Thank you everyone for the support! Ironman TX was a tough one. They all are. Here’s a “quick” recap.
The conditions were not favorable for the polar bear from North Finland, but I had to face my fear of performing in the heat and humidity one day. Fittingly, we discuss about performance in the heat in one of the upcoming episode of The Athlete’s Compass . Anyway, the humidity, heat and the strong wind was the same for everyone who toed the line.
Putting together swim-bike-run combo is always a challenge, getting to the start line is half the battle. My prep went very well until end of February when I got sick the day before my marathon, struggled with allergies for couple of weeks, then went on and pulled my back which resulted in a hamstring soreness that forced me to cut my run training. So just getting to the start line was half a victory.
Water temps were high, around 24-25c - officially wetsuit legal (?!)- I swam with swimsuit only. Sure I gave up 5-10 min not wearing wetsuit but at least I wasn’t overheating during the first hour of a very long day. I had a left calf cramp during the swim and tried to kick very lightly. Cool swim route along the canal and I spotted my family cheering for me, which was uber-sweet! 1:17 swim. meh, but ok, not a big deal.
As I am getting my bike shoes on T2- my left abdominal muscles cramp. My lovely volunteer helped me stretch my leg and applied gentle pressure on the cramp and it released quickly. Wasn’t feeling overly confident at this point. A lot of people on the bike course, and we all get met by hard-core headwind that sucker-punched my soul (and many others). They call it “Party on the Hardy”. Sick humor?! Riding to headwind with gust around 40knots. It was slowly zapping my legs and killing my usually cheerful spirit. I wanted to quit so many times. Thoughts in my head were not pretty.
But once we had been tortured with this for about 35K, we got to turn around and I was flying! Tucked myself into a smallest possible aero and tried to gain as much free speed as possible. THAT WAS FUN! The second lap wasn’t that bad because I knew I got to fly up north again with the tailwind.
It was getting very hot on the bike and I made sure to pour cold water on me every aid station. Even stopped couple of times to make sure I got my body cooled off.
As I approach T2 and take my feet off my shoes, my abs cramp AGAIN!
Handed the bike to a volunteer and ran to T2 ready to dive deep into the unknown - run. I’ve never had cramps during races - and now I had already had three! What else was coming? Would my hamstring hold on?
Bike 5:53 something. Not too bad.
At this point it was around 31c and humid. My plan was to get as much ice as possible down the suit, bra and in my hat to try keep my core cool. Walked every aid station and that was the mission. Ice, water, drink of coke and orange slices.
Mentally running a marathon seemed impossible and I was in desperate need of seeing my family. First 14K lap - could not find them. Second lap around 18K-20K in, I finally see them. Hugs and kisses and tell them I’m going through hell.
Since the swim I had tried to find one good reason to quit this torture, but I could not find any. Not one that would not make me feel like I had disappointed my three kids, husband who has to pick up a lot of slack due to my training obsession, and my amazing Coach @Prof and the entire team in Athletica. There was no way in h#*l I was going to stand in front of my loved ones and look into their eyes and see disappointment.
So I just had to fight through. It was not fast but I gave my all. When I finally spotted that finish line I was so mad I just sprinted because I wanted it to be over so bad. No celebratory hands up, but straight to embrace my youngest who is my biggest fan. We both ugly cried that came deep from the gut. He held me so tight I think it was the biggest squeeze I’ve ever gotten from him. He cried and said Mom I Love You So Much. THAT was the reason I made it to the Finish Line.
Run- slowest marathon (ironman or stand-alone) ever. But I’m proudest of this one because I was looking for reasons not to finish the entire time, AND I didn’t. I gutted it out to get to hug my family and having it done. I gave my finisher hat and shirt to my boy Axel.
Not once did I think of placement. I heard on the run I was fifth but then I started to fade. I had nothing more to give, and didn’t really care what place or time I came in. I had stopped looking at my watch a long time ago.
I was going to take a break from Ironman training, and do some shorter fun stuff for a while as it is really hard to get everything done as a mom of three kids with their own sports schedules etc. I wasn’t going to take my spot in the World Champs in Nice. I had already made up my mind that I would not even go to the Award Ceremony.
But - in 2022 I had turned down my spot to Kona - can you imagine how hard it is to say NO to your dream?! and it broke my little guy Axel’s heart almost as much as it did mine. And I just could not do that again.
Sunday morning I hollered “Yeehaw, heck yeah I’ll go” when my name was announced for a spot in France. It’s not Kona- but life’s funny that way. Sometimes you just have to know when to grab your chance.
So I guess one more big push, team? ! Who’s with me?!
Viva La France !
Now I need to find some hills!
MJ
If you have any questions about the IMTX course, please let me know- I think we will discuss more about races in upcoming episodes. Over and out for now.
