Best ironman EVER!!!!

Ok... Here I go again. My first race report just disappeared. Great way to start out on a new blog, huh?

So..... This one will be short and sweet. First of all ( hee hee Kelly Hull), BEST IRONMAN EVER!!!! No my time wasn't a PR. No, I didn't even do well at any of the legs and no, I didn't meet Big Sexy. What did happen though was I found out I love Ironman. This was the first one where I just " Let it go". Now that doesn't mean I didn't give it 100%. I definitely did. The only problem was my 100% on May 17th was much less than my 100% on any other given day. But that is fine! I had fun! FUN!! Who was this person in black? Slapping hands with spectators, Joking with other racers and longhorning everyone I saw? It was the new me. And I loved every second of it.

So, the beginning. I arrive in The Woodlands to discover that I have far more amazing friends then I already assumed I had. I know they are amazing people. That is why we are friends :)
However, during registration when a male voice said to a volunteer should re-check my timing chip, I realized I have friends that are  special, kind and SNEAKY AS HELL! There stood Roland. I was dumbstruck. I could not for the life of me figure out why he was there...huh?? You are supposed to be in MA. He and Sherri found a way to keep the fact that he was racing too a secret for 6 months. No FB posts, no slips during emails or texts. Nothing! I was going to be racing with my big bro! And Kelly and Kristina kept it a secret all that time too. They were all in on it. No matter what happens. Best Ironman Ever! :)

Lake Woodlands water temperature was 71 degrees. A low temp that made the swim wetsuit legal. Of course. I had not brought my wetsuit. Big bro overnighted his and I had it by 11 am Friday morning. We did the practice swim and I wore my trisuit. I was fine with the temperature but everyone was in a wetsuit. That being said I decided to wear a wetsuit too.

Race day I was one of the few lucky ones in the water when the gun went off. As soon as I started to swim I realized that something was wrong. The wetsuit was opening up and unzipping. I was filling up with water. As I fight my way for space ( I HATE the fighting on the swim) I found it really hard to get into a clear area. I kept swimming though. I never stopped, sighting was perfect and thanks to all the swimming I actually did in training for the first time ever, I was able to fight off the mashers and swim through the drag the wetsuit was creating. Literally. My legs were sinking and there was nothing I could do but just keep swimming. I exit the water and check my watch...1:30....ugh...not what I wanted but...I let it go. Just then someone clearly trying to qualify for Kona with a 1:30 swim ( insert snarkiness here) plowed into the exit ramp and struck my left calf. I cramped instantly. I walked to the T1 and prepared for the bike.

Bike leg was BEAUTIFUL!! I heard a lot of people say they thought the wind was bad but I have been training in it anyway ( thanks AZ in spring) and the rough areas of road were nothing compared to what I usually have to contend with training so I didn't have any issues there either. I had a blast! Sherri wrote " It's my birthday" on my right calf so everyone was wishing me a happy birthday. It was awesome!! I took the bike 10 miles at a time. Nutrition was spot on and I had a water at every aid station. The volunteers were amazing and the crowds were great. The police and deputy's stationed at intersection were probably the friendliest I have seen at any Ironman! First 80 miles were good. Then I noticed my power and speed plummeting. I was trying to figure out if it was the wind, my calorie intake....shit...my calf. My calf that had been hit on the swim was so tight I had very little ability to fully extend that leg. As I watched my average speed drop, I did not freak out or beat myself up. I always find a way to make myself feel bad so this is HUGE for me. I was "letting it go". All I could do was my best and that was what I tried to do. Looking back at the race day photo's I can see that my left leg was all jacked up and pointing in a crazy outwards direction. I didn't realize it at the time but this would definitely affect the rest of the bike and the run. I finished the bike in 6:55. Slower than I wanted and trained for but I was fine with it. I was still having fun. One spectator joked about me blowing my nose in my hand and I ran over to him to pretend I was going to rub it on him. I was still laughing, good. On to T2....

Run transition was slow. I was trying to pump myself full of salt in the hopes that my calf would loosen up. It had worked in the past and seemed like it might today. Quick potty break and I was off and running. Really running. I felt good. I was passing people, HR was low this was awesome! As I ran by spectators would yell and sing happy birthday, I was high fiving and dancing with men in speedo's. This was a first. I am usually that mean girl that looks like she doesn't want to be out there. Head down and no smiles. Not today! Bullhorns for everyone!! Run went well till about mile 10. I tried getting in more salt but cramp was coming back and now the back of my knee was tight and hurting. I tried to keep calm and focus on my nutrition and the finish line and the birthday bash post race. Again, I was watching my pace plummet. I made peace with it and played the numbers game in my head. Slowest MPH x how many miles left??? Walking pace X how many miles left. This worked for a bit. I started to do a run for a mile and walk the aid stations. Slowly the walking became longer than the running and I was getting sick feeling. Not to my stomach but my head. I was getting bouts of dizziness and cramps in my leg that were really, really painful. By mile 22 a volunteer pulled me off the course and asked if I was OK. I said I was fine but had a cramp. She said I didn't look good and was swerving into people. I was confused and in pain. What if my leg is injured and I am making it worse? That was all I could think of. As some volunteers came over with chips, bonk breakers and water I started to feel sick and threw up the bonk breaker. A medic came over and asked if I was OK. I told him I was cramped. He said he could massage it out and send me on my way. I laid down on the massage table and wanted to fall asleep. My leg hurt so bad. He started one of the most painful massages I have ever had. 5 minutes later and re hydrated, I was running again. I love that guy!! He saved my race! I wish that I had known earlier that they can help you and you wouldn't have to end your race. Lesson learned. I ran as fast as I could. I refused to look at my pace the whole marathon just HR so I have no idea what i was doing but I do know that I was in Z4/Z5 those last 4 miles. I just wanted to finish. Every time I thought about walking I told myself it would take that much longer to get a beer and GF carrot cake. As I came into the finishers chute I was so incredibly overwhelmed with emotions I started to choke up and cry. I wanted to savor the moment and remember the song I was finishing to but all that was blocked by the little voice in my head screaming YOU DID IT!!! YOU FOUGHT THROUGH AND WON!! BEST>>>IRONMAN>>>EVER!!!!!

A lot can go wrong in an Ironman. The issue truth lies in how well you handle the rough times. We all feel sick, tired and hot during the race. Some just feel much worse than others. How far you are willing to dig and how much pain you are willing to accept is what makes you "win the race" whether you finish in 9 hours or 16:59:59. How badly do you want it?

I am still chasing a PR but on this day, it wasn't meant to be. I learned so much though. Good friends who "get you" are hard to come by and when you find them, hold on for a crazy ride you will never forget.
My iron sisters mean more to me then they will ever know. They have helped to mold me into the newer racing Heidi.

Family isn't always blood. It is those who care and love you like a sister. My "Big Bro RO" will never know how much it meant to have him out there on my birthday.



Huge props to Bruce who puts up with all of this craziness and when I am tired only has to say a few words that make me jump up to train.."You wanted to be a rock star".

 A bad day at ironman is better than a good day doing anything else. Spectators and volunteers are out there all day just for you, thank them and do a booty dance. Most important lesson of all. SMILE!!! Seeing how miserable some people (including friends of mine) were leading up too, during and after the race made me realize how much I don't want to be "that girl".

BEST!!!! IRONMAN!!!! EVER!!!!!