Irnled a pretty normal life until three weeks ago. When I wasrnpreliminarily diagnosed with MS I had the decision to sit around andrnfeel sorry for myself and all the limitations I might have or to keeprnon living. I decided to keep on living. No time was like the present torncheck my goals off my life list. One of those goals was a half IronmanrnTriathlon. That is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 milernrun. (They call this a “70.3” because that is the mileage count for thernentire thing.) I had it all planned out for a six year span. I would dorntwo years Sprint distance, two years Olympic, one year Half Ironman,rnand the next year the big one, a Full Ironman. The goal was to dornbetter at each distance the second time around to show I was growing asrnan athlete. I did not want to do the distances too fast. I thought, “IfrnI do a full Ironman Triathlon next year, what could I ever do to trumprnthat?” It left open all the excitement and challenge the next stage ofrnracing had to offer.rn

Forrest Gump had a wise mother who saidrnthat famous, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” I also have a veryrnwise mother. My mother’s wisdom still guides me to this day. Her wordsrnare, “Its mind over matter. If you don’t have a mind, it doesn’trnmatter.” Lets do this!

The only issue was being properlyrntrained. You don’t go and run a half marathon when you can only run therndistance of a 10K. You need to know what to expect from your body andrnyour body needs to know what it can expect from you. Despite doing arnmarathon and century ride recently, it is a whole different experiencernputting them back to back.

I got out the old trisuit a weekendrnbefore my race. I had run 17 miles combined over two days and went outrnfor a 30 mile bike ride. I had been 25 pounds heavier when I was lastrnin that trisuit so it was interesting to see where the changes were. Inrnthe past I always thought I had a pear shape figure, but I’m turningrninto more of a boy shape. With this last weight loss I just lost myrnbutt. There was just extra lose material where my rear end used to be!rnI guess we’ll call my shape “carrot.” I’ve got wide shoulders andrneverything narrows in from there. J

Much like the grief processrnthere are the stages of Triathlons. First starts with excitement. Yourndecide what race and distance you are interested on doing and you getrnto let your mind wonder how great it will be. Next comes planning. Yournhave to figure out how to prepare yourself for race day to meet yourrngoals. Remember a goal without a plan is a dream, not a goal. Nextrnthere is experience. You get to follow your plan and have fun playingrnwith it. Something you thought would work well doesn’t, you adjust. Yournfind your weaknesses and exploit them before your competitors do onrnrace day! As your event arrives, usually 48 hours for me, dread setsrnin. I usually think, “Why did I sign up for this? Am I nuts?” 24 hoursrnbefore my race I slide into “Let’s get this over with.” On race day,rnsheer panic! Triathletes are very compulsive people. They wantrneverything to happen exactly as they have envisioned in their mind.rnThat is no small task and it brings a lot of stress and doubt. Once thernrace starts you get “race vision” which I guess would be yourrnacceptance phase. You are so focused on your goal, you have forgottenrneverything else.rn

I arrived at Boulder Beach which is atrnLake Mead. It is a very common place for these Triathlons. I had neverrndone a distance this long before so I have never been on the beachrnshortly after 5am. It was pitch black. Some of the participants hadrnthose head lamps on, mental note on a good idea if I ever do thisrnagain. I toted all of my stuff to the transition area to set up forrnthis adventure. The guy on my left, wow. He was friendly and he was inrngreat shape. He had a gorgeous face to go along with it. Of course herndidn’t hold a candle to my husband, but I was just admiring all thernwork he put in to look like that. rn

During the swim I wasrnreminding myself to keep my elbows up and the little technique thingsrnto swim properly. I had to laugh when I started thinking about thatrnmovie “Finding Nemo” where Dorothy starts singing to Marlin, “What dornwe do… We swim, swim, swim…..” Just like Marlin I said, “Oh great! NowrnI have that song stuck in my head!” The swim went well. I turned aroundrnthe last bouy and headed for home. I kept my eye on a huge orange ballrnfloating on the water but was trying to figure out my exit point. Usingrna great landmark for women, I locked my eyes on the bathrooms andrndecided it was time to turn up the heat. There was this guy next to mernwho decided to sprint it out with me. Poor guy ended up sucking myrnbubbles. It is common knowledge that most triathletes pee in the waterrnright before getting out, but I just couldn’t do it. I’m struggling tornget my daughter to not be so barbaric and pee in our back yard, so whatrnkind of example would that be? rn

As I exited the water Irnsaw a clock that read 38 minutes and change. I was pleasantly surprisedrnbecause I was anticipating 50 minutes. I got out of the water andrnreally did not know how hard to push myself in transition. In a longrndistance, like this one, those seconds you can save yourself inrntransition might not matter overall. I decided to take transitions ¾ ofrnwhat I would normally do. Not waste time but not expend all my energyrnat full speed. I had counted how many slots it was to my bike and wentrnright to it. I had stripped my wet suit to my waist and pulled it offrnmy left leg no problem. The right leg I had a hang up with, but didn’trnstruggle for long. I grabbed the Hornet and off we went. rn

Irnwas really proud of my effort on the bike. I was 15 miles from thernfinish and out of water. I had a powerbar, but without water I justrncouldn’t stomach it. My mind was wondering on how good that water fromrnthat water stand was going to be. As I came around the final loop tornwhere the water would have been, I was thoroughly disappointed it wasrnnot there. I decided to keep on pushing and I would get some water onrnthe run. As I approached the 49 mile mark my throat was so dry I couldrnbarely swallow. I didn’t have a drop of saliva in my mouth. By mile 51rnI was still pushing hard but ready for the bike to be over. I hadrnpredicted a 3 hour 30 minute bike ride and I was dead on. While myrntorso was tucked over my thighs, peddling was bumping my bladderrnreminding me a potty break would be a good idea. I pulled into therntransition area and told the person I had lost my chip. He said to keeprngoing and let the race director know later. I got off my bike and feltrna little sluggish, but that is to be expected. When you run afterrngetting off a bike you feel like you are in slow motion because of thernspeed difference. I made eye contact with my husband and let him know Irnneeded a pit stop.

My sisters and their friend Timera werernstanding by what I thought was my transition spot. Without hesitation Irnrace to where they were and looked down to not recognize the stuff. Arnquick backup two rows did the trick and I switched into my run gear andrngrabbed my racing chip. I crossed the run mat and darted for thernport-a-potties. As I came out several people were yelling at me to givernthem my chip. I yelled back, “I’m still racing! Mother of two, bladderrnhas taken a beating!” rn

Since this was an open course,rnRichard was allowed to run with me. I figured he could give me somernemotional support and try to push me if I needed it. At the beginningrnthere was ice cold Gatoraid and water. It was like liquid heaven. I wasrnso hot and thirsty. I felt like one of those ants I used to fry withrnthe magnifying lens as a child. Maybe 50-100 yards in I was down to arnwalk. You have no idea how hard it is to cool down while you run. Irnwalked for the first 2 or 3 miles. Richard would run ahead and get somernwater for me. We would dump one water on me and I would drink the otherrnone. It was so frustrating. Mentally I wanted to run, but my body justrndidn’t want to. It is like coaching a player who doesn’t want to play!rnNothing hurt, I was just tired and my legs were heavy. I decided tornwalk and run. We hit all the water stops and I drank like it was myrnlast water stop. Sometimes it takes between 4-7 miles for me to warm uprnso I was hoping this would be the case. I saw a lot of runnersrnstruggling so I didn’t feel so bad. It was a lot hotter than expectedrnand I hadn’t trained outside in the heat of the day, being that Irndidn’t expect to be doing this event. Part of the course was thernhistoric “6 Tunnels” which was an old rail system hauling supplies tornHoover Dam in the early 30’s. It had amazing views of the lake. Therernwas an unmanned water station with a bottle of Gatoraid behind it. Irntook a drink to realize it was concentrated and my stomach felt like itrnhad been punched. I chased it with some water and hoped for the best. Irnstarted coming out of my slump and running longer portions. The last 4rnand half miles I ran the majority of.

One of the mysteries of myrnsymptoms is hearing loss. About 4 miles into the run I lost hearing inrnthe left ear. I have now confirmed it is an exertion thing. Richardrnsaid something about, “You really don’t need to hear to run” but he wasrnon my left side. My right started flickering too. Too bad I can’t turnrnit off and on at my convenience.
I was passed by race volunteers inrna truck and offered ice cold water. Ice….Cold… Glorious…. Richard hadrncaught up to me and he isn’t kidding with people calling him “Thunder.”rnThe way his feet pound the pavement you have ample warning he isrncoming. We got closer and closer to the white tents which were by thernfinish line. I was tired and glad it was over. I just wanted to getrninto the shade and down some bottles of ice cold water.

As Irncrossed the finish line the first thing on my mind was about the racingrnchip. I mentioned it to the volunteer collecting them and she said,rn“Sorry, you only get credit for what the chip reads.” I went to findrnthe race director because he could look at the computer on my bike asrnproof I went the distance and the time it took. I found one of therndirectors and was trying to fight back the tears when I was telling himrnwhat happened. So much was riding on this race counting. He assured merneverything would be counted. He said he couldn’t imagine having me outrnthere for 7 hours and not get credit for what I earned. He said it justrnwouldn’t give me my split times. (Meaning my transition times and myrnbike time wouldn’t be posted.)

At the end of the day I wanted to complete the Half Ironman in 7 hours or less, but I’ll accept 7:31:01.

Irnforgot to stretch after my event so my body let me know it was unhappyrnon the way home. I was having muscle spasms and stabbing pains in myrnmuscles. I was screaming profanities like a woman with turrets for halfrnof the ride home. I suddenly had a craving for pizza on the way home. Irnhad no desire for whole wheat or anything fat free for some reason.rnAfter the big race Richard made ribs with Tony Roma’s Carolina HoneyrnSauce, mashed potatoes, and I made a chocolate cheesecake. I figure nornmatter what I ate on that day would ever amount to the calories Irnburned.

Half Ironman…. It hurt like hell….. It was awesome….rnAnyone wanting to do a Full Ironman Triathlon needs to have their headrnexamined because that is just crazy! rn