login
 Swim
Comments: Entered the water at about 6:50 swam for about 5mins and then found a spot mid line about 6-10 people back. Seeded myself between 4 other women so I would not get too beat up. But then the crazy lady from transition reappeared and asked if this is where the slow people were. We told her that she probably needed to go much farther back. Then I explained to the women around me the experience in transition with the crazy lady. Once again the vibe was a little different then Wisconsin, which I figure maybe because I was no longer a virgin. The national anthem was sung and then it was time for the count down. It was going to happen no matter what. The cannon went off and the beating began. This swim was the most physical contact I have ever had. I stayed about 5 people from the buoy line for 5mins and that was all I could take. A minor panic attack lead me to move farther right, which actual felt like I had more of a draft/pull then in the mix. After finding a spot, I got into my bilateral breathing and tried to calm down. I kept telling myself that I could do anything for 1hr 15mins. But before I knew it I was at the turnaround and round 2 of the beating. There was no kindness like in Madison. People would swim up and over you, pushing you under as they go. But I made it around the turn pretty well. Then back to bilateral until about 200 yrds from shore where everyone converged again. Put the feet down once I saw sand, stood up and happy to see 33:49 as I proceeded to the timing mat. Then it was back in for lap 2. Once again a beating, but only for a minute or 2 before I found my spot. then came the turn around and I finally saw the a diver. very cool. and the final length length of lake went by very fast. I exited the water and was very pleased with my 1:08.36 What would you do differently?: Nothing really. It really surpassed my expectations. I took 9 mins off my time from last year. so my training must have been right on. thanks jorge!  Transition 1
Comments: i took off the cap and goggles and then unzipped while heading to a wetsuit stripper. also not as many strippers as Wisconsin or maybe I got out at a time were there was a lot of swimmers. I had to wait for a stripper. only a couple seconds and then suit was off and I was jogging to transition. Family and friends were yelling like crazy. I was soo soo happy with the swim time but had to focus on getting on the bike. Ran the downhill streets from swim to the oval. Into the racks, grabbed bag, making sure to grab the correct bag. then into the very dark tent. couldn't they have put some light in there. very different from the helix and ballrooms of Madison. Put on helmet, socks, shoes, body glide and ate a gu.Then head out of tent with gloves and glasses in hand. gloves on by the time I got to bike. nice, they actually hand you your bike. ran to mount line. Craig is there we say hello and then I was off. Yelling back at Craig, "Can you believe that I swam a effing 1:08?!!!" What would you do differently?: nothing other then not stop to be stripped if there is a line.  Bike
Comments: Started out slow as the first couple turns and down hills are dangerous and the roads were still very wet. Got into a comfortable rhythem within about 10-15mins and tried to get HR down. The down hills were nice and easy out of town and then you go to the first set of up hills around mile 4 or 5. kept reminding myself to spin and let the big guys fly by. The hills went by quickly and I was happy to be on the downhill into keene. This first loop was very wet, slight mist and the roads were very wet. Everyone was being very cautious. It was hard to pass people because it was still rather crowded and often 3-4 people wide. So the max was about 40 on these down hill. the section on 9N from keene jay was fast and felt great. I stayed with my gus every 25mins and gu2o mix. I felt great and was able to keep the hr in zone 2. Then the turn left from Jay to Wilmington brought the next and what I think is the hardest section of hill. Well I did not do as good at spinning as I should have at the start of this hill. There were a lot of people and I needed to get open space so that I was not drafting so I stood to climb for about 2mins. this was not what I wanted to do, but the officials were in the vicinity and I did not wan to get a penalty. I think I paid for that later, the second loop. So after 2mins I settled into a spin and made it to the out and back. the out and back is as equally as great and as it sucks. It was great because you see everyone, but it sucks because it goes on forever and everyone drafts. I did not jump on any of the pelotons that passed me. Dropped my chain on this out and back, (I never drop a chain I always catch it or can recover it before it drops, but I did on the friday ride so I should have looked into it). At the end of the out and back I stopped for my first of the many many many portopotty stops that were to follow for the rest of the day. But at this moment, I was not aware that this would be an issue. So after a quick stop I headed to the hills back into town. Once again I focused on spinning and staying fueled. Passed one of the big guys who passed me early on the down hill to keene. He said " good to see heidi is back up with us." never saw him again. Did great with spinning. Passed my father-in-law running, who ran much farther then he planned, 18 miles instead of 12. Took a gu right before papa bear and then made the biggest mistake of the day. I got caught up in the excitement of the crowd and climbed way to fast into town. Drop my chain again when I get onto the road around the lake. god damn it (#2). passed family and friends and then stopped at special needs for coke and then started 2nd loop. 3:20, not too bad but the last climb set me up for a bad second loop. About 5mins after leaving town, my stomach was cramping. I skipped a gu because I did not feel good. The bike also was not liking the second loop. Because it sat in the rain all day and night Saturday, she really was not happy and now had no lube on any of her chain or derailers. for the entire second loop I was the one everyone heard and they made sure to comment on it. Stopped at almost every rest stop from here on out due to stomach issues. but able to resume eating and drinking. speed went down as the leg went on, mainly due to me but also due to dropping chain 4 more times, hitting almost every rest stop for portopotties and then for the bike not shifting or moving smoothly. Very happy to see pappa bear again and climb into town to the transition. Saw CaptJack on the climb and was very happy to see a familiar face. But had to drop the chain one more time in the last mile before transition. wow, not my best bike. But I still was pleased with my swim and knew that my run could be strong. started to cry (joy) as i rounded the turn to main street and then behind the school. What would you do differently?: Always, always spin up hills. never get out of the saddle, let them pass me. More time in the saddle and more time climbing. Use butt butter on chain and derailers instead on in shorts. Lots of room for improvement. Transition 2
Comments: Well I was happy to hand off bike. lady who finished bike with me stopped and handed over her timing chip. That sucks. I ran to bags and then to tent. wow, once again, very dark in the tent. There was actually someone there this time to help me. I really only needed the shoes, socks and visor. Then I got someone to put sunblock on me (took a little time to wait in line for this) and I was off. What would you do differently?: nothing, very pleased with this.  Run
Comments: left the tent felling good. a little disappointed with the ride but hope I could overcome it and have a good run. I started the downhills with a smile on my face. Decide to wait to gu until station at mile 3. Maybe could have done it at 2 but instead I hit the portopotty (yes it continued on the run and by the end of the day I had visited the portopotty 6 times on the bike/ 9 times on the run). I figured that i had to stay on top of hydration so that I did not crash. so at mile 3 I did gu number 1 of the run. and continued with gus every 3 mile. one time I missed it and did it on the 4th mile but I could tell the energy was not there. As the run continued, I was feeling better and better. On the out and back I first saw Brad who looked great. and then I saw Tim. Turned around and then saw Craig at the end of the out and back. and back toward town to the up hills. My montra worked well "Cause you can't, you won't and you don't stop". . Then passed Kristin as I approached mile 11. Asked where Nate was and then saw him. crossed yellow line to give him a big kiss. so happy he made bike cutoff. I made it back into town and felt great. Put a big smile on my face and ran the hills all the way up. My father-in-law ran with me for a block at the Placid pub. Then I grabbed the meds from my special needs. Saw seth at the water stop and took my 2nd dose of endurolytes for the run. Then passed family friends, huge boost. Hit the half way timing mat at 2:04. very pleased. Continued back down the hills, catching sight of the finish. And very happy. continued with nutrition and portopottie stops until mile 20 I finally had to give in and walk, so I did a 1min 30sec walk because the stomach was not well. Got a gu in and then started off again knowing that I could make it back to town with out walking again. Montra was what got me up the hills and along with the smile on the face. the crowds love a smile. Made it to mile 24, took last gu and let the guy next to me know that I was having my last gu. Once again smile, 2 thumbs up and run up the hill. I was so happy to see the Placid Pub again. Tears are flowing. Run past family and friends. then see Nate up ahead going in the same direction. The crowd is yelling peoples names so I motion to them to shush and not yell my name. as I go by I tell them it is my husband and I want to surprise him. I catch him right at my mile 25, his mile 12. We run together to the split, kiss one more time. I go into the oval to finish and him to the second loop. Into the oval. now I round the turn and see the 2 people in front of me. then as they enter the arch, a women goes flying by me. yes she was in my age group and yes this was what I call very rude. she is the one that ruined the finishes of the 2 people in front of me. To me this is very rude. But I took my time and let them finish and then had my own moment. I looked at the clock and could not have been happier. What would you do differently?: not walk at all. although, nothing because marathon pr by 20sec. im pr by 14.30. and did it with some of my most favorite people in the world. Post race
Warm down: walked around, got a massage (should have changed before this because I was shivering the entire time) then changed and went to wait for the rest of our group. walked some more. had pizza. we went into it with 6 people starting and we had 6 finishers. this was a great day for all. What limited your ability to perform faster: training time, stomach issues, bike issues. Event comments: overall a great place to do an ironman. but very tough course. Last updated: 2006-03-08 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
GTC
75.5F / 24C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 1120/
Age Group = 30-34F
Age Group Rank = 39/103
This is going to be long. It is the tale of my second Ironman and the journey with 5 of my closest friends and family.
Nate, my husband, was attempting his first. He is the one in the group that makes everyone laugh, who works 60 hrs a week and puts in the training he feels he needs to finish (which often makes me worry that he will get injured).
Craig, my brother-in-law, also attempting his second Ironman. He is the ring leader who got all of us into the long distance tris. He convinced me to register for Wisconsin last year when I didn't think I was ready. He is coming off a 3 week taper in France where he followed the tour, drank lots of wine and ate lots of cheese.
Brad, a good friend of Craig's who over the last 2 years has become a very good friend of mine, also attempting his second. Is another member of the initial three of us who completed Wisconsin. He is by far the most competitive of us all. He is ready to have a record breaking day.
Kristin, Brad's wife, is attempting her first. She is the one that 2 years ago, none of us would have ever guessed she would go for a run, let alone be competing in an Ironman. But she has trained and is ready.
Tim, childhood friend of Brad and Kristin, is attempting his first. He came and watched Wisconsin and was hooked. He trained with Brad and also was ready to have a fabulous day with really fast times. Until monday before the race he was diagnosed with pneumonia. So now he is in it to do well, but finish healthy.
Here is journey I took during Sunday, July 23.
woke up at 4am to the sound of rain. but it had been raining all day saturday so I was mentally ready to deal with being wet all day. Ate (2 bananas, 1 bagel, 1 bottle gu2o, 1 h2o, 1/2 c coffee), while stretching in bed. dressed and made sure everything was in special needs bags.
in car at 5am, asked nate if he had everything, but nate forgot something so ran back in. left at 5am to be dropped off at the special needs bags. housing was only a 5 min drive from special needs. we had planned it all out to reduce the amount of walking, but they closed the road in front of us so we were dropped off about half mile from special needs. it was a light drizzle and the sun had not yet come up. Craig, Nate and I all walked at different paces, which seemed right so that each of us had out own quiet private time.
Dropped off bags and headed to the body marking, totally different location. Like a lot of things, body marking was slightly different then in wisconsin. They marked your arms with your number and back of one leg with your age as normal, but then marked the front of your thighs/knees with your number. I guess I need to wear those short-shorts if I wanted to have my number on my thighs, not my knees.
Once the 3 of us were marked we were off to the bikes to pump tires and place nutrition on the bikes. Found Laura on the way into transition. Great to see a smiling face.
We learned from last year that it is key to bring your own pump. They always say there are an adequate number of pumps but the lines were at least 30mins long. So I was happy to arrive at bike and be able to pump my own tires. Also let my neighbor use the pump. Removed the bags from saddle and computer. Later during the day I was wishing that I had a full bike pajama (more on that later). Added fluids to aerobottle and put liquid nutrition on bike. Off to find Nate and Craig's bikes. Now once again the atmosphere in transition was very different from Wisconsin. At Wisconsin there was nice soft music playing that was very relaxing and soothing. Here the music was very generic and did not create the same vibe.
Found Kristin, Brad and Tim in transition. Pumped Nate's tires for him and then handed the pump to Craig. Place the Maddie dog (small stuffed black lab) on Nate's stem, since he helped me at Wisconsin with my first Ironman.
Kristin led us to the massage tent were it was dry and a great place to put on wetsuits. Where met up with the youngest woman (18) and her dad. She was very relaxed and seemed eager to go. Our group was debating the weather for the day and if we would were long sleeve jerseys on the bike. Off to the portopotty. Then we headed to the water.
One crazy lady ran past us as they closed transition in a panic about not knowing where to go or what to do. She hadn't put on her wetsuit, was asking about water since she hadn't drank enough and said she couldn't swim. Nate joked back that not to worry he couldn't swim either. But she was adamant that she needed every second of the time to make the cut off. And as soon as she came she was gone. We all laughed and joked on the way to the water, but by the time we were by the tennis courts we were crying (good nervous crying). Said hello/good bye to parents, friends and family and the six of headed to the beach. Took a espresso gu.
On the beach we got in a little huddle, we had a plan to go 6 for 6 today. Then hugged and kissed good bye and proceeded to the timing mats. It was very emotional for all of us. I kissed Nate, told him to enjoy the day and no matter what happened that I was proud of him for being here with me.