I headed down to Louisville Friday afternoon to check in, pick up my packet and all my information, and attend the welcome banquet and age group athlete meeting. I got down there a little early and had lunch with a few sorority sisters that I haven't seen in a really long time too. Then I headed over to the Galt House to check in. Check in procedures were pretty standard and I got all my stuff and checked out the Ironman store. I spent a pretty penny on Friday but made sure I didn't purchase ANYTHING that said "finisher" on it so as not to jinx myself! Then I headed back to Mom's for the night.
Saturday morning, my roommate Staci, Mom and I packed up the car and headed to Louisville. We checked into the Marriott and I put all of my gear in the appropriate bags to take to transition. This was a completely new concept for me. Normally I pack my backpack with all of my gear and set it up next to my bike. Here we were given 5 different bags to use for all of our gear. We had a morning clothes bag that we dropped off at the swim start to put our clothes and anything we had on us at the start of the race in. That bag was then transported to the finish so we could get our things back at the end. Then we had a bag specifically for the swim to bike transition and another for the bike to run transition. Finally, we had two special needs bags (one for the bike and one for the run) that we could retrieve at about halfway during the bike and the run. So I separated all my stuff into their respective bags and Staci and I took my bike and bags to the transition area. Once that was all set up, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed an early dinner so I could get to bed and rest up.
Sunday started super early. My alarm went off at 4:30 and we were out the door around 5. We made a stop at transition to drop off my special needs bags, fill up my water bottles, and pump up my bike tires. Then we walked about a mile or so down the road to the swim start. Louisville does an interesting start...instead of a mass start on a beach or in the water, it was a time trial start where they sent off athletes one after the other off of two boat docks. It was also a first come first serve on starting position. We got down there around 5:30-5:45 so I was pretty far back in line. I didn't get started until about 7:37. For those of you wondering...yes, we did swim in the Ohio River. It was a little on the murky side but as far as I know, I didn't catch anything! The water temperature was about 85 degrees so wetsuits were not allowed. Once I got started, we swam upstream and around a little island before heading south to the swim end. I pretty much ROCKED the swim! I finished the 2.4 miles in 1:06.32. That was fast enough to place me 20th in my division and 437 overall in the swim.
After coming out of the water, I ran into transition and someone was waiting there with my bike bag. I headed into the changing tent and there was someone there waiting to help me with whatever I needed. Because we had a men's and women's changing tent, I was able to completely change. I took off the wet swim suit and put on fresh dry cycling shorts and my tri top. The lady assisting me helped me change, dried my feet, put my socks on, then took my bag and sent me on my way. I grabbed my bike and hit the course. I felt pretty good when I got started on the bike but it didn't take long before I hit the hills. There were some pretty big ones! And just in case you weren't aware, there aren't many hills to train on in Chicago! So I was definitely not prepared for that (which pretty much explains my 8:09.16 bike time and average speed of only 13.73 MPH). I did really well with nutrition along the bike course though. I found these little pouches of applesauce that were fantastic. They were a nice change from the usual Gu and Gu Chomps and since I don't eat fruits, it gave me the nutrients I was missing out on. One of the cool things about the bike was that around mile 30-something and 60-something, we went through a little town called LaGrange. They set up a little festival in that area so people could go out and watch. The first time through, I heard my mom cheering but didn't see her. One the second lap, I got out of my aero bars and looked around. I was able to see everyone that came to watch :-) Erin, Staci, Courtney, Ashley and Mom were all there cheering as I went by. I gave a little wave and continued on. The upside to all of the hills on the ride was the downhills! At one point I looked down and saw I was going 43 mph down a hill. That was pretty exhilarating. And I really only had one problem with people on the bike. One man started to pass me (going downhill mind you) and practically ran me off the road. So I of course threw some obscenities his way and he yelled at me for not backing off while being overtaken. I politely told him to F--- off and apologized because I didn't realize he was going to pussy break on the downhill. I wasn't even pedaling so it was not my fault that gravity was pulling me to the bottom of the hill. And you know what...I'm a little topheavy so I go down hills fast! I never encountered him again so I rode on in peace. Somewhere between halfway and the end of the bike, my feet really began to hurt and cramp up in my shoes, my butt went numb and I started doubting myself. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish the bike, let alone the run that followed. I kept trying to shut the voices in my head up and eventually, I made it to the bike finish. After 112 miles of pedaling, it was rather difficult to get back up and walking. I hopped off the bike, handed it off to one of the volunteers, and headed back to the changing tent.
This time around, I suited up for the run, grabbed some more applesauce and hit the road running. As I came out of transition and turned a corner, I miraculously ran into Erin, Ashley, Staci and Courtney! They jumped on the sidewalk beside me and stayed alongside me for about the first mile or two. Luckily, Staci had some sunscreen because I forgot to put it on my scalp and I didn't want a sunburn there! Then Courtney helped get the tag out of my running shorts so it wouldn't keep rubbing against my skin and she had some chap stick to relieve my lips! After about two miles, I took off on my own. The first couple miles were tough getting into the running. I walked the entire fifth mile. Then I started running for ten minutes and walking for 15. Then I realized that 15 minutes was not really necessary so I switched it to ten and ten. I continued on that way for the remainder of the marathon...walk ten minutes, run ten minutes, repeat. At the 13.1 mark, I got my special needs bag and popped some ibuprofen. Then it was time for the turnaround. This was the BIGGEST FREAKING TEASE!!!!!! As it turns out, the turnaround near mile 14 is right NEXT TO the finish line. So as you are running up Fourth Street, you see the bright lights and hear the announcer at the finish line and see people running towards it. There is a sign that says, "Finishers left; 2nd Loop right." So I had to make the turn knowing I still had 12 miles left to run. About that time, it also started getting dark and Staci hopped in with me for another mile or two. I was so thankful to have her with me because at that point, my stomach had started bothering me and I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to run. She kept me going then left me on my own to get to the final turnaround. About mile 15-ish, I started drinking Coke in addition to the Perform and water. They had some good food along the course too :-) I had some chocolate chip cookies and pretzels and when it got dark, they had chicken broth. I hit my second wind around mile 20 and picked up the pace a little. I also started cheering on everyone I ran by. This put me in a much better mood and then I made the final turn just before mile 21. Then I knew it was the home stretch. I was very cautious on time too because I knew I had to finish before midnight. I knew at the turn around that I was going to make it. All I had to do was keep up the pace I was going and I would finish well before midnight and if I didn't slow down, I could finish in under 16 hours. Staci found me somewhere around mile 25 and ran me in. She dropped off right before the final chute and I headed home. I saved up a little bit of energy so I could cross the finish line in style (think flying leap with arms thrown up in the air)! I wanted to have a good finisher photo :-) As it turns out, I did the run in 6:27.20 and negative split it by about two minutes. Seriously, who negative splits a marathon at the end of an Ironman?! Well, apparently this girl does!
My official finish time was 15:58.52 and I finished 2119 out of 2276 finishers. 2439 people started the race. After I finished, I got my medal, my t-shirt and my hat and met up with Mom and the girls. I picked up my morning clothes bag and headed straight for the bar at our hotel. The bartender told me they had already done last call but the look on my face (and the fact I looked disgusting) made her feel sorry for me so I got my post-race celebratory beer! Then we ordered a pizza to the room and I washed up. I ate my pizza then proceeded to pass out.
Monday morning I woke up around 8 and got up and moving. I walked over to the Ironman store and stocked up on all my finisher apparel. After spending a small fortune, I went back to the hotel and we packed up and headed home. I am still surprised at how good I felt yesterday morning and even today. I have the expected soreness in my legs and back but I am walking (almost normally) and am getting around quite well. I am still pretty tired and slept 9 hours last night and took about a two hour nap this afternoon but I think that is to be expected too. The worst thing of all is that my big toes are really really sore and might be infected. If you are wondering how bad one's toenails can hurt, I'll tell you that I almost passed out last night just getting a pedicure. I was looking at my toes, my nail was black underneath and she pushed down on it. My vision slowly faded to black, I got all hot and sweaty, started to feel nauseous and knew I was going to pass out if something wasn't done. So Mom got them to give me some water and a cold wash rag and I came back before actually passing out. I've been loading up on ibuprofen and have had my feet up most of the evening in hopes that the swelling goes down a little bit. But overall, I'm feeling pretty good!
I've had a lot of people ask me if I will do another Ironman. Honestly, I have no idea. Ask me again in a couple weeks when my feet are back to normal and I have forgotten how painful it all was. Then I might consider doing another in a couple years. I know for sure though that I cannot take the time to train for a full again next year. Maybe I'll convince my brother or some friends to do one with me in a few years. Until then, I will stick with the shorter distances.
I know this post is dragging on but a few final thoughts. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you that have continued to read this blog and follow my journey. All of your good luck wishes and congratulatory posts, phone calls, texts, etc. were greatly appreciated. I could not have accomplished this without such an amazing support system that had my back throughout the past 30 weeks. One particular member of my support team deserves a little shout out here: my boyfriend Casey. He was bummed out that he missed my race because he was on vacation with his dad and family/friends in Canada. He was way outside of civilization and has not had cell phone reception since Saturday. He won't get it back for another few days either so he has no idea how I did. But he gets a shout out because he was sneaky and had been talking to my mom for a few days. When I returned to her house Monday afternoon, he had sent a very thoughtful card to her house and inside was a gift certificate for me to go get a massage to aid in my recovery :-)
And finally, a very special thanks to the amazing women that made the trip to Louisville to watch me accomplish my dream! My mom has always been the foundation of my support team and she showed that this weekend. I know it wasn't easy for her but she saw me on every leg of the race and had just as long of a day as I did. My roommate Staci drove from Chicago down to watch me and even sacrificed a vacation day so she could be there with me. Ashley stayed up way past her bedtime to watch me cross the finish line even though she had to be up super early Monday morning to teach. Erin was quite possibly more excited than anyone during the race and made her presence known by yelling her heart out and ringing that darned cow bell! She also has been a huge support through this entire process as she is my go-to person to call on my way home from work. She listened and helped me out the whole way so it was extra special to have her there at the end seeing me cross the finish. Courtney is quite possibly one of my busiest friends but she still found the time to get down to Louisville and watch. She also removed the tag of my shorts with her teeth when I am pretty sure I was smelling pretty ripe. If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is! These women are the very definition of a best friend and I could not have made it through without them being there along the sidelines. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!
