RACE DAY - IRONMAN CANADA -  August 26^TH 2012 – Race report & summary of my gratitude!!!

It all starts around 3am when I wake and stare at the clock because I can no longer sleep. What am about to do in a few hours, why do I think I can do this, am I ready, will I make it out of the water, will I make the cutoff? All of these things are going through my head as I just lay there… holy shit I have an Ironman today! After calming a bit, I get up, get dressed, have some coffee and off we go to the race site.  We walk outside and Mother Nature appears to be on our side, it is a PERFECT weather day and no wind – thank you God!!!

It is now 5am, I am dropping off my special needs bags, convinced I forgot something major, but it is too late now. I get body marked, go put food on my bike, pump up my tires, grab my wetsuit all along thinking to myself “you are doing WHAT in 2 hours?”

Mary, Brian and Becky are with me – THANK GOD – as my heart is racing so fast now, that talking to others was distracting me and keeping me calm (For those of you that know me well, I talk a LOT, and when scared or nervous it doubles, so you can only imagine – ha).. Out on the swim beach I start to freak, I am over prepared since I am so scared and even wore 2 pairs of goggles (yes had eyes in the back of my head) due to a fear of them breaking or leaking and having to swim 2.4 miles without them.

It is now 6:45 am and pros are off… 15 min away from the scariest swim start for me ever. 2700 people doing a mass start swim and then working out all day, are we idiots? To some this is a day to be competitive, to others it is personal and they just want to beat a previous years’ time, to some it is because they were given a 2^nd chance in some way and they feel blessed to take this challenge. To me and many others, we are Ironman virgins; it will be the FIRST TIME we ever take on an endurance event of this size! We all have different reasons for doing so, one of which is, because we CAN and we are blessed with our health to be able to do so. Thoughts of those that aren’t so lucky may also be what get some of us through the day (you know who you are)!! I get in the water and do a very short practice swim to just get adjusted and then out again to stand and look out on the lake at what I am about to begin! My heart is racing and I am still in disbelief that this is about to start.

THE CANNON GOES OFF at 7am and we are OFF… I made the decision to hold back a bit to not be in the chaos of ALL 2700 people, and say to myself, stay calm, just keep swimming and remember to breathe. After a few good punches  in the face, my leg being pulled on a few times, people who can’t site cutting me off, spotting a few scuba divers below that I just smiled and waved at and counting 31 buoys over the next 2.4 miles, I DID IT.. I am out of the water in 1:48 .. slower than normal, but over 30 min before the swim cut off and for the first time EVER stayed calm the entire way. The best part, I have a SMILE on my face & tear in my eyes. One sport down, two to go (oh and 138.2 miles – ha)

After a slow T1 due to dizziness and trouble standing (guess that happens when you have been horizontal in moving water for a while), I am now dressed for the bike and off I go to find Ronan and get on the course… The next 112 miles on my ass might I add (holy chaffing, but that is another story) were actually the most enjoyable 7+ hours I have had in a long time. The scenery was breathtaking, orchards and vineyard everywhere along the mountains and surrounding the beautiful lakes. Mary was right, this course was amazing! I clearly had a lot of time to think out there, so many things crossed through my mind… Random things from my Grandma looking down at me being proud as she was the one who always told me I could do anything, to Mary’s voice telling me to suck it up, to my beautiful goddaughter and how blessed I am to have her in my life, to the you-tube video my amazing friends made us back in Colorado, to the family of friends I have made over the past 7 years in CO, to my amazing niece & nephew back in Texas, to my sisters and brothers and how blessed I am to have them all in my life now & I am not going to lie, I was also thinking about how SORE my ass was starting to feel and how I actually was looking forward to getting off and running (WHAT? Who wants to do that) I was elated, smiling and just enjoying every minute, never once worried about my speed, simply still just wanted to take it easy and get to the end which was the ultimate goal.  The bike was coming to an end, I am close to getting off and see a few friends heading out on the run, I LOVED having friends out there with me, makes the day easier.

Are you kidding me right now, TWO sports completed & I have only 26.2 miles left (yes you read that right I have been out exercising for a little under 10 hours already and I still have a FULL MARATHON to go) and believe it or not I am STILL SMILING ….. Now off to the run…………..

Let the marathon begin, I am shocked at how good I feel and that I am so close to achieving this bucket list goal. I see so many fellow RMTC members on the run course (mind you most of them are on the 2^nd part of their run, and I am on the first ½ marathon, but I don’t care) I love it, waving, yelling their name, hugging all of them I see and then seeing Mary and yelling at her “Stay on your side” in-con-siderite” – (inside joke) (but she wasn’t feeling so good to keep up our ghetto humor)  Another great part of the run, seeing spectators that came out to support us and simply taking in the day for what it is. The volunteers and spectators out on the course are AMAZING, they truly keep us going and hope they all know what it means to us athletes for them to be there!! The run is going great, I am almost at the turnaround at mile 13 and feel amazing and it is just over 12 hours that I have been out there. They are starting to pass out glow sticks knowing the sun will set soon and I am SHOCKED at the time I am doing & how I am feeling great, but then what Mary told me begins to happen.. Expect the unexpected.. Mile 16 hits and everything changes. From mile 16 to almost 24 I am sick, nothing will stay down, I can’t eat anything, can’t drink anything and feel like daggers are being stabbed into all parts of my legs. I don’t care!!!!! I have gone all this way I am NOT giving up even if I have to walk it all the way to the finish, or hell crawl for that matter!!! Thoughts of others go through my head and how they wouldn’t give up their fight, this fight, or fighting cancer or other things life brings us.. DON’T GIVE UP TORI…. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!  I get to mile 24 and the town starts to light up, something comes over me and I start jogging again, I get to Lakeside drive and I see Kelly & Elizabeth (my friends that came to support me & I am sooooooooooooo grateful to them for being there) I can’t tell you HOW HAPPY I am to see familiar faces and also know that I am so close to achieving this goal..

Mile 25-26.2 felt like forever, it was almost like everything went quiet, I could see people cheering and smell those nasty fried donuts at the turn around (not good for a girl who has been throwing up – wish that sense would have faded too J) I see Kelly & Elizabeth again, YEAH – I know I am close, I pull out my Colorado State flag (that I had recently had signed by Crowie, Rinny & TO – 3 pro triathletes for those of you that are not aware) and I see the light… HOLY SHIT this is happening… I run into the finish chute, smiling ear to ear, flag over my head and an emotion that I can never explain to anyone...as soon as I cross the finish line, my head drops and I break into tears…

I DID IT - I AM AN IRONMAN…

I am the same girl who 8 years ago I couldn’t swim, I hadn’t been on a bike since I was a little girl and the thought of running a mile made me want to cry…………………a girl who never believed in herself.... BUT NOW...

I achieved something I never thought possible, I believe in myself in a way I never have before (the way Grandma always did), I didn’t give up and for the first time ever in my life, I was Proud of MYSELF  – I AM AN IRONMAN!!

NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT PART.. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to my fellow teammates who pushed me all season, thank you to Coach Charley and all of the other coaches in TNT over the years that pushed me, thank you to my friends who didn’t get mad at me when I didn’t go out so that I could go to bed early and get up at 430am to train, thank you to Kelly & the entire Smith family for taking me in as one of your own, thank you to the all in the medical world that got me through my injuries so I could make it to race day. Thank you to those that have touched my life that allowed me to keep going in their honor or memory! Thank you to my Grandma for looking down on me all day from above and reminding me that I could do it. And a big thank you to Mary Carey, who is the toughest person I know. She was the one that taught me how to swim 8 years ago (trust me it was UGLY), she talked me into not biking in tennis shoes and getting clip pedals and she never doubted I could one day run and not walk so much…She is not only a coach, but an true inspiration to me and best of all, an amazing friend.. I am truly blessed in life and I am still pinching myself from this surreal experience and achievement!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

 

Thursday, August 23^rd through Saturday, August 25^th

Today is the day I head to Canada to endure on the biggest event to date in my life. I go pick up Kelly and we head off to the airport to meet everyone else to head out to Spokane before our 4 ½ hour drive into Penticton, B.C in Canada. What a beautiful drive, had I known this part of NAM was so beautiful, I would have taken a road trip years ago. We arrived at our rental house and were greeted by the sweetest couple who showed us around their home & even gave us some welcome wine, they were lovely! Off to a great Greek dinner we went.... I even tasted some Peach beer… there is no lack of peaches in the area!!! 

Friday morning we went for a practice swim and then it all started to get more real, if this morning was any indication of race day, I was now even more scared. Windy, choppy and white caps in the water, I lasted 10 minutes and was sea sick feeling, oh boy 2.4 miles is going to be long if these conditions stick around. We then rode our bike around a few blocks to check the gears, etc and ensure all was good for race day (that planned 45 min ride turned into 10 minutes due to the extreme winds). We are now off to pick up packet.

In line to get my packet and I am given a silver disco  colored wristband that the volunteer asked me if I ‘loved’  it since I had spend $700 for it.. (too funny), we got that and a bag and the basics for the race, holy shit this is getting real.  I am trying my hardest not to show the anxiety I am feeling and just try to enjoy the day with friends. That evening we went to our athlete dinner (bummed our friends didn’t join in as there was a 30 min wait and they were hungry – who can blame them). The dinner was nice and we got to watch past video of IMCA and also hear a few people speak. One guy had done over 100 Ironmen in his life (is he freaking crazy – who does that and who the hell has time for that, does he not work? but still very impressed) and then a few pros and also Sister Madonna – what an inspiration this woman is. 82 years of age, the first women to ever do Ironman Canada AND she was going to do it on Sunday with us again!! Okay now seriously, I BETTER suck it up and finish and for sure  don’t get beat out by an 82 year old (although she is way more experienced than I am) Seriously what an inspiration. We also learned that Sunday will not only the 30 year anniversary of Ironman Canada, but the LAST Ironman Canada, so another reason to get my butt out there and stay strong.

Saturday morning I got up early because I couldn’t sleep, thoughts of Sunday were racing through my mind. I decided to go for a little practice jog by myself before everyone else got up to clear my head a little. What an amazing area we are staying in. I ran alongside Lake Skaha and had some deer as company, saw an old gutted hotel building and just simply enjoyed the amazing views around me, vineyards and all.  Once back and everyone was up and ready, we set off to load our bikes into transition, drop off our bags and then had a great lunch with the crew overlooking the lake, did some gambling and headed back to the house for an early night.  We all worked together to make an amazing dinner and even invited Wes over to join us (he is our amazing bike transporter from Pro Bike Express), had a lot of laughs & turned in for the big day tomorrow.  At this point I am so nervous and scared I just want to pretend to sleep for a while and pray for a good day tomorrow! For anyone that knew me when I did my first triathlon in 2004, I had to be talked off a ledge the night before, I was so scared of the open water swim and the idea of doing an Olympic distance triathlon at all. I am guessing that person is either shocked right now or laughing at my ‘thought’ of doing this… because now I am doing 4 times that and 8 years ago I didn't know how to swim, didn't own a bike and couldn't run a mile – REALLY I am now attempting an Ironman?

 

One of the best finishes to a Triathlon I have ever seen.....

The weekend of August 4th & 5th, I took a little time to cheer on one tri and volunteer at another. Saturday morning I went to meet up with Mary & Brian at the Boulder Res where we normally do our races, but today was a day for the kids. Poor Madeline was sick and had to as she told me 'sit this one out' (precious), I mean it would have been year three for her, so she was good!!!  However, her little sister who she trained so well, stayed strong and did her first ever triathlon alone just 7 days before turning 3 - (yes 3 & age on the calf was the proof - ha). I could not be more proud to be Amelia's godmother and see her doing this event. I think the pics speak for themselves. Amelia has officially joined her big sister and is an IronKid 2012 :-)

Sunday I then spent the day out cheering on those doing the half ironman and boy o boy will I say thank you 10x's more than I already do to those volunteers on the course when race!! It was a hot day and those athletes did not give up. I handed out that water as quick as I could and enjoyed every minimute of being on the other side helping others!!

Don't worry I didn't bail on training ALL weekend - Mary and I did manage to get a 60+ mile ride in after Amelia finished her triathlon... so still trucking along for the big day!!!

Well…. It has been 6 weeks and each week I thought about updating this, but was either too tired or out training and so here I am finally back…….

Last time I was on here I was about to celebrate a birthday and June was about to come to an end – I had a fun time out to dinner with friends and then woke up a year older, likely with another wrinkle and more grey hair, but young enough to take on the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon in Colorado as a training day that morning when I woke up (oh boy have times changed when this is now a training day)

Had a great day in Loveland – ran a better pace on my run than normal and finished overall in 02:48:56, I will never be the best, but when I get better than ‘myself’ from the day before, I am happy!!! There are days I am still shocked that at 30 years old (a long time ago.. haha) I could barely swim (okay I sucked let’s be real) and didn’t run a mile without some level of pain or whining. Today I am only proving to myself that you don’t have to be 20 or even very in shape to do this, you just have to put your mind to it and believe in yourself. There are still days I need to keep my mind in check, but it IS DOABLE!!

JULY 2012  -  A new month – one of chaffing & a new found love of Aquaphor!!

Well July was a trying month – did my longest training days ever in my life.. had several weekends of 6-7 hour work out days and LOTS of chaffing, which normally you don’t even know until you get into the shower, the water hits it & you scream like a baby!! I also managed to keep my butt on a bike for 100.16 miles one day too (oh yes I counted that .16 – ha). This was something that I have never done (came VERY close a few years ago and only once, but this one took the cake)… yes my ass hurt big time when done and I preferred standing, however that was even a challenge with my sore legs, but NO CHAFFING – thank you Aquaphor!!! One week in July I did almost 18 hours of training and with work and life that week I thought ‘what the hell did I sign up for’ – but I kept moving forward, which is what I also hope to do on race day – NEVER GIVE UP was in my mind and HTFU (let’s be real) and thoughts of those I admire most that aren’t healthy enough to get out there with me and therefore I am blessed to do in their honor!!

On July 29^th (the day after I rode that 100 miles) I went with friends and teammates and did the Rocky Mountain Triathlon in Silverthorne. Swimming at 9000ft. elevation was definitely an eye opener…I couldn’t breathe and boy was I slow, got through the bike, not so fast, legs were tired from the day before, but then on the run, I was SHOCKED.. had my fastest run to date and did it at altitude, I thank the cooler temps for sure!! Fun weekend but exhausting!!!!

The entire month of July proved to be trying and I wondered a lot of times if I could do this, but I am still here & sharing this with you and hope to make everyone proud in 22 days when I make it through the hardest day of my life both physically & mentally!!!

OH WAIT --- before I leave July - I met Craig Alexander (IronMan WORLD Champion) AND won a new pair of Newtons from him that night (well he said my name & hearing it with that accent was a great win in itself)

RACE MONTH HAS ARRIVED – HOLY SHIT J

11 months ago I registered for IronMan Canada, which will take place on August 26^th 2012 – I paced for an hour before hitting submit on my computer, I might have gotten sick and my nerves were shot and that was simply registering. I have had my struggles over the 11 months with life, school, work, traveling internationally which interfered with training and simply believing in myself. There were days I wanted to just give up, but I didn’t. June was truly the FIRST full month of training (due to so much work travel) where the IM was the focus and if I didn’t have a coach who was also one of my greatest friends & believes in me & support of others, I may have walked away thinking that wasn’t enough! Well here I am, so close and about to start tapering until race day. So I am as ready as I am going to be.

I may not be fast, I may not be the visual athlete people may think, but if I believe in myself and keep moving forward, I am DETERMINED to get to that finish line before midnight (which is the 17 hour cutoff) – Keep your fingers & toes crossed and positive thoughts that day!!!! I have decided not to give myself a time and be disappointed if I don’t hit it. This is huge to even attempt for me, and if I can swim the 2.4 miles that morning, follow it with 112 miles on the bike and then jump off and run a full marathon, all I care about is crossing the finish line and not giving up without any pressure of time.. as long as I actually get a time (which means being done by midnight)

Tomorrow I will take a short mental break & go watch my precious goddaughter and her amazing sister compete in IronKids in Boulder, CO in the 3-5year old age group.. ADORABLE.. I am going to make them signs and go support them – I can’t wait!!!!

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS………………(okay who the hell am I kidding it started in August of last year) but now reality hit me and this shit is getting close J

It’s my Birthday……

Today I wake up to messages from friends and family wishing me a wonderful birthday – what a blessed person I am!!  VERY BLESSED as I also wake up to hearing about a friends dad being home with hospice now and his daughters by his side, knowing he will soon be in a better place with his wife. So hard to see others lose both parents at such a young age to such an evil thing like cancer.  A hard day indeed for them I am sure, and makes me realize how blessed I am to have made it through another year with good health that I should never forget I have! Another friend (who I have written about a lot in this blog) Doug, had been released to go home after his recent transplant, but this morning was re-admitted into the hospital with pneumonia and low BP. My prayers & thoughts are with both families today! CANCER SUCKS!!!! Stay strong all of you!!

Later today, I will head out with Mary Carey to Loveland to get ready to race in the Lake2Lake Triathlon tomorrow – a training day for us in preparation for our BIG race in August.. Yet again the race is being changed. Two races in 3 weeks, crazy! They have shortened the bike due to the fires here in CO, yet another thing to put life in perspective, people have lost their homes and everything, but this is such a supportive state that hardly anyone is in the shelters as friends/families and strangers are taking people and pets in.. I LOVE IT…

Hoping to have a nice dinner with friends tonight and then work hard to get through the race tomorrow … more to come after we finish… and after I celebrate my birthday a bit with friends tomorrow night… more to come…

65 DAYS TO THE BIGGEST MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CHALLENGE OF MY LIFE!!!

Road Trip & Boise 70.3 Weekend – June 9^th

My road trip began with a 9 hour drive into Salt Lake City where I decided to stay the night before continuing on to Boise. This was my first time ever to take a road trip alone for no reason other than to do it. I was really bored in the beginning, but then decided to download some books on my iPod and plug into the car and boy did time start going fast. I LOVED it..

On June 7^th I arrived in Boise and was so excited to see the Emmons J 4 days of nothing but laughs, smiling and great times with Marissa, Marcus, Molly, Micah and the kiddos!! I even got the blessing of seeing Little Cameron (well not so little anymore) and Brian …. Odd that sometimes relationships in life don’t work out, but I truly am blessed that Tim brought all of these amazing people into my life & I am very grateful for that. We had shopping time, wine festival and great moments just hanging out all weekend.. Love my Boise peeps!!

RACE DAY – Well….today was a day of realization that sometimes things don’t go as planned, but you have to just go with the flow as it is what it is!!  Woke up early to temps in the 40’s and raining outside. I prepared my transition bags, got my nutrition together and mentally started to get prepared to race in the cold rain, which really I was okay with if it was just light rain as I am not a fan of the heat.

Marissa had stayed up late the night before to make a beautiful sign for her, Ethan & Marcus to have along the course to support me. I have never had something so fancy just for me at a triathlon and made me feel so supported & special. Love them!! Marissa and I headed out, dropped off my ‘run bag’ at T2 and then up to the canyon area where the race start and T1 were at. As we were driving up there, the temperature gage in the car was dropping and dropping and the weather was taking a turn for the worse. We got to the top and it was raining hard/sleeting and windy. We later found out the wind chill up there was 35 degrees.. BURRRR. I was dropped off, went out in the rain and set up my bike and T1 area. I was getting colder and colder over the next 2 hours and I was NOT dressed for this… who would have known in June that it would be winter weather.

 

About an hour before race start (well my wave start) and 2 hours after I had arrived, they announced due to extreme weather that the bike course would now be only 12 miles instead of 56 as they were concerned with wrecks on the bike and hypothermia and didn’t want to take any risks for the safety of the athletes!! A lot of people at this point grabbed their bikes and decided against racing as no longer a ½ IM and also not worth getting sick. I continued to shiver and hang out in a wetsuit – hot look – and never in my life wanted to hang out in a porta-potty as it was warmer and dry in there J

Finally at the start, heading to the water, I lost my shoe.. someone came up behind me and said, “Ma’am you lost your shoe” – me looking around was like ‘really, I had no idea’ – he did not like this answer (I later realized he was an official race medic) as I had just run over gravel and didn’t know as I couldn’t feel my feet or my body for that matter. About 15 min later my lips turned blue, I stopped shaking, my fingers were so swollen that I couldn’t bend them and guess I looked like a ghost. Needless to say I was pulled for going into hypothermia and did not get to race that day.

For those of you that know me well, I am stubborn and was not happy about this as not only did I pay for this, but I knew of others suffering in a hospital with cancer and I was determined to do this in their honor, but it was just not my day! After getting over it (took a while and some tears) I warmed up, got better, watched pros and others ride their bikes in wetsuits (which I have never seen) as it was so cold and then headed down in a shuttle to the finish and get my run stuff and head back to my friends house. By the way I had no phone, no way to reach anyone and they were out waiting on me on the course.. Amazing how much technology is what we depend on and I had no way to communicate.. Luckily it all worked out and I wasn’t stranded!!  I ended up doing a little run and felt a bit better later that night!

Time to leave Boise and decided to take a different route, this time through Jackson Hole. I went to Grand Teton National Park for the first time ever… WOW is all I can say – breathtaking!! I decided to stay the night there and the next morning got up and did a long bike ride through Grand Teton.. Breathtaking and so glad I made that choice before driving the rest of the way home… 26 hours in a car alone and riding through beauty like I did gives a lot of personal clarity. I have to say I loved it and feel a lot better about a lot of things since this road trip!!! I am blessed with some amazing friends in my life and health that I shouldn’t ever take for granted…

Now………….. time to get my butt into some MAJOR training and forget about this set back and move on to the big day in August!!