Redman Iron Distance Triathlon 2009
By Maggie Johnston
On my final run lap, I heard one of the race directors joking with an aid station volunteer that the day’s race was, “an open water swim, an open water bike, and an open water run.” Considering the soaking wet everything I dragged home, that was a pretty fair summary.
I felt so clever not using the T1 and T2 bags and just setting up my transition area at my bike. My bike was right at the “swim out,” and I could get right to my stuff and go. By the time it was pouring rain, I wasn’t feeling so clever, but I did feel somewhat fortunate. A few feet down the rack, another racer’s transition area was sitting in about an inch of water.
I wasn’t so worried about the rain, though, until the director announced that they might just have to do a swim/run/swim. I couldn’t hear the rest of what he said after that because all the racers were groaning or shouting, “No!” After that, most of my panic about the race evaporated. I just wanted to be able to do it, and felt so fortunate when they said we could. After facing not being able to do what I’d trained 9 months for, I was happy to do the race in any conditions.
The swim was one of my most enjoyable race swims ever. I started in the back and way out wide, and stayed wide the whole race. I took it easy. I had none of the usual open-water clobbering, and was very relaxed the entire way. I exited the water feeling like I could have easily gone another lap. It rained while I was swimming.
The transition was fairly quick because everything was wet so there was just no concern at all for wetness. But I had to sit down because twice I tried to get my shoes on but was somewhat dizzy and wobbling.
The bike was the bulk of the race, of course. I went very slowly for the first 30 miles, and later in the bike worried that I went too slow, but this was my first time so I just really did not know. I just kept doing what my coach told me to do. It rained quite a bit, and we had to dismount our bikes early in the ride and run through the grass on the side of the road due to about 2 feet of water in the roadway. Some volunteers were standing knee-deep in the water on the road. I was laughing and thinking about adventure racing.
The road conditions were pretty awful. Some of the pavement was really bumpy, there were a lot of holes, torn-up patches, red mud, standing water… (As for the red mud, everything white I was wearing is now tinged red, even after bleaching.) And on the second loop, the course suddenly seemed hilly! The wind also picked up quite a bit. And for the icing on the cake, 10 miles from transition, I got a flat. I got a new tube in and the tire back on before the road crew rescued me, checked my work, filled the tire, and put it back on the bike for me. I was very grateful since it was taking me a long time to do everything. My eyes were dried out so my vision was blurry, and I was wiped. I just wanted off the bike. It was a good break getting to stand for a while, and the final 10 miles felt better because of it.
My nutrition on the bike worked out very well and just as I’d planned and practiced. E-gels at every :30 and :45 alternating, Gatorade, water, Jolly Ranchers. Very simple.
After transition, I ran to the portajohn in the transition area and my left foot sank about six inches down into the mud in front of the potty. Guh-rosse! Little did I know that I would be running through so much water during the run that it really did not matter that I had a shoe full of mud. Again, I was thinking about how much this race was overlapping with adventure racing.
I kept telling myself to slow down on the run. Unlike a marathon where your legs start to hurt pretty bad around mile 18 or so, my legs starting feeling that way at about mile 3. It was mentally challenging to have to do 4 laps of the same run course, not only because of the many deep and unavoidable puddles, but mostly also because there were little mileage signs posted for all 4 laps. So on my first lap, I got to run by the markers that said “18” and “22” and could only dream that I was on my 3rd or 4th lap instead of just my first.
At about mile 9, I felt so sick I thought I was gonna hurl. It came out of nowhere. I managed to hold things together until I could ask my coach what to do around mile 12, and she told me to just use Gatorade and water. I followed that advice, and felt so much better a little over an hour later, that I tried another gel. I still had 10 miles to go and knew I needed more energy. The gel went down great and the Coke, water, Gatorade and Jolly Ranchers kept me going the rest of the way. With about 1.5 miles left, I saw that the time was 13:45 and really wanted to make it in before 14:00, so I picked up the pace and was able to hold a really good running pace all the way in to finish in just under 13:59.
I am already wondering, now that I’ve done my first full iron tri, how I might be able to train to do the next one a little faster. It would be a completely different race. I know I could have gone faster on the swim and bike, but at what cost to the run? And isn’t that the whole challenge of triathlon? Now that I’ve gone farther, can I do it faster?
It feels a little bit empty to have achieved my goal and have everything come to such a screeching halt. It also feels nice to give my family a break.
There were so many things I thought about during the race. The number one thing occupying most of my thoughts throughout was my gratitude for being able to race that day, and for having the physical ability to race. I spent a lot of time praying and giving thanks to God for this beautiful planet we live on, for giving me life, and for allowing me to compete. There was a huge patch of brown-eyed susans by the water on the run course that I got to pass 8 times (although the last two times it was dark and I could barely see them). It was so beautiful, especially when the sun was setting! The second place item occupying my thoughts was my friends and my family and all of their words of encouragement. I often thought of those words as I raced and they kept me going. And the third thing occupying my thoughts during the race was my gratitude to all of the volunteers: the police officers, the kids, the adults, and my special pink fairy who, at the beginning of the race, I thought was a freak, and by the end of the race, I thought was an angel. Where do these people come from? I am in awe of event volunteers and their selflessness.
I have nothing profound to say to wrap up this race report. In retrospect, it seems somewhat selfish considering the demands my goal placed on so many others. On the other hand, it was a private goal that I was able to achieve through the help of only those who wanted to help, and for all of those people, I am extremely grateful. This just isn’t something that anyone can really do all by himself.