Ironman Texas

The harp alarm on my phone sounded promptly at 4:15.  We laid in bed for a few minutes going through our Facebook well-wishes, which was an awesome way to start the day.  Lots of great energy being sent our way helped so much!  My nerves were not nearly what I thought they might be that morning.  Eating was still somewhat of a challenge, but I never enjoy eating before a big race.  I had a whole wheat english muffin with some chocolate hazelnut butter and a couple of mini white donuts, followed by a banana just before the swim start.

We left the hotel at 5:30 to walk to transition for tire pumping, bento box filling, water bottle drop, etc., and followed that with the pilgrimage to the swim start.  After dropping our special needs bags, getting body marked, and dropping our morning clothes bags, we attempted to get in line for the bathrooms, but quickly gave up as the line wasn't moving.  With about 15 minutes before the swim start, I found a random lady to take our picture and text it to me - bless her heart!

The swim was wetsuit optional as the water was 77.6 degrees, so I opted out.  I didn't want to start 10 minutes back, as that would basically equate to me having 10 minutes less time on my bike.  The water felt great.  We swam to the far side of the start and treaded water there for a few.  Jonathan told me to look behind me at the shore line, and it was amazing.  You could see spectators, volunteers, and athletes every where.  Though I don't have a physical picture of it, it's an image I'll never forget.  The national anthem was sung and before long, I heard the countdown and the cannon.  It was go time.  My game face was on.  I expected the first 100m of the swim to be a bit physical, but it was more like 800m.  I got drilled in the back of the head once and punched in the side of the knee once.  Still have the welt to prove that one.

I stayed with Jonathan for the entire swim.  He says I was drafting off of him, but I was really just using his yellow jersey to help sight!  It was really neat to be able to stay together for a portion of the race though.  Once we got into the channel, I thought he was getting a little tired so I pulled ahead to help out, though he claims it was just for the glory.  =)

Note: I'm not including time splits in my race report because I haven't even looked at them yet.  Jonathan made me promise to ride the high of the finish for one full week because he knows I become critical of myself as soon as I catch a glimpse of splits.

So, though I don't know my swim time yet, I felt like it was a little slower than I would have liked simply because I was having to participate in a wrestling/MMA match while advancing in a 2.4 mile swim.  I was pleased, however, that the actual swim part (not the fighting for space part) felt mostly effortless, natural, and not energy zapping.

T1 was hard!  Putting sun sleeves and a sports bra on a wet body is not easy.  I did the best I could and had a volunteer help me with both tasks.  What a sweetheart.

Knowing that there was a time cut off at mile 60 of the bike I wanted to get my ass in gear quickly.  The first 30 miles went by in seemingly the blink of an eye.  Thanks, tailwind!  As did the next 30 miles.  Wow, mile 60 already?!  And with an hour to spare?  The course got hillier, windier, and hotter around mile 65, but I kept my head.  I only started to get really hot around mile 85, what I thought was half way between aid stations.  Turns out that the mile 90 aid station was more like mile 95.  I stopped here to properly cool off, as did many others.  I also proactively hit the 'oh shit' button and took 2 salt tabs.  There were lots of folks laid out in the grass or hanging out in the misting tent.  I knew I couldn't waste any time as there was a final bike cut off, so I went on.  It wasn't until mile 97ish that I began to get uncomfortable saddle wise and start to get frustrated.  I knew I was so close at this point though, that I was able to keep it together and finish the final few miles in a solid mental state.  The thing I was most worried about - making the bike cutoff - was now in my rear view mirror.

I love T2 because switching bike shorts out for run shorts is one of my favorite things ever.

I started off on the run pretty well, but I didn't get the second wind that I thought was coming.  I honestly don't remember a lot about the run itself; I just tried to move on to the next mile.  It was hot.  I feel like that is a good portion of my description of the race, but trust me, it was hot enough to keep harping on it.  I dumped cups of ice into my sports bra at every aid station while the sun was still up.  My Infinit wasn't sitting well after several miles, so I started taking in cold water with some pretzels, one more salt tab, and a couple of pieces of banana.  When dusk came, I tried a taste Coke, but it wasn't flat enough, so I knew it wouldn't sit well.  Instead, I immediately tried chicken broth instead and that was exactly what my body wanted.  I probably had a total of 6 cups of broth over the course of the final half of the run.  I was much closer to the 17 mile cut off than I would have liked, but met that mile marker with some time to spare.  I hardly even remember the mile markers ticking by.  Forward motion was the goal.  I tried running for as many different sections as I could, off and on.  And when I wasn't running I was power walking as if my life depended on it.  I stopped at a couple of aid stations just to do a forward fold to give my back a different position, if only for a few seconds.  It felt good but I don't know that I'd waste time doing it again.

The spectator and volunteer support over the entire course was phenomenal, but most especially on the run course.  Running along the waterway people are literally right beside you, cheering you on by name.  Little kids want high fives, and if you're lucky enough to have gotten some sweet tan lines from your bike shorts, you may even be complimented on your tan lines that you worked so hard to get.

I finally got to the final short out and back before the finish line was coming.  I jogged a bit, walked a bit, and finally got to the tape in the road pointing me to the finish line, with a volunteer saying that there was just 400m left to go!  Shortly thereafter, the finish chute came where the barriers separate the crowd from the athletes.  The spectator support was still strong during the 11:00 hour and everyone was reaching out for high fives and commenting on my incessantly giddy smile.  I thought my cheeks were going to just burst open because this is the 30 seconds of the race that I've dreamed about for months.  I passed a couple walking in the finish chute and started to approach a woman in front of me.  We were too close to the finish line, so I slowed up a bit, then she slowed up.  I tried my best for us to finish separately, but it seems we highjacked each others' pictures.  I knew to listen to Mike Reilly while approaching the finish line (instead of while crossing it) as he announced the four words I've been waiting to hear since sign up day of July 11th, 2012.  It ended up that he said the woman's name in front of me and then my name together, and then saying You are an Ironman!  But I got to hear my name by Mike Reilly, who had come down into the chute from the announcer stand, and that I. AM. AN. IRONMAN!  I even got to see him dancing and waving a towel around helicopter style as I approached him.  But the icing on the cake?  A high five from the Ironman Voice himself just before crossing under the big blue Ironman Texas arch!

I'm so glad I had the foresight to switch my water bottle to the other hand so I was ready for the sweetest high five in history!  Wish I had just ditched the bottle, but details :)

After getting my medal, finisher shirt and hat, and taking a quick finisher picture, Jonathan was able to come back into the finish area to greet me.  I had seen him just as the finish chute began and he tracked me the whole way and was able to see me finish.  But the best moment came when we got our celebratory moment in the finisher area.  I saw him coming towards me, and when we met in the most meaningful embrace, he picked me up off my feet and I promptly burst into the most relived sob and let out an, "I did it!".