Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Race Report: IRONMAN BOULDER, part 2

Getting' there! Mile 23
This brings us to RACE DAY!

Race Morning
My alarm went off on August 2nd at 3:30am.  I forced down a bagel with peanut butter and drank a cup of cheap hotel room coffee.  Philip and I had stayed in Boulder the night before so we could be closer to the start, while my folks and the boys stayed in Longmont.  For an Ironman, both your bicycle and gear bags for bike and run were dropped off the day before, so all I needed for the morning was my special needs bags (anything you might need in the middle of the bike and run...perhaps immodium or a Runza), morning clothes bags, and swim gear (cap, goggles, timing chip).  All participants and spectators had to be bussed out to the Boulder Reservoir from the high school, so upon arriving to the pick up location, Philip and I jumped aboard a yellow school bus.

What an annoying ride.  Everyone on the bus was quiet except for the lady in front of us, who was very loudly proclaiming to her mother (who was seated in front of her) how well she had trained, facts about the course, Boulder, and her life in general.  Before we discovered how annoying she was, Philip had asked if I had any Advil with me as he had a headache.  I didn't, so I tapped the lady and asked her if she had any.  She proceeded to tell me that she didn't and gave me a lecture on how I shouldn't be taking any during an athletic event anyway.  Philip interjected that it was for him, NOT me.  Apparently my patience was not so great at 4:30am, staring down the barrel of the long day in front of me.

Upon arriving, I got my body marked and found a nice gentleman to pump my tires.  (I figured there would be a bunch of pumps around...just one less thing to bring to Colorado.)  As I scanned all of the bikes in transition, I felt a bit self conscious about bike.  It is not a tri bike and I do not have race wheels or a fancy aero helmet.  I did see a few bikes without aero bars...I cannot even imagine how tough of a day that they had in front of them.  After taking care of my bike duties, I headed over to drop off my morning clothes bag.  15 minutes until race time.

The Swim
I was supposed to meet Philip outside of the transition area before the race start, but with so many people to weave through, I barely didn't have enough time before I heard the announcement that we were to be lining up for the swim.  The swim was a self-seeded wave start, meaning that we lined ourselves up according to our projected finish time.  I lined up in the 1:16-:1:30 group as far to the right as I could.  After the cannon went off, we funneled our way to the lake and off we went.  Previously, I have had some issues in the water, but today I felt calm and collected.  I had done practice swims on Friday with both my wetsuit on and with out.  Because the water temperature was a balmy 76 degrees race morning, the swim became "wetsuit optional".  If you chose to wear your wetsuit, you had to start at the very back of the 2600 participants and would not be eligible for a Kona slot.  I was not concerned about qualifying (there was no way), but didn't want to start at the back, so chose to forego the wetsuit. Besides, that thing is so tight and constricting.  I kept to the right as I got into my grove.  I never got kicked or punched hard, but SO many guys kept plowing into me.  It's like a free for all in there...we all look exactly the same in the water, and it seems like some of the guys believe they have a free pass to be a jerk.  Other than this, which is expected and unavoidable, I really enjoyed the swim.  Plus, time seemed to fly by in there, and as the finish became visible I felt a bit sad.  Although I didn't have a watch going, I knew that I was swimming alright.  The crowd was electric and music was booming as I exited the water, grabbed my bike gear bag, and headed to the women's changing tent.  I chugged some gatorade and stuffed a PB&J into my mouth and prepared for what I thought would be the toughest part of my day. Total time: 1 hour, 23 minutes

The Bike

As I arrived at my bike, I saw Philip waiting just outside of transition.  I kissed him and told him that the swim went well.  I made sure that my helmet was strapped and that my cleats were tight and ran my bike out to the mounting area.  Off I went.  Although I never drove or rode the course prior to race day, I had done my homework.  The course consisted of two 40 mile loops and finished with 32 miles back to Boulder High School.  I had heard that the first 20 miles were pretty tough, but had some quick downhills.  The first 10 miles weren't bad.  A few climbs it seemed, but nothing I couldn't handle.  Miles 10-20 were just up, up, and then more up.  Nothing I couldn't handle, but those miles took forever and were very slow.  Because I'd had a decent swim and got out of T1 before the masses, people blew by me for those first 30 miles.  I do not know how many times I heard "On your left!"  I am incredibly competitive, so while it was a little disheartening, I was okay with it.  I was here to finish an Ironman, not win one.

What goes up must come down.  After mile 20, I was greeted by some crazy downhill action.  As I am a cautious biker, this was almost worse than the uphill.  The road was open to traffic, and on these miles, there was a ton of vehicles in addition to all of the racers.  I spent a lot of time out of aero here trying to remain in control.  We were all in the shoulder of the road, and at times, there were sharp drop offs to the right of the road.  I tried to hug the right side of the shoulder as best I could, but visions of pummeling down the side of the mountain were running through my brain much faster than I was biking.  However, one guy chastised me for not being over as far as I should have been (at least in his mind).  Well, if you don't want to be anywhere near the slow bikers, then swim faster.  I didn't run my GPS, but used my watch to make sure I was following my nutrition plan.  In addition to gels, honey stinger waffles, and salt tabs, I was to drink 24 ounces of liquid every hour.  Thankfully, I worked with a nutritionist beforehand...there is not way I would have known to drink this much.  Physically, I felt okay those first 40 miles, but I felt like I had already been out there for so long.  And there was so much left to go.  A couple of times, I almost started crying on the bike...not because I was discouraged or in pain, but because I couldn't believe that I was actually doing this!! I had been dreaming about this for years!

The second 40 mile loop was more enjoyable than the first.  I continued to take my time and follow my nutrition plan.  Also, I had been passed by all of the fast bikers by this point, and everyone I was with after this was about my ability level.  The course was absolutely gorgeous and I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention to the road and people around me so I didn't crash my bike.

After finishing the second loop, I was back to uncharted territory.  Right after mile 90, I spotted a monster size hill that I was going to have to somehow get up.  I mentioned to a lady near me that they weren't nearly as daunting when we got up a little closer.  She laughed, like I was making a joke.  But I do think this is true!  It was a toughy, but once again, nothing I felt like I couldn't handle.  We came upon a similar hill around 96, and again, made it up no problem.  It was during this last loop that I started to see people off of their bike and lying on the side of the road.  I also saw many people having tire issues.  Mile 100. I was a little shocked here--I thought that there would come a point where I started hating my bike, hating the Ironman, and vowing to never sign up again for another event.  (This happened around mile 40 of the half iron last year.)  But it never happened.  I was tired and a little uncomfortable from being in the saddle for so long, but my spirits remained high.  This Ironman business wasn't so bad! Total time: 7 hours, 5 minutes

The Run
I knew it would spend more time in transition if I completely changed my outfit, but I didn't care.  I wanted to feel as refreshed as possible when I started the marathon.  Feeling good, I headed out to start the final leg of the Ironman.  Not even three minutes in, I knew that the bill had arrived.  How wrong I was... this Ironman business WAS so bad!  The run already felt awful.  And this was supposed to be my strongest part of the day!!  I decided very early in that I was going to have to change my strategy if I didn't want to be out there until midnight.  I never turned on my GPS to pace my miles, but used the clock as I had decided to jog for 4 minutes, and then walk for 2.  I did this for the first 20 miles.  Mentally, I was not doing AS well, but hanging in there.  I reminded myself that I had eventually reached the finish line every time I had run a race.  Even when I didn't feel like running again after my 2 minute walk, I kept forcing myself to keep going.  After mile 13, I could not fathom taking another Gu, so threw them into the trash can.  Good riddance.  From here on out, I drank the coke that was offered, ate a few oranges, and took my salt tabs.  I did not run into any GI issues or have a sloshy stomach.  While my actual run wasn't going as planned, at least I was able to keep up with my nutrition and hydration.  Around mile 20, it hit me that I WAS going to finish this thing.  No more walking.  I was going to jog it from here on out.  I was able to see my family several times on the run course, which was great.  I ran into Katie, a fellow Nebraskan who I ran into at our hotel in Longmont, around mile 24 and we stayed together until the finish.  I bet we went 7:30 pace for that last mile...we were both SO ready to be done. Total time: 5 hours, 31 minutes

As I ran down the red carpet, there were people everywhere, all shouting and screaming.  It was surreal.  Although the announcer struggled to pronounce my last name correctly, he shouted "ADELINE HOHMAN OF SEWARD, NEBRASKA...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

Will I ever do another? Maybe? Probably?  As I've now had a couple of days to reflect, I am still not sure what happened during the marathon.  Lack of training? Altitude? Being sick? A combination of all three?  But if that is the case, then why did I feel okay on the swim and bike?  Overall though, I was just happy to get to the finish line.  Anything can happen during those 140.6 miles, and I was lucky enough that nothing so serious happened that prevented me from finishing.

So now what?  I am not sure.  My feet are so swollen that I can barely walk.  I am hoping to take the next couple weeks to heal and refresh and figure out something for this fall.

Happy running, friends!

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