Full Ironman #2 - 2007 Ironman Arizona

 Getting to the starting line of this race was quite an accomplishment all on its own. I finished my race season early last year at the Vineman 70.3. I finished with a chronic injury involving my right piriformis and my right hamstring. It had my running muscles aching before I even got off the bike. I had incisional hernia surgery scheduled for mid-August and thought that the 2 weeks before and 6 weeks after should be enough time for my hamstring & hip to heal.

 About a week before my surgery, we had a sewage spill in our house (I’m talking a river of sewage running through the house complete with a waterfall down the steps to the living room). This led to the discovery of toxic mold in our master bathroom and kitchen. We had to move out of our house within 2 days of getting the news & then proceeded to live a nomadic lifestyle moving from friend’s house to hotel back to friend’s house (we made 14 moves from August to January). It made training a bit difficult. Oh, and did I mention that my then 3-year-old daughter had just had tonsil & adenoid surgery in July?

Back to my leg injury: Unfortunately, the first short run I did after my surgery left me with a piriformis and hamstring just as sore as they were before the time off. I decided it was time to go see someone about it. Dr. Steve, Dr. Vid, and Dr. C at TEAM Clinic in Santa Clara discovered that I had given myself scoliosis stemming from a large muscle imbalance in my back (from carrying my two small children predominately on my left side). This misalignment caused some nerves in my lower back & hamstring to misfire & manifested themselves into my leg pain. I also had some midback pain associated with the whole mess. The main issue was getting rid of all my scar tissue, while lining everything back up to where it was supposed to be. Just due to muscle tightening, my right leg was quite a bit shorter than my left. Through ART, stretching, core exercises and a lot of rolling around on tennis balls & foam rolls, my legs are the same length again, and the pain is mostly gone. On the rare occasion when it flares up, I have the know-how to get rid of it. I know a lot of you think this chiropractic stuff is some sort of voo-doo, but it really does work!

Just when we were two weeks away from moving back into our house and I was just getting back into running again, I rolled my left ankle hard by sliding down the carpeted steps at a friend’s house. Merry Christmas to me. I heard a loud popping noise & wondered what I had done to myself now! Turns out I had torn the fascia that holds my toe tendons down, but luckily had not damaged my tendons or broken any bones. Once again TEAM Clinic helped put me back together :) I didn’t start running until the end of January & it wasn’t pain free until I fully rested it the week before the race. I am happy to say that there is no pain in my ankle after the race!

But wait, I’m not finished - I didn’t yet have enough cards stacked against me. A little over two weeks before the race, stupid me decided it would be a good idea to swap out my aluminum seatpost for a carbon one. I figured I wouldn’t be changing my position, just making my bike lighter. Well without boring you with the details, let’s just say the aluminum seatpost had become one with my carbon Hotta frame. Sadly, I was unable to get the old seatpost out. Darrell Eng (he also raced at Arizona) at Front of the Pack in Palo Alto tried earnestly to get my seatpost out as well, but he too failed. He was extraordinary by practically giving my a P3 Carbon (he sold it to me at cost). Charged me no labor for swapping out my components & gave me a free bike fit that lasted an hour and half. I only got to ride the bike 3 hours before I had to ship out to the race, but had no real problems on the bike at the race - THANK YOU Darrell!

So, now you know that I really was thankful just to be on the starting line :) So, prerace nothing really worth noting. Hung out by the portos and worried a lot. Jumped into Tempe Town Lake (I’d swear it was a river, but locals insist that it’s actually a lake). The water is a brown and disgusting. You can’t see your own hand when it’s stretched out in front of you. However, it was the perfect temperature with a wetsuit on. Not too hot, not too cold. The start was much wider than it was for IM Wisconsin in 2005 (my only other Ironman experience), so thankfully it wasn’t as brutal a start as my first ironman. I had my own space as long as I didn’t try to swim the shortest line right up against the buoys (these are hard to find anyways, since the rising sun is glaring off the water and on to your goggles). Normally I’m a good drafter, but because the water visibility was zero, I’m sure I drove a few people temporarily insane hitting their toes over and over again. If you are thinking of doing the race, practice siting efficiently. Some people were lifting their entire chests out of the water every other stroke. If you can just swing your head to the front after taking a breath without lifting your chest, you can save yourself a lot of energy. One thing to note, the swim past Rural Rd bridge is a lot longer than it looks on the map. I kept wondering if there was a third bridge in the middle that I had somehow missed on the map :) Then, just when I had convinced myself that I hadn’t swum under the Rural Road bridge yet, there was the first buoy. As expected, people get crazy physical around the buoys, doing their beastly breaststroke kicks and clawing their way around. I hate this - just turn 90 degrees and keep swimming freestyle, gol dang it! Got smacked in the back of the head once around this first buoy and then again just before going under the Rural Rd bridge on the return. Whoever it was hurt himself more than he hurt me. I heard him yell “All Right...” I ignored him & kept swimming - he hit me, right? There was only one other woman that I saw the entire swim (we had blue caps, men had white). We kept swapping positions. I thought the swimmer with the long nails scraping me must have been some female with Flo-Jo like acrylic nails, but I was wrong - it was a guy. Please guys, cut your nails before the swim start - really, don’t they just add unnecessary weight? I mean, the extra water that you’re pulling with these claws can’t amount to much when you are getting them stuck in other people’s wetsuits. Return swim was then uneventful until the last buoy into the finish. Some a-hole grabbed my left thigh squarely, and pulled for what seemed like a good 10 seconds (which, believe me, is a long time when you are going backwards that close to the swim finish). At first I was thinking , “let go of my f-ing leg, you slimy bastard,” but then I thought that was a pretty crafty cheating tactic since I wasn’t able to kick him in the face (oh, and believe me, I tried). Up the steps and over the timing mat. Hooray! I bested by IMWI time by a minute.

2.4 Mile Swim 1:02:08 1:39 per 100m 7/98 age group, 224/2066 overall 

T1 (swim to bike transition for all you non-triathletes) was good. Didn’t see Graeme (a friend of Mike & myself who came out to watch the race) - guessed he was busy shooting the pros with his press pass (Graeme you crack me up - I can’t believe you talked your way into a press pass). Lots of spectators lining the chute, and the wetsuit puller-offers are awesome. I still wish these volunteers existed in shorter races! Ran with my wetsuit, around to the bags. They have a good system of calling out your number over a speaker before you round the bend to get your bag. Into the change tent where your own personal volunteer dumps your swim to run bag on the ground and asks what she can do. Make sure to put a small towel in your bag to wipe the grass off your feet - my feet were covered. Out of the tent - thought it was prudent to stop and get covered with sun screen. After all, the race is in the desert! I did have to wait about 30 seconds or so for my bike after I explained that the bike they were handing me wasn’t 2210 (my number), but was 2211. No matter, didn’t bother me at the time, I just used the time to get my heart rate down. Clip-clopped to the mount line and was on my way.

T1 5:17

The first loop (you do 3) on the bike was great, the wind was minimal (probably 7-10mph) and I was doing 22mph out of town. This surprised me since the way out of town is a slight uphill grade, but I was properly humbled when I learned it was just the wind pushing me at the turn around. Butterflies are kind of my spiritual cheerleader, so I pray before my big races to see them on the course just so I know that I’ll be OK & that I’ll finish. I knew there weren’t going to be so many butterflies in the desert, especially on a windy day, but I was still looking :) Just a couple miles or so on to the course, on Rio Salado I happened to look up and saw a giant butterfly on a billboard (woo-hoo!). That was cool and settled me down into the ride. So after I turned around and hit the wind, even though I was now going downhill, I averaged about 18mph back into town. You get a nice lift from the crowd at the Mill St bridge & it was so nice to get out of the wind at the bridge turn around. I heard Graeme somewhere near the start of the second loop, but didn’t see him. My vision was a bit blurry, don’t know if it was the wind or dryness or what, but between the bike vibration and my contacts not being clear, there was no way I was going to make a face out in the crowd. Back out onto the course, dang! I forgot to look for the billboard. No problem, I’ve got one more loop to look. Now I’m going 24mph, so I know the wind will be stronger when I turn around. It’s definitely harder now going into the wind. The hourly weather forecast I had looked at was right on the money. Now the sustained winds were around 15mph with some larger gusts. Now I’m averaging about 16mph downhill back to town. Somewhere along this second loop my stomach started getting tight. I was drinking more since it was so dry and windy & since I was drinking more Gatorade & my raspberry lemonade concoction (raspberry hammer gel & lemonade Gatorade), I was taking in too many calories. I cooled it on drinking for the next half hour & stuck to water at the next aid station. So just as the pros are getting out of the wind, it gets ugly. On the third loop I forget to look up at the billboard again. Just as I’m crabbing at myself for missing it, a small butterfly ambles right in front of my bike - that was a total spirit lifter & that was a brave butterfly out in 20mph winds! Early on in the loop, I catch a glimpse of Rutger Beke cruising into T2 - envy fills my soul. But it’s OK, so now I’m going uphill at 26mph thinking I’ve got this 20mph avg thing bagged, and let’s get on to the run. I should have clued in that 26mph uphill is awfully fast, especially for me! By now, my elbows are sore and my traps are killing me - no doubt due to a more aggressive position and the new bike in general. I shrug it off, thinking I don’t need my elbows and traps to pedal & I don’t need them to run, so who cares. Then I hit the turn around - a wall of wind hits me. Alright, now we’re up around 20mph sustained with 40mph gusts. This is getting a bit ridiculous, but at least this is it. I just have to crawl back to town & I can get off this God-forsaken lump of carbon (really, the P3C is awesome, but I was done at this point). Just after the turn around I notice my left foot is starting to get “hot foot” where the metatarsal area swells up and the pressure becomes painful. I had this at IMWI around mile 40 and it was severe by the end of the ride. I thought no socks would solve the problem, and that certainly helped since I only had about 18 miles to go, but it didn’t stop the problem altogether. I decided to do some extra toe wiggling and dumped water on my foot at every aid station - that did the trick. Now I was slowing to 12mph in some spots & had to come out of the aero position (which I had barely done previous to this) just to keep from getting blown over. It was mainly a head wind, but there were some good swirly gusts sweeping sideways too. I heard a couple tales after the race about near misses and battles with tumble weeds in the spokes. I was glad to have been spared! With 11 miles to go, Mike (my husband) goes screaming by me & doesn’t notice me till I yell at his behind (well, I did just get a new bike & he must have been in the zone). This helped my morale, because he was having an awesome bike & his swim must not have been as bad as he imagined it would be. That lasted for about 30 seconds until the next swirly gust smacked me in the face. Darrell would tell us later that he lost both of his contacts on the bike - even with sunglasses on. I wear contacts, but if I lost both of them on the bike my race would be over. I have to special order my contacts because no one keeps my prescription (or anything remotely close to it) stocked. Time for lasik. Well, until then, an extra pair goes in my T2 bag. I always keep an extra pair in my swim to bike bag because sooner or later someone will knock off my goggles and I’ll lose them in the water, but I never even considered them falling out on the bike. Luckily Darrell was prepared & had another pair for the run. So back to the bike, I desperately wanted to stand up and change positions, but there was no way I was going to stand up in that wind. On previous loops, the wind dissipated once you turned off the Beeline, but not on the third. Seemed to still be a headwind even when you turned 90 degrees. Shades of Wisconsin 2005, but the wind was much stronger this time. I also needed my inhaler the second half of this loop, but didn’t have it. I’ve never had breathing issues on a bike before, but then I don’t usually ride 112 miles in the desert with 40mph wind gusts either. I was never so happy to be getting off a bike, and these sentiments were shared by everyone else around me. Misery loves company. I still managed to meet my goal time (just barely!), but man did the second half of the last loop crush my average. I really improved my bike from Wisconsin (thank you Megumi, Stuart, and Graeme for kicking my sorry behind every Saturday). In Wisconsin my bike time was 27^th in my age group, this time I was 9^th with a tougher field and a tougher conditions (well, maybe not tougher conditions, but certainly windier). I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I was riding a new P3C (thanks again, Darrell!).

112 Mile Bike: 5:55:16, 18.9mph 9/98 age group, 470/2066 overall 

T2 is awesome. As soon as you step off your bike, a volunteer takes it. You run up and around the bags, got my bag & then ran directly (with my aero helmet still on) into the porto-john. It was so dry & windy, I didn’t have to pee until the last hour of the bike & I figured I could just hold it until I got off. That worked, but I felt like I was peeing forever. It was a good minute. Ran into the tent changed my shoes, grabbed my inhaler and then took off. Noticed I was leaving the tent with another woman who could be in my age group but I couldn’t see her age on her calf as she was wearing some sort of Leider-hosen (ok, probably that silly-looking support sock meant to ward off cramps & plantar fascia, but it looked like Leider-hosen. Don’t ask what Leider-hosen is. Just say it out loud with a German accent [yeah, I know Leider is Dutch] & you’ll know what I mean). More on her later. Skipped the sun screen this time (It’s too late by now) and puffed away on my inhaler to the start.

T2 3:29

Saw Graeme on the timing mats to start the run leg (he’s got a press pass, remember!) & he informed me that Mike was just a couple minutes ahead. Since my inhaler had me feeling normal again, and I had no real “hot foot” to contend with this time I belted out an 8:25 pace for the first mile. Passed Mike somewhere in there while we were still in the park. He seemed surprised to see me so quickly, but he had stopped to chat with Graeme so I kind of sneaked up on him. Gave him a tap on the behind and went off. Shortly thereafter, Katja Shumaker passed me and Leider-hosen girl (who was still with me) asked if she was in “our” age group. I thought since she was German, and Katja was German, she ought to know she was a pro, but I just told her, “no, that was a pro, and she just lapped us” (you do three 8.75 mile loops on the run). Granted, they started 15 minutes before us, but we still got lapped. So now I look down and can see the “35" written under the Leider-hosen girl’s leg (Incidently, she does have an actual name - Alexandra - but she got the last Kona spot in our age group, so she’s officially Leider-hosen girl). She then takes off after Katja, I thought never to be seen again. About a mile later, the eventual woman’s winner, Heather Gollnick goes by running with a male pro. I shouted out to her to go get the leaders, she was looking stronger. It’s very cool to be in a sport where you can participate right alongside the pros, doing the same course at the same time with the same support. So the first 8 miles were awesome, I slowed a bit after the first mile & was averaging 8:40 miles to that point. And then, my hands started to tingle just like the second half of my run at Wisconsin. This time, though, I knew that meant I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. I took out my inhaler (against doctors orders) and took another drag. Now it was just my finger tips. Okay, so I knew now I was going to slow down some. If I’m not getting enough O2, my body refuses to get the heart rate up and I’m forced to go slower. Saw Graeme in the park (actually saw him!) - tried to give a smile. On the second loop I passed a pro on the run, Amanda Lovato, but I know she has trouble with asthma too, so I wonder if that’s why she was walking. On the back of the loop there were signs & Graeme had made one that said “Jeanette - Kona Bound”, that helped pump me up a bit every time I passed it. There was a sign somewhere in there that said something along the lines of “Time to suck it up”, that made me chuckle. They also have a big monitor up with less than a mile to go on the loop & Mike and Graeme had typed in messages. I only got to read them the first 2 loops, on the third one it was too crowded & mine didn’t come up. Around mile 20 I could feel a side stitch starting to form. I breathed deeply & staved it off until I could guzzle some gatorade at the next aid station. It helps to know all my body’s signs from training. I figured out some time ago that I only get side stitches when I’m dehydrated. I had to use my inhaler twice more & then a fourth time on the third loop when my chest was actually starting to hurt. I took the last hit & then decided I could go the last three miles & then head to the med tent. All of a sudden with 3 miles to go, Leider-hosen girl appears from nowhere. I totally thought she had smoked me, but she must’ve stopped somewhere. I stayed with her for half a mile & then she really turned on the after burners & I couldn’t go. Sadly, although I didn’t know it at the time, I watched Leider-hosen girl run off with my Kona spot. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the finish line really is “just around the corner” after you get off the bridge. Spectators (especially the non-athletic ones) have a tendency to tell you that “you’re almost there” when you still have a mile to go or more. A mile is a long way at the end of 140.6. As I crossed the finish line, I didn’t hear my name called again (I didn’t hear it at IMWI either). I don’t know if that’s because I finished too closely behind someone else, or if my ears aren’t working at the end of the race :) The finish line was awesome to see, and although I was a bit short of my goal time (I wanted to go sub-11), I was proud of my performance & enjoyed the finish.

26.2 mile Run 4:02:24 9:16/mile 9/98 age group 231/2066 overall

TOTAL 11:08:31 6/98 age group 236/2066 overall

I saw Graeme just after the finish line, but I had to go to the tent to get a nebulizer treatment. I knew that my asthma would flare up about 10 minutes after I stopped. I wasn’t the only one getting a breathing treatment - a couple other guys were in there. We shared race experiences while raising our resting heart rates with albuterol. I had to do two rounds of treatments this time. I have to figure out this asthma thing for the next Ironman race. I’ve never had any trouble in half ironmans or in training, but sure seems to be a problem at the long distance. I will try something different for my medication and use my inhaler proactively on the bike. It would probably help to do a race that isn’t windy :) I lost Graeme since I was in the med tent for so freaking long (a good hour). Decided to go get my phone and warm clothes (by this time I was freezing). Got my morning clothes bag & was so happy to see my warm hat & jacket. There’s just no moisture in the air to trap the daytime heat & it gets cold at night. Especially with the wind whipping around. I called my parents (who were graciously watching our 2 & 4 year old at our house back in California - Thanks Mom & Dad - you rock) and learned from my dad that I got 6^th place again, missing 5^th by a couple minutes (2:15 to be exact). A bit disappointing since I was 6^th at IM Wisconsin and just missed 5^th by 2:01. Despite taking 51 minutes off my Ironman time (granted, it’s a different course) I was still 2 minutes from qualifying. After getting Mike’s finishing time from my Dad (12:54) & went to find him in the food tent area. I was not disappointed and Graeme was there too. Mike did such an awesome job finishing over an hour and a half faster than he did in Wisconsin despite being 25lbs heavier. Whenever Mike is ready to put IM training to the top of his list (it’s waning around 4^th or 5^th right now) watch out, he’ll be contending for Kona too. His bike time is practically already there, so with some more swim and run training he’ll be all the way there.

We hobbled back to the hotel, ate some ice cream & fell asleep. I was so hepped up on albuterol and caffeine, that I stared at the ceiling for quite some time after Mike fell asleep, but it was just good to lay there and not move. We went to the IM slot roll down Monday morning, but of course it only rolled down to 5^th & Leider-hosen girl was there to take the spot. First loser, again. So, if I can just figure out this asthma thing I’ll have a good shot at getting a spot in September (Mike and I signed up to do IMWI on September 9th). At least I know all the fastest women are already going to Kona 5 weeks later, so the competition shouldn’t be quite as fierce as Arizona (although, you never know). We also signed up to do Arizona again next April, so I’ll have another go at it then if September doesn’t pan out. That should take off some of the pressure. Honestly, Wisconsin is such a fun race with all the spectators, I’ll have a good time regardless. And, strangely, I enjoy training for the long races although it does take a big hit on my life socially. Plus, somewhere along the way Mike and I became the crazy triathletes whose only vacations are built around Ironman races. When did that happen?