Race Day!

This year was not my year to be an Ironman. It was a hard fought battle, but turned out not to be my day.

The Swim
Ironically, the swim turned out to be the easiest part of the day. The swim! The swim that had foiled two other triathlon finishes. The segment that had always struck the most fear in my heart was dispatched the most successfully.

Bea and I in line at the swim start.

Bea and I had originally intended to line up close to the front of the swim line to give us as much time as possible to complete it. However, we ran into a couple of ladies that had done it previously and their war stories of being too close to the front and literally being swam over by the 50-minute swimmers had us rethinking where we should be in line. I don't mind being bumped a little, but if someone swam over me completely, it would be difficult for me to recover from that. 

The swim start was very quickly and efficiently executed. After waiting about an hour in line, it was suddenly my turn to jump into the water. My nerves weren't raging out of control, but I was nervous, and even as I surfaced, I decided I needed to come back and hang on the dock for a few seconds. The official started to say something to me...probably "get out of the way," but once he saw that others were able to jump over me, he didn't say anything else. I let my nerves calm down, and then I took off.

The water had been measured at 84 degrees, so no wetsuits were allowed, as expected. It felt cool and refreshing. The swim was crowded, but I just kept my head down and did my thing. I soon got into my rhythm and felt pretty good.

When I got close to the end of Towhead Island, people started converging and the area was very congested. I managed to get a facefull of water and came up sputtering. Since I don't tread water well, I had a panicky moment, and was wheezing. Some guy behind me saw my distress and stopped to ask if I was okay, and then held me up until the support crew could throw me a floatation pillow. Another reason, I LOVE the triathlon community in general!

I managed to get over to the canoe and held on for  a few (or a lot of) minutes until I got my breath back. It also gave me an opportunity to pee :-). I was then able to start up again and continue the swim. As I was swimming along, I noticed that a kayak seemed to be following me. I finally understood that was veering off course and righted myself. Leave it to me to get lost on a course that was basically a straight line.

Courtesy of the IMLV Facebook page.

The morning was beautiful. After we made the turn around the island, the three bridges came into sight. I can't believe so many speak so harshly of swimming in the Ohio River, as I thought it was beautiful. The sun was shining and the sky was a clear blue.  I had thought that we had to go under all three bridges, so was pleasantly surprised when I suddenly saw the red turn buoy much sooner than I expected.

I heard Leslie call my name as I ran out of the swim finish. I screamed! I saw Liz, my coach. I screamed! When I was out on the bike course, I got a little emotional. I had just finished an Ironman swim! Only a year ago, I DNFed on a 400-meter swim in a lake that was like glass, and I had just completed 2.4 miles. An added bonus was that in spite of my moments of hanging on the boats and docks and going off course a bit, I still managed to complete it in under 1:48! After my Kansas 70.3 debacle, I was afraid I wouldn't make the swim time limit of 2:20. Wow, I've come a long way, baby!

The Bike
Sadly, the bike course proved to be the beginning of the end. I went out conservatively and felt pretty darn good for the first 30 miles. My bike split was a little over 18 mph, a little higher than I intended, but I knew I had not pounded it. My legs felt relatively fresh after my two week taper, and I had taken a couple of Gu gels by that point. However, around mile 30, I started getting a nagging headache that felt a little like a dehydration headache in spite of the fluids I had been downing. I continued to drink and take in more salt.

Wasn't smiling very long.
(Bike proof from Finisherpix)

At 45, I was feeling like I usually did around 80 on my training rides. Not a good sign. I had gotten about a third of the way on the first lap of the loop, which was a bit hillier than I had expected. I found that when I stood up to get up the steeper hills, both quads were crampy...not full blown cramps but definitely on the edge. Another bad sign. I upped my salt intake.

The day continually got worse. I dumped the Isis Infinit drink I was trying (I know, I know...nothing new on race day, but they had Ironman Perform sports drink on the course, and I never was able to find it here in town to try, so something new was going to happen anyway). Even though, I never thought it got very hot, the day was warm and I wasn't able to take in much nutrition. All they had at the aid stations that was real food were bananas. I tried to take one when I could. I didn't care for the taste of the Ironman Perform, but tried to drink it anyway.

I continued to get more nauseous and crampy, and then got the bike bonk sleepies. I was stopping at each of the aid stations to down another bottle of icy cold water, but I couldn't get anything else down. I pulled off the road at one point, thinking if I could throw up, I might feel better.  I wasn't able to vomit, but I laid in the grass for a while anyway.

I moved on to the next aid station and did throw up three times in a portapotty there. However, I couldn't shake the headache or the cramps or the nausea. I couldn't drink any more Ironman Perform or eat solid food. I did try to choke down another couple of Gu packs.

At the 103 mile aid station, I was so thirsty for more water, I stopped again. Immediately, my left quad seized up in a near incapacitating cramp. A wonderful volunteer helped me off the bike and put ice on my knotted thigh. I don't know how long I was there. I only had nine miles left to go. I could get in! However, I stopped one more time two miles out from transition because I thought I was going to pass out.

The Run
By the time I finally did make to transition, I really thought I was done. I was so sick. I handed off my bike and picked up my clothes bag and shuffled around to the women's changing tent. I collapsed in the grass in the shade. A volunteer brought me some water which I took gratefully. I immediately threw it up. They brought me some cola, which helped, but the sugary aftertaste set my stomach to heaving again. They offered to take me to the medical tent, but I wasn't sure if that would mean I was done with the race, and in spite of my sickness, I wasn't sure I was done. Eventually, I got changed and back out on the run course. It was about 5:30 pm, meaning I had about six hours to complete the marathon. My stomach was feeling better, thanks to the ice a volunteer had given me to chew on.

Our wonderful sherpas decorated the streets
of the run course. 

I later learned that my bike split was 8:00:04 (not too bad considering how much I laid on the ground during that ride) and I'd spent 36 minutes in transition. I did still had a fighting chance to finish, if I could just keep walk/trotting along at a sub-14 minute pace. My legs did feel pretty good, though the running was painful in my stomach sphincter area.

It just wasn't to be. My nausea resurfaced, and I couldn't take in any more nutrition aside from ice water. Mary had slipped me some ibuprofen, which actually did take care of the lingering headache and Jenny found a couple of Pepto Bismal tablets she threw over her shoulder at me. Those didn't help. My average pace was inching up. I knew that without being able to get some calories in, I wouldn't be able to keep it up enough to make the time frame...and I really didn't want to get to mile 24 only to be told too bad, so sad.

I made it to the turn around for the second lap and went to the special needs area for the run to turn in my chip. I threw up again...and again...and a third time.  I was going to be taken to the medical area for an IV. I threw up three more times in the ambulance on the way. I really believe that I made the right decision to stop when I did, but there is still a tiny wonder if I could have made it in.

Another triathlon DNF. My biggest fear, not finishing, had come to fruition. So close, yet so far. There were so many things that was frustrating about this, but I think the biggest one was I was ready for this race from a fitness perspective. I had done the work and my body was ready. To be taken down because of nutrition issues was a bitter pill.

All the coaches preach nutrition, and I took it all in. But, my training rides were all so different. I couldn't figure out what worked for me as one ride I wouldn't be able to eat anything solid, the next I could handle real food. I thought I would be okay with Gu and sports drink and salt, as long as I remembered to take it in often enough. That proved to not work out so well.

The cramping was also new. It happened on my last long training ride, but I thought it was an anomaly. Now, I wonder if was because I switched to salt with caffeine.

Nutrition is going to be a hard thing to figure out since it is difficult to simulate the conditions consistently.  Ah, well... every tri has been a unique and interesting learning experience. I admit that maybe I didn't have any business attempting an Ironman with only one successful 70.3 under my belt...and only nine successful races to my credit. I suppose there is no failure with no attempts, but there is also no success.

I just wonder if I'll have the time and perseverance to try this again.