Ironman Chattanooga: Rebuilding Confidence

Leading up to Ironman Chattanooga was a bit of a personal battle for confidence. I had a nine week turnaround from Ironman Lake Placid, and while I hoped that would be enough time to get my run back to where it was pre stress fracture, I was realistic enough to know that it would most likely be Ironman Cozumel before I got back to that form. Mentally, I came around at the end of overload, only to have even more doubts in the weeks that followed. After a run that included getting bit by a dog, I told Chris that I didn’t even want to race Ironman Chattanooga.

Ironman Lake Placid was the first of ten ironmans where I doubted my ability to finish. It wasn’t the first and I’m sure not the last time I threw up during a race. The differentiating factor this time was I simply could NOT rebound. It’s far, far easier to puke and rally on the bike then it is on the run. In the final week, I quickly realized how important it is to have a coach that believes in you. Tim and my QT2 teammates truly went above and beyond to get me to calm down and be ready for the race.

I was definitely far from calm at this moment!

Swim

Like I expected, the women took the first 100 meters out hard. This time though, I was prepared and stuck to Nina Kraft’s feet like glue. About 500 yards in, I felt fantastic and contemplated passing Nina; however, I knew I wouldn’t get much benefit in a downstream swim so I sat in and enjoyed the ride. Eventually, I got a bit annoyed with the sighting in my group, so I swam to the front and led us in for maybe the final 500 yards.

Bike

Tim and I have learned this year that if I start too fast, I blow up and can NOT rebound. So I spent the first 5-10 minutes behind my friend Kate, eating and drinking to set myself up for a good ride. I passed Kate around 15 minutes in and started focusing on hitting the power numbers Tim gave me. Eventually I realized I had a decision to make. My heart rate was running around 10 beats too high and if I kept it like this; I knew I wouldn’t digest my food. So I took some emergency salt pills, and dropped the power down 10 watts. Legs felt fine, but I knew that heart rate was a recipe for disaster.

It took around hour 3 until the systematic stuff sorted itself out. Typically the last 1.5 hours of an ironman are my weakest, this time it was my strongest of the day. I was very careful to drink plenty of Osmo (refilled with single servings 4x and used special needs), and followed my fueling plan to a T.

I will eventually learn how to leave my shoes on the pedals

Run

Coming out of T2, my calves were cramping. I was sipping pre-load, but a little confused what to do since I had eaten a banana. Luckily, I soon saw Jesse who told me to have some salt, so I finished off my flask of pre-load and immediately felt better. I ran a bit conservative knowing that the final four miles of each loop were going to be extremely tough for me (running hills is a bit of a work in process), and was careful to walk the aid stations every two miles.

I felt great running the first 15 miles or so, and was getting really excited that this may finally be the day where I execute my running race plan. Unfortunately, the hills started to get to me and I slowly had to insert a little more walking as the day wore on. The final four miles were a challenge (good thing our new house is in a hilly community), but I dug deep and found a way to sprint at the very end to hold onto eighth place. While it didn’t mean anything in terms of prize money, it was a good confidence booster that I can in fact actually sprint at the end of a race.

We ran like this for most of the last four miles

Ironman Chattanooga was a small PR, but it was a step in the right direction. It helped me gain some much needed confidence back, and has me excited for the process and the next race / honeymoon, Ironman Cozumel.

Engagement shots - November 1st is almost here!

Thanks to my family and friends, and my supporters who help on this journey: Snapple Triathlon Team, QT2, Tri360, Osmo Nutrition, Normatecs!, Fuel Belt, Xterra Wetsuits, and Rudy Project.