I knew the water was cold but oh my was it a shock Sunday morning. As soon as I got in I headed towards the right side where I could see the front of the line. I really didn't have time to pick out a good spot. I swam with my face in the water so the initial shock would wear off by the start. The water was so cold it took your breath away when first trying to swim. This was my second IM swim, but my first mass start. The morning of I was pretty much calm about it but the days leading up and especially Friday after the athlete's meeting I was a mess. I watched some YouTube videos of the swim start from previous years and really took a close look at how it would be and decided there wasn't much to be nervous about. Too bad I waited until Saturday afternoon to watch them. OK. Back to Sunday. The gun goes off and so does 2900 athletes. It wasn't scary like I thought it would be, just chaotic. There were arms and feet everywhere. I started way off to the right, about 100 to 150 yards away from the buoys. At one point I lifted my head to look around and what a sight! I smiled thinking how crazy this was and what an experience. After a few minutes I started to have a little more space but I was still so far from the buoys. I decided I would swim at an angle and get closer to the course. I basically swam right back into the scrum and that's where I stayed the whole time. Well, save for the moments of abysmal sighting which were many. Coming around for my first lap I was a little tired and definitely ready to be done but I had another lap to go. I heard Mike Reilly say "here comes a pack of 5!" and the crowd went nuts. I cried a little inside. The second loop was definitely a little lighter but still just as long. The water was still really cold and I was starting to feel twinges in my calves. Thankfully they held out and I finally made it out of the lake. What a relief.

Note: I had to stop swimming to pee 3 times during this swim. I need to learn to do this while swimming.



Sight better. Get in the water earlier to get a better spot.

Coming out of the water I just didn't feel right. I walked to the wetsuit peelers to try and get my bearings. After my suit was removed I jogged up the helix but slow enough that my HR was low. Once I had my bag and found an empty chair, I sat and dumped my stuff. I was so out of it I couldn't decide what to do first. Thankfully a volunteer came over to help me. She got my arm warmers on and my long sleeve shirt (which I ditched at the mount line). I lubed up and pulled on my bike shorts over my tri shorts which proved to be a mistake. I was told to run with my shoes off so I put my socks on and ran out. I stopped at the porta pots to pee and it took me forever to get my shorts (both pair) back on. Since I had a long sleeve on I skipped the sun screen which also proved to be a huge mistake given I ditched it before leaving T1.
This is just unacceptable slow. Yes, this is the longest transition in history but it still should not have taken me this long.


Not wear 2 pair of shorts.

Heading out my legs didn't feel good but I chalked it up to the swim and told myself to give it time. The first few miles were on a bike path and through a parking lot so it was a good excuse to relax and not try and push it. Coming out of the parking lot and getting on the road heading out of town, I launched my bottle. So I had to stop and turn around. No problem. I was drinking only water at this point to let my body regroup after the swim and I was just taking it easy. About a mile later race officials pull up beside me and are trying to tell me something. Finally I figure out they want me to fix my race number because it's dangling by one hole. So, again I stop to fix this. I am starting to get frustrated because I have stopped twice now in 4 miles and my stomach is starting not to feel right. I ate a couple powerbar gummies and continued drinking water. By the time I got to the first water stop I had finished my aero bottle of water but my stomach was now in full on revolt. (Stomach pain=sharp shooting pain, cramping/throbbing pain in my upper stomach or diaphragm. It is not nausea or need to go to bathroom pain) I couldn't be in aero so I rode sitting up. This is when I started thinking how this was exactly like Gulf Coast 2009-in which I DNF'd. That hit me hard mentally. I kept on riding but much slower than I would have normally and sitting straight up. My thoughts were consumed now with "how am I going to ride like this for 112 miles....then run a marathon?" I wasn't even 20 miles into the ride and I was contemplating quitting. At this point I had stopped drinking and eating. I was being passed by male pro's and age groupers like I was standing still. I felt alone and I wanted to be invisible. The pain got to be too much so I stopped and stood on the side of the road, crying. I drank a little water and discovered if I was standing up I could take the water easier. If I was riding it was like I was swallowing daggers. I got back on my bike and continued very slowly. It was somewhere in the 20 mile range that I remembered Beau saying he would be on the "Tour" hill. So I told myself I had to at least make it there. If I could make it to friends I could stop and talk it out with them what I should do. Time and miles were passing so slowly. I made it another 10 miles maybe before I needed to stop again. This time I am sobbing on the side of the road. The physical pain was at its worst and mentally I was defeated. I just couldn't see how I could continue riding like this for another 75 miles. I'm standing there thinking about all the training I did and my parents who drove here to watch me and all of the ATC'ers who came to support us and I got mad at myself. I got back on my bike and rode on. I made it to the hill where all of my friends were and cried the entire way up. Crowd support was amazing here but I was feeling too sorry for myself to enjoy it. I pulled off the road and was just a mess. I talked with Jeannine, Beau, Kim, Casey, Jody..and cried the whole time. Are you seeing a trend yet? haha. I explained my situation and told them I just don't think I can do it. It hurts too badly and I have too many miles left. They were amazing. They listened and gave me some advice and told me I could do it. Kim told me to start taking salt pills, which I did immediately and I took them every 10 miles or so for the rest of the bike. I think I was stopped here for 7 to 10 minutes. I'm not exactly sure. Time was eluding me. I got back on my bike with a little higher spirits and the same painful stomach. Jeannine had called my parents while I was stopped to update them on my location. About 10 miles later I got to my parents and stopped to tell them it would be a much longer day than expected. My dad asked me if I was going to finish and I said yes. I'm not sure where that answer came from. They said not to worry and they would be here when I got back from my second loop. Tanzy had passed by me while I was there and I caught up to her around mile 60. This was after the demoralizing right hand turn for the second loop. It seemed that I was the only person in sight heading out for their second loop while everyone else was heading back into town. Anyway, I caught up to Tanzy and asked her how she was doing. She said her stomach was bothering her and I recounted my problems. I gave her some tums and she said something to me that turned my attitude around. She changed the course of my race and I am forever grateful for her at that moment. She told me to keep on persevering and we would get this done. At that moment I decided I would not quit no matter how bad my stomach hurt. At the next aid station, the one after special needs, I stopped to refill my infinite and aero bottle and eat. I hadn't eaten anything up to this point besides the few powerbar gumies. The volunteers at this stop were great and helped me fill my bottles while I ate half of my uncrustable. They also applied sunscreen to my back and arms for the first time today. When I started back again I didn't notice any stomach pain. I kept waiting and waiting but it never came. I was rejuvenated! I could ride in aero and actually pedal without pain. I was so happy. Once I got back to the section where all the people had been on my first loop and saw that they were all gone and I went back to feeling sorry for myself. Now that I wanted people to cheer for me..they were gone. I was too slow. Racers were walking their bikes up the hills and it was just mentally draining. Where was I? I was not surrounded by my usual peers. Physically I felt good so i held on to that and I just pushed on. Coming into Verona on my second lap it looked deserted and dead. My parents were two of few who remained. I was equally as excited to see them as they were me. I only stopped here for a minute to tell them i was feeling much better and i would see them in less than an hour at transition. Making that left towards town was a good feeling. I had 15 miles to go and I knew I was going to make it off this bike-still in the game. Of course, my goals for the day changed from racing to surviving but I was glad to have made it this far. I wasn't sure how I would feel on the run and i started to mentally prepare for that. At mile 105 after making a left turn I noticed my bike didn't sound or feel right. I stopped and sure enough I had a flat on my rear tire. I tried just adding air to see if it would hold but it was a no go. Just then 2 of the support crews made the left and rescued me. I was back on the road pretty quick. When I reached the helix I was so relieved to be off my bike.


I'm just not sure.

Getting my bag from T2 was pretty sad. There were a handful of bags left which meant I was one of the last people to get off the bike. I grabbed my stuff and really didn't take much time here. I had a great volunteer helping me and she re packed my bag for me with all the bike stuff I didn't need. I saw William running out of transition and I was so happy to see someone I knew.


Nada.

I was having mixed feelings entering the run course. On the one hand I was happy to still be in the race but I was trying to come to terms with how behind I felt. I knew my race had switched to a "just finish" status so I looked at the run as something to enjoy. I stopped at the first aid station to pee and I walked through the first few to drink and get some fuel. I was starving at this point and as long as my stomach was cooperating I needed to get in some calories. In between stops I was running pretty well and I started to see other ATC'ers. In the stadium I caught up with Ron who was on his second loop and walked/ran with him for a little bit. He was feeling bad so he told me to go ahead. I then caught up with Katrin, also on her second loop, and ran with her for a long while. It was great to have someone to chat with and we were moving along pretty well. These miles went by pretty quick and before I knew it, I was making my turn to go out on the second loop and Katrin was an Ironman! This loop was entirely in the dark and it was lonely. I got one of those neon necklace thingys and ran off towards the stadium. At this point I was still feeling ok and I made a quick pit stop before heading in to the stadium. After the mile 18 aid station, I just couldn't start running. My stomach started to hurt again and my legs were throbbing. So I walked this mile. In retrospect I should have started running as soon as I left the aid station and forgot about how bad my legs hurt. They hurt walking anyway so why not run, I hear it's faster. But that's hindsight and we all know what they say about that. Mile 19 is the start of the dirt path by the lake. This was my lowest point on the run. I made myself start running, albeit very slowly. By the time I got to State Street I was running to try and catch Julie. I wanted to talk and run with someone so bad. We talked for a second and I told her I was going to try and catch up. So I kept plodding along, but never meeting my friend. I would see someone up ahead and think “Oh! That’s Julie!” and then “Oh, no it’s not.” I did this for the last 6 miles. She kept me running and even though she may not have been next to me she was my reason for running those last 6 miles. My stomach pretty much hated me at this point and so I took in a little broth and water when I could and decided I was close enough to the finish that I could get there without it. I saw Penny walking with another racer just ahead of me with a half mile to go. As I approached her I asked if she wanted to run it in with me. She said yes, but then she started to sprint and I just couldn’t move my legs that fast. I turned the corner to see the bright lights and hear the cheers. I made it. I rode my bike for 60 plus miles in absolute physical pain and the fear of not being able to finish. I was able to actually run 18 miles before my stomach started hurting again and even then I still continued to run. This is what I thought about as I was crossing the finish line and I couldn’t have been happier.



Not walk for an entir mile. Walk through aid stations and keep moving.

Nothing. Just ate food and watched others finish.


I can't say what made my stomach shutdown from the beginning of the bike but it has to be related to the swim. So no bing able to drink or eat for 60 plus miles on the bike was bad. This didn't help my run as I was starving going into it. I tried to take in calories there but my stomach didn't want anything after mile 18.


This is a great race. The venue was awesome and the volunteers were amazing. Special thanks to my family, friends and other ATC'ers family for their support!