Mary Larson IMWI Race Report
Overall: I had a great time with my first IM. I was so happy to see my family and friends all over the course as well as all the EN’rs cheering me on and especially Michele, for reminding me to smile. My only goals were this race was to finish and have fun. Both were accomplished.
Swim – 1:31
Bike – 7:23
Run – 6:32
Overall – 15:52
Prerace
We checked in on Thursday, swam on Friday, did breakfast etc. I feel like I was on my feet all weekend. Back home on Friday, I worked on my transition bags. I needed to modify my list several times and was having trouble making a decision about just what I needed to pack. I figured I could add what I missed to my dry clothes bag and put it in my transition bags on Sun am.
Race Day/Swim
I slept well both Friday and Saturday night. Got up Sun. am at 4:15 am. Had my standard breakfast of ½ ham sandwich, Greek yogurt and can of coke. Drank some Nuun on the way to the race. We were picked up at 5:00 am and dropped off on the square to drop off our gear bags. Lost Becky and Sue up there but later met up in transition. Took care of bike prep, nutrition and pumped tires then headed to the convention center to meet up with my daughter and rest of the family. I emptied out my dry clothes bag and went into my transition bags several times to putting things in them. I would have liked to sit and listen to music for a little while before getting on my wetsuit, but we were already 20 minutes behind. Took a gel and some water.
We headed to the helix about 6:40 am and I was surprised how many people there were but it moved fairly quickly so that I was only in the water for about 5 minutes before the canon went off. I was mid pack towards the ski jump and right next to my sister. I don’t consider myself a consistent swimmer. I have taken several private lessons during the season and have become more efficient. Swimming is not as tiring as it was, but I have really not picked up much speed. I was more concerned about the crowd and about the stories I have heard about how rough a swim could be. My goal was to keep swimming even with people running into me. I expected 1:15-1:30 as my previous swim times at this distance (minus this many people) were 1:16, 1:19, 1:21 and 1:37. I was pleasantly surprised as I did not feel the swim was overly rough. I was able to find free space early on keep moving to the first buoy. The first turn slowed me down slightly but I did not need to stop. I kept count of the 800/200/800/200, which really helped. I was able to draft at times but not consistently. At the start of the second loop, I got a charley horse in my left calf. WTF – I have never gotten one before. I dorsi-flexed my feet to stretch it out and decided that I should probably not kick much (which I don’t really do much of) and hopefully it will go away. About 800 yards later, I got one in my right calf. Stretched again and it went away.
I got out of the water feeling pretty good and sort of walked fast up the helix. I had a volunteer to help me, got dressed, sprayed on sunscreen, carried my shoes and socks outside, where I spent a little more time with the sunscreen volunteers to make sure I was covered. Took a bathroom break, how does one pee while swimming? Could not do it, I would have had to stop. Ok TMI. A volunteer held my bike while I put on my shoes and socks and fiddled with my hair. My ponytail was too high and my helmet was uncomfortable. 
Bike
I got out on the stick just riding along, being passed by what seems like everyone. Once I hit the loop, I target my watts at about 125 with a max of 134. Everything was going great until 2 hours into the ride. My Joule had decided that it did not want to play nice with the hub and they could no longer find each other. I fiddled with it and did get them to pair but now was riding at 85.6 mph and 1200 watts. I had been having trouble with it for the last few weeks before the race and had it into Saris several times. They replaced all the inside of the hub and it appeared to be working with my last 2.5 hour ride. I felt I could “feel” what my watts should be while riding but I did not realize how much I was relying on the clock on the joule to time my nutrition. I took a bottle of water at each aid station and filled my aero drink even if it was not empty, stopping twice to use the bathroom. My first feed bottle was finished just before BSN. I met fellow EN’r, Sheryl, volunteering at the aid station. I stopped, used the bathroom, stretched and replaced my feed bottle, which was still slightly frozen, like a slushy. I was also taking in a salt sticks about every 1.5 hours though my time could have been off with my Joule issue.
The course seemed easier than in my training sessions and I worked on gaining free speed on the downhill. I was comfortable on my bike for most of the ride, thanks Jonnie, except for numbness in my left foot near the ball of my foot, middle toe. This was relieved by unclipping and shaking my foot. The stick back was shorter then I remembered. It felt great to get off the bike, though I think the 4 breaks to use the bathroom and once to say hi to my family definitely helped me not to feel so stiff.
Going up the helix was fun and I was finally able to pass “Jonny”, who had been dogging me the entire ride.
Run
Transition went fine but my Garmin was having trouble locating satellites, though I had set it prior to putting it in my T2 bag. I know I started out a little too fast and tried to slow down. I was also aware that it was warmer out then I thought and I needed to slow down even further. At about mile 2, I started to feel nauseous and shaky as if I was hypoglycemic. 
I only had one gel with me and it had caffeine in it, which I was not sure I wanted to take. I wondered where my other gels were because I know I brought them with me on Sun am. I thought they were in my RSN bag but I didn’t grab them (I later found them in my dry clothes bag). I did find a gel at mile 3 with no caffeine, at the aid station and almost immediately after taking it, I felt better; however I knew it would not be enough and that I needed to find other gels without caffeine to take with me.
I only had one gel with me and it had caffeine in it, which I was not sure I wanted to take. I wondered where my other gels were because I know I brought them with me on Sun am. I thought they were in my RSN bag but I didn’t grab them (I later found them in my dry clothes bag). I did find a gel at mile 3 with no caffeine, at the aid station and almost immediately after taking it, I felt better; however I knew it would not be enough and that I needed to find other gels without caffeine to take with me. Shortly after that my mojo just left me. I alternated walking and running for almost the entire run portion. When I did run, it was slow. I ended up walking for most of the last 6 miles of the race. I know my nutrition was way off but I did not seem to know what to do at the time. I didn’t want to eat anything but know I should, I was not that tired, I had no pain. I guess the best way to describe it would be the suck had found me and had a STRONG hold, like a leech. I did pull out my pictures that Patrick suggested you have in your gear bag and I met my SO on the course and he walked with me up observatory on the second loop. This also helped me to know that I could finish.
As a positive, I met a lot of people out on the run course and shared others’ experiences.
I did manage to run down the shoot and this seemed to give me some mojo back. I had to remember what my goals were. I was so happy to see my family and friends. I got some food from the tent but did not eat it. Nothing sounded or tasted good. I did drink my EnduroX recovery. Once home and after a shower, I realized I was significantly dehydrated.
Post-Race thoughts
- I need be at a better body composition; this will definitely help me with speed in all 3 portions.
- I was really happy with my swim, though not fast, I felt really good at being able to handle the number of people.
- I spent a lot of my training riding monster hills and felt well prepared to ride this course. I was comfortable with most of the technical aspects of the course. I need to get better at controlling my watts and still keep up my speed.
- I was pleased at my ability to control what was in my box and not stress about the Joule. I also learned that I need to pay more attention to time so that I could have used my watch in addition to my Joule time, so if one went out, I would not be “stranded” and have to guess.
- I need to get stronger mentally but I think some of this will come with experience racing this distance.
Overall I am really please with my performance, learned a lot, and feel great about my accomplishment.
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Comments
Nice work, Mary! Do you get to see you at the HHH again in the spring?
Mary Larson YOU are an Ironman! Great job! Glad you found your mojo for the finish… that little sucker can be hard to find when you need it!
Congrats!
I will!
