Anu Rao IM Lou Report.
Second Ironman done!
I went into this race terrified I would not finish. Two weeks ago after a disastrous Aquabike (final RR) at Redman that ended in the med tent, I debated bailing on this race.. For a whole bunch of reasons including losing a couple of key weeks to being sick, training had not gone well, I missed lot of workouts. And this being my second I knew what lay in wait which added to the apprehension. I spent sometime looking at my workouts and decided that I could finish, might not be pretty but it could be done.
Race day is about execution not fitness. That became my mantra.
The week leading up to the race was very stressful since we were trying to get a release out at work and all hell broke loose on Thursday. before the race. Worked almost all day. I did have a fuck it moment and went to meet the EN team for dinner which was great to take my mind off work for a bit and share some laughs. Went back and worked some more, which was not optimal for the race.
Fortunately by Friday afternoon it calmed down a bit. Next morning rode the out and back and drove the loop. Thanks to Roy for all the coordination. He was an awesome team captain!
Practice swim went okay, didn't stay in long all the talk of toxic algae etc. Water temps were great.Started to feel better about the race.
Race day dawned with absolutely perfect weather. Really beautiful. Low 49, high of 72(?)
Swim: Expected 1:35-:140 Actual 1:29:xx(
)
The big thing here for me had been jumping off the dock, I'd been afraid to do it thanks to all the practice and help from my local tri team coach and teammates it was not even an issue, Jumped in, did gulp some water, Eeeeeps be nice algae don't make me sick. The first part all the way to the turn buoy was quite frankly awful . Just constantly being hit on the head, was kicked in the right eye once, swum over many times. I usually stay to the outside and most people stay on the buoy line, Unfortunately because of the sandbar nearer to the buoys and on the back portion supposedly the current is faster away from the buoys, folks were there on the outside. Also even though I was way at the back of the line, many of the stronger swimmers started behind me to avoid the super early morning wake up to get in line. I really preferred the mass start at AZ where I could start at the back and the speed monsters were be up front and swum over and clobbered their own kind. 
Near the turn buoy someone who was breast stroking kicked me in the eye dislodging my goggles and before I could fix it someone else pushed them off my head. I tried to tread to put them back on and was clobbered and went under for a bit which induced panic, I was waving to get the attention of the kayaks, but it did seem like they were few and far between at this race. Some other athlete saw me and held my hand to calm me down while yelling for the kayaker. Not my finest moment for sure. For context I learnt to swim as an adult and had to take a class called "swimming for terrified adults before I could even learn to float. So the swim stuff just comes harder for me, quite annoying. Anyway got the goggles back on and headed back in. The rest of the swim felt fast and once the faster people were gone much less contact and being swum over. Not surprisingly I was ecstatic getting out of the swim.
T1: 17:xx minutes yeah I know WTF was I doing. Some was a longish walk to bike mount, pee break, should I wear shoes in transition will they pick mud in the, gloves or not and on and on. Usually I have a plan but too much other stuff before going into this race.
Bike: This was the part I was most apprehensive, Knew I was not ready.. Expected 7:15-7:30 Actual 7:30.
I came off the swim feeling somewhat achy and just a bit off, happened two weeks back at the Aquabike as well. Think I need more swim to bike bricks in training. My powermeter was being its asshole self. So HR was what I used. Easy ride for the first hour and then low zone 2 for the rest. On hills allow it to spike to 135-140 at most.
I think what got me on this course more than lack of fitness was just lacking the skills to ride the rollers. I was not able to carry momentum up the hills, would gear down too fast and then spin uphill. Silly stuff like that. Something to work on. Dropped the chain twice. Saw my husband at La grange twice and that is always a nice boost. The route was very pretty going through horse farms.
Some parts were very sketchy because we were sharing a two lane road with traffic several times I'd be coming down or up a hill only to have to slow down for a car going slowly waiting for the traffic on the other side to clear before going around cyclists. The road has no shoulder either. Not a fan of that. But drivers were nice, for sure I'd have been cussed at a time or three if it were TX. .
About ten miles before the finish some guy said, hey your tube is wrapped around your chain sure enough the extra tube had dislodged itself from under the seat and wrapped itself around, ugh. Stopped and unraveled that mess. Last few miles are flat but my right leg spasmed a bit, so I slowed down to an easy spin.
Came off the bike feeling a bit stiff and tired, but overall okay, which was a relief after the medtent saga two weeks back.
T2: 12 minutes: Yep WTF Anu.
Run: 4:47:XX
Had been unsure how the run would go, since it just seemed like so much depended on how the bike went. I started running and pretty soon was feeling good. Used my inhaler pre-run, but only a few miles in I started hearing that wheezy sound used the inhaler and would need it again at mile 18ish. Which put me well over the recommended 4 puffs dosage for the day. Kind of a bummer because I was feeling pretty strong otherwise on the run, but I know to not push it when my lungs are not happy. I took walk breaks on the small inclines and of course towards the later miles the aid station walk breaks were much longer, definitely inability to go to the dark place. More stuff to work on. The support on the run course was great. I somehow missed noticing that we ran by Churchill Downs. How TF did I do that? I also missed a local tri teammate screaming my name apparently six inches away from me 
The finish line of course was amazing, the noise levels were just crazy. Very very happy and relieved to be done.
Final time 14:16:Xx
45 minutes slower than my first in AZ. This finish line was harder to achieve and while I am not proud of the training I am very happy with race day which sure beats it being the other way around.
Thanks to the IM Lou team for the weeks of support. You guys were the best and I really enjoyed meeting so many of you.
Comments
@Danielle, the funny thing was I'd told my husband, I'd be slower at everything except the transitions which should be faster, but not so.
@Alan. Thanks. Next up is Boston in 2016, want to really give one really good try to bring down my now 7 year old marathon PR. And a HIM later in the year, try for a sub 6 or at the least beat my PR which is 6:24.
Way to persevere....the finish always makes it worth the hard work!!!!
Enjoy your recovery...
P
Sub 1:30 on the swim seems pretty good, given everything. And you motored all the way to the end. Sometimes, we need all that time in transition to re-wire the brain. If it got you to the finish line, it was time well spent.
Thanks for the race report. I'm late reading them, possibly because I feel guilty not having written one myself. It was fun to relive the LOU experience through your eyes. I love your humor and how you took things in stride. You are resilient. Great meeting you and sharing the race together.