Two years ago my best friend came up with a plan. He said that I should participate in an olympic triathlon with him that year. His plan for the next year was IMWI. It will be fun he said! So we do the Oly that August, my first ever triathlon, and I decide why not take on the Ironman. I was lucky enough to register on-line for IMWI ‘07-my friend, however, was not so lucky but got his ticket through the community fund route. I then began looking for information on this sport. That is when I found Trifuel. Though I have only posted a couple of times, I have learned so much from so many of you-thank you for all the information. It proved invaluable in my training and racing. But on with the race report.

Swim
IMWI was to be my third triathlon and the whole thing was quite overwhelming. My friend and I got into the water about 25 minutes before the start of the swim and took our time getting into the water. I took my position near the back, but along the inside line. The cannon goes off and I tell my friend to take it one stroke at a time as I begin the swim. I couldn’t believe how little traffic I ran into. It seemed everyone stayed out to the left. Ran into major congestion at the first turn as people stopped-”keep swimming” In that washing machine I got clocked in the goggles pretty good, but kept going. Rest of the swim was uneventful and I was finally pulling towards home. Got out of the water in 1:14:16!! I had only swam a few seconds off the 100m pace from the two Olys I had completed. I was pretty happy as I ran up the helix to the bike.

Bike
My little Trek 1000 and I rode down the helix and got into a good rhythm with nutrition and tried to go out conservative. Spilled my first Gatorade from an aid station all over my bike as the cap came off. I wonder if Gatorade has any SPF qualities? Took in enough fluids, a bit too much-had to stop 4 times to use the port-a-potties or corn fields. Got stung by a bee on the hand-probably attracted to the Gatorade and Powergel I was wearing, but suffered no adverse reaction. Had many physical and emotional up and downs from miles 75-100, but fought through it. The hills kicked my butt the second time around. We don’t have hills like that in Central Minnesota. But I rode the flats well, when they appeared, and finally was pulling into the helix in 6:09:48 for an 18.2 mph average.

Run
As I began the run, I resisted the urge to look at my watch. In fact I had not looked at my time since an hour into the bike. I knew it was too early to start chasing dream times. I told myself to wait and look at 20 miles. Realized as I crossed the timing mat for the start of the run that I had my running legs already under me. I held back and tried to get consistency in my nutrition, but my body had had enough of some things. Orange Gatorade on the entire course!#@!@ I have heard they have other flavors, how about some variety on the run. Anyway, I made the turn at 1:47. Whose cruel idea was it to put the turnaround within spitting distance of the finish. Good-bye finish line, hello another 13.1 miles. After I made the turn Ferguson came into the finish, she looked strong-I was glad that I didn’t get lapped. Things went downhill for the next 4 miles and I suffered through some bad miles. At 17 I tried chicken broth and that really seemed to do something for me. I had it again at 19 and by mile 20 felt back on track. I finally looked at my watch at mile 22 and saw that I would finish under 12:00:00! That was quite a bit faster than my estimate. I flew the last few miles, and broke the tape at 11:26:00.
All in all a great day.

Don’t know if I’ll ever do another Ironman, might start doing 1/2s-I think that is more my speed. But I know I’ll never forget the experience. The volunteers were great and the whole race was run very well-except for the Gatorade:-)

T70