Just when things were looking good health wise, I tore my calf in August and had to take some time off running. Once “recovered,” I started back running only to develop knee pain in October during my runs that had me hobbling between miles 10-15. Seriously, can anything else go wrong?!! How the heck am I going to finish a marathon at the end of 112 miles if I can’t even run 15 miles alone without pain?? Dr. Bruce Richmond to the rescue!  A week in a half before the race I got a cortisone shot in the knee (which is not fun). I stayed off my knee – virtually no running – until race day. I just didn’t want to chance anything.

The Goal:

Fast forward to race weekend. I had several goals: 1) make it to race morning healthy. 2) Finish the race no matter what within the 17hr time frame - even if it took me 16:59:59. 3) Not go into a Meniere’s relapse before, during, or after the race.

Wednesday:

I drove down and had the great company of Mr. Angie King, er Jeremy. Loved the company on the trip as he kept me laughing and mind distracted. Once we rolled into PCB and met up with Gina, Angie and the gang – that’s when it struck me. CRAP – it’s time!  My heart began racing and I don’t think it really slowed down until the race was under way…a couple days later.  After a great dinner and laughs, I headed to my condo. The condo unit said that I’d have a lock box on the door to my unit for a late check in…well no lock box. After several calls, I finally got into my condo to find some good luck flowers from my parents.  I then pulled the blinds shut for a good night’s rest to see that some of the blinds were missing. It’s late, I’m beyond tired, and just want sleep – holes in blinds aren’t going to work. After a few more calls, I was moved to a different unit.

Thursday:

After ok sleep on Wednesday night, I was so excited to wake up Thursday to get packet pick-up done and spend way too much money of my first paycheck in the expo. I wanted to get everything done prior to half of my (what Gina calls) possy coming into town later in the day – Greg, Grant, Dave, and Heather (Grant’s “Mum” visiting from England).  All day I had nervous energy. When my boys and Heather showed up, I felt sooo much better about everything – who would have thought these silly boys would actually calm my nerves and not send me running for the hills??!! The continuous laughter they brought is exactly what I needed!

Friday:

Friday morning rolled in and the boys and I woke up to sing Happy Birthday to Heather. I know being in PCB for her Birthday was a dream come true – I’m so glad I could help with that .  Greg and Grant went off for their own morning run and Dave accompanied me to meet Team Anderson for a swim/bike/run practice. Looking at the sea – well there were waves and swells but nothing like Key West was in June. Didn’t like the waves and current – but it could be worse, and I was praying for better. Water actually felt great – just that cold air and sand…brrr. I skipped the run –I didn’t want to get frustrated or nervous if I felt any knee pain or discomfort – I would just deal with that race day. So I headed back to my condo to meet the boys and heather for bfast and spend the rest of the day repacking my transitions bags for the 1000th time…do I have everything? Is this what I want to wear on the bike/run.  Is all my nutrition accounted for? Repeat thoughts 1000x. While I’m doing this Grant and the gang, were on a secret mission with the help of G’Ville headquartered Yvette to buy a megaphone! As if his British mouth isn’t loud enough already!   Friday night came and the rest of my possy showed up – Maureen, Shari, and Shawn.  Aww…now this is what’s it’s all about – my G’ville family was in full force.  I am the luckiest girl! Dinner to celebrate Heather’s birthday, and what the heck a glass of wine to calm my growing nerves.  (note to self – always have a glass of wine night prior – it really helps!).  Out of coincidence, Nancy ended up being at the same restaurant and she came over to our table to wish me luck and meet my peeps.

Saturday Race morning:

I actually woke up before my alarm even went off.  I slept well – thanks to wine and melatonin – and was ready to go! A peak out the window to see calm flat waters – aww! Yes, prayers are answered. Dave, my go to man and rock for the entire wkend, joined me for the early rise (he must have drawn the shortest straw to be in charge of me). We hit the body markings, then transition to put last minute essentials in my bags and pump my tires.  Headed over to meet Mike and one last pit stop.   Started getting ready and was trying to visualize the race start. I knew what was ahead – and knew the start was going to be a huge mental challenge for me. I followed Mike onto the beach, had him run through the swim course one last time with me.

Swim:

My chest is pounding. Thought to myself - TWO LOOPS, Kristin!! OK…ready.  I found my way to what I thought would be a good starting point. Towards the outside right, not up front but not too far in the back.  WELL, I was wrong.  Canon went off and we made our way into the water. Self-talking – holy crap…this is crazy…arms and feet flying, I’m running over people, people on top of me…it was like Time Square during New Year’s Eve but in water – and I freaked out.   I had a big anxiety attack early in the swim from just the amount of people all over me and me on them, I couldn't see buoys or kayaks and saw nothing but feet and bubbles - I couldn't get my breathing under control – I flipped to my back and was pulling down the neck of my wet suit to breathe – SHIT this isn’t working – people still flying and swimming over top of me. Breathe Kristin just Breathe (I’d really like my inhaler at this point).  I finally sighted a kayak and darted straight across swimming over top of people and when I made it I held on. The guy in the kayak was awesome – Navy guy, Ironman, and a Coach. He helped settle my breathing and me down. No clue how long I held on, but I didn’t care about time, just wanted away from the craziness.  I decided I needed to get going and off I went. But ended up right in the mix again and had to head back out to another kayak. Thinking to myself WTF Kristin – you’re better than this, you can easily do this stupid swim, stick to your play swim the outside – you didn’t fight through this entire year to end it like this. Well, I guess I wasn’t talking to myself – because the guy in the kayak said – yes, just stick to the outside and you’ll be fine. Finally ok I continued on my swim, eventually settled in. End of the first lap I did see I think some sort of sand shark which was cool, and of course a ton of jelly fish mostly well below the surface. Coming into land for the second lap I got one more kick in the goggles by some guy doing breaststroke. Thanks sir – may I have another?  In for the second lap – smiling this time – I stopped and yelled to 1st kayaker to thank him and give him a thumbs up. A little late – but I was cool, calm and confident.

2011 Ironman Florida Swim Start Video

T-1:

Heading through swim-bike transition I saw Greg taking pictures and yelling for me. Why am I the only one running, and everyone else strolling??  I ran into the t-1 change room and found a volunteer. She was awesome – dumped my bag, asked me what I wanted to wear – as I dried myself off she organized my stuff then help me get my sports bra and jersey on. She put all my left over stuff back in the bag. I need one of these volunteers at home!

Bike

Off I went - heading out of transition I heard a British accent on a mega-phone w crowd support - Kristin Kristin Kristin...it was Grant and the rest of the gang!! I was smiling big and was able to high fived Grant as I headed out on the bike.  From then on smiled the entire time even while I was throwing up at least 15 times and dry heaving which started at mile 3 and ended around 110 (sorry for those behind me – I tried to get away from everyone). I think I drank too much seawater and that upset my stomach. Loved all but 10 miles of the bike - between mile 50-60 brutal head winds and a nasty bumpy road. I was going 19-20 mph then slowed to 14-15 through that zone. I decided not to fight through the head wind and wear myself out – still had half a ride to go. I stopped at the half way mark to grab a bagel w/peanut butter (hoping I could keep that down) out of my special needs bag and to make a pit stop. Heading back on the bike at about the 109-mile marker I think - Maureen was yelling her head off doing the windmill with Shari and Shawn.

The run was soon to be here and I was nervous. I wasn't sure how much nutrition stayed in my system vs. exiting. I know I ended the bike 1 1/2 bottles (or 600-800 calories) short of my planned nutrition intake, and I didn’t get down all my shot bloks. That left me scared heading to the run - I knew if I kept throwing up chances of completing the run were good.  Also knew if I didn't get fuel in me - I'd crash big time early on in the run.

T-2:

My change was quick. I was lightheaded and a bit off balance coming off the bike. I knew I couldn’t sit or stop moving – I just had to keep going. Cup of water and I was out the doors. Exiting I went through the sun tan lotion people…they hit my face, arms, and legs…oh and my neck.  Which at that point of the lotion hitting my neck I felt an intense burning/stinging sensation…I took two steps, bent over and begged another volunteer to take it off – he dumped water on my neck and cleaned it away.  Yes, this was really the first time I knew I screwed up and didn’t put enough lubricant between my wetsuit and skin. I hit the Port-o-potty pit stop on the way out and I was off.

Run:

Ran out of transition area to head out on the run and saw Greg and Grant - got me some hugs then went down the a few yards to see Dave and got me another hug. The first 10 miles was slow and painful and involved several pit stops - I got pretty dizzy and light headed at the 10-mile marker so I walked for about a minute. I was unsure and unsettled as to what exactly was going on… wasn't sure if it was nutrition or my meniere's episode coming on. Either way I knew it wasn't good and needed to battle through. Decided I have to run and can't walk - will only walk through aid stations to make sure fuel is getting in my system.  I started eating whatever I could that my body would allow me to swallow, and started drinking both coke and water - never drank coke in a race - drank it at every aid station this race!  I saw Greg, Grant, Dave, and Nancy between mile 11 and 12 - they were yelling and cheering on the megaphone. Greg was running around runners jumping over bushes to try to take pictures. With Grant’s word of the day – that was “Awesome.”  Seeing them just lifted my spirits big time and just when I needed encouragement the most - it gave me that added incentive to push through and put a little pep in my step. I then saw Maureen, Shawn, and Shari yelling their heads off at the 13.1 turn around and I lit up smiling. I had just 13.1 miles to go! I made the turn and saw 3 of my teammates. 1 - Mike was just passing me and he was looking strong, there was no way I could keep up. He did the same thing to me at Charleston!  (Mike is blamed for being responsible for pushing me over the edge to do an Ironman – thank you Mike!) I next saw Angie and shortly after Gina, both looking strong. Knowing that we were relatively all together gave me the extra push to keep going. The second half of the marathon was great. I kept pushing, and knees were surprisingly feeling good. I was doing crazy calculations in my head (like how long it would take Gina and Angie to catch me since they are better runners then me) – my calculations made total since to me at the time, after all math is my strength especially on mile 130 of an Ironman, haha. My run was feeling stronger on the second look then the first look, and I was feeling overall much better. I somehow caught up to Mike at mile 20 or 21 I think and we ran a bit together then I lost him at a fueling zone. I continued the run counting down every mile - 6.2 to go, 5.2 to go, 4.2, 3.2, 2.2 - my legs and body starting to get really tight and my time started slowing down...1.2 - you f**king got this - pick your damn legs up - made the left turn to start down the shoot - looking ahead crowd cheering. I saw Shari on the right side yelling - we high fived!  I was looking up to see this massive Ford arch and thinking....I've never been so happy to see a Ford logo in my life (and yes I wore my Chevy kit during the ride). I cross the finish line take a few steps to hear Mike Madden announced right after me - we finished basically together! How awesome! The guy that pushed me over the edge to do Ironman, and we finished together!! Freaking sooo cool!  Got to the picture zone and struck the “tiger pose” for my buddy Scott Meadows – Scott – you asked for it and you got it What a surreal feeling! This proves when you WANT something and are willing to WORK and sacrifice for it...dreams do come true.

Post race:

After pictures, Dave and Grant went to pick up my transition bags and bike while Maureen, Shari, Nancy, Shawn and Greg walked me back to my condo.  There I iced down and called home to let my folks know I was alive and was an Ironman! The boys poured some wine for a celebration toast. Everyone was starving so I got in the shower to get ready to go out. While in the shower, I'm screaming "ouch" at each tender raw skin spot the water hits – my neck, under my arms, breast bone (frm heart rate monitor). In the mean time, Grant is becoming an Ironman as well…putting on my IMFL warm up jacket, bib number, medal, sunglasses, and aero helmet. Still w megaphone in hand – Grant politely cracks the bathroom door to ask (through the megaphone) “uh, Kristin are you ok?" Do you need anyone to come help you?” Dyeing of laughter, I declined, finished my shower, put on my compression tights then off to Mellow Mushroom where the Megaphone may have become a legend…ooorrrr something.

Sunday:

Breakfast with my peeps then to pick up my personal driver Mr. Angie King, er Jeremy, to drive me home. Thank you so much Jeremy for driving!

To my “possy”

You are each freaking awesome. From day one of me committing to do Ironman, you had my back. Greg - you were the first to know I took the plunge and you were so excited for me. When you weren’t seeing me out because I was training – you each understood and lovingly gave me a hard time, tell me you missed me, then would make me take the time to come out anyways even if it was less than an hour and I was all sweaty.  Words can't describe how much you and your friendships mean to me. You were cheering your butts off the entire race for me and other racers you didn’t even know. You truly took care of me before, during and after the race – just like when you took care of me during the months I wasn’t feeling great.  No questions asked - you all are just there. I get emotional just thinking about it. All the support at the race and from friends and fam everywhere else - wow....what did I ever do to deserve this, how lucky am I to have been so fortunate to have met and have all you awesome people in my life.  The support you gave me added that umph I needed to get through and kick ass and have fun. You are the true definition of friendship. Thank you for being apart of one of my dreams coming true.

To Team Anderson:

I couldn’t have asked for better people to train with and experience Ironman with. Training days went by faster and full of laughter (mostly), and the race was more than we ever imagined. Seeing you each on the course was fantastic and kept my kick going on the run. Jason, Mike, Angie, Gina – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

What's next?

Races aren't on the schedule yet for 2012. After the Ride Across America in 2010 and Ironman in 2011 - my body needs a little recovery period...just a little. I won't be doing an Ironman in 2012...but yes, someday will do another one. For now my focus turns to spending quality time with my dog, my friends, and work. Don't worry - I'll still be riding and doing tri's...just nothing too over the top...yet.