Amen for Ironman number 10

If you would have asked me when I raced my first Ironman (WI) in 2011, that I would complete 10, I would have said, “What a Bad Ass Bitch!” I like the training, pushing myself, trying to get better and I really love race day. There is nothing else like the longest, shortest day of my life and that Ironman Finish Line.

I was ready for IMCA 24. The last three Ironman races, I didn’t have complete focus or the needed training. I was consistent with my training for this race and feeling good. I was feeling ready to unleash and tackle the course that I knew like the back of my hand. But that’s the thing of preparing for endurance sports, you never know what lies ahead. Three weeks out, I got a cold. It gave me a lot of anxiety because I was feeling healthy and didn’t want this to affect my last efforts of training. I had my last long weekend of a 100-mile ride and 45-minute run and then a three-hour run. I picked up my bike from the bike shop, where I had a last-minute race ready tune up. I headed out on the Ironman course and was so uncomfortable on the saddle and the bike was making a horrible noise, as though something was stuck was in the chain ring and trying to get out with every pedal. I live by, “A quiet bike is a fast bike.”  I finished the first 56-mile loop and was fatigued. I called it and went home to rest, stressed about the race.

I woke up the next day with pain in my knee. The patella kept moving on me. I attempted to run but instead walked for three hours with a knee compression sleeve. Why would I do that? Mentally I needed to be out in the sunshine on the course, putting time on my feet. My chiropractor and PT magician, Justin Lau wondered if the bike shop moved my saddle to cause the pain. For those of you non-triathletes reading this report, any minimal movement can mess with your body.  I called and spoke to the mechanic. He insisted he didn’t move it. The saddle was a little loose when I took it for the check up, so I asked the shop to tighten the bolts. (In hindsight, I wish I would have done it myself and never asked the mechanics to do it) I sent the shop a video of the squeaky, loud noise the bike started making after the tune up. Again, the mechanics were insistent and almost offended I would suggest it left the shop in that condition. I brought the bike in and asked the mechanic to move my saddle a certain way that I know I would be comfortable. He said he doesn’t know anything about bike fits and did what I asked. He again swears he didn’t move it. He said he made marks on where it was. Why would he do that if he didn’t move it? I took it out for a spin and it felt fine in the neighborhood. When I headed back to the shop, he said, ‘Oh, by the way, I did move the saddle horizontally and you probably hurt your knee because the saddle is now in the right position and all those long rides you’ve been doing probably caught up to you and hurt your knee.’ What? I was too tired from the cold and the crying and stress of the knee to even argue with him.  Several trips to Justin, a massage, lots of Advil and wearing a knee sleeve got me to the start line feeling better. The cold was almost gone and the pain of the moving kneecap was few and far between. I still wore a compression sleeve on the run for mental relief, more than anything.

I love all the fanfare in the few days before the race. All the athletes arriving FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.  Many of my Coeur Sports teammates, many dear friends, arriving in town. The atmosphere at the River Cats Stadium was energetic and the weather was holding for once. When I lived in Nebraska in 2021, I traveled to Sacramento to race the inaugural Ironman California, only for a bomb cyclone to cancel it. Who knew I would move here seven months later. In 2022, we had 37mph sustained wind gusts on the bike. In 2023, a rain downpour started in the afternoon and didn’t let up.

Race morning, I was still stressed about the lingering cold and the knee, still eating Advil like candy and drinking all the Vitamin C.

I had my traditional IM breakfast of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup and PB, honey, banana sandwich. It was warm. 55 degrees. I got in and out of transition quickly and onto the shuttle bus to the swim start, 1.2 miles upriver. I was calm and ready. I ran into a lot of friends and felt good. On the way to lineup at the swim start, I stepped into a big hole and caught myself (more on that later) I was standing by men praying. I asked them if they knew The Guardian Angel Prayer. When my mom had Alzheimer’s, it was one of the few things she remembered. It’s been my go-to prayer in training, especially on the bike. I also struggled with wearing my thermal or regular wetsuit.

The river was teetering around 60 degrees. I opted for the non-thermal. It’s ironic that living in California, I am getting acclimated to colder water. (Mountain snow melt fed lakes and rivers) It was cold! But it quickly felt comfortable and off I went. Living here, I had the privilege of swimming in the rivers all summer. Thank you, Capt. Tait and Katie, for the safety boat and Frances and Kari watching on SUP’S.  The current isn’t as strong in the American River, so I was pushing it. It didn’t take long to reach the green bridge (Discovery Bridge) the halfway point. This is where the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers and it can be tricky! The American River is clear. The Sacramento River is murkier, colder and faster! Ironman has a red buoy marking this area that they want athletes to swim around. If you miss it, have fun trying to swim upriver to get to it. I missed it in ’22 and tried but could not get around it. This year, I was in a good position and whipped around it. Swimmers around me got slammed into the buoy due to the force of the current. It was chaotic! Panicked swimmers clamoring to get to the buoy, hanging onto kayaks for dear life. I was happy to get out of that mess! Ironman must figure that out! Wee.. here we go.. passing all the landmarks I have come to learn and take note during practice swims. The swim exit was also chaotic. Volunteers yelling at you to swim to other side of the dock and swim up these ramps. They pulled out all the swimmers and one volunteer complimented me on MDot pedicure. This is another tricky area, as we must go up a ramp. Some athletes are walking with elbows sticking out trying to unzip their wetsuits. I unzipped two men in front of me struggling to find their zippers. Another athlete and I were running trying to get around the walking athletes. For the most part, people moved out of our way. I saw the wetsuit strippers, familiar faces from the Sacramento Tri Club. Thanks for the quick stripping!

SWIM: 57:22 1:29 AVG PACE/100M  13/40 AG 199/562 WOMEN 999/2431 OVERALL

Another run through an enthusiastic crowd to the transition area. I saw my pal, Ivy who tossed my bike bag and some nutrition fell out. I saw it coming at me in slow motion and might have cursed a little. I ran behind the changing tent and skipped it altogether and headed straight to my bike. I stay in my kit all day. No need to change. I had an experience at my first Ironman where a volunteer slowly walked me all around the tent to a chair, holding my bag. I felt like she was keeping me captive. You gotta keep moving!

T1 8:04

I already had my toe covers on my shoes. No socks and it was warm (to me) so I nixed the arm warmers and took off. My favorite part! The bike and I know this course. My meteorologist colleague and friend, Heather Waldman warned me the second loop was going to be windy. This course is always windy!

My goal was to complete the 56-mile loops under 3:00. Goal accomplished on loop 1. I got to bike special needs at 2:57. When I rode in to grab my bag with my bottles filled with Skratch nutrition and more uncrustables, the famous Vince Jones had my bag ready. I slammed my mini coke and I was back on the course in three minutes. This made me happy! Heather wasn’t lying.. the winds had definitely picked up and reminded me of IMCA ’22. It wasn’t as windy, but it was close. The good news is we had the tailwind on the way home, which helps you spin out your legs to get ready for the marathon. I wasn’t bothered by the wind because I know that course so well. We change directions several times. I knew how many miles I had until each turn. It was never longer than 8 miles of a major head wind, so it was mentally easy for me to power through the wind. The cross winds were pretty powerful too. I caught myself leaning to one side during those times. I was able to stay aero for most of it. New this year was the crowd gathered on the rough road, called Babel Slough. The Silt Wine Company said, ‘if we can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’ They threw an Ironman watch party and it helped make the time go by faster. We hit that shady, pothole riddled road four times for four miles.  There was a lot of illegal drafting going on and I even had a woman pass me saying, “Well, I guess it’s my time to pull now.” I took off and got her away from me. I saw the aftermath of one bad crash and a few athletes just stopping at aid stations, causing other cyclists to quickly move as to not hit them. You must always be aware of your surroundings. I get it. People get into their own world, but it can be dangerous. The second loop took longer due to the wind, but that’s okay.

Bike 6:13:05 13/40 AG 163/562 WOMEN 1067/2431 OVERALL

When I was heading into Transition, I heard my work buddy Victor yell, “Bandur!!!” and I turned and saw him, Andrea and Lysee and it put a pep in my step running my bike to the rack. Transition to the run was uneventful. Changed into my running shoes, Ironhawk Juniors hat and took off. The new item I was wearing was a compression knee sleeve, for peace of mind or if my knee started to act up.

T2 5:02

Here we go. Time for that marathon. Archer and I run the paths on the course several days a week. So again, I knew how long I had before turn arounds. In training, I had been working on my bricks and run but just wasn’t sure how the knee would hold up but I was ready to push it.  I saw Frances in transition handing out water and there were the three amigos from work again, as well as Vince… giving me that energy. By the time I ran down the path to the half mile turn around, my back was screaming at me to stop. What? I wasn’t expecting my back to seize on the left side from my shoulder blade to my hip. Every step, I felt horrible pain. I have experienced a milder form of this pain in the past during Ironman, usually  during the run after a bike course with elevation and climbing. This really threw my mental game. Every friend I saw…Amy, Lia, Cathy M, Robert, I  yelled, “Do you have Biofreeze?” I have packed it in my run special needs bags in other races, but it just didn’t occur to me it would be a problem on the flat, fast bike course. I stopped too many times to count to try to stretch it out. As my pace slowed and with step I took, I wondered how the hell was I going to run a marathon with this much pain. I remembered, I packed Advil and Tylenol in my handheld run bottle. But how much could I take and should I take Advil or Tylenol or both???? This is what was running through my head as I hobbled around. I ended up taking five Tylenol over four hours. he course is several out and backs and by the time I made the second loop around mile 8 and 9, I realized the pain wasn’t as severe. I told myself to remember how I felt when I first started and try to pick up my pace. I tried. When I got to mile 19, I saw Ivy who is a health care professional and she told me to stop taking any pain killers and that I was almost done. She was right! I was almost done! I ran into Discovery Park for the last out and back and it was so quiet. The insects were serenading us. It was peaceful. I didn’t mind the quiet. I focused on the frogs and the footsteps of other athletes. It was also dark! I knew to pack a light. I bought a Noxgear wrist light that’s advertised for dog walking. I put the strap around my water bottle and could insert the light as needed. I highly recommend it. It lit up the ground and I didn’t blind fellow athletes. The athletes wearing headlamps shined their lights in people’s faces and you cannot see. I tried to avoid them and look away. I ran out of Discovery Park and again through training knew the distances. However, I did underestimate the mile marker and aid station three blocks from my house. I thought it was mile 23, when it was really mile 24! Hooray! My sweet neighbors were waiting for me. Penny is six years old and was wearing her special butterfly wings. Another push that came at a great time. I’ve been on these side streets and finally could hear the crowd at the Capitol, where the finish line was waiting. I saw more friends who encouraged me to pick it up. It was tough to get the legs moving. Sadly, the adrenaline rush I normally feel when I get close to the finish line never came. It was anti-climactic. I raised my arms in the air and put out my fingers to show this was Ironman 10! So happy to be done and see friends at the finish line. Annette gave me my medal. Ivy and Akira were there to comfort me and hug me as I sobbed. The release of holding in all the emotions of anger, sadness and disappointment. Immediately, my knee started aching. I went to the med tent and they iced it up. Instant relief. However, after sitting there for awhile, I felt like I was going to faint and throw up. I was dizzy and nauseous. During all that stress over my back and whether to take Advil or Tylenol, I completely forgot about nutrition. All I could remember was to drink coke and water at the aid stations. I was bonking and didn’t know it. If I had been eating, I could have picked up my pace. SMH. I’ve done this 9 times before and how could I forget to take in my nutrition??  The volunteers in the med tent were kind and amazing. I wasn’t hungry, so I missed the post race food. Big thanks to Ivy for giving me a ride home, even though I lived a mile away! At one a.m. I drank a ginger ale and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Run 6:02:40 28/40 AG 402/562 WOMEN 1840/2431 OVERALL

Big thanks to Mikki Osterloo with Cordillera Coaching for my Ironman plan this year, along with all the advice, especially the final three weeks with the stress and anxiety of the cold and knee issues. She can add therapist to her resume.

Justin Lau, Elite Spinal and Sports

Ironman California has come a long way since 2021. It’s super cool this race, one of only 7 Ironman in North America is in the city where I live. I have gotten to know the people at Visit Sacramento and they’ve done a lot to make this a great experience for the athletes. I’m still thinking about what’s next and plan to take my bike for another professional bike fit to make sure it’s back to where it should be. As for the back seizing, I went to see my magician chiropractor, Justin Lau. He told me it wasn’t my scoliosis. I was overcompensating for the injured knee and I had a pelvic uplift. Remember that hole I stepped in on the way to the swim start? That threw me off a little, along with pushing sideways during the strong crosswinds on the bike. Justin gave me exercises to strengthen my hips and side and taught me how to stretch it while riding. Well, you know what this means? When is the next Ironman!!!

FINISH 13:26:11 19/40 AG 283/562 1423/2431