General Discussion Race Reports! » IM Melbourne Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply
 
 
of 3
 
 

IM Melbourne - TriathlonFull Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
51.8F / 11C
Overcast
Total Time = 9h 31m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = F 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

THANK YOU to thousands of people (and quite a few animals) who contacted me with good wishes about this race before and after. Big THANK YOU to those who have supported me for years. Biggest THANK YOU to my sister Tina for making sure I've scraped through the last 35 years alive, and to Nigel on BT who took this particular IM journey with me and has seen to my every need here in Melbourne. {{{MELON PRESS}}} to all!

4 Ironmans I've signed up for, done majority of training for, and finally I got to actually race in one! Woohoo! In the two years leading up to this race, I had 14 bouts of serious illness or injury, including dengue fever, chikungunya (makes dengue seem pleasant, and have lasting osteoarthritis), typhoid fever, pneumonia, bruised ribs, and concussion. I was last in an emergency room on Jan. 15th. So the training was a little less than optimal. I seem to be missing that entire base and build period. I was well-trained for a sprint, decently for Olympic, okay to finish HIM, and big-question-mark for an IM.

So I'm overjoyed to have started and gotten as far as I did. All of it, even the last two years, has been a tremendous experience and I wouldn't change a thing. The best bit is the incredible people and love I've gotten to be part of throughout.

In typical Yanti style, I didn't pack until the day I was leaving. Two hours to go and this is what my spare room looked like (never mind the living room):



I also had a very irate cat who was refusing to let me put things in the suitcase. And then ... the electricity went out! (Storming as usual). Awesome! So I was swearing, sweating, hopping, working by flashlight and candlelight ... finally, all was ready to go with 2min to spare and I used that for a shower. Then the cabbie that showed up in the driving rain informed me that the trunk was broken ... c'mon, laddie, we're Indonesian, we can get that giant bike box and suitcase in the rear seat AND four clowns if need be!

The trip was a comedy of errors, too, but suffice it to say I've completely changed my mind about strength training for Ironman. Of COURSE you need to do strength training to pack, unpack, haul, clear customs, multiple airports and otherwise deal with all your luggage in a relatively short period of time. Due to other normally bizarre circumstances bound to happen in tri travel, I also wound up hauling all my crap up and down these stairs multiple times. Please note that they are almost, but not quite, wide enough to accommodate a bike box. (!)



That, and the enormous amount of walking you do pre-race, needs to be taken into training account. For all that, I was totally unprepared.

I do terrible, terrible things to hotel rooms. And I mean, within seconds. The only dif between this pic and the true post-seconds pic was that I'd put my bike back together.



Welcome to beautiful Melbourne! Friendliest piglets of anywhere! I saw this grand marquee dozens of times and it tickled my tummy always.



Beginnings of the finish line. The "Slow Down" sign was funny ... and it it was up all weekend! What does it mean, near a finish line? Weather looking increasingly ominous, and I keep wearing all the clothes I own and taking a dozen hot showers a day to warm up.



Now THAT'S a sign (painted on the run path)! (However, Nigel did say I would have gotten lost on the mary course, and with my penchant for getting lost on even very clearly marked courses, perhaps it's just as well I never got to it).



Here's your sign ... I know that word is supposed to mean something to me, but ... Schedule ... Schedule ... hmmm?



Ah! Now HERE's a sign I understand and like!!!



And another one even more--it's got my name on it! Very cool.





I'm bumbling about the expo when suddenly my name rings out and I am assaulted first from the rear and then full frontal--it's the pro and my beloved friend and inspiration AMANDA BALDING! Now I feel right at home.



And here's the man Lukie himself!



Two of my very favoritest pro piglets ever. Oh, slurp. :)

As I'm buying a half dozen cartridges (need to pump up bike tyres just to get it going ... account for premature shoot-offs ... and a couple extra for the race), someone else yells my name: it's Joerg piglet FROM BALI standing right next to me! Wow! I really am home! We'd been texting and would have met up, but what luck. (And yes, there is an Ironman brand stand-up paddleboard).



The expo was great and I got killer deals on Power-nutrition and tri clothing. I heard from multiple-Ironracers that this was one of the best expos ever.

The BT Piglets Dinner ... and finally meeting NIGEL!!! (Across from me, and then there's Stephen, swiss_tri, and across from him Michael, whom I sat next to on the loooong shuttle ride race morning as well).



At the Friday night Carbo Dinner, Nigel brought me TIM TAMS and MINT SLICES (making good on a training promise) ... what a piglet!



As we were leaving the Carbo Dinner (which sucked and was very badly organized, but I won't go into it), Michelle Mitchells (who I inexplicably don't have a pic of me with!) was trying to get in, and security wouldn't let her! So she called me over and asked me to vouch for her--ha ha ha! Me to confirm one of the pro triathletes! She was another one who had greeted me at the expo and had so very kindly offered to sherpa for me after the race. WHAT A GAL!

I got to meet Joe (cottoneyes), who was a tech organizer for the bike, whom I fell in love with a long time ago over a feisty challenge group. Here we are at the Palais Theatre for the pre-race show, one of Australia's oldest and finest theatres ... the location, and the show itself, were truly extravagant. Great stuff from IM. And I was in a piglet sandwich. Doesn't get better!!!





That night, I finally get Red Robber pieced back together--good thing because he needs to be checked in tomorrow! Really simple but effective setup. What could possibly go wrong? ;)



Quite a lot with race organization and logistics of having start/transition and headquarters/finish 45km apart, as it turns out. Saturday afternoon I went to the shuttle area to have my bike loaded onto a truck and me onto a bus to go down to transition for bike and bag check-in.



I waited a reeeaaaally long time for that bus to depart. Not what I wanted to be doing late the day before the race. Coulda been worse--Joerg piglet was told at the expo (on THURSDAY, even) that there weren't any shuttle tickets left (we had to pay $40 for that privilege) and he had to get his own bike down to check-in. He wound up riding it down. The day before the race. With his transition bags. Worse yet, there were DOZENS of empty seats on the bus and they weren't checking tickets. And after the 45km ride down, there were a lot of people doing a lot more waiting there for their bikes to arrive (which, inexplicably, were lagging hours behind the buses).



So I bunked down on the cold concrete as well and made some new friends. The friends were awesome. The TWO HOUR WAIT out in the cold on a sidewalk for my bike on race eve? Not so much.



Hey! There's Freddie! (Frederik Croneborg, a 70.3 specialist pro triathlete, and of course, another dear friend ... doing his first IM, too! He smashed it, despite having had flu ... flu, not cold, the week before. What a guy!)



FINALLY! The bikes! The handlers were literally dropping $15k Shivs from the trucks any which way--only that thin cardboard box between the bike and the tarmac. At that point, I started laughing uncontrollably. What a mess.



Security at transition was VERY tight. All numbers, people, bikes, and transition bags were checked and re-checked, and they took about a dozen photographs of my bike (no joke) before I could go in.

Wow! So cool to see my name there on my spot!



Seeing the sea of bikes there was truly awe-inspiring. Delightfully, there was a sand-sculpting exhibit next door. (Just a small corner of the whole area shown)



Traffic on the 45km back to St. Kilda was horrendous b/c of race setup and many race vehicles on the road ... I didn't get back until nearly EIGHT O'CLOCK. EIGHT O'CLOCK with a 3am wakeup for the race, and having spent most of the day sitting out in the cold and hours on a bus. And I was by no means on one of the last shuttles back. Poor athletes!
Event warmup:

GAME DAY! (Finally!) I had a fierce battle with the toaster over my Pop Tarts, but I got all the pieces back.



Finally ready to go. I look like a bag lady all bundled up, which is just as well as St. Kilda is a pretty crappy neighborhood at night and I saw 7 hookers on my way to the shuttles (that damn 45km back to start/transition again!).



Back to transition ... I asked a piglet to borrow his pump, and he gallantly offered to pump my tyres up for me (yes, we are talking about a bike, actually) ... his eyes went pretty wide when he saw me stuffing a condom and cash into my saddlebag. Well ... if the race goes pear-shaped, may as well have some fun, right? ;)

Dearest Joe came to find me and wish me good luck. {MELON PRESS} And best of all, after I got out of transition and was waiting around in my wetsuit--I saw Nigey Pie! So we waited together for race start with his wife and zipped each other up and whatnot. Could not ask for a better friend or pre-race setting.

No access to water to warm up beforehand. Not good either, but oh well. The pros got off to a rip-roaring start and immediately the age groupers lined up for their start ... all 1600 of us had to go through the swim entry and exit arch, onto the beach, into the water, and the 100m or so out to the deep-water swim start in 13 minutes. (pic taken day before)



This was the most magical moment ... for both of us ... Nigel and I linked arms so we wouldn't get separated, and solemnly shuffled in the quiet crowd, arm in arm, towards the arch, towards the beach, and into the cold depths to begin our first IM race together.
Swim
  • 1h 28m 36s
  • 3800 meters
  • 02m 20s / 100 meters
Comments:

Race start/swim organization was poor. It was physically impossible for 1600 athletes to get through the narrow arch, down the beach, into the water and to the starting buoys in 13 minutes. I do remember how insanely cold the water was when I got into it. Quite a few athletes swam far ahead of the starting buoys before the official start--there was no corralling or marshalling. And the starting horn began when at least a third of the athletes had not been able to make it anywhere near the start line yet.

Even though they'd delayed the start time, it was still pitch-dark at 7:15 and impossible to see where we were going. I wasn't at the start buoys before the horn, either, but I just took off after everyone in front of me. I got off to a good, fast start and held on to it. The water was taking my breath away but I figured I'd warm up eventually (ha). Once the sun came up, it was incredibly clear, beautiful water and I saw fish, starfish, sea urchins, big rock and coral formations and gorgeous crabs on the bottom.

The rugby match was not bad at all; about what I expected. I had my goggles knocked off twice, and it was amazing to tread water for a moment and look around at the sea and sea of bodies and take it all in. What a fantastic experience. Had a little room so I backstroked a couple strokes, and then, what the hell, did some fly. (Earlier on was a bit of breaststroke, just to cover the medley). This second time was just past the halfway mark. There were roughly a third of the bodies ahead and two thirds behind.

I still hadn't warmed up, but suddenly it felt as if I'd swum into a freezing cold patch. Maybe I did, or that was the first sign of trouble, but I just got so, so cold, and that feeling was not to go away until well after my race was over. I was stiff all over, had a hard time breathing and simply turning my arms over. A lot of people were passing me where none really had before. It irritated me that people were cutting the buoys, and I mean by 50m or more (they had at the first corners as well). Starting ahead and buoy-cutting could easily have made it a 3500m swim. I felt sorry for people who were really gunning for a Kona slot and playing by the rules.

Despite all that, I really enjoyed the swim. The day was beautiful, the water was gorgeous, and I swam in tremendous gratitude to be alive. I savored every moment.

These pictures (yes, I'm buying and replacing them) tell the tale. I'm looking at my hands to make sure they're still there because I really can't feel them at all ... and I turn them over to look at the other side!






What would you do differently?:

So where do I even start or end with this one? :)

I will say in my next IM attempt, there's no reason not to go for it on the swim. I don't think I'm going to blow myself out on the swim, and it's over so quickly anyway.
Transition 1
  • 12m 48s
Comments:

This did not go well. It seemed glacially slow to me, and it was. I needed the volunteers' help to do nearly everything (such incredible people, thank you) since I just couldn't feel my hands and kept fumbling and dropping everything. Once I finally got out to my bike, it then took me a full minute or more to get my helmet on because I couldn't feel the clasp to click it shut. A volunteer standing by did it for me.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe it would have made a difference to get fully dry, warm up, and put cold-weather cycling gear on. It would have taken forever, but might have saved my race. On the other hand ... I don't even own cold-weather cycling gear!

This picture, too, pretty much tells it.


Bike
  • 7h 50m
  • 160 kms
  • 20.43 km/hr
Comments:

Wow. Well. I had trouble from the get-go, but I've GOT to warm up EVENTUALLY, right? ;) I discovered many amazing things en route, like it's very hard to get anything out of your Bento box with frozen fingers. It is also very hard to suck up anything out of your aerobottle with frozen lips. It's also quite tricky to do bottle discards, pick-ups and refills with your left hand if you're right-handed and have never done it that way.

It's hard to shift, never mind to pedal, when all your muscles are rigid with cold. At 26km, when I was finding it hard to breathe, I pulled over and took a hit on my inhaler (thank God I remembered it). But I kept hammering away. I knew it was going to get better!

The other major difficulty I had (will likely always have) is lingering and chronic osteoarthritis from the chikungunya (Swahili for "you're screwed"--actually it means "bent over" as the disease often cripples people). Damp cold is definitely unfavorable for it, and trying to race in damp cold is really really really unfavorable for it. I was in a lot of pain. Not normal race pain. Muscles seized up and joints feeling like they were being stabbed pain. I kept asking myself, "Is this as bad as when you had dengue?" No way! Not even close! There's a reason they call it "breakbone fever." Because that's what it feels like. Chikungunya's worse and your bones really might be breaking.

And besides, I just KNEW I was going to warm up! :) Sometime! It was a pretty miserable 45km out, especially since it's a "false flat" uphill most of the way with a headwind. This was only miserable because of my personal condition. It was a fantastic, ideal bike course, not pancake flat, but pretty flat (other people say it has rollers, but ... uh ... no) and you will not find a smoother, faster surface to ride on anywhere. Towards the end of the 45km out, you hit the tunnel, which is VERY exciting as it's a screaming downhill into it, and just when you hit heart-attack death-mode speed, it's a gradual uphill for a while (some say 12% grade for a few km but I think not. More like 6-7%, possibly 12% for some short bits) and then the turnaround is right there.

It was poor not to have any markers or signs for distance on the bike course at all. Most racers have Garmins or computers, but it doesn't matter what those read--you've got to travel the distance and course marked out, and if it isn't marked out ...

The 45km back was much easier with a net downhill and slight tailwind. It is also easier to whizz on the bike when whizzing downhill and it tends to fly out back instead of giving you yellow socks. Hopefully I nailed some people in the huge draft packs that were flying by me. To be clear, there's legal drafting (you can even leapfrog within rules of 12m distance, 25sec pass-completions), but what I saw was NOT legal drafting, and when a bunch of guys in the same team jersey are doing it, that's just shabby. I did think the bike course, unlike the swim course, was overall well-marshaled (you can't watch everyone all the time) and I saw a lot of people in penalty boxes.

At the same time, it was incredibly exciting to be passed by all the pros and marvel at their incredible cycling ... and pace booties :) ... as they went by towards the end of the first lap.

Incredibly irritating that there were no signs or markings whatever that the turnaround was coming up, nor that it was THERE ... I overshot it and only realized it when I saw a chalk (not big chalk, not big marking, literally just like someone wrote it hopscotch-style on the road) word FINISH with an arrow pointing ahead. So I had to get off, wait until the path was clear, walk back squeezed up against the side of the path with a bunch of bikes coming at me into the finish until I was back at the turnaround to get on my bike again. Later I found out this happened to quite a few people (not just my usual race-course idiocy and hypothermia setting in); it was simply an unmarked bike course.

I believe this is setting out on the second lap:



Things start getting fuzzy here. Had a hard time breathing again and knew I needed to pull over, which apparently I did at Bike Special Needs where wonderful jobaxas here from BT was encouraging me. I remember a lady with short brown hair (I think? Is that you?) but don't recall anyone or anything else from there, or if I took any liquid or food on board. Apparently, I didn't look good and wasn't very positive, and I'm so sorry about that! I *loved* the volunteers and they were all amazing, to a person.

I do remember later on in the course Nigel screaming at me coming the other way and what joy that was! I was having a really hard time focusing on the road and was having to put out what seemed a monumental effort just to keep moving forward in a straight(ish) line. I also knew I had to put in a similar or better time on lap 2 to come in about 15min ahead of the cutoff. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to wonder why the hell it had been so hard just to go so slowly on the first lap anyway.

But finally, again, the tunnel! Must be nearing the turnaround! Genuinely afraid I'd lose control of my bike, but had no idea how to slow down, so I didn't. When I hit the turnaround (5-10km later, I think), the official yelled TWO HOURS TEN MINUTES TO TRANSITION, and I thought, no problem, as I'd made nearly the exact same time this lap out, and had done the return in 1:55 last lap back. So I still had a 15-minute cushion.

But things went from fuzzy to mostly blank here. I remember another one of the last riders I was playing leapfrog with, a woman, rode briefly alongside as she was passing and said something to me. I remember the road whizzing by underneath my wheels. I remember thinking I should be finishing the food in my box but most of it was still left, and I needed to drink something. I remember being startled to find myself on the shoulder, or towards the center of the road. I vaguely remember being followed by a SAG wagon. I definitely remember the SAG piglet pulling alongside me and saying something, which I didn't comprehend, but I recognized the look in his eyes, and I knew it was over. I was thinking I must not have made a cutoff (although I'd clearly made the last cutoff by a fair margin and knew there were riders behind me).

I don't remember actually stopping, but from what he told me later, once I got off the bike, I was literally frozen; couldn't move or talk, didn't know my race number (it was only everywhere on my body and bike, and I'd been posting it on my blog and Facebook and saying and writing and sticking it everywhere for days), and took a very long time to answer basic questions like what was my name and where was I from. I remember riding in the truck and being wrapped in a big fleecy blanket and tons of Mylar and the heat being on full blast.

And I remember the piglet showing me his camera, on which he'd taken this really super grand-vista, long-road rearview shot of my butt. I want that picture! [ETA: well, well, well ... you'll never guess what showed up in my inbox this morning. See below. WAY below.] He also told me I was actually making good speed while he was following me, 15kph-ish up the inclines and 30-35 on the flats/downhills, but I was weaving all over the road and slowing and speeding up in strange spots. I was still having a hard time breathing in the truck, too.

I was more coherent when we got to transition and the med tent, and I kinda felt fine (or at least a lot better), but again (from what people who were there told me after I got clearer), didn't really know where I was or what I was supposed to do or say, and still took a very long time answering basic questions. That's also when I started shaking and chattering violently and the medical staff stripped me down and re-wrapped me, mummy-like, in a ton of blankies and more Mylar. Only my nose and eyes were peeking out. My temp was 34C (93.2F) when I came in, and that's after already having been wrapped up and superheated in the truck cab. They told me my skin was blue and my eyes were deep red. Pretty!

I was right about one thing, though ... I DID warm up eventually! :) They finally sprung me loose, in really flash new clothes (big baggy red Volunteer shirt and some kind of loose leggings), but they still took me in an ambulance to where the shuttles would be leaving for the finish line at St. Kilda (45 road km away). I waited in a nice warm McDonald's for the next shuttle, which would be a few minutes. Meanwhile, a very lovely piglet approached and asked if he could do anything for me. I looked at him, noted his loveliness, and said, "I'd like a cheeseburger meal and your company, please." He smiled, went and got me the meal and himself a coffee, and sat down and chatted with me while I ate. He's a Brit in Oz and could absolutely not comprehend that it was possible, and that there were crazy people like me who would try to swim 3.8km, bike 180 and run 42.2 in one day. Had I been able to, and had I not looked and smelled like a long-homeless person, I would have given him a big melon press.

I went to the bathroom, was happy that me and my pee were fine, but was shocked at how bad I still looked--looked like I had a bunch of burst blood vessels in my eyes, and lips and hands still looked like someone had taken a blue marker to them. But I really did feel okay (muuuuuch better after piglet. burger.) and the British fellow helped me onto the bus that had arrived. What a darling!

By the time we got back to St. Kilda, I was surprised at how good I felt. Other than getting Popsicled, I was actually in much better shape going into this race than I thought.


Transition 2
  • 00m
Run
  • 00m
  • 42.2 kms
  •  min/km
Post race
Warm down:

The post-finish collection area (a basement parking lot) was total frickin' shambles, though. The transition bags and bikes were coming in long after the athletes. Nor could the volunteers (bless them, absolutely not their fault and they were working so hard for so long) process the ones that were coming in fast enough other than to put the bags in giant heaps and just line the bike boxes up (so you couldn't read the race numbers on them). I really can't imagine having busted my gut to finish an IM and then have to wait two hours for my stuff to arrive, then paw through piles and walk up and down long rows of bike boxes so I could get my stuff and bloody well go home and shower/sleep, already.

Oddly enough, people kept asking me to help them, and then I realized I was wearing the big red Volunteer shirt they'd given me in the med tent. So since I felt fine, I volunteered! I helped people find their bags and get their bikes out of boxes (which had been all sealed up with packing tape--GRRRRR!). More than a couple hours later, my own stuff still hadn't come in yet either, and some race poo-bah had decided there had better be pickup tomorrow, so I headed back to the apartment, too.

Security, by the way, was pretty much nonexistent at that point. I, or anyone, could have wandered out with anyone else's bike and stuff. So much for all the pre-race ultraprecautions. I wonder if they really did have people staying in that car park all night. Not that it would have mattered, because they weren't paying much attention to checking anyway.

When I got home, this crazy orange cat darted in after me and I was too tired to do anything about it right away, so he just made himself right at home.



He was super friendly and cuddly, but somehow sensed that when I was holding him and heading for the door it was different, so he bit me. I opened the door and we had a very mean stare-down before he realized I was all post-IM don't-eff-with-me business, then he pfffted, and stalked out.

Super volunteer! :) Almost as good as a finisher's shirt, though probably not quite as useful.



The next day, sweet wonderful beautiful Nigel piglet helped me get my bike (helped ME! Get MY bike! Silly piglet!) I was very excited as his Australian passport had just come in (he's actually a Brit! What is it about these marvelous Brit-Oz piglets?) ...



  • .. and he even let me open it! It was like Christmas! Now I also have all his vital secret information, should I ever need to assume his identity. ;)

  • He then took me to the most marvelous coffee shop for lunch, where I disdainfully picked the green stuff out of my otherwise droolworthy salmon sandwich. Not a fan of green stuff. Super food and coffee, though!

    And then to his LBS for a meet-up with ... CROWIE AND RINNY!!!!!

    I asked them to sign my melons. Crowie tastefully signed just above, although he did rest his forearm on my melon in order to get traction to scribble. :) CROWIE AND RINNY TOUCHED MY BOOBS! ON PURPOSE! YAAAAAAY!





    I mentioned what an incredible honor it was to watch their very beautiful bums go by me on the bike, and everyone laughed.



    That night was the awards extravaganza (that's really what it was, and it was great) and banquet/party (it was, and it was great). Another brilliant evening in the company of my most favoritest Melbourne piglets ever, Nigel and Joe, and Nigel gave me a lift home after.

    What limited your ability to perform faster:

    You mean, other than dread diseases, not training, and hypothermia? I seriously gotta cut some blubber down. It was paradoxically probably very helpful on this particular day, but since I'm ensuring that my next IM is warm if not hot, extra weight and insulation is NOT necessary.

    Event comments:

    There was a lot about this race that was stellar, which I've mentioned, and a lot of important stuff that was downright dismal, which I've also mentioned. So overall: average, although there really wasn't anything average about it. Pretty much it was either awesome or crap.

    As far as the whole experience goes, though, in my book ... this has been one of the greatest times of my life. I had a ball, and carry with me a host of riotously good memories and not one regret. Best of all, as I said, is YOU sharing this with me ... all along the way, and during this particular trip itself. The support, love, encouragement, sharing, and celebration you all have given me is priceless. I cherish it, and you.

    I will say I'm kind of puzzled by it all. I tried to do an IM I wasn't prepared for, and I got cold. That's pretty much it.


    Profile Album


    Last updated: 2011-08-28 12:00 AM
    Swimming
    01:28:36 | 3800 meters | 02m 20s / 100meters
    Age Group: 0/
    Overall: 0/
    Performance: Below average
    Suit: Orca Equipe
    Course: Rectangular
    Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
    Water temp: 52F / 11C Current: Low
    200M Perf. Good Remainder: Below average
    Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
    Waves: Navigation: Good
    Rounding: Good
    T1
    Time: 12:48
    Performance: Bad
    Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
    Suit off:
    Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
    Jump on bike:
    Getting up to speed:
    Biking
    07:50:00 | 160 kms | 20.43 km/hr
    Age Group: 0/
    Overall: 0/
    Performance: Good
    Wind: Some
    Course: Out and back, two laps, on one side of a tollway closed to traffic.
    Road: Smooth  Cadence:
    Turns: Below average Cornering: Below average
    Gear changes: Average Hills: Good
    Race pace: Too hard Drinks: Not enough
    T2
    Time: 00:00
    Overall:
    Riding w/ feet on shoes
    Jumping off bike
    Running with bike
    Racking bike
    Shoe and helmet removal
    Running
    00:00:00 | 42.2 kms |  min/km
    Age Group: 0/
    Overall: 0/
    Performance:
    Course:
    Keeping cool Drinking
    Post race
    Weight change: %
    Overall: Below average
    Mental exertion [1-5] 5
    Physical exertion [1-5] 5
    Good race? Yes
    Evaluation
    Course challenge Just right
    Organized? No
    Events on-time? No
    Lots of volunteers? Yes
    Plenty of drinks? Yes
    Post race activities: Good
    Race evaluation [1-5] 3

    {postbutton}
    2012-03-29 9:39 AM
    in reply to: #4118310

    User image

    Veteran
    427
    10010010010025
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne

    ceilidh - 2012-03-29 8:11 AM Leave it to you to find the funny and the beauty in an experience that others would only whine about! I am so glad that, even with the awful, scary hypothermia experience you had a wonderful time overall.

    x2, this is just what strikes me about your race report. All the lovely details without an ounce of bitterness or whining. Reading your race report was a pleasure.



    2012-03-29 11:11 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    User image

    Master
    6834
    5000100050010010010025
    Englewood, Florida
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    My hat is off to you. Amazing and inspiring attitude. Enjoy the rest of your time there
    2012-03-29 12:45 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    User image

    Veteran
    444
    10010010010025
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    After that display of your epic kickarsedness I think I want your signature on my boob! Great race report. Now go eat some warm pop tarts and get ready for the next IM. 
    2012-03-29 12:48 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    User image

    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Yanti - you are an amazing woman. Your attitude is truly beautiful, and whatever else you may be feeling, you race report is nothing but encouraging for those of us who haven't done or attempted the iron distance yet. I'm lucky to be able to look up to you. Thank you.
    2012-03-29 2:23 PM
    in reply to: #4117022


    15

    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Your race report was amazing, your positive attitude and great out look on things, even when they don't go as planned is inspiring. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
    2012-03-29 4:15 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    User image

    Master
    1655
    10005001002525
    NJ
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Fantastic RR.  You certainly do make the best of every situation and your optimism and positive outlook are very inspiring. Loved all your pix! I will have a pop tart for breakfast in your honor.  You rock


    2012-03-29 6:12 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    User image

    Elite
    3002
    20001000
    HURRICANE, Utah
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    I am so proud of you Yanti!  I remember when you signed up for Louisville and we were gonna do that together...was so exciting but family always comes first! Loved reading your race report as I love reading everything you write. You are a true inspiration and the most loving person I know and I am always honored just to be your friend! Condom in your bike bag bahahahaha I love it!!! Your favorite tri "Bali" is on my bucket list hopefully soon I can come up with the funds and we will rock it,,,,,well we will finish the tri and rock some piglets worlds together :-)  Love you bunches Yanti!
    2012-03-29 7:26 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Subject: ...
    This user's post has been ignored.
    2012-03-29 9:51 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Expert
    1014
    1000
    , New Hampshire
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Thanks for such an incredible post. I had fun reading it and checking out your pictures. You have an incredible attitude and you inspire me! I hope your next IM is someplace warm, or we will have to travel with you and give you melon presses at the start!
    2012-03-29 11:19 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Expert
    683
    500100252525
    Lafayette, CA
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Yanti: I am so glad to hear that you're well. The IM distance is so tough and the littlest things become big things. On any given day you never know what will trip you up. 

    I have had a mild case of hypothermia camping as a boy. This is something not to be messed with. I know you are disappointed now--but you will be back to fight another day. The SAG team really did you a favor.

    With that being said, you completed a tough swim and a long, long ride. You're in better shape than 99.9% of the population (including me). You will be back and with force!

    I have complete faith. Congrads!
    2012-03-30 7:21 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Master
    2642
    200050010025
    Bloomington, MN
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Awesome report. What an adventure which is really what life is all about. Congrats on a huge effort.


    2012-03-30 9:40 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Veteran
    493
    100100100100252525
    West Palm Beach
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    you ROCK Yanti! I just love your attitude, your view of life and how you can put it into words and take all of us along for your ride! Love love this Yanti girl!A huge congratulations to you for living life the way you do....xxxooo...hugs....hugs....
    2012-03-30 11:29 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Master
    1883
    1000500100100100252525
    San Antone, Texas
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    This is by FAR the best RR I've ever read! WOW you are a Rawkstar.  I feel honored just to read it and be near your Yanti-ness.
    2012-03-30 12:48 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Expert
    1258
    10001001002525
    Marin County, California
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Whoa, what a day! Good on you for giving it your all!!

    The whole biz of Rinny signing your boobs....sigh....I would PAY Rinney to sign my non-existant boobs.
    2012-03-30 1:47 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Veteran
    263
    1001002525
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Thanks for the best RR ever! Congrats, it sounds like hell. Yell
    2012-03-30 5:56 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Extreme Veteran
    557
    5002525
    Glendora, CA
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    yanti i fell like i was there with you. awesome RR. great job.


    2012-03-30 6:11 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Veteran
    339
    10010010025
    Melbourne
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Wow, you got the photo's from the SAG wagon...... Awesome shots!!!!  Oh, and awesome butt too
    2012-03-30 6:23 PM
    in reply to: #4121613

    Melon Presser
    52116
    50005000500050005000500050005000500050002000100
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne

    nigelw - 2012-03-31 7:11 AM Wow, you got the photo's from the SAG wagon...... Awesome shots!!!!  Oh, and awesome butt too

    Schpanks! I was going to write that I froze my butt off ... but ... uh ... apparently not!

    Butt seriously, that is a great vista shot with Eastlink. Off to Healesville now (up Eastlink) so wonder if I'll have any strange flashbacks ...

    BTW I had a lovely dinner with Miss Mitchells last night and told her all about you and we looked up your own race piccies on her iPhone! Now you're beautiful AND famous, with a pro triathlete stalking you!

    2012-03-30 6:59 PM
    in reply to: #4121623

    Veteran
    339
    10010010025
    Melbourne
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    TriAya - 2012-03-31 10:23 AM

    nigelw - 2012-03-31 7:11 AM Wow, you got the photo's from the SAG wagon...... Awesome shots!!!!  Oh, and awesome butt too

    Schpanks! I was going to write that I froze my butt off ... but ... uh ... apparently not!

    Butt seriously, that is a great vista shot with Eastlink. Off to Healesville now (up Eastlink) so wonder if I'll have any strange flashbacks ...

    BTW I had a lovely dinner with Miss Mitchells last night and told her all about you and we looked up your own race piccies on her iPhone! Now you're beautiful AND famous, with a pro triathlete stalking you!

    Eastlink??? Was Eastlink in that shot?  Never noticed....

    Ooooo being stalked by a pro   Love it!!!  I've also added some of my race photos to my RR.

    Enjoy Healesville and see you tonight.

    2012-03-30 9:41 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Champion
    10471
    500050001001001001002525
    Dallas, TX
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Gosh, you POOR THING! I know you don't want pity or anything of that kind of BS... but seriously lady... I FEEL SO BAD FOR YOU!

    Honestly, it never crossed my mind it would be COLD there. I guess it is there winter? Based on those pictures you were NOT ready for a cold race. Nope. You needed more DRY gear to wear on the bike.

    I have no clue how you made it so far! So scary you were riding along in a daze and basically blacking out! Bet you never thought you would do that again... after you quit drinking... eh? Seriously bad stuff though.

    Thank goodness you are OK! SERIOUSLY!

    Now, you need to do a WARM WEATHER IM and stay healthy ... if you can in that country! Dang lady.

    You are certainly an inspiration and this was a perfect reminder for me at the perfect time that I need to stop being all p@ssy about being under-trained for my IM... and I need to remember that ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!!!!
    2012-03-31 11:03 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Expert
    663
    5001002525
    Williamsburg, VA
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Such a true inspiration for everyone who reads your blog! So sorry that your first IM had to end badly but getting there: for you took great guts!! So proud of all you have accomplished in the face of everything! Sure wish I could get pros to sign my melons!! YANTI ROCKS!!!!!


    2012-03-31 6:01 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Extreme Veteran
    567
    5002525
    Rochester, NY
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    What a race girl!!!! You definitely rocked it.  Thanks for sharing with us your amazing journey. 
    2012-03-31 10:03 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Master
    2759
    20005001001002525
    Los Angeles, CA
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    I love the picture of your bum Yanti!  Ummm, I mean, I love your race report! hehehe!  Cool
    2012-04-01 6:59 AM
    in reply to: #4117022

    Elite
    2640
    200050010025
    Ontario, Canada
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne
    Great report! Good luck on the next IM!
    2012-04-01 10:19 PM
    in reply to: #4117022

    TinkerBeth
    23096
    500050005000500020001000252525
    Liverpool, New York
    Subject: RE: IM Melbourne

    you are yantilicious and amazing!

    and i'm very jealous of the melon signing

    so so proud of you

    {{MELON PRESS!!!}}

    General Discussion-> Race Reports!
    {postbutton}
    General Discussion Race Reports! » IM Melbourne Rss Feed  
     
     
    of 3