Well, it's almost been a week since the race and I am still thinking about my day last Sunday. When I decided to give an IM overseas a shot, go there by myself and race in an unfamiliar setting, I knew I was taking a huge chance. But I wanted to give myself a good shot at getting into the top 25 in the KPR and be one of the July qualifiers for Kona. Going to Germany also meant going to visit family and eating really good food. I was pretty stoked to go over there and experience one of the most amazing Ironman venues around. I knew some pretty fast European athletes would toe the line and I hadn't raced most of them before, so I realized it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. With some huge points on the line and a European Championship title, everyone was there with their A game.
My flight from Denver to Frankfurt was mostly seamless, except for when I realized I had left my TT helmet in the car at the airport and the seat I had picked was up against a wall, in the middle row. Luckily, I relocated to a reclineable seat and before I knew it I was in Frankfurt. Once there, my homestay Daniel picked me up and despite being pretty tired (it was 3.30 a.m. my time when I arrived) I joined him for a short run and a swim, later at the lake. When I finally hit the pillow that night I had been up for over 30 hrs. Not recommended!
I spent the next few days getting adjusted to the time zone difference and utilizing my great homestay location for some shady trail runs and some rides on Germany's country roads. After mandatory drug testing for all pro athletes on Friday, and a pro meeting to follow, it was time to put up the feet and get ready for Sunday. I wasn't quite sure what the weather would hold, but rain had been forecast on and off all week and temperatures had been rather cool all week. Not exactly the training environment I had left in Boulder, where most of July was spent in the mid 90s. I tried not to stress about it and told myself cool temps would be better than hot temps, at least for my liking.
At the gear check in on Saturday I noticed a few bees/ wasps swarming around and had a brief flash back to IMSG, but quickly dismissed the thought since it was way too cool out, and would probably be too rainy on race day for these critters to be out and about. One more thing about the gear check-in: Wow, I was seriously impressed by the way everything was managed. Each athlete had their photo with their bike taken for post race bike retrieval identification. Then each athlete got a helper that showed them their spot in transition, where bikes would be racked with a huge bike bag in case it rained. Gear was placed neatly into a plastic box (think ITU style) and covered. It was not mandatory to use the transition tent in T1, I opted to change at my bike to try and speed things up.
Race morning arrived and I started the day off with putting my number tattoo on the wrong way and being unable to use it on one of my arms. Oops. I got to the 'Langener Waldsee' just as it was getting light, and hiked what seemeed like a mile through the woods, over to transition where music was just starting through the speakers. After milling about with some of the other pro women, half of which I didn't know, nor did they know me I'm sure, I made my way over to the porta johns (which included outdoor urinals to speed things up for the guys I guess) and got ready to get in the water. Outside, hundreds of spectactors lined the lake and the sky looked promising with some blue peeking through. I was hopeful for a dry day.
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| Driest part of the day |
The swim was wetsuit legal and a big relief since I like to think wetsuits help me lots :) The air temp was said to be around 51 and the water felt comfortable to me. The swim was split up into a figure 8 type loop, with one big loop, a short run out of the water and back in, to complete another loop in the opposite direction. This race also let 300-400 age groupers (about 99.99% men) start with the pros. I didn't think much of that, but as soon as we got going (there was no gun or 'go' or anything, everyone just started swimming) these age groupers were mixed in with us. I had some frustrating moments as some of them would start off sprinting, only to die a few hundred meters in and then block my way, but I am guessing they also helped me along as I ended up coming out of the water with a new swim PR by 2 mins! I could hear the announcer say a few things about me as I made my way up the steep sand hill out of the water and into T1.
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| Out of T1 |
Once at my transition spot, cameras were all around and the announcer was commenting on how I was putting on various things for the bike. ("focus", I wasn't used to this!) I put on arm warmers and had some toe covers on my bike shoes in case the weather turned south. At this point I wasn't sure what position I was in but I had heard the announcer say a few names that came out of the water after me. I expected to see those women on the bike shortly. About 1mi in, it started sprinkling. A little further down the road, it started raining, and once in Frankfurt (the lake is outside of Frankfurt, the bike course goes into Frankfurt and then out past it for 2 loops) the roads were wet with water standing in some spots. Oh goodie.
I have to say that rain kind of freaks me out as I don't ride much in the rain here in Colorado and the only time I crashed my bike, was in the rain. This course had many winding, twisty turns and plenty of white paint on the road (which causes tires to slide out) and I quickly made a deal with myself to throw any time goal on the bike out the window and just focus on arriving safely in T2. Who knew, maybe it would even let up.
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| Couldn't see anything... |
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| TdF-style spectators on this hill! |
It didn't let up though and I experienced the entire bike course in downpour, including the part on the cobble stones and all the winding turns through the small towns on the course. Since the 300+ age group men were also out on the bike the same time as us, I constantly had company, something else I was not at all used to. And apparently, it's not a problem to slide by someone real close without warning, or passing on the right. I was in constant fear of crashing my bike as these guys passed me. And I nearly wanted to quit when I saw all the unfortunate incidents of drafting. This is not an easy or flat course, you don't ever get into a good rhythm, yet these guys all managed to ride a train and swallow me up in it at times. Really too bad, and I definitely wasn't happy about what I saw, but I made sure to stay legal, which meant all too often getting out of my aero bars and onto my brakes as these packs passed. Not once did I have any contact with any of the other pro women, it really felt like I was racing in a men's field only.
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| cobble stones in the rain! |
I was soaked to the bone and could barely see out of my glasses as I finally got to T2. I was dirty, splattered with black back splash from other bikes that passed, and I think I even had sand in my mouth, ha. With the bike behind me, although slower than I had hoped for, I was ready to tackle the marathon, my strength, my passion of the three sports. A cool, rainy day could mean possible fast run splits and I felt like my legs were up for the challenge. As soon as I got off the bike and ran onto the carpet into T2, I nearly wiped out as the carpet was slick and half under water from the rain. Yikes, that would have sucked. I exited the changing tent and ran right into the crowd that would be ever present on the course, despite the weather.
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| Splashing around on carpet |
The run course was split into 4 loops of 10km each, something I felt suited me well as it let me keep an eye on even splits and familiar landmarks. I passed the first 2ks and felt a little stiff in my legs but figured I'd warm up and find my rhythm. Just before the 3k mark, I suddenly felt a sharp sting to the inside of my right arm, like a needle giving a shot. No way! No freaking way. I came to a stop and checked my arm where I felt the sting, saw nothing and kept going. The sting turned into a throbbing pain and I knew then I had been stung by a wasp again. What are the chances of this happening in a race where it's been rainy and cool all day, and to someone who has allergic reactions? I wanted to cry. After an already emotionally challenging race so far, this was the icing on the cake. I stopped at the next available Red Cross tent and told them about what happened and they said to keep going and check in again along the course if it got any worse. I never know what will happen to me and how my body will react under stress. I only ended up having light localized swelling at IMSG, but was freaked out nonetheless.
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| Pain and a scrunchy for each run lap |
This was different. My arm really hurt and I could feel a reaction starting to take place. With all thoughts on me being OK or not, I had a really hard time focusing on my race at this point. There is only so much to be tough about in an IM. When something like this happens, I need to be 100% sure that I'll be fine, race finish aside. I saw another Red Cross tent a few km in, and ran in as I felt like I had some tightness in my throat at this point. The lovely docs in there laid me down and took my vitals, checked my throat and told me everything looked good but left it up to me whether to keep going or not. At this point I had already given up at least 7min and knew I would just be racing to finish. With still no idea what my spot was in the race, I started up again, heavy-hearted that this had happened once again, but thankful that I was probably going to be OK and could probably finish.
Nothing really mattered anymore; I knew my chances of placing high were most likely washed away. I was just trying to get to the red carpet and into the finish. I had come all this way, to follow a dream, to experience an IM in my home country and to get those valuable points for Kona. Unless I medically couldn't go on, I had to suck it up and finish, and cry about my misfortune later. The rain continued to fall, I could hear the announcer call Faris into the finish as the men's winner of the day. Soon I'd be there too.
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| 1 lap to go |
The spectators on the run course were fabulous. I have never seen crowds like this at an IM; maybe at the NYC marathon. In some spots, runners had to go single file because the crowds were so thick. With my name on my bib, people would yell and cheer, and it helped so much! Thank you everyone who was out there in the rain, cheering and believing. It was those people I looked forward to on each lap, to help send me another step when I started to hurt big time. The added bonus of Red Bull on the run course helped as well. I even tried my luck with a few crackers as I started to get hungry (you burn way more calories in the cold) but unfortunately they didn't go down too well.
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| An end to a really tough day |
When I turned the last corner to run the few hundred meters into the finish, my eyes welled up and I could barely see where I was going. What a day, it was finally over. I was happy I had managed to finish, but at the same time, more than a little disappointed with how my day had unfolded. With 5 stops total on the run, I would say I lost a good 10 min or more. Those 10min cost me 10th place and some more precious points for Kona. As of right now I am sitting in 26th place, not including the automatic qualifiers, and the top 25 will be announced as the July qualifiers early next week. I am hopeful that a slot might roll down, but we'll just have to see. If not, it will be very, very bittersweet. I took a huge chance, it didn't play out the way I had hoped it would, but perhaps my luck will still change.
I placed 11th in 9:44, less than 7min out of 10th, in a field that included Kona podium finishers, IM champions and significant DNfs. I did the best I could with my situation on this day, and that's all I can ask for :) Thank you Daniel for offering me your home for a week and being my "tour guide", my family for all their support, and my sponsors and supporters:
Blue Bikes,
TYR,
Saucony,
Powerbar,
Boulder Furniture and Mattress,
The Right Stuff,
Rudy Project and
LifeSport Chiro.
I'm thankful I took this trip and experienced this race. I met some great people and got to race in Europe. Here's to hoping I got my stings out of the way for the rest of the year!
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| The evil sting one day post- race. It's still itchy and discolored now. |
