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 Swim
Comments: I lined up along the buoy line, but towards the back. I wanted to swim inside the buoy line and then just join the pack around the turn buoys. The first loop, I just tried to stay calm. I actually did alright. I never had the panic feeling where I wanted to quit. I just kept it steady, tried to ignore the other swimmers and kept moving. I did get punched in the side of the face (my cheekbone is still sore) and got kicked and almost lost my goggles (luckily I had them under my swim cap). The water was pretty rough, but I was doing alright. I finished the first loop in 42 minutes - a little slower than I hoped, but not too bad. I crossed the timing mat, grabbed a water, and followed the crowd just like a lemming. Next thing I knew, I was back in the water. Just before I re-entered the water, I saw my family and waved to them. They started to yell, which made me smile. The winds had changed for the second lap and it was much rougher. We had to angle into the water to get back on course. I tried to start swimming as soon as the water was to my knees, but the waves were coming from my side and flipping me over. I lost some time there struggling to get to the turn to head back out. The crowds had cleared some, but it was still crowded and I was still getting pummelled in the second loop. I even had someone grab me around the waist and pull me back (why would someone do that?? What does that accomplish? Was pulling me back helping them in some way?) I kept thinking to myself that if I could just make it to the turn around, it would get easier (because it did on the first loop). But the it didn't, it got worse! At the first turn, the sun was in our eyes and the waves were right into our faces when we tried to site (and the waves were getting high). I got several mouthfuls during this portion of the race. The final stretch of the swim was the hardest, I think. I felt like I wasn't going anywhere. I was getting pummelled by the waves. I also developed a really bad calf cramp. I kept flexing my foot trying to get rid of it. I tried to keep swimming while I worked it out, but it was an ugly swim. I am sort of glad all of this happened on the second loop though. If it had been the first loop, I am not sure I would have wanted to continue! When I saw the clock as I was getting out of the water, I was a bit disappointed (I had lost almost 10 minutes on the second loop). But at that point, I was just thrilled to be finiahed with the swim. What would you do differently?: Swim faster. But since it was my first experience with an ironman swim, I am alright with my time.  Transition 1
Comments: I am not sure why my T1 time was this long. It seemed a lot faster. I didn't feel like I wasted any time. I started to take off my wetsuit while I was still walking out of the water. I ran straight for a free wetsuit stripper who had my suit off in seconds (that was nice). I ran to transition where a volunteer already had my bad ready, so I grabbed it and kept running. I got into the tent, ran to the end where there were empty chairs and opened my bag. I quickly put on my shoes, helmet and glasses while a volunteer applied my sunscreen and put on my race belt. She was putting my wetsuit in the bag as I ran off to get my bike. The volunteer already had my bike ready, so I grabbed it and continued to run to the mount line. What would you do differently?: Go faster?  Bike
Comments: My ride went really well. It was by far the best part of my day. I never had any low points during the ride. I was a bit worried when I first started though. My shoulders were sore from the swim and it was uncomfortable in the aero position. But I started to feel better after a few minutes. Highway 20 with the headwind didn't even get me down. I knew my pace was really slowing, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I just concentrated on keeping my HR where I wanted it. I knew from talking to someone that had done the race last year, that it would get easier once I turned off of Hwy 20. So I just kept reminding myself of that and looked forward to the tailwind that would be coming. I had my watch beep every 15 minutes to remind me to take a sip from my Infinit bottle and I sipped water from my aerobottle often. I saw some drafting on the course, but no real big packs. I just made sure I didn't get sucked into them. There were officials giving out penalties too. I was behind one guy that got a penalty. Unfortunately for me, he decided he needed to argue with the guy on the motorcycle. But slowed way down to do it and blocked me and another guy for a couple of minutes - that was irritating! I didn't stop for my special needs bag because I didn't need anything out of it. I was wearing a GPS unit so my family could track me in real time and know when I would be getting back. But apparently it had stopped working. So my sister and daughter drove out to find me. I was on my way back on Hwy 79 when they pulled up next to me and called out to me (and told me the GPS wasn't working). Then a few miles later, I passed the condo and saw more of my family holding up signs and screaming. There is nothing like seeing a familiar face during a race cheering for you! :) I was hoping to break 6 hours on the ride. But I wasn't disappointed in my ride. I kept to my race plan and was happy with how it turned out. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Transition 2
Comments: I pulled my feet out of my shoes before the dismount line. This made running back through transition a lot easier! This transition went smoothly. I took off my helmet and put on my hat. The volunteer put on more sunscreen for me and put my flask of Infinit in my pocket. She asked if I needed anything else in the bag and I said no. I had an extra inhaler in the bag, but I already had one on my race belt and wasn't changing belts. I ran out of the changing tent and made a quick stop in the porta-pottie. What would you do differently?: Check my race belt to make sure the inhaler is actually there!  Run
Comments: As I ran out of transition, I saw my family cheering for me. At this point I was feeling really good. My hamstrings were feeling a bit sore when I started to run, but nothing bad. My leg that I had worried about for a week leading up to the race wasn't causing any problems at all. I settled into my zone 2 HR and started picking off aid stations. Things went well for the first half of the race. My pace was where I wanted it to be and I was feeling pretty good. I could feel a blister forming on my right foot though but knew I had band-aids in my special needs bag if I needed it. Towards the end of the second loop, I could feel an asthma attack starting. So I reached down to get my inhaler and realized it was gone! Crap!! It was still mild and I could still run, so I did. I passed a lot of people on this first lap. I was running along in a zone when I heard my name called. I turned around and it was Brian (kidkile). I spoke to him for a second and kept on running. As I was approaching the turnaround I saw Tom (TC117) and his family cheering. Then I saw my coach coming from the other direction starting her second loop. Just as I hit the turnaround I saw my family again going nuts. I had run the first loop just under 2 hours (so I was on schedule to break 12 hours). I stopped at special needs to grab the bandaid and hopefully an inhaler. But apparently I had not put an inhaler in the special needs bag!! I tried to keep running, but slowed my pace. It wasn't long though before I was forced to walk. I would walk until my breathing was under control and then I would try to run again. I kept looking for my coach because I knew she had an inhaler, but I never saw her. This was the most discouraging part of the race for me. I watched helpless as all the people I had passed, passed me back. I tried to stay positive, reminding myself that I was going to finish, that I would still be an Ironman. But the run is my strongest sport and it was torture to see the time slipping away. I did run the last mile of the race. As I approached the finish line, I saw my family cheering for me. I then heard Mike Reilly say "here comes Carol Schaeffer from Hope Mills, NC". That is the last thing I heard because I was looking at my finish time and trying to decide if I wanted to raise my arms. I completely tuned him out (not on purpose). So I can only assume his said "You are an Ironman". I didn't raise my arms as I crossed the line. I just didn't feel like it. I was a bit out of it then. The volunteer came to catch me and it took me a second to realize it was my friend James! He got my hat, shirt, and medal for me. Then held it all while I got my finisher picture taken. He tried to walk me over to get some food, but I just wanted to leave and find my family. If I had known what was coming, I would have taken a second to get something to eat because as it turned out, it would be a while before I got anything. What would you do differently?: Have an inhaler with me! Post race
Warm down: I found my family and got a hug and contratulations from each of them. I was going to go get my stuff out of transition, load it on my car and then go out to celebrate with my family. But my husband asked where I had parked my car, he said they couldn't find it all day. It turns out that it had been towed that morning! That put an end to any celebration. I walked down to the transition area and got my bike and bags. Then I shoved my bike into the back of my sisters Honda CRV. Then the three of us went to find my car. When we finally found the tow company, they wanted $113 cash for the car. My husband didn't have any cash on him (my purse was locked in the trunk of my car). So he went to the convience store to use the ATM. The ATM wouldn't take his card! My sister had $100 on her, but luckily the ATM machine would take her card. So, we finally got the car back. By the time we got back to the condos, it was after 9pm local time. Everyone was leaving in the morning, so the kids were already in bed. My husband got me back into our condo, then went out to find an ATM to pay my sister back and to get me some dinner. So, no celebration. But that was alright. It was past my bedtime anyway! :) What limited your ability to perform faster: Not being prepared to treat my asthma. Event comments: It was a well run race with lots of volunteers. But it wasn't very spectator friendly. My family said they couldn't find many places to use the bathroom. Last updated: 2008-11-13 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
78F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1249/2423
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 45/123
Tuesday: My husband and I arrived in PCB. We went to the grocery store to stock up the condo. Then we just relaxed in the condo the rest of the evening. I fell asleep at 7:30pm local time (which would have been 8:30pm in NC - my normal bed time).
Wednesday: I woke up at 3:30am local time (4:30am at home - normal wake up time for me). I kept to this schedule the entire time I was in PCB. My husband did not, so I had a lot of quiet time to myself in the mornings. When the sun finally rose around 6am I was going stir crazy, so I went ahead and did my scheduled ride for the day. I had been having pain in my right leg below the calf whenever I ran (I hadn't run in almost a week hoping it would get better). I was becoming worried about it, so I decided to go to the doctor and get it checked out. I spent most of the rest of the morning at the doctor (and then the lab for X-rays). The doctor was concerned that it might be a stress fracture. While we waited for the results of the X-ray, we went to registration. While I stood in line to register, my husband went to the message kiosk to type in the message I would see on the run. After registration, we went to lunch with my coach and her friends. I tried to call the doctor's office for the results of the X-ray, but couldn't get through. So we went back to the office and waited around for awhile while they got the results. No stress fracture!! I was cleared to run through the pain if I wanted.
Thursday: I met my coach and her friends (all also doing the race) for our first swim practice. The first half of the swim going out went well. The water was calm and it seemed pretty easy. I did get stung by a jellyfish, but it just brushed me and wasn't a bad sting. The swim back into shore was rough though. The wind was blowing the water back into my face everytime I looked up to sight and the current was pushing me to the left. After we finished and were drying off, I saw Tom (TC117). We chatted for a while. It was great to see him (and see him getting around well since his accident - although moving gingerly).
Friday: We were staying about 5 miles from the race site. I went back to the race site for another swim (plus quick bike and run). I brought my gear bags with me so I could go ahead and check my bike and bags while at the race site (instead of making another trip down later in the day). The water was clearer on the swim that day and I could see all the jellyfish. That freaked me out a bit, but I wasn't stung that day. While I was walking back to my car to get my bike after the swim, I ran into James (my OWS buddy from home). He was down to volunteer and sign up for next year. He walked with me to my car. The ride was a quick 30 minutes down Front Beach Rd. It was very windy and I got thrown around a bit. I began to wonder if using the disc on race day would be a good idea. After the run, I was grabbing all of my stuff to check it in and James came by again. So he walked me back up to the transition area. The rest of the day was very busy as my family started to trickle in (6 adults and 6 kids). I was glad that I already had everything set up for the next day because the rest of Friday was just chaos! :)
Race morning: I actually slept pretty well the night before the race. I woke up at 3:30am and started to get ready. For breakfast I had a large plain bagel with peanut butter, 2 bananas, 1 Ensure, and coffee. I took a bottle of Gatorade with me to sip on until the race and a gel to take before the swim. I left the condo at 4:45 to head to the race site (I drove myself). I got body marked, put my bike bottles on my bike, pumped up my tires, turned in my special needs bags and then went to find a place to sit for a while (I went to the lobby of the Boardwalk Beach Resort). While in the lobby, I applied my sunscreen, did some stretching and went tot he bathroom. Just after 6am, I put on my wetsuit. I decided to do it a bit early so I could take my time. Apparently taking my time didn't help, I still managed to rip it (it ripped on a seam on my right leg). Up until this point, I was actually feeling pretty calm. Now the freaking out began and didn't stop until I entered the water (not the best way to start your first ironman). At 6:30, I headed to the water and entered the corral. I kept looking for anyone I knew hoping it would calm me down. I couldn't find anyone! Just about the time I started to think to myself that I didn't want to do this anymore, I saw Brian (kidkile). We only talked for a second, but it helped. Then I saw my family!! I talked to them a minute, posed for some pictures (tried to smile), then found a place to line up for the swim.
No warm-up. Just the walk from my car to the transition area.