Fuel to the Fire

I woke up Sunday morning feeling rested and ready. I had a great breakfast with the best ever Kona coffee (the Heathernator had been depriving me!). I went through my pre-race plan flawlessly and made the trek to the swim start with "all my butterflies flying in the same direction". I got body marked, found my buddy to wait in line with, had a dose of Kanye West (can't break ritual!), said my goodbyes to Sean and Katie (my saviors), and got ready for what I knew would be the most painful day of my life.

The Swim: I felt super strong on the swim and for once I figured out how not to swim left!! I could tell I was on pace for a good day: I was passing people, drafting (ha, who would of thought!), pulling hard and still felt strong. My goal was to be on the bike by 1:10, so when I was yanked out of the water at the swim finish and saw 1:10 I knew I had to book it. I made it on the bike 2 minutes behind pace, not bad and I knew I could make it up.

The Bike: I wanted the first quarter to be conservative, but my legs were so ready to go! I came through the first water stop way too fast, and without slowing tried to grab a bottle. It had been a while since I raced and I was apparently a bit rusty on how to complete a proper handoff. Needless to say I tagged every volunteer and sent water bottles flying, exiting with a still empty aero bottle and volunteers screaming about how wet they were... I'm SO sorry!

I felt so good on 1694 and was able to spot the girl ahead of me. I climbed in and out of there as if it were River Rd!! I had a huge fan club at the aid station (I went slow this time through) that gave me enough adrenaline to climb out in my big chain ring unphased.

I pushed on to La Grange pretty conservative, and then I spotted Christopher. He's actually pretty hard to miss, my lil bro is about 8 feet tall with curly hair as big as mine. He's the worlds best spotter and runner so when he saw me coming he took off down the road. When I caught him he gave me the update, "She was 6 minutes ahead out of the water and now she's 12 ahead". That was the go ahead I was looking for. I took the leash off my riding legs and dropped the hammer, she's not going to ride away without a fight.

I rode my heart out but was careful to maintain my nutrition. I stuck to the plan, watched my heart rate, timed my calories, and took advantage of the tailwind. From there on out my small chain ring (and everyone else out on the course for that matter) was non-existent.

I came into T2 in record time and feeling like I had just finished the bike leg of a sprint! "10 minutes down, move it!!" that would be my loving mom who turns into a boxing coach at my races ;-) I hurried through transition, gave the sunblock sprayers a good laugh, stopped in the port-o-pot (if you gotta go might as well not slow down your run split!) and continued my hunt.

The Run: Team Murphy was dispersed along the entry to the bridge, so any pains I may have had were easily wiped away through their encouragement. I began up the bridge and spotted my girl heading down. She was just 1 mile up on me... this was going to be an easy battle. I had finally remebered to pack my running legs in T2 and it was getting really hot... just what I had prayed for!

I knew that running in the lead would be enough motivation to hold her off... but I decided to stay conservative and lean on my Garmin for coaching advice. I held my pace until the first turnaround where I recieved my first update. My dad told me she had gained 30 seconds and I needed to increase my average. For some reason I interpretted that as I needed to increase my average by 30 sec, and the thought of having to hold 7:30's was enough to let the demons in. My quads started to scream at me, my heart rate skyrocketed, and my stomach began to do summersaults. I knew I would hit this low, but I didn't expect it to hit this quickly and like a ton of bricks!

I had to calm down, so I walked through the next aid station and took in some calories and tried to psych myself back up. I began to run again when I heard the fish bowl in my stomach... oh gosh. I dropped my head and jumped on the guys feet in front of me, but it only got worse.

Then..."Is that... MONICA MURPHY!!!" It's like they were sent there to rescue me! Aaron and Courtney were glowing when I saw them... they were jumping up and down and screaming like they had just won the lottery. They ran over to me and practically carried through the turnaround, or at least it felt like they did!! I asked Dr. Aaron I they had any stomach medicine, and they said no but that I would be fine and I looked great... so I kept telling myself that.

About a half mile down the road I thought my insides were going to fall out and was convinced that the fish bowl in my belly was going to come out my mouth. I starred at the pavement and continued to plow forward... I am no quitter and I was going to do everything possible to stick to the plan (granted at this point we were on Plan B). I made it back to downtown, stopping at the aid stations and port-o-pots along the way, watching my average pace slip away. The thought of more Gu made me puke a little and the sight of Gatorade made it come back up. I grabbed a piece of PowerBar and tried to shove it down my throat, but when I saw my family cheering me on I got so choked up I nearly gagged myself. They are the most amazing support crew and stay by my side through thick and thin. Sean reminded me that anything is possible. He was right, this was it!

I tucked in behind Robert Taylor (you're an animal!!) and we plowed through rest of the field. I was making up time and feeling pretty good: my stomach was at bay, my legs hurt but they were cooperating, and I was more determined than ever to finish this damn race. But then it hit me...again. The magic pill my Dad gave me wasn't strong enough to stop this belly!

From there on out it was hours between aid stations. I looked up just in time to make eye contact with Heather and Svenigan. She could only muster a thumbs up and it took everything in me to give her one back. My dad stayed within a block of me, riding ahead and waiting for me to pass... he knew I was struggling (I'm not sure if the word "struggling" does justice). Every step sent waves of shock throughout my body. I was starving and only found gu and gluten... both of which made me want to throw up the nothing that was left in my stomach. I was, in fact, dying.

My Plan B slipped to Plan C and slipped to Plan Oh Hell Let's Just Finish. Crossing the line I was filled with so much emotion: I was relieved and furious, I was so proud and so disappointed, I had just finished my fastest Ironman but my biggest loss.

My family and friends are the bomb and were sure to keep the goofy smile on my face all night long. My favorite part about Ironman is cheering the athletes on, so my loved ones gathered around me, got me a huge sandwich, and posted up on the 3rd street curb to try to get a laugh or two out of the racers. It was the perfect ending to see so many fulfill their lifelong dreams... it put my race in perspective.

It felt so good to swim and bike so well... and one day soon my marathon legs and steel stomach will be in my transition bag. Until then, "only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go"... on to Clearwater!