Beach To Battleship Race Report

Just getting to the race is part of race day, so that is where I will start. 

Friday, October 25, 2013

My alarm went off at 4:30 am.  Everything was packed, and all Jacob and I had to do was grab the last minute items, get some clothes on, and throw Cade in the car.  We were on our way out to the car to set on our way, and I looked at Jacob and said "Um...we forgot to grab Alice (my bike)".  I don't know if we would have left the driveway without the bike, but we got about as close as I want ever want to be.  We were on the road just a little after 5 am.

Cade is a great car rider.  We left early enough that he slept for a few hours, and we were well out of Atlanta when we needed to stop. 

We arrived in Wilmington NC about 12:30.  There was a mandatory athletes' meeting at 2, that I was to attend.  We had a lot of trouble finding parking.  I started to stress as I hate when things don't go smoothly, and driving around and around the convention center didn't put my nerves at ease.  We finally found parking, and got into the convention center, to find the line for number pick up was almost out the door.  I got in line at 1:00.  I didn't make it to the athletes' meeting until after 2:00.  The organization of the number pick up, was a disaster.  I have been at many other races with many more athletes with better organization.  That was a real down point, and I felt the this brought on a lot of stress that shouldn't have been there.

Lauren (our swimmer) fell victim to the same number pick up disaster and she, too, was late to the meeting. But we did meet up and then went our separate ways, as I had to drop off my bike at Transition 1 (T1), and she went to check out the swim start. 

I drop Alice off at T1

 I met up with some of the other relay team people at T1.  It was good to see them, and the cool thing was all of our bikes were really close to each other.  That put my mind at ease...a little.  I was able to see Beth (our runner), and just seeing her made me feel a bit calmer.  Then we had some time to check into the hotel, and then it was off to dinner with the other full Ironman relay teams.  There were three full relay teams made up of people who I train with.  I was super nervous!  We talked about worst case scenarios, and then just ate dinner and off to bed we went. 

--> I never sleep well before any race.  I woke up constantly throughout the night.  The only good thing is that I compete every race on little sleep, so this has become my normal.  


RACE DAY
Saturday, October 26, 2013

4:30 am - Wake up call/alarm clocks go off.  One of my fears is not waking for race, so multiple alarms are set. 

5:45 am - We leave the hotel.  We stayed at the same place as Lauren and her husband, so we left together. There was no real traffic and we made it to T1 in no time.  It was so dark, and so cold.  I think it dipped into the 30s right around dawn. I went into T1 and dropped off my bike stuff: helmet, gloves, food, water bottles, bike shoes, ect.  My tires were really low, and I started to get nervous I had a leak, as I had just pumped my tires up the next day.  Barbara reassured me that it was just the dip in the temperatures.  But I was still freaking out in the back of my mind.  We all took some pictures before the swimmers got on the bus to go to the swim start. 

Team Where's Jen? really tired, and really cold.

 6:45 am - The swimmers got on the bus to go to the start of the race, and the rest of us went back to our cars to sit in the heat.  We put the seats down in our car, and sat in the back to feed Cade, and let him play around.  Because I have a habit in not actually sitting around and relaxing, I started going through all of my bags, and visually going through the race, one more time.  This is when I noticed I didn't have my sunglasses. PANIC!  Panic is actually an understatement.  Jacob and I came up with a plan that he would take Cade, go back to the hotel room (which is where I figured out the glasses were, as Cade had knocked down my race pile (twice) the night before and I was sure that it had fallen under the couch) grab my glasses and try to make it back before I got on the bike.  If he didn't make it, I would go without.  Going without would have been a disaster, another understatement.  But what choice did I have? 

7:00 am - I called Beth (who was in another car) and told her my plan.  She was in a car with Barbara, who said she had at least 2 pairs of sunglasses in her car.  Barbara to the rescue! Olga came and let me into Barbara's car, she had some I could choose between, and she had one pair in my signature color pink.  It couldn't have worked out any better.  So my heart rate went through the roof, and then was brought back down. 

7:30 am - The race started.  My nerves went from on edge, to jacked up.  I hate HATE the swim.  I was so nervous for Lauren. 

8:15 am - We all got out of the cars, and the temps had slightly gone up.  The sun was up, and it was time to go into T1. 

Picture right before I left to go into T1.  We had Cade so bundled up. 

 8:30 am - I am in T1 and hanging with Barbara and Lia, who were also doing the bike legs.  Their swimmers got in and passed off the timing chips.  They were off a little passed 8:30. 

9:15 am - I am still in T1, waiting.  My mind is starting to wander.  I am seeing athlete after athlete come in from the swim and get their bikes.  But where was Lauren?  As I mentioned before I hate the swim, and there are many images that were running rapid through my mind.  Ingrid (one of the swimmers) was hanging out with me, trying to reassure me that everything would be okay.

9:30 am - I am still in T1.  I was full on panic mode.  Where the he** was Lauren?  What has happened.  I had emotions of fear for her, and then frustration, as I had trained so long and the race was over.  I found myself pleading to God that she would be the next athlete to come through transition. And then the next. Surely she would be the next.  We were way passed even her "worst case" time. Something must have happened.  My breathing had become shallow.  I could feel my heart beat in my throat. I wanted to cry.  For her, for me, for Beth.  What the he** had happened?????

9:45 am - I see her!  I had to press my lips together to keep my wits about me.  I wanted to cry for relief, and then fear.  I had to be off bike by 5:45 pm.  This left me exactly 8 hours.  I had never done a full 112 miles.  One century had taken me 8 hours and 45 minutes.  The other 7 hours and 42 minutes.  Somewhere in the middle is where I figured 112 miles would land me.  As Lauren ran up to me, and I bent over to get the timing chip, I wanted to hug her, I wanted to tell her how worried I was, but I had an enormous stress elephant sitting on top of me.  I had to finish this race in 8 hours.  No other options.  So I had to go. 

This is me leaving.  I was stressed, happy, emotional.  Jacob thought I was pissed. 

Me leaving.  112 miles lay ahead of me. 

I got on the bike.  I was beyond cold.  I guess all of my emotions had helped my mind forget how cold it was.  But jumping on my bike reminded me quickly.  I also realized I had to pee.  Sort of badly.  The wind took my by surprise.  I knew there would be wind.  Or at least I thought I had prepared myself for wind.  I hadn't.  My toes were so numb.  Not only cold, but my feet were frozen.  Jacob had worked on fixing my bike computer, and when I looked down, it had numbers, so I figured it was working. The start of the bike had a lot of turns to get out of town, and on to a highway.  I really focused on just staying up right on the bike and really I just wanted to push as hard as I could, because I had an 8 hour time limit.  Something I thought about each time I pushed a pedal down on Alice.

I got out on to highway, and the wind was rough.  I looked down at my bike computer to figure how fast I was going to see it said 32 what I thought was mph.  I thought holy crap slow down.  Don't let race day jitters get to you.  I normally average 15 mph.  But I took a mental check and I felt my cadence was right on for my normal 15 mph.  I started questioning myself on what I knew, and what I was going to do.  Then I looked closer at the computer.  It was kph.  In other words my bike was in metric.  Fan-Fricken-tabulous.  I felt myself deflate a little.  I made myself come to terms with where I was, and what I had.

There was wind. A LOT.
It was cold.
I didn't have a bike computer.
I had 8 hours.  Less now because each second meant less.
I had sunglasses.
My toes were numb.
 I had to pee.

I got my bearings back.  I would have physically slapped myself if I wasn't afraid a wind gust was going to knock me off the bike.  I couldn't take the time, or the time to slow down to fix the computer.  I clicked a few buttons and it changed back to time.  At least I would know what time it was.  I had my garmin watch (that I knew would die before I finished) going for now, and would get me far enough along.  I set my first goal of doing 16 miles in the first hour.  I made it.  I actually made it to 16.5 miles, so I felt I had given myself enough time, to jump off the bike and go pee at the first stop.

The first stop was at mile 20.  I jumped off my bike, only had to wait for the person inside the porta potty to come out, and back on the bike.  The whole stop took less than 2 minutes.  I didn't eat or drink anything here.  I felt a million times better after I peed.

I set my next goal to do 32 miles in 2 hours.  I also achieved this one.  No extra time, but it was achieved.  The second stop was around mile 40.  I had set my third goal to get to mile 48 in 3 hours.  I was doing math over and over again in my head.  Sometimes it would come out and I would finish in time, and other times it wouldn't.  I was so focused on time, and miles.  My mind was spinning. The next stop would be right in the middle of goal #3.  But I knew I had to stop and fuel, and I had become nervous about my toes, as they were still numb.  At the second stop I ate a Chewy Granola Bar.  I also had G2 and water in between my areo bars and I was consistently sipping.  I also had sweet potato fries in my bento box that I was munching on throughout.  I filled up one of my water bottles with water.  I asked a medic if I should be concerned about my feet.  She seemed a little nervous, but told me they should thaw out soon.  The sun was almost center in the sky, and there was little shade.  When I clipped into my bike I still had no idea if I had clipped in, as my feet were so numb. 

Goal #3 was to be 48 miles at the 3 hour mark.  I didn't make it.  I became mentally defeated.  At this point I had been on the bike for a while, and little or no one around.  My mind was wandering, and the fear of not finishing on time was so real.  I had never been in this situation in a race before.  I just had to keep pedaling.  I noticed my back and shoulders started aching.  Much earlier than on any of my other rides.  I figured it was because of the wind (that had yet to be at my back).  When a wind gust would hit I would tense up, as not to fall off the bike.  The aches were just really annoying. 

Made it to mile 56, which was half way.  There were volunteers there who took my bike, and I had a special needs bag with some food, and more G2 in it.  I went to the bathroom and texted Jacob and Beth to let them know I was at 56.  I saw a lot of people laying on the ground, and wondering around, but I knew I didn't have a lot of time to spare.  I ate some more granola, and sweet potato fries, and asked for them to get my bike.  I was off.  I met a guy named Mark, as we left together.  He was doing his first full Ironman.  I was reminded of the amazing athleticism I was surrounded by. 

I started doing math again.  And again.  And again.  Sometimes it would work out.  Other times I would get mad and frustrated, screaming at myself, in my head of course.  The course was lonely.  I was riding faster than Mark, so I was out there alone.  There is nothing but your own thoughts to listen to.  I made a final goal, to be at mile 100 by 5:00. The wind had not been at my back at all.  There was a small 5 mile stretch where I didn't feel the wind, but I am pretty sure it just wasn't blowing.  Every wind burst tried to knock me off my bike.  I was way beyond over the wind.

The fourth stop was at mile 70.  There is an exit "Just South of the Border" right under NC in SC. It is a Mexican themed amusement area, and they had sponsored stop #4.  So a lot of fun signs, giving us mileage until the stop.  There were military soldiers dressed in their BDUs handing out fuel and water.  I stopped long enough to fill my water bottle, and do a Hammer Gel.  I thanked all of the soldiers, but they were more in awe of me.  I felt out of place.  I didn't feel bad yet, just overly stressed.  One of the volunteers told me that the wind would be at my back soon enough. I was coming around the curve and it should be at my back.  There was some relief in that. 

The fifth stop was at mile 90. The wind was not at my back at any point.  I was going past houses that would have flags out in their front yard.  I would just curse the flags, for I could see the wind.  It was one thing to feel it against my face, my cheeks, my lips, but to see it. Ugh. That was a whole new level of mental exhaustion.  I stopped to once again fill my bottles, and eat some granola, fries, and a Gel.  There was an older gentleman (doing the whole thing) and he is chatting with a volunteer who said that the wind should be at our backs when we get back on the highway round mile 96.  I tell him he had better be right, as I started to feel like the wind was getting the better of me.  I still had a goal to make mile 100 by 5:00, and even thought at that point I felt like it was obtainable; with the wind, and making it up on the 100 mile mark, I just didn't know. 

My Garmin watch stopped working around mile 93.  I still had my bike computer that let me know the actual time.  My watch was consistently beeping.  The noise was literally putting me over the edge.  It was the last straw that my mind almost couldn't get over.  I was mentally exhausted, and my body was slowly going from aching, to I am not sure I want to move any more.  The old man passed me and said we had about 2 miles to the highway, where the wind would push us along.  I made it to the highway, and guess what?  You got it, the wind was just coming from the left, and pushing my tires sideways.

There was a last stop at 100.  It had only been 10 miles since the last stop, and I had only 12 miles left.  I also only had one hour to get there.  I had accomplished my goal of making 100 miles by 5:00, so I buzzed right past that stop.  I saw some signs from my training group along the way, and there were some cars, and a few people.  I was given a new hope.  I knew I was getting closer to the city.  My watch continued to beep, until the last two miles.  I thought about just throwing the watch on the road, but being a $300 watch I did have some common sense left.  I had one last "obstacle" to get over before the end. 

I was told that there was a bridge, towards the end, that had grates on it.  It was about 400 yards of grates. Under the grates was the ocean. I have a fear of drowning.  The thought of being able to see the water underneath, and never have experienced riding over grates the little bit of energy I could muster went to stress.  I made a left turn and there was the bridge.  I kept riding as fast and as hard as I had left inside me.  It was the longest minute of my life.  I hated every second of it.  But I got over it, and I felt a real sense of accomplishment.  I also knew the end was near!

When I pulled up beside the convention center I could see the runners going out.  I didn't even dare look down at my computer to see what time it was.  All I knew was I wasn't going to get pulled off the course. 

Me coming in to dismount

Thank goodness for this volunteer.  He steadied my bike so I could dismount, and not fall on my butt.

He gave me directions of where to go

I felt like there were so many people there to see me dismount.  There was so much screaming, and so many familiar faces. If I hadn't been so worried about getting the timing chip to Beth, so she would have enough time to run, I think I would have welled with tears.  To come in to those kind of cheers was amazing.  I guess there are some perks to coming in last out of our training people.  I had to run all around this huge convention center room, and then back out.  That is where I met Beth and Lauren.  I bent over to take the chip off my leg, but Lauren was already on her knee taking it off.  Good thing too, as I am not positive I would have been able to get back up.  Beth was off.  It was then I asked what time it was.  It wasn't even 5:30 yet!

5: 30 pm - I went back to the car to put Alice up, and change my clothes.  My toes were still numb.  I was able to walk, and I wasn't as sore as I had envisioned.  I changed into my team shirt, and off we went to find the others.  We went to dinner, which I had thought I wanted to eat, but I wasn't as hungry as I thought.  We stationed ourselves at our tent, and cheered on the runners. 

My cheer team! Love this family of mine!

Cade is such a great race baby!  

 When we got back from dinner we were told Beth had gone by and she didn't seem like she was in a good mood.  So Lauren and I went to a jump in spot and waited for her.  We jogged less than 1/2 a mile with her, but she seemed in a great mood. She was over half way, and she just wanted to get it done. 

We were left to wait.  And wait.  It got so cold.  My body was trying to recover from me pushing it 112 miles, and the actual temperature dropped as the sun went down.  It was awe-inspiring to watch these full Ironman crossing the end of the running.  They didn't just do one sport, but all three.  They had been moving their bodies since 7:30 that morning.  It was really cool.  We got some texts from Beth that helped us decide when she would be coming.  Cade had long since fell asleep in his stroller.  He was out cold.  We found a jump in spot, not too far from the finish.  Luckily we found a nice police officer who had his car running, and he let us lean/lay on the hood of his car.  Oh it was so warm!  Then we saw Beth and we all started screaming!

Right before the finish! Team Where's Jen?

Going through the finish! We did it!  15 hours, 42 minutes.  

 We finished a little after 11 pm.  I was friends with Lauren and Beth before this race.  But this race has tied us together in way that is different than it was before.  Without either of them I wouldn't have this medal.  I wouldn't be able to say I am 1/3rd an Ironman.  I am eternally grateful to each of them for all of the energy, time, and commitment that they each put into this race. 

The back of our shirts

Together we are an Ironman!!!!

The bike part took me 7 hours and 36 minutes I found out later after the tracking program was released online.  Those 7 hours were hard.  Mentally.  Physically.  But I wouldn't have traded a minute of it.  I am stronger today because of this race.