Ironman Coeur d'Alene - Couer d'Alene, ID - June 29, 2003
I wrote two versions of this race report – the short version for those who want the quick and dirty facts, the long version for those who want to read the mind-numbing minutia of the race and basically, my entire life. I think I set a PR (heck, maybe even a Guiness record) for race report length on the long one! It will probably take as long to read it as it took for me to finish the race!
(Short Version, believe it or not)
My swim felt great. I was thrilled to be there and couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. Out of the water in 1:12 (3-8 minutes ahead of my goal of 1:15-1:20).
The bike was really tough for the first loop. I had some hamstring cramps during the first 30 minutes, and although I planned to drink only water for the first 30 minutes, I started drinking my race mixture to get some sodium in me and stave off the cramps. In hindsight, I should have just taken a salt tab because I spent the better part of the next two hours trying to settle my stomach. The winds picked up during the second half of the first lap (on the flats) and it was tough to get through. It’s the only point in my day that I was kicking myself for attempting such a ridiculous endeavor. The second lap went much better and I cruised into T2 with a time of 7:12 (I had a loose goal of 7:00 or better, but considering the conditions I’m very pleased with that time).
The run/walk actually went quite well for me. I had no idea what to expect as I have had some serious knee problems over the last few months and had reduced my run mileage significantly to stave off any long-term injury. I walked about 20-25% of the course. I did much more walking during the first half than the second. We got some much-needed cloud cover during the second lap and that kept me running the entire time except for aid stations and hills. My main goal became trying to encourage as many runners as I could. My friends made me a custom coolmax shirt for the race – It had “Mama G” on the front and “Keep Moving Forward – Ironman Coeur d' Alene 6/29/2003” on the back. Long story – see the long version for details. Run time was 5:55 or so. I had no real run goal, but hoped for under 6:00.
Total time was 14:31. I was thrilled with my time, as I only wanted to finish but had a loose time goal of under 15:00. I think the reason I was successful in finishing when so many others were not was because I didn’t have much in the way of expectations of myself (except to finish). My plan “A” was the equivalent of most people’s plan “C”. I was also extremely proactive with my nutrition and pacing. Those two factors were huge for me.
I had such an amazing day. The city welcomed us with open arms and the volunteers were unbelievable. They actually had a waiting list for volunteers because they had more than 4000 who wanted to help. People were getting upset because they offered to volunteer and weren’t getting called back. They were just overwhelmed with support. I would highly recommend this race to anyone. The heat was very unusual, but the winds are pretty typical from what I hear.
(Long Version)
RACE WEEK
Robin and I arrived in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday night around 10. We were staying with an amazing lady in Hayden, about 7 miles from the race start. She and Jeff met while running the Boise Marathon last fall (Jeff was running the full, she was running the half of a 2 loop course). When she found out I was doing IM-CDA, she said we HAD to stay with her. She mentioned later that she had an extra room, so I offered it to Robin. She was the greatest hostess! And a dang fast runner – won her AG at the Marine Corps Marathon last fall, then won her AG a week later at the Boise ½ Marathon. She’s just starting to get into triathlon and has aspirations to do a couple of sprints this summer, then maybe a ½ IM next year.
Wednesday morning we got up and swam at the lake around 10 am. It was windy and the water was fairly choppy/wavy. But I felt good and wasn’t worried about the conditions. Once I got in a rhythm, swimming felt great. I just tried to shorten up my stroke a bit and really emphasize the high-elbow recovery so I wasn’t dragging my arm through the chop. I also tried to breathe behind me more than usual (a tip from Chris Hauth at the FreshAirSports swim clinic a couple of weeks ago). After swimming we went back to Judy’s, grabbed our bikes, and drove the bike course. When we got back to the start, we rode the shorter out & back portion – about a 45 minute ride. Had some of Judy’s delicious lasagna and hit the hay.
Thursday morning Judy (our hostess for the week), Robin and I headed to the lake to swim. The water was much calmer than Wednesday. After that, we wandered around the expo and then registered. The low point of registration was the weigh-in, when I topped out at a whopping 167 pounds. They weigh you so that they have a reference point if you have to go to the medical tent during the race. I was about to freak out when I noticed that it still read 5 pounds when I stepped off the scale. I chalked the rest up to taper-week carbo loading, but was fairly appalled at my weight (my highest in 8 years). Later that day, Jeff drove into town and I had a minor freak out (directly related to the weigh-in fiasco, by the way). I told Jeff I felt like I had no business being there. He reassured me that I had put in the training time, and that I would do fine.
OH! And Jeff and Lori Tindall schemed all week to surprise me – Lori decided to come up for the race! I was so excited to see her…she was expecting to arrive Saturday afternoon. She helped me with some of my training planning early on, so it was exciting for me to have her there (besides the fact that she’s just one of the coolest people I know!)
Friday morning we swam again, and the water was choppy and wavy again. We also saw Eric Hopper from Portland, drove the run course, and stopped for Jamba Juice. We stopped by the local bike shop, Vertical Earth, because Judy heard that they were giving away bike jerseys to people who would wear them during the race. The owner said that was really only for the locals, but Judy knew him so he agreed to give me one. He does MTB races in Bend now and then, so I left him our phone number and email addy to look us up for a place to stay the next time he’s in town. My race ensemble was now complete.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get Jeff to hurry up and go out for his long ride so I could make his birthday “cake” – Peanut Butter Pie, of course (his b-day was Saturday, the 28th). He left around 1 to do a reconnaissance ride of the entire bike course. When he came back, he said, “Whoever said that was a flat course is a freaking liar.” Oh my…
We went to the carbo dinner later that night while Jeff was still out riding, which was pretty fun. The food was good (not great, but good), and there were some emotional moments when they started playing videos of previous IM’s to pump up the crowd. It was a fun night. I rode home with Judy, but we had to stop for ice cream and to water her friend’s plants on the way back. We sat on his porch for a bit, which overlooks Lake Coeur d’Alene. It was nice to just chill out for a few minutes.
Saturday morning I gave Jeff his b-day gifts – a couple of cycling jerseys, the 25th Anniversary Commemorative book on Ironman Hawaii, and a new transition towel – it had the Incredible Hulk on it. I thought it was pretty dang cool. He laughed and said, “What you don’t know is that when I was a kid, I never missed an episode…”
We swam yet again in the morning, and the water had calmed down quite a bit. We met Joe (jpo) and his wife, Mike in Seattle and his wife Tracy, and Ted and Theresa. We went to IronHorse for the TNO breakfast, but when nobody showed up by 9:30, we left for Michael D’s, a breakfast place we had eaten at with Judy the day before. We bumped into Mike & Tracy on the way back to the car, and the 5 of us (Robin, me, Jeff, Mike & Tracy) had a nice visit at breakfast.
Saturday afternoon I put my transition and special needs bags together, and went for a spin on my bike to make sure everything was working right. Then Jeff drove me to the race site for bike check-in and rode back to Judy’s while I sat through the athlete meeting. Lori arrived during the meeting, and we got caught up a bit. Oh, and she snuck away to buy me an IM Coeur d’Alene coffee mug for my race morning brew :)
I had some white pasta and chicken for dinner before heading to bed. I actually slept really well.
PRE-RACE
Jeff and I left for the race start around 4:40. (Robin left later with Lori.) Got there around 5 and I started to get to work. There was a lot to do, so I tried to just keep moving, but make every movement smooth, purposeful, and calm. I put my Norah Jones CD on and walked around, dropping off my special needs and dry clothes bags and adding a few items to my transition bags. I pumped up my tires and put my nutrition on my bike. At one point, I was bent over near a fence to drop something into my dry clothes bag and a girl snuck up to her friend on the other side of the fence and yelled “BOO!” to scare her. She got a very dirty look.
Then I got bodymarked, put some spray-on sunscreen on, and went to find Jeff. I found a spot to put my wetsuit on, then before I knew it, it was time to head for the swim start. I had just enough time to get everything done without being rushed and without having to sit around much. I was remarkably calm, just very excited for the day ahead. I walked by Joe (jpo) at one point – he said, “I can’t believe how calm I am! Everyone told me I’d be freaking out!” I had the same sentiment. Also ran into Robin and my friend Joel from masters swimming in Bend (he was competing for a Kona slot).
I made my way to the swim start and as I crossed the timing mat, I heard Lori yelling my name. She took a couple of pictures and I moved toward the start, then realized I still had my gel flask and Gatorade bottle in my hand. I couldn’t cross back over the timing mat, so I asked a volunteer to give them to Lori for me. I walked to the back of the beach and tried to find an area where I could do some arm circles and stretching without knocking someone out. I ran into Burt, a guy who Jeff and I met at a duathlon in Portland last summer. Really neat guy – 1st IM. I talked to him for a bit. As I was walking away, he said, “I want to see that same smile at the finish!” That comment would come back to me many, many times during the race.
SWIM
I looked around at one point during that first 500 yards to the first turn buoy and realized that even if I wanted to, there was no way I was going to be able to get to calm water. But I was amazingly confident in my swimming and calm about the whole thing. My head was ringing a bit, so I’m pretty sure I got whacked in the back of the head at some point. When we came to the first turn buoy, everyone was treading water and mooing. I started laughing hysterically and knew at that point I was going to have the time of my life that day. I think an appropriate IM-training swim set would look something like this:
25 no-kick breaststroke
I was trying to draft where I could, but realized that it really didn’t matter – I was in one big swirling draft. I did latch on to a very wild kicker and tried to avoid the breaststrokers. Please, people, for the love of all that’s good and decent, don’t do breaststroke kick in an IM swim!! It’s painful!! I finally spotted a guy cruising past me who was not kicking at all. I stayed with him until the next turn, when I promptly lost him. One thing that was sort of a shock to me – the field was only about 20% women. I really thought it would be higher than that. I think I saw maybe two women the entire swim (actually, it might have been the same woman twice). I sort of think when the men swimming near me saw my silver cap (men had red caps, women had silver), they took it a little easier. Chivalry is not dead :). I only purposely shoved someone once, when a guy was coming up behind me and trying to shove me over. After three or four distinct shoves, I shoved back. He left me alone after that :)
I came out of the water after the first lap and looked at my watch as I ran across the timing mat – 35 and change. I couldn’t believe it. I actually thought I must have accidentally hit the “stop” button while swimming, but I didn’t really care what my time was. I was having a ball.
I headed back in for the second lap. The guys around me (yes, again no women in sight) were just wading in, so I found an opening, darted past, and dove in. I could have swam all day. The second lap got much more spread out than the first, and I found myself in some fairly calm waters for a while. After 50 yards or so, I realized it was because I had swung way left and made a bee-line back to the thrashing masses. I bridged from draft to draft for the remainder of the swim, always on the lookout for faster feet. My left hamstring started to cramp just a little bit during the second lap, but I was able to kick a little more and work it out. As I crossed the timing mat I saw that, lo and behold, my watch hadn’t stopped and I actually did swim a 1:12. I was elated.
T1
I got to my bike, which was in a prime location about 5 feet from the bike mount area, and heard “GREAT SWIM, G!!!” Jeff was standing on the other side of the gate taking pictures and waiting for me. I ran my bike to the mount area and hopped on. T1 time was 5:12.
BIKE
Since Gatorade tends to give me stomach problems while training, I didn’t touch the stuff. My primary objective was to stay cool, which meant at every aid station, I filled up my aero bottle with water, dumped the rest on my head, and took a second bottle for later (I had reserved a spare bottle cage for this). I really think keeping my body cool by dumping water on my head saved the day for me. A lot of people were focusing too much on hydrating, and not enough on staying cool.
I was watching for Robin, and saw her fly past on the first loop of the first lap. She looked very strong.
The climbs on the first half of the first lap were tough, but I knew they would be much tougher the second time around. I just put my head down and ground my way up, then tried to gain as much back as I could on the descents. There was one significant hill on the first loop of the first lap (6% grade for about 1/2 – 1 mile), then two hills on the second loop of the first lap (not sure of the grades, but the second one was a doozy. Both were less than 1/2 mile long, if that). We got to the long out-and-back on Appleway and had a tailwind for the “out” portion. I only knew this because I saw people really struggling on the way back in. When we got to the turnaround, I just ducked my head, gritted my teeth, and pushed through the wind. It was brutal, and I was really wiped at the end of it.
As I rode back in to start the second loop, the crowds were lining the streets. I didn’t see Jeff until I came back through town to start the second loop of the second lap, heading back out toward Post Falls. He was waiting on a corner with Lori, and I gave him a head nod as I rode past (that’s all I had time for!). I headed back out toward Post Falls and Washington State to complete the bike. The hills were definitely tougher this time, and I was just thinking of walking up the really steep one when the guy in front of me clipped out to walk. I did the same – it was a combination of, “Well, if he’s walking, I’m walking” and the fact that I lost a little momentum when he stopped in front of me. Most people were riding, but not much faster than I was walking. My heart rate was soaring and my quads were burning, so walking felt great. I re-mounted my bike at the top of the hill and passed everyone who had passed me during my walk break.
We got back to the flats, and the wind died down significantly, although it was still dreadfully hot. At one point, we were riding through a neighborhood and I passed a young girl who had volunteered to block a street by sitting in a lawn chair at a neighborhood intersection. She was clearly sunburned and was either sleeping or something worse. I hurried to the next intersection with an adult volunteer and police officer and slowed down to ask them to get someone to look in on her. The volunteer said, “You guys are just amazing.”
During those last stretches on the flats, things were starting to hurt. My lower back was killing me, so I spent a lot of time out of the aero bars trying to stretch my back. Also, my feet were cramping and very sore. I did a lot of one-leg drills during those last 20 miles or so, just trying to get one foot to relax and stretch out while the other did the work. I probably could have taken an Aleve then, but because the day was so hot, I didn't want to overdo the NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - these have been shown to increase your risk of hyponatremia on hot days or when you are over-hydrated or have not taken in enough salt) and I knew I would need them for my knee for the run. In hindsight, it probably wouldn't have hurt and would have made that last lap more pleasant.
As we headed back into town, I rode up next to a guy named Bradley (we had our last names printed on our race numbers). He and I had been leapfrogging back and forth and I asked how he was doing. He said, “My pelvic region hurts so bad that if it weren’t for pride, I’d quit this thing.” I offered him some Advil and he said he’d get it from me after transition. Shortly afterward, he found some energy and cruised past me into town. As I coasted the last descent into T1, I took some meds: Immodium A/D (just a preventative for potential tummy trouble on the run), Aleve, caffeine tab, and salt tab. I ended the ride with a 7:14 bike split. I was hoping for sub-7:00, but under the circumstances I’m happy with the time. Even Spencer Smith was off his projected bike time by over 20 mintues.
T2
I headed for the change tent, and again stripped down while the volunteers went above and beyond to tend to me. I put on my running shorts, clean socks, shoes, new sunglasses (the Rudy Project’s were starting to irritate me, and I anticipated this), strapped on my fuel belt, and had the volunteers spray me down with sunscreen. Headed out of T2 a new woman with a time of 4:00.
RUN
I could feel my heart rate soaring in the heat, so as soon as I got out of town a bit and there were fewer spectators, I walked. The only complaints I have about the entire race were that the second and third aid stations were about 2 miles apart (because of the way the run went through the transition areas) and that they didn’t have mile markers up for every mile. I don’t know if people took them or what, but on a day that long, you want to know you’re making progress. But those were VERY minor issues, and it’s a pretty darned good race if those are the only complaints you can think of. At some point during the second half of the first lap, I tried to cool my Sustained Energy mixture with ice from an aid station, but I still just couldn’t get it down. I realized I was carrying around an additional 28 ounces, so I poured it all out as I walked, then handed the fuel belt off to Jeff as I ran back through town (after taking out my inspirational messages and stuffing them in my pocket). I had no idea what my mental state would be like on the run, so I jotted down some inspiring thoughts to keep on me in case I thought of quitting. Most were from the book “Becoming an Ironman”, but one was my very own: “JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!” The others:
“Finishing an Ironman is something I’ll carry in my heart for the rest of my life that nobody can take away from me. It’s like a degree.” – Kevin Jermyn
“The ironman was way more than I had ever expected: more enjoyable, more beautiful, more peaceful, more fun, more exciting, more spiritual, more emotional, more social. Just more.” – Terry Jordan
“All of a sudden the hardship was gone – I could have run a couple of more miles on the rush of emotion. It doesn’t get any better. If I could relive one day in my life, that would be it.” - Rick Olson
“After we got through that we realized we could pretty much do anything we wanted to.” – Tim and Susie Burgess
“Not one part of the race counts so much that it can jeopardize your goal.” – Joanna Zeiger
I ran into several people on the course – Joe (jpo), Burt, Joel, and Bradley. The run wasn’t as social as I expected – there were a lot of people out there who had hoped for a sub 11-hour race but were reduced to walking. I have a ton of admiration for those who stuck it out, as well as those who gave it their best shot but withdrew to keep their long-term health intact. That had to have been an agonizing decision for many, many people. It got to the point during the second lap when over 90% of the people were walking. I probably ran 80% or more of the 2nd lap, walking only for aid stations and uphills. People looked at me with astonishment because I was still running. I passed many, many people out there in much better shape than I. For whatever reason, I was blessed to be able to grind out the last part of the run with a negative split. A lot of it had to do with the cloud cover that reduced the heat by a good 10-20 degrees. As I ran through past the transition area again, I saw Robin near the dry clothes bags – I figured she either had a great race or a terrible one – unfortunately, by her demeanor it didn’t look like the former.
At the beginning of the second loop, I passed by Jeff and Lori just after the clouds started to get dark and we got some thunder and lightning, followed by about 15 minutes of wind gusts and rain. All week, Robin had been talking about how she tends to bring unusual weather to the races she does (rain at Wildflower and Kona, hail in Canada, the Utah fiasco, etc.). As I passed Jeff & Lori, I yelled, “I’M NEVER DOING THE SAME RACE AS ROBIN AGAIN!!!” Jeff asked where she was and I said she was back at the changing tent. Apparently Jeff and Lori thought there might have been some sort of a catfight back at transition and speculated on what happened for the next two hours. I cleared it up later when I told them I was referring to the strange weather.
I ran up to Bradley shortly after that and walked with him and another guy for a while to see how things were going. He asked if I had more Advil, but I told him I had handed it off to Jeff. The other guy had some, so I continued running. As I left, he said, “Look at you! Keep moving forward!” I realized during that last loop that I was going to finish under 15 hours, and I might even break 14:30. The time wasn’t important at that point, but I felt an enormous sense of pride in my accomplishment. I ran past several people who were vomiting or laying by the side of the road during that last lap, and sent a volunteer or medic back every time I came across someone who was alone. I tried to encourage every person I saw. Most had their heads down, just plodding along. Their goals had been shot for the day, but they stuck it out to finish however they could. It was inspiring.
I rounded the last few corners to head back into town, and the air was electric. I could start to hear the crowds and Mike Riley at the finish line. It was still twilight, but the volunteers had started to get the glow sticks out. I rehearsed my refusal speech in case anyone tried to get me to take one. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t take one. I’m aiming for a daylight finish.” When I got about a mile away, the volunteers started saying, “Congratulations, Ironman!” I couldn’t think about that yet, so I just said “Thanks” and plodded along. I ran up on a local lady I had met at breakfast w/ Judy a few days before. She and I had been leapfrogging – she used to be a pro tennis player but was struggling on the run due to vomiting and other stomach problems. I ran up behind her and said, “Let’s finish this thing.” That gave her a second wind and she ran off toward the finish.
As I rounded the last corner, I could see the lights, the finish chute, and the crowds. What an incredible experience. I thought of Jeff’s Ironman many, many times during that day. How he finished that distance with almost no support and only a handful of spectators, I’ll never know. I had hundreds of people, lights, and an announcer yelling my name (“Gina Patterson from Bend, Oregon, YOU are an Ironman!” – at least I assume that’s what he said…I didn’t really hear anything except “Bend, Oregon”). He had Bobo Anderson (the race director), me, Scott in PDX, and a couple of other people who were waiting for family members to come in. I had a crowd cheering as if I was the first finisher. Jeff and Lori were standing just on the edge of where the crowd started, and yelled my name. Jeff tried to run along the sidewalk, but there were too many people to wade through.
I tried to look up as I sprinted the last 100 yards or so to the finish, but tears started to well up so I ducked my head and just tried not to trip :). I finished in 14:31, and felt like I could have run another 26 miles on pure adrenaline. My finish line catchers surrounded me, and there again was Judy, screaming my name. I saw Jeff off to the side and gave him a hug – he told me he was so proud of me. Judy told us what happened to Robin – she pulled a muscle right after the first loop of the bike and had to drop out.
POST-RACE
The volunteers and spectators were just amazing. For them to stay out in that heat all day to support us was just way above and beyond the call of duty. They had over 4000 volunteers, had a waiting list, and were turning people away. It was the perfect venue for an Ironman.
Jeff walked me over to the transition area, where we picked up my dry clothes bag with my 90+ degree Endurox in it. I sipped that as I headed for the lake to soak my legs in the cold water for about 10 minutes. I walked around gathering up my gear and we ran into Robin, who couldn’t bring herself to hang around the finish line. We arranged to have Lori drive her home, then headed home for some PB pie and sleep.
What a day! It’s really indescribable (obviously, since it’s taken me this much space to try and describe it!). There were some times on the bike when I really had my doubts about whether our not I belonged there, and I vowed never to do another one, but I never wanted to quit. From the time my stomach calmed down on the bike until long after the finish, I was busy planning my next IM. There’s just nothing like it.
It’s now about 3 days post-race, and I can’t believe how great I’ve felt since the end of the race. I had heard it before, but never really believed it – an IM really does hurt less (during and after) than a 1/2 IM or marathon. I’ve hardly been sore at all and I’ve even gotten two swim sessions (albeit short ones) in this week. I feel like a million bucks!
Thanks for reading :)
NUTRITION/SETUP
Swim:
On bike:
T1 bag:
Special Needs bike:
T2 bag:
Special Needs run:
Run:
WHAT I DID RIGHT/WRONG
What I did right:
What I did wrong:
Short Version
Long Version
Race Week
Pre-Race
Swim
T1
Bike
T2
Run
Post-Race
Race Nutrition/Setup
What I did right/wrong
Robin Oswald (Ozzy) and I got in to town on Tuesday. We stayed with a local lady who was the best IM hostess ever. We did the typical pre-race things – swam in the lake several times, drove the bike course, and ate a lot of food.
Okay, this is really, really, really, obscenely long and I apologize. But I wanted to have a record of EVERYTHING. Hopefully some of this will help some first time IM-ers.
My race week officially began on Monday night, when my training buddies had a send-off party for me. We had a fun evening, and I even drank some wine (and realized how low my alcohol tolerance has gotten….:)). Barry gave me a package of peppermints – he’s done IM Austria and said it’s something nice for the run when your mouth definitely needs a freshener! Gina and Wade (who’ve done IM USA) gave me some leg-revitalizing cream (this stuff was AWESOME after the race) and soothing foot bath gel stuff. And the piece d’ resistance (I’m sure I spelled that wrong)…Sharley and Julie made me a custom cool max shirt for the run! It had “Mama G” on the front and said “Keep Moving Forward – Ironman Coeur d’Alene – 6/29/03” on the back. From the beginning of this IM journey, my motto had been “If I can do this, ANYONE can do this”. However, as it got closer to race day and I started reading race reports, I decided my race mantra would be “Just keep moving forward”. Yes, there would be times I would have to sit down (T1, T2, etc.), but I wanted to concentrate on productive, forward movement throughout the day. I didn’t really say anything to anyone about it. Then, at the end of the FreshAirSports camp a couple of weeks ago, Wendy Ingraham offered to sign autographs for people who wanted them. She signed mine: “Gina, Great job. Just keep moving forward. – XO, Wingnut”. I thought it was a good omen and told everyone about it. Hence the shirt :) I was also excited about it because I hate all my race tops :) Needless to say, I was moved!
I woke up around 3 am. I know that’s a bit early, but I wanted to avoid the Ralph’s ½ IM fiasco when I didn’t uh…empty my stomach contents before the race (isn’t that a nice way to put it)? I had stomach cramps throughout that race and vowed I wouldn’t do that again. I sipped on about 16 oz of diluted Gatorade with sodium phosphate throughout the morning, had a couple of cups of coffee (in my IM-CDA coffee mug that Lori bought me :)), and two bagels with a thin layer of peanut butter.
I found a spot in the middle of the beach, toward the back. I thought this would help me avoid the really aggressive swimmers. I was wrong. If you want to avoid getting knocked around, you have to start in the back and to the far right or left. I’ve heard the mass IM swim start described as a washing machine – it felt more like a slow-motion mosh pit. I went from concentrating on swim stroke elements like catch, pull, follow through, high elbow to block left!, block right!.
25 head out of water drill
25 head out of water drill w/ doggy paddle stroke (arms don’t come out of the water)
25 head out of water drill, with arms entering at about 2:00 and 10:00 (give me SPACE, people!!)
Repeat 4 times.
Stop, tread water, make 90-degree turn. Moo. Recover from hysterical laughter.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
T1 at an M-dot race is pretty dang cool. I crossed the timing mat, where many pairs of volunteers were waiting to strip my wetsuit. I dropped to the ground, put my legs in the air, and my wetsuit was off in less than a second. The guys handed me my stuff and pointed me toward the T1 bags. I ran in to the changing tent (which reeked of urine, by the way) and two lovely ladies promptly came to my assistance. One grabbed my bag, dumped the contents on the floor, and said, “What do you need?” I had my Vertical Earth cycling jersey on, so I just needed to change out of my tri-shorts and into my bike shorts. The volunteers were awesome – it’s always hard for me to ask people to do things for me, so it was a little awkward shouting orders. But I got the hang of it pretty quick :) “I need my bike shorts! I need my race belt! My sunglasses are in that case! I need socks! Can you un-do my shoes?” They packed everything up and I was off. I stopped at the sunscreen station to get a little more on my shoulders for good measure. I got to bicycle city and the volunteer who was there to help me find my bike happened to be Judy (our hostess for the week). It didn’t register that it was me at first, so I said “JUDY!”. She screamed “GINA!!!!” and ran me over to my bike as she told me that Robin had a great swim and PR’d by 3 minutes! I was really happy for her.
I tried to go out easy, but I’m sure I was mashing as I rode through the crowd toward the first section of the figure-8 course. It was about a 15 mile out-n-back, and allowed me to see the leaders coming back through town to start on the longer loop of the first lap. My hamstrings were cramping a little, and it was already starting to get hot. My race plan called for nothing but water during the first half hour, but I really needed to get some salt in me to stave off the cramping. I started into my race drink (mixture of Sustained Energy, raspberry juice, raspberry Hammer Gel, Endurolytes, and salt tabs) too early and paid for it with stomach cramps for the next 90 minutes to 2 hours. I thought I was in major trouble when I started burping up the undigested mixture (I know, too much information). I managed to get the rest of the first bottle down around 2.5 hours (I planned for 1 bottle every two hours or so). I just kept taking as many small sips as I could, and eventually got through all but 1/2 bottle. I just kept thinking about what Joanna Zeiger said in the book “Becoming an Ironman”: “With Ironman if you don’t have a good swim, it’s okay. Taking your time in the transition area is fine. You can go through projectile vomiting for forty miles and yet still come through it and have a good race. Not one part of the race counts so much that it can jeopardize your goal – and that’s why I like it.” That was one of the inspirational notes I put in my fuel belt for the run…more on that later.
I un-velcroed my shoes and slipped my feet out before dismounting so I wouldn’t have to run in bike shoes. I handed my bike off to some more awesome volunteers and headed to pick up my T2 bag. Once again, there was Judy to show me the way. By this time, she had been out in the heat so long that her vision was blurring a little bit, so she didn’t recognize me right away. In a deja-vous moment, I said “JUDY!” and she said “GINA!!!” and ran me over to the T2 bags. I asked about Robin, since I hadn’t seen her at all since the beginning of the first lap of the bike. She didn’t answer, either because the question didn’t register or because she was worried that hearing bad news would get me down.
I ran past my buddy Bradley at the beginning of the run, and offered him the Advil. He took it and I ran on. I couldn’t believe I was running (I haven’t been very good about bricks this season). A lot of it had to do with the crowd and the awesome volunteers. I started with de-fizzed Pepsi, chicken broth, and water at EVERY aid station. Once again, I couldn’t stand the thought of the 95+ degree mixture in my Fuel Belt Bottles, but I knew I could get enough sodium from the chicken broth, and enough sugar, calories, and caffeine from the Pepsi. Several people had warned me that once I started drinking Coke or Pepsi, I had to get some at every aid station or I would risk a major sugar crash. I ran past Jeff & Lori on my way out of town, and some of the other spectators started yelling my name when they heard Jeff & Lori yelling it. I can’t tell you how many comments I got on my “Keep Moving Forward” shirt. I hope it was as much of an encouragement to others as it was to me. When I reached the first mile marker, I rewarded myself with a peppermint :)
Could I have done this race faster? Maybe, maybe not. Do I care? Absolutely not :)
- (Iron)MG
Breakfast:
Diluted Gatorade w/ sodium phosphate
2 bagels w/thin layer of PB
2 cups coffee
Shot of hammer gel + water right before swim start
2 caps (goggles between)
Timing chip band (De Soto – highly recommended)
Titanwear TNO shorts
Vertical Earth jersey
Sports bra
Sunscreen
Aero bottle w/ water
Gel flask w/5 shots hammer gel
3 800+ calorie bottles (kept one bottle cage free for water):
4 Scoops sustained energy (~450 cal)
raspberry juice (~250 cal)
shot of raspberry hammer gel (100 cal)
4 endurolytes
1 salt tab (Succeed)
At every aid station, I filled up my aero bottle with water, dumped the rest on my head, and grabbed a second bottle for the road.
Bike shoes w/baby powder inside
Socks
Helmet w/number
Meds in film canister (Immodium AD, Tagamet, caffeine tabs, advil, aleve, salt tabs)
Bike sunglasses (Rudy Project)
Bike shorts
Towel
Race belt w/number
(should have added lip balm w/sunscreen)
Ritz PB crackers (hardly ate any)
Pringles
Ginger snaps (didn’t use)
Running shoes w/orthodics and baby powder inside
Clean socks
Spray-on sunscreen
Run sunglasses (Smith)
Fuel belt w/ SE mixture meds, notes, and peppermints
Run shorts
Mama G run shirt :)
Visor
(should have added lip balm w/sunscreen)
Clean socks
Blister pads
Long sleeved shirt
Replacement FB bottles (more SE mixture)
PB crackers (didn’t take)
Pringles (didn’t take)
Kit Kat bar (didn’t take)
De-fizzed Red Bull (took a couple sips and dumped it)
At every aid station, got a cup each of water, pepsi, and chicken broth. Walked and sipped all three until they were gone or my stomach felt funky (ended with water to get the taste out of my mouth). When the aid stations ran out of chicken broth, I ate a few pretzels. During the first lap, I tried to mix my SE mixture in my bottles with ice to chill it down. It helped a little, but I was sick of the taste by then and was doing fine on the pepsi and chicken broth. I handed my fuel belt off to Jeff after the first lap. I don’t know if that’s considered outside assistance or not, but I didn’t really care at that point :)
Okay, I don’t consider myself an expert or veteran by any stretch of the imagination, but hopefully this will help some other first-timers to prepare for an IM. Also, since my only goal was to finish, this list is probably inappropriate for someone who has a sub-12 hour goal, and I won’t pretend I have any answers for someone at that level. This is what worked for me, not necessarily what will work for everyone.
Note: These are all very minor issues, with the exception of the tummy trouble on the bike. They are just things that would have made my day go smoother, but nothing that caused a great deal of problems. I really can’t complain about my day!