Ironman Arizona Race Report: Part 2

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 ordered another set of age numbers and they didn't arrived in time. Since I used arm sleeves most of the race it was a waste of money.  My advice, save your money and time, bring your own black Sharpie and have your race support person mark your race number on your arms, age on your left leg and race number on your right leg.

After Aunt Robin took about a hundred pictures of me as I was trying to leave we set off to the village.  Our normal route to the IM village was altered as roads were closed. That is when I had my second freak out before the start of the race. I quietly kept my anxiety to myself as Mr. W drove and continued to finish my breakfast. Thankfully Mr. W remained calm and made our way to IM village where he dropped Miranda, Amy and I off. He found a parking spot close by in a parking garage that was super cheap. Thankfully a short walk after the race. It's true IMAZ is a very spectator friendly race.

After dropping off my special needs bags (Tip from my hours of research: I used super bright neon tape on my gear bags so it was easy to find my bags among all the other bags) found my bike and added my race day nutrition and double checked my tire pressure. I found my way back to Miranda and Amy in the throngs of people and we made our way out of the crowd to wait for Mr. W and I put on my wetsuit on. Before I knew it, I was telling them goodbye and making my way to seed myself for the swim.

Training: Thankfully I like swimming and love open water swimming. I am not fast, but I've made great improvements this year. I liked the variety of the swim drills in my training plan. Early in my training I did weekly open water practice at a nearby lake with friends. I did a half Ironman distance race 10 weeks earlier and had a fantastic swim. My plan was to swim race distance in colder water closer to race day. Since I train mostly solo at The Edge of the World, I wasn't able to make that happen. The original plan was to train with my husband throughout the summer as he has a fishing kayak. Such as life, with kids in school and my husband's work schedule it didn't happen. Throughout training I was swimming three times a week. Swimming was the most difficult, as where I live lap swim times are limited. Once my swims were over an hour I had to swim early morning. Later in my training I switched pools which had more variety in lap swim times. I didn't swim with a master swim group. I swam 100% by myself, with my swim workouts written out on colored index cards in a ziplock bag.  The final month of training life got busy and with being sick I missed a bunch of workouts which at the time had me worried but in retrospect I as fine. 

I think the swim might have been my favorite part of the entire race.  It took awhile to get into the water. My goal was to do the swim in 1:30. My mistake was seeding myself in the 1:40 group. I fought most of the race trying to pass people. I feel like I could have swam faster.  Swimming out to the turn, my plan was to stay close to the buoys. I didn't want to swim too close to the wall as it would add additional distance when it came time to make the turn. I heard my friend Alycia's words in my head, "one buoy at a time." This was the most people I had ever swam with. Crowded was an understatment. Before I knew it I was at the turn to be swimming back towards the exit, where I had entered the water. The swim was almost over! The water became even more choppy than the pervious afternoon. At one point I felt like I was on a mini roller coaster. It made my stomach flip. My first thought was this is fun! I just made sure to turn my head further to the side to be able to catch a good breath. Once I made the turn it got even more congested and choppy. At one point I felt a hand/arm between my legs, people at my feet and then I got hit in the nose. A bigger guy in a grey wetsuit kept trying to swim over me. It got to the point that I started throwing elbows to get people off me. At one point there were two ladies swimming together in pink lined wetsuits I had visions of the scary twins in the movie, The Shining. I'd pass them only have them in front of me again and grey wetsuit dude on top of me again. Then the sun was in my eyes. Since I was prepared for this, I just kept my face down and focused on the people in front of me.  I was thankful that I had my favorite tinted goggles. Usually I have swim mantras that I use to help me pass the time. Today, the time flew by. At no point of the swim did I feel panicky. I never felt like I was tired and couldn't go on. I felt strong the entire swim. Before I knew it was time for me to climb up the steps. This was my longest open water swim ever. 2.4 miles was done!!!!! I was cautious as I didn't know if I'd be dizzy or not once I made it up the stairs. Thankfully there were lots of volunteers who had their arms outstretched to help me up the stairs and then helped me out of my wetsuit.

1:40:12
2:32/100m

T1: I quickly found my bag, thanks to my bright orange duct tape. I was immediately hit with the feeling of warmth as I entered the changing tent. Under my wetsuit I wore my favorite triathlon shorts and a sports bra. I quickly dried off and put on my bike jersey and cooling arm sleeves. As a Melanoma survivor I am very mindful of my sun exposure and with the Arizona sun I wasn't going to take any chances getting burned.  I put on my beautiful helmet, bike gloves and socks and shoes. Lubed up the lady parts. I wasn't hungry but guzzled a V8 juice, my saving grace for the day. I exited the tent, had a volunteer slather my legs in sunscreen on my way to go grab my bike.

14:57:17