THE RACE report

Ironman World Championships
Kailua-Kona, HI
October 10, 2009

The numbers:
1244 overall (1650 finishers)
13 age group W18-24 (24 finishers)

Swim- 1:19:31
T1- 6:52
Bike- 6:53:44
T2: 8:29
Run- 4:11:11 (5th fastest)

This was a tough day. It ranks up there with the first marathon I ran, Chicago, exactly 4 years ago to the weekend. However, I was actually a lot more sore after my first marathon than after this. I remember I couldn't straighten my right leg for 4 days after the run. I was going up the stairs two at a time 3 days after this Ironman.

Let's start at the beginning. The first time I ever heard of this event was back in 9th grade. It was on tv and I was sitting on the couch watching it thinking how incredibly insane such an event was. I do remember it was one of the emotional things I have watched on tv though and trying not to cry when the people the show profiled crossed the finish. Fast forward 5 years and I was running my first marathon. I picked up running in 11th grade since the crew team had to run a lot when the boat/people ratio was incorrect. The summer following my first marathon I was at school and saved up enough money to buy a road bike so that I could "learn" to bike and do a sprint triathlon that summer. I also did not tell my parents in fear that my mother would yell at me, which I predicted correctly since I had to use their credit card to register for the triathlon and my parents look at their credit card statements and my father told my mother and my mother called me and yelled at me to spend more time on studying. But I still did and survived the race. I almost drowned in the swim; Lake Michigan is freezing cold even in the middle of summer and I was not prepared to be wetsuitless in 67 degree water. I panicked when we ran into the water and put my face in, had to go hang onto a lifeguard floaty thing, and then side stroked the rest of the swim once I regained my breathing. FInally got out, hopped on my bike, and ran, and finished! I was hooked.

The next spring I spent in Austin, TX, and really got the bug. Austin is such an active place you can't help but want to work out! That summer I moved up to olympic distance races, and in the fall did my first half. It was pitiful... I wasn't really trained, especially not on the bike, and so the bike was just really long.

2008 (last year) was when I really got into it. That was the year I did a real half, was part of a master's swim group, and met Jocelyn who really inspired me! So I flew home, dragged Heather up to Lake Placid with me, and we volunteered so I could get a spot into this year's race.

So, onto 2009! Initially I had thought I would be living in Austin, training with one of the many tri groups, and having a fantastic time. With the extra vacation I would have had I wanted to take extra time off to go up early to train on the course. However, my plans didn't quite work out as, well, planned. Instead found myself in a completely new place, all by myself. First things first, let's find a coach. I found Mark Cavallaro on the Sacramento Triathlon Club's website and am I glad I did! As an ironman himself, he has plenty of experience and although sometimes the plans were crazy, they really worked for me and I was suddenly doing things I never thought possible! Podiumed all races this year leading up to Kona. Running faster than I ever thought I could and actually forcing myself to sit on the bike. This got me 2nd in my age group at Lake Placid and a rolldown slot to Kona.

Kona, the Ironman World Championships! The event I had watched on tv 9 years ago. The race I never even dreamed of doing because I never thought it was possible! But wait, I'm going? How is that possible? I basically spent the entire time between Lake Placid and Kona in a state of shock. It never really sank in that I was going to the big dance. And this is where I made too many mistakes. The focus I this race required just was not in the right place.

I arrived in Hawai'i 5 days before the race. My mother (who now very much supports my triathlon activities) flew in the same day and was very cooperative in sherpa-ing me around. So Wednesday morning we headed down to the pier so I could swim for the first time on the course and the first time swimming (not just floating) in the ocean. It was a lot better than I expected, I actually grew to love it. In the afternoon, after picking up race packets and getting my bike, we drove up to Hawi so I could test out the wind. I should have just biked near our hotel in Waikoloa, the wind was nastier there. Thursday was the Underpants Run and I did a swim. Friday was race eve. Short swim, bike, run. Dropped off my bike, they really cater to the athletes at this race, and went home to panic. And psych myself out. I had a goal of 12 hours, which I think started my downfall.

Race day. The best part was getting the stamped numbers. I even had tan marks around them now. Couldn't find my parents after setting up my water bottles in transition so put my speedsuit on and went to the beach. The second best part of the day was the swim (it all went downhill from there). I started in the back, decided it's better to stay out of the madness then get all frazzled. Swim was really good, felt strong aside from the painful chafing that was developing on my underarms, and stayed out of the fray. Came out of the water, into T1, out of T1. My bike was one of the last left for my age group as usual. Mark told me to go easy on the bike to conserve energy on the run and that was the plan. Even more people passed me going north on the Queen K but I resisted speeding up. I realized it was going to be a long day though when around mile 15, I got bored. The wind wasn't so bad going north until closer to Hawi. The wind picked up during the climb into town. The descent out was fine, but just about mile 65 the headwind started. And didn't stop until I was almost back to Ali'i Drive. It was a new form of torture I didn't know existed. I couldn't go easy because if I went easy I would completely fall off and there wasn't any harder than I was going. At one point it took 24 minutes to go the 3 miles from Waikoloa Beach Drive to the scenic point south of it. Pure hell. I contemplated getting off the bike and laying on the highway but remembered there had been an article about me in the blog of the group I currently work in and I couldn't go back to work as a DNF. Almost 7 hours later I was off the bike and into T2.

Onto the run I initially felt good. Despite the layer of white on my shorts I felt okay. The first 10 miles on Ali'i Drive went good. Lots of I-L-L cries and even a house that first yelled "GO CHIEF" and then on the way back after the turnaround was holding up a bright orange shirt with a picture of the Chief on it. Then I got up to the Queen K. Where I died. It started after the halfway point when I had to pee really bad. So I stopped and when I started again it just wasn't happening. 3 miles later it turned into a death run. I was falling apart. It was also starting to lose light at this point, making it even more depressing. Into the Natural Energy Lab I was having trouble staying moving. I still ran the entire thing but my pace became really slow. After coming out of the Energy Lab it was dark. There aren't many lights on the highway so it involved glow sticks and staring at the white reflective line. The annoying part was when athletes didn't wear glow sticks but were coming towards me and I couldn't see them until they were a foot away. This was becoming traumatizing. Finally back to Palani Road and down the hill to Ali'i and to the finish. I felt like death.

That was the most humbling thing I have ever done. I discovered there really is a limit to the amount of willpower and motivation. I need to push the limit out. I'll be back one day. I can do better than I did on Saturday, I know that for sure.

Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged me and for everyone who has shared their enthusiasm for what I am doing. It means a lot to me.