The months before
I do not remember the exact date that I signed up for IMAZ 07, but I know it was towards the end of April. There was a delay in registration opening up and I checked the site hourly for about 2 weeks after the 2006 race to see when the 2007 date was and when registration would open up. I was half hoping it would be after my first half ironman in mid-May, but when it opened in late April, I signed up that day because most American Ironmans fill up the same day the registration opens, a year before the race. It turns out the race did not fill up until the end of summer, but I did not want to risk not getting in. Pushing the “submit payment” button was one of the scariest things I had ever done, but it began just over 11 months of the most amazing journey I have been on. I went on to do my first half ironman in Panama City in May and finished knowing I had a lot of work to do, but I was ready, not scared, to take on the challenge ahead of me. I did one more half ironman in October and improved on my previous time, so I was at a good point heading in to the bulk of my training. I did not “officially” start training until after the Houston Marathon in January. It was still pretty cold and I had some miserable bike rides, but had a solid running base and everything went pretty well. In the months leading up to IMAZ, I set a personal record in the marathon, half marathon, and 10k distances which was pretty cool. I began doing track workouts with the triathlon club in Houston and they helped immensely. I was able to hit all of my big workouts and felt fairly confident in my training. During my last big week, it was clear my body had had enough, so I backed down, but I knew I had enough training under my belt that it was ok to rest a little.
In February I made probably the best decision I made regarding the race. I decided to raise money for the American Cancer Society in memory and in honor of several close friends and family. The response to my fundraising was amazing and greater than I ever imagined. I raised a lot of money with in days of sending the initial email and that kept me on track with my training. In total, I raised $3500 and my initial goal was $1000. That was the first of many goals I would exceed over the course of my journey.
The week before
The nerves did not start to set in really until the weekend before the race. I had gone home to Beaumont for Easter and a lot of my friends and family were talking about the race. After Easter, the race was the next big event in my life. Caitlin, one of my best friends growing up, is going through a tough journey of her own right now. Her father was diagnosed with lung cancer last summer and has had several ups and downs. Over the weekend I spoke with her and she had just found out he was not doing near as well as she had previously thought. The cancer has
spread and the chemo is rough. I could not shake the pain in my heart I had for her and her father over the weekend and knew I had to finish the race for them. She stopped by and gave me a good luck present on Sunday. It included the cutest running outfit, a big pack of Reeces, and a card. Reading the card further sealed my fate for the race. It was 100% exactly what I needed. She told me she believed in me and thanked me for racing in honor of her dad. The words she wrote were the kindest, most supportive words I have ever received. That began the emotional roller coaster. I cried about three times on Monday exchanging emails with her and a few other friends. Monday night was our club meeting and Desiree Ficker spoke. She was a great treat right before the race. Everyone there was very encouraging and supportive and I left with a new sense of confidence about the race. Tuesday was good, but then Wednesday I started to realize the weather forecasts were not looking any better and that I was in for the ride of my life with all the wind. Thursday was my last day at work and I had accepted by then that I shouldn’t let the wind ruin my experience and that I had to just get over it. My co-workers surprised me in the afternoon with two posters they had all signed saying good luck, and a huge package of chocolate (chocolate gift #1). That night my Houston Fit friends had a send-off dinner for me and it was awesome. They have been so positive and supportive throughout this entire journey. There I received chocolate gifts #2 and #3. Friday morning it was up and off to the airport. Most nerves were gone by then and it was time to rock and roll.
Once in Tempe, I met up with Mishele at the airport and we went to registration and then drove the bike course. I was completely relieved to see the “hill” because it was not that big at all. It was a couple of miles long, but not steep at all. I did tell Mishele that I wondered if the tumbleweed would be bad. She laughed and rolled her eyes at me and said she “seriously doubted” I would even see any tumbleweed. More on that later. The pasta dinner and athlete’s meeting were both good and neat to see most of the competitors all together for the first time. Saturday morning I met Michelle at the swim and we swam for about 10 minutes just to see
what it was all about. We got out and they handed us Gatorade and my dad joked that if we needed Gatorade after that we were in trouble. We then got our bikes from TriBike transport and rode them for about 10 minutes before checking them in to transition. I had been awake since before 6am because AZ is two hours earlier than TX, so by the time we finished lunch at noon I felt like I had done a day’s worth of business. We went back to the hotel and rested until dinner. Mishele, Michelle, Markell, Chris, and all their respective friends and family all met us at a local restaurant for an early pasta dinner. Afterwards, I was in bed before 11 and had everything set out for the next morning.
Race Day
I woke up at 4:45 for the race and got everything ready. I ate breakfast and hopped on the hotel shuttle at 5:30 to head to the site. I delivered my special needs bags and put more stuff in my
T1 and T2 bags then came back to my bike. Of course I realized I had more stuff to put in each of my bags, so made the same trip again. I decided next time I need to be a little more organized. I’m usually a very organized person, so I will just say it was due to inexperience. I met several of my new online friends in the transition area because we all knew each other’s race numbers and could find each other. Meg was my first support crew to find me and I talked to her a while and let her take a few pics before putting on my wetsuit. My parents joined shortly after as did Mishele and Michelle. The whole morning I could have cried at any time, but for no reason other than that I was a girl. Once we walked out of transition I was extremely calm and just ready to go. You have to jump off a ledge into the lake and swim 100-200 yards to the start line, then tread water for 10-15 minutes before the start. This sounds like a bit much, but it was a good way to get used to the water, settle down, and soak it all in. Michelle and I held hands and jumped in…there was no looking back now.
Swim
It was so neat to see the people surrounding the swim, both on the shore and on the bridges overhead. The cannon went off and it was game time. All I saw were white hats (men were white, women were navy). There were approximately 2000 men and 470 women signed up for the race, so I was the minority to say the least. The first one third of the race was pretty brutal. No one kept a consistent pace or a straight line so it was a total mess. I got kicked, punched, knocked upside the head, groped, taken out…you name it, it happened. The course map made it look like you turned around right after the Rural bridge, but that was a bit misleading. We went a fair bit past the bridge before the turn. I was amazingly on track most of the swim even though I could not see anything in the sun. I wouldn’t let myself look at my watch for quite a while because I was feeling really good and nothing my watch said was going to change what I was doing. When I finally thought I was over halfway I looked, and it had been 43 minutes. I was pleased with that (halfway is past the turnaround because you go a bit further than the start line on the way back). The swim was still going well, but I was getting a little tired. The Mill Ave bridges seemed to be moving further away from me instead of closer. I let myself look at my watch again after a while and it was right at an hour. I realized I might go faster than my goal of 1:20 and was happy again. I made the last left turn and swam to the stairs. They are kind of tricky to get out on, but some guy yanked me out like I was a rag doll. I looked at my watch and saw 1:17. Wow!!
T1
Volunteers are awesome! I had to run pretty far from the lake through the bag field into the changing tents. I kept a pretty decent jog throughout, but had no idea how long it had been. I just threw on my helmet, shoes, sunglasses, and camelback and was on my way. Coming into the bike area they were calling out my number so a volunteer could get me my bike. The guy knew which one was mine because I was wearing all pink and my bike had some pink “flare” on it. Turns out I am a decent transitioner…my time was 6:00 (I did not know that until I saw the results).
Bike
Oh wow. Actually it was not oh wow just yet. The course is basically 3 out and back loops that were ~37.5 miles each (~19 miles out and ~19 miles back each time). The first out was really nice. The wind was at my back and I have never received so many compliments on my “flare.” I had a pink streamer on my seat and another on my back of my helmet. I was passed a lot…because apparently I can swim faster than a lot of the men who can obviously bike a lot faster than me. Most of them had very nice things to say about my pom-poms, streamers, tassles,
flare, and whatever else they decided to call it. On the way out you are going uphill and downhill on the way back into town. You only really notice the incline/decline for a few miles each way and the rest is basically flat. I turned around on the first loop and found the wind, but it was not that bad. The downhill still felt like downhill and it was nice. Towards the end of the loop the wind was a little worse and I was looking forward to turning around. The crowds were awesome coming into town and the turn around felt wonderful. The wind was at my back and all I thought was “hammer time.” Then I had MC Hammer in my head for a while. I could tell the wind had picked up on the second loop and took advantage of it the best I could on the way back out. I averaged close to 20mph on that section. Then the turnaround came. The wind was really bad by then. I stopped to get sunscreen at the turnaround, and took a second to mentally prepare for the wind. I decided to take it in 6 mile sections. I knew I had 6 miles to special needs, then less than 6 to get back close to civilization, then one last section to get back into town. I stopped at special needs and grabbed my second bottle of infinit and some jelly beans. Special needs was on a slight uphill and getting going again was brutal. Once I got closer back to town I could see the dust blowing across the fields. I also started to see more and more tumbleweed, a lot of it crossing the road around me. I couldn’t wait to tell Mishele “I told you so.” I was really worried about how I was going to do that stretch again on loop three. I had hoped the thought that it was my last loop would help out. I came back into town for the second time and made the turn around and once again it was hammer time. The wind was even stronger, but I was starting to feel tired so I could not take as much advantage of it as I had before. However, it was a huge mental relief to know I would get a break for at least 15 miles or so before the hill would come. On the way back out I saw more tumbleweed and dust and tried not to breathe in the dust clouds when they came across the road. I saw one tumbleweed that was bigger than me and my bike together. I got a laugh out of that. The way out was uneventful, but I was dreading the way back. Sadly, I had to turn around and I was hit with the biggest wall of wind I have ever been in. I had my computer on cadence most of the time instead of mph because it hurt too bad to see 8mph on the screen. I tried my best to keep my cadence around 90 to save my legs, if that was in any way possible. I stopped at the turnaround to gain my mental composure and again broke up the leg into 3 sections. I told myself I could pull over and have a jelly bean break whenever I needed it, but I ended up not stopping. I just wanted it to be over with. I cried for about 2 seconds at one point, but quitting was not an option so I just told myself I had to deal with it. Coming back across the lake into town was very scary. I had just heard that one woman was blown off her bike and had broken her arm. The lake was just a huge wind tunnel and I held on for life crossing it (the bike course crosses it a total of 9 times). I was so happy to finally be back in town and was really surprised at my time. I was going to be right at 9 hours for the swim and bike which is way faster than I thought. I gave my bike to a volunteer and never wanted to see it again! Total bike time: 7:41 (my goal was 8:00).
T2
Pretty uneventful again. I got slathered in body glide and sunscreen, changed shoes, got my visor and race belt, and was on my way out. Again, the volunteers in the changing tent were awesome. Time: 5:52.
Run
I was so happy to be off the bike and was also so happy with my times so far I had a completely carefree attitude going into the run. I told everyone I needed a 26.2 mile walk to get over the mental trauma I had just gone through on the bike. Surprisingly though, my legs felt pretty
good and I was able to run a little bit. I still walked a lot the first loop, but when I was running it was near a 10:00 pace which is way faster than I normally run. I was able to meet several new people and see others that I knew on the run and I was really enjoying the first loop. We had to run across the bridges several times and had to hold on to everything to make sure it did not blow away. I ran with a few people for a few minutes here and there, and looking back I regret not sticking with any of them any longer than I did. I was so content with my time that I did not care if I walked the entire way. That was a mistake because your legs do not feel so great when you walk so much at the beginning because you have nothing to fall back on at the end when they are tired of walking. I saw my parents halfway through the first loop and told them I was doing well. I did not see them at the end of the loop because I do not think they realized they could see me twice each loop. The first half of the second loop was okay, but not great. I was running less and less and started to hurt. I was afraid at first that I would still be hot at special needs and not want my long sleeve shirt, but once the sun set, the temps really dropped. I was very happy to be at special needs and grabbed my shirt and my trusty light saber (everyone needs a light saber…it was a giveaway at work several months ago that lights up all different colors). My parents did not see me on that loop so I was a bit bummed to go that long without seeing anyone. My predicted finish time just got further and further away on the run, but I knew 15:30 was still totally doable and even that far exceeded my real goal of simply finishing before they closed the course. After the first loop I thought I might have been able to finish under 15:00, but it did not matter enough to me. I was by myself for probably 90% of the run and that was a mistake. I never run by myself, not to mention a marathon. I just did not have a lot of motivation to go any faster at that point. I saw my mom again at the start of my third loop and we both yelled at each other “where have you been?!?!” It was kind of funny looking back on it, but apparently they thought I had disappeared. I told her it would probably be close to 2 hours for me to do the last loop, possibly longer. It turned out to be 2:15. It was totally dark and hard to see my footing on some of the course. It also got pretty lonely out there. I was not looking forward to the last loop at all. I knew I would make it, and I never considered giving up, but I was pretty uninspired. I saw my parents again in the middle of the loop just before mile 23. My spirits lifted a little by then because I knew it was less than an hour before I would finish. I told her to call my sister so she could wake up my nieces to watch me finish (turns out you cannot wake the dead!). I finally made a friend around 23.5 and decided I was going to stick with her no matter what. She was pretty lonely too and said I was her angel. We ran and walked, and counted light posts as we did so. We would run to the third light post then walk three more. We did this for the next 2.5 miles until we got to the Mill Ave bridge. We decided we would walk most of the bridge to make sure we could run across the finish line. During my last loop running actually felt much better than walking, but my heart and lungs just couldn’t keep up with my legs. I told my new friend she could go ahead of me at the finish since she had been so nice, but she told me to go since I was the IronVirgin. I thanked her and said I would see her in a few minutes. I started running and surprisingly had one hell of a kick left. Unfortunately, there were two guys in front of me in the finishing chute and I did not want to look like a chump and steal their thunder. I ended up jogging in place waiting for them to each have their moment, and then I had my own. I saw my parents and high-fived several people along the way. I do not remember them saying my name or much else, but I threw my arms up and made sure to smile big for the camera. Run time: 6:21 (oops…I had told myself I had no reason whatsoever have a marathon longer than 6 hours, but oh well). Total time: 15:31. I stopped paying attention to my watch during the last mile because I was so happy to have someone to talk to. I guess I could have tried to get under 15:30, but it made no difference to me.
Finish
My catcher was a bit controlling! I guess most people are in way worse shape than I was because they were basically holding onto me and not letting me walk where I wanted to go! They finally realized I was ok and I walked on to get my medal and finishers gear. They were out of small shirts which upset me a little bit, but I knew there would be plenty of finisher’s gear to buy for way too high prices the next morning. Meg was the first person to find me and she came running up and gave me a huge hug. Then my parents were right behind and it was great to see them. We walked around for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. I knew I would be hungry later on, but was not hungry then. It was already 10:30 and I did not want my parents to have to stay out there any longer. I also knew there would not be much food to be
found once we left the race. I decided to get some pizza and take it back to my hotel and eat it then. But, they only had onion mushroom pizza left when I got there. I was sooo sad. I remembered they had ramen noodles at the hotel and decided I could eat that when I got back. On our way out we stopped to watch the finish for a second to see if Michelle was close. We had perfect timing because she was coming down the bridge just as we got there. I screamed my head off for her and she just laughed at me. I was able to talk to her for a bit after and was so
happy that I got to see her. We did a lot of training together and I was so proud of her. She went from not thinking she would finish her first half ironman in October to being an Ironman less than 6 months later. When I finally got back to my hotel they only had hot and spicy and garden vegetable ramen left. If you know me, you know neither of those would do either. I ended up eating some microwave lasagna after midnight in my room, oh, and a Twix. Not my idea of a post-race celebratory meal, but I guess that is still to come! 
Looking Back
Finishing was not like I had imagined it would be. I did not cry and it did not seem that emotional. I think Meg and my parents may have had more tears in their eyes than I did. However, as the time goes on after the race, I am starting to realize what I did. I learned I am capable of so much more than I ever thought, and I hope to take that confidence with me wherever I go. I am an Ironman and no one can ever take that away from me. This journey also reiterated how truly fortunate I am. The support from my family and friends was more than I could have ever imagined, and I also could not have done it without the courage I received from above. I definitely want to do more Ironmans, even though I know my parents do not want to hear that. It was such a rewarding experience and I love pushing my body to its limits and beyond. Some people do not understand why I would ever want to do one, not to mention more. If you have done one though, you understand.
I do not remember the exact date that I signed up for IMAZ 07, but I know it was towards the end of April. There was a delay in registration opening up and I checked the site hourly for about 2 weeks after the 2006 race to see when the 2007 date was and when registration would open up. I was half hoping it would be after my first half ironman in mid-May, but when it opened in late April, I signed up that day because most American Ironmans fill up the same day the registration opens, a year before the race. It turns out the race did not fill up until the end of summer, but I did not want to risk not getting in. Pushing the “submit payment” button was one of the scariest things I had ever done, but it began just over 11 months of the most amazing journey I have been on. I went on to do my first half ironman in Panama City in May and finished knowing I had a lot of work to do, but I was ready, not scared, to take on the challenge ahead of me. I did one more half ironman in October and improved on my previous time, so I was at a good point heading in to the bulk of my training. I did not “officially” start training until after the Houston Marathon in January. It was still pretty cold and I had some miserable bike rides, but had a solid running base and everything went pretty well. In the months leading up to IMAZ, I set a personal record in the marathon, half marathon, and 10k distances which was pretty cool. I began doing track workouts with the triathlon club in Houston and they helped immensely. I was able to hit all of my big workouts and felt fairly confident in my training. During my last big week, it was clear my body had had enough, so I backed down, but I knew I had enough training under my belt that it was ok to rest a little.
In February I made probably the best decision I made regarding the race. I decided to raise money for the American Cancer Society in memory and in honor of several close friends and family. The response to my fundraising was amazing and greater than I ever imagined. I raised a lot of money with in days of sending the initial email and that kept me on track with my training. In total, I raised $3500 and my initial goal was $1000. That was the first of many goals I would exceed over the course of my journey.
The week before
The nerves did not start to set in really until the weekend before the race. I had gone home to Beaumont for Easter and a lot of my friends and family were talking about the race. After Easter, the race was the next big event in my life. Caitlin, one of my best friends growing up, is going through a tough journey of her own right now. Her father was diagnosed with lung cancer last summer and has had several ups and downs. Over the weekend I spoke with her and she had just found out he was not doing near as well as she had previously thought. The cancer has
spread and the chemo is rough. I could not shake the pain in my heart I had for her and her father over the weekend and knew I had to finish the race for them. She stopped by and gave me a good luck present on Sunday. It included the cutest running outfit, a big pack of Reeces, and a card. Reading the card further sealed my fate for the race. It was 100% exactly what I needed. She told me she believed in me and thanked me for racing in honor of her dad. The words she wrote were the kindest, most supportive words I have ever received. That began the emotional roller coaster. I cried about three times on Monday exchanging emails with her and a few other friends. Monday night was our club meeting and Desiree Ficker spoke. She was a great treat right before the race. Everyone there was very encouraging and supportive and I left with a new sense of confidence about the race. Tuesday was good, but then Wednesday I started to realize the weather forecasts were not looking any better and that I was in for the ride of my life with all the wind. Thursday was my last day at work and I had accepted by then that I shouldn’t let the wind ruin my experience and that I had to just get over it. My co-workers surprised me in the afternoon with two posters they had all signed saying good luck, and a huge package of chocolate (chocolate gift #1). That night my Houston Fit friends had a send-off dinner for me and it was awesome. They have been so positive and supportive throughout this entire journey. There I received chocolate gifts #2 and #3. Friday morning it was up and off to the airport. Most nerves were gone by then and it was time to rock and roll.Once in Tempe, I met up with Mishele at the airport and we went to registration and then drove the bike course. I was completely relieved to see the “hill” because it was not that big at all. It was a couple of miles long, but not steep at all. I did tell Mishele that I wondered if the tumbleweed would be bad. She laughed and rolled her eyes at me and said she “seriously doubted” I would even see any tumbleweed. More on that later. The pasta dinner and athlete’s meeting were both good and neat to see most of the competitors all together for the first time. Saturday morning I met Michelle at the swim and we swam for about 10 minutes just to see
what it was all about. We got out and they handed us Gatorade and my dad joked that if we needed Gatorade after that we were in trouble. We then got our bikes from TriBike transport and rode them for about 10 minutes before checking them in to transition. I had been awake since before 6am because AZ is two hours earlier than TX, so by the time we finished lunch at noon I felt like I had done a day’s worth of business. We went back to the hotel and rested until dinner. Mishele, Michelle, Markell, Chris, and all their respective friends and family all met us at a local restaurant for an early pasta dinner. Afterwards, I was in bed before 11 and had everything set out for the next morning.Race Day
I woke up at 4:45 for the race and got everything ready. I ate breakfast and hopped on the hotel shuttle at 5:30 to head to the site. I delivered my special needs bags and put more stuff in my
T1 and T2 bags then came back to my bike. Of course I realized I had more stuff to put in each of my bags, so made the same trip again. I decided next time I need to be a little more organized. I’m usually a very organized person, so I will just say it was due to inexperience. I met several of my new online friends in the transition area because we all knew each other’s race numbers and could find each other. Meg was my first support crew to find me and I talked to her a while and let her take a few pics before putting on my wetsuit. My parents joined shortly after as did Mishele and Michelle. The whole morning I could have cried at any time, but for no reason other than that I was a girl. Once we walked out of transition I was extremely calm and just ready to go. You have to jump off a ledge into the lake and swim 100-200 yards to the start line, then tread water for 10-15 minutes before the start. This sounds like a bit much, but it was a good way to get used to the water, settle down, and soak it all in. Michelle and I held hands and jumped in…there was no looking back now.
SwimIt was so neat to see the people surrounding the swim, both on the shore and on the bridges overhead. The cannon went off and it was game time. All I saw were white hats (men were white, women were navy). There were approximately 2000 men and 470 women signed up for the race, so I was the minority to say the least. The first one third of the race was pretty brutal. No one kept a consistent pace or a straight line so it was a total mess. I got kicked, punched, knocked upside the head, groped, taken out…you name it, it happened. The course map made it look like you turned around right after the Rural bridge, but that was a bit misleading. We went a fair bit past the bridge before the turn. I was amazingly on track most of the swim even though I could not see anything in the sun. I wouldn’t let myself look at my watch for quite a while because I was feeling really good and nothing my watch said was going to change what I was doing. When I finally thought I was over halfway I looked, and it had been 43 minutes. I was pleased with that (halfway is past the turnaround because you go a bit further than the start line on the way back). The swim was still going well, but I was getting a little tired. The Mill Ave bridges seemed to be moving further away from me instead of closer. I let myself look at my watch again after a while and it was right at an hour. I realized I might go faster than my goal of 1:20 and was happy again. I made the last left turn and swam to the stairs. They are kind of tricky to get out on, but some guy yanked me out like I was a rag doll. I looked at my watch and saw 1:17. Wow!!
T1
Volunteers are awesome! I had to run pretty far from the lake through the bag field into the changing tents. I kept a pretty decent jog throughout, but had no idea how long it had been. I just threw on my helmet, shoes, sunglasses, and camelback and was on my way. Coming into the bike area they were calling out my number so a volunteer could get me my bike. The guy knew which one was mine because I was wearing all pink and my bike had some pink “flare” on it. Turns out I am a decent transitioner…my time was 6:00 (I did not know that until I saw the results).
Bike
Oh wow. Actually it was not oh wow just yet. The course is basically 3 out and back loops that were ~37.5 miles each (~19 miles out and ~19 miles back each time). The first out was really nice. The wind was at my back and I have never received so many compliments on my “flare.” I had a pink streamer on my seat and another on my back of my helmet. I was passed a lot…because apparently I can swim faster than a lot of the men who can obviously bike a lot faster than me. Most of them had very nice things to say about my pom-poms, streamers, tassles,
flare, and whatever else they decided to call it. On the way out you are going uphill and downhill on the way back into town. You only really notice the incline/decline for a few miles each way and the rest is basically flat. I turned around on the first loop and found the wind, but it was not that bad. The downhill still felt like downhill and it was nice. Towards the end of the loop the wind was a little worse and I was looking forward to turning around. The crowds were awesome coming into town and the turn around felt wonderful. The wind was at my back and all I thought was “hammer time.” Then I had MC Hammer in my head for a while. I could tell the wind had picked up on the second loop and took advantage of it the best I could on the way back out. I averaged close to 20mph on that section. Then the turnaround came. The wind was really bad by then. I stopped to get sunscreen at the turnaround, and took a second to mentally prepare for the wind. I decided to take it in 6 mile sections. I knew I had 6 miles to special needs, then less than 6 to get back close to civilization, then one last section to get back into town. I stopped at special needs and grabbed my second bottle of infinit and some jelly beans. Special needs was on a slight uphill and getting going again was brutal. Once I got closer back to town I could see the dust blowing across the fields. I also started to see more and more tumbleweed, a lot of it crossing the road around me. I couldn’t wait to tell Mishele “I told you so.” I was really worried about how I was going to do that stretch again on loop three. I had hoped the thought that it was my last loop would help out. I came back into town for the second time and made the turn around and once again it was hammer time. The wind was even stronger, but I was starting to feel tired so I could not take as much advantage of it as I had before. However, it was a huge mental relief to know I would get a break for at least 15 miles or so before the hill would come. On the way back out I saw more tumbleweed and dust and tried not to breathe in the dust clouds when they came across the road. I saw one tumbleweed that was bigger than me and my bike together. I got a laugh out of that. The way out was uneventful, but I was dreading the way back. Sadly, I had to turn around and I was hit with the biggest wall of wind I have ever been in. I had my computer on cadence most of the time instead of mph because it hurt too bad to see 8mph on the screen. I tried my best to keep my cadence around 90 to save my legs, if that was in any way possible. I stopped at the turnaround to gain my mental composure and again broke up the leg into 3 sections. I told myself I could pull over and have a jelly bean break whenever I needed it, but I ended up not stopping. I just wanted it to be over with. I cried for about 2 seconds at one point, but quitting was not an option so I just told myself I had to deal with it. Coming back across the lake into town was very scary. I had just heard that one woman was blown off her bike and had broken her arm. The lake was just a huge wind tunnel and I held on for life crossing it (the bike course crosses it a total of 9 times). I was so happy to finally be back in town and was really surprised at my time. I was going to be right at 9 hours for the swim and bike which is way faster than I thought. I gave my bike to a volunteer and never wanted to see it again! Total bike time: 7:41 (my goal was 8:00).T2
Pretty uneventful again. I got slathered in body glide and sunscreen, changed shoes, got my visor and race belt, and was on my way out. Again, the volunteers in the changing tent were awesome. Time: 5:52.
Run
I was so happy to be off the bike and was also so happy with my times so far I had a completely carefree attitude going into the run. I told everyone I needed a 26.2 mile walk to get over the mental trauma I had just gone through on the bike. Surprisingly though, my legs felt pretty
good and I was able to run a little bit. I still walked a lot the first loop, but when I was running it was near a 10:00 pace which is way faster than I normally run. I was able to meet several new people and see others that I knew on the run and I was really enjoying the first loop. We had to run across the bridges several times and had to hold on to everything to make sure it did not blow away. I ran with a few people for a few minutes here and there, and looking back I regret not sticking with any of them any longer than I did. I was so content with my time that I did not care if I walked the entire way. That was a mistake because your legs do not feel so great when you walk so much at the beginning because you have nothing to fall back on at the end when they are tired of walking. I saw my parents halfway through the first loop and told them I was doing well. I did not see them at the end of the loop because I do not think they realized they could see me twice each loop. The first half of the second loop was okay, but not great. I was running less and less and started to hurt. I was afraid at first that I would still be hot at special needs and not want my long sleeve shirt, but once the sun set, the temps really dropped. I was very happy to be at special needs and grabbed my shirt and my trusty light saber (everyone needs a light saber…it was a giveaway at work several months ago that lights up all different colors). My parents did not see me on that loop so I was a bit bummed to go that long without seeing anyone. My predicted finish time just got further and further away on the run, but I knew 15:30 was still totally doable and even that far exceeded my real goal of simply finishing before they closed the course. After the first loop I thought I might have been able to finish under 15:00, but it did not matter enough to me. I was by myself for probably 90% of the run and that was a mistake. I never run by myself, not to mention a marathon. I just did not have a lot of motivation to go any faster at that point. I saw my mom again at the start of my third loop and we both yelled at each other “where have you been?!?!” It was kind of funny looking back on it, but apparently they thought I had disappeared. I told her it would probably be close to 2 hours for me to do the last loop, possibly longer. It turned out to be 2:15. It was totally dark and hard to see my footing on some of the course. It also got pretty lonely out there. I was not looking forward to the last loop at all. I knew I would make it, and I never considered giving up, but I was pretty uninspired. I saw my parents again in the middle of the loop just before mile 23. My spirits lifted a little by then because I knew it was less than an hour before I would finish. I told her to call my sister so she could wake up my nieces to watch me finish (turns out you cannot wake the dead!). I finally made a friend around 23.5 and decided I was going to stick with her no matter what. She was pretty lonely too and said I was her angel. We ran and walked, and counted light posts as we did so. We would run to the third light post then walk three more. We did this for the next 2.5 miles until we got to the Mill Ave bridge. We decided we would walk most of the bridge to make sure we could run across the finish line. During my last loop running actually felt much better than walking, but my heart and lungs just couldn’t keep up with my legs. I told my new friend she could go ahead of me at the finish since she had been so nice, but she told me to go since I was the IronVirgin. I thanked her and said I would see her in a few minutes. I started running and surprisingly had one hell of a kick left. Unfortunately, there were two guys in front of me in the finishing chute and I did not want to look like a chump and steal their thunder. I ended up jogging in place waiting for them to each have their moment, and then I had my own. I saw my parents and high-fived several people along the way. I do not remember them saying my name or much else, but I threw my arms up and made sure to smile big for the camera. Run time: 6:21 (oops…I had told myself I had no reason whatsoever have a marathon longer than 6 hours, but oh well). Total time: 15:31. I stopped paying attention to my watch during the last mile because I was so happy to have someone to talk to. I guess I could have tried to get under 15:30, but it made no difference to me.Finish
My catcher was a bit controlling! I guess most people are in way worse shape than I was because they were basically holding onto me and not letting me walk where I wanted to go! They finally realized I was ok and I walked on to get my medal and finishers gear. They were out of small shirts which upset me a little bit, but I knew there would be plenty of finisher’s gear to buy for way too high prices the next morning. Meg was the first person to find me and she came running up and gave me a huge hug. Then my parents were right behind and it was great to see them. We walked around for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. I knew I would be hungry later on, but was not hungry then. It was already 10:30 and I did not want my parents to have to stay out there any longer. I also knew there would not be much food to be
found once we left the race. I decided to get some pizza and take it back to my hotel and eat it then. But, they only had onion mushroom pizza left when I got there. I was sooo sad. I remembered they had ramen noodles at the hotel and decided I could eat that when I got back. On our way out we stopped to watch the finish for a second to see if Michelle was close. We had perfect timing because she was coming down the bridge just as we got there. I screamed my head off for her and she just laughed at me. I was able to talk to her for a bit after and was so
happy that I got to see her. We did a lot of training together and I was so proud of her. She went from not thinking she would finish her first half ironman in October to being an Ironman less than 6 months later. When I finally got back to my hotel they only had hot and spicy and garden vegetable ramen left. If you know me, you know neither of those would do either. I ended up eating some microwave lasagna after midnight in my room, oh, and a Twix. Not my idea of a post-race celebratory meal, but I guess that is still to come! 
Looking Back
Finishing was not like I had imagined it would be. I did not cry and it did not seem that emotional. I think Meg and my parents may have had more tears in their eyes than I did. However, as the time goes on after the race, I am starting to realize what I did. I learned I am capable of so much more than I ever thought, and I hope to take that confidence with me wherever I go. I am an Ironman and no one can ever take that away from me. This journey also reiterated how truly fortunate I am. The support from my family and friends was more than I could have ever imagined, and I also could not have done it without the courage I received from above. I definitely want to do more Ironmans, even though I know my parents do not want to hear that. It was such a rewarding experience and I love pushing my body to its limits and beyond. Some people do not understand why I would ever want to do one, not to mention more. If you have done one though, you understand.
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