Mommy Tri's: Florida Ironman 2012

I have been anxiously excited (is that a possible combination!?) the last few weeks leading up to this race, my 2nd full Ironman. I have gone over the entire race in my mind countless times. Each night as I have fallen asleep I have either been perfecting my transition; or riding along the final windy stretch of the bike, envisioning taking it easy on this last grueling part of the 112 miles in order to have a great start to my run; or I was in the middle of the marathon, feeling good at a nice comfortable pace. I’ve gone through scenarios where everything goes right, and scenarios where things go wrong. Because I did this race last year, my nerves were not getting to me NEARLY as much in the days and weeks leading up to the race. I knew I’d be nervous on race day, but for now, I was just plain excited! Excited to get to Florida, Excited to swim in the gorgeous warm ocean, excited to bike along the long lonely highways that make up the bike course, and most excited to run a marathon at the end of the day. Weird that I would be so excited for those things?! This Ironman bug is in my veins.

I arrived in Panama City Beach, Florida on Thursday, November 1^st. The night before was Halloween, my family and I spent the evening trick or treating and enjoying the festivities of the day. I abstained from candy, as I was attempting a last ditch effort at no sugar the week before the race. I am disciplined and regimented in many ways, my sweet tooth is my weakness.

My husband, Bill, and I arrived in the afternoon and headed straight to the Expo to get registered for the race. The weather was warm, high 70s and sunny. The forecast was for 80s on race day. Last year was much cooler, and made for a different race.

Friday was spent relaxing. Breakfast of fried eggs and toast. Then we went for a short bike ride along the run course to loosen the legs. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant, Bill had fajitas and I had enchiladas with beans and rice. Later we made grilled chicken and wheat pasta with marinara sauce. Water, Pedialite, and Gatorade all day long. We went to bed about 8:30, at about 10:30 I may have fallen asleep.

RACE DAY – Saturday, November 3^rd

4:30am As usual, Bill got up before the alarm went off. I lay in bed for a few more minutes, thinking and praying. It was finally here. I ate breakfast of oatmeal with honey and a banana. I drank water and Gatorade throughout the morning. About 5:30 we left the condo and walked the ¼ mile to the race start. I got body marked (#737), and entered transition. I got everything in transition ready, hit the bathroom 2x, and ate a peanut butter and jelly bonk breaker. I got my wetsuit on and headed to the beach with Bill. I drank my pre-race drink and stuffed a gel up my sleeve, to take after the first loop of the swim. I was still not super nervous, just still excited. The nerves I was feeling last year at this time brought me to tears, I am grateful for the calming effect a tiny bit of experience provides.

6:45am – Pro Start

I got into the water after they departed and swam a little bit, got used to the surf (which was pretty big and choppy for the Florida Gulf). As I looked at the current, waves, and swells, I knew there would be some who would be freaking out at this point. Florida is supposed to be a calm ocean swim. Today would not be so. I positioned myself next to Bill and behind the front lines of swimmers. The current would carry us right to left into the buoys, so I moved farther right as I have a tendency to swim left anyway.

7:00am –the cannon BOOMs!

SWIM 2.4 Miles 1:17:26 Division Place: 35/118; All Females: 199/789

I start running into the water, it’s quite shallow for a little ways, and the surf caused us to have to dive under and through waves to get past them. Once I was out far enough I dove in and started swimming. There were SO many bodies everywhere! Somehow I underestimated the craziness that this mass swim start is. It is NUTS! The current did not help the situation and most people were not swimming straight -or I wasn’t ;) . There were bodies swimming over me, cutting me off, getting in the way no matter which way I tried to go. Last year I felt like it mellowed out a little bit after the start, not on this day. It was crazy all the way to the first turn, and that only made the problem worse. The swells were so big that I could not see the buoys unless I waited until I was at the top of each swell. Sighting became a matter of timing. I came out of the first loop and the clock said 50 minutes -minus the 15 from when the pros started – meant I was right at about 35 minutes, longer than I was hoping for, but with the rough nature of the water, I was just glad it wasn’t longer! I got hit in the head during the first loop and thought to myself, “well, there’s the first hit, not so bad.”

I took out my gel, ate it, and drank some water as I ran through the aid station on the beach on my way to the 2^nd loop. The 2^nd loop was much calmer and I remember thinking, “wow, this is actually relaxing.” Then I hit the first turn, not relaxing any longer. The rest of the swim was uneventful, I tried throughout the swim to swim on someone’s feet, to gain the advantage that comes from drafting. As I approached the shore the waves were pushing me in, I even took the opportunity to body surf a few waves in, it was the fun, and lighthearted moment of the very hectic and rough swim. My swim goal was to be close to or under 1 hour 10 minutes. I am happy with my time of 1:17:26 only because I know I went as fast as I could for this day in this water. I think most swim times were a couple to a few minutes off, if not more. I know of several who truly struggled with the swells, waves, and currents, even to the point of nausea, vomiting and having to rest on the safety surfboards and kayakers. Fortunately on this day, for me, the only effect of the ocean conditions was a slightly slower time than it may have been in perfect conditions.

Transition #1: 5:42

I ran up the beach as I tore my wetsuit down, plopped on my bum for the wetsuit strippers to do their thing, jumped up, ran along the boardwalk around to the parking lot of the hotel, grabbed my T1 bag, and headed into the hotel ballroom to get ready to ride. One of my prime goals for this year was to take about 5 minutes off my 2 transition times combined. Last year I had a 9:38 T1 - and had no idea why it was that long! We do run around A LOT - my garmin clocked the distance in T1 at .37 miles! This time I was conscious of all I was doing and really tried to speed things up. The weather being warmer this year meant no need for arm warmers, gloves, and a jersey on the bike. I am sure that all contributed to a faster T1 this year. I was in and out in 5:42, an almost 4 minute improvement, that's equivalent to 10 seconds per mile on the marathon. Every minute counts.

BIKE 112 Miles 5:43:48 19.6 mph avg Division Place: 19/118; All Females: 124/789

The temperature was perfect to start the bike, mid 60s and sunny, with little to no wind. Of course - at 8:30 in the morning for it to already be mid 60s meant it would be HOT later on. Forecast was for a high of 83. I figured that would be right about the time I start the marathon! As I got moving on the bike I was pleasantly surprised to see my speed at just about 20mph. I felt great, and I was very consciously keeping my heart rate in my high zone 2 (140-153ish). I kept checking my HR to make sure I was taking it easy enough because I felt like I was going fast. Much faster than last year. There was either no wind on the first 50 miles, or even a tailwind at times. Last year there was a headwind those same first 50 miles and I worked too hard to keep the speed I thought I should have. I began eating and drinking right away. Basic run down of bike nutrition went as follows:

Breaking the foods up to eat approx 100-150 calories every 20/25 minutes this is what I took on (with calorie counts), in the order listed:

2 Homemade Blueberry Muffins 180 x 2 (360 total)
1/2 PB & H sandwhich on white bread 350
1 PB & H Bonk Breaker 250
2 Enduralite capsules and 2 First Endurance Pre-Race capsules (about 2 hours in)
1 Apple Pie Bonk Breaker 250
3 Honey Stinger Waffles - Honey & Vanilla Flavor 120x3 (360)
2 Enduralite capsules and 2 First Endurance Pre-Race capsules (about 4.5 hours in)
5 gu, gu roctane, or powerbar gels 110x5 (550)

Throughout the bike I also took in 32oz of EFS Fluids (300), the 20 oz water bottle that I brought, and then I grabbed a water bottle at every aid station and dumped some on my head, drank some, and kept the bottle between my handlebars full. I don't know how much water I drank in total, but I did pee several times during the 112 miles, and again in T2. I also took 2 puffs on my inhaler about 1/2 way through the bike and again at about mile 100. I didn't feel like I was struggling to breath, I just wanted to make sure every air passageway was as open as possible!

Back to the ride! Miles 50-62ish is an out and back stretch that is rough road. Bumpy and broken up here and there, just not the kind of road you want to ride on. I had a slight headache (I think from the hit during the swim-my forehead was tender in that spot and my helmet hit my head at that tender spot) and this stretch of road did not help. I took one 200mg ibuprofen. For the most part I really enjoyed the bike portion of this race. I kept it feeling easy and after getting off the rough road, the rest of the ride was uneventful. I held a 19/20 mph average speed most of the time, and I got up out of the saddle whenever I could, to change things up a bit.

Transistion 2: 3:02
Determined to have a faster T2 than last year's (5:24) I had practiced getting out of my shoes while still on the bike, making for a faster exit as well as faster running through the transition area. I handed off my bike and ran into the hotel ballroom, grabbed my T2 bag and headed to the ladies section. I threw my shoes and visor on, took off my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed my gels, inhaler, and enduralites and stuffed them in my back tri jersey pocket and headed out. I ducked into the Port a pottie for about a minute and was off on the run.

RUN 26.2 Miles 4:27:08 10:11 pace Division Place: 17/118; All Females: 104/789

My run last year is what I was really disappointed in. I ran a 4:37 and had to make 2 desperate stops in the port a pottie. I wanted to set myself up this year to have a great run. I feel like I can realistically run a 4 hour to 4:10 marathon for an Ironman. At least I feel like I should be able to do that. My open marathon times are right about 3:40. I felt that tacking on one minute per mile would be feasible. I also was hoping to somehow find a way to alleviate the stomach issues I had during the run. No other race have I ever had GI issues except for during the marathon of an Ironman. Open marathons, Half Ironmans, Olympic Tris, they are all fine, no issues.

At the beginning of the run I felt good, I kept telling myself to slow it down to keep my HR in the 150s. If I felt good later I would let my HR get into the 160s for the second half of the marathon. My pace was right on for the first 6 miles at 9:30 or faster. Then, for whatever reason, giving out the same effort, was producing a slower run. I did not want to increase my effort output this early in the race and cause my HR to get too high too soon. So I stayed where I was comfortable, and plodded along. I took a gel every 2 to 3 miles and went through 6 gels in the first 13 miles. I drank water or coke at every aid station and drank some chicken broth at the aid stations in the last few miles.

I was actually a bit worried at the start of the run because I had not yet seen Bill the entire day. Often I will beat him out of the water and so I get to see him on the bike as he catches and passes me. But I did not see him at all on the bike. I thought I would see him very early in my run as he should be about 6 miles in front of me when I started. I finally did see him when I was at about 5.5 miles. I called to him and asked how he was, he gave two thumbs down. Oh no! H e was not having the race he wanted to have. The fact that he was only 2 miles ahead of me at this point was a testament to that as well. I cheered him on and told him I loved him as we passed each other. He was able to pick up more time though and still finished a few minutes faster than his last year PR - He finished in 10:53:20.

The rest of the run is kind of a blur now! I remember it, but it was monotonous and hard, so hard. I kept thinking how good it would feel to walk but knew I could not start walking or I might not run again! I ran the entire marathon, through the aid stations also, which is always a goal of mine. I looked forward to seeing Bill 2 more times on the run as we passed each other. My stomach began acting up around mile 11 and I ducked into the port a pottie 3 times, at mile 12, 16, and again at 24. Each time I was desperate! That is such a miserable feeling when you are running. The last time, at mile 24, I did not want to get up, and I felt like I could fall asleep sitting right there. The last two miles I tried to enjoy, as much as is possible at that point! I came across the finish line and, hoping my kids were watching the live stream at home, blew a kiss to the camera. I had my finisher's picture taken and then found Bill.

Total Time 11:37:06 140.6 miles

Division Place: 17/118; All Females: 104/789

(I was the 600th finisher overall out of approx 3000 athletes)

After thoughts: My run was only 10 minutes faster this year than last year and I had hoped to be 30 minutes faster on the run. But, my bike was faster than I had anticipated so my overall time was not as devastating as the run could have made it. I was hoping to improve by 45-60 minutes minimum. And I was just about 40 minutes faster (12:16:48 last year) - thanks to a fast bike. Another positive: I did not start slurring my speech or get tingling all over my entire body this time though and I avoided needing to enter the Medical Tent (unlike 2011)! So that is a plus! I went directly to the massage area and this angel of a girl massaged and stretched me for WAY longer than she was supposed to, it was heaven! During the massage I drank 3 cups of chocolate milk, 2 of chicken broth, had 2 cups full of potato chips. I began coughing a lot when I tried to talk or breath deeply and took probably another 4 puffs on my inhaler to get things in check. After the massage I changed into dry clothes and got some pizza, more chocolate milk and chips.

Bill and I after the race.

Finish Line at Midnight
I wanted to go back to the finish line at midnight and watch the last of the athletes come across the line, I wanted to do it last year but was too exhausted to walk back. Those athletes coming across in the last few minutes are some of the most inspiring. They are those who, for any number of reasons, had something go awry in their day of racing; or who, giving all they have for as long as they can, finish just under the time limit of 17 hours. In order to be called and Ironman, and have your name listed in the results as finishing, you have to finish before midnight. 7am-midnight. That is a LONG day. A 78 year old man crossed the finish line with about 10 minutes to go. A firefighter in full gear, finished in those last few minutes as well. One of the greatest things about this time of the race is that the pros who won the race will usually come back and place the medals around the necks of these final finishers. There are more fans cheering and yelling for these last few athletes than there are for any other finisher all day long, including the pros I daresay! I was able to finagle a spot right along the finishing chute, right by where the pros were standing to encourage the last of the finishers along.

Miri nda Carfrae is a world champion Ironman, having won the Kona Ironman in 2010. She actually came in 2nd this time around in Florida. Yvonne Van Vlerken won the Florida Ironman this year, going under 9 hours (a pretty astounding feat). And Andrew Starykowicz won the men's race. I had no idea who he was, but I had heard about this story earlier in the year: he was the one who was put in jail in Abu Dhabi for a "hit and run" when he collided with a volunteer at an aid station during the bike portion of the race. Apparently he stopped to see that she was getting medical attention, and then went on, later pulling out of the race himself due to the crash. Then he gets thrown in jail in a foreign country for a hit and run! What a nightmare for him!

Anyway - Pictures with all of them!

2nd Place Female Mirinda "Rinny" Carfrae