Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Not as bad as I thought...not as bad at all. I started to the left of the bouy, well apparently too far left, because most of the swim, I was struggling to get over to the right. I was literally pushing people that were veering off course. You've heard of the horse whisperer and the dog whisperer, well, I was trying to be the OWS whisperer! So starting off was pretty good, and besides fighting chop after the turnaround and hearding the other swimmers to stay on course, most of the swim was good. Not great, as you see, I was horribly undertrained for this whole IM venture. In tip, top swim shape, I'd like to shave 8 or 9 minutes, but IM is all about balance, right? The big mess didn't come for me until the end. You see, as a swimmer, I am pretty polite. You know, little kicks when people are behind me, actually moving over when I hit some with my hand, really, the little things. Well, I met Mr & Mrs. UFC swimmers at the end. Literally the last 500 yards were spent trying to get away from them and/or avoid their kicks, punches, and bodyslams. Once I hit the steps, though, I was happy to be out of the ring. Oh and BIG shout out to Kim for loaning me her awesome full sleeve wetsuit. I still think I like sleeveless more, but in that cold water, no way

Differently, here's the list:
Train Better
Poop earlier
Learn how to UFC swim
Look at the swim course before the race
Realize that the race is about to start.

I love the lady in the changing tent...so sweet...so helpful.

Sure, go faster...

Considering that my longest bike ride in training was 65 miles, this was not half bad. I was feeling kind of like a rockstar the first two laps. I was really pushing the pace, and I set a moving goal to finish with a 17mph average. Well loop 1 was like 18, loop 2 was like 17.5, and loop three=16.8. But, I guess this attests to the lack of bike training. I was reading another ultra runners IMAZ report, and he said the same thing. Ironman training takes too much time. I guess when you aren't as dedicated, the pain comes on sooner in the race and is more severe.

What about the highlights of the race:
Almost getting a drafting penalty...okay, I think the Race offical were being jackasses. This is how people would pass me ALL day. First they would pretend to fly past me. Then they would cut over (nearly cut me off at times). Finally they would slow down RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and nearly make me either accept the draft of SLOW down. The race official that almost handed me out the drafting penalty watched (or was blind) the guy in front of me cut me off. BLEOTCH.

And the silence...it was like something from a sci-fi movie, and it was like this all day...12:46 of near dead silence. On the bike, I swear I could hear a pin drop.

The pee was EVERYwhere. And awesome. Lucy (my bike) is one dirty girl.

Two people slowed down to talk to me while I was dying on the last bike lap - Bhannas and Dave699. I had to usher both of them on. Seeing and chatting briefly really brought my spirits up, but they were crusing, so I couldn't keep them in my realm of suckage!

The last lap..sucked ass. My back muscle was spazing, and my inner thighs kind of felt like I was ..um, wait that's inappropriate...umm...they felt like I was one of Heidi Fleiss's girls (BTW I met her once).

Seeing BTer's=awesome. I saw Tanya, Chris (I even thought I saw you again and I yelled something inappropriate)...wait now I am forgetting who I saw...

Suffice to say, I was SOOOO happy to be off the bike.

TRAIN TO BIKE MORE.

I told Eliot that I wanted "fast transitions" as a joke. These were pretty slow. Funny.

On a serious note, a muscle in my back felt awful (and still does)...

Hurry up ;)

I heart running, but do I really heart running after biking 112 miles. Um...I plead the fifth. The run was by far my favorite, but I really tried to leave everything I had out there on the course. So, I ran the entire thing with the exception of walking the curry hill 2X and walking a little too much after some aid stations.

Things I noticed:
Well I saw Rick, Tanya, Chris, Fitzy, Rick, Travis...oh and the spectators...honestly, though, I am forgetting.

I most likely forgot to get the rocks out of my trail shoes, because about half way in, I noticed something "funny" under my foot that turned in to major suckage at mile 25. But I told myself all day "streamline" racing - not stopping on the bike, pausing on the run, or drowning on the swim ;). Suck it up...140.6 moving forward the entire time.

I really did have something to prove on this run - I am not sure what - and for a runner girl, I am a little disappointed, but I didn't do the type of IM training that others do...I didn't have a training plan, and I still don't know what it mean to do a temp run. I do what I feel like I need to do to get the job done.

I will say that running 100 miles is totally different...running an IM marathon was hard, especially considering that I committed to running the entire thing.

It hurt to cough.

I passed 400 people on the run, apparently...

I only peed once, and I did use the potty this time.

The best part...my family was waiting at the finish, and my son was hold a sign that said "My mommy is an Ironman"...I totally cried.

Look up the word tempo run..;)

Let's see, the wonderful Kim caught me, gave me some TLC, and ushered me to get my picture taken. I saw Josh and Jen, but had a hard time finding them. I saw Travis, and met William - the guy pouring the wine at the Tribe fashion show. But I could not find my family, and I was getting COLD. I used two people's cell phones to call them, and no dice, but I did get to hang out with the wonderful Tambra Jo. Then FINALLY John! He helped me find the rest of my clan. Then, he also helped me get undressed (something he's good at) and redressed, all under a mylar. I wanted to stay and see my friends finished, but honestly, I was WRECKED...tired, hungry, and dehydrated.


LACK OF TRAINING, which I will rename as LIFE!


Well, this was fun, but after I finished, I thought to myself, "I never need to do this again." Seriously. Maybe I will change my mind.