The Great Floridian - Was I tough enough for this 140.6 mile journey?

Woke up at 5am - late start for race day but with a 7:30am swim start, didn't feel the need to get up too much earlier. I felt like I was rested enough to have ample energy for the grueling day that was before me...

We got to the race site at about 6:20am and there was a flurry of activity in the transition area. The air was thick, hot and very humid as the temperature was already climbing out of the 70s. The water temperatrue was about 76 degrees and I started to doubt my decision to wear the sleeveless wetsuit. Mike and my sister, Amy, told me it was too late now for the longsleeve as it was sitting in my garage back in Colorado. Fear overwhelmed me and with about 10 minutes to the start, I started to cry. I am sure that doesn't make sense to many of you because I have already done this, twice. But I still have doubts about my ability and strength to complete such an intense and physically challenging day. I put on my goggles and tried to choke back the tears.

Reflecting and waiting

2.4 Mile Swim
It was a beach start and the athletes were scattered all over the sand, standing next to their family members as the clock counted down. I was so grateful to have Mike and Amy at my side. Their uncanny ability to keep me calm and make me laugh was greatly needed. With about a minute to go, I found my place on the beach and said goodbye. I realized that I prefer the deep water start to the unstable, sandy start. I had to instantly make peace with the water as I started to run through the shallow edges of the lake, increasing my already high heart rate. About 30 seconds later, I was finally swimming. I stayed to the inside, left of the buoys as I have done previously and managed to get punched in the head within the first 200 meters. This is a small race, why was it so hard to find my own space? The rest of the first lap went by without any other major hiccups and I exited to the beach, crossed the mat and headed back out for lap 2.

Re-attaching timing chip

Unfortunately, my timing chip fell off and was floating in the water (as pointed out by an incredibly observant spectator) so I had to run over and grab it, cross the mat *again*, re-fasten the stupid strap and make my way back out *again.* What a cluster-f**k. Fortunately, the second lap was much smoother. No swinging fists as I just tried to hang onto a rhythm.

Swim Finish

T1 was quick. I swam in cycling clothes so all I had to do was get into my shoes and helmet and grab my bike. As I began to pedal, something felt very wrong. I dismounted and thought my back breaks were rubbing the tire. I frantically tried to fix the problem and got back on my bike to find it hadn't helped. I looked at my gears. DUH. I thought I had them in my smallest (easiest) gears but I had accidentally shifted them into the biggest (hardest) which is why it was so hard to pedal. Wasted 2 minutes with that rookie mistake.

T1

112 Mile Ride
It was already warm and very sunny. I just settled in mentally for a very long day. We drove a small portion of the course the day before and it was hilly. Little did I know... I kept it light and easy for the first 25 miles as we made our way towards Sugarloaf Mountain - the infamous screaming hill that thankfully we only had to ride up once today. Got to the top of that road and felt victorious. Great, I thought, now I can start to push it as the hardest part is behind me. WRONG.

My incredible support crew

This course is twice as hard as Wisconsin. The hills were relentless. Florida is a flat state except for Clermont. It is infamous for it's steep roads. Every time I made a turn, bam, there was a hill. and I am not talking baby hills. I am talking the kind so steep that your quads burn and scream and if you manage to hit 4mph you're lucky. The sunny skies and humid air didn't help. Not to mention the wind. Oh my gosh, was it windy. Like a horrible Colorado afternoon. I just told myself, keep moving forward, it's all you can do. My average speed was quickly declining. I had lost 1 bottle of infinit on the rough roads. I wanted to quit.

Special Needs

At mile 80, I almost stopped. I was averaging somewhere about 15.5 and my HR was so low, I couldn't get it into z2 as I struggled with the elements. This is why people stop and DNF on this course. The race director asks you before you register - Are you tough enough? There's a reason that question is such an essential part of this race's 19 year history. 140.6 miles itself is hard but throw in this bike course and it seems, well, impossible. To me anyways. But I couldn't stop. I didn't want to end the season with a DNF. My sub-13 hour dream was thrown out the window. I just wanted to get off the damned bike. My shoulders and upper back were sore. My seat was uncomfortable. Everything seemed to be working against me today.

Almost done

T2 was a little longer than I had planned as I chatted with 2 women already in there. I took my time changing. I wanted to be comfortable after being so uncomfortable for the past 7+ hours. I chugged my 5 hour energy drink (a marathon must for every race going forward!) and struggled to get into my compression running socks. However, I knew the extra time it took getting into them would be so worth it.

26.2 Mile Run
Feeling compltely refreshed in my dry and clean "new" running outfit and having had some cold liquids, I was ready to hammer out the final part of my day. The worst was surely behind me as I looked forward to the final 26.2 miles of my journey. As I started to run, I felt something very unfamiliar to me, fresh running legs. Since I had such a slow bike and kept my heart rate so low, I managed to avert the dreaded lactic acid build-up that makes for such a hard run. I barely felt like I had ridden 50 miles let alone 112. I knew if I could manage my splits, I was going to have an incredible run and quite possibly hit the one time goal I had for the day- a 4:20 marathon.

Starting the marathon

I saw my family, immediately out of transition and that gave me so much energy. Mike ran with me a little to check in and I told him the bike sucked but that was behind me now. I was living in the moment and I was going to have a great run.

As I started hitting the mile markers, I was able to maintain a 9:40 pace and not feel like I was killing myself. My heart rate was low - holding steady in z2. I felt strong and I knew I could keep this pace, for awhile anyways. My outfit was a huge success too as I received many compliments on the green dress/hot pink socks combination.

The run consists of a 3 loop course around Lake Minneola and it was perfect for me. As I started chipping away at the miles, maintaining a sub 10 minute per mile pace, the sun started to set and it finally started to cool down. At this point, I had no idea what my final time was going to be. All I cared about was staying on pace. I was passing so many people. Mostly men as there were less than 40 women competing. They were all walking or shuffling. Some encouraged me on, others were silent as they were probably wondering where I got the strength and energy from to actually run. (Well, clearly they had stronger bikes than I did! )

As I made my way around the lake for the third and final time, in the dark of the night, silently following the green glow of necklaces bobbing along, I started to realize what my marathon time was going to be. [ENTER: HUGE SMILE] With about a mile to go, I really amped it up and pushed harder than I ever thought I could. I wanted to finish strong. All the horrible moments of the day started to melt away. It didn't matter that I was punched in the head or lost my chip on the swim. The bike ride from hell seemed as if it occured ages ago and the relentless battle with the weather was quickly forgotten. I was feeling so much joy and emotion. It was spectactular as I finally crossed the finish line and heard the announcer call out my name... It was surreal and it felt like a dream. I have never felt so much glory in my entire life. This was by far harder than my first or second Ironman. It was actually harder than anything I have ever done in my life, but it was definitely the most rewarding as all I had to rely on the entire day was the sheer will to simply finish. I was once told, you are stronger than you think and that has never been more true. "Failure is not falling down, it's staying down." Several times that I day I picked myself up, brushed myself and told myself, "you ARE tough enough!"

The finish!

2009 Great Floridian Results
Swim 1:28:31
T1 4:48
Bike 7:21:40
T2 9:16
Run 4:16:56 (28 minute PR)
Finishing Time: 13:21:10
2nd Place Age Group winner, 8th female overall (out of 34 female finishers), 56th athlete overall (out of 223 finishers) and 16th fastest marathon time for the day
DNF Rate was 22% (I was originally told 41% but that still seems high)

2nd Place F35-39

Is this the end? HELL NO. It's only the beginning... Thank you everyone, for all of your support and encouragement. I want to especially thank Mike, Amy, Nate and Alexis, Bobby and Lorraine, and Hans and Jeannine, for sticking it out the entire day, in horrible heat and humidity, to cheer for me and encourage me to finish. (Thank God for the cooler of beer, huh??) I could not have done this without you! Love, love, love to you all!

Family time in Florida

We got in last night around dinner time and headed over to my brother and sister-in-laws for the night. The Brewers came over and it was so nice to finally spend some time with my family. I think the last time we were all together (minus Michelle boohoo) was at Bobby's wedding a few years ago. I definitely was able to relax and get in some much needed laughs. My 3 year old niece Alexis is adorable and highly entertaining. It bums me out that we don't all live closer but it makes the time we spend together more special.

My sister and I are notorious for laughing so hard we cry and sometimes worse. I love hanging out with her because we just laugh and smile and laugh some more. It annoys everyone, I'm pretty sure. We always used to get in trouble when we were kids for goofing around. Some things have not changed a bit.

Today, Amy, Alexis, Mike and I went over to the race site to get me registered and settled in. Took a little spin up one of the (numerous) hills in Clermont. This place is ridiculous. Florida is flat EXCEPT for this city. Tomorrow's ride is going to be very interesting (and hard.)

Carbo-loading tonight and am hoping to get to bed early. The race starts at 7:30am... SO excited!

Heading out.

Well, my triathlon season is ALMOST over. One more race. The Great Floridian. In 2 days. I haven't been nervous all week despite the ever-changing, thunderstorm infested forecast or the fact that we might not be allowed to wear wetsuits. However, at 10:30PM last night when I started doing some research on the Bike Course and a particular road called Sugarloaf Mountain, I started to worry. At about mile 26, there is what is described as a short but steep climb. Short = 1 mile. Steep = 17% grade. I don't think I have ever ridden a road with that grade. I am starting to get nervous. I am anxious to get there so we can drive that part of the course and I will most definitely want to ride my bike up it tomorrow - only that section - to be sure I can do it. I would absolutely die if I had to walk up a hill. I have never ever done that before but there is always a first time for everything.

In the meantime, I am excited to see my family - Bobby and Lorraine, Amy, Nate and my niece Alexis. We all haven't been together since IM Wisconsin 2008. It will be wonderful to celebrate my birthday with them tomorrow. What a spectacular way to celebrate 37 years - family time and an "Ironman." Life doesn't get any better for me...

Monday

I did everything I could to avoid getting out of bed this morning when the alarm went off at 5am. Snuggled more with Willow. Desperately tried to fall back asleep but the annoying little voice in my head wouldn't have it. *Get up!* It said. *You must run!* It moaned. *It's warm weather, take advantage!* It whined. Ok, ok. SHUT UP. I'm up. Good grief. So, I headed out about 5:30am and ran a great 5 miles. Got the legs nice and warmed up by the time I returned home.

Typical Monday at work. Went out to lunch at a new place in Cherry Creek called Toast - it's amazing, serving insane breakfast dishes until 3pm. It's my new favorite breakfast-for-lunch restaurant.

Got home to find that a good friend had stopped over with some signs for my yard. As I read her very encouraging messages about the upcoming race, I started to get teary-eyed. It was incredibly thoughtful and very appreciated. Thank you Amy and Anslee!

Let the dogs play outside for a bit while I set up my road bike on the trainer. It was a gorgeous evening but I only had to ride the trainer for about 40 minutes so I opted for Oprah instead. I know, call me crazy but Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were on talking about the ear incident after all these years. Very intriguing to say the least. Now, I am off to dinner with some friends. I know I will get some last minute words of encouragement before I leave Thursday. The nerves are starting to surface. Just trying to take one moment at a time and savor the rest of this week.

Counting down...

Woke up bright and early and was very pleasantly surprised when I let the dogs out. It was warm! I knew today would be a wonderful day. Did some chores around the house and had a leisurely morning before heading to the pool for an easy breezy 1900 meter swim. It went by quickly and I felt good, really working on my catch.

A few hours later, after my sweet husband had fully cleaned, de-greased and lubed up my bike, we headed out together for a quick ride. It was pretty windy as we headed out towards the Flat Irons. We made a quick pit stop at the local bike shop to have my cleats placement checked on my new cycling shoes. Yes, I succumbed to Mike's rave reviews on the Bontrager Hilo's. It's pretty cool to be able to check out my reflection at any time while riding though. Mustn't ever forget my lipgloss now... They're super comfy- really lightweight and much wider than the Specialized's I have worn (out) for 3 seasons.

The bike is now broken down and packed up in the bike box. (thanks honey!) I spent a good part of the day packing everything for next weekend. The outfits have been chosen (the most critical part of my race of course!) It's getting real. and close. and I am getting excited. Everything seems to be falling into place...

Party's over

Brick today - Opted to ride outside and I am so glad I did. It was gorgeous out - I was probably a little overdressed but it can't hurt to be TOO warm with the upcoming race taking place in Florida. Although a cool front has settled into the Orlando area, I can only imagine that it will exit earlier than I want it to.

I was a little sluggish on the ride and fell short about a mile but found a pretty challenging, hilly and windy route to tackle today. The Great Floridian bike course is somewhat similar to Wisconsin so there's no point in riding easy flats. (plus we don't have much of that type of riding where I live.) I wasn't thrilled with my average mph over 34 miles but I know I will feel much stronger come one week from today.

Transitioned for the run and wanted to try out my new CEP running O2 compression socks. I have decided that there's enough cushioning in the toes and heels and that I am going to wear these for the marathon. It will probably cost me 2 minutes in transition to get them on beause they are so freaking tight but it may save me 10-15 for the actual run. I'll take it. I should have a much faster T1 too because the transition tent is much closer and more traditional then Wisconsin so I am hoping to get some extra time there to make up for the "sock change." Plus I will most likely be swimming in my bike outfit and won't have to change. (thanks for the info Jess!)

I was able to get up into z3 right away in the beginning of my run and the legs felt great, especially my calves. I put Super Feet back into my running shoes and the pain was virtually non-existent compared to the past few weeks without the orthotics. 6 miles flew by and I finished in 55 minutes. Remember my pity party about not being fast, well, the party has ended and I am pushing and working harder to improve my speed. I know it won't do me much good physically for next week but mentally, I am breaking through a very negative and repetitive thought process. Just another thing I have discovered about myself through Ironman. Pity parties just. plain. suck.

Lots of changes

Ok, ok. So, I can't decide on a new layout. I guess with the changing of the seasons and the purging of feelings etc., the same is applying to my blog. Not sure if I am loving this layout either so don't be surprised if you see a few new looks before I settle in.

This week started off pretty rocky and full of very ugly feelings but has ended on a quite an opposite note. We were anticipating a change in work hours because of our buyout by a large corporation. We have been working 35 hours a week ever since I started here and the "owner" has been working 40. One extra hour a day is huge. The commute would be much worse during those times and I simply don't want to work more. Does anyone really?? At any rate, I had jumped the gun in thinking that they would impose that huge jump in time. They met us half-way and starting at the end of December, I will be working an extra 30 minutes a day. This will force me to finally take my hour lunch every day. I hadn't done that before and would end up sitting at my desk for 8 hours instead. Along with the extra time in the day, comes extra pay. The upside. They will be paying us for our time and that will equate to about 7% more in salary. In these tough economic times, I'm thrilled! So. Now that's behind me and I can move on.

As far as training this week, it's gone quite well. I rode 19 miles on the trainer Tuesday. Ran 5 miles before work Wednesday. Ran 10 miles after work Thursday. Swam 2450 meters yesterday - best workout of the week, I think. I have decided to start embracing tempo and speed work. I want to get faster. and the only way to do that is to really work hard. It's a promise that I am making to myself going forward. I am tired of watching everyone else speed by me, knowing that they are either naturally fast or they work really hard. I am not naturally speedy and I don't really work hard. I half-ass it. a. lot. But that's a whole other conversation for another day.

Getting ready for my brick today - 35/6. Looking forward to it as I always enjoy running after a ride. Waiting another 20 minutes or so to see if it will warm up enough so I can ride outside and enjoy this gorgeous fall weather we've been having. It's 41 right now. Maybe the trainer for a bit then outside? Brave the outside altogether? Not sure what I am going to do... things just seem to keep changing lately.