, and then walked out the back of the tent. I then realized where we were, 50 steps from the condo. How cool was that. I hobbled up the hill and then up the steps into the condo. All my gear, thanks to Erika's mom being Sherpa to all of us, was already in the condo and waiting for me. We texted Coach Jillian, (I'm just realizing now...it must of been almost 3 ish AM her time) and she didn't get to see my video, the feed was apparently down, so I re-demo-ed in the condo my finish, a tribute to her, with my arms up in the air, just like she did, on her very first Ironman, here in IMMT. I chatted for a little bit with everyone, then took a long hot shower, and laid down in my nice comfy bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. . I could finally relax. I had completed and finished what I was not sure was possible. I was an Ironman x 4
The clock was screwed up. I can't take credit for 11, it was 16.
Erika's Medal....
The next morning I woke up before my alarm around 6:30 AM. I decided since I was up, I'd go check out the finishers gear. I was happy that I only had to walk a few 100 yards to the tent as my right knee was in so much pain i couldn't bend it. And my back was still giving me jarring stabs as I walked. I slipped on my long pants and down light weight jacket as it was a brisk COLD 60 degrees out. Thinking, oh this would have been really cold on the swim and bike. I made it down to the tent and stood in line with about 50 other people, then when the tent opened we all walked in to select our reward. I had not planned on a jacket, but after debating if I would actually get a medal. I went ahead and bought it, along with a lot more that I didn't think I was going to get. Then I headed back up to the condo, and we all got ready and went out to go get food. We were debating about going to the athlete banquet, but it was still an hour and a half away. And we noticed very quickly that there was nothing open in the ski resort.
We walked thru the Ironman tent briefly once more, and I walked out front to see Erika and Marc talking to Ocky. I had tried to chat with him and Shannon after the finish, but everyone was headed off to bed. I told him to make sure I saw him before they left in the morning. I walked out and give him a great big hug, and again got teary as I thanked him for his words of encouragement and helping me be able to get myself pulled together just before the race started. We chatted for a bit more, then decided we couldn't wait for food. So we said goodbye to Ocky, and headed into St Joviet and found a little breakfast place that had the most amazing food. I bought a Ginger Ale and huge plate of food, and ate almost all of it. This is a first for me, as normally after every Ironman, my stomach cannot tolerate food for a few days after racing. Score one for Canada....
When we headed back to the Condo and walked though the race area, we noticed that Ironman MDOT was down. A fitting display for how I'm sure we all were feeling that morning.
I couldn't get enough toast....
IRONMAN DOWN!! IRONMAN DOWN!!!!
Marc was kind enough to remind me that Erika and I had made a bet. If I finished, she would ride the gondola to the top of the mountain. With out saying to much about this.....she did it!!! I'm so proud of her for facing some of her fears of heights. And the view was beautiful from the top.
hard to believe we swam in that lake, it looked so small from here.
I'm truly blessed to have all my amazing triathlon friends and family, and Coach Jillian, that were with me at all the different races this year. Without them, I don't know that I could have done it. Definitely not this year. St. George 70.3, Boulder 70.3 and Vineman 70.3 and then at Mont Tremblant 140.6. I'm not sure I could of gotten though this journey this year on my own. Yes, I'm repeating myself here, but it's so, so very true. I really couldn't have done any of this without everyone's support and words of encouragement. Thank You so much for every part each of you had in my journey. There is too many people to mention, but you know who you are, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for me.
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