Perfection is not reality

    No Ironman I've ever done has been perfect. Ive never breezed through without, a punch or donkey kick to the face in the swim, hip, back pain, numb feet while biking, over heating, being freezing, fighting back puking the whole marathon, cramping legs, heel on fire, blisters, chafing in various areas of my body.. You get the picture. Although these are uncomfortable situations well ...they are par for the Ironman course. It is a given that you will be hit with some of these issues on race day because it's impossible to have a prefect day out there. However it's up to me to fight through these problems and to some degree I do have complete control of all of those situations. What I have never truly dealt with racing is something that I don't have control of such as a bike mechanical issue ... Until Sunday at Ironman Chattanooga.
    Everything was going great leading to race day . Our home stay at the Kilbrides was so amazing . Mary made our stay so comfortable, showing us around town and giving us help with anything we needed. Their beautiful home was located right on the run course and Mary and Bill were out there with the best cheering crowd the whole entire race. Thanks Bill and Mary!
   It was raining cats and dogs the two days prior but the forecast said no rain for race day so I was prepared for anything. Come race morning it was warm and dry so I was hyped!
   The swim: This swim is smokin fast it's a point to point with a current in our favor. The water was about mid 70's so no wetsuit. There were 38 of us pro women so quite a big group to swim with and as soon as the gun went off I was able to find a pack of about five that I pretty much rolled with the whole way. I hopped out with one girl directly in front of me and tried to keep with her through transition. Once I grabbed my bike there were a couple girls in front and behind me close by.

Swim time : 49:54
 The Bike:
  I was super excited to test out my new Diamondback Serios on this course. This bike is sick! I got it not too long before the race so I am still working out the kinks fit wise but is fast and rides like a
boss. My legs were feeling a bit sluggish the first five to ten miles but usually it takes a minute for
them to come around so no shocker there. I had a few gals off the bat roll by me until I settled in with 3 women legally spaced and made sure I was the legal distance behind but keeping and eye on maintaining that pace. At about mile 13 I got a swift kick in the ass when I looked down at my wheel and noticed that my aero bars were completely twisted to the left. What??

The headset was loose. I spent the next couple of miles trying to maintain my speed and double checking to make sure I wasn't tripping out or something. Maybe I'm just seeing things? nope, the wheel was straight, I was riding straight and the aeros were headed left. So now what? Come up with a plan. The next 17 miles I rode in and out of denial thinking maybe I could twist them back while riding or maybe I could ride the next 103 miles all twisted? Nope... Too dangerous and too much risk of injury to my body and bike.
   It was inevitable, I was going to have to stop. Which meant for me ...there goes my race and the hope of doing as well as I could possibly do. Basically I ended up riding to the turn around at mile 30 and
fixed my problem, tightened the headset etc...This ended up being about a 25 minute detour. But now what. I was  not only in dead last place as a pro but they had about a 25 minute lead on me:(  with
quitting not being an option I had to devise a new plan. A mental plan to get me through a now
unmotivated next 85 miles on the bike and a marathon . I decided that I would just push as strong as I could for the rest of the bike and try and put out a solid marathon and test the legs.
Bike time : 6:02:54
   The run:
   As I pulled into T2 I couldn't wait to see Jake. I had just spent 80 miles sort of beating myself up, wondering if I made the right decisions, fearing that it would be one of the toughest marathons for me   mentally. I picked up my run bag and there he was nodding his head to let me know he knew something had gone wrong judging by the splits. Just seeing that he knew what was happening made me feel a lot better . I spent a little longer in T2 than usual and hit up the Porto potty on the way out. Why not ?I figured, it's the one time where I wasn't in a huge rush to get out of there. As I started the run, Jake was on the chute waving for me to come to him for a hug. Normally I would be booking it outta there but this time I needed a hug and some encouragement. I went over and immediately started balling trying to get out what happened. I was so happy when he assured me it was ok and to finish this thing with a strong run. It made me feel so much better and have me the motivation I needed to run that marathon. And in an instant I went from this...

                                                   
To this...

The marathon for me ended up being a pretty good time and I owe it all to he amazing volunteers and spectators in Chattanooga. They kept me motivated and feeling strong with there words of encouragement . I just kept ticking away miles, taking in the scenery with really no stress about how fast or where I placed in the race. I was happy to be finishing an Ironman.! This course was hilly at times, flat at times and kind of beat you up on the second loop.  By the last six miles I was feeling like this...

   But that's normal for me towards the end:) Once I crossed that line I was of course bummed that I didnt have the day I planned but had a sense of pride for sticking it out and remaining in the game I went from 37 place to 27th . 

Run time 3:35:46

   I learn something at every race I do and no one is like another. As I said, no day is perfect, that's just not realistic... Ironman is all about dealing with problems as they are thrown at you and moving on. Up next is Ironman Arizona... and I bet that wont be perfect either;) but I am super stoked to have another crack at it. 

Thank you team Wattie Ink and all of our sponsors. The Kilbrides for the best home stay!

To coach AJ who always focuses on the positives, The Healing Willow for keeping this body in check, Elete, OFS and my friends and family who always treat me like a rock star, even if I have a bad day!