Saint George Ironman 2011, May 7

Saint George was my fifth ironman.  I raced Saint George Ironman last year, but froze in the water, and had a really slow bike time  I trained hard over the winter and was excited, and hoped I might qualify for Kona.  I went to two excellent triathlon camps in St. George and in Henderson.  I did a half ironman, Showdown at Sunset, a few months prior to the race.  The swim was cancelled and I didn't have the best race, so I was a little discouraged.   However, I had an awesome salt lake half marathon 1:28.  Also, the week before the race I did the spring sprint tri, and came in first which renewed some confidence, for the ironman.  Little did I know that I was headed to one of the most stressful races, I have ever raced in so far. 

Two days prior to the race I was at the expo, I lost my keys.  After about an hour of stressing, I found my keys and needed to relax.  I called my friend Chris to see if he would join me for an easy swim and bike ride.  The swim went well in Sand Hollow Reservoir, even though open water swimming is not my strength.  The water was so much warmer than last year!  Then Chris and I jumped onto our bikes.  Just as I was exiting the park I think I hit a speed bump wrong, and had my first bike crash.  Lying on the ground I was in shock, not sure what happened, and my nose was bleeding.  Chris realized I wasn't behind him and turned back to find me on the ground.  Chris was my good Samaritan that day, making sure I was allright physically and being supportive with all my emotions, and logistics with my bike.  I finally got up onto my bike and realized I had no seat.   I also had road rash on my upper back, left hip and leg.  My first concern was my bike.   So Chris took me to the bike store, and they could not put the seat on my bike.  I didn't know what to do, I loved my ISM seat, and didn't want the seats that they had in the Saint George shop.  So I made some phone calls.  Luckily my dear friend Liz was driving up from Salt Lake City and picked up an ISM seat at Millcreek Cyclery.  Which helped my anxiety.  So Chris and I went to the athletes meeting, and met up with our GT friends.  The road rash was painful.   Thanks to some suggestions, Jen and I went to WallGreens and bought some tegaderm.  Jen, tried scrubbing some of the road rash, but it was pretty painful, so that didn't last long.  Then she helped my apply tegaderm all over my back.  Good thing I brought two helmets, because the helmet I wanted to use was busted...

The next morning, thought I would try swimming, it was painful putting a wetsuit on.  But the tegaderm helped, and made it possible.  Then I went to the bike store and they put on my seat.  It was crooked, and they told me I would need a new stem.  I tried riding my bike around the parking lot and thought it would work, but I didn't get in the aero position.  So I headed to transition to turn in my bike for the race.  During the test ride in aero position I realized it would be extremely painful to ride, with a crooked seat.  What to do?  I made some phone calls, and my  friend Liz knew Suzanne coming up from Salt Lake who was able to retrieve a bike stem from Millcreek Cyclery.  Talking on the phone with the bike store they were telling me that I would need a hacksaw for the bike stem and they would give me directions to install the stem.  My friend Moka's parents found somebody to borrow a hacksaw to fix my bike stem.  That night I was a wreck emotionally, and not able to sleep because of the road rash. 

RACE MORNING
I woke up early 4:15 and Moka's Mom (My GT mom), made me the best french toast ever!  Probably the highlight of my day.  Anyway, made the 5 o'clock bus and headed to the race start with a hacksaw and bike stem in my hand.  I went to the bike technicians with apprehension, and anxiety.  Thankfully they fixed my bike seat, without much trouble.  The preparation felt rushed, between port-o-potties and air pumps, sunscreen, body glide, and painfully pulling on my wetsuit over my road rashed body

THE SWIM
I was kind of far back as we funneled together, and I saw my friend Chris which was very comforting, and I started to get excited, with the music pumping....I was nervous about somebody kicking me, because my ribs were bruised, so I tried swimming on the outskirts.  The swim was pretty miserable with the road rash, I tried to swim steady.  I was excited for the painful swim to be over...1:09:19 (About the same time as last year 1:09:17)

THE BIKE
Happy to be out of the water, I transitioned quickly, maybe a little too quickly.  Forgot to take the Imodium and ibuprofen...I was hoping to take about an hour of my bike time from last year.  Things started out smoothly...Then at mile 15, I realized I had a flat.  No way, the first flat that I have had in a race!  I cried, and wanted to quit, was anything going to go right...I watched all envious of all the bikers zooming past me, and my heart sunk...Unfortunately I had put my cartridge and my pump in the bottom of my organized bento box.  Because I am not skilled at opening gus and biking simultaneously I open all my gus prior to the race.  Therefore, as I was trying to get the cartridges, I got gu all over my hands.  My electrolytes spread everywhere in my bento box.  Good thing I had a spare tire, in case I had another flat...I probably took longer than I should have to change my tire, and prayed that I wouldn't pinch the new tube.  Finally I was ready to rock and roll, I kept reinforcing myself that the race was not over and I could still get a good time.  My bike computer stopped  working, and my garmin was destroyed by the swim, and so I had no idea how fast I was going.  The first loop I was feeling good, the second loop I was tired, but still able to keep a pretty good pace...6:13:47   (Beat my time from last year by about an hour 7:16:40)

THE RUN
My mantra on the run was light on my feet, quick turnover, fast like a cheetah..Not sure that any amount of wisdom and positive mantras can prepared me to deal with the mental and physical difficulty of running out of gas during the run in 90+ degrees...I rushed in the transition and forgot some vital things-sunscreen, my visor, Imodium and ibuprofen.  I think I was rushed because I was excited about my bike and was too anxious to start running a marathon.    I realized I had forgotten all these things at mile one with the sun beating down on my tired body.  My hip was killing me to run.  I had to use the bathroom the first 3 aid stations.  Why had I forgotten the immodium?   Dehydrated at every aide station I quickly scarfed gus, coke, and water trying to regain my energy.  However, I knew I was running slow.  Thankfully in my half way bag, I had some ibuprofen, Imodium and a visor; which helped a ton.  Felt way better on the second loop, I only had to use the bathroom once and my hip was not as painful.  However, I knew I was nowhere near my goal of 4 hours...My run ended up being 4:27 (slower than the previous year 4:11)  I had finally crossed the finish line in 11:56:51 (last years time was 12:46:01)-I was an Ironman for the fifth time, it was no fluke.  I had pushed my mental and physical limits.  I had finished one of the hardest ironman courses in the world on a hot day, under 12 hours. 

Went to the medical tent, I had burns over my road rash and yellow gu, seeping from all the tegaderm, and my respiratory rate was out of control (which happens at most of my longer races).   After recovering grabbed some food, and realized how much pain I was in...It was hardest race mentally, I was discouraged that I hadn't don better, I was hoping to be at 11:30.  I was thankful for all the support from my GT friends, GT mom, and coach Wes Johnson!! Not sure if I would have finished the race without all their support.  I haven't decided whether I'll be going back next year.  After two hard races at Saint George, it makes it hard to be excited to do the race again.   I know they have made the run easier.  I think I learn from every race, especially the hard races.  Sometimes experience is the best teacher.

I like this quote by a 13 year old in in a tri magazine, "They call us triathletes.  But we are more.  It takes far more than just a swim lesson, a bike stroll, and a jog.  To swim, bike and run is an understatement.  As triathletes we must work hard to strengthen our minds and bodies.  So that when race day comes we will be prepared for the journey of growth awaiting us.  To be a triathlete you must be able to focus on the futue.  Not dwelling on the past problems.  But to be able to stand up to our fears and humble ourselves so that we may perform our best."