Dina's IM MOO Race Report. I am an IRONMAN!
Seven weeks ago, after a disappointing race at IM Racine 70.3, I was ready to throw in the triathlon towel, and go back to strictly running events. A Kansas City friend of mine, Jim Myers, encouraged me to reach out to Endurance Nation for coaching. On September 11th, I became an IRONMAN! God bless Jim…what an amazing weekend! It began with the team dinner on Thursday, followed by Recon Swim and the 4Keys lecture on Friday, team pics on race morning, and pre-race prayer with Mariah.
Race Morning – I woke up at 4:00, and was feeling better than I had been on Friday afternoon & all day Saturday. The head cold my children had been sharing with one another for the past week had finally caught up to me on Friday afternoon. I took some cold meds, & Mucinex. I ate a bagel, banana, and drank a cup of coffee, all while sipping on a bottle of Tailwind. I showered, double checked my special needs & morning clothes bags, and headed out from the hotel. Instead of taking the shuttle bus from the hotel, another athlete offered me a ride, and we parked one block from the finish line. 6:00 AM, I was sitting inside Monona Terrace, listening to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’, and feeling slightly light-headed. I wasn’t sure if it was the cold meds, or nerves.
SWIM - (1:19:16) shooting for 1:20
Heading in to the water I ran in to another KC athlete who was as the swim start volunteering this year. It certainly calmed my nerves to see a familiar face. I lined up on the left side of the ski ramp a few rows back. In my two previous 70.3 races, I’ve swam right at :40. I felt comfortable with my 1:20 goal. Welcome to the washing machine of IM WI. Tons of pushing, grabbing, & being swam over. I was kicked in the jaw, & had my goggles knocked off twice. The only time I felt in a good rhythm in my swim was when I veered off course, and I only knew I was off course because there was no one immediately ahead of me or on either side of me! I was interested to see how far I actually swam, having veered off course a few times, but the pause button had been hit by another swimmer at the second buoy, so my Garmin data only shows a distance of 1,820 yards. Very happy with my swim, swam easy & comfortable, with some humming to myself along the way.
T1 – 11:38 – Following the 4 Keys, and conserving energy where I could, I walked to the first set of available strippers, I also walked up the helix (and saw Mariah!), grabbed my bag. My volunteer was amazing, and stayed with me until I walked out the door. Stopped at the port-o-potty on my way in to the bike racks. The volunteers had called out my bib number before I even arrived to my rack, and my bike was there ready to roll when I arrived.
BIKE - (6:47:26) shooting for 7:00
Followed Coach Rich’s advice of staying in my box, racing smart, and simply controlling what was immediately in front of me. Fairies, rainbows, and unicorns! Continued on with my nutrition plan, didn’t hammer the hills, earned the nickname ‘Pinkie’ on the bike course. I need to work on cycling descent. I would lose athletes on the downhills on the first loop, as I was white-knuckling it most of the way. (Super cautious as I wrecked my road bike at the beginning of the season in 2015, and fractured my collarbone.) Saw Mariah at the end of loop one, yay! Stopped at Special Needs, and rotated out my empty nutrition bottles. On the second loop, I was able to navigate the descents a little faster since there was some familiarity. Around mile 90 I was ready to be off of the bike, was zoned out, and received a blue card for drafting. 5 minutes in the penalty box at T2. On the stick back in, I rode very tentatively, and upset with myself for the drafting charge. Saw family members as we rounded the corner at the Clarion, and some more KC athletes there spectating as I was coming in to T2. Much welcome pick-me-ups!
T2 – 13:24 - Handed off my bike, and headed to the penalty box. There were so many others in there (including another athlete from KC, we’re everywhere!), that they had run out of stopwatches to track your time. My volunteer ended up using her phone to track it. Time was up, and I ran in to T2. Grabbed my bag, and headed off to the changing room.
RUN - (5:16:46) the unknown variable
I started off too fast with an 8:41 mile. Miles 2-14 all ranged between 9:41-11:46. Saw another group of KC friends on State Street on the back side of the loop, and Mariah again at the end of the first loop! By mile 13, I was sick of my Tailwind nutrition, and couldn’t drink it any longer without feeling nauseous, so changed to filling up my water bottle with ice water at the aid stations when needed. I stopped at Special Needs and dropped off my tank top & SpiBelt, completely forgetting I wouldn’t get them back, but was happy to get rid of. Miles 15-19, I was content with speed-walking knowing I was going to finish, and would reach the 14:00 - 15:00 hr goal I had set for myself. Around mile 20, I overheard someone ask what time of day it was. I quickly calculated in my head that I could break the fourteen hour mark if I picked it up. Miles 20-26 I saw several other EN athletes, and ran/walked with Heidi for awhile. Mile 25 was at 10:25, and 26 at 9:20.
TOTAL TIME 13:48:15
I cannot thank my Endurance Nation team enough. I am so encouraged by the progress I made in the seven short weeks I have been following the training plan. I’m looking forward to IM #2, and am positive that once I get my run under control I can break 13:00. Coming in to triathlon from a running background, and having it go from great to average has been frustrating, but I am confident I will get my running legs back. Thanks again for a great weekend!
Comments
* Lose yourself is good... but nothing beats "The Distance" by Cake to psyche you up pre race...
Yes you are an Ironman! Great race & great job!
Dina,
Congrats on a great race and so good to see you absorb so many of our race execution processes in just 7 weeks. Really looking forward to seeing what you can do next year when you take the fitness you have right now, put the OutSeason top of that, then build more endurance on top of that FASTER you beginning in about March or so!