Gulf Coast Triathlon

Me and Sister Madonna Buder, 78 years old, oldest Ironman finisher, a legend!!

How do I even begin to do a race report on this event? I found myself calm on race morning but very emotional. It was unlike most race mornings, I just wanted to burst into tears and I couldn't explain why. My mom called me and just answering the phone made me cry. I couldn't tell her why, I was just so overwhelmed that I was about to do this race! So here's the lowdown:

Can you tell that the swim a bit rough?

The Swim: The swim was not at all what I was expecting. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about how calm the water is at Gulf Coast. Well, not this year. Women were getting in, then just coming back out immediately. The picture shows my wave, about 50 yards in. Everyone promised the water would get better once the whitecaps stopped, but it didn't get better, it got worse. It was hard to see buoys because the swells were so big. I didn't really swim that much freestyle, it was a whole lot of tarzan-like swimming and gulping so much water that I was sure I wouldn't need salt tabs. At the half-way point I was 19 minutes in and feeling okay. Coming back in there was a current that made it feel like we were moving at all. I kept seeing the sand at the bottom of the ocean, and it looked like people were getting close to being able to stand, but when I tried, the water was too deep. I finally made it out, about 6 minutes slower than I projected for myself, feeling like I had spent time in a washing machine not swimming!

The Bike: My goal was to not ride so hard that I blew up on the run. I knew that I could average over 20, but was also aware that I could go so hard that I would blow up too. I wanted to keep my HR below 155. I was surprised to see it stay in the 140's the entire ride. In order to keep it in the 150's I was riding over 23 MPH and I knew that was too fast. So I just dropped it back down and thanked God that something was going my way. The bike felt really effortless and I passed a lot of chicks going out. I was very chipper and made sure that I told everyone that they were looking strong. Not one guy said a word back. Most women said thanks and I was looking strong too. About 20 miles in my back was totally fried. Aero position was very uncomfortable and I had to get out of the saddle a lot. After the turnaround I saw that people were really slowing down a lot. I passed even more people. The wind picked up quite a bit but it didn't do anything to my speed which I was thankful for. Reger passed me at mile 45. I passed him a few minutes later, then he passed me, then I passed him, and finally around mile 51 or 52, he passed me and I didn't put up a fight to catch him. But it was nice to have someone to play cat and mouse with! I got off the bike feeling really wonderful, legs were a lot fresher than I expected them to be. I averaged 21 MPH and although I could have gone faster, I don't think it would have been smart!

The Run: The run started off great. I was clipping off mostly 8:45-9:00 minute miles until mile 5 when I noticed my arms were very hot and beat red. They were also bone dry. I knew immediately what the culprit was: my $#%&*#@@ sunscreen. I was so worried when I bought suncreen that it wasn't going to be breathable. I (thought) that I read all the labels to make sure that I would still be able to sweat. But I clearly didn't (later I read the label and it's "sweat proof") My body was so hot I thought I was going to pass out. My lower back and legs were the only thing that was producing sweat. As it turns out, sweat is a very vital part of cooling your body, both internally and externally, and without sweating, you will overheat. By mile 6 I was totally miserable and was dumping everything I could think of on myself, ice, water, sponges, etc. This turned my socks and shoes into a sloshy mess. By mile 8 I had blisters all over the place and was dizzy. Mile 10 I noticed that my arms were now cold to the touch and covered with goosebumps. I was concerned that I was on the verge of a heatstroke (those are the signs) thank goodness for Tat being in the park (and being a nurse) she ran with me when I was sure that I was going to pass out. She refused to let me walk and promised that I would not die of a heatstroke. The only good news about the run is that I felt like my form didn't break down. Aside from being hot, my body didn't really feel all that bad. Around mile 11 my hips started to bother me, but that was really it.

The finish line wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. Instead of elation that I had finished my first half-Ironman, I felt like my body was 108 degrees. I made my way over to the medical tent where they covered me in ice and cold blankets. They insisted that I was dehydrated although I told them that there was no way because I hadn't been sweating. They poked me 5 times and couldn't get any veins. Finally they hooked me up to and IV bag. The IV made me feel worse, dizzy and a throbbing headache, so I asked them to take it out.

My time was 5:47:29. Not the 5:35-5:40 time I had hoped for. Under different conditions I think the race would have been a better experience for me. But you live and learn, and I figured out a lot of things that I wouldn't have known had I not done this race.

Major appreciation to the "super-fans" Tat, Steven, and Eduardo who came down to cheer us on. Tat even jumped into the medical tent and started giving IV's! You guys rock!

Sudie, Dylan, Steve Brown, and Matt all brought home hardware. You guys rocked it too! Congrats to everyone else who finished strong: Joe, Keith (who was upset he never caught me), Bob, Ashley, Hunter (it was his 1st half too!), Gary, Randy, Sue, and all the others who were out there racing hard in tough conditions.

It's also very sad to learn that an Atlanta resident, Pat Kane, died following the swim portion of the race. The comments that were left on the news story were shocking and very inappropriate given the fact that someone lost their life. Some people are just disgustingly rude.

Click on my Flickr link for the rest of the pics!