The Bike

I was thrilled to be off my bike, and relieved that other than my pokey power numbers, it was uneventful. Once in transition a volunteer helped me rack my bike, I took off my bike shoes, grabbed my run bag and ran into the change tent. This time it was much much less crowded (slow bike, so most were already on the run) I was able to quickly find a chair to put fresh socks and my run shoes on, I put on my hat and race belt and dropped off my bag, this time with everything I needed out of it. Then I ran by volunteers to fill my handheld with water and I was off!

I was pretty scared of getting burned during this race and had millions (more like 6) mini packets of sunscreen stashed in my transition bags, special needs bag and in my handheld on the run. I didn’t get a chance to apply sunscreen in transition because I was rushing so I pulled out a packet and attempted to put it on while only having one hand free. It didn’t work well and I got globs everywhere. Fortunately volunteers were handing out cold wet towels in transition and I used that to wipe my hands off. However the first aid station was like 2 miles away, so I was stuck holding it in my one open hand for 2 miles. Those were also the only run photos I have from finisher pix, which made me laugh since I knew exactly where they were taken!

At that point I was feeling ok, and knew my family would be right around the 3 mile mark, so I just focused on getting to that point, one foot in front of the other. Seeing my family gave me a boost of energy as I waved and chatted when passing, and knowing I would see them again shortly after turning around gave me another ‘next thing’ to focus on.

After seeing them a second time I knew it was going to get tough since I wouldn’t see them again until the finish. I kept moving until I got to mile 7ish where the course went up the super steep hill on Palani, and decided to walk but figured I would pick up the pace again when I got to the top. However when I started walking I realized how crummy I felt. My energy was low and I was so thirsty but it seemed like whatever I drank was just sitting in my stomach, in fact I could feel it coming up my throat. Ugh. So I decided to keep walking to give my stomach a chance to digest things since running would just add more stress.

I dug into my handheld and decided to eat 2 tums to see if that would help, however sadly they didn’t seem to help much. While walking, a girl who was also walking started to chat with me, and we talked about our time goals. I was hoping chatting with someone would lift my spirits like it had at Chattanooga and turn my race around, but sadly all it did was raise my heart rate. We both decided to pick it up and run but would run in silence since the chatting was getting our heart rates up a bit too high.

Eventually she ran ahead as I had to start walking again, and so began the walk/run combination for the rest of the race. I would be able to run for maybe half a mile but then just felt terrible…on the verge of angry stomach/low energy/feeling really off and had to walk again. As I headed into the Energy Lab at mile 14, the sun was beginning to set and I was very glad I packed my mini headlamp in my handheld as I was going to need it. Before the race part of me had been hoping I’d finish in daylight, but I also knew to do that I would need a PR kind of day and I’m glad realistic ‘me’ packed the darn headlamp, lol. After putting on the headlamp, I was looking at overall time and my current pace and realized unless a miracle happened, this was going to be a 5+ hour marathon. Uggghhh. I was so sad that after all of the training I did this is how the run was turning out, but there wasn’t much I could do except to keep moving forward.

At mile 16 I turned on my headlamp and kept plugging away, the sun going down seemed to help as it was cooler, but I noticed a new problem, that I really had to pee and no matter how hard I tried to pee while running (sorry if TMI), it just wasn’t happening. So finally around mile 17 I stepped aside into the grass to stretch my leg and give my bladder a better chance and it helped, but I couldn’t seem to fully empty it. And now my bladder had a burning sensation. Oh boy, well this is a first. I was prepared for burning quads but not this, this kind of pain made me feel wimpy. Finally at mile 20 I decided to hop into a porta potty and really try to pee hoping that would relieve the burning feeling. I still had my headlamp on and after a not very successful pee, I noticed it was brown. Oh no. I knew that wasn’t good and was worried about my kidneys and if I was doing more damage by continuing on. Although with ‘only’ 6 miles to go, I wasn’t going to quit unless the pain got worse. This was not ideal but I figured for 6 more miles I could do it.

So I kept running, wondering why I was having this issue. I really thought I drank enough on the bike, or at least I was never thirsty and had to actually force myself to drink, but maybe that still wasn’t enough? After having done 7 full IM’s, several 50+ mile ultras… lots of long races in warmer temps I have never had this happen. I did notice that the bladder burning sensation seemed to go away when I walked so I reassured myself it would all go away when the race was over, I just had to get to the finish. That seemed to help motivate me, along with some aid stations with really good music and I kept pushing along. Finally I had 3 miles left. ‘I can do 3 miles’ I told myself. I still had walk breaks to take a break from the bladder pain, but I kept going and soon I was just about a mile away.

I FLEW when I turned down Palani, thinking that maybe my watch had been off and the finish was right around the corner, however it was correct and I still had about a mile left. I slowed the pace down a tiny bit as I turned left to do another small stretch before we turned again to finally head to the finish. One foot in front of the other I kept telling myself. Soon I could hear the announcer more clearly and knew I was close, the finish was near! I headed down the last stretch, picking up my pace again, running onto the red carpet towards the finish, crowds cheering on both sides and then I heard my family and waved and cheered as I ran by them. I crossed the finish line smiling and then with a face of disbelief. I had done it. Maybe not the day (or run) I had planned, but I finished.

Two volunteers walked with me over to medical to discuss my bladder situation where I was told to just drink a lot of fluids and if it didn’t clear up by tomorrow to see medical help. I was glad that was all I needed to do as I was ready to go find my family! I got my morning clothes bag (with my phone in it), my medal (I had completely forgotten about the medal in my post-race-haze), texted JMR, grabbed some pizza, had my official finisher photo taken, and then headed out of transition to see my family.

What a day, we all hugged and got a blurry group photo and then I headed back to transition to get my bike and gear bags and then JMR and I made the trek back to the condo. I was mostly in a haze and in shock at what had happened, that I actually raced Kona, and I had finished. I did it….we did it! It took a village – coach, friends and family, I am so grateful for all of them to help make this dream possible.

Post-Race