A Half IronWoman…

There is nothing in the world that can prepare you for the sight of Wildflower.

We arrived two days before the race to relax, get set up, go for a swim, pick up our race packets and have some fun!  First of all, we camp for those of you who don’t know that.  And for those of you who don’t know me, that adds a WHOLE new level of stress to my world.  I don’t camp. But, after we went up for training weekend I knew what to expect, and what not to, so at least I wasn’t coming in blind.  We were packed in like sardines, but it was great- it all contributed to the convivial feeling of the weekend… but onto the important stuff. The race.

The day before the race we grabbed our wetsuits and went down to the Boat Ramp where we were allowed to get into the water at the swim start.   I almost tossed my cookies at the sight of it.  That and the sight of the time clock counting down the final minutes until the race.   Until I actually got into the water, I really thought I was going to be sick.  But we got in, I felt the coolness of the water, and we swam out to the first buoy and I felt really good.  With the entire team around me, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

After our short swim, we went and got our race packets, wandered around the expo and went back to our campsite to hang out and make final preparations.  I foolishly made the rookie mistake of making an adjustment to my seat, so I had to have our in camp bike mechanic help me out and adjust it a bit.  That done, I was ready to go… and wait for morning when we would get up and head down for the big day.

The energy in the air the next morning was electric and terrifying all at once. We got down there early and because my wave start wasn’t until 9:20 am (yes, that is correct- the first wave started at 8am…)  USAT rules say that you start in the age group of the age you are as of December 31st.  That meant for me, an entirely new age group and 5 minutes less time on the course.  Great.  One more thing to worry about.  As a result of this,  I had lots of time to kill and be super nervous.  I saw off some of the other people on my team and then it was time to get ready.  Putting on my wetsuit was surreal. It felt too tight, I couldn’t breathe, I was already hot and I wasn’t confident that I was going to meet my time cut offs.  I got to see my fiancee come out of the water- that is how long after his start I had- I got really emotional when I saw him…  Finally, it was my turn. My wave was finally able to get in the water and I was so nervous I didn’t know how long to paddle out or when I should turn around. I prepared myself at the start and kept saying to myself “just breathe, just breathe.” The horn sounded, and we were off. As it turned out, being in the age group that I was in (35-40) was the best thing in the world to start my day.  There were a fraction of the amount of people and these ladies were calm – no climbing over one another, kicking and hurried frenzy that I experienced at Desert Tri.  I kept waiting for that nervousness and panic to set in but I found my rhythm right away and kept pace the whole time. Wow- kept telling myself not to think about it lest I start panicking- what an amazing way to start the day. The ladies in the 35-40 age wave seemed to carry me all the way around the turn, then I looked to my right and saw Ali, my teammate, right by my side. I wondered if she took as much comfort in that as I did.

Coming out of the water I was dizzy but that quickly subsided as I scrambled to pull my wetsuit off and hose my body down with sunscreen. I have to work on my transition times that is for sure- my hand kept slipping on the sunscreen bottle and I wanted to be sure that I got my back- some of the burns my teammates had received through the season were nasty! Off on the bike I wondered how my teammates were faring. I faced Beach Hill and saw several of my fellow teammates on Beach Hill- and hoped to give them encouragement.  Although one of them was stopped on the side throwing up and another said already that she was having a hard time.  I knew I had to keep pushing up though- on race day it is every man (or woman) for themselves.  My legs felt heavy and tired, but I knew as soon as I could get out of the park then I would be in good shape. One of the speedo clad teen aged boys yelled that I was hot at one of the first aid stations- I can’t tell you what a boost that was, as I sailed by with a big “35” on my calf.

I met up with four other of my teammates as we traveled along and we leap frogged for a while then gradually separated. I had already planned my rest stops out based on training weekend, thank you very much, so mentally I was easily prepared for each stage so to speak. Mile 26 was my first stop, then it was cruise time until the metal bridge for stop 2 to gear up for “The Grade.” For those who are not familiar with Wildflower it is termed “Nasty Grade” for a reason.  A 1400 foot elevation gain over 2 miles- basically straight up.  Only now do I realize I should have taken a salt pill when I stopped. It probably would have made all of the difference in the world for the end of my race. But I did a quick time check and knew I had to get back on the bike quickly. (I had to be off the bike by 2:45pm.  I got to the grade after 2 hours and 50 minutes and knew I was making good time. Thankfully there were people handing out water bottles at the beginning – perfect for dumping on my head. I felt energized and ready to tackle the hardest part. Another teammate was in my head singing “Never gonna break my stride, never gonna slow me down, oh no! I got to keep on movin’!”I was almost there, it was hot, but I started talking to another gal and told her for her as much as myself “you got this!” “You can do this!” “Come on!” “That’s it!” And we pushed to the top. “Nasty Grade has nothing on me yeah!”

But wait, where was the aid station that was supposed to be at the top? Damn, stop 3 plan was disrupted. Where was the next station? Even though you have gone up the hardest hill on the course, you still have several climbs ahead of you from mile 43-56.  I started to get really nervous, I started to get the chills and my stomach started to turn over. F**K! Not now, not now! Get to the next station and switch to water quick. Got there, got cold water, dumped that on my head, got another bottle for my bike to take with me and the nice guy there had chips for me to try and choke down. I needed salt, and I forgot I had the salt pill in my bag. Lesson learned: TAKE THE DAMN SALT PILL NEXT TIME! Somehow I pushed through to the bike finish- coming at the top of Lynch Hill and seeing my Coach and assorted other IronTeam supporters gave me a great surge- it can get really lonely out there.

Time check- off the bike at 2:08pm.  You did it- you made the bike cut off in plenty of time. Back in transition, it was all about getting some glide on my feet, shoes check, visor check, race belt check. Got out of transition and to the stairs when I realized I had forgotten to take my bike gloves off! Oops. No turning back now, but still worried about how I was going to fare on this run.   Started running- uh, yeah that wasn’t going to happen. I was disappointed to say the least because running is my first love and as a sub-2 hour half marathoner, I wanted desperately to put in a good performance.  So, I walked a bit more- get to the next aid station get some water- thankfully they had some pretzels. More water, more salt. Ok, feeling better. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, walk walk walk. Just keep getting to each aid station and you will be ok.  When do I realistically throw in the towel?  Stop thinking like that! Then I heard my name, “Erin!” I turn around and it was another teammate. I looked at her and said “We are in this together now!”  I was immediately renewed, even though I still had a big lump in my stomach that threatened to come up every time I started to try and run.

It was a walk/run interval until I pushed enough fluid to feel normal again. I was delirious and dizzy at times, but my teammate kept me going. We said we would walk the whole thing if we had to.About mile 7 I finally had to go to the bathroom- yeay- although a Gu or anything of the sort was NOT going to happen.  I have never run a Half marathon on nothing but water and pretzels, but I guess I learned it can be done.   Then this fantastic woman heard me asking about salt, and gave me a salt pill- it changed my world. We somehow kept our Walk/ Run thing going through to the end. We started the down Lynch Hill into the finish.  We were both emotional and choked up and  if I had been able to cry, I would have, but since I was dehydrated, that was never going to happen.  I saw the turn into the chute and somewhere out of nowhere, my legs started to turn over faster and all of the sudden all of the pain was gone, the frustration was gone and that finish line was the best sight EVER! I saw the team and realized how lonely it would be to do this on my own and I was so thankful to be a part of something so amazing.  Our whole IronTeam waited at the finish line for everyone to come in- even those who didn’t make the time cut offs.  It was simply incredible and as I did my happy dance at the finish and then lept into my fiancee’s arms, I felt like such a sense of …. well, that I am a total BAD ASS!  Yeah, that is right, I felt like a rock star!

Heading to the Fluid Recovery tent to get I said I never needed to do that again, but now, today, I find myself talking about next year-  what?!!! Next year?  Jesus.  What do our coaches put in the sports drinks? It is like crack!  Now, a week later I have dreams of shaving just a little time off the run for sure…. maybe a new PR? In case you are wondering, my times were as follows:  44:28 for the swim, 4:11:56 for the bike and 2:48:39 for the run for a total of 7:57:49.  Wildflower, you will see me again.

What is next? possibly Barb’s Race, another Half on July 31st, but I do also have a wedding to plan… stay tuned.