The start was remarkably calm. I wanted to seed myself toward the back because I didn't want all the thrashing bodies around me to freak me out into an asthma attack, but the way it worked out I ended up kind of in the middle. Tried to start my HRM, but it apparently doesn't like the water anymore because the display was completely blank. It was still making it's usual beeping noise though, so I started it anyway in the hopes that the display would come back at some point.

It was nice to be on a swim course that was so clearly marked, the buoys were really close together and easy to see. Everything was pretty cool until I rounded the first buoy, then it was like entering a mosh pit. I got kicked and hit more times than I can count. Once I took an elbow to the side of my face,hard enough that the guy who hit me actually looked over and asked if I was ok! My head felt a little woozy for a few but cleared up fine. I tried to stay more to the outside after that, but since I pull to left I kept pulling myself right back into the center of the course and had to keep adjusting. It was crowded rounding all of the corners but people seemed to fan out a bit on the straights. Heading in after the second lap got crowded again as everyone bottlenecked toward the banner.

This swim went better than I had even hoped for, so nothing! I was glad to be out of the water, though. Least favorite of the three sports, DONE!

Out of the water I pulled my wetsuit down around my waist, completely forgetting to grab my inhaler (I'd stashed in sort of under my armpit inside my wetsuit) so of course I lost it. Got "stripped" which was kind of an unusual experience. Ahead of time I wasn't sure if I wanted to run or walk the helix, I didn't want to spike my HR early in the day, but running felt fine so I ran. Saw MarkK and Miss Kelly on the way up, I love both of thier friendly faces!

In transition the volunteer helped me a lot but I guess I have some sort of wierd hangup, because I just kept grabbing stuff out of my bag, starting with my helmet which had my gloves and glasses inside. Bodyglided in the necessary places. I wore my trishorts and bra into the water so I didn't change, just pulled my jersey on. Asked the volunteer to sunblock me (I didn't realize there was a whole line of volunteers outsied doing that). Shoes and socks and as I left the changing room I put on my helmet and gloves. That's when I realized I had nothing left in my hands - crap where's my glasses? Back into the changing room, a volunteer had my bag in her hand putting it in the pile. We looked through my bag - no glasses. Not on the floor by where I was sitting either. I was thinking I'd have to ride without them which I hate - I'm always afraid something will get in my eye. It was also REALLY bright out. But then the volunteer said "there's some on that table, see if you can find some that work". And no crap, there were several pairs of sunglasses on the table (none mine). I was worried they belonged to other racers who'd lost them, but a couple actually had tags on them, so I took one of those. They are the ugliest, cheapest wal-mart glasses ever (the sticker actually said $1.99 I think!) but they are now my most cherished good luck charm.

Not lose my glasses! Also let the volunteer help more.

Coming down the helix was fun! The ride out of town is pretty technical, several tight turns and one no pass zone, which is good to warm up. Once we got out of town I picked up the pace. I had been planning to rely on my HRM to keep me in check on the bike since I tend to ride too hard, but the display was still dark so I was going to have to go by feel and speed. I caught up with Whizzzz fairly early on, rode with her for a few. She said something about taking it easier on the bike but I seriously felt fine...my breathing was normal, I could converse, so on. A little while later I heard a voice behind me say "Cindy?" I turned around and there was Whizzzz again! I said "how'd you get in front of me again?" and she said "I don't know". It was funny that she'd passed me and neither of us saw the other. I passed my friend Kim early on too, we rode together for a minute. Her strategy was to take it very easy for 40 miles. A while later my friend Mike (not a BTer, I don't think) caught me and said "what, are you trying to blow up the bike" but again I felt fine. Still he and I rode together and chatted for a good 20 miles, to keep us both in check. He was pacing for a 6 hour ride which was faster than I'd planned, so eventually when we got separated in a crowd I just let him go. The first loop went very smoothly, I felt great and was averaging somewhere between 18-19 mph, a little faster than I'd planned but ok. The distance signs confirmed something I'd suspected all summer, that my bike computer thinks I've gone farther than I have, so my speeds and distances read high. I slowed a little to compensate. Saw Mark in Verona (yay!) yelling and waving at me. My nutrition seemed right on target - I finished both my bottles of infinit, ate half a pb&j and a fig newton on the first lap, along with one or two gels and a bag of Honey Stingers.

Going into the second lap I was feeling bloated and crampy. I stopped at my special needs, grabbed my fresh bottles and a new pb&j. I was slowing down on the food though, since I was feeling so gassy. I decided at the special needs to stop at the next portapotty, lets just say that helped a lot....

I dialed my speed back a on the second lap, mostly because I felt like I should, not because I felt like I needed to if that makes any sense. I still felt pretty strong on the hills. The bigger cassette I bought a while back helped a lot with spinning up the big hills. I slowed down a lot on my intake, started drinking more plain water. By the time I went through Verona the second time a lot of the specatators were gone but there was my Mark, waving and yelling and smiling at me! Total on the second loop, I think I ate 1/4 of a pb&j on that leg, but I know I had 1 gel and another bag of honey stingers, along with about a bottle of inifit, maybe a little more. My stomach was feeling ok but I was having trouble getting stuff down...everything seemed to be getting stuck in my throat.

Headed back to Madison my stomach decided it was seriously closed to business, I tried a gel and barely got it down. I was starting to get a little concerned about my run. My legs were a little tired, I started to worry....did I hammer too hard??? On the other hand, I expected tired legs going into the run. Slowed it way down, only averaged about 15.5 or something on the way back in. Kept up with small sips of water when I could. I still didn't feel sick or even crampy any more, just full. I did a little mental math and realized I was on the plus side as far as calories went anyway.

I wish I could describe the spectators in detail, so everyone reading this could see them. There were people in costumes (including two guys in bikinis and wigs on - i think - the last set of hills before you head back into Verona, Old Sauk maybe?). People waving signs, including one that said "make this hill your B***H" which I found incredibly amusing. People yelling, telling you what a great job you're doing, that you're amazing, that you OWN THIS HILL! There was a group -it HAD to have been 3 guys, triplets maybe? who looked exactly alike and were all pointing at riders and saying "I got my eye on you! You better keep smiling! Yeah, that's a smile! There you go!". It looked like the same guy in 3 places at once. They cracked me up. There were people playing drums. It was incredible. I made me FEEL incredible.

Kept my pace up coming back into town, maybe.

I did a complete change at this transition, since my tri shorts were rubbing just the tiniest bit. Let the volunteer help me a lot more this time, she even put my socks on my feet! She was so nice - when I asked for my sleeveless run top she said "Are you sure you don't want the long sleeves? The sun will go down". I told her I had a long sleeved in my SN bag and she said "oh good". Got slathered with sunblock outside. Stopped at the portapotty.

Nothing.

My worries about my legs being too tired dissapeared as soon as I started to run - it actually felt good (wierd, I know). I came out of transition and there were Mark and Kelly, just up from the finish line. I wanted to give Mark a kiss but he was on the wrong side of the street! My stomach was feeling much better but I didn't really want the infinit - I decided to stick with water and gels, which worked for a while. I saw Whizzzz just as I came up on mile 2 walk/running, she looked so great! I was so happy to see her. She said her knees were holding up, which made me happy too. Then I was able to do small sips of infinit again. I ran pretty much the first six-ish miles, then we hit observatory hill. A woman next to me - Chris - said "running this hill is not worth spiking my heart rate!" and I had to agree. We walked the hill together than ran awhile, chatting. I think she said it was her second or third IM, I know it wasn't her first. I was happy to have the company. My goal was to pretty much run the first 13.2, walking aid stations when I had to, which I started to do very short aid station walks after the hill. There was a family with a very young girl playing the violin on the grass in UWM, she played really well but absurdely reminded me of "Titanic" even though it was a diferent song. I applauded her anyway. Around mile 11 Chris decided to do a walk break but I kept jogging. I couldn't pace since my HRM was also my watch, I was still operating on feel. I saw Holly on State St, yelling and smiling and waving and I think she got a picture of me too. Coming back into Madison I couldn't believe how good I felt and still running, albeit slowly. Got to give Mark the kiss I'd been craving on the way in :) Turned around, then stopped at my SN bag for fresh socks, since I'd soaked mine with water from the sponges they were handing out. I hadn't taken in much infinit out of my fuel belt but I topped it off anyway. It was HOT, yuck. I realized I could dump it over ice at the aid stations, wow that was one of the best ideas I've ever had. It went down so much easier cold.

I'd made my goal of running the first 13.1 and I still felt reasonably good, so why walk now? I ran aid station to aid station. I saw my friend Kim from Racine, who was originally going to be my training partner but our scedules never seemed to work. She was inbound on her first lap and looking good. My legs were tightening up, I was having to try to pay more attention to not shuffling and I was walking longer at the aid stations but what the heck, I was still running which seemed like a miracle. I never in a million years thought I'd be able to run by this time. Around mile 16 I decided that walking would just prolong the agony and decided to push from station to station until I just couldn't do it any more. I just kept focusing on running instead of shuffling, although my attention to this wandered a lot. Somewhere on the second lap I saw my friend Kim from work, I knew she planned to spectate but I hadn't seen her all day, then there she was crossing the street right in front of me! I ate a few orange slices but mostly stuck to infinit, gels and water. My stomach felt good why mess around? It got dark but not cold. I was passing more walkers than I was seeing runners and spectators kept yelling "way to go runner!" and "keep it up!" On the UW campus one spectator sez to me "Way to keep it steady. A little stiff, but steady". After I passed the 5 miles (to go) aid station I decided to down a gel at the next station, then try to run the rest of the way in. I walked briefly through the two miles (to go) station but otherwise managed it, pretty well I think. Then I was running around the capitol building, I thought every corner was the last but it wasn't and I thought "damn, how many corners does this building have anyway?" There was a guy walking in front of me - yes walking and staying ahead of me, shows you how slowly I was running at this point but he had really long legs- and people kept cheering him to "run, you're almost there!" I was just about to catch up to him when finally he started running and I knew Mark and the finish line were just around the next corner. I picked up my pace and there Mark was! I stopped and gave him another kiss :) He said "I love you" and I said "I love you too" and I heard a lady behind him go "aaawww." It was cute. Then I was running to the finish!!!!

I know I would have tried a lot harder and skipped walking a few aid stations on the second lap if I'd realized how close I was to coming in under 14 hours. Considering how strong I felt at the end, I could've done it, too. But what the heck, I pretty much ran it all. I never once stoppped between aid stations, except observatory hill.

Got "caught". Wandered out of the finisher's area after my photo and there was Mark. Sat for a while, took my shoes off - aaaah. Got some food - how the heck can anyone eat pizza after that? Just the smell made me queasy. I gave mine to Mark, who had skipped lunch AND dinner so he wouldn't miss seeing me. What a husband I have. There are no words. The sub and potato chips went down ok, but I didn't eat a whole lot. I would have liked to stay to see Whizzzz and Kim, but I was getting chilled. I wanted to get Mark some dinner too. So we went and collected my stuff, found the bus and went back to the hotel, where I changed clothes. I dug out my cel phone,turned it on and listed to messages from Gordy and a totally AWESOME message from work! I didn't think anyone from work would be paying attention but they were, I can't tell you how good that made me feel. We headed to Burger King to get Mark some dinner. Back at the hotel I was so chilled a took a warm bath (yeah, not the recommended thing to do but whatever).


I was conservative on the bike, and I don't know if it was entirely necessary, but I wanted to err on the side of caution especially without any HR info. And who knows? If I'd pushed harder my mild GI issues may have become major :( On the run I was so overwhelmed that I was still running that I didn't worry much about my pace, but I know I would've pushed it if I'd realized I could break 14 hours. But really, it's whatever.


WOW.