It was a gorgeous day July 25th for a Half Ironman. The lake was calm, there was no wind on the bike course, the sky was clear as could be, and it was HOT. A ton of teammates and a couple of friends were also doing this race so I knew it was going to be a fun one with so many people I knew racing.
The first thing I noticed when I woke up that morning, before even getting out of bed, was that I was SORE. Great. I had gone to my company golf outing the Thursday prior, and I was actually sore from golfing. Yes, an Ironman hopeful who trains her butt off daily, was battered and bruised from 18 holes of golf. I miss the ball, a lot, usually the first swing of every shot. I think all the swinging and missing was what made me sore. Sad. Nonetheless, I got out there and was determined to give it my all.
The swim felt slow. My arms felt exhausted. All of me did. I usually kick sparingly, trying to save my legs for the other two events, but my arms were so sore I started kicking more to try and propel myself forward. Once I was kicking more, my feet started to cramp. GREAT. I had to ease back up on the kicking and stick with trying to pull myself through the 1.2 mile swim.
Once I FINALLY completed the swim, I was off on the bike. It started off well. I liked the course, very flat with a few rollers. That's just what I needed this day. I managed through it, feeling more and more exhausted as I went and my pace slowing in response. At about the 40 mile mark I was literally thinking about bed, how much I love bedtime, being in my cozy bed, how good my bed would feel, and how I just wish I could shut my eyes and magically be back in my bed. That was making my pace even slower, so I tried to turn the thoughts to "only a half marathon left once you get off this bike, THEN you can go back to bed." ONLY a half marathon, right.
Once onto the run I was feeling ok. Within the first 2 miles I started getting pretty hot so I started taking more Endurolytes. I felt pretty good soon after taking one, but within about 20 minutes I felt like I needed another. I took one every 20 minutes or so. I was running along fine (not fast, but fine) until about mile 8 or 9, then I really started to fade. I was also out of Endurolytes, and the exhaustion had set in. This was a feeling I haven't really felt before. It was not so much "tired" as it was literal exhaustion. My mind, body and every inch of me was just DONE. Coach had actually been biking on the course and was biking along side of me when I started getting this feeling. It helped to have his positivity there and he told me to drink some Gatorade and water, and to dump some water on my head. That was all good, but within a couple of minutes I was back to being a slug. I still wished I could have had ONE more Endurolyte since I still had 3 miles left. I know now for Ironman to bring more than I think I'll ever need, so at least I have them there as an option.
Coach was taking pictures of all of us out on the run course. This one must have been before I got to mile 9, back when I was still smiling.
Eventually I made it back into the park and up the hill to the finish line. I finished in 5:47. That was a 6 minute improvement from the Liberty Half Ironman I had done 6 weeks prior, and a PR! I HAD TO be happy about that. Time didn't matter today though, I was just happy to be done. I just wanted to sit down and stay there for a long, long time. I was able to find all my teammates and friends and find out everybody's results. Lots of people had tough days. Nutrition not settling well in tummies, and there were some with heat related issues. There were plenty of great results too, so all around it was a super fun race to be a part of.
Stacy actually took a video of me crossing the finish line. It's not pretty, but here it is. Like I said, the word of the day was 'EXHAUSTED'.
Sitting down on the grass so soon after finishing the race was the worst mistake of the day. My legs hurt SO badly once I got up. They were tingling and felt like I was going to lose feeling in them. It was nuts. Once that sensation was gone, they started cramping and I couldn't stretch them out enough to get it to stop. The entire afternoon and evening was tough. I'd get a charley horse in my calf, and when I'd tried to stretch that out, I'd get a charley horse in the muscle next to my shin! I tried to take a nap to forget about it all, but I'd get woken up by a leg cramp.
I must have been dehydrated starting a day or two before. The first sign was when I felt some cramping in my feet during the swim. I have never had leg cramps like that and hope to never again. I am on the compression sock bandwagon as a result of this. Not sure I'll be racing in them, but I'll be wearing them after all of my workouts and races for sure. My tight calves were a contributing factor to the plantar fasciitis I developed early on in the season so I probably should have gotten a few pairs many months ago. Who knows, maybe I'll turn into one of those dorks who even race in them. No offense to any of those dorks who may be reading this. :)
Next weekend is BIG. I am really looking forward to it! I am going to take it easy this week so I can be ready and cramp-free for all the miles we'll be putting in next weekend. Ironman bike course, here we come!
I worked hard on this book for many years, using markers and stamps to decorate each page. I almost filled the entire thing; all pages, front and back. I worked on it through high school, but once the college years came, I found I didn't have the time to do much more with it. Nonetheless, I was pleased with the results. It's something I have looked at many times throughout my life to get inspiration from. The words in this book helped me through the initial shock of leaving home my freshman year of college. It helped me get motivated and inspired for swim meets. It helped me get over breakups. It helped me grieve. And now it is giving me inspiration and motivation for Ironman. 
