My Journey to IRONMAN

"LORI BECK, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

Truth be told, I didn't actually "hear" Mike Reilly say it, but there are videos and pictures to show that I did in fact cross the finish line after swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles.

I live life on the "one day at a time - it's a we program" and this journey to Ironman was only made possible by getting on that path of the good life.  It's funny to think back to a December 2005 brunch conversation that got me started in triathlons.

Friend:  "The three of us are doing the Naperville triathlon in June."

Me: "No.  That involves swimming...which involves a bathing suit.  I only know how to doggy paddle.  I don't own a bike. And I don't particular care for running...especially if there isn't a ball and points involved."

Friend:  "Lori - You've done a good job pulling your life together, but you're still a mess.  You're out of shape and you use to be an athlete."

So I registered for the "stupid" triathlon.

I bought a bike.

I picked up running shoes.

I taught myself to swim by watching people at the pool.

I did the race.

I fell in love with the sport of triathlon.

(The only reason I don't mention the friends names is that I was the only one who drank the triathlon juice...)

My target year for Ironman was 2010, but the plan was delayed a with a summer off sick. Ironman Wisconsin was my 21st triathlon race since the that first race in the summer of 2006.  For me, the multi-year approach of doing the various levels to build up to the Ironman distance was the right thing to do.  I've been able to be coached by some amazing people and have met so many incredible friends along this journey.   

Here's a recap of my first Ironman race day!

Transition Set-up / Bike Check:
Nothing like pumping up tires before the sun comes up in very little light and them just not feeling "right".  I had trained on my Zipp wheels since April outside and had not any flats, and here it was race morning and something wasn't right.  I was using my  lucky pump and didn't think that could be the problem, so I ran the bike down to the maintenance area and the guy put air in and said "If you just pumped these to 105 and they are now to to 40 PSI, you have a problem..."  After a couple of minutes, the tires seemed to hold the air, so I racked the bike again, left transition and ran into Susan and said "Just let me have a moment - and had a 2 minute freak out about the tires."  Luckily, Susan can handle my little "anxiety moments" really well and directed me relax, go back in, check the tires, and come back out.  The tires seemed good....and at the end of the day...that "lucky" pump is getting donated! :-)

Pre-Swim
We headed down the helix to the swim start area and I wanted a little space to get my wet suit on.  Susan took a video and I think it's one of the funnier ones because I look like I saw a ghost.  I asked her how she let me get in the water with 2500 triathletes looking like that!  The nice think was that a familiar face from my gym popped up along with her friend and they were doing the race for the first time as well.  The one woman out of the blue, said "I saw you at the Madison Open Water Swim a couple of weeks ago.  WE can do this!"  Little positive angels when you least expect it...

Swim - 2.4 miles - 1:33
Wow.  My least favorite part about triathlon is the swim start which is typically in waves of like 80 women and a tiny air horn.  Starting off with 2500 women AND men with a cannon blast @ 7am...way different!  The "word" on the triathlon streets is to expect a 5-10 minute swim improvement from the Madison Open Water Swim with the additional swimmers.  I figured my anxiety with swimming coupled with that many people definitely cancelled that edge out, plus ADDED on another 5-10 minutes.  Having swam 1:46 at that swim, I figured if I could get out of the water within 2 hours (cut off is 2:20) I wasn't going to sweat it.

I started towards the back and in the middle and had quite a bit of room around me while treading water waiting.  Kind of enough room that I wished that more people were closer so if there were any snakes around, they would scare the heck out of someone else!  When the cannon went off I just thought face down, relax, it's your swim - get 'er done!

Here's a cool video from YouTube of the swim start race day morning:

I felt great and relaxed the entire swim.  I had the expected get swum over and jockey for some space, but besides fixing my goggles quickly 4 times, it pretty much was head down and relaxed swimming for me.  Just as I was coming up to exit the swim, I looked at my watch and saw 8:32 and had the first of MANY huge smiles on my face!  My official swim time was 1:33, but I never expected to have a 1:3x as the swim time...and no panic attack or snake sightings were icing on the cake!

Transition 1

Got stripped by the wet suit strippers...haha...

Headed up the helix and realized my one contact was having some problems.  Luckily, I was able to take a couple of seconds  and take it out,and put it back in and it was all fixed up!  But if I didn't "see" you on the helix, that's the reason why!  Had some coke to get some quick calories while switching fully to bike attire, and then hit the road!

Bike - 7:25
The bike course is described as a lollipop - stick out to the 40 mile hilly loop (completed twice) and then the ride back.

Starting on the bike, heading out to the loop, I felt pretty good.  My heart rate was running high - z4, but I didn't feel out of breathe or that I was pushing it so I pulled it back slightly and started focusing on the nutrition plan.   

I hit the loop about the time I expected, and was excited to ride and see how different the course would be race day with people out watching compared to the lonely training rides.  After riding several times this summer, it felt like home court. 

First loop - I stayed focus and hit all of the nutrition targets I needed to and everything was feeling good.

Second loop - Still feeling pretty good, but time wise, there is a significant decrease from my first loop. Part of it was loosing a little focus, some of it was focusing too much on slowing down to make sure hydration was taken care of - a lot of the little things that I think with some strength training and experience, I'm going to see a huge decrease in this bike time next year.  Overall, I felt strong on both loops and didn't have some nagging knee stuff that I had on a couple of my training rides. AND NO BEE STINGS!!!  Definite bonus! 

The ride back to Madison from the loop was strong, a little slow down with the route of the course, but the course is the course.

Nutrition wise, I felt good the whole ride and I knew I was doing well on hydration which is the key to getting to the finish line.  (I'll spare the details....)  I was ready to get off the bike ~ 108 miles...which is awesome that I didn't have to start doing the little positive cheers a lot earlier on the bike...I needed to save that self talk for the run!  

Transition 2
Switching from bike to run gear is a little bit of a blur. I just remember being a little stiff...I guess 7+ hours on a bike can do that to you!

Run - 6:18
Thoughts off the bike in the first 7 minutes:

Picture courtesy Jeff Thompson!

First thought:  "I feel pretty good!" 

Second thought: "Wow...I have to run a marathon."  (Translated PG version.)

Third thought:  "Where the heck are the clouds?"   (Translated PG version.)

Fourth thought:  "When is the sun going down?"     (Translated PG version.)

Fifth thought:  "What TIME is it?"

I had a watch on and could have easily figured out the time, but that's essentially the direction my thoughts were going.  A couple of miles into the run - probably 3-4, I was jolted and scared by a tarantala on the street.  Yep, I went into the race freaked about snakes, little did I think that at mile ~118 I would get scared by kids messing around with a puppet tarantala on the course.  About a mile down the road I found a little humor in the fact that I was just scared by a puppet, and was a little relieved that I wasn't loosing my mind and seeing things.

Around mile 9-10 I felt like I had hit the marathon wall and had a little panic.  In the two other marathons I've done I hit that point of "how am I going to finish this?" at around mile 17 and mile 22.  Mile 9?  I had a LONG night ahead.  I couldn't do the basic math during the second loop of the run that is typically like breathing "26 - x miles left over y amount of time"....I kept on asking trees if I had enough time to finish.  I was "running" along side a guy that was walking briskly and after a couple of minutes said to him "Guess this doesn't speak too much for my running speed if your walking just as fast!"  But we both laughed and kept plugging along the course.

There was amazing support on the course.  I kept seeing Susan pop up all over the course along with all the friendly familiar faces of coaches, friends, training buddies, swim friends...and all the amazing volunteers and spectators with their cheering it was just an amazing experience.

Running that last mile into downtown and around the capitol and the reality that the finish line was going to happen...I just can't even put into words how absolutely amazing it felt!

The best thing of having a 15:40 first Ironman race....I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT - and had plenty of minutes to enjoy! 

Although I have done a lot of this Ironman training solo, this accomplishment was not possible without the help, guidance, support of so many people.  I am truly fortunate in the past couple of years to have amazing coaching resources, nutrition counseling, and training buddies that have become friends.  The coaches and athletes of Tri-Umph, Jen @ JHC Coaching, and Kim @ Fuel Your Passion...thank you for giving me the foundation and path to make my dream possible.

To my family, friends, and the anonymous ones...thank you for your love, support, and understanding on this journey!  Your kind messages helped me get through many of the more difficult moments!

To Susan...like I said when I first saw you after finishing - "WE" did this.  Thank you for making this season possible and for your unbelievable patience everytime I said "Do you REALLY think I'm ready?  Can I REALLY do this?"  You never had a doubt and always answered my questions with real examples of why I could and why I would do it.  I would have stuck a sock in my mouth way back in May!  I can't begin to say how much I appreciate how much time you sacrificed and took care of Bixby while I trained!

Will I do it again?  ABSOLUTELY!  It's on the calendar - Ironman Wisconsin #2 - September 9, 2012.  I can't wait to train for a full year with a healthy wrist (finally!) and hit the strength workouts 100%, another year of experience on the bike, and improve my swim and run.  I may even be MORE excited about 2012...