Bike For Sale AKA Jennifer's IMOO race report
Swim – 1:28:39 Mmmmm, Lake Monona tastes GOOOOOOD!
The swim went well- I got kicked in the face, swallowed a lot of Lake Monona water, and served as a motorboat for some 45 year old man for at least 10 strokes till I stopped, turned around, and asked “Really?” But I did get into my rhythm, tried to remain mostly calm, and got through the swim slow and easy. Although outside the EN swim time guidance, I’m happy with this time since I didn’t get a chance to do most of the swim workouts because of work issues, and I’m pretty sure the farthest I swam was a mile.
T1 – 8:40
Nothing exciting here- thought I did a good job getting my brace on and all the other stuff done quickly and getting out. I was happy at this point!
Bike – 7:59:15 Where My Bike Is Afraid of the Hills of Wisconsin
Ahhh, the bike. At the end of the bike my handler said she’d take care of getting it back to the rack, I told her I’d be fine with her throwing it in Lake Monona. Unfortunately, she didn’t. So the rear derailleur gearing issues that cropped up several times during my training, and during RR #2, came up again. I SWEAR I took the bike out on Thursday for a short test ride on the hills to ferret out any last minute problems, but it did me no good (at this point I'm not blaming the multiple bike mechanics that spent at least 10 total hours trying to figure out the problem- it's got to be something randomly impossible to find with my shifting system).
So my bike spent 112 miles jerking between gears, hopping up and down my cogs, and generally not letting me get into any kind of rhythm and absolutely destroying my knees. To sum up: my bike sucked. Even though it was only 30-60 minutes longer than my estimated time, I knew my marathon was going to be cooked. Plus I got a drafting penalty on Old PB when the girl in front of me climbing the hill actually stopped pedaling and I couldn’t get around her because the lane was so small. Then as the spotter is yelling that I’m too close and I’m getting a penalty his bike driver is coming so dangerously close to encroaching on the bike lane that he throws off another biker that was trying to pass me so she didn’t get a penalty that he knocked a cone into her bike. Luckily, she wobbled a bunch but stayed on the bike and in the lane, but very scary, and it left a very sour feeling about the official. But oh well, by that point I needed a break, and spent my 4 minutes stretching. The second half of the loop was even worse, and at this point I definitely contemplated stopping cause I was in so much pain. But I figured if I was going to quit I better do it in Madison so I could find my family and at least get dinner out of it 
Thanks to everyone I saw on the bike, each time I saw someone it gave me enough encouragement to keep going!
Thanks to everyone I saw on the bike, each time I saw someone it gave me enough encouragement to keep going!Entire workout (92 watts):
Duration: 7:55:58 (8:03:10)
Work: 2615 kJ
TSS: 353.1 (intensity factor 0.669)
Norm Power: 104
VI: 1.14 (Side note: I know this is stoopid high, but because of my difficulty during the second loop it totally skewed my numbers. For the first half of the race I was about a 1.08 VI, my second half was a totally different story…)
Distance: 115.731 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 325 92 watts
Cadence: 30 218 74 rpm
Speed: 0 41.3 14.5 mph
Pace 1:27 0:00 4:07 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 566 109 lb-in
T2 – 8:00
Tried to calm myself down and psych myself up for the run, but I knew it was going to be tough and close as to if I’d finish. Took a few extra minutes to take in some extra water and get some sunscreen.
Run- 6:12:37 Mental Math and the Awesomeness of Cheeseheads
So I start running out of transition and almost throw up from the pain in my knees. I really haven’t felt pain this bad since I had my ACL reconstructed 7 years ago. I’m definitely in trouble. I see this couple that were standing next to my mom at the swim start and they start calling out my name and cheering me on which was awesome. I’d see them a bunch more times, and found out later that they volunteered on Saturday, and just came out to support on Sunday. It was awesome, and as the night progressed I learned that there are a TON of people like that in Madison.
Anyway, I start running, but I’m already trying to decide on what my new gameplan is going to be. I decided that I would run, even as slow as possible if necessary, and just walk the aid stations until the pain started to interfere with my stability. Around mile 5 I start bobbing and weaving, so I switched to running for 5 minutes, walking for 1 minute. Loved seeing the EN crew at mile 6/18, was a mental boost to know you guys were there. It was also great to see all the ENers running on the course. Lots of high 5s and words of encouragement kept me moving along. Around mile 10 I realized I’m probably averaging 15-16 minute miles, and if this gets worse there’s a chance I won’t make the various cut-offs. I need to calm myself down and figure out what minute miles I need to do in order to finish by midnight. This starts the amusing part of the evening since I absolutely SUCK at mental math, add in the fuzziness from the pain and length of time I’ve been working and now it’s even worse! I’m adding and dividing in my head, I’m asking volunteers about times and long division, I’m asking family members if they can tell me how many minutes are in an hour- it was bad.
Finally, at around mile 15 I find my mom, who gives me a little pep talk and helps me out with my mental math, and we determine that if I can do 18 minute miles I’ll be fine, any faster and I’m getting a buffer. So she waits for me to come back from the walking path section, and off I go, still trying to run, but really not doing well. Then it hits me- hello, you need to channel your inner Mary Rochelle (that’s my mom) and power-walk (since I was a baby my mom has been a huge “power walker” - in malls, along the lake, wherever). Boom, this takes the pressure off my knees, and now I’m off at an average 14 minute mile clip. Plus no need to stop or slow down at aid stations. Now I’m not only going to finish, F-this, I’m going to aim to finish before 16 hours. So I buckle down, and kept going. My nutrition had been spot on all day, even with the added time I knew what to do, so I had a ton of energy to go.
The coolest thing about the run (or the power walk) was the incredible support of the people that were still on the course at 10pm. Everyone from college kids, to police officers, to general Madisonians had a supportive word and cheer to give- incredible doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I can see the capital!!! Now generally when I’m doing a race I always have a burst of energy to finish strong, I knew with the blinding pain I wouldn’t be able to run long, so I power-walked all the way up to the finish turn, looked behind me and realized that I had the chute all to myself, and busted out my sprint. I’m telling you, the “roar” of approval from the crowd might have been the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced as an athlete. I slapped a bunch of 5s, felt like a rockstar, and had Mike Reilly crown me an Ironman at 15:57 
It was an amazing day and an amazing weekend thanks to all of you!0
Comments
Get that knee taken care of and get yourself a new ride! Then come join us in 2012 for the Revenge Tour!
To your bike's drivetrain I say: Phooey! Big POS to mess up my friend's race!! What is UP with it?!
Love that you channelled your inner Mary Rochelle! Just so great that your mom could be there like that for you. Congratulations on your first IM---a tough day well done!
I'm so sorry to hear you were my bad bike mechanical sistah out there. Spit on that!!!! That is completely aggravating and such a race messer. BUT, you made it to the line and that is what RULES!!! Congrats, Jennifer! Ironman is now forever part of you!
Way to stick in there, Jen- Congrats on IM #1!!
Oh, Jennifer, I had no idea your bike was causing that much trouble. I think you've proven Ironman somewhat is about the bike -- Lance Armstrong was wrong!
Congratulations on pushing through. You seriously earned Ironman!
Jennifer- I tell ya that bike of yours....I would have been peoed! Wow, what a day for you on the bike course! What I like is the fact u used your resourcefulness to fix your running/walking problem (your box) and got to the finish the best way u could!! and at the end of the day all that matters was hearing "Jennifer Burbatt, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" Right? of course right!!! Loved meeting you over the course of the year, visting with you on several occassions and eating together at the team dinner! I love your easy going personality and the fact you and your mom are buds makes me smile! Love that :
Sounds like she is indeed an inspiration to you. So,here's to Mary Rochelle and Jennifer Burbatt, two amazing woman!! Congrats!
Fantastic 'gutsy' effort. You should be very proud of your mental and physical strength!
Well Done !!!!
Ian