Michele Cellai's Dance of the 11 minute Rockstar at IMWI 2010
Dance of the 11 Minute Rockstar and IMWI 2010
Thinking back to more than 1 year ago, I was casually talking about Ironman with my husband, Max. When I mentioned Wisconsin, where his daughter goes to college, he immediately suggested that I sign up. Since the momentum in the women’s forum was already building for IMWI 2010, I took a deep breath and registered myself for the coming year.
I will skip all of the pre-race lead up. You can be sure that I followed the EN Intermediate Ironman Training Plan, but not into a brick wall. I committed to the training but not to completely turning my life over to training. Of the 12 weekends in the plan, 3 were spent in NY with my family. This meant doing just the Saturday intervals on the trainer, skipping the run, and then hitting the road for a 3 hour drive. If I had time I did 1.5-2 hours of the Sunday ride on the trainer once I returned home.
Training camp in July, and meeting many of these amazing women in person for the very first time, helped to get me through the longer solo training days. But when schedules allowed, I trained with Aimme, Linda, Leigh and Dave, Dave Halligan, Carly- in short- any EN member that was available.
Arriving in Madison pre-race, the energy of the EN chickas was immediately palpable. We just picked up in person where we had left off on the forum the day before. We had morning swims, scones, lunches, dinners, bike course recon, and short runs.
Short version
Swim 1:13:59- Excellent!
T1 11:19- Huh?
Bike 7:23:43- Ugh!
T2 5:41- OK.
Run 4:59:17- Awesome!
Total 13:53:59- SUPER!
Longer Version
Slept in Saturday and otherwise relaxed. I did go to the Farmer’s Market on the square; otherwise I was feet up and relaxing in the hotel. I also broke the cardinal EN rule of going out for dinner. Max needed to eat and the EN plan didn’t really work for him. So I decided we should leave downtown and go to the restaurant of the famous EN Chicka Dessert Time Trial- Bluephies. No triathletes in sight, very relaxing.
I can honestly say I was not nervous about the race (just the swim start). The power of the EN Chickas and the EN team support for IMWI gave me confidence. But I can never fall asleep easily the night after I sleep in, so I relaxed in bed for an hour before drifting off. 3 hours later I was awoken by Max’s phone ringing. He is an ICU doc and wasn’t on call, but that doesn’t keep the residents from calling him when they are having trouble with a patient. He was leaving the room to talk, but I made him stay, it wasn’t like I’d fall right back to sleep. Turns out the patient was 40 years old. There she was struggling to survive and I was planning to race an Ironman “for fun”. This really gave me perspective on the day ahead.
2 am and 4:30 am nutrition were fine. Gather my gear and head to the race site with Max- my iron Sherpa and Beth Schwindt and her iron Sherpa- her sister Jo. I was overdressed but wanted to stay warm until I absolutely had to get in the wetsuit. Sheryl Woodworth found me and I was able to get the drillbit sewed onto my visor in honor of Trent. I already had “WTGU?” on my right forearm, power numbers on my left forearm, and EN tattoos on my right shoulder, right calf, and left quad. Max was sporting a pink Speedo under his shorts. He gave a preview to Becky, Michele, and Josh.
Finally it was time to put on the wetsuit. I was glad I waited as I easily get cold. As I walked across the timing mats and got into the water, the Star Spangled Banner was playing. I sang it out- off key. I had raised money through the Janus Charity Challenge for soldiers permanently disabled in the wars. I really felt that song.
SWIM
SHOUT OUT TO AL TRUSCOTT- your advice for where to start and what to watch out for was spot on. I have never been in a mass swim start and decided that I would go whole hog and get in the scrum but be polite. I lined up just to the inside of the ski ramp (closer to the buoys). Not too many folks. I kept drifting to the front and then back paddling. But the guy behind me was hoping for 1:30 and I had swum 1:18 in my swim RR, so I wanted to stay in front of him, even if I was near the front.
The start wasn’t too bad, but as folks angled in from the right I was pushed deeper into the mass of bodies. There was a lot of contact but nothing painful- yet. I had my shoulder grabbed and pulled back. I did find open water by angling to the right but would then get pushed left again by more people angling in as they slowed down after starting too fast. I kept as even a pace as I could and breathed to my left to push myself right. Of course the turn buoy was a total cattle call and I had plenty of time to put my head up and Moo 3 different times. I continued to fight to get outside right only to be forced back to the buoy line. I have never worked so hard to get off the buoy line. At the 2nd turn buoy I took a shot to the back of the head and then moments later a left hook to the face. It hurt, but it was just beneath my goggles on the cheek and nose. The cold water took the sting away. Lap 2- I was able to stay outside and had either open water or feet to follow. I was aware that I had swallowed a decent amount of water, more than normal for me on a long swim, but I thought nothing of it at the time. I have swum in open water my entire life. To me it’s normal.
ANOTHER SHOUT OUT TO AL- I walked to the wetsuit strippers, then walk/ slog jogged to the helix before running up. This gave my head time to clear.
T1
Knowing I was cold, I took the time to put on arm warmers (not perfectly, just good enough) and heat patches. I was also changing into bike shorts and putting on the singlet. I decided against wearing it on the swim so it would be dry on the bike for warmth. I had my saltines and med bottle for “just in case”. I did not dawdle.
BIKE
There is no way to keep legal distance at the start with this many people. I just did the best I could, especially since per EN protocol I was a bit slower. Just before we entered the “no pass zone” the guy 2 bikes ahead goes down for no obvious reason. I and the guy in between both swerved right. Looked like the faller’s pride was hurt but not his body or bike.
Out of town and per EN protocol I am keeping my watts low. As we entered the smaller rollers and my watts rose slightly, I became nauseated. Soon I found that I couldn’t push watts much over 100 without feeling ill. As more and more folks passed me I stayed in my box, ignoring the desire to chase and knowing if I did my race would end. Drinking water increased the nausea. And so did Infinit. Took some Tums and saltines with short term relief. As I watched rider after rider pass me, and I unable to take in much nutrition, I knew my day would end if I didn’t take serious measures. I was getting dehydrated and I knew it. I began to look at “WTGU?” and just knew I had to finish. 2 hours into the ride I got off my bike at an aid station, took my Tums and saltines, and lay in the grass. This was by far a difficult decision, but my stomach needed to get right or I was done. I really had no idea how long I was there, but according to my Power-tap it was 19-20 minutes. In that time many EN peeps passed by and I cheered them on. A volunteer loaned me a phone and I called Max requesting that he buy Tums and take them to the first aid station in Verona, perhaps they would give me the Tums.
Once I got back on the bike I felt better but never back to normal. I was able to start taking in Infinit regularly. I pushed when I could- free speed on the down hills, and kept my watts low on the up hills. Coming up the hill at Midtown and seeing the pink Speedos in all of their glory was a huge energy boost.
Through Verona and not stopping cause I didn’t see Max. I stopped at BSN where I had more saltines waiting. I spent another 8 minutes here making sure that I was OK, not perfect. Any time I worried about my stomach on the run ahead, I pushed the thoughts away since they were out of my box.
At the next water station, there was Max. Long story short he called around until he found race officials and received permission to give me the Tums out on the course. The guy that showed him where to go came over to talk to me and make sure I was good to go. I took an entire roll of Tums and some Zantac. Again this helped. And again, I never felt back to normal, but I could take in nutrition.
The remainder of the bike was uneventful except it was great to see so many EN Chickas out there.
T2
SHOUT OUT TO MATT SULLIVAN- he grabbed my bike when I came in.
Bag and volunteer and I was changing shorts again. I have speed laces and the volunteer was trying to get them apart. I felt bad after I screamed “No!” when she was just about to undo the holder. Quick as I could I was gone, but not before doing some math…
RUN
SHOUT OUT TO MATT SAMOJEDEN- for the pacing the run in heat guidance. Although the day had started cool, we had cloudless skies and blazing sunshine. The run would start hot. My original LRP+30 was 10:40, I added another 30 for the heat, and another 30-45 for feeling ill. It was quite disheartening to be staring down an 11:45-12:00 pace, but I wanted to finish.
Beth’s sister Jo was volunteering at a turn about 1 mile from the start/ finish. Seeing her helped. The early part of the course is slight downhill, so it was hard to hold back on pace. I walked every aid station and took in something. I always asked for soda, getting it 75% of the time on loop 1 and only once or twice on loop 2. They had run out. How does this happen? Doesn’t WTC have this figured out yet? I knew I would be passing the pink Speedos around mile 5, and I was anxious to get there. Once I did, the guys did not disappoint. Butts went out in a line to be slapped. Such a boost!! I kept a smile on my face all the way through the turn around and back past the Speedos again. Once past the guys, that lovely slight downhill was now a long slight uphill. I felt good. If my stomach became iffy, I watered down the Perform which I’d never had an issue with. Loved ones of all of the EN chickas shouted out support. It was amazing.
After RSN, I gave myself permission to not hold back on the downhill. I kept an eye on my pace, not wanting to go too hard. I was amazed at how good I felt. I found myself hoping that the pink Speedos would still be there, and they were. The guys did not disappoint. I did not slap any butts this time around, but I vaguely remember Patrick putting out his hands and me taking them as I went by. I have no idea if any words were exchanged. Again I smiled all the way through the turn around and back to the guys. On one of my passes, Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks like a Lady” was playing, that made me laugh.
It was time to start counting how many people I passed. Ultimately I passed 132 racers after mile 18.
Now it was dark and I had affixed a round glow light to the center of my shirt. I was “Ironman” from the movie. Most people didn’t get that.
Staring down the last 3 miles, I wanted to be done. I felt good enough to pick up the pace a little more. I hoped that Jo would still be out there, and she was. Some race guy told me that in 5 minutes I would be done, but I thought he was wrong. How could that be? Only 5 more minutes?
Before I knew it I was approaching the lights. Max was at the final turn- I wish I had stopped to hug and kiss him. In my delight and delirium I waved and kept running.
I heard Mike Reilly say my first name (I was the only woman around finishing at the moment). And I heard the inevitable pause as he tried to figure out my last name, before getting it horribly wrong. I almost shouted it out but I started laughing and with arms raised, I crossed the finish line.
I wasn’t happy to be done. I was thrilled that I had executed the race to EN standards. I knew I had negative split the bike- which to be fair- wasn’t that hard considering how ill I’d felt in the beginning. But I knew I had negative split the run by at least 5 minutes. Standing down to regroup for my stomach SAVED MY RACE. This was an EN lesson learned from so many other race reports.
So Thank You to:
Max for his enduring love and support.
RnP for the plan and execution guidance.
Every woman in EN that tries to fit work, family, training, and racing together.
Pink Speedo guys for the fun and energy.
EN sherpas for the energy and effort to help us all get through and have the best race we could
AND THE EN Chickas of IMWI 2010. It was through some hateful moments in training that I would think of each of you, knowing you were going through the same training pain and suffering. Every dark moment of training was balanced by the love and friendship we have found in this online community. You are an amazing group of women and I want all of us and many more to do this again.
Comments
Ok Michele, your report was the one that made a lump appear in my throat...got kind of choked up reading it! Not sure why just the way u thanked all the IMWI Chica's at the end...powerful and heartfelt...thank you. I have so enjoyed talking with you online, at the rally and last weekend. I love your maverick spirit and tenacity
Your rockstar dance on the run course was awesome...u looked so solid out there! Way to figure stuff out on the bike and fix it!! I love this team....so many stories of peeps getting into trouble, but figuring it out and finishing! Gives me goosebumps. Anyhow...again loved meeting u and congraulations chica on a race well done!
Michele, You ROCK!
I bet you can count on one hand the number of people on the course that had the knowledge, presence of mind and determination to race smart and stand down to get the stomach issues under control. When the race day goes right those hard decisions don’t have to be made. When things go south, begin smart as YOU WERE, prevents a DNF. There were many DNFs on the day!
You can listen to Michele's podcast here
Standing down on the bike lifted you up those hills. Slowing down on the run helped insure a crazy good finish time. Way to be Zen in the middle of an Ironman!!!! THAT, my friend, is the new standard of mental toughness. You were SO rock solid in every way going into this race, and you did it with incredible presence of mind. Congratulations, Michele! I could not be happier for you!
Excellent determination. I too had a similar 'should I give up' moment on the bike when I had a really strange mechanical issue. It was the same sort of 'I can do this' conditioning that you experienced that helped me.
Great to see you out on the run and as always delight to have trained with you. Woohoo!
-Dave
Congratulations in every sense of the word!
And Yes! We shall race together again for sure.
M- You are the BOMB!! What a super, super race. You looked sooooo good (sorry I missed you on Mt. Horeb). I think I need a poster of you to go next to Chrissie in the pain cave!!
@Yasko- You are an EN Chicka and you rule. Hope to meet in person.
Thanks all! Truly I was so happy to be a part of this amazing experience with the EN Chickas and the Chicka supporters!
...Oh and Max's waxing comments and subsequent flash of the speedo were hilarious!!
Okay, so you laid down in the middle of Ironman and got back up?! You get some special super smart/resourceful chica award.
It was so fantastic to share Ironman week with you, hotel buddy. One of my favorite parts of the race was walking up the hill to the start, half-awake, drinking coffee, while Max was at some witty, hilarious peak. It set a good tone for the day!
Hearing about your day and then reading about it are two different things. Had _no_ idea you were standing down that long but huge, Huge, HUGE points to you for making decision #1 that saved your day. #2 was the run pacing, and you nailed that as well. We put you on a flat course and you are going to be hunting down some pink speedo roadkill for sure. Congrats to you and SHOUT OUT to Max for finishline humor and fun. Enjoy your break!