TIME TO BELIEVE.
Swim 2.4 Miles
Bike 112
Run 26.2 Miles
First of all, I have complete gratitude for the 4500 volunteers & St. George community who make it possible for us to attempt to achieve our goals.
I felt super lucky to be on the start line. I had successfully rehabbed a torn labrum in my hip after the Sept. 70.3 World Championships which left me not even knowing if I could train & be healthy again, let alone for a full Ironman. I’m incredibly grateful to my PT’s at Revolutions in Fitness and Kyle Sela in Ketchum.
My race began 7 days out when a 24-hr stomach bug made me violently ill & I was forced to spend consecutive days in bed. Regardless, I got through taper & race week just fine, slowly building back my energy even though my gut never seemed 100%.
Let’s begin now with the amazing opportunity to race the first ever (& probably only) Ironman World Championship outside of Kona, Hawaii. This course was worthy of a challenging championship course – 2.4mi cold reservoir swim, 112mi (7,000ft elevation) windy & exposed bike, 26.2mi (1400ft elevation) exposed run – which ranged from 2800ft to 4600ft in elevation. Now, you wouldn’t think the Utah weather gods would give us an easy day considering our race started in a town called “Hurricane”!
(A side history note: My first time to St. George, Utah was actually in Hurricane, Utah for the Chums Classic Stage Race in 2001. This small town, home of Chums Sunglass Retainers, held a fantastic event in the hills of the greater Zion & the weather always presented a nice challenge for us. So, I was not unfamiliar with potential conditions.)
My goals for an Ironman are always to finish. A podium would be amazing & racing smart would be key on a tough day. To have the opportunity to qualify for Kona would be an added bonus! Jono (my hubby), Tumi and I arrived early to St. George to acclimate to the high desert. I embraced a few fantastic masters swim workouts at Dixie State and we ran some great dirt trails. We did rides in Gunlock, Veyo & many Snow Canyon loops testing out the wind directions & different wheels. Everything was showing signs for a good race day build after numerous weeks of fatigue.
Race day arrived & I was calm & ready, despite losing my Garmin overnight (luckily, I found it 30min before the start)! Equipment was dialed & we rolled into the water final wave, a little bit early after the rolling waves. It was busy, a lot of swimmers to pass, so I often swam wide to have clear water. I found 2 gals in my age group to draft after the final turn buoy & they led me through the mayhem of swimmers in front. I faded a bit & they dropped me with about 500m to go…no problem. I had a fast transition (T1) & passed 3 women, coming out 3rd on the bike. Jono yelled out some intel & I was quickly in 2nd.
About 9mi into the bike something seemed heavy or slow. I was still passing people, which was very motivating, but the rear of my bike felt soft. I hopped it & yeah, a flat! My next goal was to get to AID 1 to assess. I made it with 20psi in the tire & we determined that there was a slow leak at the valve in my tubeless. I let the mechanics work while I drank a full bottle, shoved food in, stretched & relaxed a bit. After 10min or so I was on my way…back to passing…I passed approximately 2,300 people by the end of the day.
The bike course suited me – fast corners, wind, lots of climbing & fast descents. My motivation was high now to chase. I did however “check” myself for several reasons.
- I had not yet ridden 100+miles in significant heat
- It had been 4yrs since my last hot climate Ironman
- My body has changed somewhat as a female approaching 50yrs old.
At times I wanted to ride harder, but I also know that debilitating cramps can take you down in a bad way. I grabbed around 18 bottles from aid stations to pour over me & to refill my NBS Hydration. I stuck to solid foods & flew through Special Needs station grabbing my musette feed bag with additional food & hydration powder.
I was motoring down the Veyo Hwy, windy as ever around Mile 82…and yep, a front puncture. I looked down…& no way could I ride this 6 more miles to the next aid station – too dangerous & zero air. It was a clincher which I fortunately quickly fixed on my own. After about 6min & my last tube used, I was back on my way. Whew, let’s just get this done, please with no more issues!
Next part of the bike was hitting Snow Canyon at Mile 99. What a cruel challenge for any athlete! I had seen carnage the entire day starting at Mile 5 with an ambulance driving to an accident. This was the first of about 8 ambulances I had seen on the bike course. Athletes stopped & unclipped. Others walked up the steep sections of Snow Canyon. Many did not enough gears to ride the climbs at less than 50rpm. One athlete I know of completed the bike stuck in one gear for 112mi! The biggest inspiration of the day was watching paratriathlete, Lauren Parker on Snow Canyon. She was tackling her first Ironman & chose quite a difficult one! I shouted out cheers to her on this steep section.
I made it to T2 with purpose & some energy left. I put on my cooling arm warmers & headband to see if I could get my body’s core temp to come down a little before the marathon start. My key part to starting this run was holding a 20oz bottle of ice-cold water with NBS hydration. My plan was only to use it for 1-2mi…but that turned into 6mi as having constant sips of cold water to drink & pour over me was glorious.
It turns out that a 2-loop course for a 3,000-person world championship run course is BUSY! It was often very hard to get aid while running as many people stopped at each aid station. I powered on & throughout my run I tried to take each mile & dedicate it to one person. I pushed through that one mile for them…thinking about how they had overcome something difficult or fought the battle of an illness or dealt with the loss of a loved one. This pushed me on & I somehow was able to dig a bit deeper. The mind is certainly powerful.
As I ran, I looked around. It was especially challenging to see so many people walking the marathon, sitting on the side of the course or being sickness in the bushes. But I plugged away feeling ok. Then, around Mile 22 the SH**it hit me…sorta hard & it wasn’t like I could stop! The last 4 miles were really uncomfortable & I must have been horrifically smelly as I passed people (so sorry folks!!).
To finish 2nd at an Ironman World Championship & qualify for Kona Ironman after adversity is truly amazing. It can be truly frustrating to have setbacks after so many hours of committed hard training. But it’s important to know just how powerful your mind is. If you let it it can hold you back. Or you can choose to overcome & reset it.
Currently I (AND we) am VERY glad to be done. Thank you supporters, sponsors, volunteers, Ironman, the community of St. George & friends for making this day happen!