Patti's IMLP race report
My initial concern about this race was the cold. We were supposed to have rain and temperatures around 50. I bought a coat and planned nutrition accordingly. I brought arm warmers, my Mickey Mouse gloves for the bike from Alcatraz and a bolero just in case. The night before in transition I put oil on my pedals due to having new cleats and anticipating rain... more on that later
Race day was beautiful! I can take that! the swim was fine but not as fast as I would have liked. the 'mashing group' near the cable was not that bad at all! I followed the cable and was smooth and comfortable. The water was delightful!
Ran into bike transition and got my bag. I put on just the helmet, socks and shoes and left the bunch of clothes in the bag and ran out of transition. Ooops! got ready to grab my bike and realized I had left my bib belt in the bag and this would be my only chance to get it. I ran back to transition, had to find my bag, and had to dump everything on the ground to find what I needed, my bib belt. I figured, well what the heck, that was it, all over for me, very long transition... I might as well just have fun on the bike and forget about it... DARN!
Hopped on the bike.... going down the hill and fell off the pedals.... Oh yeah! I had oiled the pedals. Tried again and slid off the pedals again... going down hill! the crowd took a gasp each time I did that! Finally I just broke out laughing! this was too funny! I walked down the hill a bit straddling the bike and found a flat space to clip in. Success! a burst of applause greeted me! That was hilarious! Two lessons learned .. put the racing belt on top and don't oil your pedals when you have to go down a hill!
Okay. At this point I just figured it is all over. Just seriously, have fun with it. It is beautiful out there! Just ride your bike!
so I'm rolling along and just having the best time! I notice that I'm passing everyone in my age group! Okay, it might not all be lost! I love climbing and I really love descending! I was going about 35 to 45 down the hills and watching the girls all try to pass me on the hills and I figured, ok, I've got this! and I'm in my favorite segment.... and then....
at about mile 80 my quads and hamstrings absolutely seized up! both right and left! I could not move and it was incredibly painful! I have never had anything like that before! so I got out of aero and stood up on the pedals and tried again... same thing! this continued off an on for the entire ride back to T2. the only saving grace is that there were hills and the wind wasn't too bad so I could stand up without penalty. This was horrible! all those ladies passed me up and my quads were incredibly painful even when they weren't seizing up!
Okay, what the heck, just have fun with it. (? what does that mean?... be glad you get to run now!) so that last minutes on the bike I ate everything I had left on my bike (mostly cliff blocks) and took all my salt tabs and sport legs, and drank everything given too me as I was out of EFS, which has extra salt, and had only Gatorade Endurance.
I get out of T2 and head out on the run and the first thing I see is the BASE tent (salt). Yes! my muscles hurt but here was salvation. Plus I had EFS shots and EFS in my water belt. so off I go.... just jogging for awhile and feeling a whole lot better! (Why is it that the 26.2 miles is so attractive after that 112 bike?)
so, I didn't think about anything until mile 18. I love running down the hills just like I love riding my bike down the hills so there were plenty for me to have fun with. the weather was warm and sunny but not killer. I had plenty of salt and although my quads really hurt, I had no more issues with the muscles seizing up. I carried ice in my hands and ran the cubes up and down my quads when in transition. Well at least I was going to finish this thing. I was a good 10 to 15 minutes off my pace over all but I've seen worse.
I got to the finish line and was actually feeling pretty good! my quads hurt but other than that I was ready for pizza and a diet coke. got my ice in medical tent for my legs and saw poor Al. how he made it to the finish is beyond me! His was pure mental strength and determination... Sheri and the med guys had everything pretty well in hand so as always, Al was on his feet pretty quickly.
I went to transition to pick up my bike and bags and my husband, Marvin-Sherpa-Extrodinaire was there. He had my bags and my bike and his computer. He said he didn't know how I did yet so I determined that getting my pizza and coke was paramount. On return to the husband he smiles at me. "So, how did I do?".... He says, "you won.".... "Really? ....Okay, I'll take it.... Are you sure? Come on, really? you're pulling my leg... Wow! Fantastic!"
of course by then Marv had posted on Facebook and had some 50 likes. My friends Jennifer and Page had followed everything, and my family was ecstatic! I was so pleased I had not let them down and thanked the "transition GODS" for not letting me 'dilly dally' too much, and for the experience I had learning how to pee on the bike and run to avoid stopping....
AND, last but not least, for the excellent coaching of the Endurance Nation coaches who have taught me about taking advantage of the terrain (tangents, hills and down hills) and not running till mile 18! I passed 23 people on the run, and three of them were in my age group.
WOO-HOO!!!
Wow!
Comments
CONGRATULATIONS Patti! Great race report. Good luck in Kona!!!
I was pleasantly surprised to see it was you I had been swimming along side the entire back half on the first lap. That was cool!
I'll be following and watching you as you prep for and race Kona! Congrats again for an awesome race and win!
Enjoy Kona!