2011 Ironman Texas Race Report

I'm about two months late writing this report and hope I remember enough of the highlights to still capture the race.


Pre Race
Thursday and Friday before the race were full of the normal pre-race activities.  The ones that require far more time on your feet and stress than they should.  But they also included lunches and dinners with good friends and an overall good time.  Mrs. Clark (aka my mom #2) came in Thursday afternoon and Kelly flew in Friday afternoon.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at Carrabba's where I ate entirely too much.  My sister's crew got in from San Antonio around 10:30 Friday night.  I knew I wasn't going to go to bed until they got there, so I'm thankful it wasn't any later.  They had had a pretty bad week and I was thankful they made it at all.  Elizabeth, Sean, Molly, Kate, and Bennett all piled into our suite.  It was a 2/2 and actually worked out great.  We made our plans for the morning and I headed to bed around 11:30 with a 4:30am alarm set.  Who needs sleep? :-)


Race Morning
I woke up around 4:30 on race morning after a not many hours of sleep.  I woke my sister up to braid my hair, which has become a tradition for my ironmans.  She or my mom has been at each  to do it for me.  I think my hair has been braided a total of 5 times in my adult life - the number ironmans I've done.  Kelly and her mom were a Godsend that morning because they woke up early to drive me around.  I think we left around 5:30 and they drove me to the HEB parking lot where I sped over to my bike in transition to load it up with nutrition and to pump up my tires.  I also had to put my new helmet in my T1 bag.  You know, the flaming pink aerohelmet I decied I absolutely had to have three days before the race.  It arrived at the hotel the day before.  I had a perfectly good white aerohelmet and a perfectly good flaming pink road helmet, but ultimately decided I had to have that helmet.  I hopped back in the car and they drove me the mile to the swim start.  Most people were walking, and I was thankful to have a ride.  I hopped out of the car and they went to park.  I found Kim pretty early and went about the normal pre-race stuff.  I started heading towards the water around 6:40 and someone said they had seen my family - I was thrilled!  I wasn't necessarily expecting to see them before the race.  Bennett was on Sean's shoulder's, red hair flying wild, and she screeched "Aunt Skleeeen!!  You have a PURPLE hat on!!!" (It was actually maroon, which I was not happy about, but I was thrilled she was in a good mood and was just fine calling my swim cap purple).  Quick hugs from my sister and the rest of the family, and it was time to head into the water.  It was kind of a cluster and I'm glad I headed in when I did - turns out some people were still on shore when the race started (race start was in water).


Swim

Waiting for the swim start in the water was actually quite awful.  People treading water, nervously, usually in wetsuits are bad enough - take wetsuits off of over half the people there and they lose the ability to float a bit and its hell.  People clearly haven't learned the art of keeping the tread to yourself.  I was kicked and punched and scratched over and over and the worst part, the actual swim, had not even started.  I have little tolerance for spastic people in those kind of 

situations, but there is little you can do to get away from it.  I positioned myself closer to the left side of the course, near the buoy line, and a few people back.  I realized while waiting for the start that my goggle choice was a bad one.  I bought mirrored goggles in anticipation of the 1/2 mile or so we'd have to swim directly into the sun to finish the course.  There was only one problem:  it was cloudy that morning.  Soo my awesome mirrored goggles meant that I was going to have one dark swim.

Swim start

The countdown finally came and it was time to go.  The course can basically be described as about a mile up, two left turns, a little less than a mile back, then a right turn and about 1/2 mile through a canal to the finish.  The swim went pretty much as I had envisioned - the first mile sucked.  Big time.  The two left turns sucked too.  Honestly though it was not as bad as IMFL or CDA because we swam a good bit further before all converging on one buoy to turn.  2500 people all aiming for one buoy at the same time is just special.  The water itself was nothing to worry about - no chop or anything like that.  Sighting was pretty easy as well - just had to swim to the end of the lake.  I did get the crap beat out of me - almost entirely by men, and a lot of it by men in wetsuits.  (For those of you who don't know, WTC allows wetsuits for everyone at water temps under 76 degrees; those who want to wear a wetsuit in water between 76 and 84 may do so, however they are unable to receive awards or Kona world championship slots.  A little less than half the people chose to wear wetsuits, and the water temp was right around 80 that morning.  I wore my DeSoto Liftfoil Speedsuit which is made out of bathing suit material but fits pretty snug and it supposed to help streamline you a bit.)  I was a little annoyed at the wetsuit guys with the thought that it was giving them just enough of an advantage to be up where I was, beating the crap out of me.  Once I was heading back, the water opened up a bit and I really could not complain too much.  I was surprised from time to time when I'd come up on someone completely in my way, swimming way slower than I was.  I could not figure how we were over a mile into the race and they were that much slower than I was, yet all the way up there?  I guess maybe they just went out way way too hard and were already slowing down big time.  I'd been excited about this whole canal thing.  I was not entirely sure what to expect, but had envisioned people lining the banks the entire way and it being a breeze to swim up.  Wrong.  I made the turn into it and felt like I was right in the middle of an East Texas bayou...and saw about 3 people total on the shore.  Then I realized it was long.  It kept going and going and going.  Slowly, the crowds picked up as I got closer.  Swimming into the canal felt like we were swimming uphill or into a pretty stuff current, which again is pretty odd considering the canal just ends with a big concrete wall right after the end of the swim course.  I stayed to the left and kept my eyes on people on the shore when I breathed to the left.  I wrapped my wrists in pink coban tape to hopefully make myself a little easier to pick out from the shore.  It worked because Team Woodhead found me and I could hear them yelling for me.  I finally could see the end and was glad to be done.  I swam straight towards the exit stairs.  Unfortunately, there was a stupid buoy 

Swim Finish

to the right that I was supposed to swim around.  Grrr.  So to the right I went, then turned left, then headed into the stairs.  I had felt pretty good throughout the swim, and was not fatiguing like I had feared.  I had not swam as much as I should have in training, but apparently it was just enough.  I saw 1:12xx on my watch when I came out and was estatic.  My ironman PR is 1:12, in Arizona, the easiest swim course there is, with a wetsuit on.

T1

I ran up the path towards transition and started seeing more and more familiar faces.  Catherine Madely was the first I saw - always happy and cheery!  The volunteer couldn't find my bag at first and I probably was not the most patient.  Normally I'm a pretty polite person but I think it is safe to say some of that flies out the door in transition.  I am annoyed and flustered, especially with people in my way or people slowing me down.  After I found my bag I had to run a pretty narrow path - the people were pretty much single file and WALKING.  GEES.  Don't walk, especially not in front of me, in transition!  I made it into the tent and was greeted by Lisa and Laurie and a few other extremely helpful ladies.  I had to get my DeSoto Skin Cooler top on which was a team effort - its a white long sleeve mesh top specially made for hot and humid conditions.  There are three pockets up the spine for ice during the run to help cool you down.  It was great to race in, but I knew it would take a village to get it on my while wet.  They had me dressed and ready to go in no time though and I was on my way.  I had to get my bike which was a bit surprising, as the volunteers are usually able to get it for you, but it was not really a big deal.

Bike

Team Woodhead and FOMO were at the bike start and gave me one last good cheer - it would be close to 6.5 hours before I saw them again due to the fact that the bike is a one loop, 112 mile course.  The bike course was one big 112-mile loop that headed north out of the 

Heading out on the bike

Woodlands into the Sam Houston National Forest, just west of Lake Conroe.  I had biked much of the northern half many times, but never the southern part.  The predominant wind is from the SE and we safely assumed we would have a pretty stiff headwind on the way back in.  That is the worst way for it to be, because the wind usually just picks up as the day goes on, so starting in a tailwind is not a huge advantage because the wind is not blowing much in the early hours, not giving you much of a push.  That being said, I was still hovering well over 19mph on my way out.  As usual, I was getting passed like I was standing still.  I'm not sure I passed anyone in the first 40-50 miles...no lie.  Those guys really need to learn how to swim!  We were blessed with a somewhat damp, cloudy morning for the start of the ride.  For some reason though it put me in a bad mood - I usually like things bright and sunny...but the heat that comes with that is brutal, so I need to work on my want for blue skies.  I was in a funk for the first 30 miles.  It was new territory for me, and for some reason I was not liking it.  Perhaps because I had been getting passed so often and because I had not seen any familiar faces.  I knew I had no business going any faster than I was, so I just had to be patient and let them go.  Finally, once we crossed 105, I was back on very familiar territory.  At that same time, I saw my white aerohelmet buzz by - on Dionn.  Finally!  A familiar face!  She was on her way to an awesome race.  


Not many more miles down the road, I had my first "treat" of the day: we turned right off the main road onto a road I'd never been on before and omg, it was awesome.  Sometimes the smallest things can make or break my mental game.  This little road was narrow and tree lined, and just enough of a slight downhill to feel like we were flying through the forest.  My spirits were immediately lifted.  We continued onto a few more unfamiliar roads and I started to see more and more spectators.  There were quite a few who shouted out my name and I did not get to see who they were, and plenty more who I did get to see.  Ahhhh...people I know.  They make me happy.  I continued to see a few more people I knew along the way and was really getting in a good groove.  Once through Richards, I thought the turn to the south would never come - I do not remember that road being that long and those hills being that big!  Finally though, I made the turn and special needs was just ahead.  I saw my friend Kyle from Lake Charles out watching and I told him I was feeling good.  I'd managed to keep my average mph over 18 up until that point, but I knew that would be dropping rapidly as we were heading into the wind for the remainder of the course.  We had a few more miles before we made "the" turn onto 1486..."the" turn where we were expecting to turn into the wall of wind that had been so great about keeping us company all season long.

As I approached 1486 on 2819, I was bracing myself for just how miserable the last 45+ miles were going to be.  I was estimating just how much my average pace was going to drop.  I finally made the turn, and....nothing really happened.  Was this really happening?  I mean, I could feel a little wind in my face, but there was no wall.  I did not feel like I was riding backwards.  My speed did not drop dramatically.  Could it really be?  For those of you who think I'm being dramatic (which I am...), this Spring was AWFUL.  Every ride sucked the life out of me and all my training buddies.  There was one ride where Mel and I literally thought we were going to get blown over backwards climbing a forever long hill on Parmer.  There were rides where I screamed out of fear when a crosswind pushed me 5' into the road out of no where.  There were NO rides where the wind was nice to us.  There were even a few rides where the wind turned in the middle, giving us a headwind the whole time.  Okay...back to IMTX.  A few more miles onto 1486 and I was getting my head around the idea of a much faster bike split than originally planned.  I had told myself there was no reason I should be any slower than I was in CDA (7 hrs, 16mph), and had no expectation of being able to go any faster than I did in FL (6:36, 17mph).  I did not feel as strong heading into IMTX as I did heading into IMFL, but I figured a fair bike split for TX would be somewhere between 16 and 17mph.   Carrie B. passed me a few miles onto 1486 and I shouted out that I didn't think we were going to have it that bad and she agreed.  Not long after that, Fiona came blazing by.  She was yelling at me and I couldn't understand her at first, then she repeated herself and she screamed "MOVE THAT ASS!"  So, move my ass I did!  Her contagious energy was good for a 5 mile or so spurt where I felt like I was on fire.  I passed Carrie and said I was sure she'd pass me again soon whenever my short-lived sprint into action was over.  I made it up and over the hill I remember as being the last "hard" hill on 1486, the one where a cow one time ran along side me and beat me up the hill, and said to myself "I think the worst of it is over.  Wow."  Sadly, that hill isn't even that big, but it still gets your attention.  I did not know the last 20 miles or so of the course, but knew generally there shouldn't be anything crazy hill-wise.  My average was still very respectable and I felt good.  Things were going far better than I expected at this point.  

Near mile 100

Finishing the bike!

I knew Monica and Dave would be at Dave's dad's house somewhere around mile 95, but did not know the area well so wasn't sure where I'd see them.  Sure enough they were on the side of the road and I was thrilled to see them.  Just after I saw them, I saw Heather and her huge crew and it was great to see more familiar faces. Not long after mile 100, we were back on a somewhat major road, and my spirits were through the roof.  I had less than 12 miles to go and I hadn't died...in fact, I had done pretty darn well.  All of a sudden I hear someone talking to me and I look over and Dave and Monica are in their car driving along next to me.  HUGE TREAT!  Monica and I just had a conversation like it was any other day - it was pretty funny.  She called ahead to Team Woodhead to let them know I was doing well and would be in soon.  Then....it seemed to take FOREVER to get back to transition.  That was a loooong 10 mile stretch.  I swear The Woodlands goes on forever - you start seeing signs and realize you are in the town, but it keeps going and going and going.  Gees.


Finally, I made the last right turn of the course and was greeted by a HUGE crowd.  The Woodlands was awesome for volunteer and spectator support.  I saw that Team Woodhead had grown - Kristi's sister, cousins, and aunt were there and I was so happy to see them.  (Kristi McCarthy is the person behind my Race Against Drunk Driving).  I ended up with a PR on the bike, which was not the least bit expected.  My time was 6:28, 17.3 mph.  


T2
I hopped off my bike, grinning ear to ear, ran my bike into transition, handed it off to a volunteer, and ran into the transition tent.  Again, I had awesome friends volunteering inside who helped me out of my tri shorts and into the pink skirt.  I wasn't going to wear the pink skirt, but I read my IMFL report a few days before IMTX and it had a note to self in it saying "always wear the pink skirt," so I had to wear the pink skirt :-)  I had put my body glide and flask of infinit in a padded envelope with a frozen ice pack on race morning.  I went to use my body glide in T2 and it was pure liquid.  Awesome.  Nice little reminder of how hot it was out there.  As I was putting my shoes on, Rhonda comes out of no where and plops down next to me.  I had seen her stopped 2-3 times on the bike course with tire issues, but she had passed me for good somewhere near the end of the course.   I asked how long she had been hanging out in transition and she said she didn't know, but that she was going to run with me.  I told her that sounded good, but that I probably wouldn't be able to keep up for long.  You have to know Rhonda to know how funny it is that she just comes and sits down next to me in transition to chat just like we're at a bar or something.  She was upset about her bike split after having tire trouble and said she wanted company on the run because she was pouting.  I took it!


Run

Rhonda has an albuterol addiction...

Along the Waterway

The run.  Omg.  The run.  It was hot.  The sun graciously decided to come out and play when I had just a few steps under my belt.  I had wanted to keep ~10:30 pace as long as I could, but I could not even manage that on the first mile.  It was awful.  I had planned to do my usual 4/1s (run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute) that has been great for me for the past 2-3 years of half and full ironman racing.  I'm usually able to keep the 4/1's going at least through the halfway point.  This time I could barely keep it up after the 3 minute point. I feared I was in huge trouble.  The first 2-3 miles were bad.  Rhonda was hyped up, but thankfully not running any faster than me.  People were cheering for us and I could barely respond, she did it for me most of the time.  This is unlike me - I've always come off the bike feeling good for a least a little while, it just depends on when it goes downhill from there.  This time was different.  I had no idea how we were going to do 26 miles of this.  Omg it was hot.  Then, thankfully, things started to turn around a bit.  Around mile 5 we hit the crazy zone - the Waterway and Market street area.  (The run course was three ~8.5 mile  loops.  The first ~5 miles of each loop were quieter and removed from the main action, and the last ~3 miles each each loop were very condensed through the hot spots of the Woodlands.) People were going crazy and we had a solid 3 miles of it 3 times over.  I saw friends everywhere I looked and it was just awesome.  This is why I came to do IMTX.  I picked it up a bit and finally felt like I could do this thing.  Rhonda and I were cutting up and having a good time.  The smile had finally returned to my face and I felt like me.  We headed into the Market Street area for the first time and it was amazing.  I saw all of Team Woodhead and countless other people and it was just what we needed - talk about energy.  We had to take that energy with us as we headed back out on loops 2 and 3 - it was contagious and intoxicating.  You kept going because you know what was waiting for you back on Market Street.  

Coming through Market Street

I do not remember many details about loops 2 and 3 - Rhonda and I kept plugging along at a pretty good pace.  I do remember having to be patient and not freak out at mile 10 that I still had 16 freaking miles to go.  I had volunteers put ice in the pockets along the spine of my shirt at each aid station and doused myself over and over again.  That was our only hope of relief.  The run course was really nice.  I thought those first 5 miles of each loop would be very isolated and boring, but they were quite pleasant.  By the end of loop 2, we were slowing a bit, but knew we were still in a really good place.  I picked up my EL Fudge cookies and light saber at special needs, around mile 17, and headed back into Market Street.  I saw my sister there and gave her my light saber and boldly stated I wouldn't be needing it - almost a dare to myself - an "it would be really awesome" goal of mine all along was to finish before sunset, which was to be at 8:13 that night (not that I had looked that up ahead of time or anything...).  I knew we had to keep running to do it, but that we should be able to finish before the sun went down.  Sans light saber.

Heading out on loop 3, I had mixed emotions.  I was running a little taller, with a little confidence knowing I was doing far better than I had ever expected, but also a little slower because it was freakin' mile 18 on the run of an ironman.  We were tired, but happy.  I was greeted by Lindsey and Stephanie running towards me with Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and ran the other way.  I wanted to puke - that was just plain mean! (speaking of mean, don't ever go to mean eyed cat and drink strawberry hill.  that should go without saying though).  Around mile 20, I told Rhonda if I went under 12:50, I would qualify for Halfmax Nationals again, but that I just did not know if I had 2 extra minutes in me.  She agreed.  Two miles later though it seems she got some sort of crazy second wind.  For 22 miles, she had been right at my side, not sure she would be able to keep up, and then, with 4 miles to go, she decides to sprint?  Really?  GEES.  I was down to running 1 minute/walking 1 minute at a time by now.  Funny enough, I was still passing a lot of people doing this.  Rhonda did not like the stopping and starting so just jogged slowly as I walked and ran.  She'd pull ahead from time to time and I told her to go on because I could not go any faster. She said she was not going to finish with out me and spent half the time running back towards me.  Seriously, where was all this energy for the first 22 miles?  We hit the crazy zone for the last time and it was just plain awesome...despite the fact I was tempted to knock Rhonda into the waterway.  We counted down the miles and the minutes.  I learned Rhonda does not do math when she runs like I do.  I kept telling her "if we run x pace, we'll finish at this time" or "even if we run y pace for the rest of the way, we will still finish by this time."  Every time, she said "are you sure?"  Yes, I was sure.  My smile got bigger and bigger as we got closer and closer.  Just past the hill at the theater, I saw Augie and Josh and told them I had no idea how I'd pulled this one off.  One last run through the special needs aid station and a left turn into the Market Street area.  Wow.  I saw Jill and Shellie and slowed down to talk to them and Jill slapped me on the butt and said to get going so I'd finish under 13 hours.  I told her I had it, no problem!  This was by far the best finish area because it went on for so long.  We made 

Almost to the finish

our lap around Market Street and finally got to make that left turn into the finishers' chute (on lap 1 and 2, you went straight).  It was a beautiful sight.  Tears were in my eyes as we approached, high-fiving the crowds as we went by.  Rhonda and I threw our arms up in the air, celebrating one hell of a race. 


We ended up running a 5:03 marathon, for a 12:52 finish.  It is funny that at mile 20 I said that I did not think I would have the 2 minutes in me to get 12:50 - I didn't know we'd actually finish at 12:52!  If Rhonda had gone on, I have no doubt she could have come in under 12:50.  I just did not have it in me...or rather, I did not have it in my head.  This is my third ironman marathon that I could consider "good," but I have to admit I probably could have gone faster in each of those three.  I do not know how much self-preservation I am doing vs. just not pushing as hard as I could.  Perhaps I am actually doing as well as I can, and that is how I finish in one piece with no real problems, or perhaps I'm leaving way too much out there.  Whatever the case, I'm certain it is my head, not my body, that keeps me from going any faster.  That being said, I know I would not have run nearly as fast at this one had Rhonda not been with me.  Rarely do you get to run any part of a race like that with a good friend, not to mention the whole thing!  I'm so fortunate and blessed for the awesome friends I have in this sport.

Almost there!!

As soon as I finished, I was greeted by Team Woodhead.  They rock.  Seriously.  I had my oldest and best friend in the whole wide world there, my sister, my three nieces, two awesome college friends, a very supportive brother in law, a second mom, and Kristi's family.  I was able to raise $3,000 for the SE Texas chapter of MADD in Kristi's memory.  It pales in comparison to the $15,000 I raised in 2009, but I know it is better than nothing.  I appreciate everyone's support an donations for my cause.  Her death was 100% preventable, and I hope that if nothing else, my Race Against Drunk Driving made at least one or two people think before drinking and driving.  It was pretty neat to hear through the grapevine of people who saw the t-shirts at the race and knew the story, or asked about it.

I will try to thank all those who I saw out there cheering and volunteering, but I'm sure my list is very incomplete.  I think the length of it gives you an idea of why I liked the race so much.  So, Lisa, Shellie, Augie, Josh, Jill, Randy, Steph, Stephen, Michael B, Matt Smith, Heather, Del, Kim, Jana, Michelle, Fomo, Moxie, Beau, Theresa, Sumeet, Jen, Anna, Christy, Garrick, Cathy S, Tammy and Dina, Natasha, Meghan W, Shannon W, Ron, Charles, Phil, Michelle, Lindsey and Stephanie, Kyle, John, Sean and Tiffany, Will N, Bridget, Matt D, Amie and Richard, Amit, Eric, and Courtney, THANK YOU!!!  Also a huge special thanks to Jill, my first running buddy in Houston, for lugging her family out to watch me go round and round on the run course.

My sister, Elizabeth, Kate, Bennett, Sean, Molly

As far as my overall finish time was concerned, I did not think I would come nearly as close to my IMFL time as I did.  I think my "dream" goal, given the course and conditions, was a PR, my "still mostly dreaming" goal was to break 13 hours, my "it would be really cool if" goal was to finish before the sun went down, and my realistic goal was to finish upright on two feet.  It had been hard to tell exactly how I was doing training and speed-wise because my Lonestar was less than stellar and most of my runs and rides in Austin were far hillier than the IMTX course.  I rode far faster in the race than any of my long training rides, and my run pace was probably a little slower than most of my training days.  Thanks to Shawn and PAC, my training was a little more specific this time around, and I probably had a little better quality over quantity.  By comparison to the rest of the field, IMTX was by far my best race.  I was already plenty happy with my 12:52 when I finished, but seeing the overall results just reaffirmed that I raced well for me.  I finally cracked the top half - watch out.  At this rate, I'll be all over Kona in approximately 40 years.

IMAZ 2007, finish time 15:31, 79th percentile
IMAZ 2008, finish time 14:40, 58th percentile
IMCDA 2009, finish time 13:29, 61st percentile
IMFL 2009, finish time 12:47, 54th percentile

IMTX 2011, finsh time 12:52, 39th percentile

I LOVE TEAM WOODHEAD

I had said all along I was not going to do an ironman in 2012.  Less than 4 days after IMTX, I had signed up to do it again.  I just had a blast - far more fun than I expected.  I think having so many family and friends there was fabulous.  We dodged a bullet of sorts this year on race day with the weather, but I'm holding onto the fact that that day's weather was still way worse than the historical norms for that day.  Fingers crossed for next year :-)

One last THANK YOU to all the volunteers and my friends/family who helped make this race possible.  You all rock and you are my rock :-)

LOTS more pictures are here. (Special thanks to Kristen Carey, Gordon McGregor, Mel, Haley, Paige, Angy, Tim Kozamec, Dave Howell, Adri, Matt Smith, Michelle Hittner,  and Kelly for the pictures).

Thanks also to all of my training and racing buddies - it would not have been nearly as fun or easy to train for this without you.