IMAZ 2010 Race report
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Photo is me on bike finish, sporting my happy EN arm warmers. (thank you Nemo!!!) 
Swim:
Success #1: shaking off nerves before the gun. Cold water + jitters + jerk announcer = racing heart. Fixed by taking it easy with a few deep breaths. I’ve never fixed that issue so quickly before. The racing heart issue usually adds ~10 minutes to my swim time. (so, yay!!) Definitely struggled with running into people. But, they are outside the box. I felt comfortable, focused on form. Hands didn’t get too cold (usually a problem for me), no leg cramps. I was prepared for the cold air exiting the swim. T1 still pretty slow.
Bike:
Clothing: I was thinking that I would warm up, and took the minimum with me (arm warmers, neck gator, gloves & glove liners). I was the only fool out there with a neck gator but I am not sorry. It saved me. As it was I was frozen solid for 85 of the 90 JRA minutes. 
At 90 minutes I was at least not quite as cold as I was to start but I was still pretty damn shivery. Finally by 2 hours I felt ok. I stuffed gator & gloves into one of the bottle holders on my saddle, which I had left empty for this purpose. I am unsure how I would want to handle this in the future though – a jersey on top? Leg warmers? Left the leg warmers because they would be a pain to remove later.
Conditions: I spent 2 minutes thinking “uhoh” 
and then the other 413 minutes thinking “DUDE! This is fantastic!! I am going to have some seriously killer stories to tell when this is said and done.” 
Since I was not focused on a time, I could afford to tell mother nature to bring on whatever she could so I could see just what I was made of. I am very happy because not once, for even a second, did I get frustrated with the wind. Or the rain. Or the hail. All I cared about was my goal HR and keeping a good cadence within that HR. I did have a few seconds of fear from the wind – afraid of getting pelted with debris, but riding in fear is also a waste of mental energy. I felt bad for the people who said things to me like “this sucks” because they were clearly going to have a rough race and they hadn’t even started the run yet.
Run:
Came off the bike already feeling much better than last year. Stuck to a super slow pace for the first lap to settle in and see how my tummy was going to fare. Felt really, really good. Second lap – more of the same. I was afraid to speed up because I wanted to save my energy for later. Grabbed a long sleeve T and more gu at special needs. Ended up feeling a bit warm later, but it didn’t strike me to remove the shirt to fix this. (welcome to late race mental fuzziness) Third lap. I passed mile 18 totally happy, but remembered Rich’s words about mile 22-24, so I decided to keep playing it safe. Sure enough, by mile 23 things were starting to get a bit shaky. The physical aches and pains were not the problem – the problem was this general feeling of… nausea (?) It’s very hard to describe. Kind of like I was going to pass out, but not quite. It was very hard for me to keep the numbers in my head of how often I needed to nibble gu, and whether I had drank water or Gatorade at my last assigned “sip time” (which was only 5 minutes apart, mind you). Was flattered that a guy asked to keep pace with me because without it he said he would be walking. Ended up telling him I couldn’t talk anymore for the reasons that I just stated, but welcomed the company by my side. Just kept hanging on, bit by bit until the end. When the bridge lights got big, I said screw it all and ran as fast as I could, just below sprint level. Rounded that last little corner above the parking lot and sprinted to the finish. It felt fantastic. But when I stopped I knew I was still jacked up. I have no idea what’s normal and what’s a problem when it comes to how I feel during these late stages of the race. Later back at the hotel I started to feel better and then all of a sudden I was on the edge of passing out straight away. Thank goodness my parents were with me and could keep an eye on me.
Nutrition:
Last year I didn’t do the 2am eating thing, and ate breakfast (bagel with a little PB, and banana) right when I got up at 4ish. Had gastro issues big time, which I could feel the minute I left the swim, dealt with ok on the bike, and became my downfall on the run. 
This year, I did the 2am eating thing, had only Gatorade & water the morning of, and had relatively minor issues at the start of the bike, but those minor issues did set me behind on nutrition because my tummy was upset. After an hour I returned to the timing of my food plan but chose to nibble gu in 10 minute intervals instead of bloks every 20 minutes and ironed it out by about 2.5 hours in. So overall, I see this as an improvement, but clearly not all dialed in like I am thinking it can be.
1) could this falling behind on the bike have contributed to what I felt at mile 23? Or is what I felt at mile 23 an inevitable consequence of being out racing for so long?
2) Should I be eating earlier than 2am?
3) To note – I have tried both the food and the timing during training and not had problems! (arg!) The mental jitters must be contributing… maybe also the fact that I was so cold for so long getting out of the water? Not sure if my body reacting to the cold interacted with my gastrointestinal system functioning.
Overall: Very happy with the race. Fighting off the panic attack on the swim was a big score for me. Having “fun” on the bike with the conditions was another. Also – much much happier with my run time. But of course I’d like to keep improving. 
Big big thank yous to all the support from everyone!! It was a great race and I appreciate all the help and feedback I've gotten along the way. 
Comments
(I've never heard Mike Reilly called a "jerk" before, but he is a little pompous leading up to the swim start, I agree. He's just trying to herd 2300 cats, though.)
great attitude regarding the weather and on telling that guy looking for help on the run to clam up! i saw one guy on the bike sit up, put his hand out to detect rain, and then shake his head in disgust...during the race! who takes time to do that during a race?!!!
anyway, great race!
and that neck thing looks cool in the picture.
GH
Thanks for the support guys! I really did have a blast. I really love this "relax time" now - and Thanksgiving tomorrow makes the timing perfect!!
And as for the neck gator - I had it up, ninja style, for a good portion of the race. If the pros got any pics of me with it up, I will have to post. Looks like my old cartoon ninja icon may have been a good fit after all!
@ Paul: ok - cool. It's good to know that what I experienced was in the realm of normalcy...
@ GH: yeah, I was pretty amazed by some of the stuff i saw out on the course. Compaining, sitting way up on the hoods going *into* the wind... yowza.
@Al: It was very nice to meet you too! I wish you speedy, speedy healing. As for the announcer, I can also see how trying to get 2300 cats into the water is pretty challenging. But on the other hand, I feel like it's our responsibility to make sure our butts are in the water at the appropriate time. So if we are anxious we should be be there early to get in right away. If we want to dawdle and risk missing the gun, then shame on us! I worry that hollering at a crowd of people like that can create sketchy situations when everyone's nerves are already probably streched tight.
I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving!!!
(where's the happy stuffed emoticon?)
A great race and race report – well done! Enjoy the holidays!
awesome job! glad you had such a great attitude about it all... the weather, etc!
I can tell you that I was wishing I had a neck gator on in FL! I could feel your shivers when reading the story... been there!
congrats, chica!
thank you all so much! It's great to know that people are reading and are so supportive. I get all happy just thinking about the race.
Strangely enough, 112 miles of wind and rain and (hail as some people say?) was nothing compared to the 35 minutes of hell I endured this morning trying an "easy" ride when it was 45 degrees out.