IM Florida: The Ironman that Wasn't

I signed up for IM Florida almost exactly one year ago.  It was to be my first (and possibly only) ironman.  Why? Because of the massive time commitment required to even finish it, let alone do well.  As many of you know, I ended up finishing Ironman Boulder this past August with the idea that I wouldn't do Florida.  Well, I decided that I had more in me and would strive for a better and faster finish at IM Florida. 

Thus, the training and planning for the event began.  This time around, it was a much bigger challenge to train than during the summer as I was back to school.  I have most Fridays off, so I tried to get most of my long efforts in then...but keep in mind I was still have to find a slot each week for a long swim, run, and ride.  It was difficult, but I was managing.  The planning was especially tricky this time around.  We had to figure out flights, hotel, how to get my bike there, etc. 

In the end, Philip and I made it all work.  I was going to do IM Florida!

My training went well.  I topped out with my longest swim being 1 hour 25 minutes, longest ride of 5 hours, and finished a full marathon.  Other than a pesky cold, my body was holding up. 

On Wednesday, November 4th, Philip and I left for Panama City Beach.  We did not have any travel issues and enjoyed a couple wonderful days on the beach.  Perfect temperatures and water.  We laid out, swam, ate great food and relaxed.  We were able to meet and hang out with some really cool people at the athlete banquet.  All was shaping up for a great race.

I got up at 3:45am the morning of the race.  I ate a bagel, drank some coffee, and loaded up my remaining gear.  After arriving to the race site, I had my body marked and made sure my tires were pumped.  After this, Philip and I headed to the swim start.  It was electric out there! Everyone was buzzing with anticipation.  As fate would have it, the swim was once again "wetsuit optional".  I have been making some great strides when it comes to my confidence in open water, so I again chose to not wear my wetsuit.   I know that there was a lot of anxiety floating around about this--LOTS of people were meandering around the start with their wetsuits.  At Boulder, there were lots of issues differentiating who did or did not wear a wetsuit in the results, so this time, the wetsuit wearers were starting 10 minutes behind.  (Philip said that he had heard the breakdown was 60% non, 40% wetsuit.) 

Today's swim was two 1.2 mile loops out and back.  Upon finishing the first loop, we ran across the beach and were to head back out into the open ocean.  I positioned myself where I thought I belonged in the line of people and off the cannon went.   During the first loop, the tide and waves appeared fairly calm.  I got myself past all of that and found that I was fairly comfortable out there.  I was a bit more aggressive when the males tried to swim over me and did my best to shove them out of my way.  (Keep in mind, the water is going to hinder my pushes.  They weren't very hard.)  I felt really great during the first loop and was happy to do it all over again.  This second time around, the waves were coming in high and hard.  I noticed that the swimmers in front of my would dive under the waves as they came so they wouldn't have to absorb the pressure. I did the same.  Once I got past the waves, I noticed that the current was a bit stronger and had to fight against that a bit.  Overall, this swim was much harder than Boulder, but I ended up with an identical time. 

I was pumped as I exited transition to grab my gear.  Although it was a very long transition and I had many things to do, I was able to accomplish everything relatively quickly.  As I was leaving the hotel (we actually got to change inside the hotel--cool!), I noticed that a lady who had cut in front of the group I was with during athlete check in was just entering.  Good! This made me even happier!

Florida is known for its flat bike course, which is the main reason I chose it.  I am not a fast biker.  I am very cautious and chose to go slow instead of taking risks when it comes to downhills and turns.  Anyway, as the event drew closer, I was a little worried about this.  The Boulder bike course had so much going on...up the hill, down the hill, turns, gorgeous scenery, animals! So much going on! How was I going to occupy my mind for 112 flat/non-scenic miles?

Unfortunately, this problem of mine was taken away from me.  Around mile 20, another rider smashed into me from behind.  I heard her shriek right before the hit and suddenly found myself slamming and skidding onto the ground.  I hit hard and with a lot of force.  I had the wind knocked out of me and went into a very short session of shock. I literally did not see this coming! Two of riders quickly stopped and checked me over by having me move my fingers and answer basic questions. (What is your name? Where are you?)  During the time, the rider who hit me got up and rode off.  We had no idea what her name was, nor her number.  I am not even sure if there are consequences for this sort of thing.  

After make sure I was okay, I was handed off to the medics.  The checked me over and extremely business-like and unsympathetic.  The encouraged me to drop out.  It was not difficult to convince me that this was necessary...I was unable to walk as I had hit my hip so hard and my right elbow had taken quite the beating...there was absolutely no way I could get back into aero.  Plus, my back tire would not spin and I had cracked my helmet.  Let alone the fact that I am already a nervous biker, and now the worst possible scenario imagined had happened.  I was done.

I met two very kind racers in the sag wagon back to the start.  They understood my pain and agony and comforted me as I cried and cried.  We called Philip and let him know what had happened.  Upon arriving back to the medic tent, I was looked over by a doctor.  Based on everything that had happened, he recommended that I go to the ER.  However, I have been to the ER a time or two and recognized that while I was hurting very badly, there was not much for them to do.  My helmet had protected my head, and every other injury was just going to take some time to heal.  As my ribs and hip hurt REALLY bad, I was fairly sure that I had not broken anything...I broke a bone several years ago and I remember vividly the shooting pain that came with a break.  A cracked rib must heal on its own.

After we were released, Philip and I made our way slowly back to the vehicle.  A few people asked me if I took a turn too sharp.  (Um, no...I would never do that.  I am the one slowing down to an almost crawl when I have to turn.)  I cried and cried and cried.  I was so shocked that this had happened, and even more shocking was the fact that the girl who hit me did not say one word to me.  Not one word before she headed back out to make her Ironman dreams come true.

We went back to our hotel room so I could get cleaned up.  I had seen the injuries on my hand and hip, but the tears started again when I saw how awful my back and elbow looked.  Philip helped me quite a bit during this whole process, and I kept thinking how we had went through "for better or worse" more than our share.

As we were still in Florida until the next morning, we decided that we were not going to waste our trip sitting in a hotel room.  We headed to Pier Park and ate at Margaritaville and then went to a movie.  (We never do this at home...it took being in Florida to get us to the movie theater.) Of course we didn't make this a late night--we ended up going back to pack and watched a bit of the Nebraska game before heading back bright and early the next day.

So here we are a few days afterward.  I have accepted what has happened and am able to walk and move around.  Physically, I am okay.  Yes, things could have been worse.  But couldn't they have been better as well??  I told Philip that I am looking very hard for the good in this situation.  As with all of the bad things that have occured, I have been able to find the good...eventually.  So until then, I am going to try my hardest to focus on the good! Lots of blessings in this life.