Thursday, October 13, 2011

Ford Ironman World Championship Race Report

I woke up at 4:00 AM ready to race! There was so much hype leading up to the race the past week I was ready to get on with it. I ate my usual pre-race breakfast, oatmeal and banana and had some pedia-light which I absolutely swear by! I put on my race uniform and drove down to the race start. There were an overwhelming number of athletes arriving at transition simultaneously. We were herded like cattle through a chute for body marking. Here is where you say goodbye to your loved ones and continue alone. After getting your number stamped with a template on both arms (1928 the year before the great depression) I was directed to get weighed in. The last time I weighed in for a sporting event was back in High School when I was the only freshman and the first ever female wrestler for Holy Family High School. The reason why they weigh you for Ironman is to determine if you need medical assistance immediately during or after the race if you lose too much weight. Finally, they take you into the transition area where you can do last minute preparations on your bike and gear before the race starts. I did my normal pre-race checklist and was super excited to start my race. I left the transition area with a great feeling that today was going to be my perfect race day!

I got to see my mother, father and boyfriend, the best support crew anyone could ask for, one last time before officially heading to the race start. The pro men and women started 30 minutes before the age groupers and then it was our turn. There was over 1800 age group competitors and I knew if I wanted to get a good start position on the swim I would have to tread water for a few minutes, 20 minutes to be exact. I entered the water and swam straight to the start line. I positioned myself front row center. 20 minutes of treading water feels like forever when you are preparing for the biggest race of your life so far. The man next to me had done 8 Kona Ironman races and said we were in the best starting spot. Race officials paddled back and forth on surf boards to make sure everyone stayed behind the starting line. It wasn’t bad at first but the last three minutes before the start cannon everyone wanted to be on the front row and it turned into a mash pit in the water, everyone was kicking and pushing each other for position, it was out of control. Finally, the starting cannon erupted and we were off. I have never in my life felt like I was swimming so hard and not moving an inch. Every stroke seemed like I could only feel bodies and no water. You had to swim with your head above water for the first minute otherwise you were getting pummeled in the head by arms and legs. I don’t remember getting this beaten up even back in the day during my wrestling matches. It slowly started to spread out but I swam in a group the entire duration of the swim, 2.4 miles. Right before the turn around buoy a gentlemen clocked me on the bridge of my nose; it was extremely painful and created an instant headache which lasted for the duration of the race. Once I could see the dock to exit the water I was super excited, please God get me out of this water and onto my bike! The swim took me 1:13:17, 4 minutes longer then Ironman St. George. Currents in the ocean were definitely a factor. I was disappointed with myself but so happy to get on the bike, my favorite part of the race.

Once you exited the ocean by running up stairs that were installed just for the race you ran through transition. The first section had about 20 hoses hanging from the tent canopy to allow participants to rinse off the sand and salt water. I bypassed this opportunity and headed directly to the women’s changing tent. For Ironman races they have gender specific changing tents where you change before the next element of the race. Here I slipped off my 2XU speed suit, which is fantastic if you are looking for a good speed suit. I pulled on my compression sleeves for my legs and placed on my socks and biking shoes. I had a volunteer who at the same time was putting on my racing belt. She was super sweet and collected my goggles, cap and speedsuit and placed them in my bike gear bag as I was running out of the tent to collect my bike. I had several people screaming my name, “Go Danielle” all the way through transition. Once I reached my bike I tossed on my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed my bike off the rack and raced out of transition which took me a total time of 3:07.

There is a designated bike mount in every triathlon where you cannot get on your bike before this line. There were about six people mounting their bikes at the same time. You have the option to mount the bike with your shoes already clipped on your bike or to wear your shoes and run through transition with your bike. I chose the second option, I already had my shoes on and mounted the bike with no problems until another competitor was trying to put his feet into his shoes already attached to his pedals, the first option, and wasn’t paying attention to where he was going. Before I knew it I was being edged into the fence line by another racer. Since I was in race mood I was pretty upset and informed him he needed to pay attention in a very stern voice. I felt bad about this a few second later, but, no time to worry about the past, it’s time to race!

The bike course is a 112 miles of grueling, hot, humid riding. The first ten miles takes you through town and you feel like you just entered the Tour De France with the cheering crowds that pave Kuakini Highway. Here I saw my phenomenal cheering squad twice and they let me know I was in 14th place in my age group out of the water and I would have to ride incredibly hard to catch the leaders. After seeing them I was headed to the Queens Ka’ahumanu Highway which is the majority of the bike leg about 90% leading you through the Lava fields to the small village of Hawi. The majority of outward journey is slightly uphill to Hawi the last seven miles of the ride being much more of a climb into the tiny town of Hawi, pronounced(Havi), this is the turnaround point on the bike where you head back down into Kona. The first 80 miles on the bike went fantastic, I was making up significant amounts of time on all the women in my age group and things were looking great. Then it hit me! I could feel a stabbing sensation in my abdominal region and knew it was going to make for a long marathon. It was as if someone let all the air out of my tires, I instantly started to slow down due to the cramping. I was getting really gassy and the pain started to move towards my chest cavity. Ouch! Instantly my thinking changed from could I win this race to will I be able to finish! I weighed the pros and cons in my head to continue or not. Will I harm my health by finishing, I could not know for sure but I determined to finish as long as I could still move. I thought of the entire LifeQuest community and wounded soldiers back home that I was racing for and I wasn’t going to let them down for anything. They are going to have to drag me off this race course before I give up! Each minute I felt more awful yet my will to finish strengthened! I had three race competitors ride beside me and say, are you OK? You’re losing so much salt that your biking shorts are no longer black they are white. You need sodium tablets immediately. Great, what am I going to do I don’t have any with me. This was the biggest learning lesson of the day. Don’t do an Ironman without Sodium Tablets!!! I was getting closer to the bike transition and my family informed me I was now in third place in my age group. I finished the bike split in 5:32:13. Wow, so close to having a fantastic race and now I have a marathon to run and I know I will have “the runs” in no time, this should be interesting!!!

At transition bike catchers stand at the bike dismount line to receive your bike when you come into transition. Once you hand them your bike you race through transition saying your race number so that the volunteers can retrieve your running gear bag for you before you reach the changing tents again. Here I changed into running shorts, put on a running hat and my running shoes. Quickly, I was out the tent and out onto the run course this transition took me 3:39.

The first two miles were surprisingly strong and I thought to myself, oh this is great maybe I will be ok… On your race number is your name so the crowds can cheer you on, and boy did they. “Danielle you are looking great keep it up” or “Wow, Danielle you look so strong.” Heck yes, I look strong I was saying in my head but my stomach rumbled a different tune. By mile seven my stomach overwhelmed my mind and I headed to the nearest porta-potty where I spent what seemed like eternity!!! By the time I exited I was shaking and the cheering drastically changed to “Girl, you can get through this, hang in there!” Fantastic, the crowd even knows I am dying inside! What was worse was I left transition before reapplying sunscreen to my shoulders because I was in such a hurry. Now I could feel my skin boiling to add an additional element to the fun! I had another 20 miles to go down the hottest part of the run course. I was back on the Queens Ka’ahumanu Highway running to the energy lab, where electricity is produced from the heat in the ground because it is so naturally hot, this is where the run course turnaround is located. The run course includes four miles inside the lab facility and this is where most people absolutely hit the wall, finally only seven miles back into town to the finish! During St. George I was feeling so great on the run that I needed to walk for only about 2 minutes the entire race. I was able to complete my first marathon ever in 3:46. The St. George Course was one thousand percent hillier than Kona. Today however, I had to walk at almost every aid station located one mile apart throughout the run to bring my stomach halfway under control. In the energy lab, I had to take yet another pit stop in the porta-potty, more wasted time! Upon leaving the energy lab I recognized I was on the home stretch. I looked at my watch and calculated I was getting close to finishing over 11 hours; this thought was unconceivable to me. No way am I going to have 11 in my time. It took everything I had to force myself to jog/run the last five miles. My stomach was doing flips and again the soldiers I was racing for popped into my head. I know I was in pain but nothing like a lot of these young men and women had been through. Then it was as if God was reading my mind and I saw on the other side of the road still making his outward journey toward the energy lab was a gentlemen with two prosthetic legs, running! Wow, if he can run after swimming and biking then I can too. I was able to make it back into town where the cheering was so inspirational and uplifting. I could hear the voices of my parents, boyfriend so clear through the crowds. Andy from Wheat Ridge Cyclery was at the head of a funnel of people you had to run though to get to the finish line. What a truly emotional and powerful feeling it was to cross the finish line at 10:57:13. Not the time I had anticipated at the start of the day but under the circumstances, I was very happy!

At the finish line, they have athlete catchers because many Ironman finishers actually collapse upon finishing. Here I was helped directly to the medical tents where I received my first ever IV after a race. My heart rate would not come down and my sodium levels were very low. They had me drink chicken broth because I was shivering uncontrollably. My volunteer doctor, Peter was amazing and didn’t leave my bed side. The sight of looking at all the other cots occupied by athletes was extremely humbling. Ironman Kona is a course that takes a huge toll on all its finishers!
After a long time, I was released to hug my parents and boyfriend. I had done it; I finished my first of hopefully many more Ironman World Championships!!!

Throughout this race I was also raising money for LifeQuest transitions, I want to thank everyone who helped by making a donation to this wonderful cause to help out our ill, injured, and wounded soldiers!

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