Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

I had seeded myself at the very back to the left of the buoys. I was clearly going to let the pack go ahead and so I didn't even hit the water until my watch said 1 minute 10 seconds. I was probably in the last 400-500 people and we just walked into the water until we all just looked at each other and said, Let's do this! I saw arms and legs and wetsuited bodies and had a bit of contact. I tried to stay clear of getting kicked (being kicked in the face was my biggest fear) and I felt I did a pretty good job of just staying to myself. The water was soo clear and I could see the bottom all the way past the 2 buoy. I was just swimming my slow, steady swim until the turn around buoy where it bunched up and we all had to tread water for everyone to get around. Second turn bouy not as bad and then holy crap I could see bottom again. I was almost done with the first lap. I couldn't believe it. I felt wonderful and was actually sort of enjoying this. I heard this from a guy at the BT gathering to sing... If you're happy and you know it TAKE A SWIM! And so that really worked. I hit sand with my hands and stood up, walked out of the water, took some water from Kathy and saw my friends Brooke and Matt and waved and smiled. Walked across the timing mat and into the water again. Less contact and less draft on the second lap. I did a horrible job of sighting this lap. I didn't have to sight the first lap and this lap I ended up way to the right of the buoys. But, I finally got on track and was at the first turn around buoy. I decided to try and pick it up and played in my head that I was the shark and I was going to try and find someone to eat! I did, I found a guy and rode his tail for awhile and then all of a sudden he flipped over and did the backstroke. Damn him!! Swam until I hit sand with my hand, walked out of the water and to the strippers. They stripped me off and I was on my way.. Not a fast swim, I didn't think it would be but I didn't ever over exert myself and was happy with the time. Oh and I forgot to mention, I saw 6 jellyfish and a school of stingrays during the swim. Neat!

Honestly.. I would SWIM and I would practice. I probably only swam twice a week the time that I was laid off and that was 2 months. I never did really do alot of swimming and with my ability being not so good, I was just figuring I would come in close to cut off. So, I met that expectation and know on my next IM I will actually swim and get better. I know I can swim at least 15 minutes faster with a little practice.

I was running into the tent and Sherri told me to yell her name once I was in there. I actually saw here in the entrance and she had a volunteer at my beck and call in a flash. The lady took everything out of my bad, rolled up and put my arm warmers on, I dried my feet and she put on my race belt. I did not change and I was glad. I flew in there and flew out and it was good. Because my swim was so slow the tent wasn't actually crazy crowded.

Nothing..

I ran my bike to the mount line and there was my friends and my parents. I yelled, and said.. Holy Crap, that swim wasn't that bad. I flashed a smile and I was off! My plan was to go pretty easy and warm up the first 40 miles. I was a bit chilly in the beginning and I am super glad I had my arm warmers. From the start my motto was to eat early and eat often. I took a big sip of water from my bottle that I had in t1 so I wasn't thirsty right off the bat. I felt a bit of wind but calmed my nerves and thought good thoughts. I made it to mile 10 and was looking down and saw a 20 dollar bill on the road. WEIRD and if I wasn't racing.. I would stop and pick that up. So, I kept going.. I was trying not to push and burn out so just rode along and it felt a little bit like lollygagging but I knew I would need the energy soon enough. I saw Tonya at about mile 15 and she yelled at me. I didn't recognize her. We said, go girl and I went on. A girl named Liliana kept drafting off me and then would pass and slow down, so we played leap frog for awhile. Ran into quit a few people that were such cheaters and were drafting like crazy. They would stack themselves 2 across too and it was hard to get around them. The motorcade would go by and I would seriously hope they would give out penalties but I never saw any. At mile 40 I had to pee sooo badly and I kept trying to pee on my bike. PEOPLE, it's harder than it sounds. I couldn't do it. It just wouldn't come out! I was frustrated and everytime I thought I'd stop the porta potties were stacked. So, after the 40 mile stop I got a bottle of water, stopped on the side of the road and stood there and peed. I washed myself off and thought, ugh that was gross but it was better than waiting and with my tri suit, much easier. I got to special needs and was soo excited about my PBJ. I grabbed it, another water bottle and some mentos. I saw Wendi there too. She said her tummy hurt and she wasn't feeling so hot. She went on and we played leap frog a bit. We hit some road where it wasn't that flat, and it was windy and it was ROUGH. I was so irritated. Every 10 seconds my bike would go THA THA THUMP THA THUMP! As I passed people we would mention how awful the wind and road was. I saw multiple water bottles, and everything else from peoples bento boxes, jerseys etc. I stopped again at mile 80 to pee and it was the same scenario. I then kind of hit a low and was ready to get off my bike until we turned again and got a small tailwind and it was flat and I was FLYING! I was passing people and I was having fun going 22-23 mph. I hit mile 90 and said, I need to kick it up a bit, I haven't given this my all. So, I kicked it on in to the finish line and made the turn by our hotel the Shores and there were my parents on lawnchairs and signs. I yelled and smiled.. and they said GOOOO PIPS! That is my nickname! I rode into transition and told the volunteers that they could have my bike, I was ready to run!

Stopped the efuel after 1 1/2 bottles. It wasn't going down too well and switched to gatorade. I had 1 banana, a pbj, a package of peanut butter crackers and a few mentos. I also took 2 salt tabs every hour starting at hour 2.

I would of kicked it up at like halfway and rode harder. I really never did exert myself. I had a decent ride but I definitely felt like I left alot on the course.

Volunteers were quick to get my bag and Laura Webb was right there to chat with me in transition. I think Sherri was there too. I can't remember. I dried off my feet, threw on my hat and my cat ears, and my garmin and I was out.

Nothing.

2 loop course lined with signs and spectators until you get into the state park. I walked out of transition and then hit the button on my garmin and took off. My legs felt good and I was excited to be running. I was kicking along and about halfway through the first mile I look at my garmin and I was running 830s. Um, hello Bridget.. What are you doing? My plan was to be OVERLY conservative the whole race and just go with an easy pace. So, I slowed to a under 10 min pace. About mile 2 I saw Jeffy and we WHOOP WHOOPED and then I saw Andrew a bit later and I yelled. I was getting SOOO many comments on my ears and everyone loved them. That motivated me. Even the little kids would meow at me and I would put my hand out like claws and meow back. I was going easy and I was having fun. I didn't take anything to drink until mile 3 and then started with gatorade. Saw Shaun shortly after and we slapped hands and gave hugs. Hit the turn around and holy crap there is Jeff again. He came up behind me and said, I SEE A FASTCAT! Scared the crap outta me. He was looking soo good. I wasn't running fore foot in my newtons because they were making me run too fast. So I was holding back. I hit the first loop in 2:17 and saw Brooke and Matt. I hollered to them and threw my shirt that I took from T1 to them, I was hot and didn't want it around my waste any longer. Shortly after it started to get dark. I saw Wendi and we hugged, jumped into a porta potty and that was a problem. My tri suit would NOT come down. It has a built in bra and it just was a pain to get down. It probably took 3 or 4 minutes to get it down and pee. Out the door and saw that my times were creeping up big time. My feet were hurt and my knees were throbbing. It was because of my gait in my newtons. I wasn't letting them do the job. I starting walking thru aid stations at mile 16 and then about mile 18 I started an 8 and 2 min walk. I saw Sue at the turnaround and we chatted a bit. Nice to see a familiar face. I hit mile 5 and started to walk at the aid station and that is where Will comes into play. He was also walking along side of me. We started chatting and he was on his last lap and first IM experience too. He was from Charlotte, NC and just a young 24 yr old. He was no longer going to run. I kinda got sucked into walking a bit too much (like 3 miles with him) that wasn't the plan to walk but my knees were achy and my feet hurt bad. I had stopped taking any nutrition at mile 18. My stomach was bloaty and hurt and water, chicken broth and gatorade wasn't going down so well either. I was over race food. About 1/2 or 3/4 mile we decided to run. We got close to the finish line and I saw Brian and Terri, Jeff and Mike and almost started tearing up. I had done it and I felt pretty damn good. I made sure to go thru the chute alone so I could capture my own IM experience. I heard Mike Reilly say my name and then he also called out that he liked my ears! :) My parents and Brooke and Matt were at the finish line. And so was Shaun, he told my parents to go down and get me. I got my picture, hat and shirt and my parents came over with 3 pink roses. How sweet! I'm not very emotional but I was teary eyed. Mostly because it was over. It was truly an amazing experience.

Not run in my Newtons. I can do a stand alone mary in them but they tore up my legs by making me run faster when I did not let myself.

Took pictures, chatted and then went back to the condo. It was COLD!! I went back and ate a burger and fries, took a warm bath (I know I should have) and then chatted until midnight and went to bed.


I just didn't know what to expect and didn't push myself.


Wow, what an amazing time. The volunteers were spot on, the course was great (with the exception of the 30 mile or more rough stretch on the bike) and the festivites before and after where great.