Category — IronMan Florida 2008

It is now one week after the IM.  I am just amazed that I’m back to working out and have no issues- other than the toe.  I would not change a thing about how my training or how I raced this race.  I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life.  I couldn’t have done it without all of your support.

Here is my finisher photo.  I don’t think I could have smiled any broader!

I was recently asked to reflect on IM for the Heartzones conference/training that I’ll be attending next weekend in Denver.  I am going to get my Level 2 Personal Training certification (look out athletes I train, I’m sure I’ll learn some new and fun ways to torture you guys ).  I thought I’d post what I sent to the organizers of the training.

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When I started doing triathlons 6 years ago, a spin instructor convinced me to do the local Danskin triathlon. Why she thought I could do this, I had no idea. I hadn’t been swimming since I was 15. I didn’t own a bike, and I could only run a mile or so with extreme pain due to 2 ACL reconstructions on my left knee. But, I had just lost my mother to kidney disease, so I was up for a new challenge.

Fast forward 6 years and I am a certified USA Triathlon, USA Cycling coach, and a Level 1 Heartzones coach (soon to be Level 2 after the conference) and I just completed my first Ironman. Even saying this is still unbelievable to me. I never thought I would do an Ironman. As stated earlier, I have had 2 knee reconstructions and have a vertebrae missing in my lower back. Running 26 miles seemed an impossible task. Let alone after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.

I set 3 goals for this race:

1. Finish and be able to walk afterwards;
2. Have fun and enjoy the entire experience; before, during and after the race;
3. Finish in under 14 hours

The day was PERFECT weather wise. If it wasn’t for my blister exploding on my big toe under the toenail, I would have finished probably an hour faster than I did (actual time 13:44), so I am thrilled. I can not express the sense of accomplishment I felt crossing the finish line. As I’m writing this, I think about what I did and just shake my head in disbelief.

One month prior to Ironman, my brother unexpectedly passed away and I had to fly to California to plan the service and clean out his house. Talk about throwing a wrench into my training and emotional stability at the peak of my training- Life, can be very interesting and trying at times. The other amazing thing I noticed as I think about my Ironman race, is that here I sit 4 days post Ironman; I’m not sore at all, and I feel great.

Reflecting, I asked myself, how can someone who did a race of this distance not feel badly or hurt at all, post race??? I know how it happened. I decided that I would complete the entire race solely on heart rate. I knew that I needed to keep my heart rate below 140 in order to feel good throughout the day.

So what are the biggest lessons that I learned? No matter what your adversity, if you train well, watch your heart rate, and eat healthy, you CAN finish an Ironman!

I feel good, so good (wish I could insert music bars here- think James Brown)….I’m sitting here 2 days post IM at 3:30am dressed, fed and waiting to get a taxi to the airport home….wearing my new IMFL Finisher jacket (it’s soooooooooo cool!).  Other than the blister/ purple toe, I feel GREAT!  It really paid not to push myself too hard.  It’s all about HR training people LOL.  134 average for the entire race- probably why I feel so good.

Anyways, thank you all for such great support, good wishes and thoughts during my race- I felt you all the way!  I’m still on cloud nine.  Can’t wait to catch up in person and show you all my “goods”!

#1 I finished!!!!  I said before the race that I’d be happy if I finished in under 14 hours, so, happy I am!!  I obviously can’t sleep either.

Diane, we are all here to cheer you on.

You can see some of the live coverage, or even track her progress as bib #2383.  Or get some “Live Coverage”

She has just finished the Swim at 1:22:07… Go Diane!

She’s past the 73 mile point on the bike at 4:14:36 (17.2mph!)… Looking strong!

She’s off the bike last 39 miles at 2:08:48 (18.2mph!) total 112 at 6:23:24 (17.5mph) great ride… now on to the run!

I can’t believe it, but she has finished it!  She did the run at 5:42:50 for a total time of 13:44:27!!!!

Hopefully she is recovering now and getting some food and much needed rest.

Diane, we are all so proud of you!!!

Congrats, Ironman!

OK, so I went for my LAST workout before the IM race begins- a simple/easy 15min swim was on the calendar for today.  Ah, not so much….

The waves are VERY strong today.  I’m hoping it won’t be like this tomorrow.  Lesson to all, this is a very good reason to learn bilateral breathing.  While going out to the first buoys, it was wavy, but OK-doable.  Going across we were not as lucky.  The waves/current were coming in at an angle and pretty high so every time I breathed to the right, I got water instead of breathe, no matter how high I held my head.  So, to the left I breathed.  Then, going back in to shore, the sun was coming up to the right, so, off to the left I breathed.

No problem though!  I’m going to do an IM tomorrow- what is cooler than that

BTW, my hands were so cold, this hurts to type LOL

Enjoying the journey….

So, I finished the 12 mile bike ride (we cut off one of the turns of the run) and it felt great.  Of course we went VERY slowly, but my legs are ready!  Now I’m cooking a carb loading dinner.  Chris and I decided not to risk having someone else cook our food, so I’m making pasta and chicken for dinner.  We then have to get over to another athlete meeting at 7pm.  This is sooooooooo much fun!

Talk to you tomorrow after my swim and after Beth and Chris cook me breakfast

After working for 5 hours from 5-10am, Jim and Marie picked me up to take me to the airport for the final journey of this year long endeavor.  We got to the airport, uneventfully, parked and ate at a pretty good restaurant in Terminal E.  It was great because we had plenty of time to relax and eat and have great conversation.  Thanks guys for taking me!

My plane took off on time and I ended in Memphis at 5:30pm local time (Central).  This brought up an interesting point for me. I completely forgot that IMFL is held in the part of Florida that is in the central time zone.  So, my plane didn’t leave Memphis until close to 8pm local time.

I landed in Panama City Beach at 9:30pm CST and Chris was there waiting for me.  Just like clockwork!  This trip was just as I like- uneventful

We drove the hour to Panama City and went to the local 24-hour Walmart to get water, fruit and breakfast for tomorrow.  I finally got to bed about 11:30 local time which is WAY past my bedtime!  I slept until 5am local time and couldn’t really go back to sleep.  I layed in bed until 6 and then gave up.

I’m now sitting here doing email and watching a movie “Lions for Lambs” while I wait until 8:30am so I can go get my bike stuff and register…. the excitement then begins!  Here is the plan for the day:

9am get bike and transition bag walk back to hotel

10am register and get goodie bag and check out IMFL store

12 or 12:30 Eat lunch with Chris and his mom

2pm ride the run course VERY easy

4pm shower and shop for dinner

5pm start dinner

7:30 athlete meeting

BTW, this condo is very cool.  Fully equipped with everything.

It is freezing here, we might as well be in Boston!  It’s 41 degrees right now, this won’t be so fun swimming and then biking while the sun comes out!  Brrr…..

What a blast we had yesterday in the Heartzones seminar yesterday.  As you guys know, I was fortunate enough to host a Level 1 personal training and coaching Heartzones seminar at the WTSC yesterday.   It was a lot of fun.  What did I like best….seeing Keri, Janet, Marie and Barbara!!!  That was great.  Now the 5 of us will be all set to perform and teach our Danskin tri athletes next year, all of  the sub-max tests.

It was great to catch up with you guys and I REALLY appreciate your well wishes for next Saturday.  Remember check out the Athlete tracker at www.ironman.com.  My number is 2383.  I think you can just put in my name too, but knowing the number is FUN!!!

I have so much energy right now, I’m bursting…..save it for Saturday, save it for Saturday, I know.

I’ll post again after my flight to FL on Wed.

Cherio..  Enjoying the journey,

Diane

Friday I had to bring my bike to Fast Splits in Newton to be shipped to Florida.  You would think this would be a simple task….not so much…LOL

The plan:  Do a 2 hour bike ride outside, work until 12, drive to Franks to have pedals removed, drive to Newton, be home for 2pm conference call, meet at club at 5pm to go over logistics for Saturday’s seminar.

Actual:  Get in bike clothes, work until daylight, get call from son that he is going to UMASS because he had allergic reaction and had to give himself the epi pen, spend morning at UMASS working while son slept, got relieved by husband at 11:30, drove home to get bike and transition bag, change clothes, grab quick bite to eat, drive to Franks, drive to Newton, go to old location of store, call Bonnie for directions–get aggrevated–realize I forgot transition bag at home, spend money shopping for more tri gear (:-)) while husband drives to Newton to bring bag, he gets lost—he AND I get aggravated— go home, jump on trainer for 40 min before meeting at club, meet at club, go home, grab a bite, go to movie with husband, go to bed…………phew

I think Duncan is right, just GETTING to the race in one piece will be the chore LOL…. enjoying the journey..

2383 is my number for IMFL!!!  How unbelievably exciting is this!?!?!?!?!

On race day you can go to www.ironmanlive.com and click on athlete tracker, or Ironman Florida and put in my number (or name) and it will tell you what checkpoints I’ve gone through throughout the day.