I’ve been quiet over here for a bit and so has my training. Usually during the off-season I shift into more of a running focus, however I had some various health issues that I decided needed to take priority. My stomach has always been sensitive but last May it took a turn for the worst, but the soonest I could see a specialist was November. Ugh. It made training for Kona a challenge, I ran loops near bathrooms and just sucked it up knowing I might get some answers and relief in November. I’ve also had what I suspected was an Inguinal Hernia that has been bothering me on and off over the years (I had an Ultrasound and Pelvic CT in 2021 but both didn’t show anything), however this year it seemed to show up often and was becoming more painful.
I was very grateful when November arrived and I could finally work on addressing the frustrating GI issues I had been having, and while there I also mentioned the hernia. For the GI issues she recommended a Colonoscopy as well as some bloodwork, and agreed that it was most likely a hernia and ordered an US. After many appointments (including a surgical consult), the colonoscopy found mild colitis (treating with a steroid) and the US confirmed a hernia. I had my hernia repaired 1/29, laparoscopic with mesh, and the surgeon also found a smaller hernia on the other side, so both left and right sides were repaired.
My surgeon had STRICT instructions of no exercise other than gentle walks for one month post-op. Oh boy, there goes my hard-earned fitness and my sanity! However to be honest the first week it hurt to move much, so I had little desire to do more than a short walk with the dogs around the neighborhood. By week two I could move a little move, but the swelling/bloating made the incisions tender and moving more than a few miles, very slowly, wasn’t very comfortable. By week three the incisions seemed to have healed and no longer hurt, the bloating/swelling had gone down some and I was able to comfortably walk around a 20 minute/mile pace for about 6 miles a day (an hour in the morning or at lunch and an hour after work). Week three is also when I started to get a little stir crazy/moody, I knew it would probably happen but I was glad it held off for a bit, and it helped knowing I was already half-way through the no exercise zone. Week four I walked about the same distances per day but upped the pace to a faster but still comfortable pace.
This past Monday was one month post-op, and I was excited (and a little nervous) to get back at it! I wasn’t sure how my body would handle it or how my repaired hernias would feel. I was warned by the PA that I might feel little sharp pains, which was the tugging of the staples around the mesh. Eek, terrible visual. She said occasionally feeling those little pains it was ok, but anything like a big sharp pain should be a concern. So I eased into things with a trainer ride Monday and other than feeling very out of shape, it felt good, no pains! Tuesday I ran an easy easy 3 miles, and also felt out of shape (no surprise) but no pains! Wednesday’s ride and yesterdays 3 mile run still felt good, so I’m feeling hopeful that next week I can up the distance/intensity a little. I also will start swimming next week as I thought that one might feel the most uncomfortable and wanted to wait an extra week.
We have also had other BIG news happening at our house, in January we added a new furry member to our family, meet Charlie! He’s a mini-Australian Shepherd, is full of energy, is quite vocal (lol) and loves Penelope (she’s still a little undecided)
Baby Charlie at 10 Weeks
Today he’s a little over 4 months old and still growing!
Once the horn went off and everyone started swimming it was impossible to find any place to swim, it was so crowded we were all swimming on top of each other. I tried to stay calm and kept trying to find an open spot, but my arms and legs were bumping into everyone around me. Finally after maybe 200 yards it thinned out a little and I was able to start really swimming, and at this point I was able to also go back to watching the sea life and blue water below me in between breaths which was lovely.
The time seemed to pass a little faster than the practice swim as there were so many more buoys to sight, and I just focused on swimming to the next one, and soon I could see the first boat where we turned right and were almost halfway done. I hit more congestion at the turn and decided to swim a little harder to get to the next boat and make the next turn to be on my way to the second half of the swim. Somehow it was still a little crowded on the way back and was finding myself having to stop a few times and completely move around people that were slower but swam right into me. I was a little frustrated which was maybe a good thing because I was able to push what felt like was a stronger pace on the way back. Soon I could see the yellow buoy which meant that we would turn right one more time to head to the finish. I really pushed the pace after making that turn because I was not only feeling good but excited to be headed to the bike. As I neared the pier steps, volunteers helped pull me up, one unzipped my swim skin and I started jogging to grab my bike bag. I decided to take a peek at my swim time before hitting the lap button for transition and was shocked when I saw 1:16! Woah!! A swim PR for me, at KONA! I was elated when running to the change tent.
my face while checking my watch, lol.
Once in the change tent though my mood changed a little, it was chaos in there. The tent was so crowded, I kept running through the tent hoping a chair would be open farther down but couldn’t find one. At the end of the tent I started to just put my bag down and put on my gear standing but finally a chair opened up. All of this disoriented me and once I was sitting I wasn’t sure what to do first. Finally I decided to do socks and shoes, then next I would put on my arm coolers, which even though they were rolled up so I could easily roll them on, were still tough with wet arms. Then I decided I would put my spray sunscreen on outside of the tent, so I grabbed my bike gloves to put on after the sunscreen and handed my bag to a volunteer.
Once I sprayed a ridiculously thick amount of sunscreen on my legs, I used my hand to wipe some on my neck/face then realized… Sunglasses!!! OMG! I forgot to grab my sunglasses! I ran back to a volunteer and told them I forgot something and was there any way I could have my bag back…she looked at me with a sad face and said ‘sorry, it’s been tossed back with all of the bags and would be pretty hard to try and find in the pile’. I said ‘My sunglasses are in there… I need my sunglasses to bike’ with tears of frustration at my stupid mistake. I added that it had pink duct tape with unicorns on it, to which another volunteer looked over and said ‘…pink with unicorns, I had that one, I think I can find it!’ and off she went! I ran back into the change tent to make sure I hadn’t left my sunglasses case on a chair because I was all disoriented when trying to get all of my gear, but they definitely were not there. I headed back out and waited and waited and finally I saw the angel of a volunteer running towards me with my bag!!!! She had my bag!! I dug my sunglasses case out of the bag, put them on, gave her the bag back, and with tears of relief told her she was amazing, wonderful and saved my race.
Feeling many emotions I ran to my bike, grabbed it and tried to quickly walk/run with it to the mount line. I finally hopped on my bike and was off, knowing I had some tough miles ahead but with my sunglasses on, I was ready for them!
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).
View from our LanaiRight on the Ocean!
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.
Practice Swim StartPractice Swim Finish
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).
Fancy luggage tags with our namesMy name on the IM Race Banner
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 getting dark so a blurry selfie was the best we could do
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.
JMR and my sister were spectating in regular clothes 🙂
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.
Racked and ready! Fancy bike racks at this race.
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.
How long will this actually stay on?
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.
JMR got a good picture of me lookin’ nervous.
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!
Off I went, and the bike course was crowded! The first part of the bike is a 6 mile-ish out and back along the Kuakini Highway, then up steep Palani to turn onto the Queen K highway to Hawi. During those first 12 miles I tried to just get settled in, making sure I had a clear line and wouldn’t end my race with a silly crash. The miles seemed to go by faster than they did when riding the course virtually via my trainer, I guess being there in person makes the experience just a little better 🙂
After I had finished the short out and back, I was headed up Palani when I heard my name, I turned to my left and saw my family on the hill! I cheered and waved as I kept shifting into a smaller gear, headed up up up the hill. Then I made the turn onto Queen K and thought, here we go. Right away I noticed that we definitely had a tail-wind, as I was hardly hitting my goal watts but cruising at a pretty good pace. That made me happy for the moment but also slightly dreading what kinds of winds I would have on the way back. The course was still pretty crowded but I never saw any drafting, everyone mostly had enough room to pass or ride single file outside of each other’s draft zone. I also saw many motos over the course of the bike, so they were paying attention!
Headed to Hawi
As I got closer to the Hawi climb I felt excited knowing it was only another 7ish miles before we reached the top of the climb and headed back towards Kona. Granted it was 50+ miles back, but still, getting closer! As I had been told, the climb wasn’t anything terrible, just a grind with occasional less grindy spots. We also really lucked out on the wind being mild as it can make the climb more challenging/scary. I finally made it to the top, turned around and then hit up special needs for my 2 additional bottles of nutrition and a bottle of water (I always add one so I don’t have to stop at the next aid station). A volunteer quickly handed me my bag and I got to unwrapping the bottles from the foil (to keep them cold, I even froze the bottles). After what felt like 10 minutes (I think it was closer to 4…also, I forgot to turn autopause off on my watch and it paused during this time during the race!! I know the real clock never stops but it’s nice to have the real race time on your watch), I was finally off and headed back down Hawi.
I was thrilled to have the downhill and was able to relax and cruise since the wind was mild and there weren’t any scary cross-winds to manage. After the downhill I knew we would have a pretty steep climb coming up around mile 74 so I just settled in and prepared for that climb. I had noticed earlier that my power numbers were crazy low but had figured it was due to tailwind, however I was was noticing now that without the tailwind, I was struggling to hit even close to my power numbers but my heart rate was high given the low watts. I was a little confused and frustrated, but decided not to spend too much time worrying about it because the goal for today was to just finish, so I quit looking at power and went by feel for the rest of the ride.
I hit the aid station before the next big climb, grabbed a fresh water and then another to douse myself to keep cool and got to it. I actually enjoy hills and climbing, but we did have some headwind which was a little wearing, not terrible headwind or crosswind, but my climbing was slow-going. I noticed so many ladies just flying by me like they weren’t climbing a hill, I mean I knew I was going to have a slower bike time compared to many of the women racing, but seeing them fly by like they just started the bike was something else! (In hindsight, I think my lack of power/high heart rate was more the reason for ‘feeling’ slow as I was actually truly going slow, lol).
The next 30ish miles were kind of a blur, consisting of more headwind, a few more hills (nothing crazy though but felt tough in the wind) and just more miles of volcanic rock and highway. I did take in the view of the ocean to the right, but was also trying to keep my neck happy and focus on the riders in front of me. When I saw the sign for the airport, I was thrilled. The airport is 10 miles from town so I was making progress. More volcanic rock and highway, more slow pedaling, soon I saw the airport! After passing the airport I could see runners in the distance and knew I was getting close. I found myself wishing I was on the run, so I went back to focusing on where I was right then, which was on the bike, and kept pedaling. Soon I was turning right at the stoplight to head to transition, I took a deep breath thinking ‘I did it. I am going to finish the bike’. I slowed down at transition and came to stop where a volunteer told me ‘Welcome Home!’.
After the race I sort of slept (the crappy kind of sleep you get post-race), but was up early to head to the Merchandise tent by 8a to wait in line for finisher gear, as it opened at 9a. I wasn’t even planning on going as I already got several things before the race….but not being able to sleep plus post-race emotions got me in line, lol. They opened a little early and I managed to not buy too much but got a few more things (jacket, long sleeved shirt, tank) that had ‘finisher’ on it. I hope they still fit when I’m not in race shape in a few weeks, lol.
That afternoon we headed to my parents resort to spend the afternoon with them since I didn’t see them much after the race and I had hardly spent much time with my sister and her husband except for Thursday morning. We ate lunch and hung out at their pool and then they got ready for their flight that night. Then I headed to a friend’s rental house to have dinner with a group from Saint Louis that came to cheer as well as the two other ladies that raced from STL. I was still pretty exhausted from the race and not having slept much but was thrilled to be included, especially since I hadn’t seen some of the people from the group in a few years, so it was great to go and catch up.
Monday I woke up with a sore throat and felt pretty crummy, but had chalked it up to post-race fatigue and figured it was just part of feeling run down from the race. I rallied and finished packing, we headed to Volcanoes National park and then were back at the airport around 5p to get ready for our trip back to STL. I was ready to go back home, sleep in my own bed, but also couldn’t believe how quickly it felt like the trip went by. However I still felt crummy traveling back, not sleeping much on the flights and wore a mask to hopefully keep others around me from getting whatever I had.
Volcanoes National Park
When we made it home Tuesday afternoon I had a surge of energy to unpack, start laundry, reassemble my bike…. and then crashed at 5p. I slept until 7p, was up for an hour and then slept from 8p to 8a. Woah, I was tired. However I felt even more terrible Wednesday morning and went to Urgent Care where I tested positive for COVID. Oh boy. Even though my symptoms started Monday usually they show up 5 days after being infected, so I had caught it well before then which meant I had raced with COVID and probably explained why my power on the bike was non-existent and why the run was a struggle.
Recovery has taken a while, between post-race, travel and sickness but am finally back to swimming, biking and running, all short and easy though. Reflecting on the race experience, I am so glad I got to participate and see what this race was all about. I see why people love this race and everything that comes along with it being on the island, and how special it feels – in fact it felt magical. This trip and experience is at the top of my list of best trips ever right now 🙂
So that’s really a wrap on my 2023 season, I am so grateful I made it to the Kona start line healthy and able to race, just getting there was a huge deal, so finishing it was icing on the cake. I also wanted to say that I couldn’t have gotten across that finish line without the support of all of my family, friends and coach as it takes a village! Months (well years) of work and sacrifice and without all of their support it wouldn’t have been possible.
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.
Seeing my family! Look at that sunscreen smeared on my chin, neck and legs, lol.
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.
I felt a little out of sorts while starting the swim, I knew I wasn’t pulling correctly or finishing my stroke, for some reason I am always in survival mode at the beginning of the swim, just trying to sight and what feels like, ‘just failing around’. However by the time I got close to the first turn buoy I was in a rhythm and felt good. I figured once I made the turn I would be settling in and could just ‘push, push, push’. However, once I turned the sun was right in my face and I couldn’t see a thing. I had tinted googles but they didn’t help at all…I couldn’t see the next turn buoy at all. I mean, I could see the shore/beach and knew I needed to swim somewhat parallel, but that was it. Ugh. So I swam and followed other people and was not super trusting of their path, but it was better than nothing. I knew at this point my pace was slowing since it’s hard to push yourself to swim fast when you don’t even know if you are going in the right direction.
So, I just kept chugging along, and I swear, it wasn’t until I was 5 yards away that I could actually confirm where the turn buoy was, it was that hard to see. Once I found it I thought ‘hooray!!!’, I made the turn and tried to ‘push, push, push’. As I was busy pushing (or my swim coach would say ‘gliding! focus on gliding!’), my watch beeped signaling I was at 2k. Oh boy. The beach/finish was waaaaay further away than 100yards, so I figured I had either done a crap job of following people or the course was long, either way, it was going to be a slow swim time. When I finally got to the exit I looked at my watch and saw 42 minutes and thought ‘ouch’. Des Moines was 36 minutes… that’s… a big difference. I hustled out of the water, got help from the wetsuit strippers to get out of my wetsuit, ran into transition and was out fairly quickly on my bike and ready to ride.
I am not going to lie, I was riding a little fired up from the slow swim, but after about 10 miles I made peace with it (such a waste of energy, but I was so irritated) and focused on my planned bike goals. The weather and temps were great and the road conditions were fabulous. In fact the roads all had a wide, clean shoulder so we were able to ride there and stay out of traffic, it was great! I focused on my nutrition and power plan, I grinded a little on a few hills I probably should have spun up but other than that, all according to plan! I rolled into transition feeling good and ready to run!
After a semi-quick transition (there was a rock in my running shoe and I had to take it back off to dump it out), I made the second game day decision and hit the porta potty before starting the run as I really had to pee and figured it would be better to just go now. Except I hadn’t prepared and as I dashed into the porta potty I struggled big time getting out of my tri kit sleeves, wasting precious time! I eventually did get it sorted out and hopped back out, but might try a different strategy at Kona to save time, lol.
So finally I was off to start the run! It usually takes me the first couple of miles to settle into a pace, so I tried to not pay attention to how terrible the first few miles felt and just keep moving forward, but by mile 3 I was like ‘this is awful, why does this feel so awful?!!?’. My body felt heavy and slow and awful, nothing specifically, just overall ugh. At the next aid station I decided to try pickle juice since I wasn’t sure what my issue was, but maybe I needed some salt after my stomach issues earlier that morning, so I drank half of a dixie cup of pickle juice. In hindsight, that was A LOT of pickle juice, but at the moment I was desperate. Well, that did not fix the issue and instead created a fire in my stomach…uhoh. This was going downhill fast. I decided to rummage through my emergency ‘kit’ in my handheld water bottle and took out 2 peppermint tums in case those might help settle my stomach. I have taken them in the past with not much success but again, I was desperate. Within a few minutes of eating them the burning in my stomach magically faded away! And I was starting to feel better! Maybe I did need sodium but the pickle juice was too harsh? Next time I’ll stick with my Base salt (not sure why I didn’t do that first) and avoid the pickle juice.
Once I took the magical tums, I was able to pick up the pace a little, but sadly it was far from my low 8’s goal pace as I was stuck in the 9’s, but at least I was feeling good. Once I hit the turnaround at mile 6ish I felt a wave of extra energy as I knew I only had one more loop and was going to be done soon. I could handle 6ish more miles, and I was going to finish and not feel crappy! On I ran, feeling like I was flying compared to how crappy I felt before, when in reality my pace was still only in the mid 9’s. I also wonder (was thinking about this post race) if I was subconsciously holding back because of my right hamstring issues I’ve been having and the fear of pissing it off if I ran too hard, as I spent a month after Des Moines nursing it back to being semi-healthy/less pain since that race pace really seemed to irritate it.
Finally I had a mile left and felt so much relief to be so close to the finish. This race wasn’t any sort of break through race or PR, but I felt that I had learned a few things and was going to finish the race. Honestly those are pretty important in the grand scheme of things! As I crossed the finish I saw I was just a couple of minutes over 5:40, not terrible given my swim and struggle during the run! In fact it was good enough for 2nd place in my age group and 6th female! I also managed to have a kind female athlete take post race photos of me on the podium (they only did live awards for overall so it’s just solo me on the step, lol), so I actually have a post-race photo for once (I forget them a lot of the time)!
Coming into the finish chute2nd Place Female 40-44
I will say…. the 8+ hour drive home might have been more challenging than the race! I would not recommend 🙂
Up next is my last big block of training before the big race… I am actually looking forward to it because I have some serious nervous energy about the race so it will keep me busy and burn off those nerves!
I am slow to get race recap posts done these days! Just about three weeks ago I headed up to Michigan to race the Michigan Titanium 70.3 on 8/13. I had been iffy about doing another 70.3 after Des Moines as there weren’t very many 70.3’s within driving distance in early/mid August, and the ones there were, were mostly flat. I was trying to find a course semi-similar to Kona as a good prep for the race and add in a good hard training day. I knew trying to simulate the heat would be a gamble but I at least wanted to pick a bike course that was hilly and hopefully a run course that was too. Obviously an ocean swim was out 🙂 but any OWS would be helpful, since I have only been training in a pool due to not many local OWS. So, after crunching the numbers, having a hilly bike and slightly-hilly run, Michigan Titanium looked like the best choice for me!
I drove up Friday morning since the trip was 8ish hours and I didn’t want to drive at night, and arrived around 5p (traffic through Chicago/Indiana…uggggh, rough). My hotel was in a nice little shopping area with lots of restaurants, so I picked up Chipotle for dinner and settled in for the night. Saturday I was up early, ate my big carb-loaded breakfast and after hanging out in the room for a bit for it to digest, I went to the practice swim at 10:30a. The water was on the edge of not being wetsuit legal, so I just wore a swim suit and boy was the water nice! Not only was the temperature nice, but it was a nice lake, not gross or murky! I managed to swim a little over 1k (practice swims still freak me out, I don’t feel like there are enough people in the water to scare away the lake creatures) and felt really good. Then I headed back to the hotel to shower and head downtown to where the packet pickup was.
Packet pickup was well organized and I was in and out in a jiffy. I bought a souvenir water bottle but was good about not splurging on anything else. Then I grabbed lunch from Panera and headed back to the hotel to lay low and get my bike ready for drop off in a couple of hours. After drop off I was once again back at the hotel and was in for the rest of the day/night to stay off of my legs. I ate my pre-race dinner of eggs, rice and sweet potato (this combination has changed slightly over the years but I think this might be the winning combination for me, lol). Lights out at 9p and I hoped to get some sleep!
Racked and ready!
My alarm went off at 4:45a, as my plan was to leave the hotel by 5:45a to get to the parking area and on the shuttles to transition by 6a as my race started at 8a. Well, I hit snooze thinking I would sleep a few more minutes, and I hardly ever fall back asleep race morning… but I did and the next thing I knew my phone showed it was 5:30a. Whoops! I tried to not panic as my original time to leave was still pretty early, ate my breakfast, got ready, hit the bathroom (my stomach was panicking though and it wasn’t in good shape), and then made a game day decision to take pepto bismol due to the state of my stomach. I still felt fairly calm, knowing this was a smaller race had really helped my nerves throughout the weekend, and just overall feeling less pressure to not be racing such a huge event like an Ironman 70.3 (I love those events too, but my pre-race nerves do not).
I was out of the hotel a little after 6 and made it to the shuttles by 6:15, not too bad! I was in transition by 6:30 and had plenty of time, I was even able to share my pump with a few others as I wasn’t needing to rush around. I also didn’t have to waste time in the porta potty line as after my upset stomach earlier, I felt pretty confident there wasn’t anything left in it. Soon I headed out of transition and waited by the swim start while getting (wrestling with) my wetsuit on. Easy peasy… I have never felt this chill before a race and it was AMAZING. I wanted to do well, but also, this wasn’t my A race so that just took the pressure off. It was going to be a long training day with some intensity, that was all 🙂
Soon the pre-race meeting started at 6:45, where we listened to last minute instructions and then lined up near our predicted swim time. The next thing I knew the horn went off and we were slowly, in groups of 3, entering the water. I was so chill I didn’t realize when it was my turn to head into the water that I didn’t even have my goggles pulled down, oops! After getting in the water, I had to stand up to readjust them, and then I was really off!
This is a very delayed race recap, I was waiting for JMR to finish editing the photos he took during the race, but he hasn’t had time, so I figured I better get this out of my brain before I completely forget everything before the next race 🙂
To be really honest, I wasn’t super excited about this race. I had originally wanted to do Steelhead 70.3 but my coach had convinced me to ‘try something new’ and this race fell around a similar time and was also only a 5ish hour drive away, so I figured I would sign up and ‘try something new’.
We arrived Friday evening (stayed in a hotel downtown), and Saturday morning I was up early-ish doing my usual 70.3 pre-race routine of getting coffee, doing some reading and then heading to check in at 9a and then listening to the athlete briefing at 10a. JMR tagged along with me, sometimes he prefers to avoid the race festivities/chaos but post-Covid everything seems less hyped up and more calm, which is also a little sad too. I tried to pay attention during the briefing since the courses (all three!) seemed a little confusing, the swim had three left turns and then two right turns… the bike.. had a lot of turns and loops, and the run, yep, lots of loops. All I managed to take away was remembering the turns on the swim and that on the bike there were railroad tracks at miles 7/41 (I might have that wrong, but somewhere around there) and then at mile 28(?) there was a huge steel plate that we needed to go very slowly over.
Racked and ready! Was parked nearby another purple matte QR!
Also, it wasn’t until a month or so before the race that I looked at the bike course and realized it was hilly! For some reason I figured it would be flat because Des Moines, IA sounded…flat. Well, it wasn’t with around 2,500 ft gain. On a normal day I wouldn’t mind a hilly course, but my bike training was still slowly ramping up with my A race in October and I had only ridden flatter terrain when riding outside (which I hadn’t done much of either, mostly trainer rides). So, I just felt a little unprepared. But with a race that ‘early’ in my season, that’s how it was going to be, otherwise if I had been training super hard, I could be burned out by the time October rolled around. My coach said this would be a good race to test my current fitness.
Race morning I was up around 4a, and due to my stomach being a bit off (I woke up with with angry stomach around 11a the night before), I just ate a Bobo’s oat bar and then took 2 Pepto Bismol hoping they would keep my stomach calm (Imodium seems too drastic and can cause other issues as it slows digestion so I try to save that for mid-race if really needed). We then drove to transition, I got my transition set up, and then we walked to the swim start where I waited in the porta potty line until 10 minutes before the swim start! 10 minutes is NOT enough time for putting on a wetsuit while warm and stressed and still having to get into the swim corral. I barely got up to my planned swim wave within the corral before the gun went off, yikes, that was cutting it much closer than I like.
Soon it was my turn to line up and run into the water, off I went thinking ‘here we go’, and trying to get into a rhythm. Why is it when I swim in a pool I feel strong and confident, but in a race in a lake around other swimmers it’s like I forgot how to swim? All form goes out the window, I’m sighting every stroke, it’s a mess. Finally about halfway in, I was able to calm down and get into a rhythm and feel like I was actually swimming. Once I got to the exit I saw my time, 36ish minutes, I was pretty happy considering how the first half of the swim felt! I ran to transition, took what felt like 10 years to dry my feet/put on socks and then helmet, sunglasses and was off.
The bike start/end goes through a park and does little loops around it and I really struggled getting into any kind of groove as I didn’t feel like I could ‘open up’ and start pushing with all of these little turns on bike paths. Finally when we hit the open road I was able to get into a better groove, only to have a million turns and u-turns. One thing that was in the back of my mind was ‘arrive alive’. It sounds dramatic, I know, but with the goal race in October, I just wasn’t willing to be aggressive with my u-turns and lost a lot of energy/speed slowing way down (too slow in hindsight), all SIX of the u-turns. There was also some serious headwind during the last hour and between that and the turns, I was just not feeling the bike course. I think I rode the last 10 miles pretty angry thinking ‘when will this be over’ and seeing that I was going to ride an almost 3 hour split was bumming me out. Oh boy.
I look happier than I felt, but was excited to see JMR!
Off the bike into transition and back out to the run, I had a sudden thought ‘I could just stop now, call it a good training day and skip the run’, and thought about it for a few paces. Then I thought, ‘I can fake it for 13.1 miles… just keep moving’. So I kept moving, remembering to just take it 1 mile at a time. I also really had to pee and it was uncomfortable, and thought if I could just pee, the run would be more bearable. However I was running in new shoes I wasn’t ready to commit to peeing while running, so .25 miles away from the next porta potty, I stripped my kit down to my waist, ready to hop in and hop out. I think the guys volunteering looked a little confused seeing me flying by, half undressed. I think the stop was pretty quick, then I fussed with my sleeves and zipping up my kit for the next .25 miles, but was definitely worth it as I already felt better and able to focus on pushing the pace. I reminded myself to just kept focusing on one mile at a time. I also kept asking myself ‘am I giving the best I can do right now?’ and confirming ‘yes’ or if not, pushing the pace a little bit. Then when I look back on the race and think ‘if I had only…’ I know at the time I was doing my best and it shuts down that thinking.
We got really lucky with the weather, it was mid 70’s and cloudy all day. I was prepared for the run to be a sufferfest, as in previous years it has been HOT and there is hardly any shade. I kept thinking about how lucky I was and that I had to keep pushing as I might not get another race with such ideal weather. About three miles to go I could feel my legs really slowing down and getting heavy, and I tried to keep pushing but the pace was slowing. Finally with about a mile to go I got a second wind and was able to push as we were back in downtown and I knew the finish line was around some corner 🙂 Finally I could hear the announcer and music and tried to find an extra gear and push, I made the last right turn and flew down the finish chute, feeling a huge relief crossing that finish line!
JMR met me at the finish and told me my time and I was shocked it was 5:39:58. I was pretty thrilled to be under 5:40 with the much slower than expected bike time. I still can’t seem to figure out how to get speed in my legs during the run, but at least I’m now consistently getting under 2 hours, now to get under 1:50! Then when JMR checked my place, he said I was 6th?!?! I have never placed that high in an Ironman branded race before, holy cow! Top 5 gets awards and that is a goal of mine, to place top 5 in an Ironman race (I won’t be picky, 70.3 or full, however usually 70.3’s are more competitive for me). I will say one positive of not being top 5 was that we could head back to transition to get my bike and gear and hit the road to be home by 7p. With awards not being until 4p, we wouldn’t have gotten home until close to midnight. But that is going to keep me coming back racing again for sure… so close!!
I will say that after racing Des Moines my view of it has changed, it was a fun race and very well run. I really liked the swim and run course – even with the swim turns, it seemed to make it go by faster to keep focusing on the next turn, and the run course being 3 loops had tons of support/cheering so that was also very motivating. The bike, well, I still am not a fan of the bike, not because of the hills, but because of all of the turns, however most of the pavement was in good condition and it was a closed course, so those might outweigh the negative of the u-turns. I have no idea what races I am doing next year, but I am not ruling out Des Moines 70.3 and being a possibility in the future!
When the emotional and physical fatigue won and I dropped out of Queeny at the end of loop 10, falling 4 loops short of my goal of 100k (62ish miles), I was really bummed out. After sleeping on it (for a couple of nights.. not as many as I probably should have) and chatting with my coach, I decided to give the 100k distance a go one more time before I fully switched over to triathlon training for Kona. There was a 100k at the end of March, The Prairie Spirit 100k in Ottawa, Kansas, just 4 hours away on the same course that I had run the 50 mile race in 2020. With it being three weeks after Queeny, we were going to treat Queeny as a ‘long run’ day, have a recovery week the next week, and then get in one more big weekend before the race. Let’s do it!
After the recovery week my legs were feeling pretty good, I was able to get in my speed work and tempo runs at the regular speedy-for-me paces, so I was pretty happy. However that weekend the weather was extra cold and windy (feels like 7 degrees, 16mph wind) so I decided to (ugh) do my 16 mile run on the treadmill. Halfway through my right pinky toe was starting to hurt, so I hopped off thinking I needed to trim it. I trimmed the nail even though it wasn’t very long, but hoped that would help. I was sad to discover once I hopped on the treadmill that it helped a little, but the discomfort was still there. Between the pinky toe and my mind just not being able to settle into the ‘long-ness’ of the run (I kept wanting to throw on more clothes and just go outside, thinking it would be less terrible), it was not a great run. But I got it done. That night when trying to sleep my pinky toe felt weird so I went to the bathroom to investigate where I discovered a huge blister..ugggggh. Since the fluid looked clear, I decided to drain it knowing running the 10 miles tomorrow would make it worse if I didn’t.
The next morning my toe looked ok, no signs that a blister had even been there, but I taped up the toe just to be safe. The weather was a bit warmer and hardly any wind so I was excited to get back outside. The run went great, legs felt great and toe felt fine. Hooray! Now let’s taper!
Usually during the taper week I’m antsy, excited, a little fearful (of the pain/suffering I’ll hit at some point), but overall excited. This week, I had doubt, doubt and doubt. Was this a rash decision? Well, yes, kind of. How would my toes hold up? My pinky toe got a blister 7 miles into the run on Saturday…ugh. How would my legs do? My quads were sore 4 miles into my 5 mile run that Tuesday of taper week…ugh. So, not feeling confident would be putting how I felt mildly, lol. I think the stars aligned during Queeny last year when I was able to run the 50ish miles on not many training miles. I was hoping the stars would align again at Prairie Spirit, but I knew I was going to have to dig deep and it probably wasn’t going to feel as ‘good’ as the 50 mile race did.
Friday a little before noon I headed to Ottawa, KS. Once I got to the hotel I unpacked, chilled for an hour and then went to packet pickup. I was nervous! Then that night I spent 45 minutes taping my pinky toes according to the information I had read in the book I had been studying – Fixing Your Feet, on blister prevention (it covers way more than just blisters, but that was the focus for this race due to my angry pinky toes). I had only practiced taping my toe once, which was on Sunday, and it did seem to help, but I was nervous. I wasn’t sure if my toes were still angry from Queeny or maybe my feet have changed and I needed to look into shoes with a wider toe-box to give my toes more room. Regardless, I wasn’t going to try new shoes on race day, so I figured I would try to follow the taping process to a T, be prepared with more supplies in my pack in case I need to re-tape during the race, and hope for the best.
Taped and ready to race!
3:55a my alarm went off and I was up. Ugh, I had the ‘pre-race dread’ feeling in my stomach, not as much as I usually do before an Ironman since this race was just less stress in general, but it was still there a little. I ate my pre-race breakfast, did some stretches, packed everything up and headed to the start at 5ish. Once parked I headed inside to use the bathroom – it was SO nice experiencing this race outside of COVID conditions. We were able to use the bathrooms inside the barn/warehouse, and everyone was hanging out inside also. During the race in 2020 there were porta-potties outside and we all waited in our cars right until we were to line up single file-ish at the start.
I knew it was a small group running the 100k, so I wasn’t surprised when there was just a little group of us headed with the volunteer to walk us to where we would start (about 500y from the warehouse/barn). I was very glad I wore my mittens because it was freezing! We chatted for the few minutes before they blew the horn and then we were off! I stayed with a small group of three others for most of the first hour as I wore a small cheap headlamp that clipped on my hat since I didn’t want to lug my big headlamp around for the whole race when I’d wear it for 45 minutes at most. It worked ok, but I figured I might as well stick with the others for better visibility and they were running around my planned pace.
Once the sun came up I picked up the pace a little as I was feeling good and because I also needed to the hit the bathroom. I was determined to not wait in line again like last year (I swear it was close to 15 minutes) and knew at this early stage in the game, the women were all behind me, lol. I reached the first aid station at mile 6.5 and hit the bathroom, and then was quickly back on the trail.
I kept a good pace around 10/10:30 and was feeling good, except for all of the little rocks in my shoes. At the next aid station at mile 13 I refilled my water and also dumped the rocks out of my shoes. This is where I need to say the volunteers were AMAZING. At this point, even with mittens my fingers weren’t working well and the volunteers put my skratch in my bottle and one even tied my shoe for me! I was so grateful for them! Once I was back on the trail I knew it was going to be a little tougher mentally as the next two aid stations were 9 miles apart, there were water jugs available about halfway through, but not having that little mental break of an aid station was going to make it harder. I tried to settle in knowing it was going to be a long day and to just enjoy being out on the trail, and especially in pretty darn nice conditions (Queeny 2023, I’m staring at you). My frozen fingers were even starting to thaw and become functional again.
As I got closer to the next aid station, I recognized the area from the 50 mile race, passing a lake and then coming into the little town/train station at Garnett. For some reason that got me excited, even though I knew I still had another 9 miles after this aid station before I turned around. With the aid station in view, I heard the loud rumble of a train and realized I was going to have to wait as the train crossed before continuing. In a triathlon that would have made me really upset, but not so much in a race where I had zero time goals and just wanted to finish. I appreciated that I was forced to stop, so I would take the time to dump more rocks out of my shoes. Once I tied my shoes the train had passed and I continued to the aid station which was located inside the train station had it ALL. OMG. All kinds of food in mini baggies: peanut m&ms, cookies, rice krispie treats, chips, popcorn… also they were cooking bacon.. just woah. Too bad my stomach wasn’t up for it though, so after refilling my handheld, I was on my way to the turn around.
After a couple of miles the sun was really starting to come out, which I was happy and thrilled about, but was also starting to get extra thirsty. Also my body and legs was starting to get tired. ‘Oh no’, I thought to myself ‘I’m not even halfway, this is going to be rough.. should I just drop at the turnaround?’. The negative thoughts were starting. I tried to keep thinking positive thoughts to keep the negative ones away. However around mile 26 I started to see runners coming back from the 100k turn around and also some 100 mile runners were passing me, so I started to just feel really slow. I felt like I was never going to get to the turn around, let alone finish. At mile 27 I decided that it was time for some music on my trusty iPod to quiet my thoughts. I also decided at the aid station I was going to take a little breather to try and help reset my head, as there was no need to rush since finishing was just the goal (but I didn’t want to finish in 30 hours so walking the rest of the way was also NOT an option for me).
I was so happy to see the aid station, the first matter of business was to hit the bathroom as my stomach was a little angry. I wasn’t sure if it was the picky bars, but I decided maybe I would hold off on those during the second half and see if that kept my stomach happy after this pit stop. After hitting the bathroom I got my drop bag and refilled my pack and my handheld. I also decided to take off my long-sleeve shirt and arm sleeves as it had gotten warm enough to run in just a t-shirt. Then after lingering for a couple of minutes too long, I finally headed back on the trail to begin the second half of the race. It wasn’t until a couple miles later that I realized I hadn’t even asked about dropping, and was glad my brain hadn’t entertained the idea I had thought about earlier.
It was definitely getting warm, I knew it wasn’t supposed to get higher than 60 but it felt like it! I was still extra thirsty so I stopped at the un-manned aid station to refill my water. My legs were feeling tired and I was trying to play math games to occupy my mind, like thinking that once I got to mile 36 it would be less than a marathon left. But then I thought ‘Who the heck thinks that though?! A marathon is FAR’. So that didn’t really help as I was talking myself out of my own mind games. Finally I reached the amazing aid station again at the train station in Garnett, which was mile 39. I asked a volunteer which foods were popular and also helpful for an unhappy stomach, and she said the cheesy quesadillas and mini potatoes. Cheesy quesadillas?! Mini potatoes?! I did not see either of those the first time! I thanked her and happily took both. Sadly though, after taking a bite of the quesadilla I could hardly force myself to swallow the bite, my body said NO to the flavorful quesadilla. So I had to toss it (I’m still sad about this, it was even cooked in bacon grease, I wish I had one now) but I was able to slowly munch on the potatoes as they were a little more bland.
After a mile of shuffling I tried to pick up the pace, and it looked like 11ish pace was the best I could do. I knew this was going to be another long stretch with 9 miles between aid stations, so I was looking forward to refilling my water at the non-manned water station as a mini break. Shuffle, shuffle, doing stupid math, wondering if maybe I should drop at the next aid station at mile 48ish. 48 miles sounded admirable. A good enough distance, worth the hotel and drive, right? I refilled at the un-manned water-station and decided to just walk for a bit as my stomach seemed to be on the verge of angry, and took some tums hoping that would help too. Finally after a mile of walking, I decided to pick it up as my bad-math told me it would take me next year to finish if I walked the rest of the way.
Then around mile 46, my right pinky toe started to really hurt and then it felt like my nail came off… or like something was in my sock no longer attached to me. Oh boy, since it hurt to run, I decided I would stop, take off my shoe/sock, get the nail, use my kit to clean/re-tape and carry on. Easy enough. Except to my surprise when I took the tape off, the nail was still attached, what the heck? Then I saw liquid coming from somewhere around the base of the nail and realized a blister must have burst. I cleaned it with my alcohol wipe, re-taped and carried on. My spirits were low, and despite verifying my toenail was still on my toe and it was just a blister that burst, my pinky toe still really hurt. I took off my vest, pulled out my phone from the back zip compartment and texted JMR that I was at mile 46 and was thinking of dropping at 48.
Not even a couple of minutes after I sent the text, I had the same feeling on my left pinky toe, but was more confused because there was no nail there (I lost it shortly after Queeny), so what was this pain?! And then I felt a pinch and saw liquid coming through my shoe where the toe was. Oh good grief, there was a blister on that toe that just now burst. Ouch! Gross! Gross! Ouch! I frantically texted JMR what just happened, while hobbling because now both toes hurt so much when walking. I saw my coach had recently texted me so I gave him the run down, expecting him to agree with my decision to drop. He replied suggesting seeing if the next aid station can check/help with blisters to continue on, only 13 more miles. ONLY 13 MORE MILES PLUS THE 2 TO GET TO THE AID STATION my brain screamed. That was far when each step hurt. I replied that I had a kit on me and had already taped one, but wasn’t sure what to do about the other, and decided I was going to put the phone away and see if shuffling/running felt any better. I knew I needed to move forward and staring at my phone wasn’t going to help.
As I started to run, my toes felt a little better, and I was able to get back to an 11ish pace. At this point, since the both toe incidents happened while I was walking, I was scared to power-walk again case it would cause blister-drama on other toes. That kept me driven and focused until I made it to the next aid station. Once I made it to mile 48ish aid station, I refilled my water and headed back on the trail, running and feeling good. Once again it was a mile after the aid station that I realized I hadn’t asked about dropping, and once again I was glad. 12 miles to go, I could do this I told myself. I also decided to pull out all of the stops and listen to my spotify playlist on my iPhone, which I was saving for desperate times/the final push. As soon as I put the music on, my spirits were lifted and I felt ready to go, less than 12 miles, I CAN DO THIS. Just don’t walk, no more blisters. That was my mantra. I just kept running, finding new energy in my legs once I realized how painful things could get when comparing to the blister incident pain. This leg fatigue pain was nothing.
I made it to the next aid station at mile 54ish, refilled my handheld and then had several mini cups of coke, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea but I was hoping for an extra boost from the caffeine and sugar. I was back on the trail, 6.5 miles to go! Just a little over an hour, I can do this, I kept repeating. Then my stomach decided it was angry about that large amount of sugar I just drank, and I needed to find a spot now. Unlike during the 50 mile race where I barely had time to get off the trail, I was able to climb through some bushes/branches and get at least six feet back behind even more bushes and was able to take care of things hidden. Phew. I jumped back out on the trail right as a guy was walking by and gave him a good laugh, he said ‘When you gotta go, you gotta go’ and I laughed too and said ‘You got that right!’.
As the miles counted down, 5 miles… 4 miles left, I was still running around an 11ish pace, legs feeling good considering how many miles I had run and toes doing alright too. With 2 miles to go, I texted JMR as I never told him I didn’t drop and was still going. I got a little teary-eyed in disbelief that I was going to finish this race. I had really started to doubt that I could finish this before I even got to the turn around, I had so much fear my legs weren’t prepared to run this far, yet here they were at mile 60, feeling ‘good’.
I could hear the roar of traffic as I ran towards the path along the highway which lead to the finish. I picked up the pace and knew it would all be over soon in a mile or so, which made me happy and a tiny bit sad that my big adventure was coming to a close. I could see the big barn/warehouse and then made the left turn to run up the little sidewalk that led to the finish arches. I heard the announcer shout my name and say congratulations as I crossed the line, I could not believe it! I had done it! A volunteer handed me a railroad spike with the words ‘3rd female’ on it saying I was 3rd female for the 100k, now that was a surprise! I think there weren’t many females racing the 100k anyways, but I thought for sure I was one of the last.
So happy to have finished and also surprised about 3rd place!
After taking a breather I texted JMR, my parents and coach the news that I had finished the race with a time of 12 hours and 11 minutes. Phew! I got my drop bag, changed clothes and debated eating the post-race food, but my stomach shouted NO like it did to the poor quesadilla. So I got in my car for the 4 hour drive home, with plenty of snacks and a diet coke. 🙂 What a day, what a race! I knew it was going to be tough but didn’t expect it to be tough starting at mile 27… but I finished and realized I was mentally and physically tougher than I had realized going into this race. I was also still shocked that my legs carried me the whole way, pretty much running the entire last 15 miles. I reminded myself that they were getting a big break if I wanted to keep running until I was very old 🙂
Now I have a nice long week of recovery and then eventually slowly building up for Des Moines 70.3 in June!
Running in the Moment 