So, I am home now and have had a few days to reflect and think about Sunday’s race.  I have a lot of feelings about the day.  Without a doubt, a long, hard day.  A humbling day.  An exciting day.  A scary day.  An emotional one, too.  Here’s how my first Ironman felt from my point of view.

 

Up at 4:15 am.  Slept about 2 hours total.  I could not relax enough to sleep.  I was too wired and scared about what the next day would bring.  Trying to remember that Kindzia said that no one, even the pros, sleeps well the night before....and it doesn’t really matter anyway.  Thank God for that!  So, I am up, getting dressed, grab my special needs bags and gear for the start.  Force down a whole wheat bagel with almond butter, pria bar and a diet sunkist (don’t drink coffee and needed the caffeine.)  

 

Mike and I are out the door and heading down to the race start.  Cold and windy day at the start and the water is NOT looking calm.  Pretty big waves...white capping waves.  Ugh.  Not exactly calming my nerves.  

Get body marked.  Drop off special needs.  See Carole Sharpless (a pro) in transition and she gives me a hug and tells me I am going to do great.  Makes me cry.  She was so sweet and kind.  Thanks, Carole.  Now, time to wait.  About an hour until the start.  This hour is the hour I’ve been dreading for a year.  The hour before the Ironman starts.  Can’t we just start now?  Chat with Vicki Cherry and Jeff Caplan....calms my nerves a bit. They’re both nervous as well.  For some reason, that helps.  Mike’s awesome.  Full of hugs and reassurances.  Just what I wanted/needed to hear.  Getting closer.  Wetsuit is on.  Heading down to the water and the wind.  

 

2300 people are waiting down on the beach.  People are freaking out.  Crying.  Excited.  Nervous.  Chatting.  It is definitely an experience.  Looking around, I couldn’t believe I was finally here.  All these people had been working so long and so hard to get to this point.  Wow.  I am at the start of my Ironman.  Finally.  The announcer says that since the water is so rough today there is the option of doing a duathlon.  NOT what you want to hear at the start of 2.4 miles in the stuff.  They play the anthem....I pray.  Take some deep breaths and I am actually pretty calm.  The cannon sounds and we all head in.  Crowded, lots of contact until the first buoy...better on the way back in.  Don’t even notice the water is 60 degrees.  Can’t believe I was so worried about that.  38 mins.  Not too bad.  Mike’s cheering like crazy.  I wave.  Head back in.  Have clean water for minutes at time and keep coming up on groups of swimmers and then try and get by for more open water.  Towards the turn around the waves are so big that I’d take my arm out of the water to stroke and it wouldn’t even break the surface...the waves were so high.  I was so surprised at myself because I didn’t freak out, didn’t let contact upset me and just kept putting my head down to swim.  (Totally not like me.)  Under the water, you couldn’t see the waves or hear the wind, it was just quiet and calm.  I didn’t want to waste energy getting upset, so I just tried to chill and swim.  Start to see the bottom and hear the announcer and music...getting closer.  Out of the water.  Done with my swim.  So happy!

Swim -- 1:19

T1 is crazy.  Wetsuit strippers were awesome.  They were trying to get it off me so fast, I wanted to tell them to calm down, I don’t care too much about the 15 seconds you’re going to save me!  Oh well, headed into the change tent and the volunteers were amazing.  Putting my socks on me, shoes on me.  Helping with everything.  Grab my bike and I am out.  See Mike again...he rocked.  Saw him every possible chance I could...he was right there waving and screaming and cheering my name.

 

Bike -- 6:59

So, I broke 7 hours.  Totally happy with that.  The bike was great.  I felt strong the entire time.  No breakdowns, no loss of appetite.  I drank a lot, ate a ton and had to pee 3 times (always a good sign.)  Nothing too exciting.  The ride was beautiful.  Hilly and more hilly...people were talking about how much tougher it was than last year’s course.  112 miles on a bike is tough any way to do it, I guess. I actually didn’t mind the hills so much, would give me a change to get out of aero, sit up, stretch and go slow.  Granted, by the end of the ride, I was ready to get off the bike.  Saw Mike again, gave him the thumbs up...wanted to know if he’d talked to my mom.  She was worried I was going to die on the swim.  No joke.  I wanted him to call her to tell her I was alive.  :)

 

Run -- 5:16

Well, this is where the wheels fell off.  My plan for the day was to set myself up to run.  I am a stronger runner than swimmer or biker, so I wanted to be able to have something left for the marathon.  The first 14 miles or so weren’t awful.  Legs were tired and I walked the waterstops, but I was basically running.  Still drinking, taking in gatorade, water, coke, chicken broth, whatever they had I was taking.  Saw Mike at 14 and he ran with me for about a half mile.  He was awesome, lifted my spirits, gave me updates about what Ella was doing that day (dancing at the pool, this mental image kept me going for a long time.)  He said Kindzia said if I was having trouble to run for 4 minutes and walk for 1 and to keep smiling! The 4/1 minute idea sounded genius.  I could totally do that.  I leave Mike starting my first 4 minutes on and smiling my ass off.  I am re-energized!  Get to the one minute walk and my left IT band totally seizes up.  I can’t really walk well and can’t run at this point. I stop and try to stretch it.  Unfortunately, the way to stretch your IT is to put one leg on the other...when I would try to do this, my legs would buckle.  So, I am walking like a peg leg for a bit.  It eases and I try to run again.  Pain.  Pain. I continue the last 12 or so as a powerwalk/shuffle.  Long, long run.  I was getting passed and couldn’t make my body go.  My mind wanted to, but my damn legs weren’t listening.  It was humbling to get passed on the run so much.  I am usually the one passing people at this point.  I just wanted to be done.  Be done with any kind of race, ever.  I was totally done with triathlon.  Never again.  Finally make the left onto Sherman and I can see the finish.  I can hear Mike Reilly calling out people’s names.  I hear the music.  I see the crowds.  I am so excited and choked up.  I see Mike...he runs with me, hugs me, kisses me.  He tells me he is so proud of me.  Tells me to enjoy this.  I do.  I start crying a bit, smiling.  I hear Mike Reilly say, “Kate Parker from Roswell, Georgia.  30 years old.  YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!”  (or something close to that.)  I am done.  I have finished.  Relief.  

Slower run than I wanted...but I got through it.  I am proud of myself.  Now I can wear all the IM gear I bought with pride.  I definitely gave it all I had.  

 

I am no longer “done” with triathlon either.  The next day, I was in the car with Mike saying, “I think I’d like to do one where I can actually run more of the run.”  Here we go again....(gimme a few years first though.  Nothing wrong with Olympics and Halves. Plus, maybe a brother or sister for E first.)

 

Thanks so much to my friends, family, training partners for your support and good thoughts.  Thanks for understanding how important this was to me.  Thanks for biking with me.  Thanks for swimming with me.  Thanks for coaching me, Kindzia.  Thanks for all your advice, Justin.  Thanks for your wetsuit, Jill.  Thanks for the towel, Michelle and Jill.  Thanks for the basket, Riepes.  Thanks for the cards,calls, emails and the texts. I read and appreciate them all.  Thanks for watching me finish.  (I know, it was LATE.)  Thanks to Bmo for watching E while we were gone.  Thanks to E for keeping me going on the run.  Thanks most to Mike for everything.  I wouldn’t have even thought this was possible to do without you...and it wouldn’t have been.  Looking forward to weekends with you and E again.  And to see you kick some butt at Gulf Coast next year.  (Sorry, I can’t help it.  I am a “pusher”)

 

Will post all the pics under “Ironman CDA” above.