Stevi Williams 2011 IMC Race Report

Hi everyone!

Thanks for sending out the positive vibes for me last Sunday - I'm sure they were getting through because I had a really, really great day. Lots of you have asked how it all went so I've written my story below. It's longish (but hey, so was the race!) so if you don't want to read the whole thing you just have to know it went even better than I had hoped for and I am feeling so happy about the whole thing. For those of you who want the details, read on...

It all started when the alarm went off at 3:30am. I shut it off and let the feeling of "OMG today is finally here" rush over me. I'd spent the last 8 months training for this; long wet runs in the rain, countless bum-numbing hours on the bike and too many painfully boring swims. Now the waiting, anticipation and oscillating between terror and confidence was coming to the release point when the horn blew and I could just get in the water and GO!

I got up and got dressed, had breakfast and waited for my buds Celeste & Byron, who were also racing, to pick me up. When they arrived at 4:45am, I gathered up my gear bags and off we went to the race start. Now, because it's such a long day Ironman has several spots where you can leave stuff you want later in the day. First there is the transition area where you go from swim to bike (T1) and then bike to run (T2). This is where you leave your helmet, bike shoes etc for T1 and runners, hat etc for T2. There is also something called "Special Needs" (SN) for the bike and the run; this is a spot at 120km on the ride and 21km on the run where you can have a bag dropped off with something you might want at that point (fresh legs would have been great!). There is a huge variety of stuff that people put in their SN bags and it's always fun to see. Celeste likes to have options and had the biggest laundry bag full of stuff ~ we all had the giggles watching her lug that massive bag up to the drop off point in the morning. Especially compared to Byron's SN bags which had all of a water bottle and a chapstick I think. I was somewhere in the middle with some extra gel (food type fuel source) and a light jacket in each bag, just in case. Last year during the race a big rain storm came in and froze everyone half to death. Turns out being cold wasn't going to be an issue for us today.

So we drop off our SN bags and then got our race numbers written on both arms and legs. They also write your age on the back of your left calf ~ this is so when you see someone passing you, you can decide if you need to try and chase them down if they are in your age group. Then into the transition area to put load my bike with my fuel (we don't say "food" in triathlon, we say fuel. This is because it all tastes like crap and would only ever be eaten to stay alive) and water.

Then the 3 of us sat down to watch everyone else rush around pumping tires, loading fuel bottles etc. The face expressions were everything from happy and relaxed to flat out panic stricken. Sometimes I had to look away and recenter my own thoughts if I was picking up too much of the wild energy of the mob.

OK, 6:20am - time to suit up! We all get into our wetsuits, swim caps and goggles and then make our way to the beach entrance. The pro's gun goes off at 6:45 and the huge crowd watching roars. My adrenaline surges and I struggle to reign it in before it turns into scattered, unfocused nervousness. We all flow through the swim exit gate to the beach and knee deep into the lake to get some water into the suit before we start in 5 minutes. No hope for a warm up swim today ~ the water is packed full and standing room only. The 3 of us are grinning and joking; "I guess this means we're really going through with it huh?". We all give each other hugs and say "Good luck!!!" and then HOOOONNNNNNNKKKKK! The horn blows and the largest Ironman Canada race start of 2841 athletes heads into the water together.

The swim was pretty wild ~ that's a lot of people in the tub together you know? I just kept my head down and followed bubbles and feet as much as I could. When people swam on top of me or were crashing into me I just worked on staying relaxed and keeping moving. I've done enough of these races now to expect the punch in the head/face at some point so it was almost a relief when it finally happened and it was a girl ~ the guys can really crack you one sometimes. The course is like a triangle with two long sides and one short one at the far point. At the last turn buoy to head back to the beach we were heading into the sun which made it difficult to sight the course buoys ~ lots of people went off course a bit here. I was stuffed in the middle of a splashy mob the whole time and just stayed with them all the way back. Got to the beach and climbed out of the water to hear my name being called by Damon & the kids who were crushed up at the fence in the crowd ~ AWESOME to see them!!! My swim time was 1:20 which was 3 minutes slower than last time. I was ECSTATIC with this time however since I only did about a 20th of the swim training I did last time (because swimming blows).

Into transition and the strippers rip my suit off my legs and fling it at me as I run to my T1 gear bag. Into the tent to put on my shoes, helmet, sunglasses, race number belt and sunscreen. Out of the tent and get my bike off the rack. Run with it to the Mount Line on the road just outside the transition zone, mount up and start riding through the crowds lined up on both sides of the road behind fence barriers. I really do love this part :)

The ride felt really good to me, this is always my strongest discipline. My bike is sleek and fast and crushes it on the downhills and the flats -woop woop! It might not climb as well as my other bike but I felt strong and kept it steady the whole way. Heat management was critical as it got up to 34C out there in fully exposed roads through rocky desert-like terrain ~ like riding though a blast furnace at times. There are aid stations every 20km on the course and at each one I would grab one of the ice cold bottles of water from the outstretched hand of a volunteer as I rolled through and pour it over my head, back, legs ~ drink some ~ head again and into my shoes. Then I'd grab another bottle of a fuel drink and dump it into my bike's bottle and keep going on the course. D and the kids had driven the back road to get to the Yellow Lake hill (the last major climb on the course) and I got a big jolt of HAPPY when I saw them. I stuck out my hand and got high fives from all of them and several other spectators lining the hill as well (one of them was a little over zealous and slapped my hand so hard it made me wobble on my bike!). I just kept my pace strong and steady until I finished the 180km and got back to transition in 5:54. Last time it took me 6:18 so I was VERY pleased to come in under 6 hours.

I hand my bike to a volunteer (they take it and rack it for us ~ nice!) and run to the gear bags lined up according to race number in T2 ~ bike to run. I grab my bag and head back to the change tent. Off with the helmet and bike shoes, on with the hat, runners and fuel belt. I run to the sunscreen volunteers and am swarmed by 5 of them in blue surgical gloves smearing goop on my legs, arms and face. I leave T2 looking like I've just lost a shaving cream fight.

Out onto the run course. Lots of people cheering us on along most of the way and many of the locals have either put out their sprinklers or are standing there with their hoses ready to spray you if you want it. And I wanted it! It was so stinking hot on that run course ~ it's entirely exposed to the sun the whole way. There wasn't much breeze from the lake either so it just felt like we were being baked alive on the asphalt. My headspace was really good for the run (something I've been working on a lot lately)and I stayed very positive in my thoughts despite the discomfort. I never thought of the run in it's entirety; no "omg a whole marathon" thoughts for me! Instead I just ran from aid station to aid station which were placed at every mile for 26 miles. Once I reached a station I would walk through pouring water over my head, putting ice under my hat and stuffing cold, wet sponges into my jersey. Then back to running to the next station. This worked really well for me; knowing that I could walk at the next station gave me the determination to continue running no matter how steep the hill or how many puking people I was encountering. The run was taking it's toll on a lot of people. There were pukers every where and a some were falling down. A few people wandered off the road to go sit in the lake to cool down and get refocused. It can appear rather bleak at times. Again, D & the kids were there to boost my spirits at the 10km/30km point. A friend of mine's granny lives right there on the run course so Celeste and I had a cheering mob with all the kids, our friends and hubbies, complete with signs, hoses and high fives when we got there. It was such a great thing to look forward to!! I was starting to feel a bit fragile in my tummy for the last 10k of the run. Eventually the body just can't really process the nutrition going in and starts to rebel. I had to find and then constantly readjust the balance point of getting nutrition in but not overwhelm the system. As I got nearer the finish line I left off trying to get calories in and just worked on staying steady with my pace and form with little sips of water.

The Ironman run course has a particularly cruel finish because you have to run right past the finish line, out another half km and then turn around and run back to cross. Going past the finish line for that last 500m is really hard! The next thing you know though, there I am, running the last 500m towards the finish line with mobs of shouting, waving and cheering people lined up both sides. The grin on my face is huge and I just feel an enormous welling of happiness, pride, relief, joy, amazement and triumph wave over me as I cross the finish line in 12:18. 41 minutes faster than before ~ YA HOO BABY!!!! The photographers are snapping my picture as I come across and I hear Damon calling my name to my right. I look over and there are D, Kierney and Chase, all grinning, waving, jumping up and down and yelling "YAY, YOU DID IT!!!".

Two ladies take my arms and start leading me through the finisher's chute. These ladies are called "Catchers" and there are two Catchers for every athlete. They talk to us and make sure we're ok and not going to cross the finish line and fall down puking with no one to help ~ this falling down and puking part happens a lot. So I'm chatting to the ladies as we walk towards the finisher's photo que and I am starting to feel a little crappy. Now that the focus of running/finishing is over my body is starting to reassert itself over my mind and it's not happy with how it's been treated that day, thankyouverymuch!! We get through the photo stop and the Catchers let me go to meet Damon and the kids. I get about 10 steps and feel so drained and nauseas that I stop to sit in one of the chairs for a minute or two to let it pass. It doesn't pass but it doesn't get worse either so I get back up and go to see the family just outside the finisher's chute. Big hugs!! Sweaty kisses!! Yay Mommy!! Honey, you ROCK!! It was a great moment :) but then I need to sit down again as my body again reminds me of how it's time to give back now.

We sit in the grass for a while, watching all the athletes and their families rejoin each other. Again there is a big variety here; some people look like they could go for a nice swim right now while others look like death. I think I'm somewhere in the middle but edging closer to the "look like death" side as I'm getting cold sitting in my wet clothes on the grass. Damon brought my bag of dry clothes to change into but there is only one place to change and it's a nasty, concrete block of a public beach bathroom that has been used by 3000 athletes and their families all weekend. Ewwww! Not much choice though so I head in there. I'm really starting to feel bad now though; my tummy is queasy and I'm really cold and shivering. I get into one of the two stalls to change and look with dismay at the dirty floor and how there isn't a hook to hang my bag. I know, call me a princess but this is definitely one of my "things" ~ I HATE having to touch gross public washroom anythings, let alone the FLOOR!! So there I am, gingerly placing my bag on the floor (gag) and trying to organize a way to get my dry stuff out and wet stuff off without letting anything touch the floor. I am managing ok, I've got my dry shorts on now and flip flops. Bra on, good. Shirt? Whoa, now I suddenly feel like I'm going to pass out - too much bending over and standing back up getting stuff out of the bag on the floor (did I mention how filthy the floor was??). I sit down on the toilet, thinking if I can do that and get my head down between my knees I'll recover and not pass out. Then I wake up with MY FACE ON THAT NASTY FLOOR!!! and two women calling to me to unlock the bathroom door so they can help. I slowly get more vertical and flick the latch on the door as I resume my seat on the toilet. The Wonderful Women (WW) are fussing over me and talking at me but all I can come up with is: " OMG I passed out on THAT FLOOR!!" ~ it was truly gag inducing. Sigh. I get my shirt on, feel the bump on my forehead where I bonked it on my way down, note the bloody knee and then WW help me outside the bathroom to the grass where I promptly have to sit back down because I can feel the tunnel vision coming again. They get my stuff from the bathroom and I ask them to get my husband for me because "…he's really strong and he can just carry me…". Well they can't find him (due mostly to my one word description: he's tall) so they help me get to the medical tent. The docs put me in a bed and cover me with warm packs because I'm really shivering with the cold now and then hook me up to an IV. Someone finds Damon and tells him where I am but he and the kids can't come in the tent because it's crazy busy with athletes coming in. FUN! I know most of you are probably thinking "Wow, where can I sign up for this?!?". After about an hour I'm done my drip of magical IV fluids and feeling MUCH better as I rejoin my family and Celeste who has also finished (and rocked it with a new Personal Best time!!) and have been waiting for me outside the med tent. More hugs and kisses and laughs and then Wade, Celeste's husband, picks us up in the car (because there was no way I was walking the 1.5km back to the house!!) and takes us all home. A quick wash off, then into my compression pants to help my aching legs and then sweet, sweet sleep….ahhhhh.

So that's pretty much how Ironman went for me. It was a crazy, fantastic, brilliant & amazing day. The falling down part at the end doesn't detract from the whole thing for me even one tiny bit (too bad it was in that nasty bathroom but I've since dunked myself in a Detol bath and as of this moment will block the vision of the floor forever from my memory….ah, gone).

Thanks so much for all your encouragement and support for my big day, it meant a lot to know I had people rooting for me!

I'm going to go and eat now (again) and then maybe take a little nap :)
See you all soon,
Stevi