Are we sensing a theme here? Good. No worries, I won't take you through every wind song in the planet - I would be nuts to write that much of a multi part report :) Where were we....ahh, yes. Wind.
The swim - As the cannon fired to signal the Age grouper start, we moved up the beach, going off in waves of about 10. I had seeded myself with the 1:20 swimmers, and expected just about that. The start was rather lackadaisical....in 2010, the cannon went off and 3000 swimmers started jousting for water position. Five minutes into this race, I was still beach bound. I started shivering (it was cold!) and a really nice fellow racer rubbed my arms and talked down my nerves....what a sweetheart. Ten minutes later, we were released into the lake, I hit my start button, and off we went!
The first half of the swim was rather uneventful, a nice change from the scrum of 2010 (Mirror lake is TINY and is usually a boxing match the first loop). I was really anti this wave start going into the race, but after 5 minutes I found the white cable that denoted the swim loop (that I never found in 2010!) and was good to go. My watch went off every 500m or 10 minutes, which for my pace....I couldn't tell which was which. Fail. Ahhh well. I exited loop one in 37 minutes, which was about right, as I knew the second loop would be slower. A few bumps, nothing major, and I felt great! Second loop oddly had more contact, I had a mild hyperventilating moment halfway through when some guy clocked me in the head and pushed me under, but I swam to the side a bit, took a deep breath and reminded myself that no one has a breakdown 3000m into a swim. Exited loop 2 in 38 minutes for a total swim of 1:15, a full 5 minutes faster than I expected - sweet!!
The run to T! in this race is super long, but really well supported and we felt like rock stars. I slammed a gel as it takes me awhile to get into it on the bike, and headed to grab my bike bag. Suited up with little fanfare with the help of an awesome vollie who offered anything I needed (Except a bike motor....damn) and headed into the bike racks to grab my steed! Off to the mount line and into the 112 mile ride!!
The Bike - I wish I could just skip this whole piece, but hey, it wouldn't be authentic then, would it. The bike, like each discipline, is a two looper - a gradual climb and some rollers for 10 miles, a sick fast 6 mile descent, about 10 miles of flat, 15 more miles of rollers, and 15 miles uphill. Times two. Ironman added an extra little piece with a decent uphill to make 112 miles, which we knew would add some time, but what can you do about it.
As we wound into the first climb out of town, the rain started coming down and I was praying that the radar loop was right and that the showers would dissipate by 10am. The winds started howling at about mile 2....not nice tailwinds. Or annoying headwinds. Shitty crosswinds that clocked up to 40 mph (as we found out later) that blew this little 130 pound rider sideways. Handlebar clutching OMFG riding. And I'm not a great biker to begin with. To add insult to injury, my bike computer, which was working wonderfully when I checked it at 6:15 pre race, had decided to malfunction. I pulled over and messed around with it to no avail - which means that aside from my garmin beeping every 10 minutes and the mile markers every 10 miles - I was riding blindly. Not the thing one wants to do for 112 miles. Deep breaths. Something always goes wrong on race day, you can handle this. At mile 10, a rider passed me chanting "Wind is our friend" over and over again. Yeah. Nice try buddy. We passed the fear inducing "low gear truck" road sign, and I prayed the descent wouldn't be too terror inducing (I've hit 55 on this part before - and that's nothing compared to the riders whizzing down in aero!). The first piece wasn't horrible, and then we hit the valley by cascade lakes, where the wind nearly blew us into the guard rail. I was chanting Hail Mary's, straddling the white line, burning all my emotional matches, and praying not to die. The second piece of the descent was much better, as the wind subsided, and I blew a huge sigh of relief as I hot the bottom and into Keene. The second part of the course is my fave - huge shoulders and almost no hills. Except...it started to hail. Yeah, you read that right. I hit mile 20 and was chattering so hard I could barely steer my bike. I'm not gonna lie, I almost pulled over at the aid station at mile 25 and handed in my chip. I kept repeating my reasons for being there over and over in my head, and soldiered on.
Miles 25-40 were uneventful except I realized at mile 40....I hadn't eaten anything. OMG. Huge mistake. I knew I couldn't ride and eat at the same time, as I was so cold, so I pulled over, peed, grabbed shot blox, refilled Gatorade, and headed out. The winds thankfully slowed down for the climb back into town and I hit the first loop in 3:53. WHAT THE EFF. I knew 2 things - I would never make 7:30, and that mentally, I was fried. Thankfully I was ok physically, so I headed out for loop two.
Loop two started much the same as loop one, but thankfullyl the rains had gone away at this point. I was starting to get into a rhythm when I heard "What the hell" and the dude about 10 feet in front of me launched a water bottle out of his rear mount. This took out the chick that was behind him - I veered out of the way but was totally not quick enough and crashed full force onto the pavement.
OMG.
I took stock of the situation - road rash, elbow scrapes, and minor face damage to the bike. I pulled over to the side and noticed the chain got swung into the inside of my big chain ring, and spent 5 minutes wrestling it out. The athletes passing me all asked we were OK -myself, another dude who was also checking his bike, and the other chick who went down, who ended up wheeling her bike up further. (Water bottle launcher - unscathed and still on the course. Ugh.) The dude took off quickly and the other girl debated pulling out - she was alright but totally shaken (not sure what happened to her, I hope she made it) - which I totally got. I finally was convinced my bike was OK, and set to mount it - then promptly almost tipped over as my cleat wouldn't work. WTF. I sat there for a few minutes, literally crying on the course. I knew this was nerves, but with the descent right ahead, I needed to get my head on straight. I remembered my kids - one at home, looking up to Mommy as an athlete. I remembered my five year old, on his way up to cheer Mommy and Daddy on. I thought of my husband - somewhere ahead on this course, celebrating his 40 years with this wild race with me. And I thought of myself - I AM NOT A QUITTER. I am a FIGHTER. I said loudly - RAE. You can DO THIS. And I mounted my bike with determination, and was off.
Still. More matches. The second descent was just as windy, just as scary, but at the bottom, I knew I had beat the worst part of the course. The rest of loop two was pretty uneventful - I stopped again at mile 95 for peeing and food, and was helped back on my back by an awesome vollie - and the last 12, albeit slow, were also uneventful - woith the exception of randomly hearing "The Final Countdown" on someones speakers along the course, which is hilarious, as that was a totally random song in 2010 pre race and still a joke a la "Arrested Development' between Greg and I.
Hitting Papa bear at mile 109, I was just SO DAMN happy that the end of the bike was near, and I started to grin. I dismounted loop two in 4:09, for a total bike split of 8:02 - about 45 minutes slower than I wanted, and nowhere near what I know I am capable of. I almost threw my bike at a volunteer and offered to sell it to her for what I felt was a very reasonable $5. She laughed and as I ran into T2....I saw my crew!!! John, Liz, Karen, Noah, Tom and ROB!! I leaned in for the biggest hug and he yelled "Mommy! You're gonna be an Ironman!!!" And with that....how could I do anything but smile my little heart out and go get ready to run this marathon
As I grabbed my run gear......(Conclusion (I swear!) coming tomorrow.....)
The swim - As the cannon fired to signal the Age grouper start, we moved up the beach, going off in waves of about 10. I had seeded myself with the 1:20 swimmers, and expected just about that. The start was rather lackadaisical....in 2010, the cannon went off and 3000 swimmers started jousting for water position. Five minutes into this race, I was still beach bound. I started shivering (it was cold!) and a really nice fellow racer rubbed my arms and talked down my nerves....what a sweetheart. Ten minutes later, we were released into the lake, I hit my start button, and off we went!
The first half of the swim was rather uneventful, a nice change from the scrum of 2010 (Mirror lake is TINY and is usually a boxing match the first loop). I was really anti this wave start going into the race, but after 5 minutes I found the white cable that denoted the swim loop (that I never found in 2010!) and was good to go. My watch went off every 500m or 10 minutes, which for my pace....I couldn't tell which was which. Fail. Ahhh well. I exited loop one in 37 minutes, which was about right, as I knew the second loop would be slower. A few bumps, nothing major, and I felt great! Second loop oddly had more contact, I had a mild hyperventilating moment halfway through when some guy clocked me in the head and pushed me under, but I swam to the side a bit, took a deep breath and reminded myself that no one has a breakdown 3000m into a swim. Exited loop 2 in 38 minutes for a total swim of 1:15, a full 5 minutes faster than I expected - sweet!!The run to T! in this race is super long, but really well supported and we felt like rock stars. I slammed a gel as it takes me awhile to get into it on the bike, and headed to grab my bike bag. Suited up with little fanfare with the help of an awesome vollie who offered anything I needed (Except a bike motor....damn) and headed into the bike racks to grab my steed! Off to the mount line and into the 112 mile ride!!
The Bike - I wish I could just skip this whole piece, but hey, it wouldn't be authentic then, would it. The bike, like each discipline, is a two looper - a gradual climb and some rollers for 10 miles, a sick fast 6 mile descent, about 10 miles of flat, 15 more miles of rollers, and 15 miles uphill. Times two. Ironman added an extra little piece with a decent uphill to make 112 miles, which we knew would add some time, but what can you do about it.
 |
| MMM....gatoroade |
Miles 25-40 were uneventful except I realized at mile 40....I hadn't eaten anything. OMG. Huge mistake. I knew I couldn't ride and eat at the same time, as I was so cold, so I pulled over, peed, grabbed shot blox, refilled Gatorade, and headed out. The winds thankfully slowed down for the climb back into town and I hit the first loop in 3:53. WHAT THE EFF. I knew 2 things - I would never make 7:30, and that mentally, I was fried. Thankfully I was ok physically, so I headed out for loop two.
Loop two started much the same as loop one, but thankfullyl the rains had gone away at this point. I was starting to get into a rhythm when I heard "What the hell" and the dude about 10 feet in front of me launched a water bottle out of his rear mount. This took out the chick that was behind him - I veered out of the way but was totally not quick enough and crashed full force onto the pavement.
OMG.
 |
| Pre Race motivation - YOU GOT THIS |
Still. More matches. The second descent was just as windy, just as scary, but at the bottom, I knew I had beat the worst part of the course. The rest of loop two was pretty uneventful - I stopped again at mile 95 for peeing and food, and was helped back on my back by an awesome vollie - and the last 12, albeit slow, were also uneventful - woith the exception of randomly hearing "The Final Countdown" on someones speakers along the course, which is hilarious, as that was a totally random song in 2010 pre race and still a joke a la "Arrested Development' between Greg and I.
Hitting Papa bear at mile 109, I was just SO DAMN happy that the end of the bike was near, and I started to grin. I dismounted loop two in 4:09, for a total bike split of 8:02 - about 45 minutes slower than I wanted, and nowhere near what I know I am capable of. I almost threw my bike at a volunteer and offered to sell it to her for what I felt was a very reasonable $5. She laughed and as I ran into T2....I saw my crew!!! John, Liz, Karen, Noah, Tom and ROB!! I leaned in for the biggest hug and he yelled "Mommy! You're gonna be an Ironman!!!" And with that....how could I do anything but smile my little heart out and go get ready to run this marathon
As I grabbed my run gear......(Conclusion (I swear!) coming tomorrow.....)
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