IM Able had warned me not to make plans the day before the race because the day would fly by. My coach urged me not to make plans the two days before the race. Both gave great advice. I don’t know where the time went, but it seemed like I spent a great deal of wasted time down at Ironman Village the two days prior. Every visit (registration, bike and bag drop off, athlete dinner and meeting, random visits to the expo) was a minimum three hour visit, and I think we were there twice each day. We spent an hour just standing in line waiting to register to pick up our bags. It was worth it once we got in the tent to get all our swag. Every visit to Ironman village also fueled the butterflies in my stomach. The people walking around were amazingly fit. The inner demons continued to war that I did not belong there.
We rented a house just outside of town. We thought it was three miles from town. It was actually six, which might have been a little farther than I would have liked, but I wouldn't trade it. My husband said he thinks he would have preferred to stay at the race venue. I completely disagree. Everytime we went there, it keyed up my nerves too much. I was able to settle down a bit everytime we went back to the house. It was also loud with so much going on at the host hotel. I guess everybody is different.
I was up late packing all the transition bags two nights prior to the race because those get turned in the day before the race. I did okay on the sleep that night, but not as good as I had hoped. I was amazed the night prior to the race to find my husband in bed at 8 p.m. He always keeps me up far later than I want the night prior to a race. Even if he wasn’t saying much, this was a telltale sign that he was definitely nervous. Surprisingly, I slept good that night.
4:15 a.m. Rise and shine. I dressed quickly and headed up for breakfast. I always play with my food this early, I'm just not hungry yet, so I knew to give myself some time to force it down. Malt-O-Meal, half a bagel with peanut butter, half a banana, and some Green Machine juice. I’d practiced with this breakfast many times, and it hadn’t failed me yet.
We get to the race site. Tons of nervous energy everywhere. I was not alone. I restocked some of my transition bags because I came across some new issues that morning. I just kept reminding myself that when I ran my packing list by my coach, he reminded me to also pack a sense of flexibility, because something was sure to go wrong. I stayed positive.
I stood in line to have my bike tires pumped up one last time. Stood in line for the bathroom. It was now time to head to the beach. All of the athletes were being herded and we couldn’t see where they were herding us to. I just followed the slow moving mass of athletes. Finally I entered the small fenced channel that lead to the area for the athletes.
My husband and I kissed. I looked over at my friend Amy, and whether she realizes it or not, she looked like she wanted to cry. I have a very strong memory of Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” blaring over the loud speaker. I think that was the beginning of a great day mentally for me.
You better lose yourself in the music,
I was up late packing all the transition bags two nights prior to the race because those get turned in the day before the race. I did okay on the sleep that night, but not as good as I had hoped. I was amazed the night prior to the race to find my husband in bed at 8 p.m. He always keeps me up far later than I want the night prior to a race. Even if he wasn’t saying much, this was a telltale sign that he was definitely nervous. Surprisingly, I slept good that night.
4:15 a.m. Rise and shine. I dressed quickly and headed up for breakfast. I always play with my food this early, I'm just not hungry yet, so I knew to give myself some time to force it down. Malt-O-Meal, half a bagel with peanut butter, half a banana, and some Green Machine juice. I’d practiced with this breakfast many times, and it hadn’t failed me yet.
We get to the race site. Tons of nervous energy everywhere. I was not alone. I restocked some of my transition bags because I came across some new issues that morning. I just kept reminding myself that when I ran my packing list by my coach, he reminded me to also pack a sense of flexibility, because something was sure to go wrong. I stayed positive.
I stood in line to have my bike tires pumped up one last time. Stood in line for the bathroom. It was now time to head to the beach. All of the athletes were being herded and we couldn’t see where they were herding us to. I just followed the slow moving mass of athletes. Finally I entered the small fenced channel that lead to the area for the athletes.
My husband and I kissed. I looked over at my friend Amy, and whether she realizes it or not, she looked like she wanted to cry. I have a very strong memory of Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” blaring over the loud speaker. I think that was the beginning of a great day mentally for me.
You better lose yourself in the music,
the moment You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
I looked up the lyrics just to make sure I was quoting them correctly because naturally I was singing them the way that worked best for me in my head, and I just noticed the last verse of the song…
You can do anything you set your mind to, man
That's cool. I found myself humming it again on my bike later in the day when I needed a boost.
The canon blew. I started on the far left closest to the buoys, about 2/3 the way back. I realized that I didn’t get in the water to warm up prior to the start, so I was worried that the water would be cold, but there was so much emotion at that moment, the water temp didn’t phase me. It was the same as every other triathlon I did this year. People were elbowing and kicking. Deal with it. When I made it to the first turn buoy, the helicopter was directly overhead and people were yelling “Don’t even think about cutting the inside of that buoy.” I came up to doggie paddle for a second, and there were a minimum of 30 heads bobbing that were also doggie paddling. Then it became a tread water session because there was no room to use my arms. We all moved as one head bobbing mass around the buoy. I remember somebody yelling, “Don’t worry, the first turn is the worst.” He was right. The second one was bad, but it was on par with other triathlons I’ve done. The difference with this triathlon was that usually I lose the pack about half way through the loop. This was an Ironman with 2200 people. I continued to get kicked and punched the entire 1.2 miles, all the way into land.
I looked at my watch. I did 41 minutes. I did 44 and 45 at my HIM’s this summer. Nice job me! I ran back in the water, and I couldn’t believe that I was on my second loop. The first loop flew by. I think all the jockeying for position took my mind off everything else. The second loop dragged a little more, and I was still running into people off and on. I just tried to enjoy it. I was
doing an Ironman! The water was perfect. I only saw two jellyfish. There were no big waves throwing me around or making me seasick like I feared. I had felt my skin tingle a couple times. Could that have been a jellyfish sting? It didn’t hurt enough. It could just be the residual from a good kick or punch. Who knows? I never felt overly tired on the swim. My training had set me up well. I got out of the water with a giant smile on my face. When I did my HIM last summer, I couldn’t imagine doing a second 1.2 mile loop. I just did two loops in 1:29. I slapped hands with fans on the course and had so much energy I ran all the way to the changing tent. I was actually surprised that I was one of a very few that was running. Most everybody was walking.
Transition 1:
Wow. There were a lot of women in there. Where to go? I finally found a spot right in the middle of the room, and everything was wet and sandy, so pulling out the stuff in my bag was tricky. I was trying to hurry. “Lori!” It was my friend Amy. She was in there, already dressed and leaving. She had beaten me in the swim! I was sad because her swim times weren’t as strong as mine this past summer, but I quickly pushed it out of my head. Be happy for her. We both did awesome! This race was for me anyways. I just had to finish. It wasn’t about beating anyone. It was about beating the clock. Go Amy!
I looked up the lyrics just to make sure I was quoting them correctly because naturally I was singing them the way that worked best for me in my head, and I just noticed the last verse of the song…
You can do anything you set your mind to, man
That's cool. I found myself humming it again on my bike later in the day when I needed a boost.
The canon blew. I started on the far left closest to the buoys, about 2/3 the way back. I realized that I didn’t get in the water to warm up prior to the start, so I was worried that the water would be cold, but there was so much emotion at that moment, the water temp didn’t phase me. It was the same as every other triathlon I did this year. People were elbowing and kicking. Deal with it. When I made it to the first turn buoy, the helicopter was directly overhead and people were yelling “Don’t even think about cutting the inside of that buoy.” I came up to doggie paddle for a second, and there were a minimum of 30 heads bobbing that were also doggie paddling. Then it became a tread water session because there was no room to use my arms. We all moved as one head bobbing mass around the buoy. I remember somebody yelling, “Don’t worry, the first turn is the worst.” He was right. The second one was bad, but it was on par with other triathlons I’ve done. The difference with this triathlon was that usually I lose the pack about half way through the loop. This was an Ironman with 2200 people. I continued to get kicked and punched the entire 1.2 miles, all the way into land.I looked at my watch. I did 41 minutes. I did 44 and 45 at my HIM’s this summer. Nice job me! I ran back in the water, and I couldn’t believe that I was on my second loop. The first loop flew by. I think all the jockeying for position took my mind off everything else. The second loop dragged a little more, and I was still running into people off and on. I just tried to enjoy it. I was
doing an Ironman! The water was perfect. I only saw two jellyfish. There were no big waves throwing me around or making me seasick like I feared. I had felt my skin tingle a couple times. Could that have been a jellyfish sting? It didn’t hurt enough. It could just be the residual from a good kick or punch. Who knows? I never felt overly tired on the swim. My training had set me up well. I got out of the water with a giant smile on my face. When I did my HIM last summer, I couldn’t imagine doing a second 1.2 mile loop. I just did two loops in 1:29. I slapped hands with fans on the course and had so much energy I ran all the way to the changing tent. I was actually surprised that I was one of a very few that was running. Most everybody was walking.Transition 1:
Wow. There were a lot of women in there. Where to go? I finally found a spot right in the middle of the room, and everything was wet and sandy, so pulling out the stuff in my bag was tricky. I was trying to hurry. “Lori!” It was my friend Amy. She was in there, already dressed and leaving. She had beaten me in the swim! I was sad because her swim times weren’t as strong as mine this past summer, but I quickly pushed it out of my head. Be happy for her. We both did awesome! This race was for me anyways. I just had to finish. It wasn’t about beating anyone. It was about beating the clock. Go Amy!
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