What an
experience of a life time! I’ll never
forget it. The best part of the day was
seeing the finish line. Thousands of
people were cheering for you and little kids held out their hands to high five
you as you went by. As I crossed the
line the announcer said “
The worst part of
the day was leaving the trailer. The
nerves set in and I knew it was a matter of time I would be in the cold water
with 2,000 others. I lined up in the back
on the far right hand side. It wasn’t
too bad of a start but as you got close to the first turn it was crazy. Something I had never experienced before. It reminded me of the titanic with arms and
legs flying all around you. I tried to
keep calm and stay as wide as possible.
It was like they were sucking you in.
The second loop I thought I was going to freeze to death. I had thoughts of not finishing. My left hand and feet started to go
numb. I decide to count my stokes and focus on form and some how made it
through. As you got out of the water
they had wetsuit pullers to help you get out of your wetsuit. Wow that was amazing and fast! The changing tents had heaters in them and
hot tubs were just outside the men’s tent.
It took me awhile to warm up and I put on every stitch of clothing I had
with me for the bike ride. As soon as I
was ready to head out of the tent the sun came out! J
The bike ride
went well. I kept my heart rate at the
low end of where I was supposed to be and let everyone pass me and just tried
to keep an easy pace. I ate gels every
30 min like I was supposed to and drank plenty of fluids. Mater of fact I drank so much I had to stop and pee 7 times while I was on the bike. Guess I win the award for staying hydrated! The last 10 miles into town we had a strong
head wind and I was feeling wonderful. I
picked up the pace and found myself passing others all the way in. I new I was ready for the run. The first half of the run I felt really
good. I ate gels every 20 – 30 min and
drank water at every aid station. At
mile 6 I felt like I was getting a blister so I stopped at the medic tent to
get some band aids. Time was ticking
away but I knew if I didn’t take 5 min it could cost me a lot more later
on. I kept my heart rate between 137 and
140 and things were going well. Half way
through the run I was surprised to see my time and I thought I was going to
finish under 13 hrs. Everything was going
as planned. I was worried about mile 18
and how I would feel. Finally I got
there and it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
I was still running but seamed to take more time at the aid
stations. I knew at this point I was
going to finish. I tried to break up the
run. It was only 3 miles out to the turn
around then 3 miles back and then just 2 to the finish. The last five miles were really slow. But the crowds of people were
everywhere. Parties,
bands, loud music, lots of encouragement all through out the race. I kept going and ran the entire run. I’m still in shock that I ran a marathon
after all that.
That night I
couldn’t sleep that long. I woke up at
Oh and my
coach Rod, I'd like to thank him too. I know I couldn't have
done it without his expert advice and training program. At the time I
didn't think I was ready but the results show I was...
There were 72 in
my age division and 2,000 over all? Trace said I moved up like 400 spots
on the run! I do remember passing people all along the run but you never
knew if they were on their first lap or second lap. What fun!
