Ironman Texas - Embracing the moment!

Inaugural Ironman Texas
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Woodlands, TX
Ironman Texas done in 11:58:50!! 11th place Age Group 

Holy cow I'm not even sure where to begin.  It was an amazing weekend all around!  I got to spend a girls' weekend in the Woodlands to do an Ironman!  Who does that?  :) 

I'll do pre-race stuff later.  I have to get to the good stuff.  RACE DAY!! 

Lots of physical and tons of mental prep went into this race (as always), but I had a lot of thinking to do for this one.  I waited until almost the last minute to decide what I was going to do for this race when it came to figuring out my run plan.  You probably already know I'm healing up a stress fracture.  It's still not 100% so I had to decide one of the following options for my 3rd Ironman:
-swim, bike then DNF (did not finish)
-swim, bike, and walk
-swim, bike and walk / try to run

2 weeks out and I felt like my stress fx wasn't going to allow me to run.  So, I decided I was getting to the finish line no matter what......walk, crawl, whatever it took.  I've spent too much time training and thinking about this day that I just couldn't see myself getting off the bike and then not attempting to finish....  1 week out I decided I might be able to walk / run / shuffle the marathon.  I decided I would hammer out the swim, kill it on the bike and then get to the run and go with the flow. 

Coach Fish asked me to send her my goal times for the race.  These swim and bike times are big goals for me and quite a bit faster than my last 2 IM races.
2.4 mile swim goal: 1:14
112 mile bike goal: 5:20
26.2 mile run: get thru it

RACE DAY!

4:15 a.m. alarm - visualizing swim start (oh so peaceful!), stretching, started drinking water and Pure Sport, ate my Mel's meals sweet potato pancakes (you betcha I brought them with me) :)
4:35 a.m. Sherpas arrive at Residence Inn hotel to drive me, Alisa, & Maggie to race start
(Thank you Denise, Becca, & Shannon)

4:45 a.m. - Get dropped off at bike transistion to load up nutrition for bike, air up tires, and put last minute stuff in bike & run bags
5:45 a.m. - Sherpas take us to swim start, body marking, potty breaks, drop off morning clothes bag, socialize, ate clif shots and had shot of clif shot gel, drank 20 oz. Pure Sport

2.4 mile SWIM (Goal 1:14 / Finished 1:14:32)
7 a.m. start time
Swim route was an out and back loop and then we turned right to swim into a narrow waterway canal that led us to swim finish.
The water felt great.  I decided to swim in my bathing suit.  I've never done that for a race.  I LOVED it!  A lot of people wore wetsuits and speedsuits.  I definitely think I would have overheated with a wetsuit.  The water was warm......78 degrees or so?  I borrowed a speedsuit, but it was a little snug on my shoulders so felt I would be most comfortable with just my swimsuit.  2.4 miles is too long to swim if you're not comfortable.....especially with 2600 other athletes swimming next to you.......and mostly men, I might add. 

It was a mass swim start and I was with Mallory, Matt, Dave, Lilly, Carrie, and Nick Bannon.......awesomeness!  We all lined up at the very front towards the right side of the start line near one of the buoys.  People were panicking a little.....hitting & kicking each other as we were treading water.  We were creating our own little wake and it was pulling us back towards the bridge.  I moved up away from the line for a few seconds to get away from it all to breathe and relax, I floated on my back for a little bit just to stop moving for a split second (that would be the last time for the next 12 hours that I wasn't moving my body forward)!  I was calm.

Matt and I were talking about what direction we were going to swim when my friend, Nick, yelled my name pointed to the land gesturing to me that we were about to start.....and just then the GUN went off.  And........here we GO!!!  I have never been so relaxed and calm when starting a race...all in the middle of such chaos!  I did not have any anxiety when starting and just went out as hard as I could.  I've been swimming a lot over the last few months and was feeling very confident with my swim fitness.  Andrea told me not to be scared to find some fast feet and try to stay with them as long as possible.  So, that's what I did.  Matt told me he saw me take off like a "rocket".....I stayed strong for much of the swim. 

There were 2600 athletes and only 636 were women.  The men had on flourescent green swim caps and the women wore purple caps.  Every once and a while I'd see a purple swim cap, but the men were everywhere.....  I got hit a lot.......mostly elbowed in the head or a leg grabbed every so often (which I find very annoying.......I mean really....how can you not tell when you're grabbing someone's leg).  It's all to be expected in a mass swim start though....you just take it as it comes and go with the flow.  I moved from the far right and ended up in line with the buoys.  I felt super strong and had a good rhythm going.  You couldn't see your hand in front of your face......doo doo colored water.  I focused on giving 90% effort while staying relaxed.  The most congested area was around the bouys.....why do people stop there?  Just swim!  I remember someone saying "Relax people."  I wanted to say "Swim people!"  I started to feel a little tired about 1.5 miles in, but could see the bridge and knew our buoy to turn right to head in towards the canal was getting closer.  Just keep swimming!

Finally, I get to turn right into the canal.  Home stretch baby!  Ok.  It's a little longer than I thought it would be and very narrow.......and shallow (4 feet deep).  This is also where some guy punched me in the face.  He stopped looked at me and then kept swimming.  Ouch!  There were so many people and it was a very narrow area to swim in........  I also felt like the current was pulling me back towards the lake....  It was tough to try to move around to see if a different "spot" helped so I just kept trying to swim forward and stay relaxed.  I stopped 2 different times put my feet down, dolphin dive back to start swimming again (yes you could touch the bottom here).  I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere....  We were told not to put our feet down b/c of glass, rebar, etc.  I didn't remember that until I started swimming again.  Glad I didn't cut my feet.  Other than it being so narrow and rough it was pretty sweet because it was lined with people cheering us on.  I found a rhythm again and kept moving forward as hard as I could to the swim out.  11th female in my AG swim.  Wohoo!

Volunteers helped pull me up to the stairs and off I went thru the chute to transition.  Some people were walking as I was trying to get to my gear bag.  Run people.......it's a race!  I heard my name several times as I was running through transition.  I got to see Maxine and Sancha (they got a nice pic of me :) ), Sarah & Jennifer, and a couple other peeps.  Grabbed my gear bag and into changing tent.

Transistion 1: (3:58)
I changed into my zoot tri shorts and J&A tri top and off I go!  Volunteers rocked here and were so helpful.  Unlike Ironman Florida's changing tent.......I had plenty of room to change and tons of help..... I was about 15 mins. faster than my seasick swim in Florida.  Not many women were out of the water  just yet this time around so that was awesome!  Run out of changing tent, sunblock on, high five Travis and find my bike all the way down close to bike out on row 7. 

112 mile BIKE (Goal 5:20 / Finished 5:21:26)
Bring on the bike leg!  My goal.....112 mile time trial and pass as many people as I possibly could.  Stay strong, WIN bike for my age group if not all age group women!  We had one big 112 mile bike loop.  Let's roll!
 
The first half of the bike went by really really fast!  I was holding over 22 mph the first 60 miles.  Several things I noticed very early on......we got VERY lucky b/c we had some great cloud coverage.  The humidity was there, but the blarring sun was nowhere to be found.   I rode without my sunglasses most of the ride.  The wind wasn't what I expected either.  We did have some wind, but it was nothing like what we thought we'd get out there!  I was a little nervous b/c I knew we'd have more of a headwind on the way back in. The ride was absolutely beautiful.  We rode through the National Forrest for a good amount of time.  It was fantastic!  There were nice little rollers with smooth as butter roads.....and it felt super fast!  One spot with chip seal on the way back in, but nothing to complain about. 

It was definitely humid and I drank a lot out there.  I took in about 40 oz. of fluids every 10 miles....  I couldn't stop drinking.......  At the half way point you could definitely feel more of a headwind and it slowed me down a little, but again nothing like what I thought we were going to get.  We did have a "hill"......mile 65.  I remember saying, "I guess that was our hill" to somone.  He said, "that sucked."  It was actually nice to change things up and get out of the saddle for a bit.

As we got past the half way point.......I was looking for each 10 mile marker.  I would say.........gimme my 70 miles.  Ok bring on my 80, where's my 90, hell yeah 100!!  "Push Push" was my mantra after 100 (weird thing to say to myself and I thought.....what am I doing having another baby here, but that's what got me through those last 12 miles).  :)  I had a blast on the course and loved every minute of it.  There were times when there was hardly anyone around....and I got to enjoy the road by myself.  I felt incredibly powerful.  My nutrition was spot on.  I was taking in 40 oz. of fluids / hour and at least 200 cals plus my salt tabs.  I had to pee 4 times (most ever), but didn't stop....use your imagination.  :)  Thanks to Coach Fish I was feelin' awesome with my nutrition plan!  There weren't many women "up front" so every time I would pass a group of people they'd say.......you go girl, get it girl, oh wow a girl, or get those guys, etc.   It was awesome!

10 miles to go and I was super pumped.  I was cruising along the last stretch towards the transition (probably holding 24 mph+) and some guy yelled out to me, "Lindsey you're an animal!"  (My race # was on my back with my name on it).  I just laughed and kept moving forward.......fast!!  With 7 miles to go I passed the last female in my age group.  I'm a happy camper!  Ok now what?  I have only 26.2 miles to go and I'm a 3x Ironman.  As I was riding I was doing some thinking about the marathon and wondering how I was going to pull that one off with a stress fracture.  What would I do if I absolutely couldn't run b/c I was in so much pain with my hip?  Only thing I could do was attempt to run / walk and finish the Ironman feeling good and just be happy with the performance on my swim and bike.

Into bike dismount and again I saw tons of people.  I got to see Sarah and Jennifer, Maria, Sunny & Shay, Max and Sancha and heard my name all over the place.  Feelin' like a superstar!  ;)  Coolest part......hardly any other bikes in transition.  That'll get you pumped to start your run!  1st off the bike in my age group and 7th overall female age grouper.

Transition 2: (5:36)
OMG it was humid!  Volunteers rocked.  I changed out of my gross tri shorts and into my lululemon running shorts.  I took off my J&A tri top and kept on my Descante bra top.  It was sooo hot and the sun was out by now.  I remember almost falling over after trying to grab something out of my transition bag and one of the volunteers caught me and helped me sit down.  It was soooo sticky hot and humid and I needed some fluids badly.  Volunteer got me water, dried off my feet, put on my body glide, slipped on my shoes for me, spi belt, sunglasses, hat and off I went.

26.2 mile run (Goal: get through it / Finished: 5:13:18)
3 loop run course - on the street, in the sun, in the shade, on the trail, through a neighborhood, down by the waterway / park area, through the mall area ( it changed up quite a bit and I really enjoyed it)

Brutal start to the run.  It was hot and humid!  I could definitely feel the tightness in my hip and could feel the stress fracture every step (it's on my iliac wing on my right side).....weight bearing pressure hurts....walking / cycling / swimming doesn't hurt.  I took my advil right away, did a shot of GU and grabbed Powerbar Performance at the aid stations early on.  I held 9:46 min/ mile pace the first 4.5 miles then I got really nervous about my hip...  If I continue on this run and don't listen to my body I could potentially put myself out for the rest of the year.  I stopped to walk / run off an on from that point on until mile 20.  I got to see a lot more people this way which was way worth it! 

Here was the hard part for me (for a little while anyway)......I'm coming off an amazing swim, best ever bike, and I'm in 1st place.......  I knew coming into this race I wouldn't be able to run my marathon injured.  I had to let go of that podium finish & Kona dream.... 
I had to back off and look at the big picture here.  Look what I am doing.  I am incredibly blessed and grateful and right then and there I had to enjoy and embrace the moment more than ever.  I am finishing up my 140.6 miles on a stress fracture on my pelivic bone and for some reason having the time of my life.  :)
I got to run / walk with Dave, Matt, Rommel, Alex, and several other people and friends that were spectating along the way!  Dave flashed me, Matt & I joked together, Alex & I discussed 2012 goals, and Rommel was happy as could be!  My dear friend, Mallory, was kicking some serious butt out there and I was very excited for her.  She encouraged me when she passed me on the run.....just showing how freakin' awesome she is as she was tearing it up going for her podium finish! 

Honestly, nothing too exciting to share about my walking / running marathon until later on.  The normal stuff going on......self talk, feet hurting, blisters, legs feeling tight, etc.  If I was running it was hard to stop and walk and if I was walking it was hard to get going running again.  There was really no rhyme or reason to when I would start or stop.....I just did when I felt like it.  Many people run a mile then stop and walk the aid stations and then start running again.  I would sometimes run to the aid station, walk the aid station and then just keep walking b/c that's just what I felt like doing.... (when I was walking I pumped my arms so I didn't puff up like a blow fish (thanks for that tip Fish)).  I felt amazing as far as my muscles and nutrition goes.  I kept taking in my salt tabs and 200 cals / hour.   When I was running I felt awesome (except for the nagging "boo boo" I was dealing with).  I felt strong even though I hadn't ran since February.  Muscle memory came right back to me.  Yay! 

Ok going into this marathon I had no idea what to expect b/c I haven't run since Feb. or done any bike / run bricks since October of last year, etc.  I was envisioning a 13-14 hour Ironman....I feared I might have to walk the whole thing.  I didn't wear my garmin b/c I didn't want to be frustrated with myself for not running or keeping a certain pace.  I really just wanted to go with the flow and listen to my body.  I wanted to enjoy the moment.  I thought about my kiddos, parents, my sister and sweet Sophie, and Tone back in Austin and hoped they were having fun.  I felt my Oma and cousin watching over me.  I was living in the moment and thankful that I was able to do what I was doing......whether it was my perfect race or not.  I thought about everyone that has supported me and encouraged me throughout this journey.......feeling very blessed and emotional throughout the marathon, but especially at the halfway point. 

I got to see Des and Kelly run by and many other pros which was cool!  I saw Moxie Mulisport peeps, Jamie Cleavland was in a great spot just when I needed the boost, Sancha and Maxine (stopped and talked to them), and heard Sanch cheering me on as I went from my walk to run going on to my 3rd loop (wanted to cry then)........the FOMO sherpas were loud as hell and it made me smile big time (thanks Becca, Denise, and Shannon). 

I see mile marker 20 and realize I have just under an hour to do 6.2 miles if I want to finish this Ironman in under 12 hours.  Oh hell yeah.....now it's ON!!!  This is where I felt incredible.  That could be b/c my ibuprofen kicked in and my hip was completely numb.  My mantra........6 miles......I can do this in my sleep.  I CAN DO THIS!  Seriously, I wonder how many times I said that during that hour.  I bet it was every other step.  I did think about how I would feel if I ended up with an Ironman finish of 12:01 and knew I would have been fine with it, but I also KNEW I could get in by 12 hours if I just went for it.  So, I pushed and pushed and didn't stop one bit from mile marker 20 until that finish line!  I ended up running 8:30 min / miles and felt awesome.  At that time I was feeling very inspired, grateful, poweful, focused, and humbled all at the same time.  I saw Matt as he was heading towards the finish line with about 2 miles to go and he just said, "Let's do this Ginko."  I just nodded.  Around the last aid station, down the waterway...no more high fives from me.....I'm on a mission.  Half a mile left and I had 5 minutes to get to the finish line under 12 hours.  Let's do this!  I couldn't wait to see that finish line and hear the cheering.  Arms up, right arm fist pump and a freaking HUGE smile on my face!  Ironman Texas done in 11:58:50!!  I will be back IMTX.....I'll be back to tear up that run course!  11th place Age Group