It has begun, it has begun, it has begun!!!!
4am - alarm - finally. I am not sure how many times I woke in the night - but I always went back to sleep - so I am telling myself I got a good 6.5 hours of sleep - that is respectable - I am happy with that!
1. - the bathroom. Very important step - but for everyone's sake, I will not go into details. .. . although, I hear another alarm going off. . . we had set 4 I think - between Duane, Emma and I.
2. Duane has taken Emma, and they are out the door - off to the volunteer swim start.
3. Shower - I know, you are saying - really? a shower? Yes - really a shower - I have to start off right - any day is not right without a shower.
4. Get dressed - into my 'super hero suit' - that is kind of how I feel about my triathlon outfit - like a super suit. . . that is good, cause today, I am going to need to be a 'super'!
5. Eat my first course meal - oatmeal, banana, honey - oh how I love my oatmeal.
6. Pack Special needs bags - add frozen coconut water, and perpetuem, ice and water bottles. . . . .
7. Next meal - green smoothie - I can DO ANYTHING with this superfood in my system ( oh the power of the mind)
8. Out the door 5am - I am off - my goals are on my arm in black sharpie marker - See you in 14-17 hours for the rest of the story.
It is a beautiful day for a swim.
A perfect day for a bike ride.
A lovely day to run a marathon!
Here is the rest of the story - as I remember it.
We got to the Walmart parking lot where we took a shuttle bus to drop off our 'special needs bags' for the run and for the bike. In I went to check my bike tires, put my garmin on the bike, put my perpetuem on the bike as well as fill up my water bottle with ice and water. It all looks good - said a little prayer and tried to find Duane to pass off my backpack and my bike pump.
I finally found him, but I was starting to get worried, as it took a while. We headed out to the beach. I put on my wetsuit - just 1/2 way as it was pretty warm out, and I didn't want to start sweating in it before I even started swimming. We tried to see if we could find Emma anywhere as she was volunteering during the swim portion of the race - no luck. We found my mom and dad, the kids and Carol - we took a few pictures. I really didn't want him to leave me. . . . Duane gave me a kiss and I was off with the 2500 other athletes to 'take on the challenge'. Duane's version of this moment went kind of like this:
They had us all go through the 'start gate', and when all the athletes were through, they blew the horn and we slowly got into the water and started to take on the breakers. I finally just dove in and started swimming. I couldn't see the buoys for a lot of the swim, I just kept following the crowd. It was choppy, but fun! I never got swam over and kicked in the head or gut or any of that stuff that everyone talks about. It was strange to swim in such close proximity to people the whole time though. I did get a few mouthfuls of salt water from people on occasion, but I felt like I handled it fine. Coming though for the second loop seemed REALLy slow to me as we had to wade through knee high water to get back to the starting point again - but off we went again. I loved the swim. When I came through the finish line to the 'wet suit strippers', they did their thing and got my wet suit off - which was REALLY cool, but then I was covered in sand! Even though we ran through some showers, I felt like there wasn't enough water to get the sand off of my clothes, and I was wishing for dry, clean, non-sandy clothes to change into (although that would bring on it's own set of challenges). When I ran past the clock I saw 1:54 or something on the clock, and I was shocked that it took me so long to do the swim - I was a bit disappointed, but determined to make up a little time on the bike.
Out of transition, and I had to find my own bike - they must have not had enough volunteers in the bike section of the race because I had to get my own bike. . . it was a little disappointing, but ok. I forgot to turn my garmin on until just before I crossed the 'mounting' line. But then I was off! The bike was amazing! We had rented wheels from the race and they were amazing! My cadence sensor did not seem to be activated, but everything else seemed to be working fine. I was so glad that Duane and I had talked about what kind of pace goals would bring me in at what kind of time. . . . so I just tried to keep my pace at about 17 miles/hour. I had so much fun on the bike! I couldn't believe that I had no issues with my saddle. My feet bothered me a bit, and I started to wonder if I need to try a different clipless system - something instead of the speedplay. Although I LOVE speedplay and it is all that I have ever used, and I don't like change - it felt like they were just pushing right on the the morton's neuroma - I was concerned that it may have aggitated it for the run, but I just kept shaking out my feet every once in a while, and we made it to the 'special needs' pit stop. I was so excited to look in my bag as I really didn't remember what I put in there! Like a Christmas Surprise! Oh, flavored coconut water that was still a bit slushy! It hit the spot completely!! I changed out my empty perpetuem bottle for a new cold one, and I still had another one on the back of my bike! I realized at this point that I had overstocked my nutrtion, but who knew I would be so much faster on the bike than I ever had been in training!! I kept at the bike, and when I was at about mile 92? Something happened, all of a sudden I was in a rut, and then the edge of the road flipped me and I was on my side, both feet still clipped in my pedals. I think 2 fellows stopped and asked if I was ok. I said yes. Can you get your feet out of your clips? I said no. They helped me unclip, moved my bike off of me and helped me sit up. You should sit for a few mintues they said. Ok I replied. Do you want us to call the medic? No, I will be fine. Thank you for your help - you can go. I will sit here. I looked around me - my bars and gels were just behind me - my garmin watch strap ( for the run) was broken and on the side of the road. My knee was scraped, and my shoulder was bloody, but my 'super suit' (my triathlon suit) did not have a tear or a snag on it. I figured I must be ok, so I gathered my stuff, tried to fix my watch band, but my hands were shaking too bad, so I stuffed it in my back pocket, thinking I would try later, or when I saw my dad, he could fix it. I stood up and saw stars and double everything. I sat back down. . . . I checked my sunglasses, they are a bit broken, but they still work. Sunglasses on = double, sunglasses off = still double. I looked at my bike. Nothing seemed broken, my shifters were scraped and bent inwards, and bent them back. My brand new wide awesome bike shoes - one shoe was scraped down the side - but not broken. Nothing is broken - - - - - -I was getting a bit antsy. So I walked with my bike for a minute, then I would close my left eye - and VOILA! I could see everything single again. . . Ok - I am going to finish this - I only had about 15 or so miles left. So I started riding - this is probably kind of dangerous I thought, but what am I supposed to do? Everything still works - I HAVE to finish this! I would keep checking with 2 eyes occasionally, until finally, I could see single vision with 2 eyes. It was just before the transition, so when I came in and they asked me if I was ok - I said ya - I am good! The volunteers took my bike almost as soon as I crossed the line - nice - like Valet parking! I loved it! I went and changed, and there were 2 young girls who helped me pull out my shoes and socks, and asked if I was hurting - nope I said. Well, you have some advil here if you want it for later. Thanks I said - and I was off on the run. Oh I FORGOT my Garmin on my bike - I remembered as I was running down the shute almost past my bike - a wonderful volunteer got it for me. THANK YOU! I just held it in my hand as my watch band was broken in my back pocket.
Down the shute, and out on the run. I felt good! My runners felt good! OK - a lovely evening for a run! Here I go - off for my first marathon! At this point I thought there was a chance that I could run this in 5 hours (which was my 'A' race plan). There were a lot of aid stations. Erin said I could walk through each one and get a drink, or do what I needed to do, and so I did, but I found it hard to get moving every time. Especially as the evening went on. Miles 1-6, I dedicated to my family. When I saw my dad at about mile 5, I gave him my watch band and asked him to fix it. I knew he would have it ready for me on the way back. Miles 6-12 miles I dedicated to my community. I tried to sing like Deirdre told me to, as it was getting harder. Miles 12-18, I dedicated to my 'run like a mother' group. Oh this was TOUGH - miles 12-16 just about DID ME IN. When I came around to the aid station, just around the corner from the family's spot, and Jack, Clara, and Carol were working there I just broke down! I cried - told her it was too hard, and that I didn't know if I could do it! Carol walked with me, and said some stuff - I am going to have to get her version of the moment here, cause I don't really remember what she said - but I think I took her by surprise being such a mess. When I came around by my parents not even a mile later, I will still struggling. Duane and Emma were at the entrance of the park at about mile 16. They gave me a hug and told me I could do this. I told Duane to 'tell me again'. He hugged me, and I remembered - this is ALL mental now! So, I just started telling myself just run to the next aid station, then you can walk. Just run to . . . . then you can walk for a minute. You can run for 1 mile. . . . . You can run 20 miles - you have done this in the wind and cold. You can do this. Once I came back out of the park, I thought I would see my family at their usual spot, but there was no one there ( I guess I was going faster than they guessed). I saw Carol, Jack and Clara again at the aid station - and it was just about 6 miles left. I can DO six miles. Then my knee started to hurt - almost catch. Not too long after my knee started to bother me, my achilies tendon started to really tighten up. Oh no I thought. I really don't want to ruin myself now! I did not give any credit to my aches and pains to my bike crash. Whether it was my head injury, or just the exhaustion of the day, I did not put 2 and 2 together. I started encouraging the people coming towards me. That always helps lift my spirits. It started working. I still had to walk more than I wanted to at this point - but I was getting closer with every step - I was going to make it! I really had no idea what my end time was going to be like at this point. I really thought that I was 15 hours and something - which I was happy with. . . . . when I came into the final shute
