Race Report: Ironman 70.3 Racine

Yesterday was a fantastic day. The kind of day that you have a permanent smile plastered on your face by the end of it. Yesterday I swam, ran and biked my way to a second 70.3 Ironman. As I've said about other race reports, I'm going to share way too much detail with all kinds of emotion about the experience of the 70.3. Read if you're interested, I don't blame you if you're not!

Friends of ours refer to the Pittsburgh marathon as "their Christmas" and Scott and I have agreed that  Racine feels like Christmas to us as well. There's something magical and celebratory about the Racine Ironman experience.  The expo, dinner the night before with athletes and spectators, getting to the race, and the feeling of being out on the race course. It's all so wonderful and feels like a holiday. So Saturday morning as we packed up the car, we were pumped.

A big part of my experience this year was learning lessons from last year. One of those lessons was eating regularly the day before the race. Last year, I ended up feeling hot and weak as I checked in my bike which did nothing to calm my nerves. This year, Scott and I started our fun weekend on the drive up to Racine as we stopped for Starbucks on the way, ate Jimmy Johns with friends when we arrived, and snacked on gluten free banana bread that he had made throughout the day.

I got all checked in, signed the waivers, and looked at the endless Ironman apparel. I was pretty sure I didn't want anything because most things don't say the year and I had quite a bit of gear from last year. But, there's always room for one more shirt, isn't there?

A couple friends were also running the race and we were able to meet up with them at the expo. As it turns out, in all three couples, it was the woman running the race and her husband was there to cheer and support. Made my feminist heart happy. So while the girls headed to the safety chat, the boys headed to a brew pub to make signs...and drink beer as long as they were there. I was so happy that they had each other and it gave us time to listen and spend a little time being nervous.

The safety chat didn't freak me out as much this year. I knew what was coming, knew that I wouldn't draft or litter and that it would be ok. My friend Kylene and I oogled a puppy and I spent most of the time looking around to see if I could spot my principal and her husband who was running the race. No luck, but I did see a lot of women who look a lot like my beloved principal. I'm sure they appreciated me waving at them.

We headed to a trusty dinner at Noodles and Company (God bless you, Noodles for having gluten free pasta) with our friends and enjoyed talking to other athletes who were also there to eat up before the big day. I was feeling great as we drove to the hotel and at 7:30 I crawled into bed and fell asleep in minutes. 4am would be there soon.

Finally, it was the morning of the race. The alarm was set for 4am, but at 3:55 I looked at my phone and decided it was best to just get up. I actually run at this hour of the morning with some frequency, so it didn't feel too strange to be up and getting ready. Thank you, running friends for training me well! I quietly put on my tri shorts and top, strapped on my timing chip, and brushed my teeth. As I came out of the bathroom, I found Scott up and ready. I took my banana bread with me down to the hotel continental breakfast and was able to grab some of their peanut butter. It was quiet and calm and I sat silently praying that my stomach would behave.

Scott and I finished breakfast and headed up to the room for any final packing. I was thankful that I had set everything out the night before and was ready to go within minutes. I gave Scott a nervous smile and we decided it was time to go. I lucked out with a McDonald's next door to our hotel. No, I did not eat any McDonald's breakfast, but I did go through the drive through for an iced coffee. Iced coffee has been one of my pre-long bike ride treats this year and while I don't need it, it's a nice treat. It also gives me a nice caffeine jolt, and who doesn't like that before they jump into a 70.3 mile experience?

I loved the drive to the race. Music playing softly, I found myself thinking about my co-workers. I think it was the iced coffee, we drink these almost daily, and was smiling thinking about how great they are. The nerves were melting away and the excitement was growing. We pulled up to the race and took advantage of another lesson we learned last year: if you park on the street by a local elementary school facing away from the race start, getting out of there after the race will be nice and easy. Our special parking spot is also literally a block away from transition, which is a huge help with the whole getting ready process.

I grabbed all of my stuff and we headed to transition. In that the bikes were racked the day before-- such a nice feature-- I only had to bring the other gear I would need to have in transition. And by only, I do mean only my huge duffle bag of stuff. So much gear! Setting up transition is one of my favorite parts of a triathlon. I love being around all the other athletes. You can feel the excitement in the air and there's a quiet hum as people give one another advice and encouragement.

As I set up my transition, I met the athlete next to me who quietly asked if this was my first ironman. No, I said, this is my second. I could see the relief wash over her face and I knew why. I told her that yes, I came back because I love the race so much last year. I told her the story of my tire popping and the wonderful volunteers fixing it, and I gave her the advice that someone gave me last year: if you get nervous at any point during the race, repeat to yourself, I am an Ironman. We stood there and talked for a good 5 minutes, hugged at the end and went our separate ways. I'll never see her again, I have no idea how her race went, but this is what I mean about the magic of a 70.3. Yes, it's a race, but really it's a group of people who have decided to push themselves to the limit and see how it goes. Talk about living life to the fullest.

I made my way out of transition feeling calm. I checked my tires a few times, ok maybe a few dozen times, and had walked myself through how the transitions would go. I came out to find Scott giving his phone number to an athlete who asked if he was from Chicago (the Bears shirt gave him away) and if he would be her emergency contact. As I walked up he was telling her that she would have a great experience, that surely there wouldn't be an emergency, but that he would hold onto her number just in case. I love him, so much.

From there I headed to the mile-long bathroom line that I would eventually wait in again. My stomach was its usual nervous self but everything turned out just fine. The fact that my stomach was behaving so well prompted me to borrow Scott's phone to text my best friend an update on my stomach. God bless her, she responded with: That's wonderful news! Good luck today! She's the best.

We walked from transition and bathroom back to the car to drop off my bag and sit for a little while. It wasn't cold outside, but I get chilled easily. We also had about an hour before it made sense to walk to the swim start, so the car seemed like a good enough place to kill time. We also decided it was probably time to turn on the radio and sing...and dance a little. We listened to some of the songs that will be played at our wedding in a few weeks which made my heart so happy and calm. It was all good.

About an hour before I would start swimming, we took the walk to the swim start. I love this walk. I know there are other courses where the swim start is near the transition and I'm sure that's convenient, but I love the peaceful walk along the lake. If you google "perfect water conditions for an open water swim" I'm pretty sure you will find a picture of Lake Michigan in Racine yesterday morning. Ok, I don't actually know that, but it was pretty darn perfect. It looked like glass-- smooth and calm. The sun was rising over the lake, the sky was bright blue and as we got closer to the swim start I could hardly wait to get in that water.

I love to swim. I know I've said that many times and if you know me personally, I've probably talked your ear off at one point of another about how much I love to swim. The beginning of a triathlon is my favorite and on a perfect morning like this, I couldn't wait to get in there. We quickly found our friends and the four of us laughed as Kristan and I tried (and succeeded, after a while...) to get our wetsuits on. My wetsuit was brand new. Well, I ordered it online in May and then didn't try it out until, well, race day. I would not recommend doing that, it's really not a a good idea to try something for the first time on race day, but sometimes we do stupid things. Lucky for me, it worked out just fine. The wetsuit was really tight and a little too short for my torso, but it did the job!

The pro's started their race and before I knew it, it was time to go line up. I'm an emotional person. I cry often and I cry when I'm happy, sad, nervous, excited, pretty much any emotion can bring me to tears. Scott knows this and so when my eyes welled up with tears at the start line, he didn't miss a beat. He crouched down next to me and whispered that there was nothing to be nervous about. He told me that he worries about me a lot, but today he wasn't worried at all. I was ready, it was time to go get it.

Ready to start!

I pushed to the front of my corral, because I wanted to be near the front in that glassy water, but also because I knew that my friend Kylene would be near the back of hers and she was the wave right before me. We saw each other, hugged and then both of our eyes welled up with tears. Kylene is truly like a sister to me. I would step in front of a bus for her and I've watched her grow into the athlete she is today. This was her first 70.3 and I knew she was nervous. We held hands, danced to Call Me Maybe, and I watched her head out into the water. I said a silent prayer that she would be ok and then kept dancing through the start line.

At the start of the race, they have you come through the gate and wade into the water up to about hip level. As we all stood there, the music switched to a newer song that I don't know the name of, but the chorus repeats, "I'm alive, I'm alive" a few times. It's catchy and I like it and that line stuck with me throughout the race. It rang so true for me, the feeling of being completely alive. What a gift.

The swim was everything I hoped it would be and more. I felt like I was flying. My feet were cold and the wetsuit was a little tight on my rib cage making it hard to take big breaths, but it was a perfect swim. The only down side was that it felt like it was over before it started. We're already turning to go in? No way!

I came up into the sand and started that uncomfortable run to transition. I always feel like a penguin because running in a wetsuit is not the most natural thing. I also think that the rest of the athletes look like penguins, so I giggled to myself as I watched all of us make our way. I heard my name yelled and waved to Scott as I kept going. Right before heading into transition, there are wonderful volunteers who can help you out of your wetsuit. Last year, I didn't really need help because mine was easy to get out of. This year, I needed help. The woman told me to sit down on the ground, and then three people grabbed onto my wetsuit and pulled like crazy. I'm not sure what I said, but I remember being so amazed that the wetsuit was off. I'm pretty sure I said something with a lot of love and appreciation, maybe too much, because the woman laughed and told me to keep going. Someday I'd love to volunteer for this race, I bet they hear all kinds of funny things.

Doing the penguin run!

I made it to my bike in transition quickly and got into my helmet, bike shoes, gloves and sunglasses without a problem. I very carefully took my bike off the rack (this was when the tire popped last year) and quietly whispered to my bike and the universe that I would be so thankful if it would function well during the race. Yep, totally nutty, but nobody seemed to mind my whispering and off I went.

The bike out of transition is a hill. It's not that big of a hill in all actuality, but it is big when you have just finished a swim and haven't developed any momentum. I started chugging up it and heard someone yell, put your bike in a lower gear! Oh ya, my gears. I shifted down and made it up that hill and onto the course.

I love those first moments of a bike ride in a triathlon. You are still wet and chilled from the water and the breeze feels amazing. It feels like it did when I was little and my friends and I would ride our bikes after swim lessons or running through the sprinkler. So joyful.

About 2 miles in, I remembered a goal I had set for myself. EAT. Last year I did a really bad job of eating on the bike. This resulted in feeling miserable during the run and after the race. I had set a goal and practiced eating something every 5 miles. I knew this meant I had to start right away. First snack? Cookies! I had put 2 chocolate gluten free cookies in a baggie. They were soft and delicious and it was no problem convincing myself to eat them right away.

The first 10 miles of the bike were through before I even knew what was happening. Snack time again, this time I ate an apple sauce crusher (made for kids...and triathletes!). It was also around this time that I made a friend that stuck with me through the entire bike. I don't know her name and she is another beautiful soul that I'll never see again, but after passing one another three or four times we began to chat. I would pass her as we climbed a hill, she would pass me as we went down. We were careful not to draft and we knew we couldn't ride side by side, but over the course of 56 miles, there were plenty of opportunities to offer funny side comments.

My favorite came from her when she said, "There are a lot of 40 year-old men on a mission out here. I've got a mission, but it is not the same as theirs!" It made me laugh because it is so true. I don't know the age of the average Ironman participant, but I imagine it has to be a male in his 30's or 40's. I would also estimate a very high average income as most of them are riding bikes that cost more than my car. They are very polite and focused, and good for them, but the focus is a little much sometimes. They would come flying by us on their bikes, it was amazing to watch, but they were on a different planet. Good for them, we were having fun.

I really did feel great through the whole bike. I know that course well by now and I kept pushing food and fluids. I thought of my mom who worries that I'm not eating enough. Every time I ate something, I thought of her and hoped she knew I was doing just fine.

I came down Main Street at the end of the bike, waved to Scott who spent the time I was biking with friends on a porch drinking bloody mary's. I could tell he was having fun and smiled and waved as I headed into the transition area. I didn't run my bike, I walked. I hate running in my bike shoes and knew that it really wouldn't make that big of a difference. I got to my running shoes and sat down to change shoes and remove all the bike gear. I was so happy, I had made it through the bike. The whisperings to the universe had worked. :)

Over the past few months, I practiced a new technique for me during the run. Using a basic digital watch, I would run for 2 minutes and walk for 30 seconds. I did something similar last year, but without the visual of the watch, it became frustrating. I had read that if you're going to do this, you shouldn't wait until your tired to start it, do it from the beginning. So I did. I would watch the 30 seconds click away and then run for 2 minutes. Being able to look at my watch was so helpful and while I was running slower than I would have liked, I was calm and feeling good.

I saw Scott at the beginning of the run, told him honestly that i was feeling great, and kept going. The run course of Racine is a double out and back, meaning you run 3 miles, turn around, run back to the start and repeat. Last year, this made me feel like I was going to die. This year, I loved it. A rest stop every mile and knowing that I was almost at a turnaround was so comforting. Every stop was full of amazing volunteers. At every stop I asked if there was ice and at one particular stop a really nice lady remembered me and set aside a cup for me the next time I came through. How incredible! Chomping on the ice kept me cool and hydrated, and tossing the ice cubes down my tri top helped too.

Running and feeling good!

Around mile 5, I fell in step with an athlete who looked to be about my age. She asked if I had a formula for the run walk and when I explained, she asked if she could join. Well of course! For the next 5 miles or so, we stuck together. After covering conversational topics of work and family and hobbies, it became quiet and I knew we needed another topic. If you know me, you know that while I am super excited for my wedding, I don't love to talk about the tiny details of it all the time. Well, in that we had a couple hours to kill, I asked my new friend if she wanted to hear about my wedding plans. "Oh my gosh, yes!" she said and sure enough the details of my wedding carried us through several more miles.

My favorite of Scott's signs.

I lost my friend somewhere around mile 10 when she told me it was time for her to just walk and I was ready to run. I saw my friend Kylene, was so happy to see her doing well, and kept chugging to the finish line. I came up over a hill, saw mile 11, then 12, and knew that I was almost there. I saw Scott about a quarter mile from the finish and took a 30 second walk break to talk to him. He told me that I was doing awesome, was way ahead of my time from last year and that he would see me at the finish line. I remember feeling almost surprised that it was almost over. I felt good... at the end of an Ironman. What?

The finish line of the ironman is something you have to experience to understand. People are screaming your name (it's on your bib), the announcer is saying your name, and the reality of what you have done hits you right between the eyes. I cried last year, I cried again this year. It's the best.

Done!

I came to a stop, got my medal from a nice woman and let some sweet little girl who was volunteering take off my timing chip. I tried to reach down and help her and must have looked tired because she told me not to worry, she could do it.

No need for the medical tent this year, I was feeling just fine and headed straight for where I knew there were snacks and most important, coke. I grabbed that ice cold soda, took a plate of food and headed out to find Scott. We hugged and headed to find our friends and after eating and drinking, I anxiously waited for Kylene to cross the finish line. She came running in and I cried watching her cross the finish line. So awesome. So proud of you, my friend.

And as my students would say, that was the end of the story. The Ironman is a magical experience and I once again loved every minute of it. I'm so happy with the improvements I made from last year that resulted in a 15 minute time improvement and feeling so much better throughout the race. Before long I'm sure I'll start thinking about the improvements for the next race, maybe even a full Ironman. But for now, I'm just plain happy. So happy with the experience, the feeling of accomplishing a goal, the love for a sport that runs deep, the celebration of "our Christmas" and so many other tiny moments that made it all what it was. Life is wonderful.