Ironman Chattanooga - Triathlon

i was so fast that i swam this in zero minutes!! Or, it was cancelled. Either or.

I really liked this course- right up to about mile 80 when i really stopped liking it!! I knew that most of the first 30ish miles were a false flat, so i needed to take things easy trying to make good decisions on pace and settle into things. I really felt good and was surprised by how fast i was going without much effort. Perhaps i should have slowed down, but i was riding by perceived effort and that effort felt easy. I have a PM, but it was acting up, so i pretty much ignored it. That may have been a not so smart decision ;)
Still, i just kept my feels easy pace, passed lots of people and had lots of people pass me. When I got to Hog Jowl the plan was to take advantage of the downhills and use the momentum to get up the hills. It was fast through here and I was a happy camper.
I came into Chickamauga feeling really good! My pace was just a tad over 18 mph. The crowds in town were great, but i tried to keep things in check and not let them make me ride faster.
I knew there was a long, slow climb out of town before turning to start the second loop, but it was even longer than i remembered from driving the course Friday! Plan was to take it easy up this climb and repeat what i did first loop on the second, setting up a fast return to town.

I was still feeling good and still keeping an 18 mph average pace. Around mile 65 I could not stand the chafing i was getting on both leg creases - I have never, ever, had that issue with the shorts i wore :(, so I slowed down and used some chamois cream to try and relieve things. That had limited success and now i had 2 slick, slimy hands! Shortly after that I needed to switch one of my nutrition bottles with the other. With my slimy hands I didn't feel as though I could safely do that while riding, so i stopped on the side of the road. That was my only stop on the bike course. It took a bit to get back on it as huge groups of very fast riders came through as i wanted back on the road! It really was amazing how many people were blatantly drafting. I saw tons of marshals on course, but didn't notice any penalties being given out -they may have, just didn't notice them. I did see the marshals hang out next to some of the riders for a bit. Not sure if they were talking to the riders, taking numbers, handing out penalties or doing something else; but they were there!
About mile 65 I passed Leah. We chatted for a second wishing each other good luck and seeing how the other was doing. Then I was off. It was shortly thereafter that my pace dipped below 18! I still felt ok physically, but mentally i was checking out. By mile 80 I was done. Just wanted off the bike and wanted to stop having to make decisions about shifting! In fact, I started not making those decisions a bit earlier than 80. I knew I had stopped and that I really needed to get back on it, but I was not as diligent as I should have been.

Getting back into Chickamauga I was almost run over 2x in a matter of 1-2 minutes! The first by an ambulance!! It was pulled off the road and then as i was passing it decided to come onto the road where i was! I had to swerve to avoid being run over. I ended up right next to the driver's window, tried to give him a WTF are you doing look, but he never looked at me! I don't think he has a clue what he did. Pretty unbelievable that an ambulance there for the race would almost kill a racer, but there you go! Almost immediately after that an SUV did the exact same thing! WTF?!?! A rider passing me about that time commented that i must have 9 lives and wondered how I avoided being road kill! After we shook our heads, she took off leaving me in her dust :)
I was then in Chickamauga for the second time. The crowd had thinned a ton at that point!
Did the slow climb out of town again. It seemed longer this time. And, there were more cars on the road. I got stuck behind 2 for a bit. Some riders passed the cars on the left, but i waited til it was a bit clearer since i didn't want to test that 9 lives theory!
And then, thankfully, i was headed back to town! I thought I would be able to pick up my pace more than I did, but i was done. JUST WANTED OFF THE BIKE!

Of course, getting off the bike proved to have its own perils - as i swung my right leg over the seat my hamstring cramped and i almost fell! Thankfully the bike catcher didn't let go of the bike or try to move it away or it would have been an embarrassing dismount ;)

I'm not sure. I think i made the right decisions on pace, the get me off the bike now feeling is a normal feeling for me after a certain point. I know i needed to be a little tougher mentally in the latter part of the course and stay focused on changing gears as needed. I do think that even though i did my nutrition exactly as planned, it was not enough and I paid for that on the run and the days after.

I changed into a running kit, so knew this was going to be slow. I'm ok with that though!
Also, on the way out I hit the porta potties. I was pleasantly surprised that the one i chose was not gross!
I also stopped for 2 teenage volunteers to lather the sunscreen on me.

With the first few steps I knew i was not going to be able to have the run I wanted, my left quad, hamstring, and piriformis were not happy. The hamstring and piriformis were giving me trouble for a couple of months, but i thought they were under control by race day. I was wrong. I "ran" the first little bit out of transition until i saw the first hill and saw Kathy walking it. When i caught her I walked with her catching up on how she was feeling and discussing the bike.At the top of the hill I forced myself to start running. I was really, really tempted to just keep walking with Kathy, but knew I needed to get going. My get going at this point was a 3:2 interval. So much for the plan to run from aid station to aid station!.
Susan, Charline, and Rebecca were at mile 4 cheering. It was nice to see them. Charline ran about 10 seconds with me encouraging me to try to run the leg issues out. I assured her I would and moved on down the road.
I stopped at all the aid stations to that point and had coke at each one. I'd never done that in training, but it was the only thing that sounded good to me. I had my own nutrition, but after taking the first bit of it, i just couldn't take anymore. By about mile 6 my leg was feeling better and i had more energy. I think the coke calories helped. It seems i did not have enough on the bike and now was trying to catch up. I still couldn't run aid station to aid station, but i was moving better and my 3:2s were 4:1s or sometimes 3:1s. I still walked all the aid stations taking coke and ice.
I don't remember what mile it was, but somewhere around here I decided i needed to start skipping some aid stations though b/c i was afraid i'd get over hydrated, bloated and otherwise sick on the coke and i still couldn't eat anything else. I ran through them when i skipped them which helped keep me on whatever interval i had chosen at that time.

Saw the gang at mile 8 and got more positive energy from them. I was on a walk break when i saw them, but when i started to run again I ran around the corner onto the bridge, over the bridge, down to the bottom of Barton. I was really happy with myself for that. Of course, i was not running up Barton! It was on Barton that i got the first cramp in my calf. That concerned me. Every time I ran they cramped. I would stop every so often to stretch them out and was able to keep major cramping at bay, so i was happy.
The rest of the run at that side of the river was the same, run walk, keep calves from cramping too much.
Now i was back on the other side of the river, past special needs and saw the base salt people around mile 14. I decided to take some hoping that would help keep the cramps away. Bad idea. Almost immediately after using it I got nauseous. I don't know if it was the base salts or something else, but it sucked! I fought it the rest of the run. It ebbed and flowed, but was always there to some degree. Some have said the sick feeling was likely not the base salts, but the coke. Too much sugar; i should have waited until later in the course to take the coke. But, I really don't know what I would have been able to stomach to get the calories i needed. Man, this IM thing is complicated ;)

Spent the next miles as before, but with the sick stomach i switched to 3;1.5s for most of the intervals to mile 20. I was happy to be moving and happy to see the miles tick off.
At mile 20-21 I again saw Susan and Rebecca -Charline had to leave. Once again I was on a walk, so Susan walked with me and encouraged me to stop my boycotting of the aid stations and try to eat grapes or banana . I went with the grapes. The 4 or 5 i had tasted great. Once again I ran from that point, around the corner, across the bridge, down the other side and begin the long walk up Barton. From that point on I ran more in the neighborhood then i did the first time around. I passed a lot of people in through here, being so close to the finish gave energy to keep moving; though I still walked Barton when I got to it again! After Barton, i ran most of the way to the finish. I think i just had 1 more 1 minute walk. It was a good thing the end was near though as in addition to my calves cramping, my feet were starting too!

The road behind the aquarium was empty and dark. I was the only runner there! But i could both hear and see the finish line, so it looked great to me! As i ran down the chute, I slapped a few little kids hands, made sure there were no runners ahead of me whose finish line picture i was going to mess up, then crossed the line!
Susan was there cheering which was nice. Got my hat, shirt, and picture taken and then went to find Susan then back to the hotel.
I was really, really happy with the location of the hotel - closest one to the race site which was really welcomed at this point.
I was actually feeling pretty good immediately post race - though not ready to eat the cake or brownie Susan bought. Or drink any beer we had in the fridge! But, I did want to go back to the finish line to see Kathy finish. So I showered and got dressed and then sat on the bed to wait until the tracker showed her close to the finish. I grabbed a soda, took a sip and immediately jumped up and headed to the bathroom to throw up! Thankfully (or not) I didn't throw up, but from that point forward through the rest of the night i fought being sick to my stomach. Ugh. I could not even drink water. I could not work up the ambition to change, so i curled up in my shorts and shirt and tried to sleep. Of course, i woke up many times, sometimes nauseous, but even more often with massive cramps in my calves! The cramps were crazy. I tried not scream out so not to wake susan in the next bed, but she heard me a few times. Sorry!
I woke up for good at 5:30. I was hungry, but scared to try to eat or drink. I gingerly took a sip of the soda still sitting on the bed stand and yay! i did not get sick!!
We walked down to City lights where i ordered eggs and pancakes. Now the next problem. The roof of my mouth and throat hurt! I could not eat without pain!! Really?! I subsequently found out this is not an unusual thing to happen. I couldn't find a definitive reason, but most believe it is from hard mouth breathing for so long and maybe dehydration.
For the next 2 days i had both bouts of nausea and throat pain. IM is the gift that keeps on giving!!

I think my run issues were nutrition related - though I'm not sure about the calf thing. I'm disappointed with my performance, but think giving my issues I did the best i could. Still, it is frustrating!!

Despite my complaints, I tried to keep my attitude in check while running, thanking the volunteers, talking with the other runners; trying to be encouraging etc. I just let my bitch out when talking to my friends! It was a nice venting and then move on and keep moving forward!

Chattanooga is a really great place for a race. Then town is wonderful, filled with nice, friendly, supportive people. The volunteers were all outstanding. I am 99.9% sure i will never do another IM, but if i did I think i'd do this one again.