Ironman Hawaii: Filled with Gratitude

Ironman Hawaii is always a special race. Whether your day goes to plan, or if something unfortunate happens, the finish line on Ali'i Drive is magical. It's what gets me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning, or through a 6:35 trainer ride. This year, I was blessed with what I would consider nearly a perfect Ironman day.

Race week was by far the best time I've had out on the island. From swimming with Tim and finally becoming confident on the swim course, to breakfast with some lovely Twitter ladies and riding with Kim, to spending time with my QT2 teammates at breakfast & a cocktail party, this week truly had it all. And, of course, the highlight was having my super support team there with me, made even more special since Chris was able to make the trip out.

Love this girl! Kim and I at the QT2 Cocktail Party!

 

My goals for Ironman Hawaii were simple:

1) Run a strong Ironman marathon

2) Finish with sheer joy

3) Break 10 hours & make the podium (the unspoken goals because they aren't exactly controllable)

The Brawl Swim

Entering the water race morning, my nerves suddenly disappeared. I swam out to one of buoys, and to my EXCITEMENT, Hines Ward was soon making his way out to the buoy I was hanging on. He started hanging on, so I got to talk to Hines for a few minutes prior to the race. I wished him good luck and told him meeting him made my day, to which he chuckled. . . in the end, not quite!!

I positioned myself a few minutes prior to the start, and before I knew it, the canon sounded and the chaos started. I had calm water for maybe 30 seconds of my 56 minute swim, and spent the rest of the time being punched, elbowed, etc. I did my best to fight back AND for once, I did not slow down or stop. Transition was a mess, but I knew I had a strong swim when I hit the mount line under an hour and headed out on my bike coated in sunblock.



Whitey!

The Bike

To my surprise, the chaos continued for the first 30 or so miles of the bike. I am very used to getting passed by the age group men, but the drafting was significantly worse than years past and I had a hard time settling into my race plan. So instead, I focused on what I could control, my attitude and my fueling.  I hit a low point near the end of the Queen K, so I was very happy to see Tim and Jesse as I made the left turn to head out to the climb to Hawi. The wind was kind this year, and there were almost no crosswinds whatsoever.

Coming in off the bike feeling good!  Thanks again Mirinda Carfrae for selling me baby bike!

Special needs was a bit of a bust, but I eventually got my bag, put three fresh new bottles of Osmo on my bike and headed back down. Except we had a headwind, so instead of going 45 mph downhill, I was going mid-30s. Boo.  I continued focusing on my fueling, and stayed fairly conservative. I pushed it a little harder coming back on the Queen K, and before I knew it, I was making the turns through town. My hydration was good, I felt cool, and was ready to RUN.

The Run

T2 was slightly better than T1, but the volunteers still couldn't find my bag, so I still wasted some time. I ran out carrying a bottle of Osmo and a flask with diluted Preload that I finished before mile 2. Tim gave me EXPLICIT instructions to hold 8:10s for the entire stretch on Ali'i Drive. I tried, but my pace came in closer to 7:50s-8s. My heart rate and perceived exertion were low, so I finally just went with it and stopped worrying about it.

My parents split up between miles 9 and 10 on the course. I remembered how poorly I was feeling last  year, and was relieved to be feeling GOOD when I saw them. Once out on the Queen K, I had permission to ratchet down the pace, but I was starting to feel warm, so I just kept steady and started walking every aid station instead of every other. Chris and Tim kept telling me I looked better than everyone in front of me, but I just didn't feel right. I knew I had Preload in my special needs bag, so I willed myself to special needs knowing that would make me feel better.

Still smiling! Somewhere around mile 23.

The energy lab always defeats me, so I thought positively instead about the run Chris and I had done in the energy lab. Once I made it to special needs, I drank my Preload within a mile and also grabbed a few pretzels to nibble.  Over the next few miles, I had some highs and lows and realized my respiration was getting a bit shallow, so I made sure to grab some coke at the next few aid stations. The miles ticked by ever so slowly, but at mile 24, I knew I was going to make it. I willed myself up the last hill on the Queen K, then made the magical turn onto Palini. The crowd support was AMAZING, I had someone tell me I was 3rd, and I ran my heart out to the finish with tears in my eyes.  I had done what I set out to do because I believed it was a possibility.

Finish Time:  9:46:22, 8th Amateur, 3rd 30-34 (40 minute improvement from 2012's Kona)



Running down a dream - thank you Mizuno Running for the Ronins!

Thank you:

To my parents, who started driving me to the pool at age seven, and are still as big of supporters now as they were then.

To my sister, who has always inspired me to be a better person.

Greeting my sister after the Patriot's Half Ironman in September

To my coach, Tim, for believing in me and telling me "I could run."

To my Snapple teammates for their support and motivating me all year with awesome results, AND the awesome sponsors of Snapple.

To Stacy Sims and Osmo, for developing a hydration product that works and agrees with my GI system.

To my friends for their amazing support and putting up with my general crazy schedule.

And to Chris, for everything.

And for those wondering what's next, that's for another blog post. The decision has been made and the schedule is somewhat set.