Sunday was a HOT and HILLY day in Chattanooga! 5 years ago Ironman added Chattanooga to their schedule. And for 5 years now my great friend Melanie from Deep Creek that moved there has every year been asking me when am i coming down to do this race. Well 2018 was the year. My gal Andie and I committed to it! Originally i wanted to sign up and train to be competitive with my AG, see if i can qualify for Kona or come close, shooting for about a 10:30 Ironman (swim bike and run). But i soon realized after signing up that my schedule with work/family in this time of my life does not allow for it unless i missed out on a lot, which i don't want to do as my son won't be a child forever. And i also realized i simply didn't want to spend the amount of time needed to be that competitive. So i readjusted my goal (a few times, haha). I didn't train as much as i wanted but i certainly trained enough to be able to have a really strong day for myself. And I felt really strong going into this. Late in the training, feeling strong, i figured i would shoot for an 11:30-12 hr IM. Seemed realistic. But heck even sub 13 hour was on the brain as a goal, giving me that cushion should anything go wrong and i didn't know what to expect with the hills and heat there.
Unfortunately, 3 weeks out an old injury (Left Foot) kicked in hard and i knew i had to prepare myself mentally that it may make for a long slow marathon. But i stayed positive and hoped it would ease by race day and not get in the way. If it did, finishing was the ultimate goal. And i am certainly ok with that, as finishing is HUGE!!!!
Race Day - Due to flooding the swim was cancelled. I had planned about 1:10 for swim + 5 min transition. Without the swim i still had 142.2 miles (still over the 140.6 IM distance) to make it through the day. So, I hoped for an 11 hour day now that there is no swim. A very conservative and reasonable goal based on my original goal, but it was going to be a hot and humid day and had the foot eased up i would have shot for a low 10 hour day (again this is minus the swim). However, the day was going really well and a low 10 hours was seeming possible still.
The BIKE: The course was a rolling hilly course. It was great. Perfect for us Garrett County girls actually. The roads were really beat up but the rolling hills were perfect. Those that have ridden with me know i do not like rough roads...haha.. Couple slow downs when got stuck behind cars late in day that were stuck with slower riders in front, but as other riders stuck too got annoyed, i was looking at it as helping me save some energy for the run. But really over 116 miles a couple slow downs won't make much difference with your results. Lots of flat tires out there due to the rough roads though. Thankfully not for me, as i may still be out there now trying to change my tire HAHA. I fueled and hydrated great. (And no Steve Green not with Jagermeister!LOL) Energy was wonderful. Legs felt good. All the fluids and shaking of the rough roads forced me to take lots of pee breaks for the 2nd half of ride which was frustrating, but it is what it is. Its all part of a long day! LOL. Again, though, the short break to hit the porta pot could be helping my legs for the run. Late in the ride, you can feel it getting really hot and humid, especially when the sun burned off all the clouds. It was hot, it was humid- Not a surprise. Just hoping the clouds would come back for the run. Temps in the mid 80s with sun and humidity don't fare well for me while running. Again, one of the reasons i quickly learned about early on in the training and readjusted my goal partly for. Chattanooga is HOT! (clouds never came back btw)
TRANSITION: I got off the bike feeling good. Legs felt good, energy was through the roof. But the heat and humidity was not great. Which most of you know over the last few years i have not been able to handle very well like i use to. Took my time in transition. Had swelling in foot, so i knew that was not a good sign, but not unfamiliar either. Again, this started 3 weeks earlier so i was mentally prepared for this barrier. I have a strong mind and am pretty good at making my way through things. Sure it may slow me up a good bit but ultimately i just need to get to the finish.....right.
The RUN: The energy out of transition from the spectators was just amazing!
My legs and energy still felt great as i started to run. The course was a bowtie loop that you did twice (so ultimately 4 loops total (1&3rd same and 2nd &4th same). The 1st and 3rd loop had a very long and gradual up and down (one of which i think was added due to the nice flat river walk being flooded so they had to reroute up on the road) and the 2nd and 4th loop were the extreme hills. Around mile 4, my foot started to talk to me. Which is about when it does so no surprise, just disappointing as i was hopeful it would just give me this day. And at mile 6 it shot me in the air with a blast of pain. UGH, but not the first time i am dealing with this. I adjusted my stride to try and use that foot as little as possible, bent my knees more like a slight squatty position (that helped take pressure off foot, but added lots to the thighs) and used my right leg much more than it wanted (so right thigh was working pretty hard with using it more than left and squatting lower in stride). It was the only way this foot was going to allow me to run though. Just prayed i wouldn't have compensation issues in the right leg later in the day. I figured at this point i just need to keep running with the pain and will allow myself to walk when i got to the extreme hill part of the course as pushing up and the pounding of the downs were going to really aggravate it, the walking break would also help give the right leg a break from taking on most of the work. At this point im not far from getting that break. keep on trucking... This hilly loop started around mile 8 or 9. Got through a pretty big long gradual climb that lead you to the to the big one -Barton Ave. Oh boy...Barton Ave! Ran up till i saw my friends and family then walked the rest of the hill with them (was so great to be able to do that with Ashton) and eased my way on the downhill to try and avoid too much pressure on the foot, hard to avoid though. This loop definitely slowed up my average but was still on target for a low to mid 10 hour IM, but it was slipping away. Im in shock seeing how well im doing though still! and a decent IM marathon given the circumstances with my foot. Everything else so far is feeling great and energy is still ridiculously high. Had to come back up Barton (walking) and down to finish off the loop. Back to the first loop for the 2nd time. Pass the half way point. Yay. At this point my foot was still hurting and causing issues and having to run in an odd way to keep going forward. Shortly after, kicking in was some really bad compensation pain starting in my right leg, tendons behind the knee. Pretty much expected that to happen eventually since at this point i had been running close to 10 miles using mostly my right leg in an awkward squatty position.But i was so hoping it wouldn't kick in till after i was done. HA. wishful thinking i know. 20 miles like that is a lot to ask of 1 leg. So i planned to walk all aid stations to see if this pain could ease up to allow me to run between aid stations and do this till the finish. And it did, it was working, and i was running well between walk breaks, but painful, foot and tendons behind knee now. Im still having a great time and my energy is still through the roof -it just wants to go. The end of this 3rd loop brought me to around mile 20 and my avg is still pretty good (given the situations that is) but a low 10 hour IM is now out the window. No big deal, wasn't the goal to begin with anyway just got hopeful in the middle of IM when saw it was possible. If i just keep doing the walk aid stations and jog between for this last 10k, i'm looking at a mid 10 hour finish still, even with all the foot and compensation issues. Super happy about this and it was keeping me going strong. But its time for the last loop and its the extreme hilly loop. I love hills but these pains will not love them, especially the downhills. The long gradual climb that leads to the extreme Barton climb was rough but got through it slowly. Im now faced with Barton again, it starts with an aid station so walked the beginning of the climb as i went through the aid station but then ran the rest of the way to the top, yay, surprised myself here! But again energy is great and when the pains would allow me i was able to see what i am still capable of. Im telling you my energy is through the roof. It was amazing! Unfortunately the downhill on the other side definitely increased the pain in the foot and behind the knee a good bit more. Trucked on till got to walk the next aid station and i did walk another climb later in this loop. Around mile 22/23 the pain behind the knee went up so many notches and started to control my movement. It was done taking on all the weight. In other words started giving out on me. A few punches to it with my fist and it would ease.
Oh - heres the thing (side note) At mile 12 my friend told me i was in 18th for my AG. My goal was top 20. Yay, Im in there. but real close.. Surprisingly, from mile 12 to mile 22 i passed 8 in my AG putting me 10th. Even with having to walk all aid stations. Holy Cow! I wanted so badly to keep this or pass a couple more. In other words, i was in bad shape with my foot and the back of my knee, but i was not in as bad shape as these others i was passing. They were walking the easy stuff. So i knew even with walking aid stations and big hills they will stay behind me and maybe just maybe i can get in the top 10!!! I just had to keep doing what i was doing....... simple right! :-)......
At mile 23 with only 3 to go seemed like it was going to happen for me. I had a great system down to get me to the finish strong. It seemed like i was going to be 10th!!! I am so excited. I have had horrible issues since mile 6 that affected my pace starting at mile 8 and i have moved up 8 spots and holding on to it. I don't care the run has been controlled by an old injury and a pain due to compensation of that injury, i was just happy to be moving up still.
I am now faced with going up Barton again (coming back up the other side of it to finish this last loop and head to the home stretch). But so are the rest of them. I walked it. Energy wanted to run it but i knew i had to be careful still with the foot pain and even more so now the compensation pain i was having behind my right knee and the warning signs it gave me on that back side of this loop. So i walked to top, still maintaining my 10th place, started to run again at the top. Even though i have had to deal with foot pain since mile 6 and compensation pain since mile 13ish i am so extremely happy with how the race has gone. I saw so many people collapse and get taken away from first aid vehicles due to the heat. A long event like this you just don't know what can happen. And my energy was still amazing! So i will take what i have had to deal with and bring it to the finish line. With a 10th place finish. I was so excited.......
And here we go.......Mile 23.6......everything changed. 2.6 miles from the finish. 10th place. The pain behind my right knee that was created from having to run funny for 17 miles at this point due my left foot .......caused my knee to buckle as i started to run down Barton for the last time, stopping me in my tracks and almost taking me to the ground. Honestly, most probably would have been taken down. But my strong drive, willpower and even body awareness kept me up. It was very powerful pain, like someone took a bat behind my knee to try and knock me down. Testing me. It was trying to make a point. UGH... Surely this was just a one time thing though. Dug my fingers in it and tried to shuffle jog......as soon as the right leg planted....BOOM...again, instant buckle.....I tried a few times, same, couldn't do more than a stride or 2. There was a guy walking next to me who commented on my leg buckling and i looked at him and said "OMG i am going to have to walk the last 2.6 miles." My leg literally would not let me run, not even a shuffle. My strong head had no control. I mean it was not a matter of the mind in this situation. This was so hard for me as i had no control. My head was so strong and so able to fight over this but there was nothing i could do or say that would make this stop happening. I walked...I guess i should be happy i was able to do that. My overall average is now slowly getting slower, with only 2.5 miles to go and i was watching that mid 10 hour IM disappear. So at mile 23 i am still 10th in my AG, and on target for a 10:30. And not even a mile later i am forced to walk the last 2.6 miles. Within this walk and failed attempts to get back in a shuffle jog, only 2 girls from my AG passed me, putting me in 12th. Wonderful. All this and i still will get a top 15 finish out of it. Just keep walking and every now and then shuffle to see if i can is how Mile 25 went, a lightening fast 16 min mile. heehee.. During this 25th mile, i did try a couple times to go into a shuffle, again with the hopes it would ease up, still buckling, but this time got a little more time out of the shuffle before it happened, like 10 seconds, so walking was helping a teeny tiny bit). I am approaching now my last 1.2 miles. And with the last mile being a 16 min mile i knew that these girls had to be close behind me. AND... I looked at time and saw that if i want to break 11 hours i have to run the rest of the way.. Of course i want that but i know in order to do it i can't walk. UGH. So i start shuffling again, still in 12th place. Yay. This mile is pretty flat. i took extremely short steps and tried to turn it over. It was going well, walking most of mile 25 may have helped ease it, well thats what went through my head anyway. If i can hold the run i'm looking like i my hit 10:50. That is, if the buckling in the right leg stayed away and let me run, well jog, to the finish.
And now the moment you all have been waiting for...... Mile 25.7,still in 12th place. The reason why you saw my little JS tracker stop at the 25.8 mile timing mat...... Well, because a half mile from the finish, 0.1 from the last timing mat to help you see i am moments from finishing - not my foot, not my knee but my entire left leg locked up on me. Why, no clue. Dehydration i'm sure had something to do with it, although i had no feeling of this at any point and was was rock solid with my fluids salt and other electrolytes and never had any issues with this all 25.7 miles before,however, the heat and humidity may have just been to extreme to stay ahead of for 11 hours, or maybe from the leg being so tense while running with foot pain and compensation pain, maybe a combo of all of it. All i know is that getting stopped in my tracks became a whole new meaning at 25.7 miles, just before the last timing mat where some of you waited to see the next update, literally 0.5 from the finish line. I was in the middle of the bridge with only a half mile to go, my right knee and left foot allowing me to run to get to the finish with a great result, able to cross the finish while running not walking, and BOOM...Triple BOOM - my left leg planted and the whole thing locked up! im talking from toes to groin! I screamed a death scream (scared the crap out of the people around me) as i balanced quickly on my right leg so wouldn't drop to the ground, which is where the left leg was taking me, but i knew i would be crawling to the finish if i let myself fall down. Again, my drive and will power kicked in in a millisecond to get my right leg to keep me up. instantly screamed even louder of a death scream as it locked up even more and felt like the muscles were going to blow up and shoot out of my entire left leg. Within seconds i had 3 spectators around me to help keep me standing. The left side was not going to allow an ounce of weight on it. So they carried me to the side and wanted to call the first aid vehicle....HELL NO!!! I quickly yelled no way. i have a freaking half mile to go, i will do an army crawl if i have to. I was there a good bit. And pretty much knew i was quickly losing spots and more than likely not even going to be in the top 20. One of the spectators was a physical therapist and started to do some pressure points and stretches on the leg based on what i was telling him it felt like. OH MY GOODNESS, how lucky am i. I may have been there awhile but the things he did started to ease the leg and the foot and eventually i was able to stand on it, then walk a little and then slowly run to the finish.
FINISH: I was super choked up crossing the finish line. Welty eyes, lump in my throat. But it wasn't about the 142.2 miles i just went through (well maybe a little) - It was how i got through the last 2.6 miles. How i was able to get through some crazy barriers being thrown at me in the moment. Many would have been taken to the ground and probably driven away 2.6 miles ago, my will was not going to let that happen.
So, I didn't get a top 10 finish (fell to 25th) or a low to mid 10, i didn't even break 11 hours but sure as hell was close. 11:04. After a bad injury kicking in with 20 miles to go, a horrible compensation pain kicking in with 13-14 miles to go and later on forcing me to walk much of the last 2.6 miles and of course the collapsing left leg with only a half mile to go....All this and finishing with only 4 minutes off my "original" goal...... i will take it!
IT WAS A GREAT DAY!!!! Honestly! I am super happy about my finish! Became so much more than about a time goal...it became about conquering!
Even if you are not a runner, i hope you enjoyed the story of my 11 hours. And maybe even got something out of it.
I leave you with this, and it doesn't have to be race based:
Whatever it is you are faced with in life- DON'T EVER GIVE UP!!!!
McAfee Knob
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