Ironman Lake Placid 2010 Race Report

First of all let me just say that I hate writing race reports! I am not one to dwell on the details of a day-and I'm ready to put this one behind me and look forward. With that being said, I realize that there is much to be learned from each experience and so I will put it in writing so that I can look back and try and learn from my mistakes-of which there were many.
The Dreaded Swim
It is no big secret that I was really dreading the swim after my near death experience in Lake Coeur d'Alene last year. I wish I could get over it-I'm pissed that I was scared-but I was VERY SCARED. The photo above is me with my family right before the swim start. As I kissed them farewell it seriously took everything I had not to start crying. I had planned on going far right. In 08 I positioned myself right in the middle about 6 rows back and had no issues. I was so far right that I was actually standing in the shallow water. When the cannon went off-i stood for a few seconds and looked-there was lots of open water so I just dove in and started swimming. OUCH-WTF was that? My right toe was throbbing and I realized I had clipped a rock as I dove into the water. It felt like my toe was sliced right down the middle and I wondered if I should look-can't you just see me trying to look at my toe during an IM swim! The swim was very uneventful and VERY slow. I was 5 minutes slower than 08. I think I swam 3 miles! I was THE farthest swimmer to the outside the entire swim. A few times I got brave and ventured towards the line-i could feel the draft as I got closer-then I would get sandwiched between two guys and the panic would emerge. My wheezy breathing continued during the swim-I kept the panic at bay by counting as Mary and I discussed 1,2,3,4...1,2,3,4-suddenly I would realize i was up to like 90 something! Sometime during the second loop I got a nagging side stitch-this never happens to me on the swim. It really did not have an impact on my swim but did come back to haunt me on the run-more on that later. When I exited the water after my second loop I stripped the top half of my wetsuit and got on the mat-somehow noone saw me! I was yelling, "right here!" Finally someone yanked that baby off-props to the wetsuit strippers dealing all the pee that is inevitably pooled in those wetsuits-NASTY!

The Bike
I don't even know what to say about the bike. I have been riding like shit and that continued on the lake placid bike course. I felt great for the first 30 miles until the hills. While I like the revised out and back-I did not like the fact that this eliminated the nice break from the hills that the 14 mile out and back to hasleton provided. My nutrition was clearly not what it needed to be. I felt like I was on target but I never had to pee once on the bike. Coming back towards town on the second loop of the bike I actually started seeing stars. Being dizzy during the Ironman bike is not a good feeling-let me tell you. I quickly ate a powerbar and that helped. But as we all know-once you get behind on your nutrition it is often hard to get back on track. I just couldn't get comfortable in the aero position-I think I now know why-more on that later.

The Run
I grabbed my T2 bag and stopped at the port o potty. NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. I couldn't pee-not good. I quickly changed into my run shoes. I felt like shit-just completely depleted. I didn't want to run a freakn marathon-that is for damn sure. I headed down the first hill and saw my family. I stopped for a moment. I wanted to cry. My kids were screaming at me, "Go mommy-run!" Shit-I'm gonna have to run this god damn thing or my kids will think I'm a loser. Stick to the plan. Slow and easy for the first several miles. I got to the first aid station-COKE-hallelujah! Coke, Ice, and Cold Sponges! I felt like a new woman and started to pick up the pace-not alot-but I was starting to catch my groove. Eventually I stopped again to pee-my belly was feeling really bloated. NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. Really not good. I was drinking at every aid station-why was I not peeing? the nephrologist says DEHYDRATION! At about mile 21 the side stitch came back (again-the nephrologist says DEHYDRATION!). I've never had a side stitch that hurt that bad for that long. In fact-that exact spot is still sore 3 days later! I tried some breathing techniques I know and tried raising my arms over my head. Nothing was working-except slowing down-and even then it was still quite painful. Around mile 23 I saw my husband and he told me to press on the spot as hard as i could-it helped but I'm sure I looked a fool holding my side while running the last three miles. At around mile 25 I passed a girl w/a 42 on her calf. Honestly-I didn't really give a shit. I knew I would not be fighting for even a top 20 spot. If I would have been having a better day-I woulda made damn sure I was well ahead of her. I knew she was stalking me as we entered the oval. Then she said, "let's see what you got". Are you fucking kidding me? I wanted to tell her she could have 46th place and I'd take 47th! But then she bumped my shoulder-I have no idea if it was intentional- but I sprinted to the finish and she beat me to the line. I didn't even here Mike Reilly say my name-it didn't matter-I already knew I was an ironman! But I was damn glad this one was over!!

The Aftermath
So back in June I had a bad virus-sore throat, sinus deal. Took antibiotics, got better, then got sick again. Ever since I've had this nasty post nasal drip that has really bothered me while swimming-constantly trying to clear my throat etc. I realize now that this whole thing has progressed so slowly that it was really hard to pin point what the problem was. Even before Sunday I had noticed that I seemed to be short of breath just walking up a hill-I even mentioned it to BFF Melissa the day before IM. After the race I really noticed that this shortness of breath had increased. One of the perks to having a husband who is a doctor is that you can get seen quickly by other docs in town. I went and talked to a friend of ours who is a great diagnostician who thinks that I am probably experiencing asthma or reactive airway disease that was exacerbated by this virus. So I will see a pulmonologist next week for some pulmonary function tests-hopefully I can get this straightened out before Dirty girls 24 hour endurance run next Saturday. In the meantime my husband suggested that i try an albuterol treatment w/a nebulizer we have. OMG-instantly I could breathe. It was amazing. I didn't realize how much this was affecting my ability to really take a deep breath. I swam with Kristen for an hour this morning and felt better than I have in months. So I feel like I'm on track to getting my old self back and that has me excited to race again soon! Not sure what next year holds-my hubby really wants to do Badwater-the 135 mile trek through Death Valley. If he ends up doing that I will put Ironman on hold for a year and go share that amazing journey with the one I love! Thanks to all that have supported me along the way. I love this new team I am a part of and look forward to getting to know the Train-this team better. Thank You to Mary Eggers and Kristen Roe who is the greatest friend and training partner a wanna b like me could ever ask for!