B2B (Half Iron) Race Report

Saturday November 7, 2009 - Wilmington, NC
Beach2Battleship Half Iron

For all you number crunchers out there - here are the stats - sort of.  First I'll give you the "official" times, then I'll give you my times according to my watch.  BUT both timing systems had race day issues!  Some craziness went on with one or more of the official timing mats.  No one has T1 times - and poor Donna (along with maybe 20% of the other racers) doesn't have a swim or a bike time.  My watch worked fine and dandy - I just forgot to push the lap button at the end of the bike.  I realized somewhere in the middle of T2.  Whatever.  Here are the two time streams (and ne'er the twain shall meet!)
Officially -
Swim - 29:37 (65th - woo hoo!  a mid-pack stat!) 
T1 - n/a
Bike - 3:50:19
T2 - 4:45
Run - 3:05:15
Total/Finish Time - 7:29:55 (138th out of 156 women who finished and 163 total.) 

Unofficially -
 Swim - 27:45 
T1 - 12:20
Bike - 3:43:30
T2 - :55 (Doh!)
Run - 3:05:45
Total/Finish Time - 7:30:24*
*I purposefully didn't stop my watch at the exact finish in the hopes of a good finish picture, but as the third place iron finisher was passing us in the chute, there's little chance of that.  The announcer didn't say a word about us either.  Not that I mind the third place iron guy getting his due!  Dude was fast.  And our personal cheering section was on hand with all the kudos we could want.   In the best tradition of putting the cart before the horse, here's a video of our finish:


It starts off with high fives before we actually cross the mats - and then our buddy Dave runs to catch the rest of the action.  What's totally funny to me is how consistently BAD AT MATH I am* during or after a run.  We were 41 (not 45) minutes faster than our most optimistic goal.  But I can also cut myself a little slack.  Did you notice how I'm weaving around?  I got really, really, really dizzy at mile marker 12.  Like I wasn't sure I could finish upright.  I felt ok - legs and everything.  But things were spinning and spinning.  The comment about being almost as fast as Chris Johnson (lightning fast running back for the Tennessee Titans) cracked me up too. 

*Unlike Donna who told me how much she loves her race number because it's 2³x 11².   That's my girlfriend - the math dyke.  I can't do basic subtraction and she's over there doing logarithms and shit in her head.  

THE WHOLE SHEBANG

OK OK - now I have to go back to the very beginning and tell things in order.  (I'm going to throw in a lot of details and musings, mostly for my own enjoyment.  Feel free to pass this part up.)  


The day before the race was smooth and perfect.  The strangest moment for me was when they put the plastic bracelet on my wrist:

You know how in Russian and German they have these polysyllabic words for an emotion that can't be translated into English in less than a paragraph?  Yeah, I needed one of those words when the guy wrapped this around my hand.  For whatever reason (maybe because the only other times I've gotten a plastic id bracelet are the times I've gone into the hospital to have a baby) that part of the check in process hit me hard.  "It's really happening.  I'm really going to do this.  I may or may not come out of this as a half iron triathlete - but I won't be the same person on the other side, no matter what."  Those were a few of the thoughts that went through my head.  I started to get overwhelmed - but I have the best partners.  Donna understood exactly what I was babbling about which helped make it ok to be right where I was.  John made us laugh by playing word games trying to come up with a name for the emotion we were feeling and then wondering if he could get a tattoo saying "Fahrvergnügen" in kanji.  The rest of the day was very low key.  I ate my sushi for dinner (yay!) and was asleep by like 8:30.  (The marines and the crying baby were magically silent!)

PRE-RACE NON JITTERS
My race day alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. but I was awake at 3:45.  Not nervous - just feeling quietly determined.  I took my shower and started eating my PowerBar (the vanilla yogurt protein one).  I knew it was going to be a great day - no matter what the time results were.  I just knew it.  Donna and John both got up a little later and we were out the door at 5:40 and at the transition area by 6. 

It's an amazing experience to train and race with someone who is not only your training partner but also your life partner.  Triathlon has brought us so much closer.  We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other.  One of the things we've learned is that in stressful situations we need very different things to stay or get calm.  Poor John trying to cater to our opposite needs!  Getting to the event early early early helps me cycle through my adrenaline and gives me time to relax and enjoy the process.   Standing around for that long makes Donna a crazy person.  Ideally for her would be to get there with just enough time to pump her tires, zip her wetsuit, and run across the mat.  We compromised on raceday and it all worked perfectly. We checked our bikes, stashed a pair of old shoes along the swim exit, and got bodymarked.

As the sun came up, it was easier to lean into the spirit of the day.  We had enough time and energy to get cheesy and silly.   Do you like how we were posing and flexing for the camera? 

 

Even though it's faded in this picture (because it's from after the race) - I had the body marking gal put the peace symbol on my other calf.  Lots of people commented on it - as they passed me on the bike (sigh):

John didn't realize there was a "41" on my right calf.  He thought it said "Hi".  

There are so many parts that were memorable.  I loved being at the start - which was a crowded little dock area.  I chatted with Carolina John and Missy.  I got to meet SWTrigal and some of her cohort!  We cheered for the iron athletes as they swam by us.  We were their half way point - and they were all doing such a superb job!  Even the very last person passed us at the hour mark.  (You know how if you're the last person on the run, there's usually a cop car following you?  Yeah - how'd you like to be the last swimmer in this race and have the sweep vehicle be a Coast Guard Cutter?! Little bitty guy followed by a great big boat. I so wish I had a picture of it!  But there wasn't enough room for spectators at the start so my camera was with John away at T1.)  The American anthem was stirring (as always for me) and then it was time for the first wave. Just before we got in, Sage appeared!  (We are madly trying to save money to hire her to coach us.  She is simply an amazing athlete/coach/yogini/cool chica!)  Her hugs were our good luck charm as we hit the water.  And one final fun thing was that my mom had texted me the night before to say that she was going down to the lake to put her toesies in the water in a show of solidarity with us at the exact moment our wave took off.  I thought of her but didn't see this picture until later:

8:50 a.m. (7:50 Central time) How much fun is that?  I love my mom!!

THE SWIM (29:37 or 27:45)

We ran across a mat just so they had a record of us entering - but our race time started at our wave start's listed time.  For each wave we got to get in the water about 5 minutes before the horn.  It was PERFECT!  Enough time to get used to the water and be ready to swim.  Donna looked radiant!  The minute she got in the water, something changed for her.  I wish I had a picture to show you - but she was calm and energized and excited to swim.  She grew up in Miami - and I think her connection to the Atlantic made a huge difference for her in the race.  And then the horn sounded and it was time to swim!!  We were swimming down a channel so even though there were buoys, our only real navigational instructions were to "stay in the water and turn left at the Wiggly Man".  (The Wiggly Man was one of those strange, man shaped balloon things they have at used car lots that shimmies and dips as hot air is blown into it.  They had one on a boat - and you could see him even from the start.)  I started swimming.  Nice easy strokes waiting to fight off panic that never came.  I felt great in the water.  I had plenty of room; my goggles fit and didn't fog (thank you); I could breathe.  Every time I took a breath, I could see the moon still hanging in the day sky.  It was lovely.  "The moon, the moon, the moon," became my unintentional mantra.  I was at the Wiggly Man before I could believe it.  The water visibility was perfect - clear enough to see ahead but not too far down.  I always had someone swimming close enough ahead of me that I felt safe and on track.  It was the best open water swimming experience I've ever had.  BY FAR!  And then I was at the dock.  Realizing I had to pee. I know most people just pee in their wetsuits, but I can't do that!  Oh well.  I stopped my watch, climbed up the wooden ladder, got shucked by a wetsuit stripper, ran through a freshwater shower, found my shoes that I stashed and then "ran" a million miles the 400 yards through a parking lot, across a road, down a sidewalk, into transition to my bike. 

T1 (a long ass time)

My watch time says 12:20 for T1, but that starts from before I climbed the ladder until I hit the mount line and climbed onto my bike.  Contrary to the way it looks, I did not do my nails or dine on a seven course meal in transition.  That said, it was not a smooth transition.  Even after I finally got to my bike - I had to pull all of my stuff out of a plastic bag and then decide what exactly I wanted to put on and what I wanted to irrevocably leave.  Not easy!  I had been worried about being cold at the bike start - which was reasonable at 6 am when it was 36 degrees and even my wool socks weren't keeping my feet warm.  At 9:20 when it was clear and sunny on the way to being warm - I wasn't sure what I'd need and what would be overkill!  (Arm warmers would have been perfect dammit!  I've wanted some for a long time but they just haven't made it to the top of the list!)  And did I mention I still have my super speedy-in-transition bike shoes with laces that you have to tie?  (Funds!  We need a sponsor or a patron or just a shoebox full of fifties that we can spend on tri gear!)  Anyway - I did finally get out of transition just a few minutes ahead of Donna.  

THE BIKE (3:50:19 or 3:43:30 or somewhere like 3:39 if you adjust for transition)

Usually when I start biking (no matter the terrain, no matter the distance) my quads protest at first.  Not so this time.  Yay!  The course was exceedingly well marked and staffed with volunteers.  Even I couldn't get lost.  It was twisty and turny - but so freaking amazing to know the cars were being kept out of our lane and that the intersections would be cleared for us.  LOVED IT!!  I felt like royalty or something.  Well - except for the million and twelve people who passed me.  I stayed well to the right and got passed and passed and passed and passed.  I kept my cadence up and my heart rate down.  I adjusted my gears so that I wasn't mashing.  I didn't really mind that people were passing me - except they didn't look like they were working any bit harder and they were getting farther.  It's always a bit weird to get passed by those guys with the disc wheels - swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.  At first it must have been the relay guys passing me, but by the end of my bike - it was the first of the iron guys passing.  Wow! 

I enjoyed the bike.  It was as flat as it's possible to be. And there wasn't any wind to speak of until the last 20 miles or so.  I like rolling hills so the few bridges were actually fun for me.  (That's not to say I was fast, just that I enjoyed them.)  Oh, well, except for the first one which was a draw bridge.  They put carpet over the grating but it was a bit slippery.  We'd been warned about this in the athlete meeting the day before.  In fact the race director specifically said not to pass for those twenty yards of the race - and what did I hear the second my front wheel touched the carpet?  You guessed it, "On your left!"  Asshat. 

The only other thing I could possibly whine about is that I had to pee.  I remembered that there were aid stations every 15 miles on the bike.  Yay!  But mile 10 came and went and then mile 20.  By the way, Donna caught up to me just off the I-140 so we rode "together" (i.e. with the requisite Toyota Camry length between us!) for most of the rest of the ride.   She reminded me that they'd said "aid stations every 15 miles except the first one is at mile 25".  Rats!  And then double rats because at mile 25 it wasn't there.  Nor at 28 - which was about when we saw Carolina John on the other side of the road on his way back.  He didn't see us though.  He was focused - totally dialed in and spinning smoothly.  We finally came to an aid station (porta potty!!)  after the 30 mile marker.  That was a l-o-n-g time on the bike not being very comfortable bending over!  Made a quick pee stop, grabbed some water for my bottle and then was back on the bike!   My nutrition was pretty good.  I was eating a shot block every ten minutes and drank all of my gatorade and most of two bottles of water.  The last leg seemed to have a bit of wind and I felt like I was working harder for less progress.  My right hip ached a bit but when my right knee started to twinge I realized I'd been holding my leg out in an effort to soothe my hip.  I stretched as well as I could while moving and then focused on my form.  Aero bars sure would have been nice on this ride.

The last thing to say about the bike leg is that there is plenty of time to savor the race experience and life in general.  I spent whole sections of the ride listing the people I love and am grateful for in my life.  If you are reading this post, then you were on that list.  I also spent a considerable amount of time talking to my bike, Vivian.  Glad there weren't folks around to hear. 

T2 (4:45 which makes sense or :55 which is patently not true)

Donna hit a low point at the end of the bike and beginning of the run.  She had made an extra stop on the bike and then caught back up so we were in transition at almost the same time.  I was a little wigged out by the volunteer trying to take my bike from me because I knew where my rack space was and he took my bike and went in a totally opposite direction!  (This is my excuse for not hitting the lap button on my watch and hence having a screwy transition time.) After a few moments of "WTF?!" I went to my rack as that's where my run stuff was.  I was a little foggier mentally than I expected, so I was glad of all those double and triple bricks.  You get a lot of T2 practice with those!  A few mistakes I made that I want to remember not to make again.  I didn't take a gel in T2 the way I usually do because I had no water.  Since we'd had to check our transition bags in the night before I hadn't filled up my handheld water bottle.  It leaks a bit and I didn't want wet socks (or shoes or skirt).  I figured I'd have at least some water left on my bike that I could use until I got to an aid station.  I had not figured on not having my bike with me in transition!!  The guy did show up at the very end but I was already moving out. (And he racked my bike so she was resting on the brake levers instead of hooking the seat over the bar which worried me but I wasn't verbal enough to say anything.)  Leaving Donna behind when I knew she was holding back sobs was hard.  Being off kilter with my gel/water routine was a little stupid.  Worrying about my bike being ok was pointless.  Frankly I think I got out of transition and onto the run only because it was the easiest thing to figure out how to do at that point.

THE RUN (3:05:15 or 3:05:45)

Because T2 was at the Battleship where the finish was, it was spectator friendly.  Which was great.  Except one of my challenges is that I start the run too fast.  My heart rate spikes and it messes up the rest of the run.  On training runs I've gotten good at dialing it down until I am breathing well and running smoothly.  I have NOT gotten good at it when there are people cheering and ringing cowbells (OMG - I LOVE COWBELLS!!)  I was so glad to get out around the bend where people couldn't see me anymore so I could walk and get myself under control!  "Settle in.  You're going to be here a while," is a mantra I borrowed from RBR.  It helps!  I got my heart rate down, got myself to the first water station, filled my bottle, took my gel and got ready to run.  Just in time for the big "hill" of a bridge.  Oh well.  I walked up it (with many, many of my fellow athletes).  Then I settled into a rhythm of sorts.  One where I looked over my shoulder for Donna every few minutes.  A wonderful Canadian woman named Tracy befriended me in those first few miles.  Here's a picture of us all at the end:

Donna caught up to us around mile 4 - and things were great.  I was so glad she had worked through what she needed to.   It just feels right to run with her at my side!  She got stronger and stronger with each mile.  I felt good for the most part - but was decidedly not getting stronger and stronger.  I took a gel at mile 5 and a half of one at mile 8.  I probably needed a whole one, but couldn't stand the idea of it.  I had a knot centered and up high in my torso.  It didn't feel like anything could get past that.  I sipped on my water and drank actual cupfuls of it at the aid stations.  That helped.  The run was lovely.  It was a great course.  It was an out and back looped course with the half being one loop and the full being two.  You got to see not only the gorgeous scenery, but also most of the half and some of the full peeps in the race.  There was even a wedding going on in the park as we passed by.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  I was sad to be walking so much but it was very hard to get worked up about anything.  We knew (even with my sadly lacking computational skills) that we were well under our goal time.  We saw Shirley starting her first lap of the marathon.  We cheered for all the New Mexico Outlaws we saw.  We got passed by the lead iron male on his final lap.  We looked but didn't see any of our personal cheering section out on the course.  Our friends Misty, Dave and their 6 year old daughter Louise along with our dear friend Duncan and of course, John - our partner and sherpa extraordinaire with his camera and iPhone for posting status updates to FB - missed us at every spot due to our wildly unexpected early speediness!  Apparently after a day of missing us over and over, when they saw our bikes in transition they just went to the finish line.  And we were almost there.

I ate another half of a gel at mile 10.  That was just before the seven hour mark. Donna turned to me and said, "Do you think you can do a 5K in two hours?"  I smiled.  How amazing to have that much time before the cutoff.  We were weary but solid.  Ready to be done.  We came down off the bridge and hit mile 12.  Final mile - all down hill into the cheering crowds.  Should be cake, right?  Not so much.  I got incredibly dizzy.  Not queasy or nauseated - but like I was doing to fall off of my feet.  It was so strange!  My vision was swimmy.  I wasn't any more tired than I had been and I didn't feel like I was going to faint.  I simply felt like all of a sudden the loud world had started spinning.  I thought I might have to walk the finish.  I did end up running but I was none too steady.  But there were our people at last!  And cowbells (COWBELLS!) just for us!  And hugs and kisses and getting to stand still while soaking it all in.

POST RACE

In retrospect, I probably should have talked to a medical person, but I downed a couple of bottles of water and half of my Recoverite and stood still.  Then I felt better. The world stopped swirling.  I was anchored by the wonderfully heavy piece of bling around my neck.  I was buoyed by the love of the people around me.  I was elated.  When we did move it was over to the massage tent.  Woot!  For the first time I'd finished a race in time to get a massage.  (I know, I know - it's because there were gobs of iron people still out on the course - but still!)  We got our bags so I could put on my jacket.  I ate a small slice of pizza and drank the first beer I'd had in months.  (I gave up alcohol for training sometime this summer.)  I nursed that beer for most of the two and a half hours it took us to get back to the hotel.  I thought this race was incredibly well run - with the following two exceptions: there was zero security on the bikes at the end contrary to what they'd said at the beginning and the water taxi/trolley situation to get us from the finish site back across the river to the hotels/downtown did not work.  At all.  The volunteers were PHENOMENAL and the course was the best of all possible worlds - but those two things at the end were definite detractors.  We finally got back to the hotel and showered.  We grabbed some seafood at Elijah's for a recovery meal.  I had every intention of being back at the finish to cheer the iron peeps on at the end, but I couldn't face the thought of having to wait for hours to get back and forth across the river.  I was feeling like a total lame-o and was sad not to have met all of the bloggers I wanted to, especially IMAble (AKA Jayme - but I can't make the link to her blog work for some reason!)  She has been such an inspiration to me.  So much of her journey resonates with my experience and early on she answered a desperate, newbie email full of questions about nutrition.  Then, like magic, there she was in our elevator!  We recognized each other at the same time.  Turns out they were in the room right next to us.  (Not the one with the crying baby, the other one - directly across from the Marines.)  I'm sure it wasn't so magical for her, because she had to tell an elevator of strangers-turned-new-friends about her DNF.  She absolutely gave it her all out there.  She covered 127+ miles but her ITB/knee wouldn't let her get that second loop of the run finished in time.  We snapped this pic the next morning as we were all heading home: 

RECOVERY
I'm still working on how to recover well.  I got quite sick on the trip home (had to get John to pull over to a rest area so I could puke.)  The dizziness thing is still coming in waves.  (Weirdly it seems to be triggered by noise sometimes.)  I've had tons and tons of water so I know it's not a dehydration issue.  The kidneys are working fine and dandy.  My legs are sore but I slept soundly.  (In fact I napped through some of the Titans game which was a shame because we played well and won!)  I stretched today but we're going to wait until Wednesday to run.  And even then, it will be a nice, easy jog on the (flat!) Bolin Creek Trail.  This was an utterly amazing experience for me - an achievement to savor.  For all the words I've put out here, I haven't gotten to the heart of how dreaming this big, working this long, and accomplishing this much has changed me.  Peace - and congratulations to all my fellow B2B'ers and all the IMFL, MiamiMan,  and OBX marathon peeps. 

TODAY I LOVE: being part of the community of athletes