The journey to Ironman started almost one year ago. The day after IM Florida '13 I had a wild hair to try my luck at regular registration, my friend Debby had gotten in early registration so I thought... why not? IM Florida typically sells out with a minute of opening. Most people I know that have raced it went down the year before to volunteer to secure their spots for the following years race. I knew the chances were slim to none for me to get in... had I known I would get in I don't know if I would have tried registering :) However, 12:00 on Nov 2 I hit the register button and got accepted. Oh boy.... here we go!!!
Pre Race:
I arrived in Panama City Beach Wednesday afternoon after a long 10 hour drive. Thursday morning we got up early for a practice swim in the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It was pretty uneventful except for the "flying" stingrays that would leap out of the water 2 feet from you. I felt really good in the swim and knew I was at a "go" for race day. The water temperature was hovering around 76 degrees so we were all anxious about what would happen on race day. Little did we know that was the last thing we needed to be worried about.
Friday morning I woke up and checked the weather again.... 61/39 21-33 mph winds. Yep.... I needed more clothes so off to Walmart I went.... again. I also did something you are not suppose to do the day before a race. I went a bought an aero helmet and new compression socks. "Nothing new on race day" kinda goes out the window with the weather. I mostly bought the helmet to try and stay warm rather than the "aero" benefit (that was just a bonus). Get back to the condo and finish packing the 5 bags they give you and I go out for my test ride and test the new helmet. It was pretty windy outside so it gave me a sense of what it's going to feel like to be knocked around a little except about 30 degrees cooler.
That afternoon 2 of 3 of my Sherpas and virtual cheerleaders arrive!!!! It was so good to see Erin and finally meet Stude.
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| Erin and Stude |
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| Figam cheerleaders |
After visiting with Erin, Stude and Brad (my brother) I had dinner in the condo and off to bed. 3:30 is going to come early!!!
RACE DAY!!!!!
Well I woke up at 3:30 to the sound of wind howling through the condo (not good). I walked out onto the balcony and even though it was still dark I could see and hear the waves. You have to realized... the last 2 days the ocean has been like glass. Beautiful and calm... today.... not so much. So next I do what any sane triathlete does.... checks the weather one more time. Gale force wind warning... high profile vehicle warning... tie your lawn furniture and kids down kind of warning. I jump onto the IMFL chat page and it's blowing up people talking about the weather and something I hadn't even thought of... rip tides and cross currents. Not once all week had I worried about ripe tides and cancellation of the swim but now everyone seemed a little worried. Once everyone was up I started getting dressed. Decided to go ahead and wear my wetsuit as clothing for the warmth.
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| Yes... putting on a wetsuit does take a village |
We head down to the race start around 5:00am. I still have to pump up my tires and Stude was kind enough to drop off my special needs bags so Erin and I could go back inside to stay warm until it was time to head to the beach.
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| My open water swim partner Lance... all smiles because we still think we are swimming |
About 6:40 we head outside to the beach. The sun is coming up and it's the 1st time I've seen the ocean in the daylight. I looked out in the ocean and the thing that came to mind is "someone is going to die out there". Yep.... That's what I thought. It was that rough. As triathletes we aren't the best at determining what is safe and what is not. Sometimes, we have to have someone do that for us because I'm pretty sure 2600 of us would have ran out into that when the canon went off.
The Swim:
6:53am "We wanted to let you know... based on heavy rip currents and our inability for our safety personnel to be positioned on the water... To ensure your safety we have cancelled the swim" Dave Ragsdale (Ironman Florida Announcer)
It's hard to explain how I felt after hearing that announcement. "Knife to the heart" is probably the closest I can come. I turned to Erin and Stude and all I could say is "it's not an ironman anymore". I was so upset I started texting my coach. She was trying to tell me it was still a race and it's something I've work towards but at that time all I could think was this wasn't what I had trained for. I trained for a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. I was devastated.
T1:
They told us we would have a time trial start beginning at 8:00. We were told to head to T1 to get our bags and change. 2600 people in transition is not fun.. long line into transition and long line into changing tent. Finally grab my bag and head in to change. Upside to no swim is dry hair. I ended up putting on my thermal long sleeve top, tri top, bike jersey over tri top, arm warmers over my thermal and 2 pair of gloves. I was going to be dressed like the abominable snowman on the bike. Have I mentioned it's cold and windy?
T1 time: 2 hours standing in the cold (good times)
The Swim:
6:53am "We wanted to let you know... based on heavy rip currents and our inability for our safety personnel to be positioned on the water... To ensure your safety we have cancelled the swim" Dave Ragsdale (Ironman Florida Announcer)
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| This is some of the rescue personnel having to be rescued |
T1:
They told us we would have a time trial start beginning at 8:00. We were told to head to T1 to get our bags and change. 2600 people in transition is not fun.. long line into transition and long line into changing tent. Finally grab my bag and head in to change. Upside to no swim is dry hair. I ended up putting on my thermal long sleeve top, tri top, bike jersey over tri top, arm warmers over my thermal and 2 pair of gloves. I was going to be dressed like the abominable snowman on the bike. Have I mentioned it's cold and windy?
T1 time: 2 hours standing in the cold (good times)
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| T1 selfie: Longest transition EVER!! (we are delirious) photo creds: Lance |
Coaches new race plan: Keep both wheels on the ground! FINALLY after a 2 hour wait my group heads to the start line. I'm happy to finally get moving even if it's into a 20-30 mph headwind. I love to ride my bicycle!!! We knew from studying the map and winds that the 1st 26 miles was going to be straight into the winds. I was mentally prepared for this so my job for the next 2 hours was to only watch my power meter and get my nutrition down. (oh.. and don't crash). Going through the condo's was pretty interesting it was like a wind tunnel and if you weren't prepared for it, it could knock you around a bit. Made it through that part just fine and headed into the wind. I had a little break down about an hour into the ride. I kept thinking.. this is stupid... I'm doing this for nothing... I'm getting the crap beat out of me in the wind and it isn't even an ironman anymore. I got pretty down. I never wanted to quit, that wasn't an option but the best way to explain it is I was pissed! Once I finally made the turn around mile 26 I got happy again. I even threw my hand into the air and yelled "yeeeeesss tailwind"! haha Turning out of the headwind and into a somewhat tailwind will do that to you. I think they also call it delirium. That was pretty much the whole ride... headwind.... tailwind.... crosswind.....(repeat). We finally made our last turn at mile 82 and headed back in (semi tailwind!!!) except for a little 5 mile out and back. I was one happy girl when I made the final turn onto beach front row and saw my friends/brother waiting for me! I even yelled out (I seemed to have yelled a lot on this ride) and the announcer said "we see you" "we love it when our athletes make contact with their crew in crowd". Ha.
Run:
I use the term run loosely. I went out with a 4:1 run/walk ratio. My running hasn't been very good lately so my strategy was to try and run the 1st half and just get through the 2nd half as best as I could. I felt really good coming off of the bike. I pretty much nailed my nutrition and did my best to save some legs for the run. The 1st 10 miles went as planned before my legs started to go on me. It was getting really cold at this point and I just kept telling myself to just keep moving forward. Around mile 15 is when I had my 3rd breakdown of the day. I knew I was headed into the "park of doom" which is a dark lonely stretch through the State Park and you need a headlamp just to make sure you don't twist an ankle on something. My right foot is really hurting at this point and I was pretty sure I was loosing 3 toenails. I even stopped once and sat down in the middle of the road to try and adjust my sock. (protip: don't ever sit down in the marathon portion of an ironman.... you almost can't get back up). Once I got back up it was really hard to get going again. I would start running (or what I thought was running) and I would look at my watch and I would be doing a 16 min mile. I think they call this the "Ironman shuffle" and I had it down!! Finally once I got through the park my spirits lifted a bit. Erin, Stude and Brad had came further into the course to meet me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Seeing friends and family when you feel close to death can actually light a fire back under you!
I continued on with my run/walk/shuffle with the end finally in sight. I can't explain the feeling you get when you are close enough to hear the finish line! Everything that you've been through that day is now worth it. The disappointment, the pain, the self doubt is gone when you start running up the finisher shoot. Everything disappears when you hear those words you have been waiting for for almost a year. Julie Lewis.... You Are An Ironman!!!
It's taken me a while to reflect and wrap my head around everything that transpired on Nov. 1st. They say that IRONMAN is where anything is possible. I truly believe that everyone that crossed the finish line that day is a true IRONMAN. It isn't just about the day, it's about the months and months of training and sacrifice. It's about overcoming obstacles and learning to adapt. We started our day with a cancelled swim, a T1 transition that lasted 2-3 hours in the freezing cold and then had to head out into 20-30 mph headwinds. This wasn't the Ironman we wanted but it was the one that was given to us. I know some will say we fell short of the 140.6 and that's ok too, I'm not here to argue that. Personally I have some unfinished business. I will see you again in May IRONMAN.... meet me in Texas :)
