KONA BOUND BITCHES

I fucking did it!!!!!

I got a Kona slot at IRONMAN Texas on April 22nd.  A longtime goal in the making, filled with sacrifices, grit, tears, determination, growth…. and guess what?  It was ALL fucking worth it!

Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing in my epic journey to qualify for Kona.  Not even how IM Texas unfolded from potentially one of my lowest lows coming off the bike, to holding my breath for 2 hours at the Awards & Slot Allocation Ceremony in order to find out if my 16th place got me a Kona slot. 

You see, I registered super late for IM Texas.  It was March 11th to be exact, six weeks before race day.  I was waiting for my severe ankle sprain to heal from a fall during a trail run back in December!  In the meantime, I had already registered for IRONMAN 70.3 Acapulco on March 26th, and my first 10k swim race - El Cruce in Cancun on May 21st. 

Once I hit a 14-miler training run for Acapulco early in March, I knew my ankle was healthy to race in IM Texas.  I just wouldn’t have enough time before race day to load for an IRONMAN marathon, and I would have to race IM Texas a bit unconventional. 

One reason why IM Texas was so appealing was that it had 100 female slots for Kona 2023 and 100 male slots for Nice 2023.  With so many slots, I didn’t have to chase a podium at IM Texas.  Instead, I figured I needed to finish top 10 in my age group (AG) to guarantee a Kona slot.  My AG 45-49, tends to be the largest group.  The bigger the AG, the more slots are allocated to that group. 

Texas was an opportunity that presented itself and I knew that a number of things were not ideal leading into this race.  Yet, I had to take that risk, because I also believed that I had a good chance to qualify.  What I had not planned for, was the amount of pressure I piled on myself.  I built so much pressure, that on race day, I almost broke down in T2, the transition from bike to run.  I am going to share something that I am ashamed of and yet I think there is an opportunity for growth, for all us.  After all, we are only humans, pushing the limits of who we are while in the process of crushing our big bold dreams.   

RACE RECAP 

SWIM 2.4-miles (Time:  1:13:12 Rank 14)

Interesting.  Is how I will best describe IM Texas swim. 

The swim is point-to-point.  It starts at North Shore Park where you swim in a lake creating a rectangle and then you swim into a man-made narrow channel to finish at Town Green Park.  The narrow channel was the most chaotic part of the swim.  It felt like we were funneled from a highway into a single lane road.  Lots of stop and go, breaking your swim rhythm. 

But my biggest issue with the swim was actually what I packed when we moved to Hermosillo, Mexico back in February 2023.  When we moved to Hermosillo, I had 2 races on my calendar:  IRONMAN 70.3 Acapulco and El Cruce 10k swim in Cancun.  So I packed my Roka swimskin for Acapulco and my Roka full sleeves wetsuit to train in the Sea of Cortez.

On race morning the water temperature in Lake Woodlands was 72F (22C) and air temps 65F (18C).  Usually at those water temps, I opt to swim with my swimskin, or depending on air temps with water temps, I opt for my sleeveless wetsuit, which was back in Baltimore.  On race morning, I made a last minute decision to race with my wetsuit since I was freezing and hoped I would not over heat with my full sleeves wetsuit. 

During the swim I experience a calf muscle cramp which could be attributed to over heating in the wetsuit, or the stop and go of race swim chaos, or after doing a bit of research, it can also be caused due to stress.   

T1 Transition from Swim-to-Bike (Time:  00:05:35)

I was happy to get out of that choppy brown water.  Normally, swimming is the highlight of my race.  This was not one of those races.  As I ran to my bike, I was so happy to see my husband hanging close to my bike rack.  I run to him, to give him a kiss and told him I was doing okay and off I went to start my bike leg.  

BIKE 112-miles/3767 ft elevation (Time: 6:07:08 Rank 24)

Boring.  Is how I will best describe IM Texas bike course, and it fucking destroyed me mentally and physically.  Truthfully it fucking broke me down.

The first 20 miles there were a lot of turns as you left the Woodlands to head into a toll road.  Once you hit Hardy Toll Road, you rode 2 loops for 80 miles completely exposed to the sun, the wind, and complete boredom of riding on a highway.   

The first lap we had brutal headwinds.  I rode way too hard on the first loop causing my left IT band and soft tissue around my knee to tighten up.  On the 2nd loop my knee pain was so high, that I had to stop a few times to stretch it out.  I also had to drop my gearing down to keep the pain manageable which meant my pace dropped, my power output dropped, and therefore I lost my placing. 

Sooooo many females passed me on the 2nd loop that I stopped counting. 

I got emotional.  I saw my Kona dream disappear literally in front of me.  I wanted to quit so badly. I even contemplated my first ever DNF. 

At this stage I was also starting to feel a bit nauseous making it really hard to keep up with my fueling plan.  I am not really sure if the nausea was due to swallowing nasty brown lake water, heat exposure on the toll road, or my emotional disappointment. 

Regardless it all attributed on how T2 unfolded. 

T2 Transition Bike-to-Run (Time:  00:08:36)

I dismount my bike.  Hand my bike to the volunteer and started jogging into T2.  I see my husband and he confirms what I already knew….  I was 20th.

I stopped.  Put my head down and starting crying.  My first words to him in between my tears were “I fucked up! I am not going to Kona!  I don’t even know if I can run!  My knee hurts!”

T2 is set up with a long corral from where you hand off your bike and where you then run to grab your Run Bag.  Jimmie and I walked this section as he tried to consolidate me all while athletes run past me.  I was so disappointed in myself.  I kept thinking of all the money that we had wasted to get here.  My emotions took the best part of who I was and I couldn’t snap out of my meltdown.

I grabbed my Run Bag and starting walking towards the changing tents.  I spotted the porta potty and I went in since Kona dream was in the gutter.  I enter the changing tent, strip out of my race trikit, and slip on my new favorite lululemon running shorts.  In my mind I was “fuck it, if I am not chasing a Kona spot, let me at least run in comfort”. 

Got out of the changing tent, spotted Jimmie again, and I tell him “thank you” and that I loved him and he simply said “just finish and race your race”. 

Those words hit me.  It slapped my bratty personality out of my emotional meltdown back into race mode.  I stopped feeling sorry for myself and went out to enjoy running a marathon for myself.  The pressure was off and I didn’t come this far to only come this far.    

RUN 26.2-miles (Time:  4:19:02 Rank 16)

The best part of IM Texas was the marathon.  What a beautiful run course along the lake, the channel, and filled with fun spectators.  By far, my favorite run course out of the 5 full IRONMANs that I have done. 

What’s funny, the run, out of the 3 sports, was the discipline I had the most doubts going into race day.  My longest runs in 2023 were two 14-milers leading into Texas and yet, thanks to my run, I was able to fight for a Kona slot.

As I left T2, I was surprised that my throbbing knee pain was gone.  It actually never bothered me during the entire marathon.  I kept a close eye on my pace and I ran the first half all in Z2 (zone 2) as I had planned all along, since I didn’t have the run volume for a marathon.  I walked each aid station fueling up.  I used the porta potty one more time for GI issues.  But I was calm.  Happy.  Determined to fucking finish.

Once I hit mile marker 14, I got a little nervous and told myself the next two miles would be a normal training run.  I felt strong as I ran past mile marker 16 but I was still in unchartered territory.  So I decided to keep Z2 pace which is a very comfortable and easy pace.  Not at all my normal IRONMAN marathon race day pace. 

From mile marker 16 to 20 I got in a beautiful zone.  I cruised through those miles effortlessly and I started passing females that I recognized their tri-kits from when they passed me on the bike.

The marathon was a 3-loop course.  I saw my husband 2x on the course… and he kept telling me to keep that pace as everybody in front of me was falling apart.  Now I knew what he meant as I finally had chased them down.  Mile 20 for an IRONMAN marathon is when most triathletes tent to fall apart.  You’ve been racing for hours now and it becomes a race of the minds for all athletes. 

I put my head down and committed myself to keep the same pace all the way to the finish line to salvage something out of this race.   

FINISH LINE (Time:  11:53:11 Rank 16)

I finished IM Texas 16th in my AG with leaving T2 in 26th place.  On race morning, 88 females in my AG showed up ready to fight for a Kona slot and 82 finished.  With 100 female slots for Kona, my AG got allotted 17 slots.  This meant that I had qualified but only knew this at the Awards Ceremony & Slot Allocation the next day. 

Beyond proud of qualifying for Kona, and this race taught me so much more than I could ever imagine.   

What I experienced in T2 was one of my lowest moments in my triathlon journey!  I could not handle the pressure.  Lesson learned to never again put so much pressure on myself.  What I am most proud about in this race is what happened after T2. 

What happened after T2 is what matters the most. 

Not many people have the guts to put themselves in such a position to fail.  Many avoid that position altogether.  But for those that have the guts to put themselves in that position and rise, that is the true measure of greatness! 

Never give up on your dreams!  Fight until the very end.