Sorry for the lack of blogging over the last 2 days....
I just became 4x Ironman finisher!!!!
And I am very very sore!
Ironman Wisconsin was all that I dreamed it to be and more. It was also the most difficult race of my life because it forced me to dig deep and bring myself to a place of mind of matter....something that I have never once experienced in my triathlon career. Karel prepared me for the race and I executed our plan. With balance in mind, I arrived to the race venue on race day morning with fresh legs, a positive mind, butterflies in my tummy and a smile on my face. I was 100% prepared for this race and I looked forward to the opportunity to see what I was made of.
Ironman racing is not about times or placing but rather the journey. My IM journey has been filled with ups and downs over the past 5 years and I couldn't wait to put everything behind me and live in the moment.
I am super excited to give my race reports for the swim, bike and run but for now, I leave you with my results and a few pics of the most challenging race that I have ever done in my life. I can't believe I just "raced" an Ironman with 2700 other athletes!
I can't thank everyone enough for all of the kind words of encouragement and motivating emails/texts/FB messages over the past few days. I find the sport of triathlons absolutely amazing because we can all share our successes with one another, even though we all race/train/participate on a different fitness level. The triathlon community is simple amazing and I am so proud to be part of it.
Ironman Wisconsin 2010
Swim: 1:02.06 - 9th fastest AG
T1: 6:49
Bike: 5:53.26 (19mph average) - 7th fastest AG
T2: 4:09
Run: 3:51.23 (8:51 min/mile average) - 3rd fastest AG
Total: 10:57:53
Place age group (25-29): 4th/106
Place overall: 205
Place overall female: 22nd
Place overall amateur female: 11th
http://ironman.com/events/ironman/wisconsin?show=tracker#axzz0zVoq7hls
(you can search by gender and age group or search by last name)
My IM day ended with an amazing race effort but I was able to squeeze out a little energy, from my VERY SORE body, to watch the final hour of finishers (11pm until midnight). Karel and I never miss the last hour at the finish line. Super inspirational!
Monday morning was the listing of Kona slots and sadly, my name was just below the line...not above. I missed a Kona slot by 90 seconds.
However, 9-11am passed and it was 11:05am...time for the Ironman World Championship Rolldown!!
For the individuals who did not claim his/her kona spot for his/her respective age group, they would not be eligible to register for Kona. Not knowing if the three girls ahead of me took the 3 Kona spots for my age group, I joined around 50 people in a big room for Rolldown.
The Kona announcer said that there were only 8 spots left for Kona and that the other 64 spots were taken (from all of the age groups). Crossing my fingers and with Karel at my side, the announcer started with the female rolldowns and my age group was quickly called and it went something like this...
Announcer "There was 1 slot for 18-24 age group and it was filled. There were 3 spots for the 25-29 age group and there is one available slot. Is Marni Sumbal in the room"
Me "YES!!!!!! (jumping up and raising my hand)"
The crowd of people in the room began clapping and as I filled out the World Championship form (and paid my hefty check to Ironman) I was shaking with excitement. YAY!!!
I AM GOING TO KONA 2011!!!
I spoke with the 1st through 3rd place females in my age group at the awards banquet and I found out they are all from Madison and they seemed to all know each other...which makes me think that they all train together (on the IM course) as well. I asked the 3rd place girl why she didn't take the spot and she said she is racing in Kona in a few weeks and then turning Pro next year. I gave her a big hug and told her "Thanks for the spot!!"
