Christina Davis IMCDA 2014 Race report
Finally writing my race report and it still stings a
little thinking back on my race day. I
have to be honest and say that I’m disappointed with my race, even though I
have been reminded continuously from my family that I am an Ironman.
This was my first Ironman and I will learn from my
experiences and I will complete another one in the future!
Race morning:
Got up and had my breakfast and started sipping on
24oz of Perform. I noticed that my
Garmin 510 rattled when I was checking my morning gear. I turned it on and it couldn’t locate satellites,
this worried me a little but I still had my Garmin 910 that I would be
wearing. Made my way through transition
to load my Perform bottles and Garmin on bike.
Checked everything over and nothing was working right. My Garmin 510 still could not locate satellites
and it was not picking up my power, speed, or cadence. Checked my Garmin 910 and it also was not
picking up my power. Side note: I had problems with my Power Meter a month
earlier and Quarq was very nice and replaced it. I still am not sure what happened, everything
(Garmin & PM) worked during my recon ride a few days earlier. I’m assuming my Garmin 510 was dropped or
damaged somehow as something rattles inside it.
I noticed on my quick check that morning that the little red light on
the Quarq was not blinking like it should, maybe a battery?. My husband tried his best to calm me
down. I was definitely freaking out as
the bike is my weakness and I had trained all season with my power meter. I’m pretty proud of myself that I sucked it up
and started the race. I’m pretty sure my
husband thought I was going to back out at this point.
Swim: 1:22
Got my wetsuit on and went to the beach – the water
did not look inviting! I was happy about
the rolling start and my swim start was uneventful. I had pretty good water but noticed I was
passing people and getting stuck behind people.
I might need to start with a different group but I didn’t want to overdo
the swim. I typically swam a 1:12/1:13
during training. The turnaround buoys
were horrible with lots of congestion.
At the half way point when I crossed over the timing chip I knew my pace
was slower than expected but I felt good.
I never had real trouble breathing even though the waves were brutal. The only time I became a little worried was
on the second lap I felt the start of my left calf cramp, which has never
happened. I have a history of toe cramps
so I had taken a salt pill, honey stinger, and 24oz of perform before swim
start. I stopped kicking which helped
and continued on. Finished the swim and
was happy the day had started, not my best but I had survived.
T1:
I am notoriously slow during T1 and my husband
always makes fun of me. Got to my bike
and family (husband, 2 kids, my mom & dad, and my in-laws) were waiting for
me. Yes, they all made the trip and were
very supportive the whole day.
Bike: 8:45
I hate writing that time next to my bike! I am not fast on the bike but I know I’m
better than that. I will say that ya’ll
need to know that I get nervous on the bike especially on hills. I am not one to go superfast down hills nor
do we have hills in the Houston area. If
I freak out on the hills I slow down, probably too slow. I start thinking about my kids and what would
happen if I got hurt or worse! I know
probably not the best things to go through your head on race day! I had one guy tell me “gravity works” as he
passed me on the 2nd lap. Really, was
that necessary! I had no power meter to
help me, I did know my speed and I just wanted to get through this so I could
run. I will say that I was expecting a 7
to 7:30 on the bike according to my race rehearsals. What I was not expecting was so much wind! I also don’t like being pushed around by
cross winds while going downhill! On my
second loop of the course there was a black bird circling and crowing, I know
it was waiting for me to keel over! The
2nd lap on hwy 95 was so long!
At the turn around I was worried that I was not going to make the cut
off. As I came into town I could feel
the tears coming – I was happy and disappointed all at the same time. I saw my family at transition and they were
still cheering for me! After the race I
learned that they had seen the trucks come into town with the people pulled off
of the bike course and they were relieved when they didn’t see me.
T2: 5:00,
which was better for me and I did use a porta potty.
Run: 5:09
As I started I was trying to do the math in my head
– how long did I have to finish and what are the cutoffs? I hadn’t even looked at the cutoffs for the
run. I felt good going through town and
tried to slow my pace down. Around mile
5 is when I started having GI issues and hit my first porta potty. I was not going to let this stop me. In all I used them 4 times but found that the
coke helped me burp, so I started drinking coke at the aid stations. On the first lap there were still a lot of
people of the course and mentally it was tough because I didn’t know who was on
their first lap or second lap. I was
passing a lot of people but a majority of them were on their 2nd
lap. I kept going and saw my family
again at 13 miles. My oldest son (6yrs
old) shouted, “See you at 10:00.” I
think he was just happy he got to stay up past bedtime! It was hard going back out of town when you
could see and hear people finishing the race.
But I never gave up and I kept going.
I was passing more people! I ran
the whole race with the exception of the aid stations and the hill on the 2nd
lap. On the 2nd lap coming
back into town other racers commented, “Good pace.” Not a great pace but I guess when you are
walking it looks fast! I was hoping for a 4:30ish time but my GI issues slowed me down.
Finish:
Coming down Sherman Ave was great! Again, I felt the urge to cry – both of
happiness and disappointment. I shook it
off - I was finished! I gave high fives
and smiled the whole way down the chute!
I looked back at my goals for this race and I didn’t
write down a specific time as this was my first Ironman (even though I had an
expectation). I wanted to finish
(completed), finish with a smile (completed), and I wanted to have fun
(completed).
Final thoughts:
Thanks to EN for all the help and support.
Although my bike was horrible, I passed 22 people in
my age group on the run!
I looked at the marathon times of my age group and
my marathon was faster than 26 other people who finished ahead of me. I need to work on my bike skills!
I need a flat course!
I’m currently negotiating with my husband to figure
out my next Ironman race – I can do better than this!
Comments
You did great! The wind on the bike was horrible. But a 5:09 run after 8:45 bike is nothing to bitch about. If you look at your TSS on the bike I bet nobody else ran a 5:09 marathon with a bike like that. It was grat to meet you and will look forward to reading your next Ironman race report where you exact your revenge.
Hi Christina,
Thanks for posting your report. Having the 910XT as a back up to your 500 head unit is a great strategy. I believe Teri a similar problem in a past race and was able to utilize it for power numbers. But sheesh, if the PM just isn’t putting out the data what can you do?!?
Very cool that your whole family made it! Trust that they love you regardless of your silly bike time – there are more important things in life! Looks like your run was one of those 12:00mm Rock Star runs that RnP talk about – a great sign you were able to KEEP running after that long of a day on the bike.
Don’t beat yourself up – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN! It was great to meet you. All the best in your future endeavors!
Christina - your own summary tells it all; passing 22 on the run, faster run than 26 who finished ahead of you; can't wait until you select your next IM … all that speaks of a successful race to me. You've learned the most important lesson if IM execution - the need to maximize your potential on the run.
Flat vs "hilly" courses … won;t make it any easier, just faster. everyone else will be faster, too. Truth is, it takes years - minimum of three, under the best of circumstances - before an IM racer begins to get close to absorbing enough training to begin to really "race". That's why RnP came up with the EN "three year plan." Not because they necessarily want to lock folks in for an extended time, although from a business perspective, that makes sense. But to help people achieve a true sense of accomplishment from their efforts at long distance triathlon.
You've gained two big assets from this race: motivation and persistence.
Congratulations on being an Ironman!!