I am an Ironman!

www.ironman.com

 www.ironmanflorida.com

Last year 6 of us decided that we would volunteer at Ironman Florida & then sign up to do the race this year.  I wasn’t quite sure how I had got talked into doing this, but decided that if everyone else was in, then so was I.  I had severe whiplash in January, so lost a few months of training recovering from it.  My daughters bid on & got me a training plan at the Running Free auction, so decided that I would try to do whatever was asked of me on the training plan.  I followed it as best as I could over the summer & into the fall.  Lots of long rides & long runs, & I did lots of it on my own.  I figured that I had only myself to rely on come race day, so might as well get used to being on my own.

 Week leading up to the race.

My husband & I decided to drive down, leaving on the Monday & arriving in Panama City Beach on Tuesday.  On the drive down, I got a text from my daughter at home that her best friend’s father had passed away.  Trying to help my daughter was very stressful, & quite draining emotionally.  Hearing her say that she needed me at home, really tore at my heart, & I had a hard time focussing on preparing for the race.  My youngest daughter & her husband were flying in from Calgary, & my sister was driving in from Jackson, Mississippi to support me in the race.  My friends & I went out on practice swims to get used to the salt water, & the water got choppier as the week progressed.  We went out on a couple of bike rides & on both rides, my left quad ached.  I hadn’t had any pain on any of my other rides so hoped that it would work itself out prior to the race.  It didn’t hurt running, so hoped that I would have a good run in the race.

Race Day

I was up at 4:00 to have breakfast & get myself mentally ready to race.  At 5:00, I met my friends for the walk to drop off our special needs bags, get bodymarked, pump up my tires, & get my food & drinks ready for my bike.  I had told my family to meet me at 6:30 at the swim corral, to hand off my bike pump & morning clothes.  I met up with 2 of my friends as we had decided that we were going to start on the far right & near the back of the corral.   We didn’t want to get caught up in the crowd of swimmers that had decided to start on the left side of the corral.

The Swim  2.4 miles, 2 loops

The first cannon went off at 6:50 for the pros start.  At 7:00 the cannon went off to start our race.  I walked into the water with 2 of my friends & off we went.  The water was quite choppy, & we really couldn’t see the buoys when sighting.  I just kept following the pack & hoped that no one was going too far off course.  There was a traffic jam at the first turn & just tried to stay as wide as possible to not get caught up in the arms & legs beside me.  Made the second turn & headed for shore, still not being able to sight because of the waves.  I came out on the first loop & the clock said 46:17, & I thought crap that is slow!  I had hoped to be out of the water in 1:14, & was now thinking there would be no way.  I had decided to not push the effort on the swim, but still did not think that I had been swimming that slow.  I got back in for the 2nd loop, & kept to the game plan of staying wide to not get caught up in the crowds.  Still not able to sight for the waves, so just kept following the pack.  I came into shore & stood up to walk the rest of the way & the announcer called out 1:13.  I now realized that on my first loop, the clock was still set on the pros start time.

Swim time:  1:13:42   5/44 age group,  872/2424 overall

Transition: 7:33

I made my way to the wet suit strippers & then got in line to make my way up the narrow path to go through the showers, pick up my eye glasses & head toward the transition bags.  There were so many athletes coming through that I ended up grabbing my own bag, & heading into the change tent in the hall inside the Boardwalk Hotel.  My daughter & sister were here cheering me on.  There were so many helpers inside the tent, that I could hardly think with all the questions they were asking.  I finally got my feet cleaned from the sand, & got my socks, shoes & helmet on & made my way out of the tent.  Race numbers were called & again, no one was getting my bike, so decided to get it myself & head out to the mount line.

The Bike  112 miles  1 loop

I got on my bike & headed out on the bike course.  My husband & son in law were around the first turn taking pictures.   My left quad was still hurting & I hoped that it would soon work itself out.  Lots of people passed me in the first bike section.  Around mile 20, my quad stopped aching & I was glad for the relief.  A few miles later the pain moved into my left hip flexor & stayed there until mile 100.  Every few miles I was up off my bike trying to stretch it out.  I took pain killers at 35 miles hoping for some relief, but nothing.  Packs of people were passing me, so I just kept plugging along riding & stretching.  There was lots of wind & some really rough road, some small rollers, but nothing that I hadn’t ridden in training.  Finally at mile 100, the pain left my hip flexor & I prayed that it would not turn up again during the run.  People were still passing me coming into transition & I thought that there could be no one left behind me on the bike course.  I had seen at least 4 ladies in my age group pass me, but there could have been more that I had not seen.

Bike time:  6:43:34   16/44 age group,   1936/2424 overall

Transition: 8:08

I handed off my bike & was just so glad to be off of it.  I grabbed my bag & headed into the change tent.  I had decided that I was going to change all of my clothing & socks.  I put my arm warmers in my back pocket, put on my fuel belt, grabbed a bottle of water & headed out of the change tent.  I passed a lady in my age group on the way out & she commented as I went by.

The Run:  26.2 miles  2+loops

We came out of transition & turned left for a short run (my family was here cheering for me), before heading in the direction of the finish line that they had moved up the street to the  Spinnaker Beach Resort parking lot.  We were almost at mile 1 when we reached this area.  Then we headed out through some neighborhoods, & into the State Park for a loop around the outside of the park.  It was 2 way traffic everywhere but the State Park, so I was able to see all of my friends but one, so I knew that she was somewhere in the State Park.  I passed Rick Choy, RF athlete just before the State Park, said a quick hello, & went on my way.  I took my 2nd gel on the run at 10k & really had trouble getting it down.  It really made me feel nauseous, so decided to walk for a bit to let my stomach settle.  From here on out I ran from aid station to aid station trying to keep my stomach under control.  I grabbed wet sponges & shoved one down the front of my shirt & one down the back trying to stay cool.  I kept putting ice in my shirt at each aid station that had ice.  I had passed 5 more in my age group on the first loop of the run.  By the time I got back to the turn around near the finish line for the start of the 2nd loop, it was pitch black.  Darkness set in at 5:15pm, so most runners were running in the dark.  I dropped off my fuel belt at the Special Needs station, since I knew that I would use the aid stations the rest of the way.  I finally caught up to 2 of my friends who were walking at mile 17.  I walked with them long enough to find out how their races were going, then went on my way.  I have a tendency to drag my feet when I am tired, so I found it very unnerving to be running in the dark.  There were no lights in the State Park until you got near the Ford Inspiration message board at mile 20, & the light was then so blinding that you still could not see.  I looked at my watch here & saw that my time was at 11:57, with 10k to go.  I knew at this point that I did not have enough left to try to push to get in under 13 hours.  So, I just kept running from aid station to aid station.  With the change of the finish line area this year, you could not see it or hear it until you were right in front of it.  So, I just kept running until the last turnaround before the finish line & my family was waiting here cheering me in.  It was just so incredible to finally reach the finishing chute & cross that line to hear him announce “Karen Gamble, you are an Ironman!”

Run time:  5:00:42  10/44 age group  1298/2424 overall

Finish:  13:13:37  8/44 age group  1485/2424 overall

 On the walk back to transition to pick up my bags & bike, the bottom of my left foot was burning.  I had noticed it a little during the run, but had tried to put it out of my mind.  Now it was getting quite sore.  We finally got back to the hotel, & I took my shoes & socks off to find a huge blood blister down the center of my foot.  Not quite sure how I got it, but glad that it did not stop me from running.  Overall, I was strong mentally during the race, & did not let anything get me down on race day.  I didn’t worry about what I could not control, & just kept moving forward.  By the time we got back to the hotel & turned on the TV, there was a Hurricane Warning for the area.  The water & beaches were closed the next day, so we got the race in just in the nick of time. 

Thanks to all of those who supported me on this journey, & those who followed me online on race day!