Blog

It took me a while to start working on this blog because, honestly, I wasn't really sure what to write!  After such a crazy, up and down season, I was a little shocked when my Ironman race had only the relatively predictable challenges of long course racing and nothing crazy or really bad happened.  Although, racing as well as I did was very crazy!  So I will start by saying this: I hadn't told many people about my plans to race Ironman Louisville at the end of the season because I was insanely nervous about it.  I have never even done a 70.3 or a marathon, so signing up for an Ironman seemed questionable at best.  Thankfully, I have an incredible coach in Barb Lindquist who happened to do this little Ironman race in Kona that you may have heard of?  She was full of excellent advice and very experienced in handling my anxiety, to the point where she is able to anticipate my anxiety and she can cut it off before I go into death spirals.  Knowing that I was amazingly lucky with my Ironman, I've decided to do things a little differently.  I haven’t been “new” to triathlon in a while and I'm not used to writing from the newbie perspective, but when it came to Ironman, I was a total newbie!  That's an experience I haven't had in almost 8 years, but this season I had decided to do exactly that: be the newbie.  Break out of my typical, predictable schedule and try new things to see what happens.  Without further blathering, here is a summary of my Ironman experience and the lessons I have learned in my "newbie" season!

The Swim.

Cheesing it up with Sara before the race.  Todd is very focused.  

I hear many times people worrying about the swim and saying they would try triathlon if only they could swim.  This year was the first time I took private lessons.  I knew I was a good swimmer, but I wanted to be a more efficient swimmer.  I wanted to spend less energy on my swim by learning better technique so I would have more energy for the rest of the race.  And it totally paid off!  After taking lessons with the incredible Iian Mull, not to mention the fact that my own triathlon coach swam in college and competed in the Olympic Trials, my swimming improved in a way I never thought it would!  It was painful, my stroke changed and parts of my body would hurt that I didn't even know were involved in swimming, but it completely and totally paid off.  I truly enjoyed the swim at IM Louisville!  It helped that the water was flat and a good chunk of the swim was with the current, but I felt fast and smooth and it was amazing!  Talk about a confidence boost!  I finished my IM swim in just under an hour, which meant I had my pick of volunteers to help me in the changing tent and I didn't have to fight for room on the course.  I had harbored secret little hopes that I would be able to swim that fast, but I felt 65 minutes was more realistic.  When I got out of the swim and saw on my watch that I was under an hour, I was ecstatic and feeling like I could actually, possibly, really do this thing!

Lessons learned: You can ALWAYS learn better swim technique and it pays off in so many ways.  Not only did I become more efficient, I began to ENJOY swimming!  Yes triathlete friends, it is actually possible to enjoy swimming!  Even just one private lesson can make a huge difference.

The Bike.

Another bonus of IM Louisville is how pretty the course is!  We also lucked on out amazing weather.

There has been one consistency at work and when chatting with other triathletes about my IM experience: after some of the typical questions, there is frequently an awkward pause followed by the inevitable question "So... did you pee on your bike?"  Some things that happen in Ironman should probably stay in Ironman, but I will say this: consider your wardrobe choices very carefully.  For example, if you choose to wear a bike jersey and shorts, a one piece trisuit is likely not the best choice when you have to consider how items must be removed to use the toilet.  Enough said, on to the bike!  I was so excited to be on the bike because I was finally doing it!  The swim had seemed relatively easy and is so short compared to how long the bike and run take, so now it felt really real.  That "real" and "excited" feeling began to wear off after about 40 miles.  The short course racer in me kept asking “am I done yet?”  Not even close.  By 56 miles I was thinking a 70.3 sounded like the best idea in the world!  A big part of my frustration came from the super bikers.  I was out of the water pretty quickly, so there were a LOT of super bikers to zip and zoom past me.  Nothing makes me feel like I'm going nowhere more than someone zipping past me!  By 70 miles there were quite a few cuss words going through my mind every time I got blown past.  Lots and lots of cuss words.  I kept them in my head though!  Foolishly, I had given into my feeling that I wasn't going fast enough because of the people passing me, so I allowed myself to go over the upper end of my watts and pacing plan.  BIG mistake.  Somewhere around mile 80 I slammed head first into The Wall.  My 19 to 20 mph pace dropped to 16 to 17 mph.  Thankfully, there was enough glucose getting to my brain that I was able to think and execute the plan for The Wall as I had discussed with my coach: slow down, eat, re-group.  I went through an aid station very slowly and picked up water, Gatorade and a banana.  By 100 miles I was back into my watts and pacing plan, working back to transition.  When I passed my parents heading out onto the run I shouted "That is a REALLY LONG way!"

Lessons Learned: Try very hard to follow your pacing plan, but don't panic if you hit The Wall.  As my coach reminded me frequently, IM is a LONG race and you have time to come back.  Additionally, having a properly fit bike and saddle makes 112 miles MUCH more comfortable!  I encourage everyone to check out a fit and please consider Village Bike and Fitness, they have an amazing team of fit experts!  Finally, one of the most important things for me on the bike was to have a list of songs to sing in my head to pass the hours.  Let me tell you, I sound amazing singing Bohemian Rhapsody in my head!

The Run.

One of my biggest fears with IM was the marathon.  After two hip surgeries, I was pretty sure that training for and running a marathon was NOT a good idea.  Actually, I was quite certain it was a terrible idea!  To protect my hip, my coach (have I mentioned how smart she is?) had me do all my long runs on trails.  Trails have a much softer surface than pavement, the inconsistent surfaces activated my stabilizing muscles to help protect my hip and, most importantly, it's beautiful!  I headed out on the run with a group of 3 other women and instantly the short course racer in me took over.  I passed 2 of the women and became the shadow of the 3rd woman.  The pace felt good and I was ready to conquer this run!  My watch beeped for mile 2 and the pace read 7:39.  Oh that's not good.  That is NOT the plan!  The racer in me desperately wanted to hang on, but luckily I'm a bit smarter now and I jumped back onto my plan when we reached an aid station and started walking to let her go.  Okay, short course racer now held in check and marathon plan successfully engaged!  My plan was to hold on to 8:30 miles with walking the length of the aid stations.  There were signs at the end of the aid stations saying "Last Chance Trash" and I told myself the "rule" was that I had to start running by that sign no matter what.  The first half of the run went by relatively quickly, but starting that second loop, it was daunting to know I had another 13.1 miles to go.  Once again, 70.3 was sounding like an awesome idea!  One strategy my coach has had me practice for years is to take sets in workouts one at a time, so I employed this strategy.  Make it to the next aid station, walk, okay, new mile.  The miles went by aid station by aid station.  My pace began to slow, as expected.  I could feel it lingering there somewhere on the run ahead of me... The Wall.  At least by following my pacing plan I didn’t smack head first into The Wall, it was more of a slow stumble.  It started to hit around mile 18, but I gave myself a carrot: get to mile 20 and you can have Coke.  To this day I can't explain it, but Coke sounds AMAZING that far into an IM!  And it worked!  I hit the last aid station, walked the length of the station, then began running.  I came around the corner and there it was: The Finish.  I started crying from shock that I had made it!  I’m sure I looked ridiculous, have you ever tried to cry and breathe and run all at the same time?  I don't think I ever truly believed that I would be able to finish because I've never done long races like this before, but there it was.  I crossed and couldn't hold back the tears!  I am an IRONMAN!

Lessons Learned: Your coach is smarter than your race brain.  I had impulses and thoughts to do all sorts of stupid things during the run that would have caused a bad result, but thankfully I've learned that my coach is smarter than me, especially on race day!  Listen to your coach and listen to your plan because your brain is about as effective as those packets of GU I slurp down!  Second, be aware of your injuries and TELL your coach!  That way, your smarter than you coach can do things to work around your injury.  By running on trails, I was able to build up to longer runs than I had ever imagined possible and my hip never flared up, never hurt.  Not even once! 

Ironman Louisville time: 10:52:51

Todd gave his parents his phone during the race so they could take pictures.  The best part of getting his phone back was seeing what they had done to entertain themselves for so many hours!  Here they are attempting to learn the art of the selfie. 

Finally, I want to share my lesson from my "newbie" year.  Although I never think of myself as old (I swear I JUST had my 21st birthday!!), I have been in triathlon for a relatively "long" time.  This was my 9th season of triathlon.  Looking back, I have changed a lot and I have experienced many things.  But one theme has always remained: what motivates me in this season?  What gets me up before the sun raises during the snowy cold months?  I was falling into a rhythm of short course races and I needed a change.  Like I have said in a previous blog, I was looking for a why.  And a what.  What could make me excited?  I found trail running and mountain biking make me excited!  It was new and different and fun!  And challenging.  What could make me afraid?  Mountain biking up a mountain.  Racing an Ironman.  In this season I challenged myself to dream and to push myself outside the box.  What had I always wanted to do?  Maybe is wasn't the best idea to do both in one season, but both were amazing experiences.  So, with this season wrapping up, what do you dream of doing next season?  Is it an Ironman?  It is racing somewhere crazy awesome?  It is something outside of triathlon?  Talk to the important people in your life because involving them in your dreams makes the achievement so much sweeter and we all need our support crew.  Then, start dreaming.  Be a "newbie" in something!  What are your dreams?

I'm so thankful for the people who have gotten me through this crazy season.  The support from the Oak Park YMCA Triathlon Team has been so amazing!  It's incredible to go to a race and have people cheer for me and people I can cheer for, it's energizing!  My husband has certainly put up with my increased anxiety this year with some serious patience and empathy.  My family has cheerily dealt with my long training weekends and kindly fed my enormous appetite!  They cheered me on through all 140.6 miles of my very first IM and I can't thank them enough for that!  And, of course, the crazy training partner who suddenly popped into my life just in time for me to convince her to sign up for an Ironman!  I am thankful triathlon gave me a best friend in Sara Dumich, my crazy training partner!  Thank you to everyone who has followed along this rollercoaster season, everyone who has buoyed me through the lows and celebrated with me through the highs!  I wish you all an amazing off season and I can't wait to see what the 2017 season brings for all of you!