Getting to IM
This journey has been 3 years in the making. I started doing Triathlons back in 2009 because I had listened to my Uncle Carlos describe his experience with Team in Training over Thanksgiving dinner. Not knowing fully what I was getting myself into. I went to work the following week and mentioned doing Triathlons to a coworker. I enticed my friend (Justin) to attend a Team In Training meeting with me at 8 am on a Saturday morning and I signed up on the spot. Justin knew better. Unlike me, he knew that fundraising $3,000 for Leukemia and Lymphoma and committing to working out 6 days a week would be tough. Doable, but tough! However, I told myself I could handle it and in October of 2009 I raised $3,200 and completed my first Olympic Triathlon. This is what I would like to call “My first taste of crack”!
It was the following year that I was really ambitious and after some encouragement from friends, on a whim signed up for my first Half Ironman - Buffalo Springs, in Lubbock, Texas. Boy was I still oblivious to researching races and their difficultly. Not knowing any better, I signed up for one of the toughest Half IM’s. The cutoff time for a half IM is 8 hours and I crossed the finish line in 7:59 Whew!!! When I crossed the finish line it was 114 degrees outside and I dropped 10 pounds over the course of 8 hours! I told myself that day that I would never do that again! However, even though I felt like shit (which is an understatement) it was a huge accomplishmentJ and I knew I would push for a bigger high.
I guess I always really knew that I wanted to do a Full Ironman but I was incredibly intimidated because I had never ridden my bike more than 60 miles and the farthest I had ran was 13.1 miles. Realistically, how many people do you know that swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and then immediately do a full marathon? Taking on a task of this magnitude and difficultly is automatically subjecting yourself to pain and at some point misery. I also still couldn’t shake the way my body felt after Buffalo Springs, I wanted that rush again. However, from day 1, I knew my ultimate goal would be to do an Ironman!
In March of this year, I signed up and completed the Gator Half Ironman in Sarasota, Florida. The point of this race was to just prepare me for the beginning of a new triathlon season and be ahead of the game with my training. However, again I was a little ambitious and this time didn’t fully prepare for the race. But, because mentally I had been there before and I knew what it would take to get me across the finish line, I did the race anyway. Prior to the race, my longest ride had been a whopping 45 miles and my longest run was 10 miles. However, I didn’t care so I went out and completed the race. Over the course of the race, I felt great and it wasn’t until I got to the run that my legs were a little fatigued. I also knew that I could have finished the race faster but I wanted to help this guy that I met on the run (Ed) cross the finish line. Ed was hurting so I told him he was going to finish and made it a point to run/walk with him until we got to the finish line. Needless to say, Ed and I both finished the race and he is now a half ironman finisher and I a 2X half ironman finisher.
After the race, I drove home and the soreness began to sit in. I woke up the next morning (Monday) and had already planned to call in sick and take the day off due to “dehydration”….However; I started to feel bad and knew I was a little sore than should be expected. Here’s where it gets a little graphic. Obviously my legs were fatigued and it hurt to just sit down on the toilet and pee. However, when I would pee it felt like razor blades. I made the normal assumption that I had a urinary tract infection from having to pee on myself during the run. As gross and disturbing as it is, peeing on yourself is very common during racing, it’s just part of the sport. Moving on, since I was peeing razor blades, I went to the doctor to have a urine culture done and here was the result of my doctor’s visit. Turns out, I did not have a UTI. I was pushing my body so hard that my muscles were literally ripping and tearing during my races. Because they were ripping and tearing, it was releasing excess amounts of protein and blood into my urine. When this happens, doctors can’t prescribe medication to you. The only cure is to let your muscles heal and hydrate as much as possible for the next week. My doctor had me come in and submit a urine culture for the next three days and saw that the amounts of blood and protein in my urine were dropping. Boy was that a good sign. Here’s the kicker. My Doctor specifically told me not to do anymore Half IM races and told me not to even attempt a Full IM. If I were to attempt the full, it could result in hospitalization. Talk about a kick in the balls, what athlete wants to hear that?!?!
Back in High School there was a friend/mentor (Don Coker) that once told me “You just don’t take NO for an answer, do you”? My response, “NO”! So seeing that I’m determined to be an Ironman, I decided in the doctor’s office that I would research a good course for my first Ironman and get to training!!!
Ironman week! On Wednesday, November 2nd, I arrived in Panama City Beach, Florida. I was worried about the grueling 13 hour drive and making it safely and needless to say, mission accomplished. The drive to Florida was mostly spent resting and worrying about what would come of the weekend. Would I be able to finish, what if I were to get stung by a jellyfish, what happens if I have a wreck on the bike, what if my legs fail me during the run, what would I do if I saw a shark during the swim, and how would I face everyone if I DNF’d?!?!
On Thursday, November 3rd, I woke up around 6 am after hitting the snooze button a couple of time, rolled out of bed and made my way to the kitchen for the usual, which is eggs with ham and cheese and peanut butter and a jelly English muffin. My goal was to get in the water around 7ish to test the water and get a feel for what it would be like on race morning. I suited up and found myself in the water around 7:30 for my first open water swim in the Gulf of Mexico. I didn’t have a group of friends to jump in the water with so I tagged on to a group close to me and headed out. My goal was to do a 30 min swim which is about 1,000+ meters. As I made my way out, it was pretty calm nothing out of the ordinary. I saw a few fish and found my self at the first buoy. The group that I tagged on to decided to go a little farther out so I figured why not and headed out with them. On the way out I came face to face with 3 jelly fish and I swear on my race day Vaseline, they were chasing me! In that moment, I found another gear and I swear I was swimming faster than Michael Phelps. After getting past the 3 jelly fish that were chasing me, I began focusing on my breathing to get my heart rate down. A few strokes in and BAM there was the largest whale I had ever come across! Not really, there was a swimmer swimming in a black wet suit that apparently wasn’t sighting and hit me head on. The instant that he hit me it felt like a black wall and with him being in a wet suit didn’t help. I swear I thought it was a whale and managed to only drink about half a gallon of salt water. After the whale incident, I managed to get my heart rate down again and discovered that the group I tagged onto was nowhere in sight. After swimming out a little farther, I decided that was enough for one day and headed back to the shore. The swim in was relatively easy, other than seeing a few more jelly fish. I managed to make my way out of the water without harm. After coming in, I managed to run into a couple of Canadians who would turn out to be a huge blessing the following day. After exchanging jellyfish stories and chatting on the beach for an hour with the Canadians. I made my way back to the condo to clean up for registration and have zipp wheels (These are about $5,000 racing wheels that I rented) for race day put on my bike. After signing my life away during registration and promising Ironman that they wouldn’t be responsible for my death if anything happened and that I was racing at my own risk, I picked up my packet and bags and found myself back at the condo to get my gear and special needs bags ready. After spending most of the afternoon resting and stressing out about forgetting something, I squeezed in an easy 10 minute run before the mandatory athlete meeting.
Friday, November 4th. Pretty much the same morning routine as the day before. I found myself hitting the snooze button about 15 times, eating the usual breakfast and made my way out to the swim start to get a short swim in and test the water conditions. I managed to get suited up and hit the water. I saw quite a few people run out and it took a little longer for everyone to get past the sand bar. The water was extremely choppy and the current was terrible, pushing everyone from the west to the east. I figured I was fine and that I would just put my head down and swim through the waves. I pranced out into the water with my head held high and after 15 minutes of literally being beat to hell, having my goggles knocked off twice, swallowing about another half gallon of sea water and….AND even taking a stranger by the hand and telling her that we would do this together and that we would get out there….I raised the white flag and walked back to the shore line and found myself about 500 yards to the east of where I had initially started. P.s…there are pictures to follow, my cousin laura witnessed the entire thing and I’m sure found it comical enough to snap about 100 pictures (thanks laura J)! After making my way back in, I ran into the Canadians (Jeff & Paul) and here is where they turned out to be a huge blessing! I told them I couldn’t get past the break and was not about to take another beating….they reassured me that they were in no hurry and would stay with me. After being tossed around only a few times, we managed to make it out and get in about a 500 meter swim. Prior to Friday morning, I had never in my life been worried about the swim portion of the race! However, I honestly had thoughts that I may not be able to make it past the break and that I may not make the swim cutoff if the water were that choppy on race morning. I never doubted my swimming abilities until then and for me to have doubts the day before the race truthfully had me worried sick! I went back to the condo and told my sister I would be lucky to finish the swim by the swim cutoff which is 2 hours and 20 minutes. After showering and cleaning up, I put my transition and special needs bags together, rode down to transition to check everything in, rack my bike, mark off my bike location and scope out the swim transition area. After spending a couple of hours on my feet, everything was officially ready for race morning. Around 4:30 p.m. I found myself back at the condo resting and making the final preparations for race morning. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep the night before the race, I did my best to avoid napping and carb loaded around 7 p.m. compliments of Chef Stephanie. P.s…there are pictures of her beating the chicken parmesan half to death J! By 9 p.m. I was in bed praying and listening to John Mayer ready for a little R&R.
Saturday, November 5th…RACE DAY MORNING! My morning began around 2:45…I woke up to eat and drink a bottle of water to let the extra calories settle in. After inhaling a bagel and bottle of water while I was half asleep, I just knew that I wouldn’t be able to go back to bed. Luckily, this was an easy task. My second alarm was set for 4:30 and after only hitting the snooze button twice, I was up and ready to go. Chef Stephanie (I knew I wouldn’t regret inviting her) made me the usual eggs with ham and cheese with peanut butter and jelly toast. I managed to go to the restroom once before I left the condo. By 5:15, I was out the door jamming out to my IM playlist to get mentally prepared for the day. By 5:30 I was getting body marked (Race number 119 on both arms and my age on my left calf). I literally pushed and squeezed my way into transition to air up my tires, put water in my aero water bottle, took the trash bags off my bike (to protect my gears and things from getting wet) and put my nutrition (PB&J Sani’s) on my bike. I ran to the porta potty’s one last time and SCORE……without a doubt no GI issues for me….Note, race day porta pottys are disgusting…absolutely nasty and I usually try to avoid them and find a restroom at a facility to use but the racers were warned….If we used the hotel restrooms before the race, we would be disqualified! After using the nauseating out houses I made my way back to my bike, stretched and slipped on my wetsuit! After handing all my prep gear over the fence after explicitly being told not to ooops, I made my way down to the swim start and lathered up in body glide (anti chafe). I managed to run into Jeff and Paul, snapped a pre race picture with them and then a couple of pics with the family and made my way to the swim entrance to activate my timing chip. It wasn’t until I activated my chip that I realized F*c*….this is the point of no return. The swim area for the athletes was closed off to the spectators and I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be able to pray with my family before I took off. I called for Stephanie over the fence for a quick prayer (Pic to follow) and before I knew it, I was 2 minutes away from starting an Ironman race! I managed to pick a spot and get settled in to run into the water. When I looked down, the guy next to me only had 1 leg and was adjusting or wrapping the right leg – his missing leg of his wet suit. I thought to myself, “if he can do it, I can do it”. The emotions before an Ironman are truly overwhelming. I had visualized this moment for the last year (literally) and had to trust my body and mind that I had done the training and that I was physically and mentally prepared for this day. Training for an Ironman is like working for a year without a paycheck. It’s the ultimate time commitment and it is an exceedingly selfish sport. During training, people would ask me if I’m training for a marathon and my response was always “I wish”…. If I only had to make a commitment to run, that would be easy. And, by no means am I trying to take anything away from the crazies who do marathons, but let’s face it. There is a big difference between a 26.2 mile run and a 140.6 mile Ironman. Attempting to stay focused on 3 sports is tough. For me personally, I always felt like I should be doing some kind of workout, even if I had just spent 6-7 hours working out that morning already.
After all these thoughts, it was now 1 minute before the race start and the emotions were pouring. I was holding my head in my hands wondering if I were crazy for attempting this and fearing the journey that lay ahead. With tears in my eyes, the older lady next to me grabbed me with both arms and hugged me to reassure me that I would get through it and in an instant the cannon went off. I was out of time to reflect on fear and just like that it was GO time….everyman for himself! The start of a race is total mayhem. It has been described this way 100 times, but it is like being inside of a washing machine with 2,000+ other people flailing their arms and legs. At some point during the swim, you’re going to be kicked in the face, slapped with an arm, or scratched by someone’s fingernails or toenails! My original plan for the swim was to start on the west side of the shore and let the current carry me east and eventually end up at the buoys. However, at the last minute I threw that plan out the window and started smack dab in the middle of all the chaos. My thoughts were to get caught in the whirlpool and let the draft carry me as much as possible to conserve my energy for the rest of the day. The first 200 meters of a swim during a race is always the toughest. Trying to get settled in, find your groove and get your heart rate down is tough! However, I managed to get er’ done and within 200 meters, I was comfortable and pretty thrilled that I hadn’t seen a jelly fish yet. However, I will say that I have NEVER in my life been touched ALL over my body by people that I didn’t know…and I mean all over! About 400 meters into the swim, I started to see jelly fish and I mean a lot of jelly fish…Some were to close for comfort and others I could tell were at a safe distance! At about 700 meters in, I peed in my wetsuit and then saw a school of about 50-75 manta rays and thought “Dear Lord please keep them away from me”. It seemed as though the farther out to sea I got, the more jelly fish I saw. At one point, I couldn’t stroke or kick my feet because I feared I might get stung they were so close….after I managed to get past the jellies I kept praying that I would not get stung….In fact, here is what would be the first prayer and mental games of the day. I would ask myself “Kristen, do you have faith in the lord”? “Yes, then trust him with all your heart”! I honestly kept repeating that to get past the jellies and before I knew it, I was about 400 meters from completing my first 1.2 mile loop! With about 200 meters to go, my right goggle filled up, 100% with salt water. Determined to not stop and waste time clearing out my goggles, I told myself “if that guy can swim with one leg, I can swim with one eye” and so I swam with my right eye closed for the last 200 meters of the swim on the first loop. As I made my way to the shore for the turn around, I first cleared out my goggles, pulled out a GU from beneath my wetsuit and threw it back in about 5 seconds, grabbed a glass of water on the way out and before I knew it, I was on my way to start the second and final loop of the swim. I’ve decided that the ocean really wakes up around 7:40-8 a.m. it seemed like I saw more fish and jellies on the second loop than I did on the first. Trying not to worry, I just kept praying and thanking God for my health and for getting me to the start line without any injuries and with good health. About 500 meters into the second loop, I was still being kicked and slapped with thrashing arms and legs. However, what I find interesting is that in a shorter distance race, the athletes are usually harsher. If I were close to someone’s feet, that would usually warrant me getting kicked in the face and vice versa. However, what I noticed is that a couple of people who swam up on me and got close to my feet instead of holding me back they grabbed my ankles and pushed me forward to get me out of their proximity. At the first turnaround buoy this is where I almost experienced my first panic attack in the open water. Going in to take my first left hand turn there was a swimmer behind me who was smacked in the face with the orange buoy for swimming too close…I know for a fact this person was smacked in the face because they were right behind me and while I was smacked with one corner of the buoy they were smacked with the other….unlike me, the swimmer behind me panicked and tried to come up for air while holding my head down in the water like I was a Styrofoam cooler. I immediately started kicking and pushed them off of me in an instant and swam as fast as I could to get away from them. Before I knew it, I was at the second turn around buoy making my way to shore for the home stretch. I managed to see some more jellies and manta ray and of course continued to pray, peed one more time and before I knew it, I was out of the water in an 1:29….That’s averaging a 37 minute mile in the water and for these little legs, that’s a good thing J! A quick stop to see the wet suit strippers to peel my wetsuit off and run through the fresh water showers and then before I knew it, I was Coming through the shoot with a smile on my face. I managed find to see Jenn…. run over for a HIGH 5 and with a smile on my face I was through the tunnel…coming through, I was screaming out 119 for a volunteer to hand me my bag, and before I knew it, I was in the changing tent with about 200 naked women! While this may seem nice to most men, I simply wanted to scream OMG, get that out of my face! The changing tent was crowded with athletes and volunteers! I managed to find an open spot, stripped and in about 10 minutes was out the shoot running to get my bike
At about 8:40 a.m, I made my way through the “bike out” and started mentally preparing myself to relax and get settled in for a long day. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I would be fighting a headwind the entire way out and that all the crazies you see doing an IM would keep me entertained. At mile 10 on the bike ride, I witnessed a grown man lying on the side of the road rocking back and forth trying to stretch out the arch in his foot. All I could think to myself is “buddy; it is way too early in the game to start that mess”! At mile 13 or so, I came across my first aid station, when I slowed down a volunteer handed me a bottle of water and a banana as I continued to ride. It was then that I told myself that I would consider the aid stations “my family” and that I would get to see my family every 10 miles. Yep, this is a mental game that I played with myself the entire ride. At about mile 25, I witnessed my first “Oh Shit, I have to Shit” moment. There was a man that I saw abruptly slam on the breaks, drop his bike, sprint behind a tree, and through the tree I could see him pull his tri suit down and pop a squat. I couldn’t help but think, thanks goodness that’s not me. At around mile 28, I realized that my nutrition plan was going as planned and that I REALLY needed to pee. Not wanting to waste any time, I checked to make sure no one was behind me and BAM….I found myself peeing on the bikeJ! I probably saved a good 5 minutes, WINNING! Around mile 40, a cyclist came up to the left of me to pass and voiced to me that he was very annoyed that he saw an athlete on a tandem bike. He was under the impression that the guy on the tandem had an unfair advantage. It wasn’t until I told him that the guy in the back (Whose name is Richards, #71) was blind. The guy in the front was only there as a guide. Not to worry, the annoyed cyclist snapped out of it and couldn’t believe that a blind man was doing an Ironman! After reaching mile 56 which is the turnaround point, I was relieved to find that mentally and physically I was in a good place. I hadn’t hit a wall yet and I wasn’t ready to get off the bike. Not to say that I was worried, but anything can happen during an Ironman and it’s the fear of the unknown that haunts you during the day. At mile 57 or so, I picked up my special needs bag to scarf down a PB&J sani and reward myself with gummy bears. It hit me though, I found myself needing to pee again! So at mile 59, I shaved another 5 minutes off the bike and found myself peeing on the bike J! The turnaround was nice because I was able to take advantage of the head wind that I had to fight on the way in! Another mental game that I played on the bike was setting a milestone to have my gummy bears. My initial plan was to eat them right away but I told myself that I would reward myself at mile 65….then I found myself saying “no, have them at mile 70”. It wasn’t until mile 75 that I indulged in an entire snack size bag of gummy bears and let me tell you…after having about 6 PB&J’s and 6 bananas, those little gummies were AMAZING!!!!! I’d like to throw in there though that at mile 72, I was pleasantly surprised to see my family sitting on the side of the road cheering me on J…who knew J! Seeing your family when you feel alone definitely helps break up the monotony of it all! At about mile 80, I found myself really praying and thanking the Lord for my health and simply for being able to experience an IM. It was hard to grasp that a year’s worth of work was finally paying off and that throughout the day, I hadn’t experienced any cramping or issues yet! At round mile 90, I found myself needing to pee again!!! Making sure no one was behind me for a little shower, I shaved another 5 minutes off the bike by not stoppingJ! Most of you probably think…”it’s only 5 minutes” but every second counts and it’s a long day to be wasting time in a nasty porta potty! When I hit 100 miles, I had to come to the realization that I was closing in on the 112 miles, I overwhelmed with emotions and teared up a little, it hit home that I was really doing an IRONMAN! Throughout the day, I had managed to keep pressing my body forward while enjoying the journey. Overall I was feeling great and I hadn’t run into any problems. Then it hit me. With about 7 miles to go, the head wind to get back into transition was like going through a hurricane without the rain. The wind was atrocious and I felt like I was never going to get there. I just kept thinking to myself, stay aero…tighten your abs so the wind doesn’t blow you over and it worked, I passed 2-3 girls in my age group on the homestretch. Making my way in, I couldn’t see my family but I could definitely hear them J! I dismounted from the bike-legs a little shaky and passed it to a volunteer. It was off to the naked tent to change clothes and get ready for my marathon. For the record, I was only in transition for 8 minutes for the bike to run portion!
Here is what was going through my mind as I dismounted.…”Yell for bag (pink and zebra), take off helmet, eat a salt stick, don’t bust my @ss (cycling shoes), I hope I didn’t forget my running shoes, do I need to poop yet, ugh the bike gave me chafe, oh my..my toosh hurts….really hurts, grab a tampon (YES, I did this entire thing with AUNT FLOW in town), fix my hair so my pictures are half way decent, oh my upper body is achy from staying in aero for 112 miles, should I put a band aid on my pinky toe-no it will waste time, I need to eat and drink-do I really have to eat another PB&J, I’ve already done 115 miles only 26.2 to go….that’s easy” before I knew it, I was in the tent changing rubbing myself down in Vaseline…you would be amazed at the crazy places women chafe from doing an Ironman! Before I knew it, I was out the shoot in 8 minutes and that includes a stop at the porta potty in transition! My little legs felt like anchors but they were inching forward and that was all that mattered. The first 6 miles of the run were pretty uneventful…I managed to throw back a PB&J within the first 2 miles and this would turn out to be my last PB&J for the day HALLELUJAH!!!! All of the water stops were themed but for the most part it was all a blur, I just wanted water and calories. People would yell out my number and occasionally my name but I didn’t always have the desire to waste energy and say thank you. I’d simply lift my hand and nod. I’m pretty sure they understood that I was being sincere. Around mile 4 on the run is what I would like to call Moulin Rouge. A house full of crazy girls and a few guys wearing what seemed to be like this year’s slutty Halloween Costumes…they were out in the street drinking, playing music and dancing. I honestly looked forward to this stop because they made me laugh and I wanted to join in on the fun! In fact, I even slapped one guy on the ass who was practically wearing a diaperJ! For the first 6 miles, I managed to average 11.4 minute miles….not too bad! At mile 8 on the run, I hit a wall…even though I kept up with my nutrition plan and I didn’t leave it all out there on the bike course, I was spent. I was well into the 10th hour and my legs were fatigued. I felt great and mentally I was in a good place, it was just that my legs were ready to take a break. However, it was at mile 8 that I had my first GI issue. Not to worry though, because it wasn’t bad and I took Imodium before I started the run. At mile 9, I began to question my sanity….”Was I really doing an Ironman”? “Why am I tired at mile 9 when I’ve done a 22 mile run before”? “How many people do I know that have done an IM”?....before I knew it, I was coming up on mile 10 and all I could think to myself is “WOW, it hurts just as much to walk as it does run”! At one point I was intentionally striding it out in addition to walking and running but my legs just couldn’t go any faster. At this point, I was still eating…cookies and bananas at the aid stations…but still consuming calories every mile but didn’t understand where this wall had come from! Before I knew it, I saw my family and I had a little pep in my step J! I was so thrilled to see them and appreciated their presence. Even though I was barely creepin’ along at my snail pace of 14.2 for 10 miles, it went by in a blur. The sun had fallen and even though I had my headlight, it didn’t help that much. I found myself carrying my headlight to light the way. Some people say that the coke they serve at aid stations during an IM is like crack…I disagree, I have never smoked a cigarette in my life but I would say it’s like a cigarette….You have the little buzz effect people tell you about…but…. it’s just a buzz. The warm chicken broth they serve at aid stations during an Ironman is like crack! I went from having bananas and a couple of cookies here and there to straight chicken broth and coke….and boy was it AMAZING. The aid stations seemed so far away when all I wanted was a cup of warm chicken broth! That’s another thing, when the sun fell, it was about 45 degrees outside and chilly so it made the broth that much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At about mile 17, I saw my family again on the 2 loop course which was nice but by this point, all I wanted was the DAMN finish line…not because I was in pain but because it had been a LONG day. I guess that my sister could see it in me that I was ready…ready to be done…ready to talk to someone because at 13 hours, the athletes on the course aren’t that talkative…most of them are miserable and in pain but I was just had tired legs and was ready to finish. While this may be bending the rules a little, Stephanie ran with me to keep me company….Hell, if there were people riding bikes beside their athletes and coaches running alongside and yelling at their athletes to drink coke, take a gu, etc…..my sister could run with me for a little bit! It wasn’t until about mile 19 to 20 that I realized I was an hour away from meeting my goal. My goal for Saturday was not just to finish my IM but I secretly wanted to finish in 14:30 hours…..When my sister told me it was 8:30 p.m. with just over 7 or so miles to go….I found my second wind. I thought to myself if it hurts just as bad to walk as it does run, I may as well finish this thing strong. I found a new gear and even though I felt like I was running 10 minute miles, I was running 12:30 minute miles….I stepped up my pace from 14:30 to 12:30 for the last 7 miles J! At 20 miles into the run, I was spent…my legs were tired and I don’t know how to describe the soreness…it wasn’t painful, just soreness….a really deep soreness…..if you’ve never done an Ironman think about how it would feel to do 1,000 lunges holding weights. However, I pushed through it and ran the remainder of the marathon portion. It really did take everything I had mentally and physically to push through the 7 miles…..Every time I wanted to walk I refused to quit and I’m pretty sure that my family could see that….as I rounded everyone one last time, I couldn’t even expend the energy to look up at them….I was focused, looking straight at the ground giving thanks that I was there and telling myself not to walk…I was so close to reaching my goal….and I wanted to leave it all on the course! I didn’t want to have any regrets and wish that I would have pushed harder. At mile 21, 22, 23 and 24 I didn’t want to waste time drinking chicken broth so as I passed aid stations, I would scream for coke, throw a couple of sips back and throw the rest on the side of the road. It’s really hard to put into words how focused and in the moment I was…I’m an hour away from being an IM and while I found myself choking up and fighting back the tears a couple of times, I couldn’t lose sight of my second goal for the day…to finish in 14:30! First was just finishing! With 2 miles left to go...I could see the lights up ahead at the finish line, I could hear the crowds, I could hear my sister telling me that she was so proud of me and all I could think about is cashing in on a year’s worth of work and sacrifice to be here! At mile 24, I didn’t even stop for water, coke, broth…nothing…..I didn’t want to waste time grabbing anything…Same thing went for mile 25…I told my sister to sprint to the finish line and didn’t stop at the aid station…..with half a mile left and rounding the corner to go through the shoot, I was overwhelmed….I heard someone to my right scream Kristen and immediatly recognized the voice..my friend Ivelysse who I hadn’t seen all day was there to watch me run in J! The pearly gates were up ahead and kids to the right of me wanted high fives and without hesitating everyone is that moment seemed like they were there to watch me cross the finish line! Screw everyone else haha J…they were all there for me, I just knew it J!! The finish line was in sight and it looked like the pearly gates, to a child it would have been Disneyland, to a dog it would have been a juicy filet mignon, to Nelly Cruz it was his 11th inning walk off grand slam to seal game 2 during the ALCS, and this was it for me.. It was seeing all of my hard work, discipline, dedication, and time put towards this ultimate goal being paid off! I had all these ideas about what I would do when I crossed the finish line and etc….but when I crossed the finish line I was so overwhelmed with emotion that all I managed to do was a little fist pump with my right arm…HA…and even though I didn’t hear it because I was in the moment, at 14:32:32, I know they said..”KRISTEN RASH, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”!
And that was it, my satisfaction was found in the journey and it was so satisfying to cross the finish line knowing that literally all of the sweat & tears, sacrifices and hard work that I put into this thing had paid off! Mentally I managed to push my body through the physical and mental stress…..AND, I couldn’t have done it without my friends and family! To those of you who helped me train (Austin, Chris, Mario, Alex, Kelly, Bonnie, Arely, Robert…everyone) thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you Eric for putting up with me b/c as I said training for an Ironman is an exceedingly selfish sport….thank you for everything! Thank you Jennifer, Stephanie, Laura, Missy, Ryan and Ivelysse for being there for me on race day! I’m so happy that I was able to spend it with ya’ll! And….guess what….I AM AN IRONMAN and it’s TIME TO GET M DOTTED J!!!!!!
Much Love,
Kristen
