2009 World Ironman Championships, Kona, Hawaii

So it has been about one month since the race and I have finally wanted to write a race report. The thought about writing one earlier was too much effort, too hard and frustrating to want to have to think about it again. So I let it be until I felt like doing it.

You must understand (as I am sure you do) that after pouring your heart and soul into your A race (and favourite) of the year and it doesn’t go the way you wanted it to and there seems to be no real reason why, you gotta move away from it and anything to do with the sport for a short time….well I do.

That is what I did. I went surfing, I went paddle boarding, mountain biking, I cleaned up the garage, rode my road bike wherever and surfed some more. I ran along the beach at sunset and marveled at how strong the colours were and reminded myself how I would see that again tomorrow and it would be a different day….and how much can happen in a day and change your life in some way or another. I just did whatever my mind wanted/needed to process what I had just done and how I was going to choose to deal with it and move on.

The lead up to the race was fine, everything was flowing smoothly and I felt fit and ready to go but the body wasn’t responding and it became more evident on the run, to the point where I was shuffling and going back and forth with Bree Wee as she went in and out of the bushes. I just hoped that I could try and get the cadence back I knew I had but it didn’t happen.

There was no ‘shake n bake’ (from the movie Talladega Nights) or anything remotely like that happening so I had to suck it up, suck up my pride and break it down to the bare essentials of just finishing. I knew I was not going to earn any prize money for my efforts but could not pull out as a little voice in the back of my mind kept saying ‘just keep going, you never know you might come good and you have trained all year for this’. It wasn’t just my efforts throughout the year that I was thinking of, it was my sponsors who had invested their time in me too and of course many others too. It is not in my nature to quit, never has been and never will be. You don’t learn anything by taking shortcuts or giving up before you finish what you set out to achieve/try to achieve.

I did not check and still have not looked at my results from the race but I know I needed an IV afterwards but was told the medical tent was full and they could not accommodate me.I was told to sit on a chair outside the tent and to see how I felt….mmm…let me see….like I needed a drip with a shot of something for my nausea. I had to get up and go.

My lovely, patient and forever supportive husband picked up my bike and gear bags and we walked home, watching athletes come down the last turn onto Alii drive, some having similar days to me and others having the best performance of their life!

Once home I decided I needed to eat something and was craving fries and a burger so Jeff went out to hunt and gather as I got the chills and crawled into bed with a blanket over me(in Hawaii!).

My stomach still not in a good way, I forced down some electrolyte drink as I waited for my food….mmm….i could smell it from down the hallway. I had my ketchup ready for the salted fries and got half way through them and the burger before I knew I could go no further. I asked Jeff if he wanted any and he said he wasn’t hungry but within the time I took to go to the bathroom and to get back to the table….it was polished off and he was licking his fingers! That is how good the burger and fries wereJ

My sister skyped me and said I looked …..pretty…pretty terrible and wouldn’t let up about getting some fluid into me. I think her hormones are kicking with some more maternal instincts now or she is practicing. So much for medical tents!

As you can tell this race report is in no order but that’s ok. My brother would have pen marks and comments everywhere on this if it were a paper one of his students were handing in ….so I am lucky!

I had a fairly clean swim and the bike I got a penalty for what I am still not quite sure. A slower male pro decided to overtake me as slow as he was allowed to then pulled right in front of me, sat up and unwrapped a bar and started to eat it whilst slowing down….he did this a couple of times and I got done. (Thinking out loud) You would think WTC could have some professional referees that are employed to go to their Ironman and 70.3 events to do this, rather than having random people (volunteers) marshall the course when there is prize money at stake. This might help with consistency throughout the field and provide the athletes with more experienced referees. You don’t see tennis players making their own calls or asking random people at the local club if they could call the US Open.

Coming off the bike I felt good but as soon as I hit the ground running my legs were heavy. I know in previous years it has taken up to 8 miles to feel ‘normal’ but it didn’t happen. My turnover felt good to start with but slowed and my legs did not respond to any little attempt to try a ‘pick up’. Keep cool, keep little bits of gel in, coke and suck on ice cubes throughout, left, right, left, right was my plan.

I thought of all the great run sessions I had had and envisioned them in my mind and hoped they would get the connection from my brain to my muscles doing what I wanted them to but it seemed to stay a motion picture playing through my mind and never coming to real life.

Not much else to say here really. I have learnt a lot this year and will be working on some things in the off season once I have had some ‘fun’ in Australia with my family and friends!!!