Ironman Race Report

My morning started off at 4am. Suprisingly, I woke up with all the energy in the world. I got dressed and made sure for one last time I didn't need anythging else in my special needs bags. So, me and Phil left to get my bagel. Standing in line I see Larry and Bobbie. They tell me that I'm the only one out of the room...woo hoo kudos for me! I'm in the lobby with more Ironteamers now, but my parents are still no where to be found. I don't have my phone so I call from Bobbie's. I tell them that I'm going down to the transition area to drop off my bags. So, on we (me, phil and other Ironteamers) go.

Drop my bags off, put the bottles on my bike, and look around for where we get body marked. Finally, someone knows and tells me it's at the swim start. I find Phil, who has since connected with my parents (thank lord) and off we go again. This time to the swim start. We get there and I see the line to get marked and just yell nonchallantly "OK, BYE!!!" I'm so anxious I don't even hug or kiss anyone bye before I go off into what seems like to me the darkness. I get maked and walk towards the swim start...WOO HOO! I FOUND JANICE (my teammate, not my sister)! She is 8th in line, so that makes me 9th in line. (I told all of you I would be one of the first ten!) Thank you Greg for driving Janice to the start. So we get settled and Liz comes to join us. They move us down the pier and then down the pier again. It's coming close to the start, so I take in my Cliff Shot. Someone sings the national anthemn and shortly after I put on my swimcap. Oh no! It's almost time. The cannon goes off for the pros and we watch them all swim all over each other. That means only 10 minutes left until our turn. The count down begins and in seconds, Janice, me and Liz get in. My heart is racing and there are too many people near me, I side stroke and back storke until I am ready to really catch my groove. My dad later tells me that when he seen me side stroke he said, "Oh no, side stroke ALREADY! She's tired already?!" Little do they know... I finally calm myself down and catch my groove, there are people around me but I'm pretty secure in where I am. People touch, kick and splash water on my face everyone once in awhile, but I don't let that get in my way. I just think keep moving forward, head down, elbows up. I get on my back several times, and have to get back on track b/c being on my back has made me go crooked. I even look at my watch a couple of times, thinking ok if the last person got in at 730am, and+ I'm already almost half way there, I'm good. I see the bridge and think, should I be swimming out to catch the current, but I feel the current of all the people around me and decide to ride that instead. Sooner than I expect, I look up and see the people on the shore. I get to the second to last bouy and think, you are almost there, just keep it strong and steady. I get out of the water and am soooo elated, I look everywhere to see my parents and Phil. Instead, I see flames and wave soooooo happily. I got out in 1:44:12. WOO HOO! My parents and Phil are no where to be found. I find out later that they are waiting at the swim finish worrying b/c there are only a couple of people left in the water. They ask Larry, and he tells them I've been out for almost an hour. HAHAHAHAHA!

So off to my bike. Get my transition bag, tell the volunteer just dump it all out. Get my stuff together, and off on my bike I go. I keep thinking to myself, slow and steady, you don't want to be future roadkill. Like all the coaches say, everyone is passing me. That's fine. There I go happily on my bike, so elated by the fact, I finished my swim soooo well and I'm really doing this. I just keep going. Mile 11 here come the hills, but bring it on, I'm ready. Ok, sorry after that, I have no reclection of milage. I know I'm going on the out and back, woo hoo there's a big down hill, got to love those. As I'm speeding down hill, passing all the people "on your left, on your left" the people coming back are hollering at me to slow down. Grrrrrrrrrrr, although I don't know why, I do. Shortly I see an ambulance in the middle of the road. Go around slowly, and try to get back into my groove. Sadly, my groove never fully came back. But, I still went on. Just keep moving forward. The heat was getting to me, so I pulled off the road more than a couple of times, to douse myself with water and catch my breath. Is it me or is it kindda hard to breathe? And then on one of those hills in the middle of the trees, somehow my chain gets stuck inbetween gears and I can't push my pedal down. Damn, here we go! I fall over and get another nasty gash on my leg. The blood is streaming down, but it's so hot, it dries in place. Sorry, I know that was gross. Who cares, done this before get up! I get up but notice my left handle bar is crooked. Thankfully Brian sees me and helps me pull it back into place. Deliriously, I say "Thanks, Kevin." And, as he says, "It's Brian," I'm already thinking oops that's Brian. Get on my bike again, dammit, my seat is crooked. I think "eff it" just go, but it's soooo crooked I have to get off and fix it. So, off I go again, omg serioulsy, my damn brake is rubbing. So I get off again and fix that. Finally I'm, on my way again. I'm going and going and trucking along, stopping every so often as little as I can to pour some water on me and catch my breathe. Really, is the air that thick?! And here comes that same hill, why does my chain drop. Get off and fix it. Off we go again. It's getting later and later, and everyone on Ironteam has already passed me if not twice already. At the transition areas, I aske what the cutoff is, when did the last person get in the water? No one knows. I see people under the trees laying down. People walking their bikes. People that have defeat written all over their face and movements. I think, just keep moving you don't know when the last person got in. After the last hill, a race official rides next to me. "You have 10 mins, gooooo you can make it, the bike cutoff is 630." I hustle even more, it's flat now so I'm in my arrows and just gooooo. He comes back to me and says "5 more mins, you have just beyond that bridge, spin those legs, you don't want to cramp up on the run." I see the bridge and hustle harder. I make the turn around into transition and see the clock 6:28, yessssss. Get off my bike and the race official says, "Give me your chip." Confused, I give it to him anyway. I turn to my parents and Phil standing next to Bobbie and Larry. I must've had the look on my face, b/c Bobbie said, "the cut off was 615pm. Booo! My feet hurt, but I'm still energetic. I know I could've given such a good effort on the run. Still, I'm happy that I tried, I gave it my best and never gave up. This experience will always be with me, I have no regrets...I wouldn't trade this day for the world!

less than a week to go

it's now august 25, i have exactly 6 days left until i race my very first ironman. i leave thursday morning and race bright and early on sunday. so while everyone will be still sleeping in their bed, i will be jumping in the water to start my race (starts 7am louisville time).

everyone keeps asking me if i'm ready, and all i can say is "we'll see!" i guess i'm as ready as i'll ever be. i have to take it all one at a time. so first be out of the water in 2 hours and 20 mins. next obstable is be off my bike by 530pm. after that, i can just do the best i can to make it the finish line in the shortest time possible.

so wish me luck, and pray that i make it through each obstacle.

Team Hoyt

My co-worker came across this father/son team that has done a number of endurance sports together. They've completed marathons, triathlons, and even a number of Ironmans. Being that I am currently training for Ironman, Louisville, she thought of me. She passed along a video that truely INSPIRED me. You see, the son is quadripleic with cerebral palsy. So, the dad, Dick, swims with the son, Rick, attached on a raft, has a bike with a place for Rick to sit, and pushes him on the run.

This is definitely a video worth watching:

7/30 training

so normally on wednesdays, i take elaine's first spin class and then i go out for an hour and run. work has been soooo hectic lately, that i swear i'm brain dead. i forgot all my workout stuff at home. so i made up for this by running 2 laps at lake merced. each lap is about 4.5 miles, so i got in a total of 9 miles.

the first time i actually ran the whole lake was last week. i took it a little easy, and ran it in 1 hour and 10 mins. last night when i ran my first lap took me 1 hour and 4 mins. i knocked off a whole 6 mins. WOO HOO! feeling as good as i did, i decided not to stop at the car and just go ahead with the next lap. at 1 hour and 43 mins i made it about 7.5 miles, and decided that i needed to walk some. so i did a walk/run (for instance you walk 2 min/run 8 min) the rest of the way. my second lap ended at 2 hours and 10 mins. good run...but am slightly sore today.

7/27 Triple Brick = 10.5 hours of training

today's training called for a triple brick, a 30 mile bike ride and a 50 minute run x 3. so in total i did 90 miles on my bike and ran (well, i walked) for 2.5 hours. if you keep up with my blog or even think about what i was anticipating for this training, you would know that i was NOT looking forward to this AT ALL!

well after today's workout, i feel GREAT! i was feeling sore after my ride from yesterday, so today's ride was not as pleasant as i would've wanted. not to mention the headwind that was fighting us, especially going up the hills. but, i powered through the pain and took each 30 mile loop one by one.

today was about milage, so i didn't try to kill myself at every single loop. i just wanted to make sure that i was able to finish and finish strong, which I DID! THANKS MAI for riding with me and introducing me to that great cream. i'm definitely going to get me some.

on a funny note, i've added to my collection of tan lines on my body. if you haven't seen me lately, i am a plethora of colors with tan lines all over. i have tan lines from my swimsuit, bike jersy, tank top, and bikes shorts. with the great danville heat, i added another bike jersy, a watch, my bike gloves, socks again (after i've just even that out), and more bike shorts, annndddd i look like a damn raccoon! sorry no pictures will be posted of this!

bike training 7/26

today i woke up bright and early to get in my bike work out.  it called for a 40 - 70 mile ride or 4 hours max.

mike and elaine had us meet at the corner of edgewood and canada in redwood city/san carlos.  they mapped out about a 51 mile course.  and, it was a great day for a ride today!  if i had taken any longer though, the heat might have gotten to me.  good thing i've gotten faster.  =)  as you can tell, i'm pretty happy with the ride i got in today.

normally, i ride just about 10 miles an hour, really slow!  when i got to the turn around point at about mile 31, it was a little after 2 hours, which means i was going just under 15 mph.  woo hoo!  big difference for me.  and, i didn't let myself get too apprehensive when i seen the hills.  you see, normally, when i see a hill, small or big, i tend to settle in wayyyyyy too soon and go REALLY SLOWLY, thinking to myself "slowly but surely."  this time, i attacked each hill pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone.  and i reminded myself on all the straight aways, that "the flats are n0t for resting."  i think that deserves another smiley face.  =)  

on the way to our turn around point, coach mike reminded me that we are going to have a very big day tomorrow and to take it fairly easy.  so i slowed down a bit, and didn't attack the hills as hard as i was during the first half.  in the end, i averaged about 12mph, so still i had a great ride.

can't say i'm looking forward to tomorrow.  we are doing a triple brick that will be lasting 10 hours or more.  =/  so please pray that i can make it home.  hahaha!  i'm sure i will, but will be in great agony on the drive home.  wish me luck!

Good Luck, Jonboy

My little cousin, ok not so little...my younger cousin Jonathan, known to us as Jonboy has planned to further his life endeavors by joining the military. Like his father, he decided to join the Marines.

This past Saturday, we were all able to celebrate with him on his last night of being a civilian. On Sunday afternoon, he was taken to San Jose, where he and the other recruits would stay before being shipped off to San Diego for 3 months of training. Luckily, he is in good company, as his good friend Jerald has also decided join.

JonBoy, good luck on this special journey. Although we won't have much contact with you while you are in training, know that we are always with you. You have the physical strength to endure all that will be thrown at you, and the menality to withstand all the yelling. Come on, you've trained for this your whole life, look who your dad is. LOL =P I love you and good luck. Let me know when you come home, we'll have a cousin dinner for you.