PRE-RACE:
• Arrived in Tempe with Ireland Friday afternoon and met parents at the airport
• Not yet nervous just ready to get to hotel and get settled
• Focused on eating right and drinking lots of fluids (mostly water)
• Picked up packet and got lay of land a bit….it was nice and quiet when I was there…..most athletes got their packets earlier in the day so it was good timing, picked up bike from TBT
• Some meditation, lots of visualization
• Friday night ate at awesome Italian restaurant called Oregano's and did some major carb loading....Mom couldn't believe I could eat that much
• Saturday morning swam at 8 a.m. for about 20 mins.(brrr it was cold), did 50 mins. on bike to make sure gears weren’t slipping & chain was cool (felt good), 20 mins. run (it was warm) then met up with parents and Ireland...they were making signs for me :)
• Spent quality time with friends and family Saturday
• Met Alicia and Desiree with Mom, Dad, & Ireland at Tex-Mex restaurant Saturday afternoon for some beans.....mmmm mmmm good!
• Chasing Ireland around IM village and Tempe and giving her piggybacks….parents told me to stop :)
• Little worried about how my back (glutes/hamstrings) would feel on race day….did a lot of stretching
• Loved all the texts, calls, & FB messages from awesome friends and family….helped calm my nerves
• Dropped off transition / special needs bags and bike in transition....no turning back!
• Got to meet awesome people from all over the world
• Met older guy from Cali doing his 25th anniversary Ironman....his first triathlon (and last one until Sunday) was Kona….wow!
• Getting asked by someone if this was my first IM…..he said I had a nervous smile
• 5 p.m. – butterflies start to happen!
• Hoping to get a good night’s sleep on both nights...especially Saturday…had hotel room to myself!
RACE DAY
• 4 a.m. alarm
• Stretched and did some more visualization & meditation
• Ate bagel with peanut butter and clif bar
• Felt a little nauseous thinking about the race and long day ahead of me, but excited!
• Everything was layed out ready to go…..all I had to do was get moving!
SWIM (2.4 miles):
• You couldn’t see the half way point at the end of the lake from the start buoy – scary
• The race announcer at swim told us to “get off his dock”…..he said, “I’m not sure what you’re all waiting for….stop procrastinating and just jump in!”
• I teared up a bit during National Anthem then did some hootin’ and hollering…..a woo hoo and oww oww always makes you feel better!
• 70 people were pulled from swim b/c of hypothermia. Not me….thank goodness for Barton Springs!
• Deep water mass swim start is NUTS!
• Trying to get away from people and find a clear spot to swim…..kinda impossible
• Stayed as close to buoys as possible, but seemed like everyone was following ME!
• Swallowed a lot of water
• Looking up and people are EVERYWHERE….no where to go but to the next buoy just ahead
• Most used terms during my swim “Dude” and “Dammit”......craziness trying to swim with so many people around you (2500 athletes trying to swim to the same place)
• Found a nice rhythm and got in a groove.....then it would get crowded again......dammit!
• Felt good for swim, tried to reach and really relax and just go with it
• Someone grabbed my face early on….got an elbow to the head, foot to the face, got scratched a couple times (had a sleevless wetsuit), several times felt like someone was trying to swim over me, kicked as hard as I could many times to get people off/away from me....had to be a little aggressive ;)
• Right leg cramping up at half way point…..luckily worked it out by flexing and pointing foot
• Looked at watch an hour into it…ready to get out of the water and on my bike…..just keep swimming.....just keep swimming!
• Thinking about eating my white chocolate macadamia nut clif bar as soon as I got on the bike!
Swim (1:25:00)
TRANSITION 1:
• Extremely cold getting out, wetsuit strippers rock!
• Shivering big time running to get bike gear bag
• Dried off as much as possible, shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses on and off to get my bike
• Volunteers lather you up just out of the tent with sunscreen
Transition 1 (00:7:38)
BIKE (112 miles):
• My favorite!
• Passed 839 people on the bike…..couldn’t believe it when a friend told me…..I looked at race results and confirmed! ;)
• Still shivering with numb hands and feet for first 10 minutes.
• Found out quickly that the way out on each loop would be windy
• Back hurt a little on first loop
• Met Harvey with a deep southern accent from Athens…..big guy….we talked and rode for a little while then I needed to get!
• Was called “Austin” on bike b/c my Jack & Adam’s jersey said Austin, TX on the back
• Many people from all over said how much they loved Austin…..I thought good you can visit just don’t move here!
• Saw Harvey again and he said I left him hanging…..hehe!
• Loving the feeling of being on the bike and just getting in the zone
• Felt powerful and strong and so glad Dave and I trained well on the bike
• Got a 4 minute penalty….hard not to draft out there with it so congested…..was riding with a group of 8 guys… 3 of them got warnings and I got the penalty….busted! They were protective of me saying that it was bullsh$t! So, I stood in penalty tent for 4 minutes texting and making a couple calls!
• Got to see my brother and mom at the first turn around point in town along with Chris and Kathy....helped get me thru to the next loop (didn't get to see Ireland and that bothered me a little)
• Looked down on Loop 2 and I had slowed down to 15 mph….it was windy. On way back into town I looked down again and was going 31.5 mph....now that's what I'm talking about!
• Felt good overall….had some stomach cramps early on from taking in so much water on the swim, but went away well before half way point
• Stopped once for porta potty break….volunteer held on to bike for me and I told him I would tip him if I could (his name was Bruce)
• Grabbed Gatorade, water, and bananas from aid stations
• Lost the straw to my aerodrink so had to make do and take off bottle tops to re-fill fluids on the go
• Legs felt good, but held back a little b/c I didn’t want to bonk on the marathon
• Focused on nice smooth pedal strokes and moving forward as fast as possible
• John, from Laguna Beach, said I was a nice pace setter (ummm…..ok!)
• Talked with Travis from Victoria, TX for a bit…then I had to get going again! I met him the day before with Alicia and Dez and it was cool to see him again out on the bike course
• Started thinking about my run around mile 80.... I had to run my first marathon ever….after doing 112 miles on the bike....really?! Stayed positive!
• Feeling blessed to be out there riding
• Thinking about my cousin Erik and getting a little emotional….dedicating my Ironman race to him
Bike (5:43:27)
TRANSITION 2:
• Marathon time……yea baby!
• Get run gear bag, volunteer helped open bag and pull everything out for me
• Grab hat, sunglasses, some food, change of socks, running shoes……here we go!
• Oh yeah….potty break again!
• Oh and the volunteers lather you with sunscreen as well
Transition 2 (00:3:20)
RUN (26.2 miles):
• Doing my first marathon in an Ironman race……I got it! I just wanted to run the entire thing….
• All smiles heading out of transition…..especially when I saw Desiree, Alicia, and Taylor
• I ate some shot blocks with caffeine & grabbed water right of the bat
• Trying to take it easy but I started out way too fast…7:31 pace first 5K…. had my running legs and the endorphins had kicked in again…thought I could hold it for a while…ummm no….especially not on a first mary....and started to feel the quads tighten up about 10k in
• It was a warm start to run, but not too bad….nothing like the heat we had this summer
• Gentle hills and 1 long steady climb at the end of the loop..I thought it was going to be flat as a pancake......not so much (yes, you were right David)
• Volunteers were awesome….sometimes running up to you to ask you what you needed b/f you even got to aid station
• Drank at every aid station (except 1)…..probably why I was so bloated and swollen at the end of the race
• Ate 1 ½ bananas, 1 pack clif shot blocks, 1/2 Luna bar, 3 clif shot gels (mocha with caffeine & strawberry), Gatorade, water, and added coke later on
• Got to see Chris and Kathy on the bridge during my first 5K…..awesome energy and support to get me started! Saw them again at mile 20.....impecable timing!
• Trying to keep a nice steady rhythm and easy breathing
• Felt awesome at the 13 mile marker....just so happy to be out there and really enjoying the run....knowing that this would be the 2nd time that I'd ever run more than 13 miles...ok let's do this!
• Feeling overwhelmed with emotion….somewhere b/w miles 16 and 18, then again at 20….just felt so fortunate to be able to do what I was doing and realizing again how blessed I am!
• Teared up thinking about my cousin and felt like he was watching over me
• Met some great people on the run and we cheered each other on….sometimes you wanna talk and sometimes you don’t…..sometimes you just wanna run!
• Missing my children…just wanted to hug them (haven't seen Ireland during my run at all) :(
• Started to feel a little light headed and stomach was in knots around mile 17 so decided to drink coke at that point…..helped for a few miles then I didn’t feel like eating / drinking anything else…felt extremely bloated and a nauseous
• Legs getting fatigued and really starting to talk to me at mile 22ish, plus boredom set in…..I was ready to get to that finish line and see everyone! Stomach really cramping and feeling queasy at this point too, but knew I could make it a few more miles w/o vomiting (I hoped anyway)!
• I wore new Asics Cumulus and surprisingly didn’t get any blisters….that’s a record…I usually get blisters on 10 mile runs
• Thought about Tony, all my friends, family, and awesome members at LifeTime and how supportive everyone has been
• Feeling good to be alive
• Spectators & volunteers were so helpful with their cheering and yelling, great stereo system at one of the aid stations and I remember hearing "Boom Boom Pow".....oh yeah!!
• Mile 23 came and I decided to walk….not sure why I just felt the need to take a break since I hadn't stopped one bit until just that moment..….I walked up the last hill, down to the aid station (think it was just under a mile), grabbed some coke, dug really deep and started running again…
• I couldn’t wait to see mile 25….home stretch baby!! I could see the lights for the finish line and hear the cheering.....
• I kicked it into high gear……as I was turning the corner towards the finish line I almost cried…..a spectator saw me and said you’re right there….
• I had to be smiling when I came across that finish line….just like I had been most of the race
• I saw my parents and Ireland as I was heading thru the chute to the finish line….so amazing.....a feeling of exhiliration and a feeling I will never forget!
• Arms up, smile from ear to ear!!! Lindsey Ginko YOU are an Ironman! Rockin’!!!!
Marathon (4:30:12)
Ironman finish (11:49:35)
Post-race:
• Get medal, professional pic taken (I cut in line b/c I felt like I was going to pass out), hugs, hugs, hugs, I cried when I saw my brother, spent about 10 minutes chatting and taking pics with everyone, then off to medical tent
• Hung out in medical tent for about 30 minutes trying to throw up (that came a couple hours later though), I just wanted ice cold water and they wanted me to drink chicken broth (I’m a vegetarian but tried it….gross)!
• As I was sitting in the medical tent Dad asked me if there was any point during the race that I thought about giving up/quitting.....No, no there wasn't......that thought never crossed my mind.
• Ireland ran up to me crying with her arms wide open…...it was a very long day for her and she was so full of emotion that she just let it all out at that moment
• I wasn’t ready at all to eat after the race but had a few pretzels
• Grabbed bike and transition bags and off to hotel to shower!!
• Desiree, Alicia, and my Dad helped me carry everything back to the hotel and then headed back to the race to watch more finishers…..up until close to midnight (which is the cut-off)
• Finally at 9:30 p.m. I was HUNGRY! I ate a veggie sandwich….that wasn’t enough but I was too tired to get anything else. I just knew that breakfast was going to be really good the next day!
• Shower and sleep! I couldn’t sleep much (maybe got in 3 hours)…..I was still on cloud 9 and my muscles weren’t ready to sleep either….achy and twitchy!
Thankful for…….
• Paige for helping me with the kids and letting them spend the night when I had to get up early for races / training when Tony was out of town
• My parents for also helping out with kids when they came in town when I was training / racing, and being in Tempe with me and watching Ireland and for their love and support
• Taylor for flying in from Atlanta to be there for me.....such an awesome supportive brother
• David G. - such a great friend and training partner… inspiring, encouraging, and put up with me!
• Members at LifeTime - heard about stories throughout training and were always supportive and truly cared, helped me get through long training days, race season and then on to Ironman
• Kim F. and Marie for awesome care packages
• Alicia W. and Desiree K. for traveling out to Arizona to support and cheer me on
• Chris and Kathy S. for driving out to Arizona to support and cheer me on with 3 of their kids
• Jack Murray with Jack & Adam’s – best bike shop in town
• Yvonne with Amsterdam for sponsoring me
• James and Sancha (Chase Floors, Inc.) for sponsoring me
• All the thoughtful, inspiring, and kind words I received before and after the race…..amazing!
• LifeTime team members – always caring and asking how training was going & supporting me
• Sweet kiddos – being without mommy more than usual for the last 8 months
• For the ability to do what I am passionate about
• Coach Craig helping me with swim stroke and feel more confident in the water
• Coach Nick helping me run faster and more efficient!
• For the opportunity to help make a difference in other people’s lives at LifeTime
• David B. and Anna W. – encouraging words from experienced Ironmen
• Eli C. for letting me borrow his sweet Mavic race wheels!
• Dr. Todd and Laura Whipple for helping me rehab my glutes / hamstrings
• Dr. Laurie Buob for working on me during the year
• Heather G. for the use of “her” wetsuit
• Post-race shower
• No blisters!
• No sunburn!
• For all my upcoming Chiro and massage appointments this week…..ahhhh!
• Star Gymnastics, Steven Liggett, & Iron Cactus for sponsoring me for 2010 so I can do it all over again!
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