IMC RR
I was really looking forward to this race. I had my 3 kids with me to watch me at an IM for the first time ever, as well as my oldest friend and his family all the way over from England to cheer me along.
I had had a couple of amazing training months so knew I was physically prepared, and was surrounded by so many friends and family at the race that I really wanted to pull it all together into a great day.
My IM PR was 11:46 so I was hoping for sub 11:30 and as close to 11 as I possibly could so just needed all the stars to align.
I certainly went in relaxed... so relaxed in fact that I set the alarm time, but forgot to actually set the alarm! Luckily Adam slept-walked into my room at 4.30 and woke me up just ahead of my planned 5am wake up!
I got to the race start with plenty of time to spare and comfortable with the knowledge that my kids were all looked after so all I had to focus on was race day execution.
I visited with some friends in transition and got my wetsuit on after a bathroom break before making my way down to the beach with plenty of time to spare. I headed over to the far left and shuffled my way to about 3 rows back - I was determined to have a good start so wanted to get with a pack that I figured was going to go out pretty hard and try to hang on with them.
It was the usual gong show when the horn sounded but managed relatively clear water. I had a few times of being kicked and swum over which broke my rhythm, but I managed to get back into it again pretty easily and hit the first turn bouy quickly. From there I just settled back and focused on swimming smooth and steady but as always the last bit seemed to go on and on.... and on!
Finally started passing the red bouys that signalled I was nearly home and mangaed a smooth exit and was into an empty T1 tent.
I should mention that at this point I had no idea how I was doing.... my garmin was out of power (I had charged it up just prior to race day but I think the night before the power button must have been pushed on and drained the battery as it just wouldn't start and by the time I figured this out I had ditched my watch in my morning clothes bag...)
The clock said 1:29 when I left on the bike which got me really mad.... due to the bumping I had experienced I figured I hadn't had the greatest swim but didn't think I was THAT slow... The thought did run through my head that maybe that was the time elapsed since the pro start which was 15mins before us, but then I talked myself out of that, as that would have meant I was exiting T1 at 1:14 elapsed time from my start and that wasn't possible.... was it??
So I tried to settle in and focus on the bike.... which was also being done blind as I had no garmin and therefore no HR to monitor my effort which had been my plan.
To add to the fun my bike computer was on the blink - showed cadence of over 200 and speed fluctuating between 35 and 50km/hr!
Thankfully the timer was working so every time I passed the 10mi markers on the course I was doing the mental arithmatic to try to figure out my pace, while at the same time ignoring said pace as that can be deceptive depending on incline/decline/wind direction/wind speed etc and instead focus on biking by feel.
My legs felt fantastic and I noticed that there weren't nearly as many bikes on the road as when I had raced the previous year which then got me back to thinking that maybe I had exited T1 at an elapsed time of 1:14 and not 1:29... or maybe I hadn't....
I knew the bike was going strong - Richters and Yellow Lake felt nowhere near as bad as they did last year and I was coming up on those 10mi markers darned fast and with my bike computer showing 5:41 I cruised into T2 1 happy camper!
I had the suprise of my life as I exited the run.... my kids and my friends were there hootin and hollerin' for me!!! I was only expecting them in OK falls so this was such an emotional sight yes I did start to cry a little, but got it together after high 5'ing everyone as I knew I had a job to do.
As I ran the 1st out and back loop along Lakeshore I turned for a peek on the finish line clock and saw it say 7:29 total time. So with a 4hr marathon that would put me at a sub 11:30 .... or would that be sub 11:15 becasuse that was the elapsed pro time and mine was 15 mins less?? (can you sense yet how blind and frustrated I was?!)
I got into a good comfy pace (I had a friends garmin lined up for the run - thx Jo!) so at least I knew how fast I was running. I was banging out around 5:35 per km - slightly ahead of target to put me sub 4 hrs for the marathon.
I kept it cruising along, saw my support crew again in OK falls and knew I then just had to bring it home.
I was starting to flag mentally. Having ditched my fuel belt with my kids at OK falls, I walked the aid stations to make sure I got the coke into me instead of all over me and it was starting to take a HUGE mental effort to start running again, but I forced myself to do just that.
I was playing back and forth with another gal and with about 5mi to go she said to me 'if we push it, we can go sub 11 hrs - want to work together to get it done - I'll even let you cross the finish line first'
My eyes went like saucers and I said 'really - sub 11?!!!! Yes - lets do it!" and I suddenly found some life in my legs and took off, assuming I would be pulling the other gal along. I never looked back and knew I was hoofing it to the finish - in fact I negative split the marathon (av 5:33 pace out and 5:27 pace back!)
Turns out the other gal didn't need to 'let' me cross the finish line first - she was about 2mins back by the time we got there, but I am eternally grateful to her for giving me that final push.
My legs felt great through those last 5 miles and I knew I had to keep it going - there was no way I was going to come that close to the clock saying 10 something just to blow it at the end and have to go through it all again to hit that goal! A sub 11 finish was only a pipe dream as far as I was concerned before the race, and here it was within my grasp! The thought of that was so overwhelming emotionally I brought me to tears when I thought about it and its hard to run hard while crying so tried to keep focused!
I turned for the final loop along lakeshore and heard a guy say we had 12mins to get to the finish line - then I knew I had it in the bag! I saw my kids again and they ran a few metres with me and then left me to run it in at 10:53 - a whopping 53min PR!
It was 'only' good enough for 7th in my AG, and Kona spots only rolled down to 4th, but I can honestly say I feel 0 disappointment. I beat even my wildest dream time and did it in front of my kids and my closest friends - theres no better feeling in the world. I can't control who turns up on the day, I can only control my race and I had just executed the race of my life.
Thx to everyone for their support - I feel this was a breakthough race in terms of my body finally showing my head what it can do so I know there is more time out there to shave off next time :-)
Thanks to everyone who believed in me and supported me - I appreciate more than I can ever tell you!
Now on to 70.3 Worlds Sept 9 - a whopping 2 week turnaround :-)
Comments
---Ann.
Way to keep moving up.
Well done Selina!
Wow, that’s a HUGE PB!!! Congratulations! I love the mental gymnastics for the entire day…. That’s so funny! And look at you – hit that goal with no gadgetry whatsoever.
Enjoy worlds!!!