I will keep this relatively brief.Going into this race I knew one thing with 100% confidence- I was NOT overtrained. I desperately wanted to believe this was a good thing, but deep down I knew the harsh reality. I tried my best to recall my Hawaii Ironman in 2008 when my longest ride was 85 miles and longest run was a 15mile two weeks before (I was focused on OLY distance racing that year), and it turned out much better than expected. I knew I could do an Ironman without the mega miles… BUT, as I learned in Madison, DOING an Ironman and trying to RACE an Ironman is very different. WOWZERS, and it hurt…A LOT!
So for the Highlights:
- My sister Pam came from Toronto to watch
- Unbelievable support from my friends all day
- Did a pre race swim and attended first pro meeting with Charisa W
- 10 minute head start on the 2500 amateurs.
- The PRO women received PINK swim caps
- Running up the HELIX was amazing – I must have heard my name 100x! THANKS!
- Started the bike in 4th place (made the ironmanlive updates)
- Had the Motorcycle cameras guys following me
- Coming up OLD SAUK Pass and seeing my crew going crazy … with KY at the top!
- Watching Charisa zoom by at about mile 85 and go on to have a 5th place finish
- Despite starting the run with blisters, I didn’t lose any toes
- Seeing so many fellow racers on the run course with all the out and back sections.
- State Street was fun even while in the hurt locker (Thanks again amazing cheerleaders).
- Worked as hard as I could, and didn’t quit, despite hurting SO BAD
- Didn’t end up in the Med tent
- Watched my good friend Patti finish her first Ironman (we both did the endurance double (leadville+Ironman).
- Hung out with the greatest peeps post race at the Great Dane
- Watched the final finishers cross the line at Midnight – AMAZING SIGHT.
And the Lowlights:
- Didn’t see another rider on the bike until mile 8 (a guy passed) and mile 13 (Desiree) passed- Pretty lonely out there.
- Wanting to stop and go to sleep during the 2nd lap of the bike
- Unable to stay in aero position due to extreme soreness in my upper body (my TT bike does not ride like my full suspension MTB bike)
- Did I mention how tired I felt?
- Muscles stopped working at half way point of the marathon
- Was passed with 2 miles to go for the final money spot
So the Highlights list is much longer than the Lowlights list - SWEET! I look back on the race and smile. I ended up finishing 9th Pro in 10:37ish (55 – 5:45 – 3:47). My wishful goal time was 10:20 (55 - 5:30- 3:40). It was my bike performance that let me down - Although I logged a lot of miles to prepare for Leadville, they were never hard miles. I relied on my scattered races to count as bike workouts, and that just wasn’t enough. Not to mention the fact that I didn't spend enough time on my TT bike (in aero position), which became painfully obvious throughout the 2nd loop of the bike.
Lessons learned:
- A 100 Mile MTB 4 weeks before Ironman is probably not the best training (but it sure is fun)!
- Running 20-30 miles/week (on good weeks) is not enough running for me.
- Must take advantage of knowing the BEST bike fitters in the business (Gear West) and revisit my bike fit.
- No more racing this year – Time to rebuild, get strong and work on my weaknesses.
Well... just one little race (the famous Chequamegon FAT TIRE 40) but that doesn’t really count if you ride super slow and at the back of the pack , RIGHT? It's all about the post race PARTY…
… Unless you crash over some dude who goes down right in front of you – Doh! More to come on that adventure from last weekend...
