This has been the biggest race of my life, a goal I wasn’t sure I’d ever achieve, so it’s going to a be long pre-race and race recap as there is so much to say!

We left Saint Louis early Saturday morning, a week ahead of the race to ensure I had plenty of time to get settled, make sure my bike was good to go, get in some swims, rides, runs and soak in the race week festivities. Once we arrived after a long day of travel (which included a 2:30a wakeup call) we made a quick run to the grocery store for some food/supplies and crashed around 9p (which was 2a our time, phew).

Sunday I was up very early due to the time change, but managed to lay in bed until 4:30 and then got up and got ready to head down to the pier for the practice swim. I wasn’t nervous about the swim since I knew I wasn’t racing it, but knowing I would have to do this plus a looong bike and run after on race day, made it just seem intimidating. I hoped when I finished the practice swim I still felt strong and felt like I could still race for 11+ hours.

Boy I am glad I did the practice swim, first off I had NO idea that saltwater can cause chaffing! I hadn’t put any bodyglide on that morning, but my friend filled me in on this key information and after using some of her trislide (another lubricant), I managed to stay mostly chafe-free except my poor neck, which I could feel starting to burn 500 yards in. Sighting was rough as there were only four buoys, so honestly I just followed the swim caps and kept on swimming. One thing I also didn’t expect was how beautiful swimming in the ocean would be, wow! The water was really blue, even when you were in it, and it was so clear you could see all the way to the bottom and see corral and fish, it was like watching a movie. Despite the slow-going from the neck burning and not really seeing where to go, I was able to pass the time by just looking into the ocean and after hitting the turn around and was headed back to shore. The second half of the swim was more neck-burning and ocean watching until I could see the arches for the swim exit.

When I got out of the water and checked my watch I was a little bummed seeing my time was 1hr and 25 minutes, as my goal was 1hr and 20 minutes or less. I have been swimming SO much, but I know pool swimming is very different than ocean swimming, which as of that day, that was the first day I have ever practiced it. However the practice swim course was also a little long, 200m or so, so taking those few extra minutes off plus pushing the pace a bit more (and better sighting) would get me closer to my goal on race day. However in the end, the goal was to be here, and here I was, so I wasn’t going to stress too much about my swim time. After the swim I headed to the Merchandise tent to buy a hat, water bottle and long-sleeved shirt and then drove back home to finish unpacking and hang out at the condo. That night JMR and I had dinner at Pappa Kona’s downtown where I had delicious fresh fish tacos and was in bed by 7p. The time change was rough!

Monday morning I met my friends again for an easy 800y swim (to the coffee boat!) followed by an easy 45ish min ride on the Queen K. I met up with one of the friends for the ride so that I wouldn’t have to ride solo, as it can be kind of scary with the crosswinds as well as traffic. Boy was I glad because I wouldn’t have made it 5 minutes solo, the winds were rough and traffic on the highway was scary! But we did it and I was glad to have gotten a spin on my bike to make sure it was riding ok and also a little bit of a feel for what the course would be like. Later that afternoon my parents arrived, so that evening we met them at their resort for dinner and once again I was in bed by 7:30. I figured with race day starting at 3:30a, I wasn’t going to force myself to get too adjusted to the time change.

Tuesday morning JMR and I went on a kayak and snorkel tour, which in hindsight something involving intense paddling with my arms before the race wasn’t the smartest. I wasn’t the best paddle partner and let JMR do most of the work, but I still helped! We got to kayak along the coastline, through boulders and passed by a cave. We also had the option to cliff jump but no one in our group was up for the challenge (maybe I would have after the race? maybe?), so we headed to snorkel next, however JMR and I both managed to get seasick on the way to the snorkel spot, so we weren’t able to really enjoy the snorkeling. Fortunately once we were on land we both felt much better.

After the tour I got my bike ready to go to head to the QR tent at the expo for a quick check, and then I headed to Athlete Check-In. The check in was very efficient and surprisingly quick, I thought I would get teary eyed or feel more emotional, but I don’t think it hit me until I was already back outside checking out my big fancy Kona World Championship backpack (we get swag with every race at IM events, usually at full IMs we get a backpack).

It all felt like a dream, from the moment I walked up to the gate at the Denver airport for our flight headed to Kona, to the deep blue ocean swim, to the beautiful ocean view from our balcony… I just couldn’t believe it was happening. That night JMR and I went to our ‘fancy’ dinner at Jackie Ray’s and it was delicious, and was glad because the next several nights we were eating in at the condo 🙂

Ironman had several race briefings for ‘Kona first timers’ Wednesday morning, which I thought would be helpful. I attended the swim one at 8a, then headed out for a short practice swim, then went to Target for a few items and was back at Ironman Village for the bike/run briefing at 11a. I think the sessions were helpful, there were a few things I learned, however this being my 8th Ironman, and having raced in hot conditions before, maybe it was information overload and I should have spent that time relaxing in the condo instead of walking miles and miles around downtown.

That night we were doing a Manta Ray swim which was something I knew I wanted to do once I knew we were going to Kona. Even after reading about it, I still wasn’t really sure what to expect, but from what everyone had told me and from what I had read, this was a must-do while here.

It was awesome! Well, actually it was scary at first when the Manta Rays come swimming RIGHT UP to your face/body, but after the first few times I got used to it (and I stopped shrieking in my snorkel). We were in the water for 45 minutes which didn’t sound long to me when I signed up, however being in the water at night it felt cold even with the wetsuit jacket, so it was the perfect amount of time as I was ready to bundle up in a towel once we got out!

Thursday morning was the infamous Underpants Run, which I was on the fence about participating in, but I am glad I did since it was so much fun seeing everyone dressed up in silly costumes/apparel. We ended up just walking the first .25 miles and then stopping to watch everyone go by and then checked out some of the downtown shops with my family.

Later that morning I had a Team Zoot meetup and photo, and while I was downtown I also got an Acai bowl that was SO good (Acai bowl and swimming with the Manta Rays were pretty high on my to-do list, well along with finishing the race, lol). Then I headed back to the condo to lay low the rest of the day while JMR headed to a Star Gazing tour with my family.

Friday was also low key and the only thing planned was to head to drop off my bike and gear bags. However it still took some time to pack as usually we have access to our gear bags race morning to add anything we forgot or add nutrition, but at this race we did not have access race morning so I had to triple check each bag.

After dropping off the bike and gear bags, I prepped my race bottles, put on my race number tattoos, ate an early dinner and was in bed by 7p.

Saturday I was up at 3:30a, ate breakfast and then we were in the car by 4:30a to park closer to the start as our condo was 3ish miles away which I had no interest in walking that much before or after the race. 🙂 Then we walked the .8ish miles to the start so I could head to transition to drop off my personal needs bags, pump tires, and then hang out until it was time to head to my swim corral at 6:30a. The time went by surprisingly fast, and soon it was almost 6:30 so I headed to the corral and lined up with the other women 40-44 in green swim caps. Once again, it was unreal, I really couldn’t believe I was lined up to start the Ironman World Championships, like… no way. I was nervous but it was a different kind of nervous than I normally feel pre-race, I didn’t really have set time goals or expectations, except to finish, so that took some pressure off, but more nervous of the unknown since I knew this course was going to be different than any other I have raced. I trusted in my training and I knew my body could get me through the 140.6 miles, but what I might encounter throughout the day to get to the finish had me anxious.

As our group headed to the stairs to enter the water, I saw a sign with ‘Anne-Marie’ and saw my mom!!! I waved to her and shouted ‘Margaret/Mom!’ and got her attention as I walked with the group towards the pier. I entered the water and swam to the invisible start line, formed by volunteers on surf boards, and treaded water waiting for the horn to go off. When we were all lined up, the announcer said ‘ladies you have 40 seconds until the start’ and all of the women let out a cheer. I had goosebumps, this was happening. Then the horn blared, and we were off!

The Swim