ITS ALWAYS YOU VS YOU MOTHER FUCKER
I registered to race IRONMAN Texas with the goal to qualify for Kona 2025. Texas was my 3rd attempt in 7 months to fight for a Kona slot.
That’s right, 3 full IRONMAN races in 7 months…and no Kona slot. Disappointed? Of course, and yet, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve learned so much on what my body and mind can take in the past 7 months, all while navigating perimenopause.
I am embracing all of these experiences. The highs and the lows because they keep shaping me into the woman that I am proud of. And though yes, it would have been fucking awesome to qualify for Kona again, it’s truly never about Kona, rather the pursuit of living a life to the fullest!
IRONMAN is more than just a sport.
RACE RECAP
SWIM 2.4 MILES (TIME: 1:12:42)
Texas tends to be 50/50 when it comes to being a wetsuit legal race. The water temperature always dances on the line. For me personally, I was hoping for a wetsuit optional race, aka no wetsuit. I am a strong swimmer, so non-wetsuit races are to my advantage.
On race morning, the water temperature was 76.6F making it a non-wetsuit race. I seeded myself towards the front with the 1-hour swim wave, but had a bit of a rough start.
As I ran down to the boat ramp, my goggles shifted as I dove into Lake Woodlands. I had to tread water to adjust my goggles that had started to leak while other swimmers swam over me. As soon as my goggles were repositioned, I started my swim, not allowing this mishap to affect me.
The rest of the swim was how I was expecting it to go. I find Texas swim course a bit of a challenge to navigate. You start the race at Northshore Park swimming in Lake Woodlands and finish at Town Green Park in a man-made canal. I mentally divide the swim into 3 sections. Section 1: The Lake. You swim in a long rectangle, out and back, about 2800 meters total. You swim the first straight away of the rectangle before sunrise, since the swim starts at 6:30am. I knew visibility would be a bit of a challenge because I had chosen tinted goggles, but they would come in handy with the sunrise. Section 2: Canal Entrance. This section is tricky as you swim towards the sun, all while navigating for the straightest line into the canal. It feels like every swimmer goes in different directions in this section until we all collide in the narrow man-made canal. Section 3: The Mosh Pit. You swim about 1000 meters in a narrow canal with high retaining cement walls. Water splashing on the walls has nowhere else to go, but back at the swimmers. It’s a total washing machine effect and we are all fighting for the middle of the canal while listening to spectators with cow bells right on top of you.
I usually enjoy the swims in an IRONMAN as it feels like it’s the calm before the storm. But for some reason lake swims are never my favorite bodies of water to swim in, and I have no fodness for man-made water rivers or canals. It just feels so unnatural.
Texas was not my fastest swim. Yet I managed to finish 3rd out of the water in a highly competitive field of 66 females in my age group of 50-54. I am very proud of my swim performance as I have been consistently cracking top 5 in my age group in both the half and the full IRONMAN distance. This is proof that even an adult-learned swimmer can lead the pack, as long as one is willing to commit to swimming and has the right training approach.
T1 TRANSITION FROM SWIM-TO-BIKE (TIME: 5:24)
I came out of the water and quickly started unzipping my Roka swimskin. Grabbed my bike gear bag and went into the tent to get ready for the bike. As I ran towards my bike, I spotted Jimmie! I ran towards him to kiss him and wish him a happy birthday!
It was so good seeing him and yes, on race day, it was his actually birthday! Talk about sherpa extraordinaire!
Early in January when I was deciding on which race to register, I shared with Jimmie two race options. IRONMAN Texas on his birthday or Brazil in June. Based on his work travel commitments, travel time to race venue, budget at each location, and overall logistics, we both opted for Texas. It made the most sense with our schedules.
Maybe next IRONMAN will be Brazil.
BIKE 112 MILES (TIME: 6:18:07)
I started the bike in 3rd position.
For the first 20 miles I felt very comfortable and strong. I was also distracted by all the turns, u-turns, out-and-back segments, and nature on this section of the bike course. Then I entered the famous Hardy Toll Road and things started to break apart.
In the Hardy Toll Road you do two 40-mile loops on a toll highway, out and back. It is windy, it gets hot, the surface is cracked, and there is nothing to stimulate you as all you see is cement walls. I didn’t register for the scenic bike course! To the contrary - I know Texas has a boring bike course and yet, I hit my lowest point of the race here.
By mile 30, I had to stop at an aide station to ask for Advil. I had this headache that was pounding on my forehead. They told me due to the heat they couldn’t give me Advil as it would potentially damage my kidneys. I asked if they could give me anything else and the answer was no.
I got back on my bike and tried my best to forget about my headache. Soon the headache transformed into nausea and as per usual, at this stage of an IRONMAN by mile 50, all the stronger female riders tend to pass me. I was mentally prepared for it but I wasn’t ready to feel this uncomfortable on the bike. I had a headache, nausea and now…GI distress.
By the time I reached the halfway point I was holding onto 10th place. Then at mile 66 I stopped for my personal needs bike bag to drink the Coca-Cola I had in my bag, and to address my GI discomfort. Unfortunately, I took way longer than I should have. From 10th I dropped to 20th and once I got back on the bike, I never recovered my spot back.
I came off the bike in 20th place.
T2 TRANSITION FROM BIKE-TO-RUN (TIME: 10:18)
I was so happy to give my bike to a volunteer when I dismounted my bike. As I tried to run into T2, the bottom of my feet were on fire! I usually don’t get this feeling on my feet but they were hurting so badly I couldn’t run into transition. I saw Jimmie and he told me my placement as I walked to grab my run gear bag. Before entering the changing tent, I stopped once again at the bathroom to make myself feel better for the run. I came out of the tent to start my marathon and was so happy to see Jimmie’s smiling face saying, “just do your best” - and that is exactly what I did for the marathon.
RUN 26.2 MILES (TIME: 4:33:12)
I started the marathon in 20th place with air temperature of 88F and 96% humidity. I did my very best to fight back to 10th place but ended 16th out of 72 females that started in my age group and only 66 finished. My second goal for IRONMAN Texas was to finish top 10 in my age group. I knew I had the run fitness in this race to go for it. But the heat and the GI distress got to me.
I have gone back and forth on how I should have approached my GI distress at mile 66 of the bike that cost me both goals; a Kona slot and top 10 in my age group. You go into a race to win and it’s painful when you lose! But I need to be honest with myself that I also did the very best on that day with what the race gave me, and for that I do need to let go of what happened at mile 66 and be proud of my 16th place out of 66 finishers.
Racing an IRONMAN is a beast! You swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then you run a marathon! It’s a long fucking day where you are constantly troubleshooting and fighting your inner dialogue, stringing 3 different sports into one. It is exhausting and yet, it’s the distance that challenges me the most and makes me most proud of who I am knowing that on race day, I gave it my all.
You see, earlier that week, Jimmie and I attended the IRONMAN pro panel composed of Kat Matthews, Taylor Knibb, Chelsea Sodaro, Regan Hollioake, Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, Matthew Marquardt, and Rudy Von Berg. I was extra inspired by the wisdom shared by Taylor Knibb. She said something like this:
“Just because you didn’t finish first does not mean you got beat.”
Those words echoed through my body as it is the core of why I race, YOU vs YOU.
