Blogging got lost in my training. I would think, I have to
blog about this…..it was great…..or this was terrible. I really wanted to document the good and the
bad. There weren’t enough hours in the
day. The days that there were enough
hours, I was just too tired! My fingers
couldn’t even type. So, I guess this
will be my final blog for this journey.
Ironman Chattanooga is in the books. Was it what I expected? Did I train
enough? Is my body fat composition where
I want it to be? Did I lose the extra
5lbs? Did I have the day I wanted? Did I have the time I wanted? Did by two training partners cross the finish
line? The answer to all of these questions is NO. Do I feel very shellfish about training for
an Ironman? Did I cross the finish
line? Did I have a great swim? Did I have the best bike of my life? Did I have an amazing journey? Did my
nutrition plan work? Did this journey
make me a stronger person? Did I find new amazing and strong friends? Did I gain a few pounds? The answer to all of these questions is a
big, fat YES!!
Many people have told me that Ironman training was going to
be more than just hours of training. It
will be a life changing journey. Well,
they were right. When Joella emailed by
spreadsheet of the training schedule, I looked at it and thought there is no
way I will able to do this. Anything
after June just looked impossible. The
weekends were packed full of long rides, longs runs and brick workouts. I decided to take one week at a time and see
how it goes. I tried not to look ahead
to see what was next. The weeks and
months passed and I completed almost every workout. I missed a few things do to vacation, trying
to put family first (which didn’t always happen) or I just needed a day
off. If I did anything social,
volunteered or attended a meeting of any kind, it was something/someone that I
felt very strongly about. So if you were
one of those people, you better feel pretty special!
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| Ohio Half Ironman |
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| Laura fixing my bike |
The lowest point of my training was when I got a call from
Laura when I was in Ohio at the Half Ironman.
She delivered the news that Shari was in a terrible bike accident and
she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Laura found her unconscious in the middle of
the road. Laura just kept saying, “it is
not good”. The good news is that Shari
will be fine, but she has a long recovery and she will be stronger than
ever. The bad news is there was no way
she would be able to race in Chattanooga.
If the three of us didn’t work out together we would always touch base
to see how things went. We were inseparable.
We each brought something to the table.
The basket that I brought to the table was pretty empty with only comic
relief and a friend with a quarry (we did come great open water swims!). I knew nothing about training, nutrition or
how to fix a bike. Shari brought the
important positive energy to the group.
She was our cheerleader who made us believe we could do anything. Laura brought not only, the voice of reason,
but the knowledge of endurance sports training and of course she could change a
tire or fix a bike.
Laura and I had the
conversation about pulling out of the race and waiting until Shari could race
again. The fun of Ironman training came
to a screeching stop when Shari had the accident. With Shari’s positive spirit, we decided to
continue on.
Shari couldn't come on the trip to Chattanooga to practice the swim, so we did the next best thing! Shari's head on a stick!!
My second low point (not as low as Shari’s accident) was the
revision of the Athletes Guide. I had a
plan, for almost a year, was to have a finish time under 16 hours, 29 minutes
and 59 seconds, just before midnight. I
knew it would be close to the cut off, but I thought there was a 50/50 chance I
could do it. Hoping that the moons and
stars were in alignment with my little world.
When the original Athletes Guide game out in July it stated that you had
until 12:20am to finish. Reading that I
had an extra 20 minutes made the tears of joy flow! I have another 20 minutes! How lucky is that? If I got a flat tire, I may be able to change
it and there would still be hope for me! My goal was still to come in before
midnight, but I had a little buffer. Then a few weeks before the race, a revision came
out. They updated it to “you must
finish in 16 hours and 15 minutes” or it will be a DNF (Did Not Finish). The
finish line would close at 12:20AM.
Great! Thanks! Glad they decided to change this at the last
minutes! I was screwed. I know 15 minutes doesn’t sound like a great
amount of time, but it is huge when you are as slow was I am. With my luck, I will finish at 16 hours and
16 minutes….Nothing is easy!!
Laura and I left Pittsburgh on September 21 bound for
Ironman Chattanooga! We stop in Kingsport,
TN and stayed with my cousins Sally and Mark.
Mark had the best surprise waiting for us!
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| How cool is this!! THANKS Mark!! |
After breakfast, Laura and I were off to Ironman!!
Arriving in Chattanooga and checking into Ironman was a
surreal experience. There was more than
one time where I thought, what the hell I
am doing! You should be volunteering,
not participating!! That is what you do
best….volunteer, not try to attempt an Ironman!
What was I thinking? I should never had signed up! This is way too far out of my box! Then I decided to suck it up buttercup and put on my big girl pants. I’m at least going to try to do this! You spent way too long training and way too
much money to throw it away now! Plus I had my sister Marcia and her husband
David and my cousins Sally and Mark traveling to watch the race. I couldn’t at least not try!
The day before the race, Shari, Laura and I walked around the
Ironman Village. We took some pictures and talked about the day that would
follow. We had Shari write on our forearms with a sharpie our favorite verse/mantra. I choose: “Though she be but little, she is fierce!” Needless to say it was emotional!
The day of the race started at 3:00AM. I ate my oatmeal and got ready to go. Shari meet me at the room and Laura was
downstairs waiting for me. Off to
transition. The amount of bikes in T1
was amazing. Trying to remember what row
to do down and how far to go back was mind boggling. There were about 2,600 bikes! I get lost in Meridian, how the hell was I
going to find my bike! Of course, I passed it up the first time. But, I got my nutrition ready to go and my
tires pumped up. The poor women beside
me had a flat tire before the race even started. The heat the day before caused her tube to
pop. I’m sure her day didn’t start out
as planned! I dropped a few things into
my special needs bags and we were on the bus going to the swim start. Laura’s friends Tricia and Christine got
there early and saved us a place in line right up front! How nice was that! The only unfortunate issue, was the port a
john’s were pretty far away. It was so
nice to have a large group waiting with us!
Along with Laura’s friends, we had Shari, Dan and Bryan. It made the time go much faster.
I decided I better to the bathroom one more
time. The lines were crazy!! Took me so long, I almost missed the swim
start!! The line started to move, I
started to cry and someone said jump in here, so off I went. I had to scream “GO LAURA” while I
jumped. I have no concept of time when I
swim. The water was warm and I went with
the current, only reminding myself how much I love to swim, once or twice. (I really do love the water!) I was hoping to get out of the water between
1:15 – 1:30. My 2.4 mile swim was done
in 1:15!! What a great swim! Thanks to the current! It was so nice to have my cheering section on
the way to transition! 
They only slight
issue, was when a volunteer asked if I wanted unzipped. I said SURE, thinking…. one thing I won’t
have to do. He unzipped me and started
to pull the shoulder down……I had nothing under my speed suit! I’m sure my face was priceless! That was all I needed was to have my left
boob pop out! I picked up my transition
bag and headed to the changing tent. A
wonderful volunteer came over to me and unpacked by bag. I found my list that told me what I needed to
do (which Bryan made total fun of me for making a list!) and handed it to
her. She made sure I did every
step!! I gave her a big hug and went to
find my bike.One of my huge fears is
touching or damaging someone else’s bike.
Well, the bike next to me had his handle bars tangled with my back
wheel. I yelled for a volunteer and he
helped me get my bike out with our knocking the rest of the bikes off the
rack. (I usually don’t have this
problem, due to everyone is out of the water before me! Most bikes are gone by
the time I get mine!!)
Laura and I decided the best strategy was to hit the first
loop hard when it was cooler then back off when the heat started to get out of
control. We knew it was going to be
around 97 degrees around 2:00PM. I
started on my bike with a large group of testosterone men. I was hanging pretty well, until I decided
that I need to get of this pack! I can’t
hang here!! I don’t belong here! I slowed just enough for all of them to
pass. I had the ride of my life! Biking has been really tough for me. I have had a lot of lower back pain that
seemed to be solved by getting a new seat.
(Thanks to Matt the UMPC Sports complex in Cranberry!!) As I
started to go by the photographers, I thought it would be funny to do a
“pageant” look and smile. I found it
humorous, but I would do anything to get through 116 miles! Everyone says,
“make sure you smile and look good for the photos!” Laura passed me a few miles
into bike. I thought all along she was
in front of me! I was great to hear her
voice and see her smiling face!
I stopped at special
needs, (mile 54) where my was cheering squad was yelling and screaming, drank part of a Diet Coke, got more potatoes and read the card Bryan snuck in my
bag. (Yes, I ate potatoes. Little bit
size ones with lots of salt. They were
delicious!) Off I went to make another loop.
I was so
please with my MPH average! I knew I
needed to slow down some, but I was in good shape! The weather was getting
hotter and hotter. I was drinking water
and Gatorade every few minutes. I kept
seeing people along the course that were laying in the grass, not looking very
good. Then it seems liked everyone was
stopping at the next to the last aid station.
My plan was to just keep going, but there were so many bikes, I thought
it was best that I stop and not try going around. This is where I saw how bad the heat was
effecting people. I was so blessed that
I was feeling pretty good. I filled up
my Gatorade and water bottle and took off.
The next aid station was the same way.
I almost started feeling guilty that I was feeling so good! My friend Teresa (since 7th grade)
had a Mass offered for me earlier that morning!
I truly think that was what got me though the swim and bike so well! I was ready to get off the bike around mile
100. My butt was done! At mile 112, I thought every other Ironman in
the world would be done here, but NO! I
had to do Chattanooga that was 116 miles!
Finally I could see transition once again and my cheer squad was
there! I got off my I told the volunteer
that took my bike to put a for sale sign on it.
Bike time was 7 hours and 41 minutes.
Almost 21 minutes faster than my goal!!!!
Transition took a few minutes longer than I hoped, but I
wanted to get everything done. Once
again, I had an awesome volunteer that read my list and made sure that I had everything
checked off. (Except the one things that either of us could read). I thought to myself, all I have to do is
run. Let’s get this done! I came out of the tent and the heat hit me. I
started to become nauseas. I decided that walking and trying to recover would
be the smart thing to do. I walked
(slowly) and walked and walked. I was
not feeling better. Bryan, Kevin, Shari
and Dan would take turns being my mobile cheering section. They would encourage me to move faster and
keep my pace going. Shari, in a sling,
with numerous other injuries ran/walked 8 miles between Laura and me! Kevin and Bryan would try to make me
laugh. Kevin at one point was singing to
me. Dan was my rock at the end. He tried his hardest to keep me moving and
keeping a pace that I could get across the finish line, along with taking
pictures of me. I only wanted to step on his phone 2 or 3
times. He even missed seeing Laura cross
the finish line! I was so mad at
him! I kept telling him he needed to
go!!! That was the only time I really
cried (other than the start of the race).
I will never be able to repay him
for what he did.
I started to run down the shoot of the finish line, knowing
that I did not finish in 16:15. The guy
in front of me took his time down the shoot.
I just wanted to be done! I
understand that he wanted his moment, but he just took too long!!! I came across the finish line and Shari got to
put my metal around my neck! That was
amazing! I was given a finishers T-shirt
and hat, still not knowing my time. One
of the other highlights of my night came when my sister, Marcia found me after
I was done. She was more excited than I
have ever saw her in the 50 years we were sisters! That was worth the 144.6 miles I traveled!
My time ended up being, 16 hours and 21 minutes. Needless to say I was disappointed and I shed
some tears. I finished an Ironman, but
not in the allotted Ironman time. Less than 7
minutes shy of the new rule. I decided
after numerous texts from triathlon friends and my coach, Joella that I did
finish and I was an Ironman. I’m 50
years old, only started this crazy journey 2 ½ years ago, and that my goal the
whole time was under 16 hours and 30 minutes.
My goal was accomplished and I am proud.
(OK, some bitterness toward Ironman that they couldn’t get it
together). I fared much better than a
lot of people that started the race. As
it turns out, it was one of the hottest Ironman on the books and it had one of
the largest DNF’s. Seven Pro athletes
didn’t make it to the finish line.
What I have learned in my journey:
1. If you
put your mind to it, you can accomplish almost anything!
2. It is never too late to start and
I’m not too old! (My father told me –
actually yelling at me while his fists were shaking - that I was told old to do
an Ironman.)
3. I never
knew I could smell so bad!
It took an Army to get me across the finish line. I would like to thank:
My husband and business partner, Bryan. He didn’t kill me when…. I left the office to
train, didn’t feel like making dinner, too tired clean the house or doing
laundry, had no desire to be social or fell asleep every night when my head hit
the pillow. He was the best sherpa
ever. I am truly sorry for what I said
when I was hangry and throwing the mini pizza box. Thank you for supporting my mid-life crisis
Ironman! Next time, maybe I will just buy the cute convertible! NOT!!
To my daughter, Clare.
I know this was a total pain in the ass for you, but thank you beautiful
card and box! I loved everything!! I
hope that I taught you anything is possible and don’t ever give up! I
promise when you come home, I will cook anything you want and we won’t have
Blue Apron for 2 that we stretched out for 3!
My training buddies Laura and Shari. I would never have done this without
you! We have a special bond that will
never be broken. You both are so very
special to me and I look forward to more races, girl trips and social
events! Shari, our journey will not be
over until you cross the finish line. I
will be with you every step of the way!
Your time will come and it will be so sweet!! I love you both!
Joella, my coach. (First coach in 50 years!) I still can’t believe you took me on as a
client after you saw how badly I swam!!
Plus, you didn’t even know I couldn’t run a mile and had a trail
bike! You had faith in me that I could
do each distance of triathlon even after me asking you, “are you sure I’m not
going to die” a zillion times! You were right, I was prepared! I am looking forward to more races and
distances! Thank you so much for your guidance and friendship!
Kelley, Traci and Jen.
You were my inspiration and role models. Your performance at IMChoo last
year was amazing and the words of advice and encouragement you gave me was
priceless!
Dr. Ed at Evolve Wellness Center! Thank you for putting be back together when I
tore this old body apart. I can’t
recommend his practice enough! He tries
to educate you every appointment!
Dennis Ditch my massage therapist. You earned every penny during my
massages! You made me squeal like a pig
in a good way. My hour and a half session flew by! I will be back for some more!
I was so fortunate to have my sister Marcia and bother
in-law David and Cousins Mark and Sally come to the race. You will never know how much I appreciate
your cheering and smiling faces along the way!
It truly would get me from point to point. Plus, I would think, I can’t quit, all these
people came to see me finish! I know it
was a long day for you!!
To all of my friends and family that followed my journey on Facebook,
tracked me during the race and came to my surprise happy hour. Your comments, texts and support were
amazing! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I will try to post less pictures in spandex!
Michelle the orange flowers were beautiful and such a
wonderful surprise! 
Alice, I have been waiting to hang my Ironman medal on my
medal holder for almost a year!
Nancy and John for my new favorite necklace! Every triathlete needs one!
Henry at Dapper Bikes for always taking the time to look at the bike and making sure it was perfect for race day!
Lastly, I would like to thank Mrs. McCoy, my 4th grade teacher. Little did I know that my mental ironman training started so young. I had the worst year of my life in her classroom and my Mother aged 10 years. I just found all of my Mother's documentation from that year while cleaning out her files. My Mother was such a great advocate for me!! She was the best! I was sick every single day that year and I hated every minute of school, other than going to band! That women had no business being in the classroom. If I could make it through that year, I could do anything!! I also have her to thank for me becoming a teacher. I never wanted any child to go through what I did! So CHEERS to Mrs. McCoy for giving teaching me what mental strength is at such a young age!!
Will I do it again? I’m
planning on it, as long as my body will cooperates! Next year will be some fun/low key races and
build will try to build speed and strength.
2017 is the year to get Shari across the finish line! Got to live this
life to the fullest! I’m not ready for
the checkout line yet!
What did I miss?
Golfing on Weds evenings with my girls!
What’s next:
Indianapolis Marathon on Nov 5th! Might as well go one more race in before I
turn 51!
I hold my wine glass up and toast to my 50th
years! It has been amazing!
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| Clare's friend, Emily (My second daughter) made champagne cocktails to toast my finish! |
