11/4/06

First Ironman (Florida)

Okay, so I have heard the Ironman swim compared to being stuck in a washing machine and tossed around and have heard horror stories of broken noses, but everyone forgot to mention the jelly fish!  I guess it could always be worse . . . and it really wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.  2,300 people starting at one time was definitely new to me, but the bigger problem was that the farther out I seemed to go the rougher the water was.  One would think that coming back into the beach you would have the waves pushing you back in. . .not the case!  It actually took me longer coming back in to the beach then going out, and the 3 foot swells didn’t help much either.  I did manage to finish the first loop in about 36 minutes, but was frustrated when I came out of the second loop only to see it had taken me 6 minutes longer.  Still, I won’t complain about my 1:18 swim (thanks Keogh), but I will complain about lack of skin I had left on my neck and arms from my wet suit.  And yes, I did body glide.  Note to self, get creative with wet suit next year.  I managed to come out of the water smack dab in the middle of the pack, around 1100^th.  

I managed to get my transition bag and huddle in some spare spot in the tent to put on my cycling stuff.  The true question was how to clothe for the bike since with the wind chill it was 36 degrees, but the high for the day was 70.  I meant to just wear just arm warmers but noticed as I was running out that I had brought my jacket as well.  The bike felt pretty good, but the wind wasn’t very forgiving.  To keep my heart rate where Forrest wanted it (around 130) I felt like I was going in slow motion with the wind, but I just kept telling myself that the ironman race didn’t start until mile 80 of the bike.  Finally about mile 70 I felt comfortable enough to pick up the pace knowing that I had taken it easy for quite a while.  It was actually nice to get in my own normal rhythm especially since the wind was now helping push a little.  About 4 miles before the finish of the bike I pass a huge group of wild crazy drunk people (my family and friends) in front of our condo, and it almost got me a little teary eyed at how much support I had there. 

I finish the bike feeling great (around 1500^th), but knowing there is a major problem.  My underarms were raw from my wet suit and I knew their wasn’t any way that I would be able to run with them like that, luckily they had Vaseline in the tent.  I don’t think I have ever lathered so much Vaseline on my arms and arm pits, but the trick worked.  So I was off and feeling great only to hear a spectator yell at me to slow down . . . did I not realize I was just starting a marathon?

Okay, first mile was under 8 minutes maybe the spectator was right.  I slowed down to a 9 minute pace feeling like I was going too slow, but trying to remind myself I had 26.2 miles til the finish.  I started to realize about mile 6 that my knees (yes, plural) were beginning to act up, but they still felt okay when I walked the water stops.  I know from experience that if I can walk w/out pain, then they aren’t too bad.  I would just have to reevaluate the situation at the turnaround.  I get to the half way point in under 2 hours and decide that I don’t care about the pain I am finishing this race.  The sun is starting to go down, and the course is becoming pretty dark so now is the time I really have to focus.  Seeing all my friends on the course was helpful, and my family was positioned in the perfect

WHY ENJOY-I started doing my first sprint triathlon as a dare, and just became addicted.  Triathletes are a rare species because you participate as an individual out to beat other individuals, but you end as one big family willing to do anything for anyone racing or not.

HOW LONG BEEN DOING-I had been jogging for about a year before I was goaded into doing my first triathlon approximately 2 years ago.  My first race was the last one that year, so I followed up in 2005 doing 10 races.  Those races consisted of everything from sprints, olympic distances, and two half ironman.  After my first half ironman I knew that I wanted to do an ironman some day, I just didn’t think my coach would tell me I was ready when I had only been in the sport less than a year.  I talked with my husband, and decided that I was ready to fully commit.  So a year ahead of time I paid the $450 race fee, which sold out in 2 hours, and prayed I had not overcommitted myself.

SURGERY-I decided that I would try my first marathon, again, in February so I could know what it was like before Ironman Florida.  I say again, because the last time I had tried a marathon (Nov. 2004) I had surgery on my left knee.  I got all my long runs done only for my left knee to give out 2 weeks before my marathon.  Surgery #1 happened in December 2004.  So, I get all my long runs in once again only to have my second knee surgery except this one is on the right knee.  I had surgery in late April and did my first sprint 5 ½ weeks later. 

HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR TRAINING-I have to say that you can’t do an ironman if you don’t like to train.  I started on a 20 week program for Ironman Florida because of my knee.  Most of the people I trained with started their program at 16 weeks, but none of them had just had knee surgery.  Training starts out at about 12 hours a week, and at the highest volume weeks training gets to 20+ hours a week.  A typical training week consists of 2-3.5 hour workouts Monday thru Friday with Saturday and Sunday as the long days.  Saturday’s are the long cycling days, and the longest rides were 6.5 hours followed by a 30-45 minute jog.  Sunday would be my long run day, and I would follow up with a 3 hour run.  I typically swam three days a week, biked 5 days a week, and ran 3 days a week.  I also lifted weights once a week.  Oh, don’t forget I worked 40 hours a week, pretended to be a wife instead of roommate as my husband says, and still managed not to lose any of my non-athletic friends.  Yes, I got the go-ahead from him to sign up again although we will see how long before the 3^rd knee surgery takes place.