Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman

Swim: Initially I had been a little nervous about the massive swim start but I had convinced myself it would be no worse than St. Anthony’s with 160 in my age group. There can only be so many people around you at once. I actually thought it was pretty fun. There was a huge draft factor until the first turn bouy and it seemed like we got there in like 2 seconds. There was some contact but it certainly wasn’t malicious and not bad at all. My coach and I had decided I should start kind of in the middle of the pack since I am not good at swimming over people and I think it worked great. I had a pretty aggressive line and it helped on the first lap. The last leg in on the first lap the waes were getting bigger and you could feel the current a lot more. Did the first lap in 37 minutes….good for me. Was projecting I would complete the swim between 1:20 and 1:30 so right on target. I saw Kathy, Christine and some other BTers at the swim exit. We all walked across the beach for the second lap.

Lap 2: So much for drafting. The crowd was really spread out at this point so that nice draft effect was gone. Also as the sun came up so did the wind and the waves. Coming across the top of swim course the waves were probably 4-5 feet. They were gentle but between the waves and swimming into the sun it was difficult to see. The last leg the current was really tough and it was difficult to sight. I felt like I was swimming in place for much of the last leg. The water is really clear and you could see the bottom but I was too short to stand up. It was weird because I could see other swimmers walking along the bottom but I couldn’t stand up.


Nothing really. The current and the chop effected me but there is nothing I can do about that except continue to become a stronger swimmer. I handled the contact well and felt good about the swim

T1: Came across the mat and ran up to some strippers and got my wetsuit peeled off….that was nice. Sherri had given me some good pointers and had told me to run past the first ones because there would be other strippers up ahead and not to wait in line. Got my T1 bag and ran into the tent and saw my parents at the edge of the transition area. Actually I walked. I didn’t really linger in T1. Sprayed sunscreen in my eye by accident (ouch) but clearly this would be a cool day and I would not need much sunscreen. I struggled getting my arm warmers on over my damp arms. Finally managed it. I had on my sports bra, my Janus Charity Challenge top, a bike shirt, and my long sleeve technical shirt that I put all my cancer names on, plus gloves. Went out and off I went on the bike.

Nothing really except not spray suncreen in my eye and dry my arms a little better before trying to put on arm warmers. The changing tents were a bit overwhelming. I wasn't prepared for people trying to help me

Bike : The announcer was a big fat LIAR. He was announcing there was only wind on the first 7 miles of the course. LIAR. There was a strong head wind for at least half of the bike and it sucked. Only good thing was that it was on the first half of the course instead of the second half of the course. The nutrition plan was to eat something solid first. I had a 3-bar and was trying to eat that but it seemed like I had swallowed roughly half the gulf of Mexico so my mouth was a little dry. I managed about ¾ of it and threw the rest off. I had NUUN and E-fuel for fluids. The plan was to alternate e-gel and 2 fig newtons every 30 minutes like I had done on all my long rides and use my electrolyte tabs. Thing was its was about 35 degrees cooler than what I am used to so I adjusted accordingly as I was not sweating practically at all. I did pretty good the first hour going about 17.5 or so. As we went along the first part of the bike course there was a lot of construction and they don’t fill in the ground floor for parking and the wind just whipped thru the underneath of the buildings like crazy. I saw a girl at bout mile 10 being taken off the coure on a back board and I felt so badly for her. I hope sheis OK.

Went over the bridge and was doing decent the first hour or so. We turned and BANG massive head winds. Probably 20 MPH also this was the only part of the course that had hills. At this point I started getting a horrible side stitch. Every time I tried going a bit fast it got worse. All I could do was try to get out of aero and stretch it and back off on my speed. This was a really low point in the race for me. I was doubled over on my bike with pain. I was really worried because I only have one kidney and that is the side it was on. It actually felt like when I had a kidney stone. Only thing I could do was back off. I was going turtle slow but I knew if I didn’t get rid of the pain on the bike I would not be able to run. I kept telling myself that going slow was better than stopping. I still had my shirt on that said tri-ing to fight cancer for…..with all my cancer names and right about the point I was feeling my worst a girl passed me and said "You have a lot of reasons to keep pedaling." So I kept pedaling. What I really wanted to do was get off my bike and lay in a fetal position but I kept telling myself just get to special needs and you can take a break. Turns out its not so easy to bike when you are doubled over with abdominal pain. I thought special needs was at mile 56 but it was at mile 50 so I got to stop. Used the porta potty and got my bag. I took my licorice and my tums and switched out my drink bottles. Ate a tums…that was one of the smartest things I did was to have tums with me. My stomach wasn't really upset but it seemed to help. For some reason I felt MUCH better after that. It took about 1 ½ hours for me to rid myself of that side stitch.

I think it was about this point that I abandoned my nutrition plan. I just didn’t want a gel and my mouth was dry the whole race and I couldn’t think about eating a fig Newton. The bananas however looked really good and that is pretty much what I ate the whole race. I ate a few piece of my Australian licorice. I drank all 3 of my efuels, used 3 gels I think and 4 fig newtons on the bike. Also 2 bottles of nuun and probably 1 bottle of water. Much less fluid than I usually use but the conditions were much colder than I train in and I was not sweating much at all. I used a few electrolyte tablets but I have become pretty good at drinking what I need and knowing what I need based on how much I am sweating.

After special needs we made a turn with a TAILWIND. At the corner someone yelled you are coming into the tailwind and I yelled WOOHOO. It was like being in biking heaven I was pulling 22-23 with no effort and more importantly no side pain. We made another turn and we didn’t really have a tail wind or a head wind but it was easy biking. There was an out and back around mile 70 and Kathy and Christine were there. Back into a headwind UGH, turn around tailwind YEAH. I stopped at an aid stain and got a banana and thru off the cancer shirt. I had ditched the gloves earlier and kept the arm warmers the whole ride. I stopped where Christine and Kathy were and we took pictures…I mean really I wasn’t having a blistering bike and it was good to stand up for a minute. More important to have fun. They told me my mom and dad were 10 miles down the road. I had Kathy call my mom so she wqouldn't be worried. And there they were. They had a great time all day. I had bought them a clapper and a cow bell. They broke the clapper they used it so much.

I was well past the half way point of the race at this point. We had mostly tailwind the rest of the way back. I stopped 2 more times to pee. There was a superhero themed aid station that was so cute. I didn’t really cramp but I was getting uncomfortable. I take my feet in and out of my shoes sometimes and for some reason that alleviates the pain for me. I did that a few times which helped. Back up over the bridge…hit 35 MPH going down, then the gauntlet of condo construction and wind tunnels. Th G8Rs and team Tennessee were in front of the condo a mere 1.5 miles ferom T2 cheering me on. Finally OFF THE BIKE and into T2. I was really happy to be off my bike.

Weirdest thing on the bike is that even at like mile 50 there were these guys on these totally tricked out bikes with fancy race wheels and aero helmets and all I could think was Geez your must really stink at swimming.

Based on how far I usually ride in X amount of time I probably lost about 45 minutes in the winds/side stitch episode. I made up about 10 minutes once I got out of the wind and wasn’t in pain. I probably had about 10 minutes of stoppage time in my bike time. There wasn’t much else I could do. The side thing was really painful. I felt like I had a knife going thru me and I knew I HAD to get rid of it before the run or I would be hosed.


I have no idea why I got the side stitch but that was a huge rate limiting factor. I have gotten them before but never that bad and never of that duration....at least not since I had that kidney stone removed. I wish I had been faster but I basically went into race salvage mode. NO WAY could I have run hurting that badly. I think I rolled with it all quite well

T2: Handed off my bike YEAH off the bike, and got my T2 bag and went into the tent. Sherri was there and showed up like and angel. I changed into my run gear and got my running water bottle, my tums, my picture of my friend Jennifer who has cancer and has been an inspiration for me thru this journey and off I went. Haley had told me “Just get out of the tent” Honestly I didn’t really want to linger because I wanted to be done and I was thankful to not be pedaling anymore.

Not much. Once again the changing tents were the thing I was least prepared for. I was not prepared for people trying to help me and after 112 miles of essentially solitude it was like sensory overload.

The view from tthe back of the pack :

Ok it was more of a walk but lets face it I’m not much of a runner. This was my first marathon and my longest training run was 18.5. I knew I had plenty of time to finish and I played this race extremely conservative as the major goal was to get to the finish line. Mentally I was positive the whole race except for that time on the bike when I was hurting. My mind set was OK I have done 114.4 miles and I only have 26.2 to go. Piece of cake. My legs kind of felt like poo. My hammys were really sore. The first mile or so of the run I was kind of getting my legs under me and there were tons of spectators out on the course. I saw Chris about between mile 1-2. I was trying to power walk but hamstrings wanted none of that. Did my run walk thing. Took some chicken broth at the first aid station that offered it and it tasted like heaven. I was just sick of sweet things. I was hungry and wanted real food. I took a banana at just about every aid station. Honestly I should be swinging from the trees with the number of bananas I ate.

About mile 7 I was in the park and there was a cool aid station called Café 7…they had lights strung up and it was a buffet of sports food. It started getting dark too and on the way out of the park I got a glow stick and attached it to my race belt. I was using the porta potties a lot...ever go into a porta potty in the dark with no light other than what is coming from a glow stick? Interesting. At least I was hydrated and my kidney was working.

I was having a lot of foot pain and took my orthotic out of my left shoe and shoved it in my tri shorts. That helped for a few miles but I eventually put it back in my shoe because it was just as painful without it and it was poking me in the back. About mile 8-9 there was Christine, Kathy and Sherri. SO GOOD TO SEE HAPPY FACES. Kathy walked with me for a while and we chatted. She called my mom to tell her I was OK

At the turn around my mom and dad were on one side and the G8Rs, Chris and Renee were all there and I hi fived everyone. My dad was yelling for me and had a giant smile on his face. I knew he was having a blast. ONLY 13.1 MORE MILES WOOHOO. Got my special needs bag and walked taking what I wanted. I had a pot pourri of stuff but I only took my Tylenol, my tums, my rice cakes and my wind vest. I had been thinking about those rice cakes for 5 miles…..a few more miles and you get your rice cakes.

MMMM my cheesy rice cakes……thing is my mouth was so dry I really couldn’t eat them. I managed 2 and threw the rest off. I saw Chris again for the third time and thanked him for staying out there. I continued to fill my water bottle mostly with water and sometimes with Gatorade. The water really tasted better at this point. I was sick of sweet stuff. I was taking chicken broth and sometimes a coke and continued with the bananas. Bananas just seemed like the best Real Food offered. I just kept counting down the miles and was happier as each one passed. I was never down on the run at all. My legs felt like crap and my feet hurt. I felt well tho. I wasn’t dizzy or nauseous. I didn’t feel sick or weak. My energy level was totally good. It was just that my lower extremities were not cooperating all that well. I stopped to stretch several times which helped. I alternated running a walking according to what hurt less. My hammys didn’t like walking and my feet didn’t like running.

I was thinking about all the BTers…I was thinking of positive energy coming thru the earth from Cat on the other side of the world. Mostly I was just thinking about putting one foot in front of the other. Got to see Kathy and crew again around mile 17. ONLY 9 MORE MILES. YEAH. It hurt and I was moving slowly but I was moving forward and quitting never crossed my mind. Then all of a sudden only a 10K left. I can do that in my sleep. I walked with a guy from Alaska for a while. It was funny because we were joking in the morning with it so cold the only people who would be comfortable would be the people from Alaska. He said “yeah but we don’t run around half naked when its cold”

I ran/walked with a girl from Chicago for a while. Was finally coming into the chute!!YEAH. Wendi was there and she took my wind vest. I wanted my Janus shirt in the photo. Then my dad came down and ran some of the last part of the course with me…I was going so slow he could walk to stay with me but oh well. Just seeing that big ole smile on his face made the whole race worth it. He ran up to the stands to see me finish. Just a few more yards….It was a total rush to run thru the chute with all those people cheering for you and to be called an ironman.


I need to be able to train the run withour injury. Since starting tri training in June of 2004 I have had all of 12 weeks injury free. I did the best I could with what my legs were allowing on that day. I always say you gotta paint with the colors God gave you.

Post race : It seemed like all of a sudden things were happening at hyper speed. It is very overwhelming to essentially be alone for so many hours, many of them in the dark with nothing but your own thoughts, and then be confronted with the ironman finish. A catcher took me and I got my shirt and hat and picture. Then everyone was trying to help me at once. I wanted my dry clothes but my dad had taken them back to the car with my bike T1 and T2 stuff. I went and got a massage which helped A LOT because my legs were hurting badly. It was windy up on the garage and I was freezing when I came out of the massage tent. My dad came back with my “dry” clothes but they were all wet. I had a prickly burr in my sock so it was helpful to rid myself of that. We just left and went back to the condo. I was VERY thankful I didn’t have to schlep my stuff to the car. Walking was very difficult. I took a Jacuzzi bath and we had beer champagne and potato chips…I know it sounds weird but it tasted great at the time to all of us.




1-injury
2-unable to train the run properly secondary to #1
3-mystery side stitch


the race was very organixed and there were PLENTY of well equiped aid stations and the volunteers were amazing. I tried to say thank you to everyone. I BIG thanks goes out to Sherri. She was great in the changing tent.

I did this race to raise money for cancer research at the hospital where both my parents have been treated. Being able to see my dad with a big smile on his face and say he is proud of me was worth every step of the journey. I know my mom is proud too but she is a worrier and just wanted for me to be OK at the end of the race. I haven’t gotten myself married or given them any grandchildren but I could do this for them.

A big thanks to everyone who came out to jockstrap and scream for me. It was appreciated more than you can know. I'm afraid I will miss someone if I try to name all of you so THANKS EVERYONE. Also special thanks to my coach Will for believing in me and helping me in this journey.

We figured out the mystery of the super cool low #. They gave those numbers to the people doing the Janus Charity Challenge. They were a different color which I didn't even realize til someone pointed it out on the bike. Only 23 people at this race did JCC and they give extra money to the top 20 fundraisers charity so I am pretty confident I am in the top 20. Thanks to all the BTers who donated. I am touched beyond words.

The thing I am most proud of is that I stayed really positive mentally the whole day except whe I felt like I was being stabbed on the bike. Even then it wasn't so much a mental hurdle as fear there was something, as they say in Kentucky, "bad wrong"

So anyway everyone keeps asking if I would do this again. I was thinking thru much of the race that a HIM is much more fun. It was a decision I could not make yesterday and I need a year to get healthy and become a better runner. I would like to do anouther one but when I can properrly train the run. Maybe 2008.