My number one goal was to have fun in this race, to try to stay away from the dark thoughts and to remember to smile, thank people and in general, enjoy the day whatever it held. Secondary goals of time were also mostly met with a nice PR in extremely challending conditions.
Boy was I in for a treat. The two week taper before the race was spent babying my hip/hamstring and glute. I was trying to "make it to the race and just get through it" and I would take care of the hip later. I had been working on my hamstring issue for almost a year and though it was better, it just kept nagging......With the extra 2 weeks taper, I was able to get into physical therapy and with just 10 days to do, Kristin from Fast Track got me to a "pain free" state. Happy to report...everything BUT my hip hurt by the end of the marathon.
IMMD V1.0 was a short wet, rainy weekend spent drowning our disappointment in drinks, good food and the hot tub. Thank to my housemates, Katie, Greg, Patti and Marti along with Kat and Ryan, we made lemonade out of lemons that weekend and prayed for the race to be postponed and not cancelled.
For the first time in Ironman history, they pulled it together - Under the direction of Gerry Boyle and Jason Chance and the entire Town of Cambridge - and IMMD V2.0 came to fruition.
THEN....saturday morning came and IMMD V2.1 was put into action when high winds at dawn called for a small craft advisory. Ok..roll with the punches (secretly..i was perfectly OK with this - whatever the days hold..I kept telling myself)...then..10 minutes later as the sun rose, IMMD V2.2 was put into action and what was supposed to be a shortened swim of 1.2 miles was increased to 1.9 miles...just 800 yards shy of the 2.4...- ok..Roll with the punches. It certainly made the morning go by fast albeit cold!
The swim was choppy but not like Florida. It was cold and hard to sight into the sun. I thought I had the perfect thing to spot..a giant pole sticking up right over the red turn buoy...too bad it was attached to a moving vessel and I only figured this out when they nicely yelled at me to "go left!" haha..i actually laughed when I realized what was happening. I was punched once...thanks dude...but overall the swim was fast.
T1 11:56 was freezing...so many people in the tent...I went as fast as I could and 12 minutes to change from wet to dry, was in my opinion, not bad when i could hardly feel my fingers.
Bike: 7:12 (just about 32 minute PR over IMFL in windier condition) The Bike was brutal. The first lap...some 57 miles was awesome...averaged over 17 MPH....never stopped..not once (thanks Mary).... I realized when I took my first sip of Infinit that I had made a HUGE mistake. I had planned on double concentrating the solution so that I wouldn't have to stop and refill, just add water. That first sip was like WATER. I realized that I had been talking while making my bottles and instead of double concentrating I only half concentrated the first bottle and regular concentrated the next 3. Dumb mistake...but a dummer mistake was not stopping to refuel with any other calories and I paid for it on the second loop when the winds were gusting to mid 30's and I was doing about 8mph and struggling to keep my bike upright. Thank goodness for Jen Gibbins and her snickers...it literally saved the end of my ride. I had vivid hallucinations of long hot showers, warm beds and a Big Mac with fries.....
T2 15:00 - I was colder this time around...and I had more clothes to put on..thankful that I had a last minute wardroble decision. It was also the BRIGHTEST outfit out there..i think!!
Marathon: 6:53 (IMMD 7:05) - so it wasn't the fastest marathon and I had great plans for this being under 6 hours..but just wasn't going to be that way. My legs felt great, but my lungs felt the effects of the cold and wind. So I kept the first 13.1 miles to under 15minute/miles and then chose to walk the rest. I never ever ever got to a dark place. I smiled, laughed, talked to people, gave high fives and just enjoyed being out there and enjoyed not stressing over the finish. I knew I would make it...so i enjoyed it...I have to admit, the NOX Gear vest made my night and the night of many others out there...I got more compliments on the Sock Monkey hat than I ever imagined..and I will always continue to run in memory of Keri and Team Sock Monkey!
I also did this race with my little friend Jace in mind. He was with me the whole day! I remembered you Jace, when I thought that I may want to lie down on the road and nap!! You're a great cheerleader!!
I had so many favorite events of the day that I can't put them in any particular order. I thank Sarah for being an awesome Sherpa and friend and roommate!!! And to Lynne who shuttled me to the race at o'dark 30 on race morning.
Thanks AGAIN to Katie for keeping my family and many others updated by text and on Facebook! You cannot know how much that means to me! Thanks to The BEARS, Lisa and Keri who made me laugh whenever I saw them and have got this "cheering thing" down to a science!
I want to thank my sister Eileen, who never ceases to amaze me..mother of 8, who does it all...and makes me cry in happiness just about every day. Originally my sisters (all 3 of them) had planned to be there for IMMD V1, but due to life's circumstances they were not going to be able to come this time. On Friday night, during the team dinner, I received a text from my sister Eileen telling me that she would BE THERE!!! I could not stop the tears......My niece Kelsey and my nephew David came with her so that they could experience the event and help her stay awake on the way home! They all said they could not help but be super excited and had so much fun. The BEST part was that my sister was able to medal me at the finish and then we turned and waved to my mom on camera! My mom wanted to be there so badly, but she could not. My family is the BEST ever!
Not sure why David wouldn't get in the picture....with his crazy sister and Aunts!!
My second BEST moment ever was meeting my coach and trainer on the course with his wife. Adam and Patty Lee have become great friends of mine and I am throroughly grateful to Adam for his coaching and guidance and just about any other advice he has to offer about life. (ha! we don't always see eye to eye..but we make up!) I can not adeqately express how surprised and awed I was that they would make the journey to see me to the finish!! For this I will be forever grateful.
Thanks to my mom and dad for always believing in me and supporting my crazy endeavors. My mother's words to me last night, "you've made me proud "enough", "two medals are great!"..haha. I think she would like me to give this long distance stuff up even though she said I didn't cause her as MUCH anxiety as Florida! Love you mom and dad.
And finally to my teammates...I couldn't have done it without you! For everything you do..Thank you! and Thank you for holding down the cheering/volunteering/catching/medalling fort yesterday. You certainly are appreciated.
