Another for the Story Books!

A week has passed since Chesapeakman. I have hit the post race blues. Not really sure what to do with myself…besides think back to how my race went and nurse my stress fractured foot!

My training this time around like I said before was not like last year. I took a different approach, and with how crazy my schedule got, I had to be really flexible with my training. I prepared all my supplies during the week. I Sorted out and labeled my food into bags according to caffeinated/non-caffeinated food. I only wanted to bring what I needed, and not over pack. Our hotel room can with a microwave and refrigerator, so that was a hug plus, I could bring cold things.

John and I headed from my work on Thursday afternoon. Stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then headed to the hotel. Not much is in Cambridge, or the surrounding towns…except a lot of Walmarts.

After a great night’s sleep, John and I had a lovely breakfast in the hotel room made by myself. We had homemade waffles on my portable waffle maker. We gathered our bike gear then headed to packet pickup. You know it is a small race when the Expo is in a room the size of your living room. Oh well, on to ride some of the bike course.

After riding and checking out the course and T2 area, some of my family made it in town. Michele, Dad and Alycia. We hit a really cool seafood place for dinner then back to the hotel. All seemed to be going well. In bed early…

Around 2am, I awoke feeling very sick and spent the next few hours throwing up everything I had eaten in the past few days. I felt defeated…and I hadn’t even started racing. I tried to drink some Gatorade, that came back up and so did anything else I tried to put in my body. I thought it would be best to try and sleep it off.

4am wake-up: Still not feeling well, I tried to eat something. I made some waffles and could barely get half down. I thought it would be best to just drink an ensure (high calorie drink) instead of taking in solids. Dad, John and I left for the Swim start. As we were walking to the start, my stomach got sick again, and I was on the side of the road throwing up what I had taken in that morning. I honestly didn’t know how I would make it in to the water. John came into the bike area with me and made sure all was good to go with the bike. I got into my wetsuit and tried to take down a gel. I was able to. This is a good sign, I was starting to feel better. 1 more Gel before heading into the water and I was feeling even better. (Better is still an understatement!)

SWIM: The swim start was a mass start of all swimmers. The area where we started was pretty shallow, so you could actually stand instead of treading water, which was really nice. We did 2 1.2mile loops. Nothing too crazy happened during the swim, except that there were jellyfish!! Exited the swim in 1:19:09. Not great, but I’ll take it, considering I didn’t think I would even start.

Transition #1: 4:05

BIKE: I was looking forward to the bike, it’s my strongest area. Today, however, I didn’t want to be on the bike. I tried to take food in slowly. I wanted to make sure I built my fuel back up but wanted to do it gradually. The bike you typically ride in a race like this has bars the lay flat so you can get really aero and glide through the wind. Unfortunately the pressure that position put on my stomach made me feel very sick and I had to ride in an upright position 80% of the ride. That put me back prob 30min. I stopped about 25miles into the ride when I saw my Dad and John. I told them I didn’t think I could make it. They said to try a little further and they would meet me with a soda. Once I got a soda in my body, I felt much better. (Still all relative!) My cousin Marita, who also was racing that day, had a great day and caught up with me on the bike. We rode the rest of the bike portion together. It was nice to have familiar company. I had more soda in my special needs bag and drank it all…that seemed to be the trick! Bike time 5:59:03

Transition #2: 3:11

RUN: Happy to be off the bike, now I just need to muster out a marathon…. SERIOUSLY!! This whole Iron distance thing seems fun to talk about, but when you are depleted off all energy, it’s not fun. The sad thing is, my legs and muscular system felt great…I was just so tired, sleepy, groggy and according to John, very pail. But, on a positive, I felt so much better going into the marathon this race than I did in Louisville. I will take what positives I can get.

The run consisted on 3 out and back 4.2mile loops. It was very boring and nothing exciting to see. They had 4 aid stations, 1mile apart. I was feeling decent, knew I didn’t want to go out to hard…not that I could! I kept a steady pace of 9:00-9:20. My goal time was to run a 4hour marathon. I was lucky to have a running partner, Susan. She is an old college classmate of my sister in law Helena. Susan at one point was a professional runner, so I know she was bored out of her mind running a 9min pace with me, but I was beyond thankful to have the company. I was actually feeling better and stronger with each lap. Because of the lap structure, I kind of forgot that I was running a marathon! Crazy huh. As I approached the finishing shoot, I got all chocked up. I pulled out the picture of my mom that I kept in my shorts during the whole race and crossed the finish line with her. My family and friends were right there waiting for me and I collapsed in tears in my Dads arms. Finish time: 11:29:02. Marathon time: 4:03:36

This race was not just about me and not just for me. This race was for my family and for my mom. This race was bigger than a finishing medal and shirt. This race was about survival, family and courage. This race was everything that my mom was and everything that her spirit and family carry on today. I only got to the finish line today because of the strength that my family, friends and my mom gave me. The encouragement from my dad at the start, the unbelievable support on the bike and run from my husband John and new friend Susan and the loud cheers and creative posters from my family and friends on the side of the road. I can’t thank them enough for being there for me, standing in the cold drizzling rain all day, supporting and encouraging me.

Big THANK YOU to Beth at AdventureWoman for sponsoring me again and helping make this race possible.

And A HUGE THANK YOU to my husband John who stuck by me, through all my training, days of tears and days of successes, supporting me, loving me and always having faith in me. I LOVE YOU.

What's in store next is still up in the air. I have gotten another sponsorship, not sure how I keep getting them. This one is with CCN Sports, a sports clothing company. I am working with them on perfecting their tri gear. Planning to do the Winter Running Series at Tyler State Park. I am looking to do more half Ironman distance races and see if I can get into Kona...that is my ultimate goal. For right now though, I will spend so much needed time with my husband, step-son and my neglected house and dog!