The Decision
I just couldn't let it go.
I couldn't let my Boulder Ironman experience be the end of the journey. I couldn't let all that training go to waste. I couldn't let all those hopes and expectations go unfulfilled. I couldn't let all the love and support I had received be for naught...
Truthfully, I moped around for a couple weeks trying to convince myself that it was OK. It was OK that I had signed up, trained for 7 months, made it thru the swim, rode a majority of the bike section, and raised a ton of money for Doctors Without Borders. But I just didn't believe it.
I knew I had unfinished business and I wasn't going to feel better until I did something about it.
I went to the Ironman website and looked at next year's Boulder 2015 registration. There were still spots available so I signed up (and paid the cancellation insurance just in case:). I felt a little better. I had a plan of action but the reality of starting to train from square one in March or April wasn't too appealing.
I went back to the Ironman site and looked for fall races that still had openings. Maryland and Wisconsin were available but it sounded pretty cold to swim in a northern river or lake in October. Cozumel and Cabo were available in the spring and swimming in tropical warm water sounded pretty appealing. But did I want to train for another 6 months waiting for spring? No.
Finally, I narrowed it down to Florida in November. It was 3 months away, plenty of time to tweak the training program and make a few changes. Not so far away that it would seem like an eternity. I took a leap and registered and got one of the last spots.
The Training
I knew I wanted to change a few things so I met with the God of Ironman - Dave Scott. (If you don't know who he is, google him. He won the first Ironman and went on to defend the title a total of SIX times!). He reviewed my training log and nutrition plan and told me I needed to increase my workout intensity with intervals and decrease the calories. Get rid of the Carbo Pro, get rid of the big race day/training day breakfast, take in about 1/2 as many calories during training sessions, and drink less water/sports drinks. Everything he said was counter intuitive to what I had read and what I had been told to do. But he's the man and he's got the experience to know what he's talking about.
Dave was also very scientific in his approach to calculations (anaerobic threshold or lactic threshold also known as VO2MAX, resting heart rate, metered power output, watts, GPS). He used these numbers (or at least the ones I could supply) to calculate my exertion rate with the corresponding caloric and sodium levels I would need to replenish. He gave me an exact fueling plan for the day of the race and I followed it to a T.
In August I picked up training where I had left off and kept at it for the next three months. Every week I swam 2.4 miles one day, I rode 65-80 miles one day, and I ran 13 miles one day. On the other days of the week, I'd swim, bike, or run shorter distances and sometimes I'd BRIK them up (do 2 disciplines one right after the other). I made sure every workout in every discipline included intervals.
Another change I made was kept up my Kaia FIT schedule during the Florida Ironman training. I had dropped Kaia 2 months before the Boulder IM and I just didn't feel as strong as I wanted. For the Florida IM I felt strong, lean, toned, and flexible - all thanks to Kaia. We had a Kaia BRIK (fitness + nutrition) during Sept/Oct so that really helped me pare down excesses - NO starch, NO alcohol, NO sugar, NO dairy, and minimal grains. When the Kaia BRIK ended, I just kept up the nutrition plan. I was almost 10 pounds lighter than I had been for the Boulder IM and I felt 10 times stronger for the Florida IM!
The Florida Ironman Day
When we flew into Florida on Wednesday, the air temp was 70F and the water temp was 76F - perfect! The sun was shining and the water was calm. My practice swim in the gulf was amazing, you could see the sandy bottom and fish swimming through the crystal clear Gulf water. My practice ride along the beach was smooth and quick. My practice run through town was flat and fast. I pictured myself blazing through the course and got greedy thinking about how much time I could knock off...
Then on race day, the cold front hit... The forecast called for a high of 39F, predicted high winds, and forecasted a windchill of 29F. That morning, walking to the start line at 5:00AM, it was still pitch black but the wind was already whipping through the trees. I told myself it would calm down when the sun came up but I was wrong. I hadn't brought any of my winter gear with me - we were in Florida! - so I wore my wetsuit walking the half mile to the starting line. Once there, I rechecked my bike and run bags, filled my tires with air, and kissed Charlie goodbye. He was going to track my progress on Ironman's Athlete Tracker so I'd look for him along the course as I passed by.
The pros were set to start at 6:50AM so I headed down to the beach at 6:40. The sun was just beginning to break the surface and I could just barely make out the water. In front of me I saw the white foam of the wash zone, 10 foot waves, police rescue boats bobbing wildly, and rescue kayaks tumbling and spinning sideways. I told myself it was going to be like a surfing day, paddle-paddle-paddle and turtle under the waves to clear the washing machine zone. I checked out the buoys and counted 5 of them. Five out, one across, and five back. I'd just have to do that twice and I'd be done. I was torn between that butterflies in the belly feeling and just wanting to get in the water because it was freezing standing around on the beach.
At 6:58AM they announced the swim portion was CANCELLED due to high winds and rip currents. I was dumbfounded. Now what? What does that mean for the day? Will this still count as an Ironman? A woman next to me, who was competing to win her age bracket and gain a Kona spot, reassured me that it would count as an Ironman. She said, "You're going to go 138.2 miles today and missing an hour or hour and half of swimming is not going to impact that. You are going to feel like you've gone the distance at the end of the day."
So with that, we all ran to grab our bike gear bags, change, and get ready for the bike ride. They used a Time Trial format sending riders out every 5 seconds in pairs according to their registration number. I was lucky I had a low number, 501, and got on the road early. Once we started pedaling I warmed up a little and with fresh legs, I was ready to roll. But did I mention the wind? It would blow a steady 20mph all day and gust to 30mph. We had headwind for 90 miles and finally got a tailwind for the last 20 miles into town. 7 hours,12 minutes, and 37 seconds later I was off the bike and on to the run.
I had worn everything I could find in my bag for the bike and I was still cold. I had thrown in an extra pair of socks in my run bag thinking I would change into dry socks for the run. Forget that! My feet were like blocks of ice so I put on both pairs of socks just to keep warm. (I'd later lose two toenails to boot bang because the socks made my shoes a little too small but it was a small price to pay compared to numb feet). I wore my bike sleeves, my tri top, a long-sleeved swim top, a long-sleeved running top, and my running jacket for the run. Did I mention it was COLD?
The 2-loop run course took us east through town, then along the beach to the State Park and back. The course was lined with fans, many of whom were still dressed in their Halloween costumes from the night before:) In my mind I broke the run down into 1/4s. State Park - town - State Park - town. There were aid stations every mile so I sipped on water, flat Coke, and warm chicken broth as I went by. It started to feel like a pretty long day when the sun went down around 7:00 and I knew I still had about 3 hours to go...
Finally on the last lap as I headed back into to town, I could hear the Ironman announcer calling out every name of every person who crossed the finish line. I wanted to hear my name. I kept moving forward. It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty but the miles kept ticking down. It took me 6 hours, 14 minutes, and 44 seconds to run the marathon but I made it.
The runway was lined with fans and people I didn't know but they all cheered me on just the same. It felt wonderful to see the end in sight. I just kept moving toward the lights and then I heard it,
Those were the sweetest words I could imagine at that moment. It had taken me 13 hours, 41 minutes, and 49 seconds to get there but it was worth it!
I just couldn't let it go.
I couldn't let my Boulder Ironman experience be the end of the journey. I couldn't let all that training go to waste. I couldn't let all those hopes and expectations go unfulfilled. I couldn't let all the love and support I had received be for naught...
Truthfully, I moped around for a couple weeks trying to convince myself that it was OK. It was OK that I had signed up, trained for 7 months, made it thru the swim, rode a majority of the bike section, and raised a ton of money for Doctors Without Borders. But I just didn't believe it.
I knew I had unfinished business and I wasn't going to feel better until I did something about it.
I went to the Ironman website and looked at next year's Boulder 2015 registration. There were still spots available so I signed up (and paid the cancellation insurance just in case:). I felt a little better. I had a plan of action but the reality of starting to train from square one in March or April wasn't too appealing.
I went back to the Ironman site and looked for fall races that still had openings. Maryland and Wisconsin were available but it sounded pretty cold to swim in a northern river or lake in October. Cozumel and Cabo were available in the spring and swimming in tropical warm water sounded pretty appealing. But did I want to train for another 6 months waiting for spring? No.
Finally, I narrowed it down to Florida in November. It was 3 months away, plenty of time to tweak the training program and make a few changes. Not so far away that it would seem like an eternity. I took a leap and registered and got one of the last spots.
The Training
I knew I wanted to change a few things so I met with the God of Ironman - Dave Scott. (If you don't know who he is, google him. He won the first Ironman and went on to defend the title a total of SIX times!). He reviewed my training log and nutrition plan and told me I needed to increase my workout intensity with intervals and decrease the calories. Get rid of the Carbo Pro, get rid of the big race day/training day breakfast, take in about 1/2 as many calories during training sessions, and drink less water/sports drinks. Everything he said was counter intuitive to what I had read and what I had been told to do. But he's the man and he's got the experience to know what he's talking about.
Dave was also very scientific in his approach to calculations (anaerobic threshold or lactic threshold also known as VO2MAX, resting heart rate, metered power output, watts, GPS). He used these numbers (or at least the ones I could supply) to calculate my exertion rate with the corresponding caloric and sodium levels I would need to replenish. He gave me an exact fueling plan for the day of the race and I followed it to a T.
In August I picked up training where I had left off and kept at it for the next three months. Every week I swam 2.4 miles one day, I rode 65-80 miles one day, and I ran 13 miles one day. On the other days of the week, I'd swim, bike, or run shorter distances and sometimes I'd BRIK them up (do 2 disciplines one right after the other). I made sure every workout in every discipline included intervals.
Another change I made was kept up my Kaia FIT schedule during the Florida Ironman training. I had dropped Kaia 2 months before the Boulder IM and I just didn't feel as strong as I wanted. For the Florida IM I felt strong, lean, toned, and flexible - all thanks to Kaia. We had a Kaia BRIK (fitness + nutrition) during Sept/Oct so that really helped me pare down excesses - NO starch, NO alcohol, NO sugar, NO dairy, and minimal grains. When the Kaia BRIK ended, I just kept up the nutrition plan. I was almost 10 pounds lighter than I had been for the Boulder IM and I felt 10 times stronger for the Florida IM!
The Florida Ironman Day
When we flew into Florida on Wednesday, the air temp was 70F and the water temp was 76F - perfect! The sun was shining and the water was calm. My practice swim in the gulf was amazing, you could see the sandy bottom and fish swimming through the crystal clear Gulf water. My practice ride along the beach was smooth and quick. My practice run through town was flat and fast. I pictured myself blazing through the course and got greedy thinking about how much time I could knock off...
Then on race day, the cold front hit... The forecast called for a high of 39F, predicted high winds, and forecasted a windchill of 29F. That morning, walking to the start line at 5:00AM, it was still pitch black but the wind was already whipping through the trees. I told myself it would calm down when the sun came up but I was wrong. I hadn't brought any of my winter gear with me - we were in Florida! - so I wore my wetsuit walking the half mile to the starting line. Once there, I rechecked my bike and run bags, filled my tires with air, and kissed Charlie goodbye. He was going to track my progress on Ironman's Athlete Tracker so I'd look for him along the course as I passed by.
The pros were set to start at 6:50AM so I headed down to the beach at 6:40. The sun was just beginning to break the surface and I could just barely make out the water. In front of me I saw the white foam of the wash zone, 10 foot waves, police rescue boats bobbing wildly, and rescue kayaks tumbling and spinning sideways. I told myself it was going to be like a surfing day, paddle-paddle-paddle and turtle under the waves to clear the washing machine zone. I checked out the buoys and counted 5 of them. Five out, one across, and five back. I'd just have to do that twice and I'd be done. I was torn between that butterflies in the belly feeling and just wanting to get in the water because it was freezing standing around on the beach.
At 6:58AM they announced the swim portion was CANCELLED due to high winds and rip currents. I was dumbfounded. Now what? What does that mean for the day? Will this still count as an Ironman? A woman next to me, who was competing to win her age bracket and gain a Kona spot, reassured me that it would count as an Ironman. She said, "You're going to go 138.2 miles today and missing an hour or hour and half of swimming is not going to impact that. You are going to feel like you've gone the distance at the end of the day."
So with that, we all ran to grab our bike gear bags, change, and get ready for the bike ride. They used a Time Trial format sending riders out every 5 seconds in pairs according to their registration number. I was lucky I had a low number, 501, and got on the road early. Once we started pedaling I warmed up a little and with fresh legs, I was ready to roll. But did I mention the wind? It would blow a steady 20mph all day and gust to 30mph. We had headwind for 90 miles and finally got a tailwind for the last 20 miles into town. 7 hours,12 minutes, and 37 seconds later I was off the bike and on to the run.
I had worn everything I could find in my bag for the bike and I was still cold. I had thrown in an extra pair of socks in my run bag thinking I would change into dry socks for the run. Forget that! My feet were like blocks of ice so I put on both pairs of socks just to keep warm. (I'd later lose two toenails to boot bang because the socks made my shoes a little too small but it was a small price to pay compared to numb feet). I wore my bike sleeves, my tri top, a long-sleeved swim top, a long-sleeved running top, and my running jacket for the run. Did I mention it was COLD?
The 2-loop run course took us east through town, then along the beach to the State Park and back. The course was lined with fans, many of whom were still dressed in their Halloween costumes from the night before:) In my mind I broke the run down into 1/4s. State Park - town - State Park - town. There were aid stations every mile so I sipped on water, flat Coke, and warm chicken broth as I went by. It started to feel like a pretty long day when the sun went down around 7:00 and I knew I still had about 3 hours to go...
Finally on the last lap as I headed back into to town, I could hear the Ironman announcer calling out every name of every person who crossed the finish line. I wanted to hear my name. I kept moving forward. It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty but the miles kept ticking down. It took me 6 hours, 14 minutes, and 44 seconds to run the marathon but I made it.
The runway was lined with fans and people I didn't know but they all cheered me on just the same. It felt wonderful to see the end in sight. I just kept moving toward the lights and then I heard it,
"KAY NORBY FIAL - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"
Those were the sweetest words I could imagine at that moment. It had taken me 13 hours, 41 minutes, and 49 seconds to get there but it was worth it!
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