On Wednesday afternoon I did the 6 hour drive (alone) to Penticton. I had made reservations to stay at the Apex ski resort (if you haven’t been up there it is worth the drive). We had stayed up there a couple years ago when I had gone up to ride the course…I love it up there it is so peaceful and calming. For those of you who are going to go up to ride the IMC course this next year I would recommend planning to ride up to Apex as part of your training. You will find it to be a gorgeous ride and quite challenging
The day before the race Mike arrived with Candace, Alex and Stephen. We spent the afternoon at the lake, lying around relaxing and enjoying the kids. We planned on having an early dinner that evening. I don’t have a “special meal” that I eat the night before a race, so before this race I had decided to give pizza a try. I had read somewhere that this was the meal of choice for Lori Bowden so I thought that maybe it would work for me :-) We planned to eat early so I wouldn’t have trouble getting to sleep. HAAAA! Sleep was not to come that evening I was in bed by 8:30 and was not able to fall asleep until sometime after midnight. Of course the later it got the more I worried about how this lack of sleep was going to affect me and the more anxious I got…the last thing I remember was looking at the clock at shortly after 12am.
3:15 my alarm went off…I went downstairs and started to make breakfast. 5 scrambled eggs, 1 piece of toast with butter and a diet coke. I woke the kids up and everyone started getting ready for the big day. At 4:15 I made a piece of toast with peanut butter to eat on the drive to town and drank my white chocolate mocha (I had bought it the night before at Starbucks and put it in the refrigerator). Originally the plan was to have a bagel with peanut butter, however my nerves were really getting to me and I wasn’t sure my stomach could take all that.
After checking my bike and rechecking transition bags I headed down toward the swim start. A I left the area that was for athletes only I ran into a group of my friends. They were all there to support different people at the race and some were there to sign up for next year. Next I ran into Lance Heppler, a good friend from the Joshua Tree camp that I had attended a couple weeks earlier. He was all smiles and excited about the day ahead. A couple things stuck with me throughout the day…be patient and trust your fitness…hold back on the bike! I keep that in my thoughts throughout the day…I said it over and over to myself.
I went into the swim start at about 6:15. I chatted a bit with Jeff and Jason and then Chris Whyte came up…we all talked a bit it was very great to be starting the day there with 3 good friends. Then I also ran into my friends Tom Gruver and Simone VanRheenen. In the past 4 IMs I've never seen any of my friends at the swim start, and here I was with five of them! Perhaps this was a good omen.
I decided to start up much closer to the front than I ever had before. Swimming is not my strength and I have always started toward the back of the pack. The swim start seemed so calm… well for about 5 min… then the masses were crawling all over me. I just kept my head down and kept swimming….I did not look up or stop I just kept swimming. I stayed to the inside close to the buoys. My thinking was that there should always be people to my left and if I go off course to the right a kayaker would let me know right away that I was heading the wrong way. This seemed to work very well. I was very comfortable during the swim. I was even able to think about my stroke and what I had learned from Brent at camp. I didn’t let any negative thoughts enter my mind. I was also looking for people to draft instead of trying to get away form everyone. I came out of the swim with a 1:13:46, but I didn’t know that until after T2 when Mike told me. Best swim ever, by about 2 minutes.
Transition went well, nothing major happened there. The one thing I did do that I have never done before was to get some water in before I left transition.
I was so glad to be on the bike; it is definitely my favorite of the three. My plan for the bike was to ride steady at 145-150HR. I would allow it to climb 10-15 beats up Richter and on the rollers for very brief periods of time. I trusted, based on what I knew from training, that this would give me a 5:45-5:50 bike split, that this should feel easy, and that this would leave me in good shape for the run. I also had decided that I would look for opportunities to rest. For example, if I had a tailwind I was not going to push harder to keep my HR up…that I would just maintain that steady pace and use this as my bank of heartbeats. This was very hard to do! There were sections where I knew I could have ridden much faster at my 145 HR but instead with the wind pushing me I let my Hr drop down so I could take a bit of a break.
On the rollers I ran into a group of girls from my age group. I went back and forth through the rollers with the girl who would eventually win my age group. I finally let her go as we turned onto the out and back. When we turned there was a big headwind and I found my HR climbing. I found myself initially pushing too hard into that wind then I settled down and stayed within my predetermined HR zone. This was hard…“Trust your fitness and be patient…be patient…” I kept saying this over and over. This was particularly difficult when I looked down and saw I was only going 13-15 MPH heading to special needs.
Overall the ride felt great. I definitely got off feeling like I could have gone faster which was exactly what I had been working for all season…being sure that the ride didn’t take so much out of me that I couldn’t finish strong on the run. My bike split was 5:50:09.
I came out of T2 with my friend Simone…how great was that… again I am with my friends. We decided to work together to slow each other down for the first couple miles. We chatted a bit …I felt great.
My plan for the run was to take the first 5 miles easy then pick it up from there. I was going to watch my HR and keep it between 155-60…the problem was with the wind this was really hard to do. I think the lowest HR I saw was 165! The majority of the run was done at 170…higher on the hills. It could have been a bit higher during the last 6 miles because my HR monitor strap broke so I had no readings.
At each aid station I grabbed 2 sponges, squeezed them over my head then grabbed a cup of water and a cup of ice…I would drink half the water and pour the other half into the ice. I would then grab the top of the cup and run with it…about halfway between the aid stations I would take a swig of coke from my fuel belt. I drank water and coke the whole run. I had 4 endurolytes at the turn around and that was it. The sound of the ice in the cup helped me focus on my cadence. The wind did not seem to bother me too much. I didn’t like it because I knew it was slowing me down but I was so determined to run under 4 hours I just kept pushing forward. All I could think about was keeping my cadence up I was completely focused on that. I had terrible stomach cramps for 90% of the run. I remember two times when I wanted to stop and double over…I just refused to let myself. I was using every mental tactic I knew to keep going.
This was my first IMC where I didn’t have a flat on the bike… there was no way I was going to fall apart on this run. I had thought about this run the past 4 months and had seen it over and over in my mind. I decided I was not going to walk one step, not even up those hills at the turn around, and I was going to hold a strong steady cadence throughout the run. I was completely committed to this no matter what.
My pacing on the bike was very conservative for what I think I could have done if I rode 5-10 beats higher. I really think holding back so much on the bike paid big dividends on the run. There were two times when I really wanted to walk but I reminded myself that “I wanted this” and thought about how I would feel in the end if I didn’t give it my all. I visualized runs that I do at home. I have loops that I run from my house for which I know the exact mileage …At mile 18 I remember telling myself …it’s just one lap of the Bridle trails loop…that’s nothing you love that run…you're almost there! Visualizing running on the beautiful trail in the Bridle Trails park helped take my mind off of that terrible stomach pain!
At mile 17 I decided to pick it up a bit, hoping to catch some girls in my age group. When I had left transition my husband had told me that there were 10 girls ahead of me and that the girl in first was only 10 min ahead. At mile 17 I hadn’t passed any of them, or so I thought. I remembered reading that this is where/when people start walking, mile 17-18…and that if you can pick it up there or I guess maintain what you are doing you should start passing people …sure enough at the next aid station there she was a girl in my age group and she was WALKING! I saw Mike at mile 21 and he informed me that I was in 6th place…6th??? I must have missed some girls… I decided to stay steady until the top of the long grade before you turn right onto Main Street, but once the grade started to slope down I was going to pick it up and give all that I had left. About 2 miles from town I passed 2 more girls…I was now in 4th place My run was 4:05:26. I was hoping for a sub 4 hour run, but given the conditions, I was pretty happy with it. My finish segment was under 2 hours, so I accomplished my goal of finishing strong. Total time: 11:16:44; 297th overall, and 4th in the AG.
After the race I met up with Mike. He asked me what I wanted t do and I told him I was starving! This was a first for me. Normally after my IM races I am laying on the ground face down telling everyone not to touch me because I feel so nauseous and sick. I always marveled at people walking around eating pizza chatting with their friends…I have always felt awful! I was hoping that after this race it would be different…it was! I ate 2 huge plates of fruit and visited with 4 friends who had come to watch the race and sign up for next year! I was very stiff and had a hard time walking. I thought for sure I would not be walking the next day….however this did not happen either. I was hardly sore at all the next day : )
I would like to thank everyone who has believed in me and helped me to achieve this dream. To some of the people from my club for helping me get my life back…for those who know me and know my story you know that none of this would have happened with out the help of the staff there. Mary, Carl and Crystal…you all truly helped save and change my life. Thanks to Josh for spending the night in line at IMC 2002 so we could sign up for 2003 and for all your encouragement and support through out the years. To my fellow athletes and friends that I train with THANK YOU! You have all inspired me to become a better athlete. I have learned so much from all of you. Hamish…a special thanks to you for keeping me company on my Sunday rides during Jan, Feb and Mar. Hamish would meet me at 5:30AM so I could get back early to be with my family, we would ride rain or shine …mostly rain…freezing rain!!! Riding through those months helped me create the base I needed for this race… (and you thought I was helping you : ) ) Thank you for making those days bearable for me!. Thanks to my parents for spending nearly every spare moment of their time the past several months helping with our house remodel, working around my workout schedule! We bought a little fixer-upper much closer to Mike’s work in an effort to “simplify” our lives. HAAAA!
A special, special thanks to my husband Michael…no one believes in me more than him. He knew I could do this and NEVER let me doubt myself nor give up not for one minute. I remember calling him in January at mile 50 of a 100 mile ride…I was freezing and I told him I was DONE come get me …it had been pouring the whole day. I was down in Buckley out in the middle of no where and... he says, ”You’re OK. Just get back on your bike and start riding. You’ll warm up, you can do this! I’ll pick you up in Factoria!” UGH!!!! He was right and he knew how awful I would have felt later that day had I quit and not finished that ride.
To all my friends from camp THANK YOU! You are all a fantastic bunch.
On Wednesday afternoon I did the 6 hour drive (alone) to 
After checking my bike and rechecking transition bags I headed down toward the swim start. A I left the area that was for athletes only I ran into a group of my friends. They were all there to support different people at the race and some were there to sign up for next year. Next I ran into Lance Heppler, a good friend from the Joshua Tree camp that I had attended a couple weeks earlier. He was all smiles and excited about the day ahead. A couple things stuck with me throughout the day…be patient and trust your fitness…hold back on the bike! I keep that in my thoughts throughout the day…I said it over and over to myself.
I was so glad to be on the bike; it is definitely my favorite of the three. My plan for the bike was to ride steady at 145-150HR. I would allow it to climb 10-15 beats up Richter and on the rollers for very brief periods of time. I trusted, based on what I knew from training, that this would give me a 5:45-5:50 bike split, that this should feel easy, and that this would leave me in good shape for the run. I also had decided that I would look for opportunities to rest. For example, if I had a tailwind I was not going to push harder to keep my HR up…that I would just maintain that steady pace and use this as my bank of heartbeats. This was very hard to do! There were sections where I knew I could have ridden much faster at my 145 HR but instead with the wind pushing me I let my Hr drop down so I could take a bit of a break. 
My pacing on the bike was very conservative for what I think I could have done if I rode 5-10 beats higher. I really think holding back so much on the bike paid big dividends on the run. There were two times when I really wanted to walk but I reminded myself that “I wanted this” and thought about how I would feel in the end if I didn’t give it my all. I visualized runs that I do at home. I have loops that I run from my house for which I know the exact mileage …At mile 18 I remember telling myself …it’s just one lap of the Bridle trails loop…that’s nothing you love that run…you're almost there! Visualizing running on the beautiful trail in the Bridle Trails park helped take my mind off of that terrible stomach pain! 
After the race I met up with Mike. He asked me what I wanted t do and I told him I was starving! This was a first for me. Normally after my IM races I am laying on the ground face down telling everyone not to touch me because I feel so nauseous and sick. I always marveled at people walking around eating pizza chatting with their friends…I have always felt awful! I was hoping that after this race it would be different…it was! I ate 2 huge plates of fruit and visited with 4 friends who had come to watch the race and sign up for next year! I was very stiff and had a hard time walking. I thought for sure I would not be walking the next day….however this did not happen either. I was hardly sore at all the next day : )
