OMG! I just did something that I thought I'd NEVER do, something TOTALLY out of character for me!!
But before I get to that, let me give a quick wrap up of what's been going on since I last posted. After the Turtle Marathon I did the Ride for Ronald metric century with Dave end of September.
A week later, I tackled the Health First Olympic Tri (1500k swim, 42k bike, 10k run) on October 3. This was the second of two "A" races for me this year ("A" race means I was targeting it for a peak performance with a specific goal in mind). I'd done this race twice before in 2006 and 2007 but had always had a hard time on the swim and a disappointing run. This year my goal was to knock off 15 minutes and get under 3 hours.
Unbelievably, I ended up finishing in 2:39! This was helped by MUCH nicer weather this year than we've had in the past (2006 was super hot & humid; in 2007 we raced in a thunderstorm). Still, I will not complain about a 36-minute PR or a third place finish (3/13 F45-49) in a race distance that has always been tough for me because of the relatively long swim. Booyah!
The next two weeks I headed north to run the Hartford Marathon in Connecticut on October 9 and Green Mountain Marathon in Vermont on October 17. Both were "C" races so the main goal was to just finish and have fun. But I've had a streak of sub-4 marathon finishes going this year, plus I'd never run to sub-4s back to back (closest was 3:59:38 and 4:00:21 back in 2006). Would this be the year I do it?
YES! 3:51:48 at Hartford (12/92 F45-49) and 3:45:40 at Green Mountain (9/62 F40-49). I think three things really helped with that: 1) good running weather at both races, 2) not a lot of downhill running on either course, and probably most importantly 3) working with a coach and training with a group. I really haven't been running much mileage at all compared to before but did a lot of very focused speed work for the oly tri and am much stronger mentally it seems.
So with all these races that went well why would I lose my marbles???
For those of you who don't know, Bree Wee's has a special project where she's planning to bring Christmas to a group of Marshallese people on the Big Island living in third world conditions. These folks are originally from Bikini Island and were forced to move 56 years ago because the U.S. decided to use their island for bombing tests. To show support for them, she asked her friends to send pictures of themselves yesterday in bikinis for a bikini photo contest. This includes men and women, at work, at school, wherever they are, doing whatever they do on a Friday.
Now I'm the type of person who usually AVOIDS photo contests. Believe it or not, I pretty much avoided cameras altogether until I began blogging in 2006. Very camera shy! I don't usually wear bikinis except to the beach, pool or jacuzzi. I most definitely do not wear them to be voted on by the public!!
But then I thought, wait a minute, this is just another challenge, no? If I can run marathons, do ironman triathlons, jump out of planes, jump into lakes with gators, why can't I do this? So what if everyone just laughs or gasps? I'm not expecting to win, just like I'm not expecting to win races. This is to support a good cause and to help a friend.
Well ... submitting that photo took probably more courage to do than any anything else I've ever done before. So SO SOOOO NOT ME! I was actually relieved when the album was first released for voting without me in it. I figured Bree had gotten her goal of 56 bikini photos and I'd just missed the cut. But, it turns out that a few photos had just been inadvertently left out. I am actually now in it. YIKES!!!
PS - If you want to vote and are friends with Bree on Facebook, click here and just click Like for the photos you like. You can also vote by leaving a comment on her blog post if you have a Google account or OpenID account. Just mention the name underneath the photo you want to vote for (more than one is allowed). Only one day of voting - ends Saturday, 10/30, at midnight Hawaii time!
Thanks, everyone, for the congrats, ankle condolences and baby shower wishes, too, LOL. I'm happy to report that the ankle is MUCH better now, almost normal looking. It's still weak, though, so I'll be taking things slow. No races until May, which is good.
As for being a superhero? No, not me. I just did what I've always done when I fell down: I got back up and found a way to get home. But more on that in a bit.
First of all, I chose the Gator Half Iron Tri because it was a small race with a flat course and hopefully cool weather being held in March. Last year, my training/racing was all about hills and heat and, to be honest, I was sick of it. I just wanted to see how fast I could go in flat, cool conditions for a change!
I was joined by three fellow BPY Tri Club members. Two of us on the left were half iron vets while the other two were newbs. The other woman, Jacklynn, is the coach of the club, however, and a very good swimmer, spinning instructor and a strong runner so I knew she'd do well even if it was her first half iron. We also had a few other tri club members and family members come out to spectate and support us adding to the fun.
With only ~80 participants, the race had just one "mass" swim start and it was actually my first in-water start (as opposed to a beach start). We lucked out with 68 deg water temps so I went with my sleeveless wetsuit. How that happened, I don't know but I'll take 68 over 58 any day!!
The swim course was two rectangular loops plus some and I swam fairly hard from the get-go, another first. Still, by the second lap I was swimming mostly by myself, as usual. Man, these folks are fast! (or is it I'm still slow?)
Whatev. Except for my wetsuit pull-string wrapping itself around my right arm and my swim cap creeping off my head, I was very pleased with my swim. I was only a few minutes behind many others and with a strong bike would be seeing them again soon.
1.2 mi Swim: 39:07 (1:51/100 yds), a 5-min PR!
In transition, I had a great spot on the end right next to the bike exit as I was one of the first to rack my bike the day before. Gotta love small races where you can rack your bike wherever you want, first come first serve.
T1: 2:25, one of my fastest T1 times but mainly because the transition area was very close to the water.
The bike course was FABULOUS, one big oblong-shaped flat loop. We had a 10-12 mph headwind starting out (notice flags in swim exit photo) that grew to 15-20 mph as a front moved in. But having ridden in much stronger winds the weekend before, it didn't seem bad to me. I just stayed down in aero and kept telling myself the wind is my friend, the wind is my friend ... I passed the two male tri club teammates by mile 20 or so and gave both guys a cheer. Probably never fun being chicked but at least if it's by a teammate or someone friendly maybe it's not as bad?
Mile 29 was where the course turned so we'd have the wind mostly at our backs. I'd averaged 18.6 mph up to that point and now it was time for the fun to begin!
WEEEE!!! I never saw my Garmin go below 20 mph again. Around mile 40, I finally caught up to Coach Jacklynn, who'd come out of the water 8 minutes ahead of me (she will no doubt be much harder to catch in the future). By then it was raining but the roads were straight and I saw no reason to slow down. In fact, I decided to speed UP a little knowing the weather would be getting worse soon. The last 5 miles or so, Dave found me on his bike and a couple tri club members drove by in a car cheering, which pumped me up even more. Thanks guys!!!
The hardest part of the bike course to me was this little maybe 50-yd dirt path between the bike mount/dismount point and the transition area. The rest I give 10 stars on a scale of 1 to 5.
56 mi Bike: 2:45:54 (20.3 mph), not a PR but only 16 sec slower than my fastest half iron bike split which was on a course that was actually 1.5-2 miles shorter.
T2: 1:15, fairly fast but the porta pottys outside of the transition area would be my next stop.
With that taken care of, I was now ready to blast the 2-lap run. The clouds, rain and wind kept temps well below 70 making this the coolest weather I've ever raced a half iron in by far and I felt very strong coming off the bike. I didn't start my Garmin until I got out of the porta-potty but ran my first mile at a 7:52 pace, which felt quite manageable. Hmm, a 1:45 half marathon might be doable?
I saw a couple of paper Gatorade cups on the ground from an aid station I'd just passed. No biggie to step on one, right?
WRONG!!! The next thing I knew I was down on the ground with a familiar sharp pain in my left ankle. ?#@$&%!!! Was there a rock or something in the cup?
I couldn't believe it. The race had gone superbly up to that point and now this stupid misstep. Fortunately, there was no one else around at the time as I HATE falling in front of people (the aid station was unmanned because they were short on volunteers). I got myself back up on my right foot and wiped off the dirt and asphalt pieces embedded in my right palm. My right knee was bleeding from a scrape but nothing major. Then I tried to put some weight on my left foot. OWWIE!!!!!!!
Crap! It was very painful so I was worried at first that I couldn't continue but then I remembered my last ankle incident at the Little Rock Marathon three years ago. Yes, unfortunately it's happened before ... There I'd rolled the same left ankle on, ironically, a little rock at mile 8. It was also very painful to walk on at first but I kept trying not wanting to have to come back and run another Arkansas marathon. At that race, the pain subsided some as I kept moving and eventually I was able to jog/run pretty well and go on to finish -- 16 more miles! Then my ankle swelled up like a melon and hurt like hell afterward ...
So I tried the same here. Sure enough, my initial very painful limp became just a painful limp, then a slow jog with a sorta painful limp, then a slow jog with a less painful limp and eventually a jog/run with tolerable pain on every left footstep. Adrenaline is a powerful painkiller! After a while, probably few could even tell I'd hurt my ankle but I knew. It felt weak and wobbly and I had to be super careful to make sure I didn't roll it again or it'd probably be the end of my race.
After a turnaround on an out-and-back section, I saw Coach Jacklynn coming towards me meaning she was a few minutes behind me. I told her what happened and she gave me some words of encouragement and a high five, which I very much needed. Then I saw a couple other tri club folks cheering for me on a corner which also helped raise my spirits. Then hubby Dave was at mile 3 helping out at an aid station (have I mentioned they were short on volunteers?). Having seen me run countless times, he knew something was not right.
Dave: What's wrong?
Me: I'm going to need ace bandages and ice when I finish.
Dave: What happened?
Me: I rolled my ankle back at mile 1.
Dave knew better than to ask me too many questions or try to baby me when I'm hurting. The next mile I felt my ankle stiffening up and was forced to slow down some more. Grrrrr ... I went through the 5 stages of grief and accepted the fact that Coach Jacklynn would probably be passing me soon but I'd try to hold off any other females if I could ;-)
Meanwhile, Dave hopped on his bike and began working at the next aid station for a bit while waiting for me to go by. He amazed some folks by appearing to be everywhere on the course handing out cups and food, snapping pictures, and cheering for folks, and not just me. What a guy!
Two of my tri club teammates.
As I came back to the transition area to begin lap 2, another tri club member who'd come to support us came up alongside and ran a few steps with me. I tried to tell him how I'd rolled my ankle, had probably blown my PR, blah-blah, wah-wah, but he wouldn't hear of it. He just kept telling me how awesome I was doing and to keep going and finish strong. Dang it, why won't he listen?
Then I realized that Coach Jacklynn hadn't passed me yet so perhaps I was doing OK. Maybe I still have a shot at a PR? No, Silly, your goal is to just finish this race. Focus on the ground and make sure you don't fall again!
The second lap required even more caution and concentration with more people on the run course and the thunderstorm fully upon us. We were running in squall-like conditions at times and everyone was encouraging each other while doing their best to avoid huge puddles, cars and each other. Jokes were being made about the rain coming down so hard that you wouldn't need a shower after the race and the rivers of water on the roads making you wish you had a canoe to paddle your way to the finish. And, the volunteers, OMG, what few there were, were still out there holding onto their umbrellas and raincoats while also trying to do their job in the driving rain and wind. Crazy!!
They actually made me think that running was easier, even with a sprained ankle. At least I was moving and staying warm and would be done soon. That is, provided I was able to stay upright on that same little stretch of dirt to the transition area that also led to the finish line, my least favorite part of the run course as well. Here's a little video clip of me finishing (TRT 14 sec):
So, as you can see, no heroics. I just kept moving which kept most of the swelling and pain at bay. The "No Way" comment was because I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my finish time (the overhead clock was knocked out by the rain but there was someone calling it out). I hadn't looked at my Garmin since my fall and had no clue what pace I was running or what my race time was. It was a total shock!
Final race time: 5:12:22, 1/3 F45-49, 7/22 Females
12* mi Run: 1:43:42 (8:38 pace).
*Again, the course was short.
Then I headed straight to the EMT to get my ankle wrapped up and iced as I knew it was going to balloon up as soon as I stopped. Coach Jacklynn finished a few minutes later with big smile on her face.
Oh, as for gators? The only gator I saw at this race were chunks in a rice dish they served at the finish. Tasted like chicken :-)
Thanks to Dave and my tri club buddies for a great day of racing, smiles and photos. And thank YOU, Dear Readers, for your patience!
As some of you know, I have weak ankles. I can almost just look at a rock and roll my ankle on it. In fact, this one I never even saw and still went down. But, I did finish the race. Back with more after the final race results for the Gator Half Iron are posted.
Caution: This post may contain some material that may be viewed as offensive to some. If you have no sense of humor or are affiliated with WTC/Ironman, I recommend you skip it.
DC Rainmaker's recent post made me realize how much I LOVE non M-dot (non Ironman brand) races. Gasp! Horror!! Shame!!!
I really do. Why???
Well, besides lower cost, less crowds, hassle and hoopla, and, to me, a more rewarding race experience, I think athletes get much better treatment at smaller, independent races. For example, I recently got two emails from the race director (RD) of the Gator Half Iron, which I'm doing next month:
One had this picture of their trapper doing her job to ensure we have a nice race.
Because we all know gators are a possibility in FL lakes, although in March they are most likely hibernating or inactive and oblivious to any neoprene clad triathletes sneaking into their territory. In late May, however, when the water temps are 80+ degs, well, that's another story (and one you won't likely hear about from the Florida 70.3 RD).
The other had a photo of one of their volunteers to do body marking for the ladies.
Because we all know what a special and sensual experience it is to expose your arms and legs to be tickled by a big black felt marker, and how the person doing it can make or break your race. At M-dot races, chances are that all the hotties are doing the race so that the folks doing the marking are, uh, let's say, less hot.
It's these little things that make a race special to me. That personal touch from RDs, a race shirt or logo that every other triathlete is NOT wearing, the satisfaction of gutting things out when there was NO ONE around to carry you to the finish, that look of awe in others when they find out you went 140.6 (or 70.3) miles just for fun, NOT for a label.
But I have nothing against those who do M-dot races and wear their logos. In fact, I welcome them. Just beware, especially if you're in my age group, I find M-dots to be exceptionally motivating targets when I'm racing ;-)
PS - I also think there are a lot of great marathons besides the biggies: Boston, New York, Chicago, Marine Corps, the RnR series ... EEK, please don't hate!
KennY, you are the winner of my Trizophrenia book giveaway! Email me your address so I can ship the book to you. My email address is available on my blog profile. (Please reply by Friday, 11/20, midnight eastern or it will go to someone else!)
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This past week has been weird. No specified workouts, no race worries, no concerns about weather. I've eaten all sorts of crap (leftover Halloween candy and birthday cake) and don't feel one bit guilty. I passed on doing a couple of bike and run events held last weekend that I could have done just for fun. Instead, I allowed myself to be slothful and just pondered some things:
- Signing up for 2 irons 2 weeks apart was the best thing I could have done. They kept me honest in my training and gave me a chance to do both races that I wanted to do. I know I recover quick from long races and would have gone CRAZY if I only did GFT and was stuck "all dressed up with no place to go" two weeks later.
- Some folks run/walked to get through their iron tri marathons, I run/pooped. I came across Top 8 Race Fueling Mistakes Made By Ironman Triathletes and Mistake #3: Eating too much (too late) on the bike and Mistake #1: Mixing Sugars (between my bike & run nutrition) look to be the most likely causes of my GI distress. The only way to know for sure, though, is to do another iron tri :-)
- Though training for and doing an ironman does require much more effort than a running standalone marathon, I find it them much easier to recover from. I'd heard this before from several others too. I think it's because swimming, cycling and running a slower marathon don't beat your body up as much. Aside: The current world record for most number of ironmans completed in a calendar year is 15.
- For me, the hardest part about doing an ironman was training in 80-90+ deg heat all summer long. Coach advised against me going to Kona to train because he thought it'd be too cool. He was right. Nothing but training in FL could have prepared me as well for GFT, plus doing so gave me a chance to find out about the major bike course change before race day. B2B was 30-40 degs colder and my main concern was just staying warm enough on the bike after the swim. GI issues at both races, while annoying, were not show stoppers. Two very different races, one awesome training plan to get me to both finish lines. Thanks, Coach Bill!
- Top 10 list of the toughest things I've done so far:
1. 1992, Watch my dad die of cancer 2. 2004, Earn my 2nd deg black belt in karate (bruised ribs, very painful sparring) 3. 2001, Earn my 1st deg black belt in karate (1st major athletic achievement, age 40) 4. 2006, Learn to swim (truly *hated* swimming back then!) 5. 2006, Ironman Florida (first rough water swim, survived but missed swim cut-off) 6. 2004-5, Raise $21K for 2 charities (first FR effort, very hard for me to ask people for $$) 7. 2009, Train for 2 iron tris, GFT & B2B (embraced the enemy: heat) 8. 2007, Olathe Marathon (first time I had major GI issues in a race, nearly DNFd) 9. 2004-5, Run 21 marathons in 9 months (my 21 Run Salute) 10. 2005, Run a hot August 5K all-out with no speed training (21:56 min of agony!)
You know the saying: What doesn't kill you ...
And a couple announcements:
Firstly, Team Hendryx is accepting athlete applications for next year. If you have a running, triathlon or fitness goal you'd like help with, they can help whether you're based in Orlando or elsewhere. My coach, Coach Bill, is the POC for Team Hendryx and can be reached by email at cwenner @ cfl.rr.com if you're interested.
And secondly, I'm going to take a BIG break from blogging and training between now and probably my next race, the Instep Icebreaker Marathon (WI) in January. 2009 has been a very busy year for me and 2010 looks to be even busier. I need to get a lot of stuff squared away in the meantime and apologize in advance for not commenting as often on your blogs during this time but will try to follow along as much as I can. Best of luck to everyone racing, esp. Molly and Jen who are both doing their first ironman (IMAZ) this weekend!
First, I must thank all of you who have helped me, supported me, cheered for me, listened to me, put up with me and stuck with me all throughout this year. I could not have done it without you. Thank you!!!!!!
As you probably have guessed, B2B went well for me overall. There were a number of bloggers doing either the half or full iron distance so this event, for me, was probably half about racing and half about socializing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet up with everyone I wanted to and of those I did meet, a few (Linae, Skoshi, Dread Pirate, Kevin, IM Able) did not make it into my camera :-( But my camera did capture a number of folks at B2B, including my support crew (thanks Dave and whoever else took the pictures), so this race report will be heavy on photos and not just of me. YAY!
After the 12:00 athlete meeting (L to R): Me, Nancy, Calyx, Donna.
Lesson learned: If you want to stand out, wear a high vis jacket. I had people asking me if I was Shirley all weekend it seemed and met the most number of bloggers I've ever met at a race. It was like old friends getting together since we'd been following each other's blogs for so long. Missy and Ryan, I'm sorry we missed meeting up, Ryan for the second time at a race. How is it I can miss seeing a guy who's like 6'5"?
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The Race
The B2B swim was a point to point course with an incoming tide that was expected to result in extraordinarily fast swim times, as in 2008. At the athletes meeting, the race director mentioned that you could probably even stop swimming and float along in the current and still make the 2:20 cut-off. Me likey!
But on the bus ride over to T1 (swim to bike transition area) race morning, the woman in back of me said that a couple folks actually missed the swim cut-off last year because they swam on the right side of the channel where the current was supposedly the strongest and went too far past the first turn and were not strong enough swimmers to fight the current to get back. Yikes! So I made a note to keep my eyes peeled for the "wiggly" man (air filled stick figure on a boat) that marked the turn and start swimming towards it early.
Unfortunately, spectators were not allowed at either the swim start or swim exit so I have no photos from either. Nancy's training buddy Dave zipped up my wetsuit at the swim start and I saw Roy, another Orlando athlete I've trained with a bit, and IM Able just before getting into the water. The water temp this year was 67-68 degs and felt nice compared to the air temp which was below 40 when we started 8-O Here's a video from last year's swim that someone took that will give you an idea of what we looked like in the channel. WEEEE!!!
2.4 mi swim time - 1:06:40* (1:34/100 yds), 7/10 F45-49. WOW!!! *Time includes climbing out of the water on a ladder, getting my wetsuit stripped, going through a fresh water shower and running to a timing mat maybe 100 yards from the water.
So it's a good thing that Dave did not listen to me when I said I thought I'd finish the swim in around 1:20-1:30. He got there early and caught me running to T1 (I am to the right in the above photo wearing a jog bra under my swimsuit). BRRR!!! I was very happy to be wearing swim socks, which were allowed, so my feet could stay warmer before, during and after the swim. They also made running 400 yds from the water to T1 on concrete and asphalt MUCH easier. Thanks Bootchez for recommending those socks!
The women's dressing tent was a lot more crowded than at GFT but I found a chair to sit on in a corner. I took the swimsuit off but kept the jog bra and HRM that was underneath on and dried off as much as possible. Then I proceeded to put on more clothes than I've ever worn on a tri bike segment. Tri Shorts, short sleeved bike top, leg warmers, arm warmers ... I saw Vickie and Dread Pirate come in shortly afterwards. Jacket, bike gloves, ear warmer, socks -- where the heck are my socks???
After searching desperately in my bag and around me for a couple minutes I realized I must have worn them during my test ride the day before and forgotten to put them back in my bag. DOH!! Sockless I go (hopefully the toe warmers on my shoes will keep my feet from freezing). At my bike I pulled on my fully fingered gloves too but wound up taking them off only a few miles into the ride.
T1 was no doubt a new record slow time but due to a timing glitch was not captured. Instead, it would be included in our bike splits. Oh well ...
This race had two separate transition areas. T1, where we started our bike segment, was near Wrightsville Beach and we'd finish at T2, which was by the Battleship North Carolina about 12 miles away. Of course, our ride was wee bit longer than 12 miles and part of it early on was actually on I-140, an INTERSTATE. Ooh, wet cycling dream come true!!!
For the most part, though, the bike course was on rural roads. I thought it was pretty flat as advertised but there were so-called false flats (sneaky inclines that look flat but aren't). The wind was low in the first half and since the pressure of finishing my first iron tri was off, I let my HR hover in the hi Z2 to lo Z3 range early on and passed a lot of folks. A few women asked me if I was Shirley as I went by. Sorry, I'm not sure who you all were but thanks for the words of encouragement!
At mile 30, we passed the first aid station and I was definitely warming up. I had to make a brief full stop to pull off the removable sleeves from my jacket so it could be worn as just a vest. They went into my front pockets along with the gloves I took off earlier giving me a nice tubby tummy look. My arm warmers went up and down depending on whether I was riding in full sun or shade but never came off, nor did my leg warmers or the vest. I don't remember my feet bothering me so they must have been fine without socks.
Around mile 35, a black sedan drove past me with some folks cheering and honking a bike horn out the windows. I didn't know whose car it was but recognized hubby Dave and my step-daughter KT. They'd found me! My son-in-law KV was behind the wheel of a rental car.
Dave's nickname for me is Muffin and it was his idea that they'd all wear orange during the race to make them easy to spot.
They came prepared and cheered for me several times along the bike course, which was great. We also saw a hunter with a bright orange hat and camouflage clothing sitting on a chair by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere watching cyclists go by with either a rifle or shotgun in his lap. Yeah, he motivated me to go a little faster! No, we did not get a picture of him or ask him what he was doing.
Somewhere along the way, Dave got out of the car with his bike to get his workout in during the race. As he hammered along, he encouraged folks and perhaps disheartened a few who thought he was in the race. No race number, not racing! He caught up to me after about 20 miles, said a quick 'hi' and then fell back to be picked up by KV. Must be nice.
The last 38 miles of the bike course were the toughest. Notice on the bike map that nearly straight stretch of road from the topmost part of the course to the bike finish? I'll give you one guess which way the wind was heading. WeatherUnderground said it wasn't more than 6 mph but it felt more like 8-10 mph, especially going up and across this one last bridge that was in the last couple miles. Evil!
T1 + 112 mi bike time - 6:30:47*, 2/10 F45-49. *My bike Garmin says I averaged 18.0 mph for 107.4 mi (it's missing some miles because it turned itself off a few times and I didn't notice right away) so assuming I rode about the same speed the whole 112 miles, my T1 time was ~15 min, which is about what I expected.
I handed off my bike and helmet to a volunteer and then was totally dependent on other volunteers telling me where to go as I'd never been to T2 (bike to run transition area) before. I found my running gear bag and then almost went into the wrong changing tent. Oops!
T2 time - 9:34, including a porta-potty stop, as usual.
I began the run feeling probably the best I have ever in a tri. Hmm, maybe I should ride 112 miles more often? Looks like KT had taken my suggestion about what could be written on signs literally. (Click for a closer look at the sign).
The run was much hillier than I thought it'd be with 2 bridge crossings and two other short climbs later along the course, all of which had to be done twice since the course was two laps. But at least the temps were really comfy, high 50s to low 60's when I started. In the first few miles, I saw Nancy, Calyx, Donna and SW Trigal, who were finishing up their half iron. They looked strong and gave me a boost. How fun it is to see folks you know during a race!
I got down to the 6.55 mi turnaround in about 1:05 but then got hit with GI issues again, unbelievably, even worse than what I had at GFT two weeks ago. WTF?!?!!! Not sure what was wrong this time (I didn't even take Perpeteum on the bike at this race and there was no Gatorade being offered on the run course) but I took all the meds I had with me (Gas-X, Pepto Bismol and Immodium). Nothing seemed to help. I had to take off my Fuel Belt and carry it over my shoulder again, and make friends with every freaking porta-potty along the course. Thankfully they were at mile apart intervals at this race too.
Every time I got out of one, though, I felt fine and was able to run well again until about a mile later. My gut was like a clock! One guy told me he couldn't help but smile every time I passed him (he passed me when I stopped). I hoped it was because of my shirt and nothing that might have shown the problems I was having (like toilet paper stuck in my shorts or worse ...).
Meanwhile, the Team Muffinator B2B Support Crew waited patiently for me along Water Street (miles 3, 10, 16, 23). KV's sign got some laughs from folks.
The sign on the back, however, probably puzzled some. (KV is a Civil Engineer specializing in water modeling and I think this is his way of saying "imagine you're running downhill")
Starting my second lap, it was getting dark and colder so I grabbed my clip-on headlamp and a long sleeve shirt from my special needs bag. Although the race director had said the run course would be well lit the entire way, I wasn't taking any chances and it turned out to be a good decision as parts of the Greenfield Lake Park area (southernmost part of the run course) were very dark, so dark that I once ran off the path and onto a street. Too busy looking at the ground where I was stepping, I had missed seeing a sign and volunteers directing us to turn right. Oops again!
My need to make stops pretty much every mile continued on the second lap, unfortunately. How in the world can I have anything left in my system? But, I was making good progress regardless so after I saw my support crew at mile 16, they took a water taxi to the finish line to make sure they got there in time to see me finish (the lines for them were long!). I kept busy by looking for folks I knew along the course. I'm not sure when I saw them but I remember seeing Linae, Kevin, Skoshi, TriSharkie, Dread Pirate, Vickie, and Waddler. I cheered for them and hoped everyone would make the cut-off.
As I was making my way back, Dave used the Buddy Pass we were given to grab all my gear so I didn't have to go collect it after I finished the race. Thanks Dave! My crew found ways to entertain themselves.
Unlike other races, B2B had runners from a local college escort you in on your last mile if you wanted. Mine showed up about half a mile from the finish and I'd forgotten about this so I tried to outrun him at first. Where the heck did this young guy come from? I'll show him ... Dude then started talking to me, told me I was really moving well (yeah, like a sub-8 pace!) and asked how far I wanted him to run with me. What? Oh yeah, uh, how about just to that T2 clock up ahead. That way I could slow down some and actually make it to the finish without dying. At the clock, he told me I had 300 yards to go and congratulated me.
26.2 mi run time - 4:58:53 (11:24 pace), 3/10 F45-49. Total race time - 12:45:52, 3/10 F45-49.
We received a nice race medal and I also got a little piece of the original teak deck of the Battleship North Carolina.
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Post-race - Most of these were taken during the awards cruise:
Me and my two favorite post-race treats: hubby Dave and recovery socks.
Vickie and I on the Henrietta III riverboat. B2B was Vickie's first iron tri. Congrats, Vickie!
Poor lil' pancake ain't got a chance against an ironwoman :-)
After breakfast and the awards ceremony, the boat began to finally move.
We got a closer look at the USS Battleship North Carolina. Lots more guns!
Outside in the fresh air, I found Nancy and her training buddy Dave. Nancy completed the B2B half while Dave did the full distance. Well done to both!
Wonderful time with family, gorgeous weather, great race -- what more could I ask for?
Congrats to everyone who raced B2B, Ironman Florida, Silverman or otherwise last weekend. Please forgive me, I am behind on my blog reading but will be catching up soon!
One had this picture of their trapper doing her job to ensure we have a nice race.
The other had a photo of one of their volunteers to do body marking for the ladies.
KennY, you are the winner of my 
Official Finishing Time: 12:45:52, 3/10 F45-49.
