Ironman Florida
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Ironman Florida - TriathlonFull Ironman
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
![]() Swim
Comments: This was the most fun I've ever had in a race swim! It was great. I felt so happy during this swim, which is amazing for me! There were bodies everywhere and it just made me laugh! On the stretch back in on the first loop I got punched right on my cheek. It made me stop and take an assessment for a few seconds. Then I felt hands on my shoulder. The guy who hit me was making sure I was ok. He apologized like crazy and swam next to me the rest of the way in to the beach. Very nice! I put a gel in the leg of my wetsuit to take at halfway. Got it down, grabbed a water from KathyG, got a hollah from Brittney, then back in the water for another loop. Good times. As I finished the last stretch of swim, I smiled. Knowing Christine was with me that entire swim. I wore one of her swimsuits for the swim, along with the butterfly tattoos. She was there! No doubts. Got out of the water, saw KathyG again, got the wetsuit stripped and off to T1 What would you do differently?: Nothing. ![]() Transition 1
Comments: Tent was crazy busy. I found a chair quickly and a woman came to help me change. Getting into tri clothes half dry was funny! I took my time so I didn't forget anything. Ran out of the tent, saw Mike (triguynewbie) and Mike (hubby) had my bike. He ran the bike to the exit for me. Saw the kids, parents and Jeff as I left, Got lots of GO GATORS!! WOOO!! What would you do differently?: Nothing. ![]() Bike
Comments: Whoever said Florida is flat was wrong. There were hills. Not big ones, but there were hills. And headwind. My goal was to take it easy the first hour, get nutrition going, then speed up each hour. However, my stomach was bloated and hurting from the saltwater intake so that changed the plan. I took a banana at the first aid station and promptly threw up. Ok. So, I stayed with Spiz every hour (200 calories) and nuun every 20 minutes. No extra food, no PBJ as planned. I tried to take in some crackers at special needs, but threw them up around mile 60. I knew I was slower than I wanted to be, but it was more important to keep my nutrition down than go fast. I knew I had plenty of time, so I just tried to enjoy the ride. Saw Bridget at special needs and for a few miles after. It's so nice to see friendly faces!! I was stopping to pee every 30 miles. I tried to pee on the bike, but there were always tons of people around me and I splattered a few the first time, so I just decided to stop at the potty. It was better for my belly to stand up for a few minutes anyway, so no biggie. What would you do differently?: nothing. ![]() Transition 2
Comments: Ran into the tent, saw Sherri. She gave me an update that she had seen Sue and Bridget and they were doing well. Excellent news!! Quick change of shoes and off I go. Saw Janice as I went out of T2, then saw the fam. ![]() Run
Comments: Belly was still kinda weird, so I walked a bit, then ran a bit. Belly hurt when I ran, so I decided to make it a powerwalk for awhile. I was having a great time. Saw Jeff zoom by me, then on the out/back saw Sue, Bridget and Shaun. Saw Brian and Jessica cheering. Friend's hugs are the freaking BEST at that point of an Ironman!! Jeff zoomed by again and I yelled out "Do or do not, there is no try". He hollered back and kept an amazing pace! I took grapes, water and coke at almost every aid station. Gel every 5 miles. Felt great except for my feet. Blisters started at mile 3.5. Bad sign for what's to come, but there was no way I was stopping. By mile 10 my shoes were bloody and I was really hurting. Saw a chalk writing... "Suck it up Princess" and laughed my tail off! Ahhh...who woulda known I would be needing to see that?!! LOL!! The crowds and police were awesome giving me the Gator scores and updates on the game. GO GATORS!! At 13.1 I was miserable. It hurt to run, it hurt to walk, so I was doing this jog/trot thing. I'm sure it looked ridiculous, but it was forward progress and that's all that mattered! I thought about Christine how she wanted to be there to sign up for next year, Terri and her brave fight against cancer, training with the Tampa BT Mafia the last year, the awesome friends who have supported me through this journey and the words of encouragement they had for me the night before. My family and especially my kids who were always behind me 100%. I remembered how terrified I was at my very first triathlon with Sue. Laughing about how silly it seemed now, but how huge it was at the time seeing that 440 yds swim marked off and being confident I was going to drown! LOL! I had tears in my eyes, but a happy heart, and suddenly the miles were just clicking off. The last 5 miles I walked/trotted with a guy from UK. Funny guy. His second IM and he was not at all happy. We passed his friends at mile 24 and they started running with him. He bid me farewell and I was trotting slowly. Then, another man came up and asked if he could run me in. Sure. I was carrying my jacket at this point and he took it from me until we saw Mike and Ben, then he threw it to them. He was hollering to the crowd my name and that I was a first timer. It was awesome. He kept telling me to run towards the Gatorade bottle and that was the promised land! I agreed and kept the pace. As I came into the lights and crowds I started the Gator chomp and heard those sweet, sweet words....WENDI SCHULTE YOU ARE AN IRONMAN...A GATOR IRONMAN! Music to my ears!! Baby, you're a star by Prince was playing when I finished. Funny. Finally....finally, it was finished. I had done it. ![]() Post race
Warm down: Family and Jeff were right at the finish line, so they came in to help me around. Got pizza, coke and then went to massage. I had two wonderful women work on me for about 45 minutes. What a great day! Last updated: 2007-11-25 12:00 AM
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General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
Ironman North America
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1973/
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 110/
Woke up at 330, attempted to eat a bagel with peanut butter, drank a cup of coffee and a diet pepsi. Got my BT tattoo on my calf and the butterfly tats for Christine, wrote GRRRRR on my forearm for Terri. Woke up the kids/parents and Jeff and made our way to the lobby.
Got bodymarked, air in tires, bags dropped off, then stood on the beach with parents, kids, Jeff, shaun's parents and Lisa. Got in the swim start area, last minute hugs from Tampa Mafia peeps, then the gun sounded. Sugar we're going down was playing as I made my way into the water.