I watched my first Ironman when I was in my late teens and was in awe of what the men and women were physically and mentally able to do. The more I watched, the more I had a desire to do the same one day. Fast-forward many years and I began training for my first marathon through Fleet Feet Sports Huntsville. I couldn’t understand why I had such trouble breathing; I assumed I was just out of shape. Two years ago I found out that I had exercise-induced asthma. After trying different inhaled steroids, I still wasn’t much better. Then last year I found out that I’m allergic to all grasses and most trees. I take four medications daily and a rescue inhaler as needed. This has not stopped me from reaching my goals.My triathlon journey began last year with a sprint, an Olympic distance, and finally with ½ Ironman. This year I have completed seven triathlons and trained non-stop in preparation for Ironman Florida on November 2. The week before and leading up to the race, one of my sweet boys got me sick. The problem with taking steroids is that it weakens ones immune system; So it takes me longer to recover from a cold or flu shot. Two days before the race I was in bed with earache and head congestion. This is not how I wanted to be feeling going into my first Ironman race. So decided to suck it up and start taking DayQuil and ear drops. I woke at 3:30am the morning of the race to eat and get ready. I tried to lie down to relax, but it didn’t help much. On my way to get body marked, I told Marco that I was going to cry. He looked at me like I was crazy. My nerves were getting to me, or fear of the unknown.
Now it was time to get my wetsuit on and work my way down to the beach. Ironman had self-seeding for the swim start. Everyone was instructed to get into groups based on their projected swim times. I had planned on starting with Jodi Bump. As I looked for her, I heard the announcer ask about 1st timers and a lot of people that I was standing around, raised their hands. At this point I moved far right in hopes of finding some room. I felt my nerves getting to me again. I hear a lady behind me praying with another athlete and I start to cry. No I wasn’t PMSing! I looked around for Eric Doehrman’s calming words “easy peasy”, Jennifer Bell saying “it’s ok love”, or Dana DeBardelaben “you’ve done the training, now let it show”.
I couldn’t find anyone.
The gun went off and off I went.
It took me about 20 minutes to get into a rhythm swimming in the human blender. After the first loop the spectators that were behind a barricade were no longer, and were right at the waters edge. Since I couldn’t get past them to go wide I had to start swimming from inside the buoy line out. On my second loop, I saw some familiar swimmers around me. As I passed the second turn, I saw Huntsville’s Duck Dynasty (Clayton Warden), then came the zig zagger (Dink Taylor), and even someone doing the backstroke (Kim Holmes I thought of you).
Coming out the water, I headed to the strippers. My wetsuit got stuck on my watch, and then as the lady was pulling down my suit from my hips, she nearly took my tri shorts with it. I’m glad I had a lady and I won’t forget to tie my shorts next time. I headed to T1 and had the nicest chat with the lady helping me. I gave her a hug and I was on my way.
The first hour of the bike I rode very easy, knowing that I had many miles to go and a full marathon after the bike. Whenever I had a headwind or incline I rode easy and when I didn’t I took full advantage of the free help. At mile 50 the road was horrible. Every four feet there was a bump in the road. For the next 12 miles I was in pain. I was able to see my sweet friend Dana DeBardelaben at the bike special needs station. As I talked with her I squirted chamois cream down my pants and then took some DayQuil and was off again. Around mile 75 I started to loose my appetite for food and my EFS drink. I knew that I had to keep drinking and eating so I alternated EFS with water and took bananas from the aid stations or HoneyStinger Chews. My legs felt great on the bike; it was my belly that wasn’t feeling so good. Around mile 85 I noticed that I was starting to cough. I had already taken DayQuil so I shouldn’t have been coughing. The cough turned into my “barking” asthma cough. I backed off a bit and monitored it.
I felt strong all the way up to the moment I got off the bike. I stopped one other time to close my box that carried my bike supplies. As I headed into T2 this cute brunette asked if I needed help. We both gave each other that look “I know you”. It was Natalie Westbrook. We chatted as I got my run gear on and took my rescue inhaler. Sorry for being so stinky Natalie.
From the moment I got off the bike my legs felt good, but again it was my belly that wasn’t doing well. The first mile I went out a little fast, so I made a conscious effort to slow it down. Miles 2-9 I tried to keep a consistent pace. Any sign of belly problems I popped into a “gotta go” box. I ended up stopping briefly each mile, then after the half waypoint my stops lasted a little longer. I stopped eating during miles 9 and 10 and only took sips of water. I knew I needed to stay hydrated and try to continue to eat. At mile 11 I drank a coke and chicken broth. Yes, this vegetarian drank chicken broth!! This combo was the bomb!
At this point I began walking through part of the each aid stations. Half way through the run I took my special needs bag. I took more DayQuil and washed it down with Pepto. My stomach really started to rebel towards the end of the run. I made any necessary stop for as brief of a time as possible. As I was running in the dark, I’m thinking, “damn it’s dark, I should be relaxing with a glass of wine”. It would’ve been nice to have someone to run with, but either they were walking or running too slow. I thought about Christy Scott, Dana Overton, Dink Taylor, and Eric Fritz running a 100 miles at Pinhoti while I was finishing my run. No thanks guys. I don’t have any desire to run 100 miles!
I saw Eric Doehrman at mile 25 and he ran with me and chatted briefly. I was on my own and headed to the finish. The crowd was incredible, giving cheers & high fives. Once again I started to get choked up. It was almost impossible to cry and sprint to the finish. Yes, I said sprint. I can’t explain why I was upset. Was it the long journey that I’ve been on to get to this point, the wonderful people that have come into my life over the years, or the sadness of my mom not being able to be here to see me. Whatever the reason I made it.
