Ironman Madison 2010 Race Day!

"Will I be an Ironman?" "Did I do my training right" " This is the biggest test of my life and for the most part I taught myself..."

Training was done. Tapering was done. I had visited my family and hopefully didn't make them too annoyed with my nervousness. I was in Madison WI and finishing getting my mindset where it needed to be so that I would be successfull. Finally on Saturday afternoon, the day before the race, I reached the point of calmness that I had been needing (and that everyone else in my life had been praying for me to reach so that I would fially be relaxed again!)

On Friday September 10th all the athletes had to be at the pre-race meeting to learn about all that rules. I was aware of the fact that we had cut-off times to through each event by. What I did not know was that there were mid-point cut-off times as well. Not only did I need to be done with the bike ride by 5:30 PM, I needed to be to the half way point of the bike ride by 1:30 and to the halfway point of the run by 9:00 PM. Pressure!!!

On Saturday September 11th I went for my second quick swim in Lake Monona, the water temperature was still cool, but the water was much less choppy than it had been on Friday when I went for a swim. That made me feel so much better. Then I went for a quick bike ride to make sure the bike was ready to go, had one problem with the chain, but other than that everything was in perfect working order. After I got cleaned up it was time to take my bike to bike check in and drop of my transition bags in the transition rooms. Once this was taken care of there wasn't anything left to do but eat, relax and wait for bed time so that the final hours of waiting would go by unnoticed so I could wake up and take care of my final race preparations and go get er' done!

Watching Pretty Woman helped me stay relaxed and talking to each of my siblings and both of my parents helped me to get the final bit of belief that I could really do it.

Sleeping on Saturday night was easier than I thought it would be. My alarm went off at 4:20 AM, time to put my tri suit on and go get my body marking done and drop off my bike and run special needs bags.

Thankfully Christina had gotten us a hotel room that was near enough to the start (and end) of the race that after getting body marked we could go back to the hotel room to take care of any last minute "business"!

By 6:30 AM I was in my wetsuit and inching my way towards the water start. 20 Minutes later with the National Anthem sung, the cannon went off and the pro's were on their way!

I stayed towards the back of the pack of the swim start as I know that I am not the worlds fastest swimmer. Ten minutes later, at 7 AM the cannon went off and it was my turn, along with 2500 others, including 1200+some of which who were Iron-virgins like me! If you have ever seen pictures of an Ironman swim, it looks scary! Bodies everywhere, all face down, most with only the back of their heads showing. It really wasn't as bad swimming with that many people as I thought it would be! The swim course was a two loop course (as would be the bike ride and the run). My plan had been to swim from buoy to buoy...however that requires being able to sight and swim totally on course! ;) I did end up swimming a bit further out from the buoys than I needed too, but the groping and the kicking let me know that I wasn't the only one! While I didn't always have the buoys to track myself, I did have Monona Terrace. I kept track of how I was progressing by how "quickly" I was able to get the building to go by.

I am sure that each Ironman location has it's own quirks. Being in Wisconsin, Ironman Madison is very much cow themed. You can get cow print bike jerseys and anything else you would want with the Ironman logo and cowprint on it. So on the swim course, you don't have to do this, it won't get you disqualified if you don't, but at the pre-race dinner I learned that it is a tradition to Moo as you pass the kayacker on the first turn...I am happy to report that I did remember to look up and Moo!

When I completed my first loop I looked at my watch, 46 minutes! Once more around and I would have done it, and I knew that I would make it too. About 40 some minutes later I was approaching the final stretch of the swim. Everyone had told me to have fun and make memories through out the day. I thought that was crazy talk, how could anything like this but fun all day long? However by the end of the swim I was having fun, and I was as happy as I have ever been. I stopped in the water for a brief moment to take a mental picture of the swim exit, I had a matter of mere meters to go and I had survived the Ironman swim!

The coolest thing was all the spectators! They were lined up solid from the water exit to the entrance of the building where we went to change to transition to the next event. We had to run up a parking garage helix, again it was fully lined with spectators and suddenly I heard my name from a familiar voice. As promised my friend Jeff Pearson had made it out to cheer Christina and I on! I turned to him and yelled " I did the Ironman swim!!!!" He had to have thought I was nuts to be so excited about having simply finished the swim as I still had a long long way to go! But being largely self taught as a swimmer, this was a huge victory.

I kind of took my time in transition. After all this was not a sprint tri and transition times don't really make or break an Ironman! Once I was changed into my cycling gear, I headed back outside and let the volunteers slather me in sunscreen. I then went to grab my bike, once I reached the bike mount line I was on and the trusty steed and I were off on a 112 mile journey through the streets of Madison to the hills of the countryside of Verona and Mt Horeb.

I knew from my training rides what was in store. Hill upon hill upon hill, not only that, but two loops of the same hills. However I was still having fun, so it didn't feel that horrible, well for the first loop anyway. While there was not a solid wall of spectators on the bike course there were still more than I had expected that there would be. They didn't make the first loop of hills disappear totally, but the distraction really helped! By the time I made it back to the worst hills on the second loop, the majority of spectators had gone back into Madison to watch the run and the finish. The only problems I had with my bike for the entire 112 miles were my chain falling off twice...easy fix. And a few times the front gears wouldn't change as fast as I wanted them too. I did a few hills in a harder gear than I would have liked, so the other few times I could sense that would happen after that, I simply jumped off my bike and hand cranked the peddle much faster so that the gear changed for me right away. It may sound silly to totally stop and get off the bike to do that, but I couldn't trash out my legs on the bike ride, I would still have a full marathon to run once I made it back to Madison! I did not have any problems with my tires all day, which is always a blessing, but even more so for me this day as I did not have a spare tube with me or anything to fix a flat. I am not saying this is a smart move, I would not recomend doing this. I did it because I had that much faith in my bike and am a risk taker. It was nerve racking and I won't do that again, but I was right in that I woudn't get a flat.

I did have a bit of a weak tummy on the bike. I was eating and drinking every 15 minutes or so and as is advised. My stomach didn't care for the intake as much as I thought it would. First time my stomach rejected the nutrition, I went to the right (still riding...you don't stop to let it out!) I hit my right arm! So now for the rest of the day I would have tiny chocolate bits of cookie dough flavor Shot Blocks all over my arm! The next few times it happened it was from the Powerade Ironman energy drink, and I went to the left and managed to keep it off myself. I felt bad for the spectators who this sadly happened in front of more than once, but I am fairly certain I was not the only offeneder of the day!

Eventually my stomach decided to keep the nutritents I was giving it in! As the miles rolled by, I started to worry a bit about making the half way cut off for the bike. I had nothing to worry about, I made it there with an hour to spare! One more loop to go and I would have survived the Ironman Madison bike course. Like I stated above, most of the spectators were long gone by now. There were some die hards out there cheering us bikers on yet and of course you can always count on the awesome volunteers to keep you going.

I am happy to report that through the entired bike ride and swim I had stayed completely positive. Negative thoughts had not been invited along this day and they knew not to even try to find me!!!

There was one point on the bike course however, where I would have done anything to not have to climb the large straight up hill in front of me. I am serious, at this point I would have rather pulled out all of my own teeth with a dirty plyers than have done this hill. Seeing as that would not have actually made the hill go away and I didn't have access to midevil dental equipment, I dug deep and made it up the hill. Soon enough I was headed back into Madison. Just after 4:30 I was off my bike, huge smile on my face heading into my final transition of the day. I wasn't near as sore from the bike ride as I thought I would be. Still once I was changed into my running gear, I stopped for a quick rub down. Next up a 26.2 mile run to the biggest victory of my life (so far)!

I headed out on the run feeling fantastic! I had completed two events I wasn't certain I would complete on time. I knew that if I made it to the run I would be an Ironman! The only time I thought of the run as a marathon was in the first mile, once I reached the first mile maker I said to the person running next to me that we didn't have a marathon left and from then on, I was simply on the run course. I felt fantastic for the first six miles! I wouldn't say I was running 'fast' but I was moving along at a decent pace. Suddenly my stomach became a factor again and I headed into the port a potty for the first of what would be many times :( I don't remember actually feeling tired once during the day or on the run. But I was in pain, but none of the usual suspects hurt. My calves were fine and so were my feet. The problems I was having were with my outer thighs...felt like I was being stabbed with every step. The back of my arms were killing me and the most worriesome of all was that my chest hurt. I promised my Dad that I would finish healthy and that they wouldn't need to come find me in some hospital. I know that sounds pretty dramatic to say, but I had never had continous pain like this before. I didn't know what it was or how to make it go away. The only thing I knew that would make it go away was to finish.

Well before the 9 pm halfway point run cut off I reached the mile 13.1. The cruelest thing about this course is you pass the finish line at the half way point...you see and hear others finishing and you still have a 13.1 miles to go! I ran through the turn around with my hands blocking the right side of my face so I wouldn't have to see it! ;) The final half of the marathon took me longer than I would have liked. I walked more than I ever thought I would, but the scary pains would not go away and I didn't want to tell a volunteer that I was having chest pain for fear that they wouldn't let me finish. My left arm was not tingling so I figured it wasn't likely a heart attack, but one never knows.

The spectators hung with us runners all night, I didn't ever go a full mile without someone cheering for me!

By mile 21 I was just wanting to 'get this bitch done'. I picked up the pace, no longer caring about any pain. I had rationalizied that I was not in grave danger and was not to tired to move faster again. Soon enough I was at mile 23, just over a 5k to go. I could do this. I could finish!

Mile 23 passed so did mile 24 finally I was to mile 25. I could hear the music from the finsih line party in the distance. I could faintly hear Milke Rielly annoucing others as an Ironman. I knew that soon it would be my turn. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice saying my name again and there again is Jeff! He was the first to congratulate me on making it.

Finally, the capital building was in sight! All I had to do to get this done was to get around the capital and to the finish line! Within the last tenth of a mile of the day, I turned on the after burners and brought it home in style. My moment was here! I had done it!!! Mike Rielly was calling out my name!!! "KATIE WEBER FROM MINNEAPOLIS MINNESOTA, WAY TO GO! YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" It was the single greatest moment of my life! The finish line volunteers caught me and wrapped me in a blanket of sorts and handed me my finishers hat and t-shirt. They lead me over to a very good looking man from Austriallia who congratulated me and gave me my medal. Turns out it was the first place male pro finisher! Joe Gambles! I crossed the finish line in 15 hours 41 minutes and 48 seconds ( he did it in 8:38:32!) and all I could think of to say to him was "are you human?" Dork! lol, I had just completed the same distance!

I am an Ironman for life! That title can never be taken away from me! I do plan to do it again (and again), but not for at least two years!

Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles, Brag the rest of your life! :) I did it! It passed the biggest test of my life!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I know these last two got a bit long, but after all it is a story I gained over 140.6 total miles!!!

See you on the trails!!!
Love Katie 2485!