Ima G aka St. George Race Report

Weird thoughts go through my head while I am racing... and they usually are on repeat. During the bike portion of Ironman St. George, "Ima Be" by the Black Eyed Peas was running through, but I decided to change it to "Ima G" G being for (St.) George, of course. I will get on to my other lyrics when I get on to the bike section.. but first I want to give a HUGE shout out and thank you times a million to Elaine for coming out and being the best sherpa for Liz and I. E drove the whole way to Vegas and without her, Liz and I would have been literally clueless. It was so nice to have someone there to coach us and to help ease our fears before the race. Hearing, "you'll be fine!" and "you're ready" is nice, but Elaine gave us some REAL advice, and didn't sugarcoat anything. Her bluntness was greatly appreciated on the course, because if I just believed "you'll be fine" I would have been QUITE pissed during the race when I really wasn't "fine." Elaine told us that parts of the race are going to "f-ing suck and you're going to want to f-ing quit," but to stick with it. Aside from her great advice and help packing all of our special needs bags, driving, answering 48758957 questions, she also provided Liz and I were much needed entertainment. (Sending pictures of her underwear to people, etc).

The days before the race were kind of a blur - they went by fast, but also dragged on forever. By Friday, I just wanted to get the race done so I could stop freaking out about it. I definitely couldn't sleep the night before, so I kept tapping Liz asking for a high-five while saying "dude." This carried on throughout the race weekend and I think everyone at dinner said it 50+ times. I have to apologize to my parental units for being so moody with them the days before the race - they were supportive enough to fly all the way from New Jersey to come watch me race, and I was very short with them. I get SO antsy before the race that the last thing I want to do is answer questions about the race and stay up past my bedtime (selfish, I know). Anyways, they were great spectators and I appreciate everything they did for me this weekend!!

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RACE DAY:

3:44am - Elaine wakes Liz and I up - oh shit, we slept through our alarm! Kathy, Joey, and Christiane were expecting us at 3:45. Luckily we packed everything the night before.

We had to take a bus to the swim start at the Sand Hallow Reservoir. The ride itself was fine, but the god forsaken girl behind us who wouldn't SHUT UP was really getting under my skin. The whole time we had to hear her babble about how she is training for ultra runs and how she has been training hills and is SO ready for the run course, but she really is just trying to finish the race. Blah, blah, blah. She was quite annoying. Besides her, everything else went as planned before the swim. I luckily got to see Mama and Da before I got in the water. My mom started crying when she saw me, so I started, too! At that moment, I realized what I was getting myself into and that there really was no turning back now. The day before, at the expo, I had some weird epiphany that, "oh shit! Tomorrow I am running a marathon!" The distances didn't quite sink in... I never truly felt that I was getting ready to race an IRONMAN. Well, I was ready to race, but I kept the distances in the back of my mind.. I didn't really think, "omg I'm swimming 2.4, biking 112, and running 26.2" because then I would have chickened out long ago.

SWIM - 58:28
Everyone was complaining and droning on and on about the swim temperature. To me, anything under bath water is cold, so there is no point in bitching about it. Sure, I will pout and not want to get in.. but once I'm in cold water, there is nothing you can do about it. That's what happened with this swim; it was cold, but we all had to finish the 2.4 miles if we wanted to finish the race. I started in the front but to the right so I wouldn't get tackled by some of the men. I saw Beth right before the cannon start, and she encouraged me to line up closer to the front. I was super lucky that I didn't get pummeled or kicked, I eased into my pace nicely right away. I held back a lot, because I wasn't sure how my legs would feel on a hilly bike course if I really swam hard. I also didn't look at the swim course before the start of the race, so I had no idea where I was going. I followed some dumbass who led me in the wrong direction a couple of times and then I realized that I am the dumbass for blindly following him and not even sighting. Oh well, I know what to work on for next time!

BIKE - 6:25.53
My greatest success with the bike was being able to pee two times while still riding! I have never been able to do that before, so that was pretty exciting and it also told me that I was doing a good job maintaining my nutrition. Going into the second loop, I got really lightheaded and dizzy, so I immediately shoved down a Bonk Breaker and a couple of GU chomps. Problem solved. Coming out to the race site 6 weeks prior helped SO much because I knew when to expect the hills. Er, mountains. After the first loop, I thought that the bike wasn't all THAT bad. I took those words back REALLY fast after only 10 miles into the second loop. I made up some words to some songs from the movie Clueless, and lol'd when people would ride by me and hear me. The bike had a lot of ups and downs, but overall, I was in good spirits because so many of the athletes were very supportive. The volunteers at the aid stations and along the course were amazing. The only part that had me really pissed was the last 2 or 3 miles when we all thought that we were basically done, and we had to climb one last bitch of a hill back to town. It was so unexpected, but hearing everyone's reactions made it worth it.

RUN (yog? shuffle? run/walk?) 4:54.49
Is that a cute time? Bahah what social suicide with a run split like that, but I'm actually not TOO unhappy with it. I made it my goal to hold back on the bike because SO many people warned me that they would be pissed if I blew up on the bike ... again! When I got out on the run course, I actually felt pretty good. I promised myself that I would run at least the first 6.5 miles. When I got to the run turn around, I told myself that I would run the first half marathon. Done. When I turned around to go do the second half, that's when my will started deteriorating and my run turned into a shuffle. My mom saw me trying to smile as I passed by them, but she knew I was hurting. I have never done a course that is literally either UP or DOWN. No flats! As I passed by my parents, Liz's parents, Elaine, Fred, and Ed, I hear, "WOOZIE!!! WOOZIE!!" I turn and see my mom sprinting on the sidelines next to me. "Here's some Whoop Ass!!" And she tossed me 3 "cans." That Whoop Ass allowed me to run for the next 3 miles. Once I got to the huge ass hill, I broke down and began to walk. I made it the first 16 miles without walking, but just the sight and steepness of the hill made me want to puke. I walked up it and then tried to shuffle my way to the next aid station. I saw a lot of familiar faces out on the course and their words of encouragement helped me get out of my rut. Brendan, Nick, and Marty were all flying and looking strong and they helped me attempt to finish the last lap at a strong pace. Basically, the next 10 miles were a mix of a run/walk. Looking back, I wish I ran the uphill and walked the downhill because my quads were on FIYAH!!! I knew (from athlinks) that the girls in my age group were all good runners and I was so bummed because I figured they would catch me on the run. Candida, who ended up getting 2nd in our age group, flew by me and I thought that was it. Vanessa also flew by me with 3 miles left on my last lap and I tried to keep up with her, but I just couldn't. I convinced myself that I wasn't really trying to go for Kona anyways, so that it was ok. I ended up passing Vanessa right before the turn around, so I didn't see that she had another lap to, so I just hauled ass to the finish. (*Vanessa had food poisoning the night before, and she STILL completed the race. The medics tried to talk her out of the race when she came out of the water with hypothermia, but she was determined to finish - talk about a strong and amazing athlete!!)

FINISH - 12:25.30
After my first half marathon, I was on pace to finish around 11:55, but my run killed it. As always, my run will be the focus of my training, and hopefully it will continue to get better.

After the race, I called Lipe and he told me that I was the first finisher in my age group. I didn't believe him because I knew what strong runners I was up against and I made him check like 5 times. I didn't tell my mom that I finished first until Felipe was SURE that Ironman.com didn't mess up. It didn't really, and still hasn't, hit me that I will be competing in Kona and the World Championships in October. I think once my body does not feel like it has been run over by a truck I will be able to finally wrap my head around the concept.

Overall, Breakaway Training kicked ASS on Saturday. Joey and Cassio were little cuties crossing the finish line together, Kathy is absolutely AMAZING - I don't know how she was able to finish when she couldn't take ANY nutrition in, Liz killed it and TS'd the course taking 3rd in our age group! Eric had an Ironman PR on this insane course, Richard dominated the run and is ready to take on another Ironman, Christiane was all smiles and cheers and finished a strong race, and Lina was FLYING on the run course! Friends Beth did amazing even after a tire issue - she had a GREAT swim, Rachel leaded the age group women with the fastest swim, Debbie COULD have had a Kona slot if she went to the roll down [ :(!!!] Brendan, Nick, and Marty were all flying, as well. New friends Michelle, Randy, and Mark had solid races and I KNOW Mark will be back to dominate St. George!

Last, but not least, a HUGE gracias to my best friend, Marybeth who cheered and tracked me ALL day and who has continually supported me through this Ironman process. Her countless cards of encouragement have inspired me and mean SO much. Saltpeppahsaltpeppah!!!! PS - did you like my Lulu shirt I was wearing at the awards?!

Up next: Boise 70.3 in June!