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 Swim
Comments: Was a bit nervous looking at how far the swim suddenly looked. Just kept telling myself to go buoy to buoy. I started off to the right so as not to get mugged too much. Wound up sighting every 4th stroke and somehow wound up next to a kayak at one point. Got myself back on course about 1/2 way out and decided to get into the fray and stay on the buoys. Not too many people banging into me - I just swam and swam and for the rest of the swim, I did pretty well for me. My breathing was fine, my wetsuit fit well, goggles didn't leak, kept remembering to lengthen out my stroke and sighted well all the way back. Wound up sighting every 10 strokes or so and was basically right on track. I was happy. What would you do differently?: Push a little more. I was definitely conservative. Also, I must have been using my triceps instead of my lats to pull cause man, they are sore today!  Transition 1
Comments: Saw my mom :) Remembered where my bike was racked, emptied bag, shoved everything back in bag, shoes, glasses, helmet on and I ran on my way. Actually, my favorite song was blaring so I ran and sang at the top of my lungs on the way out. What would you do differently?: nada. It wasn't a fast transition but I didn't want to forget anything.  Bike
Comments: Pretty course. The first hour I avg'ed 18.9! My goal was between 16 - 17 b/c I had actually never done longer than a 47 mile training ride. I stayed focused on riding, reminding myself to just stay in a gear I could push all day. Took a gel in the beginning, then one each at 1 and 2 hrs. Also ate fig newtons. I now hate them. My belly doesn't like gatorade on the bike so my one bottle of 1/2 gatorade and 1/2 water lasted me the whole course. I also took 3 bottles of water on the bike. Saw my mom at @ 36 miles and was so happy to see her I cried a bit for the next mile or so. Just to see her so excited to see me got me thinking about what I was actually doing and the enormity of it all got to me. The hills were no problem - I geared down much earlier than usual and I was fine. The one long hill at 45 miles was tough but nothing I hadn't done before. The last 5 or so miles went through an "interesting" part of town. All the volunteers were gone and the police were in their place. What would you do differently?: Push a bit harder perhaps. It's always easy to say that after the fact though. Transition 2
Comments: Took my time again - changed shirts, put on race belt and away I went. What would you do differently?: not much.  Run
Comments: Ooh, it was hot by then and I drank too much on the bike so my belly was full. I told myself that it was really only a few 3 milers and I could do that no problem. Hit mile 1 before I knew it and then looked straight ahead at a wall of a hill. Started running it but then figured, why? Walked to the top (with many others) and began running again. The sponges at the stations were wonderful - still couldn't eat a thing and hadn't eaten since about 2:30 into the bike. I was afraid of hitting a wall so I ate a bit of banana and a few orange slices along the way and wound up being fine. Walked the aid stations and ran in between for the first lap then became more liberal with my aid station walks on the second loop. I kept telling myself to race my race no matter who's doing what around me. That really helped keep me focused on the moment. Kept leapfrogging with about 10 others who were all doing the same run/walk thing. The 12 mile mark NEVER seemed to come and as soon as it did, I was all excited. Ran the last mile, saw my parents right before mile 13, saw Mike in the shute to give him a high 5 then completely hammed it up for the cameras across the line. What would you do differently?: Run more. Post race
Warm down: Walked around for a bit, talked to Mike, my parents and Jon. Jon was already showered and looked fresh as a daisy after coming in at 4:45. Just a training day for IM Canada in 6 wks for him. Eventually made it back to the hotel which was right across the street from the finish. Showered, rested for a bit then went to eat - got to see the last woman finishing. Great crowd support for her as well as the rest of us. What limited your ability to perform faster: my full belly, not knowing how to pace myself confidently. Event comments: The athlete check in/bike check in was a logistical nightmare. Waited in line for over 2 hrs. They needed an efficient system for checking in athletes. The actual race was much better organized than I was expecting given the ordeal on Sat. I was happily surprised. Not a lot of post race food though. Cheeseless pizza and pasta salad was all I saw. Last updated: 2008-02-21 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman
83F / 28C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 954/1267
Age Group = F 35-39
Age Group Rank = 406/71
Drove up Sat. w/ Mike, Jon followed us. The expo/sign in was LONG - over 2 hrs waiting in line to check in only followed by almost an hour drive to T1 for bike drop off. Then we drove the bike course, getting kinda nervous b/c there was nothing at all set up in terms of cones, signs about the race, etc. We knew the course would be open to traffic due to the roads all being pretty major. We were hoping for the best. Stopped 1/2 way through the course to have dinner w/ my parents who were there to cheer. We talked them into driving us to the start in the AM since we didn't do the shuttle. They were happy to drive since we lured them with our athlete parking sign which meant they didn't have to walk far to the start. Everyone was happy.
Woke up at 3:30, had some water, drove w/ Mike and Jon to meet my parents at their hotel. Got some coffee, drove the rest of the way to the start and checked our bikes. Jon's computer crapped out during the night due to all the moisture in the air. Walked around for a bit, explained what was going on to my parents, ate 1/2 cliff bar and waited around with everyone. I was strangely calm for most of the morning. The swim didn't look long yesterday but man did that change!