The bags are unpacked, bike has returned, and all of the post race euphoria has settled in only to have the cycle begin again as I mentally prepare for the World Championships 70.3! The post title I think says it all as I did get lucky in Kentucky at Ironman Kentucky. With all of the training in place and gear checked I knew that me winning my age would basically come down to luck in the end, meaning no gear problems or things out of my control would occur come race day. This is exactly what went down at the race...
Traveling to Kentucky... I just want to say that I am not typically a superstitious person, I don't believe in ghosts or aliens or anything of that nature, but come time for a big event I become the biggest omen freak, grasping on to anything I can, that points in a positive direction. Which is why I was stoked when the movie being shown on the flight out there was Ironman, ( score omen number one baby) then, we got our rental car and it had New York plates, ( score number two in the omen category), and the night before we left we had been forced to switch hotels at the last minute which was for jake, a major stress bomb, but turned out to be epic because we ended up with a dope sweet overlooking the city which was closer to the venue!! ( I will count this as number three).
Alright so.... The swim.... Very interesting.... This ironman is very different from your typical start, it's a rolling time trial start which basically means not as much boxing, pummeling or being swam over at the beginning. Basically the only downfall is not knowing at all where you are in the race as far as placement because everybody starts at a different time. Anyhow the swim was awesome, I felt pretty good heading out weaving through everyone and the temperature was perfect, about 82 degrees, nice and toasty, just how I like it. Once we made the turn around to head back, there was a current pushing us which was awesome and I cruised to the finish with plenty of room and bridges for sighting. I was shooting for about a 1:05 so when jake told me I was sub an hour I almost found it hard to believe . Fifth out of the water in my age set up the day right where I wanted it:) Of course at the time I had no idea what place I was in.
Swim time: 59:39
Swim time: 59:39
The bike: the bike course was a two loop very hilly course in the beautiful Kentucky farmland. I was a little worried for the first quarter of the bike because my legs weren't quite warming up but by about mile 35ish they started to come around. Long bike story short, I felt great for the rest of the ride, my nutrition was on point( thanks first endurance), and I came rolling into T2 feeling pretty awesome! At this point I heard jake yell you're in fourth!!booyah!
Bike time: 5:44.40
The run: Hearing Jake yell that I was in fourth was music to my ears, because then I knew that first in my age was in reach, especially since running is my jam. I turned the corner to head out into the city, where jake was cheering me on and delivering info. " the first girl is eight minutes ahead" go run her down!" K , totally doable I thought, but it is marathon so first thing is first, get into a groove. Head down plugging away I passed the first two girls, I think within minutes, one tried to hang on but eventually fell off which boosted my morale a bit. For the first 4 miles I decide to just sip water and let the stomach settle.. My track record with nausea on the run is terrible so I have to be careful. Once I felt ready to try some calories I grabbed my fuel but it would not take and the nausea monster was among us.. I ended up just doing water and coke for the rest of the marathon... Yes that's it, just coke and water. About mile 14 is where I rolled up on a huge cheering section on fourth street with was a big lift and there I saw jake! , another huge lift!! He told me that first was now only 2.5 minutes ahead, score!! a third huge lift!! " I got this! ", I yelled to Jake, and was on my way. Unfortunately the euphoria of seeing jake and the crowd soon wore off, and by mile sixteen the no calories or electrolyte thing was starting to catch up to me:( my back and left leg began cramping and I was just maintaining a steady pace purely on my mantras, one of which was " you want this, you signed up for this!" At about mile 19 I was barely hanging on using all of my aid stations for coke and water just to make it to the next station which was a mile away. I even sucked no one potato chip. Hoping that somehow a tiny bit of salt would enter the system, but not so much. I plugged away mile by mile, saying to myself use your aid stations at every mile for hydration. My back and legs were cramping bad but I felt if I could just get to mile 24 there would be a crowd to lift me up and carry me to the finish line mentally. This is exactly what ended up happening, As i reached fourth street live I could hear the crowds, the announcer, the music and i began crying, still not knowing exactly the place i was in, i didn't care, finishing became the victory and i was proud of the work i had done to get to this celebration. I crossed the finish and the guy who passed in front of me collapsed. I found my way to Jake with his big smile and proud look he gets!! " you got first, we are going to Kona" !! I could barely speak through the crying and exhaustion, all I could muster up was " really?? are you sure??" The next thought was " wow I am going to do this again in six weeks:)."
Run Time: 3:35:36
Total Time: 10:28.46
I ended up with a 1st in my age( 30-34), 4th place overall amateur girls. Thank you to coach AJ for training me to do this, for pushing me to the point that made me tougher mentally and physically and knowing my limits to a tee. Thanks to Wasatch Running and Canyon Bicycles for all of the support and keeping my bike race ready. Thanks to First Endurance, having my nutrition on the bike nailed was epic. Thanks Porcupine for helping me get to this race and supporting my dreams. Thanks to training buddies for lifting me up when i had a rough day, and for being athletes that I can strive to be like. My family thanks for listening and to Jake my biggest fan, support sherpa, counselor, bike tech, chef, driver, travel agent, the list goes on and on... thanks for believing that I can be all I want to be!!
Bike time: 5:44.40
The run: Hearing Jake yell that I was in fourth was music to my ears, because then I knew that first in my age was in reach, especially since running is my jam. I turned the corner to head out into the city, where jake was cheering me on and delivering info. " the first girl is eight minutes ahead" go run her down!" K , totally doable I thought, but it is marathon so first thing is first, get into a groove. Head down plugging away I passed the first two girls, I think within minutes, one tried to hang on but eventually fell off which boosted my morale a bit. For the first 4 miles I decide to just sip water and let the stomach settle.. My track record with nausea on the run is terrible so I have to be careful. Once I felt ready to try some calories I grabbed my fuel but it would not take and the nausea monster was among us.. I ended up just doing water and coke for the rest of the marathon... Yes that's it, just coke and water. About mile 14 is where I rolled up on a huge cheering section on fourth street with was a big lift and there I saw jake! , another huge lift!! He told me that first was now only 2.5 minutes ahead, score!! a third huge lift!! " I got this! ", I yelled to Jake, and was on my way. Unfortunately the euphoria of seeing jake and the crowd soon wore off, and by mile sixteen the no calories or electrolyte thing was starting to catch up to me:( my back and left leg began cramping and I was just maintaining a steady pace purely on my mantras, one of which was " you want this, you signed up for this!" At about mile 19 I was barely hanging on using all of my aid stations for coke and water just to make it to the next station which was a mile away. I even sucked no one potato chip. Hoping that somehow a tiny bit of salt would enter the system, but not so much. I plugged away mile by mile, saying to myself use your aid stations at every mile for hydration. My back and legs were cramping bad but I felt if I could just get to mile 24 there would be a crowd to lift me up and carry me to the finish line mentally. This is exactly what ended up happening, As i reached fourth street live I could hear the crowds, the announcer, the music and i began crying, still not knowing exactly the place i was in, i didn't care, finishing became the victory and i was proud of the work i had done to get to this celebration. I crossed the finish and the guy who passed in front of me collapsed. I found my way to Jake with his big smile and proud look he gets!! " you got first, we are going to Kona" !! I could barely speak through the crying and exhaustion, all I could muster up was " really?? are you sure??" The next thought was " wow I am going to do this again in six weeks:)."
Run Time: 3:35:36
Total Time: 10:28.46
I ended up with a 1st in my age( 30-34), 4th place overall amateur girls. Thank you to coach AJ for training me to do this, for pushing me to the point that made me tougher mentally and physically and knowing my limits to a tee. Thanks to Wasatch Running and Canyon Bicycles for all of the support and keeping my bike race ready. Thanks to First Endurance, having my nutrition on the bike nailed was epic. Thanks Porcupine for helping me get to this race and supporting my dreams. Thanks to training buddies for lifting me up when i had a rough day, and for being athletes that I can strive to be like. My family thanks for listening and to Jake my biggest fan, support sherpa, counselor, bike tech, chef, driver, travel agent, the list goes on and on... thanks for believing that I can be all I want to be!!
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