Friday, May 13, 2011

Ironman St. George

Friday night was an awesome evening of fun, getting to see the Triabuddies, who had been camping for the last few days. Keaton was a trooper, surviving on very little sleep, still bright eyed, and so positive.

Went to bed early, and didn't sleep too well. Woke up at 3:45 AM and caught the bus to the start. I wondered around quite a bit observing people, getting excited, and before I knew it it was time to start!

The swim felt pretty good overall. It was a bit cold (56 degrees was the unofficial but official temperature). The swim went well, 1:16, which is just a minute over what I was expecting. Halfway thru I got a little cold and realized I had better speed up if I wanted to warm up, so I did.

In the swim to bike transition, I realized that I had forgotten to take my Lantus (long acting insulin), which was a bummer. So, started out high, and began thinking about what to do. I came up with the following.

1. Find the Lantus bottle and syringe in bike jersey
2. Bite the orange cap off of the syringe and hold in your mouth
3. Put insulin bottle in your mouth
4. Stick syringe (have to aim well) towards your mouth to land in the rubber area of the top of the insulin bottle
5. Withdraw 5 or so units
6. Shoot out 2 units or so
7. Wait till your opposite leg (from the hand you are taking off the handles) is up
8. Inject your leg muscle when cadence is right.
9. Repeat as needed.

I guess I also could have just stopped the bike and given myself a shot, but this was kind of a new challenge. And I forgot my salt tablets, which was a total bummer, because I was thinking that I really needed them most of the bike.

The bike ride was harder than I had expected. There was a LOT of wind, and I was really slowed down by that, plus I felt worried about the lack of salt, my water bottle cage didn't hold the flimsy bottles they handed out, and bottom line, is my legs felt tired. I'm not too sure why, but they did. Could have been that I wore compression socks for the first time, hmmm...

At any rate, I barely made the cut off time (with 21 minutes to spare) and was so happy to get off the bike, and onto the run!

The run was also a bit harder than I had anticipated. It was still pretty hot when I was doing it, and I also felt a little tired. But not too muc hurt, basically I was just tired. I walked a lot, but ran down the hills. It was actually kind of relaxing to talk with people, and not feel in such a rush.

Finishing was awesome!! And going by the triabetes aid station gave me a ton of new energy too. I can't express how inspiring it was to know that as I came up to the aid station, I'd see Keaton, Julianne, Chris, Rachel, Ed, and everyone else who ran with me. What a difference that made. And, seeing my mom and Juan get excited and cheer, really honestly carried me the rest of the way.

Here is the official video of the Ironman St. George, where Brian of Triabetes made the cut! The big question now, is... will I do another one? I am having a hard time finding focus, but it's still only been less than a week. I need to think about it some more.

Also, here is a link for a recent Press Democrat Story too.


1 comment:

  1. Congratulations again, Annie! And thank you for sharing your account of the race.
    That was also a great interview with you. I feel like I got to know you better reading it.
    Very inspiring.

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