Lose 5 lbs In 8 Hours! -- Ironman 70.3 Results

The Boise Ironman 70.3 is now over and I'm sure you are dying to know how it went. Here is the list of events and thoughts that were running through my head...

7:00 am - I woke up but tried so hard to go back to sleep. Alas, I was too nervous to go back to sleep so got up and went to the bathroom for the 1st of 15 times. Yes, FIFTEEN times I peed before the event (I will refer to the Ironman as "event" instead of "race" because lets be honest, I wasn't racing to win but I was in it to finish).

I tried to eat but was so nervous that food was repulsive and I could only force myself to drink a fruit/veggie shake and eat a Powerbar.

11:00 - Tom and Morgan took me downtown to drop off my run transition bag at T-2 where the competitors finish the bike part and start the run. Then we drove to Lucky Peak where the event start was. We had to park at Sandy Point and walk about a half a mile up a graveled road to get to the start. I had my bike so my big, strong husband lugged it most of the way so it didn't run over any metal shards or goat heads and make the tire go flat.

I put my bike in T-1 (the swim to bike transition area) and walked with my family to view the swim course. It didn't look too bad and at that time there wasn't any wind and the temperature was nice. I thought it would be a great day for an Ironman.

I said goodbye to my husband and baby and told them I love them in case I died before I saw them again and they left. Then I found Jobecka and a couple of girls that she trained with. We started talking about our training and I realized that I probably could be better prepared physically since I hadn't gone swimming more than 2 times in 2 months. Like that mattered now, right. Basically I assumed that I would finish at least an hour after them but really I just wanted to finish before the time ran out.

1:00 - We all got in our heats and in line to start the race at 2:00 for the pros. We were in heat 10, I think it was the third to last heat and it was set to start at 2:33 pm.

2:00 - I lubed up my arms, legs and neck with petroleum jelly so the wetsuit would come on and off easily (relatively speaking) and not leave hickeys on my neck. I decided to swim in my bra and underwear so I could just throw on my clothes over them when the swim was over but I didn't think about changing out of my morning clothes into the wetsuit in front of thousands of people. There I was standing in my bikini brief whitie-tighties thinking, "I sure hope none of the 7 men from my ward that are doing this or their families can see me now."

2:30 - My heat was herded like cattle into the 60 degree water (a welcome temperature after standing in our wetsuits for so long in the heat) and at 2:33 we started the swim on time.

The Swim: The breast stroke counts, right? When I started swimming and getting kicked and not being able to breathe doing the front crawl I decided that it would be best to do 10 counts of the front crawl then do the breast stroke until I was ready again. I don't know if it's just me but it takes me about 1/3 of the swim to be able to catch my breath. Unfortunately at the 1/3 mark we turned a different direction and then the waves were the challenge. By then there were men from the next 2 heats passing and kicking me. I would get into the front crawl only to have a wave hit me when I was breathing so I'd get a lung full of water.

At the 2/3 mark I had to keep telling myself that I could do it. I'd done that length the week before at the same place and it wasn't bad. There was a girl next to me and we talked a little to each other (yeah, who talks during a swim?).

Finally I finished the swim! My time was 55:51 -- not as good as I'd secretly hoped but I was finished and I'd take it.

3:30 - I was being loaded with sunscreen by a volunteer and taking off my wet suit. I threw on my clothes and shoes and ran my bike to the exit. T-1 took 6:36.

The bike portion began going down a steep hill and I knew it was going to be a hard ride when I realized that the wind was now blowing so hard that I had to peddle to go down this steep hill when normally I would have to coast because I can't peddle that fast. I was right.

The first 25 miles was all fighting with the beastly wind. It was either a brutal headwind or blowing so hard on my side that it was a struggle to keep the bike upright some of the time. I was on mile 7 of the bike ride when the first pro man passed me going the other way. He was about 42 miles into it. By then I was still positive but by about mile 25 with the horrible wind I was saying my share of profanities to the wind (don't judge me -- you don't know how you'd deal with this situation until you're there). Then I'd say a prayer for help. I bet He loved that. My first prayer was that the wind would stop. When that didn't happen I started to pray for the strength to make it through. Finally I reached the turn around point that was not quite half way.

The next 5 miles were great because I had the tailwind pushing me. Then it was time for the hill and sharp left hand turn and the side wind again but I pushed my way through and started passing people. For the next 20 miles I passed quite a few people and that gave me more determination. At about mile 50 I passed one of the girls that I thought would beat me by an hour and that's when my competitive spirit kicked in. The "event" became a "race" because I was determined to beat her.

7:30-ish - After 4:01:13 I finally arrived at T-2. Tom, Morgan, Mari, Lenny, Meg and Tanner were there to greet me. It was so good to see their faces after that grueling bike ride. My T-2 time was 3:19.

Unfortunately I had a side ache during the end of the bike ride so I was concerned for the run. Running with side aches really stinks. In fact, it's hard for me to run at all with a side ache. That's basically what happened too. I had to walk quite a bit of the first 5 miles because this side ache turned into 4 side aches (2 upper, 2 lower) and wouldn't go away. By then I went from praying that if the side aches would go away I'd be so dedicated to my calling at church (negotiation with God) to "please help me to run through the pain."

It was almost mile 6 and I turned around (as the path took us). A couple of minutes later I saw Jobecka coming the other way. I was sure that this was her second lap and that she was almost finished. I was a little bummed because I had at least another hour to go.

When I got to the 2nd lap start (which was right by the finish line - something that they shouldn't do to the competitors) I passed Jobecka going to the finish line (or so I thought). Then she said to me "I'm going to catch up to you." That's when I realised that I was ahead of her! My first thought was, "okay, don't let her pass you," and I got my competitive kick again. My side aches weren't gone but I was able to run most of the second lap or last 6.55 miles at a pretty steady pace. By then it was dark though and there weren't a lot of contestants left on the running path. When I got just past the turn around point with about 2 miles to go, I passed Jobecka going the other way, still behind me. She said, "I'm still trying to catch you." I told her that I'd walk but she couldn't pass me (I really was having a hard time by then and I so needed to walk). I started walking with about a mile to go and a couple of minutes later Jobecka caught me. Now, as tired and exhausted as I was, I was not going to come in after her. She was going strong on the run and I kicked it in gear and ran with her. We were pretty much sprinting (what our bodies could do) that last 1/2 mile and we crossed the finish line at the exact same time. Okay, the whole time we were also saying how crappy it was and that we'd never do it again.

My run took 2:23:34 and my overall time was 7:30:33. I finished!!! A half Ironman!!! I'll never do it again but I finished!

Tom, Angela and her husband, Kim were at the finish line cheering me on. It was so good to see them and be done with being nervous and physically challenging my body.