Ironman Canada - TriathlonFull Ironman

The winds were awful the night before the race, so i believe the bouys were shifted a little bit..i was shooting for a sub hour swim, but sub 57! i was thrilled!

I started in row 1.5 and on the left side. from my trip up last year, i scoped the left side of the start...personally i like this angle, and was able to keep the main pack in my breathing view. feet were everywhere, it was just a matter of choosing the right ones to swim with.

felt strong the entire distance, never wavered or had doubts, it was a great swim, loved every second of it...

not lose my livestrong bracelet that ive had since 2003 when i take off my suit, i turned and saw it sink into the lake..but onward!

got outta the water PUMPED with my swim, got the suit stripped off, and headed for the nudey tent. i raced in a singlet, so no changing for me...

decided against arm warmers, but should have had them available on the bike course, in special needs....but hindsight is 20/20

i wore socks, i needed them, i might even consider toe covers instead of socks for later races...my toes are just too cold

first 40 miles were awesome. drafting was around, but it was easily avoidable, and i am pleased to say i rode the entire course without one comment from an official. although 2 ppl got busted for riding MY wheel!

richter was great, rollers (7 bitches) were beautiful, albeit a bit windy...

out and back kinda sucked, but not too bad, the wind had started to pick up badly. potatoes in the special needs bag were AMAZING!

yellow lake....was bad. i felt fresh and the climbing wasnt an issue, it was the COLD.

on the ride from the out and back, i noticed the dark sky over the pass, i hoped it was due to my sunglasses, sadly it wasn't

i got rain/hailed on, and i literally froze my ass off, thank god the hill was there, b/c i needed the effort to keep warm. the decent was scary, as i was shivering terribly. i tried to spin and warm up on the final miles of the bike, but just couldn't get into aero without shaking, my legs were frozen solid.

about 8 miles from t2, i started hearing a ticking noise coming from my rear wheel. i figured worst case, it was a broken spoke, so i brushed it off and rode the rest of the way into t2.

upon furhter review of the bike (post race) i found a 1.5" carpenter nail in my tire. it punched right through the tire and somehow missed the tube. im still unsure how this happened, as the angle suggests it was much less than a millimeter away from a bad puncture/blowout. it was hitting the chainstays on both sides, causing the clicking noise

but regardless, got off the bike with a smile...def longer than i anticipated (6h was the goal), but i felt great, once i got warm in t2

train more.

didn't care about time, wanted my feet and legs and, well, entire body to warm up before i started the run.

light socks in the kinvara...true running bliss

not a thing

i had two goals going in to ironman, swim sub 1 hour, and run sub 4.

i used my garmin on the ride and the run, so i had my pace, which was a life saver, b/c i thought i was running nice and slow and easy for the first miles but from looking at my watch, i was sub 8 pace. too fast. i had to make a concious effort to hold myself back, which paid off.

the run was simply amazing, it was great to be warm again, and be able to see my great support crew on the way out of town...did any racers notice the "irongirl" costume? that ironlady was part of my crew, she was awesome, and i cant thank her enough for her role in my iron experience.

even though i wasn't running 'fast' i was running much faster than anyone around me. it was a lot of fun to just pick people off, all the while passing people that i remembered from the bike. miles flew by, the hills were a little rough, but nothing too bad, and my kinvaras were incredible, nice and light, but very cushy. loved it

i ran a 154 first split and a 200 second, i started getting a little too comfortable at some aid stations, and with 7.2 miles to go had a serious gut check. do you want sub 4 or not?

i did, and i went for it, i ran every step from there to the chute. i started with an easy effort of 9, then moved to 830, on to 815, on to 8, onto 740, 730, and my last mile was 715!! i loved it, couldn't wipe the smile off my face, it was fantastic..best feeling ever!

nothing

medal, blanket, picture, chair, pizza, massage, freezing, human hair dryer, warm, back to freezing, sweat pants and hoodie, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh




bike training, but you know what...i am STOKED For my 1st ironman, wouldn't change a thing. im really proud in how i paced the event. notice i used the P word instead of the R word. one day i would like to race this distance, but for now, pacing will do just fine!


loved it so much, im signed up for next year, this time with company!!