We arrived at the race site just before 6 AM, and there were shuttles ready to take us to the swim start that was over a mile away. I waited in a long line and actually got on a bus before I realized that I was supposed to drop off my run bag before getting on the bus. Sooo, I had to get off the bus and spirit to T2 to drop off my bag. Thankfully Rebecca was there to lead to the way. Guess I should have gone to the athlete briefing the day before. I got back on the bus and finally made it to the swim start where I had to get body marked and get into T1 to set up my bike. I almost left transition without putting any nutrition on my bike. Glad I remembered or it would have been a rough day.
After standing around a while, it was time! I made my way down to the start. I was pretty nervous, but there were plenty of people who looked far worse off than I. One girl was in tears. I had already shed a few earlier, and completely understood. It was a pretty emotional experience. As we were standing in the water awaiting our start, the racer next to me asked if it was too late to back out. "We can't back out. We've worked too hard to get here," I told her. It turns out that it was her second triathlon EVER! I thought I was a little ambitious taking on a half Ironman my first season, but this girl had me beat.
The swim start was rough. I wanted nothing more than to get out of the water. Why had I signed up this? This feeling of anxiety was something I felt during the swim start of other races, so I knew I could work through it. "I can do anything for a little while," I told myself. I knew I couldn't stop. My mind went to the mental skills exercises my coach had me do, and to my race plan. I did some praying, and I thought of the people who have overcome incredible obstacles to do this type of thing. I thought of Rudy Garcia and John Blaze. I though of the initial on my ankle for who this race is dedicated. There was no good reason to quit. I knew if I did that it would be a long day of regret while watching others finish. After the first turn buoy, the crowd thinned out and I began feeling better. There was still some contact, but not like the it was during the first 400 or so meters. I didn't feel like was swimming all that fast, but I really wasn't concerned. I just needed to get through it. In no time I made the second (and last) turn, and was on my way to swim exit. Before I could get there, I had to swim through the seaweed that seemed to be growing out of control. I was afraid I would come out of the water looking like a swamp monster. Now that would have make a nice race picture! It was the greatest feeling of relief when I made it out of the water. I actually dropped down and put my hands on the ground and thanked God. My parents were there to cheer me on as I ran up the swim exit. Words cannot describe how good it was to see them cheering me on. I know I saw other people I knew, but most of it was a blur. Just before entering T1 I was able to get some help with my wetsuit from some wetsuit strippers. There were a number of people lined up ready to help peel your wetsuit off. I looked for the guy who looked the strongest, and threw myself in from of him.
As I got to my bike, I saw my friend, Penny Meyer ready to head out on her ride. I wished her good luck and she was off. I knew I wouldn't be seeing her again for a while. I shoved my dirty feet into my bike shoes, buckled my helmet, and threw on my sunglasses before taking off. Jeneen was waiting for me at the end of transition and snapping pictures. Oh, how I wished she could have joined me on that bike ride. After all the training rides she did with me, it felt funny to ride off without. After hitting the course I quickly noticed that the screen on my Garmin was not the screen I wanted. I ended up having to turn it off and turn it on,but I forgot to press start. I didn't realize this until mile 15. Oh well! I was still able to see my speed and heart rate. I had my bike computer for time and distance.
The bike was where I earned my gold stars for the day. I was flying...well, at least by my standards. Racers whizzed by me and I whizzed by others. This is probably the only part of the day I would describe as fun. I knew this was going to a hilly ride. This is what I had been preparing for. All those hill repeats on Windhaven were about to pay off. I was expecting the hills on the course to kick my butt, but they didn't. I just followed my race plan...get in a low gear and spin up the hills. I had been warned about one hill in particular around mile 5 that would be waiting for me right after making a sharp right hand turn. I was prepared and already in a low gear when I approached it. That hill sucked, but I was prepared. One guy wasn't. He was walking his bike up the beast.
One part of the ride I was a little nervous about, believe it or not, was the water stations. I've never had to grab water while on my bike before and wasn't sure how it was going to work. The first water station I went through was manned by a group of women in pink and black. Boy, could those women cheer. They were amazing. They were all lined up ready to hand us sports drinks or water. I gabbed for a bottle of water and didn't drop it. At that point I realized that I should begin eating. I had a Cliff Bar and a Stinger Waffle cut up into bite-sized pieces in my bento box. I also had a pack of Chomps in my tri top. Over the course of the ride I choked down my nutrition and was sure to drink plenty of water. I didn't want the water to run straight through me, so I squeezed electrolyte drops in my bottle. It made the water taste a little salty, which I didn't mind.
As I continued on the bike I couldn't help but notice that I was smoking the course. I was going faster than expected and feeling great. I was worried that I might hurt my run if I kept up hammering the bike, but I just couldn't slow down. It was too much fun. I passed a man in his 50s who was on a bike just like mine. "Nice bike," I called out as I passed him. Seconds later he passed me. Now, this man did not look like a typical triathlete. He didn't look very fit, so it was a little deflating to get passed by him. Throughout the course we took turns passing each other. I'm pretty sure that I eventually left him behind because eventually I stopped seeing him. Toward the end of the bike ride the winds began to kick up. Again, I was prepared. Just a couple weeks earlier Jeneen and I did a training ride in the wind. It wasn't fun, but it definitely paid off. I'm pretty sure the race wheels I rented for the weekend made a difference too. When I got to mile 40, with just 16 miles to go, I realized that I could possibly finish pretty close to the three hour mark. This was an unexpected surprise. The miles ticked away and before I knew it I was headed into T2 with a 3:03 bike split....far exceeding my expectation. I was expecting to finish the bike between 3:15 and 3:30. My friend, Leon, was standing near the dismount line, so I yelled out, "I smoked the (bleep) out of that bike course." Perhaps I could have cleaned that up a little, but I was so excited. In fact, I was so excited that I ran up and down transition looking for my bag...that was hung in numerical order. I finally understand the shirt that says, "Lost in Transition." My brain was only able to process so much. I finally found my bag and got ready for my run.
Standing at the end of the transition area were Jeneen and my parents. Again, it was so good to see them. It was nice to start the run with a little encouragement from them. When I ran out of transition I grabbed a drink and noticed an open port-o-potty. I was willing to sacrifice the 30 seconds it would take to pee instead of just "going" as I ran. For those of you that don't know, some triathletes are know to "go" on their bikes or while running. I am not one of those, although, I would be lying if I said I didn't contemplate it on the bike. I was worried about the "spray" so I opted to wait until the run course to take care of business.
At this point in the race I was pretty tired. I had been in motion for almost 4 hours. I looked down at my Garmin (that I remembered to start when I began my run) and saw that I was running under a 9 minute pace. Wow! That only lasted a couple of minutes though. My pace quickly began to drop. I wasn't sure how I was going to complete a 13.1 mile run at this point. It didn't seem possible, but I knew I would find a way. I would have to dig deep, and I mean REALLY deep. I knew I was in for some serious hurting.
My original race plan was to walk when I got to the aide stations, and then continue running when I passed them. I ended up walking a lot during the run. I didn't walk for long, but every few minutes I had to slow down. The sun was beating down on me and I was struggling. There were several hills on the course, and I hated every one of them. I was praying. I was fighting for each step. There were two women on the course cheering on the racers. "Fo-mo, forward motion! Don' stop!" they would yell. It helped. I kept telling myself to just keep moving forward. A slow step was better than no step. I knew if I stopped that it would hurt more. My feet ached! One part of the course was dirt and rock. I could feel each and every rock under my tired feet.
Because of the 3 loop course, I was able to see spectators and other racers multiple times. Seeing my friends and parents on the course and hearing them cheer me on helped get me though the run. Knowing that I was approaching the NTM tent always put a little pep in my step. I always found a way to run by the tent, and I tried to hide how bad it actually felt. Every 10 or 15 minutes I would run into one of my friends who was also racing. They kept telling me that I was doing great and looking good. At that point in the day anyone who was still moving forward really WAS doing great and looking good. Those brief interactions always gave me a little more strength. On my second lap I found myself about to pass a guy wearing a Frisco Tri Club kit. While I didn't know this guy, I did know others athletes from his club, so as far as I was concerned, he was one of my friends. He was on his first lap and looked like he was struggling. I tried to encourage him to just keep running, but just moments later I was the one needing encouragement. We ran together for a little while and made small talk. I found out that his name was Ken, and that he had back surgery a year ago. Amazing! My time with Ken provided me with a little more of what I needed to continue and finish my second loop. As I began my third loop I saw the turn off for the finishers for the second time. Man, how longed to go that way. I had one more loop to go. I could do it.
I wouldn't say the last loop was the easiest, but there was comfort in knowing that I didn't have to do another one. It made it possible to push through the pain and keep going. I remember getting to the mile 10 marker and telling myself that I just had a 5K left. I pushed as hard as I could to keep going. I prayed for strenth and though about the finish line. When I was getting ready to pass the NTM tent for the last time Pete and Rachael stood up and cheered me on. I knew that everyone else was inside waiting for me. I didn't stop running. I ran to where the course split, and this time I didn't have to keep looping. It was finally my turn to veer right and head to the finish. There weren't many people standing on this part of the course. Everyone was inside and it sounded like a party. I couldn't believe it! I was so close to the finish line. This was the moment I had trained for. This was the moment I thought about every day for the last 5 months. My emotions began pouring out. This wasn't a quiet tear sliding down my face. Oh no, it was full on crying. I managed to compose myself as I rounded the corner and ran inside the building. I heard the announcer call my name as I ran the last few yard. There were tons of people cheering and clapping, but all I could see was the finish line. As my feet hit the Ironman carpet I knew it was official...I was a 70.3 finisher.
My goal was to finish in under 7 hours. It turns out that I finished in 6:22:09. This far exceeded my expectation. After the race I heard a lot of comments about how hard the bike course was. I agree, it's not an easy course, but I didn't find it all that bad. I guess my coach did a pretty good job preparing me for it. The run was hard and it hurt, but that's where you find out what you are really made of. This isn't the part of the race I typically enjoy the most, but it is the most gratifying. There were moments that I didn't want to keep going, but I didn't want to quit either. I knew if I dug just a little deeper I could find just a little more strength. I did this over and over throughout 13.1 mile run. I think that's what keeps endurance junkies coming back for more. There's a certain satisfcation that comes from digging deep and finding just a little more.
I'm so thankful that my mom and dad were able to make the 7 hour trip to Austin to experience this with me. They were there to cheer me on the whole day! I cannot explain how amazing it was to see their faces and here their voices as I passed them. The day wouldn't have been the same without them. Thank you Mom and Dad for being a part of this journey. I couldn't have done it without. There is no one I wanted more at the finish line than you.
What's next? I don't know, but I'm sure that I'm not done with the Ironman series. Perhaps there will be 140.6...someday! For now, I think a little rest is in order.
Congratulations to all my friends who competed in Austin 70.3. We each have a different story to share, and we all can hold our heads up high and know that we gave this race everything we had.
"The race isn't over until you cross the finish line. You'll be surprised at how much can change in the last twenty strides" - Jackie Dugall
No comments:
Post a Comment