Race morning dawned a chilly 2 degrees. Anything less than 30 degrees is usually too cold for me. So you could imagine my joy at cycling around in dripping wet lycra in these conditions!
Hanging with the main pack of pro girls in the swim saw me get out the water in 59 minutes, which seems to be my go to swim pace at the moment. I was in and out of transition in a flash, mostly due to my lack of warm clothing to put on.
I had mentally prepared myself for a cold couple of hours on the bike; my upbeat optimism about freezing to death only lasted until the first descent from the motorsport park. I spent the next hour shivering uncontrollably. The only reason I didn't fall off my bike due to violent shivering was down to the fact I was actually frozen on my bike in the aero position. I could only console myself with the thought that the second lap could only get warmer.
The rest of the ride proved uneventful, as I seemed to spend the majority of it grinding it out alone. I passed a couple of other pro girls on the second lap before heading in to town to run a marathon.
I could understand if I had mucked up my nutrition, hit a wall, or simply burned my legs out on the bike. But I didn't understand why my heart didn't seem to be working. Everything else was!! Everything felt good, except for my heart which seemed to struggle to beat. My heart rate was pretty low, and it felt my heart was really working for every beat. Now I am not a doctor but I was pretty sure this was not a good sign with a good 40km left to run. I had a good debate with myself over the course of the first lap and decided to push on with the race. Even if I had to walk (which I did). I didn't want to see a DNF next to my name, and figured if I was going to collapse of anything, an IM course would probably be the best place to do it. The medics there are pretty good! So I soldiered on. By the last lap I was walking a fair bit to try ease some strain on my heart. There were moments I had tears behind my sunglasses, and I was so grateful for Roger's support out there - even when he saw me walking.
I made it to the finish in 10hrs02. Not quite the race I was after, but happy to finish. I made it in as the 11th pro woman out of a strong field of 20.
After finishing the first thing on my agenda was a chocolate milkshake, followed secondly by some tests with the doctor (priorities, right?). Hopefully nothing more serious than an undetected virus!
A huge thank you goes out to everyone out there supporting - it makes a difference when you are racing well, but an even bigger difference when you are not.
Also to the volunteers for spending countless hours looking after sweaty, smelly strangers.
To my coach Keegan at VO2Coach for the hours of training spent behind the scenes.
And to my sponsors Bob's Bikes for getting the Trek machine running so smoothly (next time I would like a seat warmer please), BSC and GQ Nutrition for supplying my race bars, gels and recovery formula, and Adidas Eyewear for the pink Evil Eyes.
I am definitely going to enjoy the break after Ironman before setting my sights on my next big goal.
A huge congrats to everyone who achieved out there - be it a Kona qualification, a PB, or simply just a finish.
Stay safe & see you at the next one!
