I am an Iron(wo) man.
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Someone told me this weekend that there is a lesson in every training session and race. In a 15 hour race, there were many...

PRE-RACE
We woke up at 3:30 AM so Ruth could report to duty as a volunteer athlete body marker and wetsuit stripper. I went to the downtown Starbucks and ordered a triple shot soy latte, a "to go" cup of hot water and sat there for a bit drinking my coffee. Then I went to the car, tuned into one of the few radio stations available and ate my instant oatmeal. By that point, my tummy was churning and I could not choke down a banana or any water.

I then dropped off my special needs bags* and checked on my Swim-to-Run Bag** and Bike-to-Run Bag*** .

Special Needs Bag Content*
BIKE - beef jerkey with liqui-gel Advils, cookie, chocolate, spare tube, single-serving butt-butter and a package of cliff block shots.
RUN -- extra moleskin, liqui-gel Advil and cliff block shots.
Swim to Run Bag**
Helmet, shoes, martini socks, butt-butter, bandana, gloves, PB&J sandwich.
Bike-to-Run Bag Content***
Sneakers, socks, running shorts, body-glide and cliff block shots with caffeine.

I put on my wetsuit and got some last encouragement from Ruth before entering the beach.

SWIM
This was my first mass start with over 2000 athletes entering the water at once to swim. The pro athletes started at 6:45 and the rest of us at 7:00. I got to chat with Susan for a few minutes and then the cannon went off. I kept thinking "I am racing an Ironman -- I am really here."

Because I was still nursing a sore shoulder, I kept the pace easy and focused on rolling my body over my stroke. I was bumped, kicked and pushed throughout but that goes with the territory. Near the end, I was able to kick it up a notch or two and finished strong and quite excited about being there. I managed to stumble into Ruth's wetsuit stripping station and and even though she was busy with someone else, she saw me and told me "great swim split!" and off I went to the changing tent. The volunteers were terrific and helped me empty my bag, get what I needed and then put my stuff in the bag for me as I went to my bike.

Lesson Learned:

• Negative split half the swim, not just the last bit.

BIKE
I left the transition area with an encouraging yell from Stacy (who lost her voice that morning) and because I was concerned about blowing out too early on the bike, I kept the pace moderate and tried not to get too caught up as everyone kept passing me. I kept thinking as they zoomed by "took you THIS long to catch me" to amuse (and console) myself. I drank my water and Nuun and regularly popped cliff shot blocks. I felt really strong and comfortable the first half of the bike and got to see Sarah, Julie, Duncan and Cheryl about 30 miles into the ride. It was wonderful to feel so supported and cheered for. After RAMROD, Richter Pass was not difficult at all -- I even had to ask a spectator if this was it.

I knew that after Richter, there were seven difficult rollers (AKA Richtor and the 7 bitches) and I felt good and strong riding all of them. My nutrition was still on track, I was drinking water, Nuun and eating the blocks and most of my PB&J sandwich.

Then came the most difficult part of the ride (even though the special needs bag was at the turn around point) -- the 18 mile out and back at about mile 70. This was hilly, windy and de-moralizing. My back was beginning to really ache and I did not know exactly how long it would take me. It seemed as though I was the last person to come through the bike as I saw so many heading out as I was heading in.

It took them a bit to find my special needs bag and the cookie and now melted chocolate was not at all appetizing. I really was after the Advil I had stored with the Beef Jerkey but had not thought about how the hot sun would melt the liquid tabs. Because I was in pain, I slurped them off the beef jerkey anyway and instantly felt my mouth go numb :) . I then applied extra butt butter and headed back.

I was not sure if Beef Jerkey was the best idea but I figured I had 2-3 hours left on the bike and it was the only thing that tasted good. Every once in a while I got a bike of it with some melted Advil on it and my tongue would go numb again. I ate two more cliff blocks in addition to it.

One of the bigger hills had a lot of water bottles by the side of the road. I assumed that a bike aid station was right ahead so I poured the water on me and then threw out the rest in the bottle out to be be ready to get a fresh bottle. Unfortunately, there was no aid station and I climbed and rode for quite a bit in the hot sun without any water and very little nuun.

Yellow Lake was the last climb and I did find that to be quite challenging. I was DONE with being on the bike and while the climb itself was not too hard, I was hot, sore and tired. Then came the best downhill EVER and I got to see Erika and Rolf cheering for me near one of the last descents of the route.

Coming into town, I was cheered on by Sarah, Julie, Duncan and Cheryl and it was so nice to see them. I yelled that I needed big band-aids for my bat-wings because I had rub marks under my arms from the swim and I knew it was going to be much more painful during the run.

Lessons Learned:

• Much more training time in Aero-Bars.
• Advil (solid, not liquid gels) in a separate container.
• Drink more water.
• Different nutrition for bike than run.
• Salty snack with carbs in special needs.
• Open zip lock bag containing PB&J BEFORE putting it in pocket.

RUN
I changed into my running shorts and borrowed a band-aid from someone in the transition area (and it promptly fell off). Got slathered with suntan lotion, applied vaseline to the batwings and then ran back to the changing tent because I had forgotten to put my bandana in my bag. I was fortunate enough to catch them before they stored the bag and off I headed. The male winners were coming in as I started my marathon. I felt strong in the beginning of the run and started right away with my run/walk plan. I made the decision to not take my usual hydration pack a few days before the race and relied instead on the aid stations.

Early into the run, I made my first big mistake. I had heard what a lifesaver the flat cola can be for an Ironman run and gulped a couple at aid stations 5-7 (I think). Unfortunately, they still had carbonation and I cannot burp so I ran with bubbles and felt increasingly bloated and nauseous. I tried to take the blocks but was not able to -- but I did eat a handful of grapes and was able to take in water.

By mile 10, I could no longer eat a thing and just craved and gulped water at every aid station. I did try a bit of chicken soup but even that made me feel nauseous. Actually, everything made me feel quite sick and I ended up walking most of it except when I tried to take advantage of downhills by running down them. At the turn-around point, I got my special needs bag and took the advil and moleskin from it and stuffed it in my pocket. I did not dare to try to take the Advil the way my stomach was feeling and continued back.

At this point, every time I tried to run, I would feel really sick, my HR would leap to 170+ and I could not catch my breath so I would walk. As I continued, I got this horrible pain in my back -- where my kidneys are and that pain constricted my breathing so I would slow to a walk.

By Mile 16, I knew I was in trouble and would not finish anywhere near my goal time of 14 hours but I refused to be one of the many who were carted off in ambulances. So I walked as fast as I could and every once in a while, would try to run. I just set my mind that I would NOT DNF and if I had to crawl across the finish line, so be it. As I walked, my head would start to droop and I forced myself to keep my chin up as I was not going to allow myself to get into a defeated position. About mile 20, I saw the gang again and asked for Cheryl and told her what was happening when I tried to run. She said that I had no electrolytes in me and that was why. She said I should continue to walk and if I could eat/drink anything then I could try to run.

When I got into town, I could not even drink water from the aid stations but at the one at mile 24, I asked if the cola was flat. I was told it was and I grabbed it and drank it because Cheryl told me that I could run if I could get anything besides water in me. I then started a lumbering run to the finish line where Ruth met me and ran with me for a minute. She told me how close I was but that I had to go down to a turn-around before coming back to the finish line. I wanted to make it under the 15 hour mark and forced myself to run through the all the pain to make it under that time.

When I crossed the finish line (at just under 15 hours), a volunteer stayed glued to my side and I was able to eat some water melon but still had trouble breathing with the pain in the sides of my back. When he finally released me, I said on the grass with Ruth and her friend Joel who had driven up to get in line to sign up for next year. Ruth made me eat a little bit but I had a tough time with that. When I went into the transition area to pick up my bike and stuff, I had a hiccup that seized up my body to the point where I doubled over from the pain in my back. Later, Cheryl told me that it was probably from my kidneys being affected by no electrolytes and the pain lasted for quite a few hours.

Lessons Learned:

• Run with my own hydration and nutrition pack. This has been what I have done for all my successful races.
• Have a mental game plan for the run when it starts to get dark and I feel defeated. I under-estimated the despair I would feel.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I experienced no hardship without support and encouragment. The volunteers were AMAZING, and the course STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

I signed up for next year. So did Ruth.

Biggest Lesson Learned:

NUTRITION both on and off the course. That will be my focus for the next few months and I will meet with a sports nutritionist who will help me with a plan to get off the extra weight and a strategy for race days.