drum roll please. yes, this is it. the moment you all have been waiting for......the ironman arizona run blog! :) i really really really should have written this much closer to the race. i feel a little silly, but i think all the gory details will surface when i start talking about it.
in my last ironman post, i left you guys as i was heading into the changing tent excited about wearing my running dress, but a little bit anxious about the idea of running a marathon. :)
i headed into the tent (actually i think i grabbed my bag, ran to the porto, put my bag outside and peed while hopping that nobody would steal my transition bag or think it was misplaced and put it back or something). i exited the porto with a volunteer holding my T-bag ready to run it into the tent with me. talk about service. she dumped my bag on the floor as i start stripping down. as i'm stripping down (slowly and i wearing lots of stuff course) she already has everything out and organized before i even have my cycling gloves off! i see her staring down at everything like, "what is this person WEARING?!" ha ha. she helps me pull my tighter than tight no movement at all marathon bra over my sticky sweaty body (something that would be completely impossible alone i might add). i throw on my pink dress, pink booty -shorts, glide my entire inner thigh, inner arms, inner everything, and run out the door to get sunscreened. the sunscreeners are again trying to just slap it on me (as if i'm in a hurry). "just rub it in......." wow.....that feels amazing! i'm tempted to stick around and get a sunscreen massage! ok. i should go. i thank everyone profusely for all there help. ok, here goes.
ok....ok....my legs feel pretty normal.......i'm waving and smiling (not really thinking about my legs or my pace or anything) just how much i LOVE what i'm doing. that i'm finally here, that all the work has paid off and NOW i GET to run. my favorite part. it takes about a mile to get away from the crowds, and at this point, i swear i had already run three miles! that was the longest mile ever. i told myself i just needed to get warmed up and that the next lap would be much smoother. around mile two (which also seemed unreasonably long) i noticed myself hanging with a group of guys. we were all chit-chatting here and there about the day. about our legs. i told them i usually didn't really decide on how i felt until mile 3 because you never feel GOOD before mile three. after mile three at the aid station one of the guys asked me if i had decided whether or not it was going to be a good day. i told him yes!! i still was feeling really good. we talked about other ironmans. he commented about how i was getting so much attention on the race course. ha ha. i told him, if you smile the whole time people will cheer for you. he said he thought the hot-pink dress probably helped. i agreed with him, i think he was jealous. around mile 4 we were finally heading back towards the fans. it felt like the LONGEST 4 miles of my life, and i was running right around 8:40 min/mile pace (note: this is too fast for me to run a marathon in an ironman, fyi). i saw my brother, erica, mom , and brett i was waving and telling them how FAST i was going. i was so excited to be feeling as good as i did. it was pretty warm out, but i was drinking and eating like normal, water and gatorade at each station, gel every 3-5 miles, and icy-cold sponges every chance i got. this was fantastic.
just for a visual. the run course is basically a figure-8 course with transition right at the crossing of the loops, and you do this three times. so there is LOTs of time to see all your FANS which is fantastic, but each 4.5ish mile loop feels RIDICULOUSLY LONG. i kept telling myself , its only 4 or 5 miles katy, quit freaking out. but after the first figure 8 and how long IT felt.....i REALLY didn't want to go out and do all that AGAIN, and AGAIN!! each time i felt all negativy and stuff, i tried to tell myself, maybe it will feel better this time, it's getting cooler, ooooh! only 3 miles and you get to see your family, you love running, you GET to do this, blah, blah, blah. it helped a little that i had those tricks up my sleeve but i was pulling out everything i had to keep a positive spin on things and at this point i was only starting the 2nd loop.
out onto loop two i was right around 9 miles or so, my legs and body still felt pretty great i was just having trouble with my mind a little bit. i had just run through all the crowds which give you such a HUGE boost. this experience was SO different than my IMCDA run in that at CDA i was amazed at how the miles FLEW by and i just kept on truckin'. here, i couldn't believe how slow the miles were going. i was confident though that this loop would seem quicker since i now knew the course and knew where i was going. nope. didn't happen. i remember seeing mile 11, i knew mile 13 was at transition, and i could SEE transition. HOW ON EARTH COULD THAT DISTANCE THAT I HAVE TO COVER BE 2 FREAKING MILES!!! just after mile 11 i saw the mile 18 sign (for the third loop). that'll be a nice sign to see on the next loop, i said to some guy maybe if i spread some of my fake cheer THAT will help?? not really. after what felt like an hour i was crossing the bridge back to transition, i passed my friend abby. we talked about how fast we were going that day and how the run course was retarded. we decided some day we will have to come down here and run the 9 mile course and prove to ourselves how easy it CAN be. at this point i still think (key word) i'm feeling really good. i'm excited to see all my friends and family, i'm still just plugging away determined not to walk at all. looking back.....i remember opening my special needs bag and just staring into it blankly. obviously at this point mile 13ish i was NOT feeling as good as i thought i was. i opened my bag and closed it. my friend shawna was right there cheering me on as she had been all day, how nice to have so many supporters out there.
the last 4.5 miles of the 2nd loop.....hmmm...the ol' body wasn't really responding as i wanted it to. there are a few hills, little hills, but none-the-less hills. i started paying close attention to my intake making sure this wasn't a lack of calorie or hydration problem. it was really taking everything i had to move forward at this point. and....i still had to do the WHOLE figure-8 AGAIN!! i was getting excited to get back to the transition area so i could get a boost from the crowds and my fans AND to let my fam. know i was obviously slowing down. i didn't want them to worry. the crowds were still amazing at the point, although they were starting to thin as people were moving up to watch the pros finish. the sun started setting, and it starting to cool down (which was nice). my family was NO WHERE in site. i figured they had gone to the finish to watch scott and ben finish (which turned out to be true). i was disappointed and worried that they would worry about me. the last time they saw me i was still prancing around smiling. like this:
oh well, i thought, i will see them in another 4 miles. at the first aid station after the transition zone. i walked. i was so mad at myself. but i walked. i felt horrible and had been feeling horrible for a few miles at least. i started feeling sorry for myself. i even told myself that people at home were watching my splits online and they were probably disappointed in me. i tried to tell myself that was silly but EVERYTHING about me was done, even my mental game. i decided i would walk through the aid stations. before i knew it i was also taking walk breaks between aid stations. the miles felt as long as ever, it was dark, i was bummed out. i was looking forward to seeing my family, because they would tell me it was okay and that they were proud of me. back to the transition area they were no where to be found again! what the heck!! the total course time was just over 11 hours at this point maybe they were still waiting for ben and scott?? i started hoping that ben and scott were having a better day than i was. i hoped they met their goals for the day. i hadn't seen them since the bike course. when i got to mile 22 i thought i'd be ecstatic. that's a GREAT mile marker to see. i couldn't get myself pumped though. i only had 4.2 miles to go. if i ran 10 minute miles i could break 12 hours. something i NEVER thought possible. even when i first decided to race an ironman my original goal was to race a 13:30:00. i blew myself away at CDA with a 12:47:00 and wasn't sure i'd ever repeat that. now, seeing that sub-12 was feasible!!! wow!! c'mon katy!
i tried hard, i really really did. my head hurt, i was dizzy, i was sure i had meningitis, or a brain tumor. my legs were cramping, my stomach was cramping, i was hungry and nauseated, had to pee, thirsty, but too full. this was going to be a LONG four miles!! people were trying to talk to me, i couldn't even talk. i couldn't even smile. i was NO help to anybody at this point. i got back to the "hills" on the back side of the 2nd loop. finally the last time i had to run these.....i started walking. i wanted to cry. i hate walking. i don't walk. it's okay though because i was still moving and moving was the only way to get to the finish line. some big guy walked up next to me and said. "i sure am glad you guys are walking too! trust me it doesn't get easier on your last lap...ha ha ha...". WHAT?! is he assuming he's ahead of me? i wanted to scream at him! what makes YOU think i'm NOT on my last lap?!? what makes you think i ever WALKED this hill until NOW?! i didn't yell. i ran by him instead. that man! he made me angry. after the hill we ran down towards the water, across the bridge, and to transition, and from here it was only about 0.2 miles to the finish-line. i never saw mile 25 though, i kept looking and looking, feeling desperate on the verge of tears and a massive melt-down. i didn't know where to turn to the finish. did i really have only a mile?? was i closer or further? did i even see mile 24?? i'm so confused i just want to be done. people started yelling at me that i was almost there.........what do they know? i ran by like 10 people who each (at different places) said 3oo yards. am i on a treadmill then?? there it was though, up a little hill and just around the corner. i could see it i SPRINTED!!! (later my people were saying how impressed they were with the people who sprinted, i said "like me?" they just laughed. i guess it didn't look much like a sprint).
being done was the best feeling on earth. the finish line helpers foiled me and then asked me several times if i need to go to the medical tent. i kept saying no, but they kept asking. i must have looked worse than i felt!! then i saw scott and lea! scott was yelling, "12:15!!!! 12:15!!!!". i just wanted to cry and tell everyone how bad i did. how i walked. how i hated ironman. scott wouldn't let me be bummed though. then there was my mom. asking if i was ok. hugs all around. i was bawling of course.
everyone was so tired. i was so thankful for them. apparently they'd been waiting for me at the finishing while i was looking for them the last 6 miles. if i hadn't slowed down they estimated i'd be finishing around 11:45 wha!? crazy. brett had some footage on his camera i watched later where they were waiting at the finish line for me taking bets on my finish time my brother said, "dude, i thought she'd be here 30 minutes ago?!". jerk. this is them waiting.
