Gina's IMWI RR
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First, a HUGE thank you to all of Team EN that came from near & far to support our day. That truly made IMWI special for me. Also, big congrats to everyone that raced. Each one of you is a testament to getting the work done & I am so incredibly happy for you!!
IMMOO has been on my bucket list since July, ’08 when I attended Rich’s training camp in Madison. If you can believe it, there were only 3 of us there!! Ya think EN has grown a bit since then ?? IMFL was my race that year, but I knew I wanted to come back to IMWI eventually.
2010 was to be an IM free year, but as the momentum grew for the Chicas , I knew I wanted to share in that. So, on Sept 14, ’09 I found myself pressing the send button & ’10 became an IM year. Over the months, I made new friends via the forum & developed relationships with people I wouldn’t meet until the MOO rally or this past weekend. What a wonderful thing to share this with many others that were working toward the same goal.
I was joined by Susanna, my Mom, & 2 of my 3 sisters ( one sister could not make it due to work) @font-face {
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Their love & support have gotten me through many tough miles. For that, I am grateful.
Pre-race: I actually slept quite well the night before. Morning nutrition as planned, & off to Monona Terrace around 5am. Took care of admin with bags, bike, etc. Saw Tracy @ body marking. She graciously took my SNB from me & delivered them. My sisters had parked Mom up top on the Terrace, so I made my way up there before the swim. She hugged me, said a prayer, told me she was with me the whole day, as was my Dad’s spirit. Very emotional for me, as I miss my Dad terribly. Gave my sisters a hug & was off to the swim start!!
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Swim: While making my way down to the swim start, I ran into Michele M, Noodle, Bill, Becky. EN support was out in force!! Down @ the start I finally see Linda. After some pictures we made our way into the water. This was about 10 min prior to the start. The sunrise was beautiful, the energy high, the water COLD. I had decided to wear my sleeveless wetsuit, & while trading water was concerned I would get chilled. Once the cannon went off, I was fine though.
I had lined up inside the ski jump about mid-pack. As with all IM swim starts it was chaotic. I think Nemo said it best. It is like water polo with 3000 people. The contact was nothing too aggressive & I only took one shot to the goggles. Rounding the first buoy I mooed with everyone else & laughed out loud. Overall, uneventful. Moving up to T1 & I see Nemo, both of us were smiling. So far, so good!
1:23:32 (projected 1:20-25)
Bike: I started out with a vest & arm warmers. In retrospect, I could have done without the vest & stopped briefly @ the first aid station to toss everything. Last year, @ Ari*ona, I badly boogered my @font-face {
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nutrition on the bike. That was not going to happen this year. My watch was set for every 15 minutes for fluids & I adhered to that. 200 cal/hr & ~500mg/sodium/hr.
As predicted, people were hammering the crap out of the first loop. I (along with IM felon Kitima) were JRA chatting. Then, Kit gets a drafting penalty. Well, crap!! She took it in stride & I was off on my own. Hassan came around me just before Paoli, Michele C @ Cross Plains, & then Michele M was @ Mt Horeb. On 92, Rich, Coach P, & Mancona(?) were riding the course backwards. There was much energy in seeing everyone!! In the back of my mind, I knew I hadn’t seen Linda & was concerned.
The Midtown party was unbelievable & my first glimpse of the pinkness. WHAT a show!! Know how hard it is to keep your watts down when you are laughing???
Anyway, I continued with my plan, although I wasn’t reaching goal watts. The wind & heat picked up @font-face {
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by the 2nd lap. I was thankful @ that point for having trained in the heat this summer. It was warm, but never felt hot. It was also on the 2nd loop that I began to pass people & could see the effects of drilling the first loop. Many, many folks in a world of hurt.
Around mile 80 I noticed my left Achilles stinging some. What in the world i @font-face {
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is THAT coming from??? I got out of the saddle & did some stretching, but with every pedal stroke I could feel it. Not bad, but definitely there. I started thinking about the run, but told myself to finish out the bike & deal with the run later. I felt relatively good in the last 10 miles, but was looking forward to being off the bike.
7:20:53 (projected 7:30ish)
Run: I felt pretty stiff as I was making my way into T2. Got changed, wiped my face/hands (thank you Michele M for the idea), stopped to pee & was off. A glance up @ the race clock as I was leaving & the time said 9:02. I was pretty happy with that & thought I could come in under 15hrs.
The sun was still high and it was warm, so I worked on getting in fluids @ each aid station. I was also careful to maintain my sodium intake. I was holding my pace, but my Achilles was stinging & hurting.
Around mile 4 I saw Michele M & Johnnie with the pink poster boys. Ahhhhhh, my eyes!! Then I saw Nemo on the run path & she told me to get ready for the spectacle coming up. Like people say about tornadoes, “ I heard it before I saw it.” Well, I heard the EN melee before I saw it. Rounded the corner, hugged Olivia & Tracy, then smacked several asses before heading on.
The crowd @ State Street was simply epic!! That kind of energy is enough to bring me back here again. I also saw many of the EN gang out that way. Beth & Kathy looked like IM vets everytime I saw them. Kit, Michele C, Pam, & Neems were just trucking it along. By Janus signs I saw Susanna & my sister. Susanna said, “running is gooooood, keep running.” Many people on the course wanted to know about EN.
Going past Camp Randall on the way to the turnaround I saw former ENer, Colleen Capper. Gave her a big hug & headed on. The Achilles was becoming a real issue by about mile 11 & each push off really hurt.
Made the turn around, saw Jeff Linkus @ SN and was back on my way. By mile 13 I could not run a step without genuine pain in my Achilles. I could still move forward @ a power walk, but any appreciable running was gone. There went went my sub-15. Around mile 16ish I really hit the wall, I was nauseated (but hungry), light headed, & questioning how badly I wanted this. I knew I needed fluids & calories, so forced myself to take in just a little bit of something @ each station. This lasted until about mile 20. I committed myself at that point to as strong of a walk as possible, interspersed with 50 step runs.
That is how I finished the last 6 miles. I saw Jeff again @ ~ mile 25 & he was encouraging. Jeff, you are the best!
6:27:37 (projected 5:30)
Coming around the Capitol, I could hear the crowd and I new I had made it. I was pleased & disappointed @ the same time. Pleased with the finish, disappointed with the time. It is rarely the issues that you stress over pre-race that become real problems. I need to remember that.
When I peel back the layers of disappointment, I know that I was privileged to be part of this crucible with the people of Team EN. That is the bigger element here. For that I am happy & my life is richer because of you all.
2011 will be IM free, but already looking to 2012 with this group. Makes me smile!!
-I WILL GO SUB-15-
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Comments
Gina...good to see u before the swim in the wee hours...a hug and u were off to see your mom. Next time I saw u was on the run! I so appreciated your encouraging words and spirit...you are always so quick with a kind word or deed!! You mentioned so many names in your report...they all brought back vivid memories...many smiles and laughter!! Consider it a priviledge to race with you! Well done friend, well done!
It was just wonderful to run into you on the bike. You reminded me to keep the watts down. I remember at one point we were talking about JRA and say,"Just ride along la la la lala." Now I just have to remember to do it within the USAT rules.
Congratulations on a race well done, sista! The journey to get to the start line is tremendous in and of itself...and then to cross the finish under adversity---that's a real triumph!
One of the visualizations I carried for the IM run was seeing you, and exchanging the support like we did in FL. It saddens me that I didn't get to experience that again. But I got to cheer you in, and my heart soared! Congratulations, G. You are an awesome athlete and an amazing friend. I couldn't be happier than #3 is in the books for you.
PS-Stupid, fookin' achilles. So not fair.
It was so great running with you up the helix- such a highlight to the day! I also got a lift seeing you on the run several times. Frankly, when I reached the "Inspiration Station" I looked for you coming back again and seriously thought perhaps I'd just sit down and wait for you so we could finish together. But I didn't see you in that part out in the dark. I guess it all worked out- I was pretty shot and wouldn't have been great company anyway. :-)
It was great seeing you at the finish line! Actually- ALL of us together at that finish line was simply awesome. I can't wait to do it with you again!
Achilles? Really? It was really fantastic seeing you on the course. You always had this "hey, I'm doing an Ironman. It hurts, but I'm going to be chill about it" sort of face.
And your spectators were awesome, too! It was neat spotting Su and Susie!
I had no idea that you had this Achilles issue. Why does something like that decide to show up on race day??? I do hope that it was just one of those random things and nothing to be concerned about.
I hear you on the disappointment. It is hard not to have some (or a lot) of that. I love your assessment about the things you stress over pre-race not becoming issues. That really sums up a lot about how open we have to be about managing what does come up on race day, while also suggesting that we should chill out on some of the junk we find to stress about during the months/days/hours leading up to the race. Insightful for sure; WE ALL need to remember that!
Enjoy your non-IM year. Recharge your batteries. Then get ready for the sub-15 celebration!