Swim
Comments: wow. nothing can prepare you for an ironman mass start. I actually panicked a bit. I was literally swimming on top of people and every time my hand landed in the water it was on someone's shoulder. I got kicked a bit but because of all the chop it was hard to get a good breath in without inhaling water. I swam the course pretty wide because if you got even near the buoy you were just constantly getting clocked by other swimmers. I probably swam 3 miles. The second loop I tried to bring it in closer to the buoys. The wind picked up and we had a tough headwind going into the second loop that was noticeably slowing us down. When I made the first turn on the second loop I was right next to the buoy and forced to tread water. It didn't clear out at all on the second loop if you were near the bouy. My first lap split was 32:30. Felt good although a bit freaked out and just generally apprehensive about what the day had in store. What would you do differently?: hmmmm..... tough to say. I needed to find feet to draft off of. I couldn't find someone at a decent pace the whole time so I did a lot of extra work. Plus I was so uncomfortable after the start that I was happy to find clear water and not be on someone's feet. I need to find feet to draft off of for sure. Transition 1
Comments: The wetsuit strippers were closer than I anticipated so I was fussing with getting my hair up and I hadn't unzipped and pulled down by the time I got to them. Got it off fast but was really disoriented finding my T1 bag. Got in the tent and I felt like I was taking forever. I was flustered and dropping things out of my jersey. Finally got it all on an took off. What would you do differently?: Don't overload my jersey and then try to put it on. I should have just had it all set to put in the jersey, not try to put it on with everything in it. Make sure my hair is in my helmet right! My helmet was squeezing my head since I didn't take the time to get my hair in the right place. I tried to fix it on the bike but couldn't and I didn't want to stop. I have a big bruise on my forehead from 112 miles of helmet squeeze! Bike
Comments: well, for not training on hills I didn't do too bad. I paced it pretty evenly. I would like to think I could have rode it faster but who knows, maybe that would have blown my legs up for the run. I tried to hold back and ride conservatively but I wish it would have been faster. I really focused on doing my own race and not worrying about what others in my age group were doing. Its hard not to chase after all the people that were passing me in the first flat section. What would you do differently?: not sure. I think I may have been able to ride faster but maybe I wouldn't have finished had I done that. I think I could have put more gear under my legs on the hills but I was trying to keep it easy and save my legs. I don't think I needed to be in my smallest gear for those hills. Transition 2
Comments: Felt so freaking good to get off my bike. Here I had everything organized right. Again it took some confusing time to find my bag but I got it and had lots of help in the tent. Was calm and efficient, didn't forget anything. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Run
Comments: When I started my left foot was painful and cramping on the bottom. Luckily it eased up with in 1/2 mile. I felt great and was ready to rock it! I had a nice normal stride and felt like I could run an amazing marathon. I was taking lots of gu's and gu chomps. Something at almost every aid station to keep myself from getting too low. I didn't feel like I was bonking but I did feel somewhat hungry. I ran the 1/2 in just under 1:45. I probably should have run the first half easier but I felt great. By mile 18 or so I started to get nauseated and dizzy. I knew I needed to eat but the thought of everything was making me nauseous. I started walking the aid stations to get in gatorade, water pretzels, chomps, basically everything I could take in. Had two minor bathroom stops. My right calf got really really tight when I would stop and the first few steps I took when I started running again would be really painful but once I started running, I was running 8:15 pace again. If I could have just kept running my split would have been so much faster! What would you do differently?: Maybe take the first half out a little more conservatively. I think the nausea may have been electrolyte related. I dropped all of my endurolytes out of my pocket twice after mile 16. screwed. was so pissed I did that. I had way too much crap in my pockets. I need to make sure the endurolytes stay with me. I think that may have helped what I was feeling in the last 8-9 miles. Post race
Warm down: yea right. I found my clothes and put dry stuff on as fast as I could. I was shivering, ashy and feeling like I might be headed for something bad (hypothermia, dehydration etc.) What limited your ability to perform faster: I think inexperience. I'm happy I hit the nutrition fairly well and didn't go so hard that I totally blew up but I think with a few more years of this training I could put in a much faster time. Also not training on the hills was a huge disadvantage. The girls I was up against were all training in hilly areas. Event comments: I loved CDA although it didn't really suit my strengths. I'm still learning what does suit my strengths however. Last updated: 2009-03-24 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
50F / 10C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 444/2500?
Age Group = W25-29
Age Group Rank = 7/79
Up at 3:30 am, got waterbottles out of fridge. Had 2 packets of instant maple brown sugar oatmeal, and ensure and 1/2 banana with peanut butter. Got to the race site and dropped off special needs, took baggies off my shoes (rain was forecasted overnight) and put all my fluids on my bike. Pumped up my tires then waited for the start!
just got in long enough to let the water run through my wetsuit and get things in the right place. the water was actually warmer than the air. I was shivering bad once I got back out to wait for the start.