There were a million and three things that could go wrong on race day, but somehow the stars aligned and the wind blew just right to create a better then best-possible-case-scenario day. I got some great advice a few days before the race. My friend, a fellow Ironman said “You’re not going to win, so you might as well just relax and enjoy it”. So, with no finish time in mind and my only goal of being able to call myself an Ironman, I made it to the starting line.
The swim:
The swim:
The swim is my weakest event; two years ago I was literally doing the back stroke in my first triathlon… don’t worry I’ve since taught myself a more acceptable stroke to use when swimming with others. Anyways, I was nothing short of terrified of the mass commotion that takes place at an Ironman start. I get cold easily so I waited until 6:56 to enter the water. It was the perfect amount of time to swim out to position while also avoiding too much anxiety from having to wait. There was a nice ceremony remembering the victims of 9/11 (the race took place on the 10 year anniversary), the national anthem was sung, the cannon sounded and all 2,400 of us non-pro athletes were off. I’m sure it looked like a cluster fuck from the outside, but inside athletes seemed very cautious of others. Sure, I took an elbow to the face a couple of times, if I hadn’t it wouldn’t have been a true Ironman swim.
The swim was a two loop rectangular course in front of Monona terrace (where transition takes place). There were seven big buoys for the long side of the rectangle. Going out the buoys counted to seven and coming back they counted down from seven. I swam right along them and loved that I could count up or down. Sighting was easy the entire time; I guess it’s hard to get off course when you’re packed in there like sardines. Despite the commotion the swim was surprisingly peaceful and actually fun? That’s really weird for me to say because I hate majorly dislike swimming (you know the old saying “you like what you’re good at” well, I’m a bad swimmer, therefore, I don’t like it). The swim went very smoothly. I never got cold, never got sore, and never got tired. It was over before I knew it. I was glad to have it behind me and very surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Swim time- 1:33:25
T1:
I was really excited for T1 and all the perks that come with racing an Ironman. First up; wetsuit strippers! I was double teamed by two guys who had that thing off of me in a tenth of a second; I was seriously impressed. Who knew it could come off that fast? Next, I jogged up the helix, which was lined 4 rows deep with screaming fans- all of them there for me, obviously ;) A volunteer met me at the door of T1 with my bag in hand. She escorted me to a seat, dried me off, and packed my back pockets while I caught my breath. As I exited T1 I was double teamed again, this time by the sun screeners.
After I left the sun screeners I stopped for a quick bathroom break which is when I was I realized I dropped my salt pills somewhere in T1. Yikes!! I’ve become dependent on salt pills for long rids and there was no way I was going to start the bike without them. When my volunteer packed my back pockets I asked to hold onto my salt pills. I was going to put them in my bra for easy access but must have got distracted and dropped them. I doubled back into the transition area to look for them. They were nowhere to be found. I wearily continued on to grab my bike. As I was running to my bike I saw a Ziploc baggie on the ground that must have been dropped from an earlier athlete. I quickly recognized the white tablets inside the baggie- salt pills! I usually wouldn’t pick up such a baggie but I was in quite a pickle and was 80% sure that the pills were in fact salt tablets so I picked up the baggie and continued to my bike. As I approached my bike I saw my family standing outside the fence cheering for me. Relived, I ran over to them. Greg had a backpack which I had packed the night before with emergency items including extra salt pills. He loaded me up with a fresh supply. I discarded the Ziploc baggie with the mystery pills, mounted my bike and I was off. T1 was a little hectic… but overall, so far, so good.
T1 time- 12:20
The Bike:
The bike was, well… let’s just say not my favorite event of the day. The course was challenging; non-stop climbing, technical turns, and false flats all just close enough together to never be able to get into a rhythm. It wasn’t too bad at first but mile after mile it began to eat away at me. Most would say it was too hot out but I was biking so fast that the wind swooping by kept me cool (my average speed was 14.5 so take that last sentence however you want). There wasn’t much to do out there other than think about eating and drinking. I stuck to my game plan; salt pill on the hour, bottle of hydration between each aid station and a decent attempt to consume a bar or gel every hour. I enjoyed, probably more than I should have, people getting carded. The motorcycle would pull up next to the biker, flash a card, explain the penalty box and make sure the biker understood before the motorcycle pulled away. I can understand this process for the people in the top 1/3 of the race field but let’s be real here, the people surrounding me on the bike course probably weren’t vying for any Kona spots. If they were in the passing zone for more than 20 seconds it was probably because they were chatting with the person they were supposedly passing about how much there ass hurt. None the less, rules are rules and I got a kick out of it.
I had only one small mishap on the bike. My clip in shoe- pedal mechanism had loosened causing my shoes to unclip easier than they should have. It happened a few times over the course but only once where it was problematic. I was going up one of the steep hills referred to as the “tour de france hill” (because people line both side of the road and cheer athletes up it). One pedal came unclipped right away and before I could get it clipped back in the other one came unclipped. I tried to keep pedaling but since my shoes were unclipped they kept sliding off the pedals. I had to dismount. I haven’t mastered getting back into clip in pedals while going up a steep hill so I had to walk my bike to the top. Everyone was cheering for me saying “it’s okay, just keep walking” or “it’s okay just take a breather”- clearly they thought the hill was too steep for me to pedal up. Oh well.
I took three bathroom breaks while out on the bike course- good sign, I was properly hydrating. I realized, while I was in the first port a potty, that I had forgot to put on deodorant. Not a good sign when you can smell yourself in a port a potty. I felt bad for people riding behind me- but once again, oh well… I’m sure most of the people who put on deodorant had sweat it off at that point, we all smelled but it’s okay because we were all on our way to becoming Ironmen.
Bike time- 7:34:41
T2:
Not as cool as T1 (because there were no wetsuit strippers here) but still fun to be treated like a celebrity. Another volunteer helped me get out of my bike gear and into my run gear while also giving me some reassuring advice. I saw the girl next to me pull deodorant out of her bag and quickly asked if I could use it. We all laughed about how deodorant was going to help much anyways but I was very grateful! I hit up the sun screeners once more before going off to tackle the most humbling part of an Ironman.
T2 time- 6:02
The run:
The run was a walk in the park- at least that’s how I remember it. My long training runs were only up to 15 miles (my reasoning being that after the first 15 miles of the Ironman run I would probably be walking anyways). I had a game plan; start off slow and walk through every aid station. I was shocked at how well I felt; I had no aches or pains, no GI issues, and relatively high energy. It’s a two loop course with non-stop cheering fans. Aid stations were plentiful and the volunteers were top notch. I was able to see my whole family 4 times during the run- each time an energy booster. I was able to run the first 18 then rotate with running and walking through the end. After mile 20 I felt like I was running (okay, walking with shorts spurts of running) from aid station to aid station. It was dark at that point and I was hungry. I discovered the warm soup at mile 21 and boy was it magical. I lived for it, and the flat soda, during those last few miles.
I ran without my mp3 player which allowed me to experience all the run had to offer; cheering fans, stories from other athletes, quick bits of advice from aid station workers and lots of time to think. I thought back, multiple times, to the Musselman half iron race I had done the previous summer. That race was really hard for me. I became dehydrated during the run and suffered because of it. I was miserable during that run; every part of my body hurt. Compared to how crappy I felt at the half iron I felt like a million bucks during the run in the Ironman. Sure, my muscles were sore those last few miles of the Ironman but I knew from Musselman that I could feel a lot worse. Ah, the beauty of a bad race! I came to mile 24 and 25. I still felt good. I had enjoyed the whole day. I was almost an Ironman and I was genuinely happy. Before I knew it I saw the bright lights of the finish line and heard Mike Riley say “Meghan Bangs you are an Ironman”. My day was finally over 14 hours, 47 minutes, and 24 seconds after it had started.
Run time- 5:20:56
Total time- 14:47:24