I had a great team helping me overcome an injury to my back/hip that occurred ~3 weeks before the race. During this time, I was unable to run but with every day, I felt myself improving - oh so very slowly. I am grateful to Scott, my PT for the dry needling and exercises which helped my body go from pain to relief. I am also thankful to Frank, my massage therapist, for his time and energy in helping to fix my twisted body. I would also like to thank Valerie - from Physiofocus for seeing me before and after IM Canada (in Whistler). I also had Chris Johnson, PT do some tests on me on Friday before the race (thank you Chris for your time and help!). With many hands helping my body, I was able to arrive to the race feeling like my body had overcome an injury. While I still wasn't out of the woods yet, I felt relieved that I was no longer in pain. I'd also like to thank Karel who was so supportive during this time. I knew it was hard for him to see me not running but I found energy in seeing him excel in his training, knowing that he was going to put together a solid performance at Ironman Canada.
Over the course of these three weeks, I choose positivity. During this time, I had a choice - be upset and mad or be happy. I choose happy. Sure, I was bummed about the situation I was in but life was still good. I also choose not to feel pressure during the healing process. I knew my body would heal (and it still is) but I couldn't rush the process or predict the future. There was a chance time would run out and I wouldn't be able to run on race day but in the meantime, I made sure never to waste a day. There was still so much to be thankful and grateful for, life was still worth living, and I remained excited for the opportunity to start my 15th Ironman. Part of me was still optimistic that I was going to be able to run a few miles off the bike but I also had to mentally prepare myself for a DNF due to not being able to finish the run. While the situation was not how I envisioned my race going several months ago, I was constantly reminding myself that no one is forcing me to finish. Any pressure that I feel to finish this race is from myself - and I don't need to run through pain or risk a further, more serious injury. Reminding myself of this helped to ease any frustration or worry about the run. My coach Cait told me to assess the situation for 1-2 miles and if I felt pain and my form was altered, the best thing to do is to stop. While I couldn't control the situation - or plan for the future - I could control how I reacted to the situation.
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As I started to run out of the transition area, I assessed my body. I took each step very carefully and remembered the advice from my coach and also all the mental training I did going into this moment to prepare myself for what may happen over the next few miles. I have never been in this situation before so there was a lot going on in my mind during the first mile of the race. Because of the extreme body awareness that I needed to place on my body, I removed any pressure of "needing to perform." Whereas I was racing the swim and the bike (and leading the race as overall female amateur), I was no longer focused on what others were doing as all my energy was on myself.The first few miles of this run course are a bit technical - up and down and on and off gravel. There were a few turns as well. I actually love this type of running but it was hard for me to settle into a good running stride and to truly assess how I was feeling. After one mile, I didn't feel any pain in my groin - which was the reason why I was unable to run for the past three weeks. I felt a little tugging around my knee/inner thigh but it wasn't painful. After another mile, still no groin pain. I was really happy about this but still a little concerned that things may get worse. After two more miles, I was still without pain. At this point, all I felt was a bit of tugging around my lower leg. While I knew it wasn't normal soreness from an Ironman, I also felt like it was something that I could safely run through - so long as I was smart. Nearing 4-5 miles, I started to take a bit more walk breaks. I wanted to make sure that I could keep restarting the run after I walked as any tightness or flare-ups would likely occur while I was trying to restart the run. I was successful in this approach and I also felt like the walk breaks were helping me avoid anything serious happening. While it didn't feel like my normal Ironman run, I was able to keep good form.
After a few miles, I saw Karel and he gave me the biggest smile as he wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run. He later told me that this made his day and he was able to run more relaxed knowing that I was able to run. Shortly later, my athlete Ericka (who later on went on to win the amateur race and qualify for Kona) passed me and we had a little discussion. I told her to not change what is working - no need to go any harder/faster and to keep doing what's working with walking and nutrition.
As the miles went by, I found myself walking a lot but also running. As I was nearing the first loop of the run (13 miles), I couldn't believe that I went this far - my first true run in 3 weeks. Again, it wasn't the run feeling I am use to in an Ironman but it wasn't painful. Because of all of the energy that I was spending on my body, I failed to do a good job with my nutrition. While I had my flasks (1 flask of NBS carbo hydration and 1 flask of Carborocket hydration) and sipped on them, I wasn't doing a great job being consistent with my intake and listening to my body as it relates to when I took in nutrition. Because of this, I had a few quick bathroom breaks. I didn't get upset or frustrated as my focus was not on racing but just being in the moment. During these times, I accepted it as one of the many things I was going to experience during this Ironman.
As I was nearing the end of the first loop, I saw my athlete Gin who raced the 70.3. I stopped when I saw her as I had just convinced myself that I was only going to run the first loop and it was way more than I thought I would be able to run. I already felt so accomplished! Plus, Karel was getting close to the finish so I thought it would be fun to stop and see him finish. But Gin told me I was looking really good and that I was 2nd overall amateur. I was kinda shocked by this but it also gave me some good energy that even thought I felt like I was no longer competing, I was still having a "good" race. I told Gin that I wasn't sure what I was going to do as I was ready to pull the plus on the race but something inside of me told me to keep going. Gin was great as she was calm and cool about the situation and even as a coach, I appreciated her support and enthusiasm without putting thoughts into my head. She told me she would be at the same place so I told her I'd run a few more miles and then assess the situation once more. During the next few miles, I had a longer walk break as I really needed to think about the situation. Knowing that I was not in pain and I felt confident that I was not doing more damage to my body, I felt like the only thing that was making me want to quit was the uncomfortable soreness in my legs - both legs. It took me several miles to realize that this was Ironman soreness and not injury soreness. Knowing that I had an injury-card to pull out at any time for a good excuse for a DNF was making me feel like it was OK to stop. But when I searched deep inside of my thoughts, I realized that it was not a valid excuse. I needed to work through this discomfort of the Ironman and get myself to the finish line. Although I was still listening closely to my body and walking anytime I felt like my form was suffering, I was using my experience of racing so many Ironmans to mentally stay strong and to work through the low moments that occur during the last 13 miles of racing in a 140.6 mile event.
I was taking full advantage of the aid stations and finding happiness wherever I could. Whereas I am normally a bit more focused when I am racing the run at the end of an Ironman, I made sure to really enjoy this run - plus it was so beautiful! I would high five kids whenever I saw them, I said hi to all the dogs on the course (I do that anyways, even when I am racing the run), I was making the effort to cheer on other athletes and I was even celebrating little milestones like reaching certain points on the course. For example, when I got to mile 20, I said out loud "wahoo!" as I never thought I would make it this far. When I saw Ericka at her mile 23, I told myself, "just 3 more miles until you are there!" I was finding everything possible to give me energy. Karel gave me a ton of energy every time I saw him and I also loved seeing our first timer Reid out on the course. I even celebrated seeing 9-9:30 min/miles on my watch as I felt like I was doing pretty well with all my walking. It was all these small things that kept me smiling and really enjoying the run. Once I committed to finishing the race, I made sure to enjoy every mile and to not wish for the race to be overwith. Yes - I wanted to sit down and rest my legs but I was finding joy in finishing what I didn't think I could start.
As I was nearing the last mile of the race, I was extremely happy. I couldn't wait to share stories with Karel and hear all about his race. I was super pumped to see my athletes at the finish line but they were all there cheering for me with less than 1/4th mile to go. I gave out some high fives and smiled ear to ear as I saw them all there cheering.
As I ran down the finish line chute, I gave away a few more high fives, lifted my arms up and crossed the finish line that I didn't think I would see. After 15 Ironmans, I can honestly say that every race requires something different to go from start to finish but that finish line always feels incredibly good.
Karel, who finished a good 90+ minutes before me, was there to see me finish. He was so happy for me and knew I could do what I didn't think I could do. Thankfully I was able to still walk after the race and I somehow managed to be better off than Karel - who ended up in medical, needing a few cups of chicken broth to bring him back to life.
I'm grateful to my body for what it allows me to do. I really try hard not to take my body/health for granted. I was worried about this race as I didn't want to damage my body on the run, but somehow, my body surprised me. I want to send a huge thank you to all those who cheered me on and I'd like to give a big congrats to all my athletes who raced the 70.3 (and to Ericka for smashing the women's field and to Reid for finishing his first Ironman!)
Karel's run recap:
Wow! I’m speechless and so stoked about this run. How is it possible, I only did one 2hr run in training 😉 Soon as I finished the bike, I stopped thinking about what I did wrong with my pacing and my focus was purely on putting together a good run. From the first step, I felt great! I tried to run with a very controlled effort and the faster paces were coming with ease. I felt great rhythm and was moving pretty good. Everything felt really good until 18.5 miles where I started to feel the typical Ironman toll. I had a few low moments where my mind had to work really hard to keep my legs moving forward, but I was able to bounce back from these low moments. The last 7 km was really hard and last 4 km I was just on autopilot - I was still running OK but I felt like I had no control over the movement of my legs. And the last 1 km was so long! That finish line took forever to come. Crossing the line and seeing 3:04 on my watch was a really great feeling .... and then I collapsed on the grass and went to medical (no IVs, just chicken broth to bring me back to life). Later on I found out the results of the race and I was very happy. During the race, I never knew where I was in my age group or overall so I just had to race my best effort on the day. Overall this Ironman was definitely one of the hardest courses but also one of the most spectacular races.
