Chills!!
Thanks for the time, Sidney!
There was a lot less stress and emotion this year compared to doing this course last year. Last year was my first time at the 70.3 distance. It was like having my first baby - no matter how much advice people gave me, I just didn't know what to expect till I completed one. This year I was feeling a lot better; I lost about 15 lbs, I did Boulder 70.3 earlier [last August], I trained heavily on my weakness (running), all winter long, and grew the Lionel Sander’s mustache.
Time for the race: To start off the race for me was crappy. A 40 minute wait for a port-a-potty was freaking me out because I was running late to begin with and I was one of the first to start my race. Plus who's to say that I would still need to go when it was my turn to poop!? Luckily I was successful, however during that time the national anthem was starting. I didn’t know whether to put my hand on my heart or book it to the starting line. Being a double amputee, Ironman allows me to swim with the pro women. But because of the 2000+ racers I was unable to squeeze to the water's edge to make my start.
Finally I got to the water and the announcer gave me a special start, just before the age groupers. I was so rushed mentally that I lost my focus from the beginning. My watch got bumped and it started wrong, I left my wedding ring on and didn’t defog my googles. My swim just wasn't as strong as I trained. I had some sighting mistakes due to the foggy googles, and I’m used to drafting with pro women. Normally I could do it in less than 30 minutes, but it ended in 35.
I decided to just let all the mental errors go and focus on the bike. My dad helped me with my biking legs and we decided since my bike was so close to the water I would save time and just use my biking legs to hobble up the launch ramp to my bike. My transition was super fast because of this! The bike went so well for me. I had so many errors last year. I was heavier, had a poor bike fit, mechanical issues, a flat tire at mile 55, and I was still new as an amputee. This year I invested in a good bike fit and trained more on hills over the winter, wanting to beat my bike time by 20 min. And that happened!
My run started off well with no cramping and a good pace. About mile 4 is when I noticed I left my timing chip on my biking legs! Luckily the race director rushed it to me, however it didn’t matter because it stopped tracking me. At that point I started battling with some major prosthetic issues. My limbs kept swelling up and I couldn't run without taking my legs off to let the swelling go down so I could run again. That happened every mile. Towards the end I struggled with cramping, blisters and fatigue, but I was able to finish strong with lots of help from fellow friends and Salt Lake Tri club teammates. I was disappointed in my run since I practiced so much over the winter. However I did PR my run on a 70.3 and cut off 30 minutes there, making 50 minutes total.
Thank you all so much for the support and cheers at the race!!! Looking forward to more Ironman 70.3's and to a full Ironman in 2019. Lots of work needs to happen. I’m about 200 lbs and I hope to drop to 185. I am also getting a new set of running legs. I am in search of a dietitian that has experience in my situation to help me with my goals.
