Death march...

This past Sunday was one of the most frustrating Ironman finishes that I have had. It was my eleventh Ironman. Despite my 4th place finish in IM Lake Placid 2008 was a dissapointing season for me. However, my training was going great and I felt ready for Arizona. My friends were there, my parents and George were there and I stayed with my friend Michelle before the race. I was acclimated I was ready and I was psyched! The morning of the race came and I was quite nervous. The water was cold and I wanted to be sure to warm up...I was the first woman to enter the water. Without a warmup, I would definitely lose my breath in the beginning of the race (like I did in Boise 70.3) and I wanted to avoid that. After a long warm up, the pros lined up in the water and waiting for the gun to go off. Next to me was Tyler Stewart. She said hello and Good Luck. We both agreed that the swim was not our favorite part of the race. Soon the gun went off and so were we. It was one of the biggest pro fields to compete: over 60 men and over 20 women! I got into a good pack right away. We stayed together for the whole swim, sometimes I led, sometimes one of the others took over. I noticed that one of the girls in the pack was Tyler. Funny since we started together. I also noticed Haley Copper (fellow ZOOT Teammate). I exited the water and realized that the air was chilly! I quickly got on my bike and was on my way. Haley and Tyler were ahead of me, but in sight.

WINDY! It seemed that we had a good head wind on the way out (by good, I mean STRONG, not “good”). My legs didn’t feel great to begin with. In fact, they ached! Yikes…not a good sign...”just keep pushing” I said to myself. “You will open up soon enough”. I did get somewhat used to the pain, but I can’t say that they felt “great” or “effortless” at any point on the bike. By the end of the bike, I was fading a bit, but trying to keep up my 1:44-1:45 laps for a 5:15!! The last lap was a bit slower, but I still managed a 5:19 at the end of the bike! Woo Hoo! Actually, 5:20 according to the race splits. “Awesome” I thought…”I only have to run a 3:25 and I’ll be well under 10”! If I go sub 3:20 (my goal for the day), I’ll be in the 9:40’s!!!! I can DEFINITELY do that!

I started running and tried to “run how I feel”. Since I didn’t "feel great”, I didn't want to push an unreasonable pace. First mile: sub-7 min. “OK, Keep it steady and comfortable”. Next mile: 7 min. “Nice, Im going to have a great run!”. Next mile (including a bit of an incline) 7:25, next mile: 7:11. I ran by George and my parents after the 3rd mile, told them that I didn’t feel great, but then managed a nice smile…I still assumed I would run well, despite not feeling amazing. “Eventually the feeling will go away and you will feel fine... You will be on autopilot”. Soon after this I got a side-stitch. I didn’t want to stop. It got worse. I ran slower. Eventually, I stopped for a "bathroom break"…”Well this is just GREAT”! I thought. I started running again... It lasted a little while, then I slowed again. I ran past my family again and gave them the thumbs down. Bummer. The remainder of the marathon was running, walking, bathroom stops, walking, chatting with others. In fact, I even thought of the title for this blog during the marathon! I knew my “sure thing” of breaking 10 hours (going WAY under 10 hours) was gone. I wanted to quit, but couldn’t. My parents went out of their way to be there, George went out of his way to be there and I just couldn’t DNF. So, I got through it. I ended up running my slowest marathon since my first Ironman back in 2001: 3:50-something. I finished at 10:21.

I felt disappointment for myselfand for my family who all went out of there way to be there for me. I wanted to have that great race, not another rough day! I finished, disappointed, but soon after crossing the line I looked over and saw Geroge, smile on his face as I posed for a finish picture unenthusiastically...I had to laugh and it made all the dissappointment fade, for a little while anyway!

I do have great frustration with this race because I know that it was there and I only had to do what I normally do, but this is Ironman and it is a tough sport. We all put so much mental energy into what we do and so much physical energy into these races and we want it to go absolutely right on when we race. It just doesn’t happen that way. SO, a friend of mine (Bob Cook) said he thought of a great mantra for me..."Things will be fine in 2009". I like this thought. So I move on and learn from it, plan ahead for a fine race in 2009!