70.3

So last Sunday was it…race day, the big one.  I have spent months preparing for this one event, this 1/2 ironman.  My hope during the entire season was that the training plan I had so haphazardly chosen last fall would allow me to finish, unhurt, all intact and maybe even want to do it all again once the challenge was complete. 

The entire weekend was filled with races.  First, CT and a couple buddies got to try their hands at doing a triathlon.  I had to pick up all my race information at the race site and they just so happen to make a day out of it for the kids.  Talk about amazing, these kids (ages 3-12) had to keep it all together through three different sporting events without parental help (ok the three year olds got help).  Once over the finish line all CT talked about was doing his NEXT race. I hope we haven’t created a monster.

So the race…I was nervous.  Very nervous.  Jen decided spontaneously Saturday night to sign up for the sprint distance race, she got in, which meant she drove with me to the race at 5:00 am.  There’s nothing better than having a friend by your side when you’re that nervous.  Thanks Jen.

It was a beautiful morning standing on the edge of the lake waiting for the gun to go off.  The swim portion was almost uneventful.  I finished in 36 minutes, which wasn’t earth shattering but kept plenty of reserve in the tank for everything else.

The bike was next, 56 miles of road ahead of me.  My hope was I could finish it in 3 hours.  Do you know what goes through a persons mind, alone at 20 mph, on hot corn field roads for that amount of time?  Well let me tell you, a lot. 

The day before I had stopped to buy CT some Yanks for his shoes for the race (we haven’t mastered tying yet) and while I was at the running store I started talking to the manager about my race and my race nutrition.  This woman imparted so much information to me that I took it all, devoured it and worked in into the race plan.  And then hoped to God it was going to work. 

She had me eating or drinking something every 15 minutes and at the top of the hour it just started all over again.  This made the time pass and every time I ingested something I thought of this woman and how lucky I was I bumped into her just yesterday.  Thanks Ann.

About every seven miles I would suddenly burst into tears, happy tears, tears of thankfulness for my health, my family, my friends, my life, tears that I’m lucky enough to be able to even do try to attempt this feat.  And as the tears would come I would suddenly think of my friend Nathan.  Nathan does this thing where he tells a story and at the end of it he takes his hands and in a very effeminate fashion waves them (at the wrist) up and down by his eyes like a delicate china doll fan and says, “And then I wept.”  So every time I started to cry, at the same moment, I would think of that and start to laugh.  Thanks Nathan.

Hour three of the race got tough.  The negative thoughts started coming in.  I started thinking of Adam, the three kids, my parents and his dad all driving down in the same car.  What if they all got killed?  Would they call me off the course?  I had to shake that off as fast as it came. 

I was still on my bike and I was feeling tired.  The heat was setting in.  I knew I could beat 3 hours if I just kept plugging along. As I pulled up to the transition area my computer read 2 hours and 50 minutes, I was very pleased.  Not only with my time but to see my family (alive) waiting there and cheering me on.

My bike was situated right on the outer edge so I could talk with them while I changed into my running shoes, slapped on some sun screen and  grabbed my shot blocks.  I handed PJ my cherry lip balm, in case I never returned, and then took off. 

The thought of a 13.1 mile run was daunting; I was feeling “it”.  The first two miles of the run consisted of severe leg cramps.  I had to just plod along, I stopped several times to massage my legs.  I tried to stretch but when I did my legs would just seize up. 

People were flying past me.  I had to find it in my head to be “ok” with that.  At this point, it needed to not matter that people were passing me.  I needed to will the cramps in my legs to go away, they had to go away.

There were moments were I would tell myself, “Just run to the next cone, then you can walk”.  This went on until mile six when I saw them, I needed to see them, hear them, stop and talk with them, tell them it was so hard and so hot.  I’m not sure I could have made it without them there.  Thank you Adam, CT, PJ, KP, mom, dad, Jen, Erika, Peter & Papa.  They gave me the strength to keep going.  

I walked through all the remaining water stops to take in as much water and Gatorade as I could and then moved on.  In my mind I kept signing that little ditty, “put on foot in front of the other” over and over and over. 

I finally got to mile 11.  Just two miles left.  And then, as Nathan says, I wept.  Right then and there I realized I could do it, I was really going to finish.  It was real, two miles away was the finish line.

I rounded the park where I just yesterday saw CT run through the finish line, I saw PJ and Papa buy the swings, CT right by the path and my family and friends on the hill yelling for me and cheering me on.  Thanks Erik and Aimee for being there too.

As I ran through the balloon arched finish line with a time of 5 hours and 45 seconds, there was no way I was going to do that race again.  Once was defiantly enough.  I hugged Adam and started to cry, so happy to have completed the journey and even more happy to be done.

As I stood in line to get a massage after the race, Jen walked over with my race results, I took fourth in my age group and 31st out of all the woman. 

Oh, now wait one minute…that changes everything.  See ya next year!

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