Mary Mary Why Ya' Buggin'

Today brings me to the conclusion of my week long race review. This is the most I've ever blogged in a week! I know it's long. I want to record everything so I don't forget.   I have so many great photos from my race that I want to share. This is one of my favorites that Brandie took as I am crossing the finish line. I am saving my money and not purchasing the overpriced Ironman race photos.  As I was crossing the finish line I made a conscious effort to take in the moment. Hearing Mike Reilly announce, "Mary Williams you are an Ironman" was a moment that I'll never forget. I had visualized this moment in my mind many times. Watching the video even now three weeks later, makes me cry. As soon as I crossed the finish line a wonderful volunteer, named Jill placed my medal around my neck and gave me my finisher t-shirt and hat. She was so kind and attentive making sure that I was okay. She reminded me of my friend Alycia. I had my picture taken

Let's just say that I had an amazing run! Running is my favorite part of triathlon, I knew that once I was on the run, I would be an Ironman. The run course was two 13 mile loops, along Tempe Town Lake.  In my research I knew that my first six miles were going to be my fastest. I knew that I could easily do 8:20-8:40 pace those first 5-6 miles but I had never ran a marathon before so I knew that I had to slow my pace down. My plan was to run my first six miles at 10:00 pace then miles 6-26 try to say at a 11:20 pace.  If anything I have learned since my very first triathlon three years ago is how much of this sport is mental. I had paced the Newport Marathon in June. I paced the second half of the marathon~11:20 group. It was slow and easy for me.  Going into this part of the race I knew that after swimming and biking a 11:20 pace was going to be about perfect and totally doable for me. If I was slower, so be it. Remember, under 17 hours, happy and not end up in the medical

Bike, Transition 2  The bike portion of the race had me the most nervous and worried. Nutrition and mechanical were the  two things that concerned me the most. I knew if I didn't take in enough calories on the bike that my run would be awful or I could potentially DNF. I had experience that in September, doing Best of the West half Ironman distance race in Sweet Home, Oregon. I had the most awful and longest half marathon of my life. I did not take in enough calories nor did I have enough electrolytes on the bike. I did not want to repeat that experience. Going into the final ten weeks of training I was mindful of my calorie intake during my long training rides. My nutrition on the bike was a combination of liquid nutrition, Spiz and snacks in my bento box. I had used Spiz on both of my overnight relays in August: Elkhorn and Hood to Coast and had good results. The chocolate was too sweet for me so I switched to the vanilla which I preferred. On my long training rides I crav

Race Morning, Swim, Transition 1 Race morning came after a surprisingly good night of sleep. I was wide awake by 4am. Usually I can eat breakfast without much of an issue but race morning was difficult. My oatmeal was as appetizing  as a bowl of soggy sawdust. I knew that I needed as many calories as possible before the swim so I forced it down best as I could. I've struggled with having an appetite most of my training so this was nothing new but worse today.  I was so nervous, I was nauseated. Miranda, Amy, Mr. W and Aunt Robin were up with me. The plan was that Mr. W, Miranda, Amy and I all headed to Ironman Village while the rest of the cheering squad slept as it was going to be a L-O-N-G day for everyone.  Miranda helped me put on my Tri Tats. I wish I would have saved the $20 and skipped them all together. I ordered my race number and age as soon as my race number was listed. I only received my race number. I sent an email and never received a reply. I went ahead o

I had ambitious plans to write throughout the past year as I trained for my first Ironman. Obviously that did not happen. In the upcoming week I am excited to share with you my race experience on completing my first Ironman race in Tempe, Arizona which happened on November 19th.  As soon as I paid for my race I begin the search for a training plan. I ordered, Be Iron Fit: Time Efficient Training Secrets for Ultimate Fitness by Don & Melanie Fink. The book has three different training plans: J ust Finish, Intermediate, and Competitive. I used the competitive plan, a 30 week plan broke up into three phases: base, build and  peak. The money I saved in not having a coach I used for chiropractic, acupuncture and naturopathic care which I added into my weekly and monthly training plan. My thought with going with the competitive plan was if I can hit most of my training then I would be prepared enough to cross the finish line. I went into Ironman training with a good base from the pr