IMTX: Pre Race/Swim - Beautiful Day

Well, it's a week out, and life is finally starting to get back to "normal".  I'm not sure what to call that since, honestly, none of what happened last weekend has really sunk in and its been completely surreal -  in terms of the race, the support, the post race events, and being back home.  Nonetheless, I'm back, walking "relatively well", and ready to share the nitty gritty! This will be a 3-parter, because who can tell an Ironman in one blog post (this is for you, Barry).  So, for all the rest of you that enjoy my navel gazing (you do too, Barry :-P), lets kick it off with a little pre race/swim story!

So, as many of you know, the week leading up to departure was quite frankly, a shit show.  My bike didn't work, travel plans were up in the air, and I second guessed everything, including even racing (I'll always admit it when I fumble).  Of course, as life normally does, some of this shook out and some did not.  With two days to go, I had my sherpa lined up and it was Greg - which was awesome, because if anyone gets Ironman, he does.  My bike was playing nice, I had a great send off to the party on my last swim (I have the best friends), and all travel plans were falling into place - thank goodness.  The drive down to Texas was uneventful, save for our Air Bnb Cancelling about 800 miles into the trip at 9pm - for the next night (OMG), so I guess it was...eventful!  This was pretty horrific, and after the initial freak out, I reminded myself that Ironman was fraught with this stuff  - the unexpected- and got out my fix it box.  We ended up with a place to stay that was affordable, and about 15 minutes away from the race, which was not the ideal half mile from the finish I booked 8 months ago, but absolutely much better than it could have been.

The pre race days featured all the fun it usually is - getting acclimated from mid 40s weather to mid 80s with humidity (yay for early season races!), shaking out some last minute bike shit (my bike seems to have a thing for the small chain ring ALL the time - this dude and I are gonna have to talk or it will not work out) and the usual array of things you need to do pre race.  Check in was awesome - apparently my AWA status lent me "super privileges" with a no line check in (I felt like a douche, tbh) a low number - which was also a cool number - 247 - 24/7 baby! I never thought that would matter but with it came awesome racking - right behind the pros - so it was much less to run with my bike.  I'm still not sure I'm cool enough to be AWA, but if they are fooled, I'm gonna roll with it.

I met some new besties at check in - Lynne from Ohio, who was there with her husband working on her legacy qualifier to do Kona in 2023, and Lisa from Texas, who raced Iowa last year - and we had fun commiserating on that race!  We all went to the briefing together, the pre race banquet, and were racked next to each other - which was awesome!  Both women were super sweet and we are now bonded via text and social media forever, as most race friendships go - and I love it.

The day before the race I did a dip in the lake  - which was about as gross as advertised, but hey, I swam in the Hudson, so who am I to talk -  and fixed the damned bike again, which was giving me shit.  At this point, the race nerves had subsided and I was starting to question how I was going to do anything fast or long the next day, which is about normal at this point, but still, always a mind job.  I had been pretty vocal about this whole Kona goal (which even netted me a spot on the Ironman video - woot!) but not many people knew my time goals - I was hoping at least for a sub 12, which would have easily gotten me to Kona from last years results.  My real goal was an 11:30, where I could make the math work  - a 1:10-1:15 swim, 5:45-5:55 bike, 4:00 hour run, and fifteen minutes for transitions.  This worked out to about 11:15-11:25, with fudge factor.  The numbers looked UNREAL to me, but Mean Dude was on board with all of them, and predicted a faster swim to boot. 

I racked my bike early, got my stuff together, and got my feet up  - I had slept like crap the last few days due to travel, etc. and was passed out by 7pm. The amount of love I got the night before blew me away - I'm not sure if it was the story telling I have done so far, my public announcement of these "big scary goals" (oh yeah I went there), or the fact that I might have self depreciating humor nailed - but man, you guys are amazing.  I have said it before and I'll say it again - the support I have had for this race from my friends and in general has blown me away - and I am so grateful for it.  I fell asleep with a smile on my face and woke up, full of nervous energy at 2:30am.

Since my alarm was set for 3am, there was little point in going back to sleep.  I started out with the BEST part of my day - REAL. FREAKING. COFFEE.  OMG.  Heaven in a cup. ITS NOT DECAF!!  LOL.  I was strangely calm the morning of - went through my pre race routine with plenty of time to spare.  The beauty of Ironman is that you are constantly re packing yourself into a smaller box - you start out at home with everything you need to pack for the day, which is a shit ton.  Then you usually travel where you need lodging - so everything you need goes in a car (if you're me) or a plane (if you're sane).  Then you do bag and bike check in the day before - so anything that isn't nutrition or electronics is already at the venue.  Race morning, you top off your electronics, mix your nutrition, and don your kit.  I was already sunscreened up, aquaphored up, and ready to test out my new Raise kit - and by 4:30, we were out the door and ready to go!

Pre race, I topped off my tires, rented out my bike pump for $5 per person and made a million dollars lent my bike pump to a bunch of athletes, added my electronics and nutrition to my bike, and was ready to go!  Lynne and Lisa and I hammed it up for the camera, and we went off in search of Joel, Lisa's husband, to make our trek to the swim start.  I paid special attention to topping off my breakfast, smiled at the early morning texts I got (at 5am on a Saturday, you guys are troopers!) and before I knew it, it was time to head to the corrals.  Greg wished me luck and went off to do his sherpa thing - he planned to watch the swim, go home for the bike (a wise move!) then cheer me on for the run!  

I lined up with the 1:00-1:10 swimmers, per Mean Dude - the water was 72, wetsuit legal, which never happens for Texas!  The day was forecasted to be low 80s, with wind on the bike, but nowhere near last year (it got up to about 20mph, but that's a bike story).  Again, I was pretty calm.  It didn't seem real.  My training was solid - but with the edges of taper, as well as the life craziness it brought, the bulk of the training seemed to be such a distant memory.  Was I ready?  Could I do this?  Time would tell. 

 As I took a deep breath, U2's "Beautiful Day" came over the speakers, and I smiled.  It was going to be such a beautiful day - and I was going to spend it doing everything I loved.  How lucky was I?  All the shit leading up to the race - the early mornings, the cold, the heartache, the pain - it was all worth it.  The smiles and friendships and cheering made it worth it.  The ability to move my body and smile as I took in some amazing sights - this was worth it.  I freaking LOVE this sport and the journey was absolutely worth every single second. I smiled about the last year - and how much it has brought me - again, if you told me I was legit vying for a Kona slot even a year ago, I would have laughed at you.  Life is wild, messy, unpredictable and absolutely amazing. Today was THE day.  To give it everything I had and see what happened!  With a smile, I moved forward in the queue, and ran into the water, ready to play triathlon!!

The first mile or so was pretty uneventful, as I got into a comfortable rhythm.  I had seeded myself well, and while I couldn't find feet to follow, I wasn't fighting with anyone either.  I breathed deeply, took it easy, and reminded myself to burn no matches on the swim.  This changed as we turned the first corner and the sun was in our face - there were no real waves, but the swim back to the canal was a little bit tougher as it seemed we had a slight current on the way out.  I got into the scrum a bit here, as people were getting congested, and there was a decent amount of physical contact.  One dude got super personal with me (he never even gave me his number, the bastard) and as I worked my way to the outside, I got kicked square in the face and my goggles came off.  Shit.  I had the presence of mind to grab them and flip on my back, and blew bubbles for a minute to get them on right, and was off.  Again, that's Ironman.  Its such a long day that you have to be ready for this shit.  Thankfully I was fine - and aside from a minute of off-kilter, I was back on track.  

After about a zillion years 3000 meters, we hit the canal, which was much easier to sight, but got more congested as we went.  I was doing my chill swim thing (maybe I will learn how to race in the water someday!) when I breathed left and saw - GREG!  OMG!  He found me in the water!  He was videoing, and of course, because I am #superserious, I waved.  And laughed.  How much fun - and how crazy he found me! 

The rest of the swim passed rather uneventfully - I peed in my wetsuit (aren't you glad you know this about me), flutter kicked a bit more to get my leggoes ready, and before I knew it, I was out of the water in 1:14.  I had honestly wanted a bit closer to 1:10, but after the race, it seemed everyone's swim times, including the pros (and wizard Lauren Brandon) were a bit long.  My Garmin netted 4250 yards, which is about 100 yards long for a standard Ironman swim - which was not bad at all, especially for an April race, where I have OWS exactly 2500 yards total in training.   While I have "learn how to swim" on my list for my next race (I set lofty goals, man!) - I was totally fine with the few minutes I lost here, and plopped my butt down for the wetsuit strippers peelers, and was off to my bike for the ride!!

Side note - this screenshot is from a video a spectator posted during the swim Saturday- including a PILE of 6 foot long nope ropes right by the canal....and one slithering in DURING THE RACE.  If someone showed this to me prior to the swim, I either would have had a coronary or swam a freaking record Ironman swim.  Race plan for the next one?  HELL TO THE NO!

Stay tuned for part 2..... :)