2006 Ironman World Championships, Kona, Hawaii
Aloha! 2006 IM Hawaii was an interesting one and not characteristic for me, but still an enjoyable day in the lava fields. I had a fantastic week leading up to race day and felt race ready. I decided to seed myself in the front of the swim as usual, but moved to the left a bit this year after the compression I experienced in last year's swim due to the extra vigilant kayakers, keeping everyone left of the first few buoys. That apparently was a mistake, as I received the biggest kick in the face within about 10 seconds of the start that gave me a nice through and through cut from my tooth and a purple fat lip as a momento. The swim was a bit crazy this year. It just seemed more crowded than usual, and you had to fight for feet, as most of the swimmers weren't too courteous as they bashed you in the head or planted there hands on the top of your head. I had the nice flavor of blood in my mouth for the first hour of the bike. The kicker was looking at the clock as I exited--1:09, a record slow time for me in Hawaii by over 3 minutes. I didn't worry about it though as I was certain it was slow for everyone (rumor is the swim was about 5 minutes slow due to currents). Besides the body contact issues, the swim felt quite good and I was looking forward to getting onto the bike (my favorite leg).
I started out quite conservatively on the bike as planned, and put the hammer down after ascending onto the Queen K. There were tons of bikes on the road and lots of non-blatant drafting going on due to crowding for the first 10 miles. It was uncharacteristically calm in terms of the winds on the lava fields, even up at Hawi. I had never seen it that calm before. Even so, bike splits as a whole were 5 to 10 minutes slower among the pro women than last year's record breaking year. Still, the Norminator managed to blow away the bike course record, riding solo in front of the mens pro field--definitely deserving of the win. Although I developed low back pain at mile 20 that never let up, the legs felt good most of the time on the bike and I pulled off a 5:11 (21.6 mph--only 1 minute off of my record split from last year). I think the Hed 3 wheels helped a lot--thanks Scott and Team Rio Grande! My nutrition on the bike was perfect, as I had brought along my own concentrate that I mixed with water and followed my nutritional plan to a tee.
Getting off the bike, my back pain was manageable and my legs felt reasonable--not as good as last year, but comparable to most ironmans where I ran in the 3:40-3:50 range. I took my time in transition, and was passed at the exit by one of my fellow age group competitors, Mary Beth Cadwell, who has really stepped up her game this year. She ran off at a pace far faster than mine. Although the first few miles were a bit uncomfortable, I got into a good rhythm by mile 3 and felt good ticking away 8-minute miles. Unfortunately, that didn't last long : (. Shawn Chapler, another top age grouper also was having a great race. She didn't give me that nice 20 minute lead off the bike this year and narrowed it down to 1-2 minutes--time that she swallowed up in the first few miles of the run with her early 7:30/mi pace. As the fatigue was starting to set in, I caught a glimpse of yet another competitor in my age group heading back from the turnaround on Alii Dr--last year's 30-34 age group champion, Vicki Jones. As I am accustomed to coming off the bike with a sizable lead to allow for my comparably slow run split, it was mentally tough trying to push forward knowing I had already dropped to 4th place, and had 20 more miles left of running to try to hold on to that position. Meanwhile, it was a scorching hot day with incredibly high humidity that was taking its toll. Even though I was doing everything possible to stay cool and hydrated, I was battling the chills from heat stress beginning at mile 5 of the run. By mile 8, I had mentally given up despite the fact that I had pushed through in prior years feeling the same way physically. When the physical part also deteriorated, that was the end of my competitive race. After ascending to the Queen K, I was dizzy, nauseous, and my GI tract started to rebel in a big way. I was reduced to a walk beginning at mile 9 and was never to run again. I tried a few times, but even 10 seconds of running (or even an excessively brisk walk!) sent me looking for the next porta potty. I was unable to ever train using the race drink, Gatorade Endurance, as it's not available at stores in Fort Collins. I wonder if that was the culprit in causing a complete decimation of my GI tract. I had adequate (maybe excessive) salt intake, no muscle cramps (excluding my lower back) and was more hydrated than usual. Dehydration is typically what leads to GI issues for me and they usually don't develop until the final miles when hydration suffers the most. Oh well, I may never figure it out, but I made sure to enjoy what I could of the remainder of a very long day. I had some fun with the volunteers and feasted on lots of warm chicken broth en route to the finish line. One of the highlights of the day (um--evening) would be receiving my first ever glowstick in an Ironman ; ).
The finish this year was one to be remembered (even more than usual). With less than a mile to go, a flash flood arrived and completed flooded the streets in an instant! I kind of felt like I was Gene Kelly and nearly started singing and dancing in the rain--but my legs weren't up for it ; ). As I arrived on Alii Drive with ¼ mile to go, the huge crowds that line the street had retreated to the edges of the buildings, except for a few crazies who were out there drenched in the puddles and giving it their all to cheer us to the finish line. I'll always remember looking over at the building full of spectators hovering for cover from the rain and waving too them. They let out the biggest roar and cheers that just sent my spirits soaring. It was awesome! I walked in to the finish line giving high fives to every remaining drenched spectator along the sidelines, gave my signal of praise to my buddy Sue, who is now watching down from heaven, and crossed the finish line to the sound of Mike Reilly saying the coveted words, "You are an Ironman!"