The amount of triathlon experience displayed each Sunday morning during Mere Mortals on Pensacola Beach is staggering. While the goal is to help, teach, mentor, and encourage new athletes, MANY experienced athletes also use the time to push themselves to new distances, speeds, and overall achievements. Ironman is often at the top of this list. From a TGC leadership perspective it’s extremely gratifying to see an athlete continue past his/her original goals. Each of the athletes in this blog series participated in the same race, but each of the athletes had a completely different experience. I hope these race reports inspire other athletes to take a chance, set a goal, and do something outside of his/her comfort zone.
From Stephanie O’Connor…
Ironman TEXAS – April 27, 2019.
MY race report wouldn’t be complete without a little back story:
It was NOV. 2016 and I decided I wanted to do my first full IRONMAN triathlon in Panama City Beach, Florida in Nov 2017. I called my good friend Andrea and immediately she was on board. The next thing I knew our friend Eva also signed up. I was so excited! We found a 16 week training plan online and got started. Two other girlfriends, Kim and Ali, also began training with us even though they weren’t planning to do the race.
Oct. 2017, after four grueling months of training Andrea, Eva, and I attended “Ironman Camp” in Panama City where we rode 100 miles of the bike course and ran 13 miles of the run course. The race was about 3 weeks away and we felt strong and prepared. A few days later I had bad knee pain while running. I saw my doctor and x-rays were done which showed nothing. An MRI was my next step and immediately got the text to STOP RUNNING! Turns out I had a stress fracture of my Femur (thigh bone). No running for 3 months!
I was devastated and heartbroken. Much of my alone time included crying and feeling defeated by my own body. Luckily swimming and biking were still allowed or else I would have been a total basket case! I continued to train with Eva and Andrea as much as I was able and allowed. I went to the race and loved seeing them complete and finish what we all three had started. I didn’t give up and vowed that I would be back for this race in 2018!
2018 comes and this time I am able to talk my friend Kim into joining me. I also hired Coach Amy as I knew I needed a good plan and someone to help keep me accountable. We enjoyed many long months of training and were joined weekly by a variety of our good friends. It does take a special kind of friend to ride, run, or swim with you for hours just the fun of it. I am so lucky/blessed to have such a great group of friends! Ali did all of our training rides with us and even went to “Ironman Camp” in Oct. I again did the 100 mile bike and 13 mile run. As we were packing up to leave the camp I watched the weather channel and saw a new tropical formation headed for the Gulf of Mexico. A week later Hurricane Michael would shatter my Ironman dreams yet again and destroy parts of Panama City. It took several weeks for the Ironman corporation to figure out what they were going to do about the race and it’s 3,000 competitors. Soon we were given a option of Haines City, Florida on the same set race day or Ironman Texas four months later. Part of me wanted to “just be done” and part of me didn’t want a makeshift race. I wanted the full Ironman experience, not something thrown together. I consulted Coach Amy and read as much as I could about both race locations. There was so much good stuff about Texas like being voted #1 prerace banquet, #1 run course, etc. I decided for me it was worth the wait for Texas. I consulted with my husband and made sure he could/would endure yet more training. My coach totally agreed and we dialed training back for the holidays and then started at it hard in Jan 2019. This time our friend and training partner Ali announced she was on board to race with us. 🙂 Yippie Skippie!!
The next four months flew by. Every weekend had long bike rides (almost always windy) and long runs. The next thing we knew it was April, and we were ready to head to Texas!
Andrea and Eva, our previous Irongirls, were on board with the long road trip and being our Sherpas for the race. We arrived in Texas three days prior to race day and got acclimated. We attended the Pre-race banquet and were totally inspired. They showed video clips of the inspirational people who we would be racing with. There were also many Pro athletes that would be competing. Everything was so exciting and professional. We did the practice swim the day before the race and totally enjoyed swimming in the beautiful, peaceful lake as opposed to a choppy, salty Gulf of Mexico. That night we ate dinner and then headed to bed nice and early. I went “lights out” at 9:30 p.m. but was wide awake at 12:30 a.m. For the life of me, I could not get back to sleep. 3:45 a.m. was our wake up time and it came quick. I had a perfect breakfast planned but was instead nauseated. I was only able to eat a few bites of peanut butter toast and banana. I was worried the whole day was going to not go as planned.
The next thing I knew I had breezed through airing up tires and dropping off nutrition into appropriate bags. We walked the 1/2 mile to swim start and I was reunited with my husband and Sherpas. Next, I was putting on my wetsuit, applying anti-chaffe cream, and ready to go. Luckily I had a Gel with me and really enjoyed that with a bottle of water while waiting to swim. The swim went amazingly well! I will never forget the smell of Jasmine from local gardens while swimming. My goal was to be as close to 1 hr 30 min as humanly possible which meant no looking or dorking around which I am quite often guilty of. I have a friend, Teresa, who is famous for the saying, “Just put your head down and swim,” so my new routine has been to say that every time I start a race. The last part of the swim was through a canal with people cheering on both sides and that part was awesome!! As I got out of the water I looked at my watch and saw 1:33 min. I was so happy my swim time was awesome!! And I felt like I hadn’t exerted too much energy.
As I ran to transition my hubby and girlfriends were there cheering me on and snapping pics! I got to the tent, changed clothes, and headed for my bike. After a nice few miles thru the Woodlands we were on the Hardy Toll Road and greeted by a strong headwind (Damn it!!). Suddenly, I was glad for all those training days with the wind. I was only averaging 10-11 miles per hour. My goal was 16 mph minimum at all times as cycling is my weakest discipline. It was going to be a long 112 mile bike ride! It was a 2 loop course so there was hope to make up time on the flip sides. Next thing I knew I was moving 20 mph with a tail wind. Only one more loop to go. Wooo Hoo!! Not soon enough the bike was over and I was greeted again by cheering from my Spouse and Sherpas. I saw my friend Kim twice on the bike course and she would yell out to me as she was whizzing the other way with her healthy lead. Unfortunately, I also saw my friend Ali with bike problems. She was unable to complete the bike. Later we would learn her derailer broke off at mile 30 and she had to fight hard to make it to mile 70 with only one gear and was unable to make the cut off. Her day was over, and I was sad for her. She is a much better cyclist that I am so I was stunned. I entered the final transition where I changed clothes and started the run. I had to use a lot more leg energy on the bike than I had wanted so I knew the run would be a lot of run/walk.
The run was full of cheering sections. Different clubs/organizations had sections set up in addition to the water stops every mile with people cheering and encouraging us. Words can’t describe how thankful I was to have so much encouragement! It’s no wonder this is voted the #1 run course! I was hoping to catch my friend Kim on the run course, but she eluded me! I never even saw her while running except for a 1/4 mile from the finish line (more on that later). Being as it was a 3 lap run course I thought for sure at some point I would see her and maybe pass her 🙂 There was one section in the run that stood out. It was called Hippy Hollow and was full of crazy fellow triathletes in sexy “outfits” banging on trash cans and drums with music blaring. They also had signs that said “no walking in Hippy Hollow.” So with lots of high fives, cheering, and butt slaps I made sure to run for them. 🙂
I knew I had to be at mile 20 by 9:30 p.m. I was unable to do the math due to some fatigue so I decided too push myself and not walk as much as my body wanted. My pre-race vision of being able to run the majority of the run was dashed but really finishing was my goal. I wanted to soak it all in and enjoy the day that had eluded me for so long. Coach Amy ask me a few days before the race what would I I would do if my brain went to a dark place during the race and felt like giving up. I assured her I would not be giving up! I truly had worked for and wanted this day for so very, very long and to have my husband and all my good friends on the course and cheering for me made this a special day! I ended up finally seeing Kim with less than .25 miles to go. Needless to say this was the push I needed to run as fast as I could to catch her! As I entered the finishing chute I came upon one man separating me from Kim. He had on a Military Hero tri suit, and I knew each athlete wants their very own finish line picture. I made the decision to not pass him. I knew I wanted to hear my named called out on its own announcing that I was indeed a Ironman! I ended up finishing just seconds behind my very dear friend Kim . Soon enough we hugged , high fived, and both felt like amazing winners! Next was hubby at the finish line. I quickly hugged and kissed him. I think he looked very proud and relieved that all this craziness was finally over :). My heart felt for our friend Ali, but she was right there cheering and supporting us at the finish. I hope that if it’s important to her that she will someday get to cross that finish line but it’s not the same dream for all of us. I will forever be grateful for all the many hours she spent training with us and supporting us.
I learned many things over my long Ironman journey, and I am sure they will all make me a better person. 5 1/2yrs ago I couldn’t run a block and couldn’t even bike around the block. My Journey has already shown me that anything is possible and this is also the Ironman Motto. Indeed ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!