IMFL Race Report - Scott Stewart
I woke up on race morning at 2 am for breakfast, then back to sleep until 4 am. I got my water bottles down to transition, my special needs bags down the street, then back to the hotel for a quick shower. I decided to put my wetsuit on in the hotel since it was so darn cold outside, then headed down to transition about 20 minutes before the race. I decided to place myself in the middle and toward the back of the pack, since I'm a pretty slow swimmer.
The cannon went off and I slowly made my way into the water, trying to avoid the mass of flailing arms and legs. Throughout the swim I kept reminding myself to not let things that I can't control inside my box. Due to the mass of people I had trouble sighting the bouys and ended up way to the right of the first turn bouy (note that it's a counter-clockwise swim). Then making that left turn I was blinded by the sun and couldn't see the next turn bouy. I just tried following the people in front of me but ended up way to the right of the next turn bouy (hmmm... I'm noticing a patern starting), and didn't notice it until I was past the darn thing. After that point I could see the Boardwalk condo and aimed myself to the left of that, since i knew that's where the swim exit was. Before I knew it I was way off course to the right... apparently there was quite a current. Despite swimming an extra couple hundred meters due to my poor sighting I finished the first loop in 52:13. The second loop was more of the same, except I'm pretty sure the water was rougher and then current was stronger, but that could have been because I was getting more tired, not sure. This time, on the way back in, I couldn't seem to keep the current from carrying me farther and farther to the right, despite the fact that I knew about it at this point and was aiming myself to the left. I got to the point where i just decided to stop fighting it and swim to shore, at which time I had to walk back to the swim exit. According to my parents, that happened to alot of people. My total swim time was 2:08:30, which was mainly due to how much more I struggled on the second loop then the first.
I entered T1 and decided to take it easy and walk through transition. I took my time in the change tent where the most amazing volunteer was helping me every step of the way. He helped me get my stuff out of my bag, was handing me things, and put all of my swim stuff in the bag. Then it was out of the change tent, where I decided to jog due to how cold it was. After a quick bathroom break I was on my way out of T1... total time 9:31.
The first part of the bike I was taking it easy. The first 22-23 miles was all into a head wind. I had to keep telling myself to not worry about my speed because I knew it would be a tail wind heading back to the beach at the end of the bike. Making that right hand turn onto highway 20 was really nice, because the head wind became a tail wind (sort of), which helped push me along. I kept focusing on keeping constant power numbers and keeping my calorie/water/salt intake where I wanted it. Then came the bumpy road... all 10 miles of it. The out-and-back to the special needs bag was pretty rough and I really struggled to keep my head in the game. I probably didn't get nearly the water and calories that I should have during this strench. After turning off that road, I really had to have a talk with myself to get my focus back and remind myself to keep drinking. I kept pushing on and before I knew it, I was back transition. I was amazed at how fast the second half of the bike seemed for me. My total time for the bike was 7:14:07. This was a little higher then I expected (I was expecting about 7 hours), but with all of the wind I faced I was happy.
T2 was definitely a time to relax for me and prepare myself mentally for the long run ahead. I really took my time, although not entirely on purpose. My compression socks took forever to put on my wet feet/legs. I couldn't believe it when i saw later that my time for T2 was 19:58. I thought for sure my time would be around 10-15 minutes max. Oh well, I think I needed the break.
I started the run really not knowing how I was going to feel. To my surprise my legs felt great. I kept myself at a really easy pace and walked through the aid stations. I was feeling better then I ever have for any 70.3 run that I've done. I was eating a Clif Shotblok every two miles and taking a salt tablet every four miles (starting with mile 3). Shortly after taking my second salt tablet, around mile 7.5, my stomach decided to call it quits. I immediately felt extremely nauseas and thought I was going to throw up. I started walking, hoping that my stomach would quickly recover. At the next few aid stations I tried using chicken broth and pretzels to help easy my stomach, but it wasn't until the end of the first loop that it started feeling better. I finally decided to give running I try again, but with the cold temps my legs had stiffened up so much that I could barely do a slow jog. It was becoming so incredibly painful to run that I let myself just keep walking. After a couple more failed attempts to run I started doing the math... can I finish if I walk the rest of the way? I figured out that I could walk the rest of the way and still have a little time to spare. Unfortunately my body continued to stiffen up and my walk was quickly becoming more of a limp as my right hip started hurting. I couldn't believe how cold it had gotten, and i definitely wasn't prepared for that. I had put a long sleeve shirt in my special needs bag, but that was no match for that ice cold wind. Despite the challenges, I kept pushing on and finally made it to the finish. I didn't even hear my name being announced because the only thing I could think of was taking a nice hot shower. My run time ended up being 6:44:20, for a total time of 16:36:26.
I was so excited that I made it in before midnight. I would have never thought that I would finish in the final half hour of the race, but I am just happy that I finished. With this being my first Ironman my only goal was to finish, so it was definitely a success 
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Comments
Nathalie
Welcome to the family! Great job continuing to refocus and not stopping when it got hard.
Congratulations on toughing it out all the way to the finish! I have been there with the stomach problems and it's no joke.