First: a few pics:
before the race in transition area
Off with the wetsuit!
Special needs area
Somehow still smiling…
Ok–here’s my report:
Background info: I’m 38, mother of 3 daughters, English teacher, runner of 9 years, triathlon background includes 2 ½ IMs and several sprint/Olympic tris over 4-5 years, but only seriously last 2 years. I rode a new Cervelo P2C, fitted by Tom Demerly in June. I consider myself new to the sport.
Race morning: Race morning began at 5 AM. My IM nutrition consisted of a pop-tart and a coke. I had planned on eating a pbutter bagel first, but my stomach was already anxious. We headed towards Johnson’s Beach one hour before my swim start. The morning temp was around 50 degrees with the sun not out yet. I got there, got body marked and checked my stuff into the transition area. I decided to go ahead and get my wetsuit half-on as it was so chilly. Next came a long line at the port-a-potty. I wasn’t too concerned as it was still 30 min before I was scheduled to enter the water. As soon as I got out of the bathroom, it looked like everyone was going into the water at once. I’m not sure what happened to scheduled wave starts, but I went in with everyone else. This was pretty anti-climatic.
The swim: The swim was a very calming experience. The Russian river is shallow and narrow which gives me the feeling of being safe. Swimmers seemed to spread themselves out over the river and I had a perfect spot to myself. Only a few times did I bump others. I tried not to think about the day ahead and just focus on my swim stroke. It was hard going the full distance down one side of the river, not really knowing where the turnaround buoying was going to be, but once I made the turn, it was a quick swim back to the beach before doing it again. I exited the water in 1:32. My predicted time was 1:30, so not too off the mark. T1 was uneventful. I ran my bike up the first hill, jumped on and took off. I was freezing, but still able to focus.
The bike: It was still cold and there seemed to be a lot of traffic the first 5 miles, but I settled into a rhythm. The problem was that according to my HR monitor, it was too much. I was averaging close to 20mph and my heart rate was about 155. I was hoping to keep it closer to 135 during the bike. I thought it would settle down as I got more comfortable, but it never did. For me, this meant that I would be burning too many calories during the bike and have a harder time on the run. This was my first rookie mistake. Instead of riding slower for awhile, I pushed on excited to be on the course. The course was beautiful—rolling hills, a few flats, and lots of vineyards. It would be a great century ride to relax and enjoy all that Sonoma County has to offer. I finished the first 56 miles averaging 18mph, total time of 3:05. I felt good and fairly confident. I grabbed a few things out of my special needs bag and pushed on. The second half of the bike turned ugly as it temperatures climbed and the winds increased. I wasn’t hungry but tried to stick to by nutrition plan. I ended up only eating about half of everything I brought. The IM competitors thinned and I found myself alone with no one to help pace me. I was physically tired by mile 85 and mentally drained by mile 100. Chalk hill the second time was very difficult. It is a 385 foot climb that riders do at mile 45 and again around mile 100. The first time felt good. The second time I was actually worried I’d have to come off the bike. I saw two bikers puking over the sides of their bikes, a few off just sitting by the side of the road and one walking the bike up the hill. The rest of us were taking it very slow. I knew the run was going to be very difficult at this point and I was fighting a mental battle to stay positive. I finally finished the bike in 6:47, but my 56 mile split was 3:05! My goal was 6:30. Seeing my family as I exited the bike was very rewarding. Somehow I was still smiling.
The Run: T2 was also uneventful. I racked my bike, stripped off my bike jersey and threw on my running shoes. Critical error—I forgot to put on my sun visor! As soon as I got out of the transition area, the sun was beating down my neck and I almost turned back then decided to grab it on the next loop (we had 3-- 8.7 mile loops). The course begins with a flat 2 mile section through sub-divisions with no shade then moves towards rolling country with part shade and some big hills. Lap one was ok, but I made a series of poor decisions. Not wearing my hat was one of them. The second was the decision to drink Gatorade on the run. I didn’t even think about salt tablets and Gatorade always upsets my stomach on the run. But, it was almost 100 degrees. I was so afraid of losing too many electrolytes, I decided to chance the Gatorade. Lap one was over in 1:40, but my stomach was a mess. I also hadn’t urinated since the beginning of the bike, didn’t have to go still, and that was a concern. I also had a headache. Before the race I wrote down 13 things to think about for 2 miles each. I couldn’t focus on any of those things. I was having random, crazy thoughts, like—“What if my headache is really an aneurysm?”
Lap 2 was increasingly harder. I grabbed my hat, took an Aleve and took back off. For lap two, I decided to drink more coke and less Gatorade. I kept up a run pace out to the 4-mile turn around, but on the way back had increasing trouble. My stomach was cramping and my abdominal muscles had also tightened. I couldn’t relax them. I switched to a 3 minute run, 2-minute walk, which helped. I’m not sure what my lap 2 split was, but I know it was slow, almost comical. Another runner tried to tell me I looked fresh, then we both laughed because we both looked like crap. I was afraid lap 3 was going to be disastrous. I was really fearing a 6hour marathon. I knew I would finish, but it was so much harder than I thought. My body just wasn’t giving me what I was asking. My mental focus was gone. My saving grace of the day came from my 69-year-old father who decided to go out on the last loop and find me. He ran out 3.5 miles and jogged back with me until I reached the subdivision for the last time, illegal I know, but I wasn’t about to tell him to get off the course. He even had on a glow stick! Just simply running with someone else took my mind off how I felt and it was so much easier. I finally stumbled in at 5:45 with a total time of 14:17. My goal was 13:30!
After: This turned out to be a long night. We stayed in Guerneville in a rental house and thank God I had room to spread out. I was starving but couldn’t eat, as my stomach was still nauseous. I made a horrible mistake of getting into the hot tub, which made me very dizzy. I spent the next 30 minutes with my head between my legs trying not to get sick. Finally that subsided and a laid down to get some sleep, but my legs were too restless. I couldn’t get comfortable. Finally I got up and ate, took another Aleve and somehow managed some sleep. Wow! Overall, this was the hardest thing physically I’ve ever done. It was an amazing experience. I loved the training it took and am anxious to correct my mistakes next year!—Oh, and I’m getting my mdot tattoo very soon!
10 try did the trick
kitty