In the words of The Voice Of Ironman, Mike Riley, “
You are an Ironman”… again!
Despite the difficult course, we had a great race in Wisconsin. The town is fantastic and the people welcomed the athletes with open arms. Okay… I’m
going to bore you all with some details; here are a few notes of how the race went, at least from my perspective:
Morning/Swim:*3:45am all five alarms (yes, it’s not a typo, all FIVE alarms) went off in our room, and we rolled out of bed to complete the last minute items on the “to do” list
*4:30 on the shuttle to the race start.
*5:00 Body marking, Special needs bag drop offs, bike tires pumped, last minute drop offs to our Transition bags
*6-6:30 Met up with my parents and Rick and Julie, said our goodbyes and headed down to the start
*6:40-7 floated in the lake waiting for the day to start. 2200 athletes JUST waiting to see how their bodies will perform
*7:00am the cannon went off and “washing machine” began! I know I got hit in the head at least 4-5 times and kicked in the ribs numerous times. In one word, the swim was… hostel!
Patrick’s time out of the water: 1:08:37
Shannon’s time out of the water: 1:18:18
Bike:*In the words of the first place winner from Germany, “The bike, it was fucking hard, yeah!”
*Whoever, says its “rolling hills” is a liar! Jump on the bike, eat a few calories, and drink some water… and BAM, hill, after hill, after hill!
*There are however, three MONSTEROUS hills on the back end of each loop. Here there were people lined on each hill cheering you on. It was AMAZING!
*After the third big, big hill, we came down into the town of Verona and were welcomed by all the spectators that had taken a shuttle to see us. It was awesome because we felt like we were in the Tour de France! Cowbells, signs, people lining the street. We rode past Julie and Rick, then my parents… what a nice feeling to see familiar faces cheering you on!
*Onto the second loop which honestly made me want to cry. We trained a lot on the Santiago Canyon loop and yet my quads were still wiped out!
*Heading back to the Transition area we were welcomed with a nice hard headwind, then had to ride up the Helix (parking structure) to the fifth floor (just cruel!). 112 miles on the bike, and they thank us by making us climb one more hill!
*At the top of the helix were my parents and Julie and Rick cheering for us. For a split second I forgot about the pain in my neck, my lower back, my butt, my legs… not sure, but I think even my hair hurt at that time! *Coming into transition, I dismounted my bike, handed it to the volunteer and looked her dead in the eye and said, “I have some special instructions for you about my bike…. THROW IT IN THE LAKE!” As I ran off, I heard her laughing and telling the next person what I’d said. To be honest, I really didn’t think my bike would be on the rack after the race but in the bottom of Lake Monona!
Patrick’s Bike Time: 6:55:47
Shannon’s Bike Time: 7:33:51
Run:*Onto the run… Now, the race begins!
*After changing clothes in the changing tent, run outside and have a volunteer apply sunscreen to your already sun burnt body.
*Both Patrick and I admit, we were so excited to finally head out for the run that we went out a bit too fast in the beginning. You know you are in trouble when you start passing people like it’s a 10k (when in fact it’s a marathon… after 114.4 miles), and people in the crowd are surprised at how fast you are going.
*When we started our first loop, we saw the gang again and smiled and waved wildly (again feeling way too happy to be on the run).
*The run course was also a two loop course and it took you through the college, U of W. The worst part of it was a hill on Observatory Road that required you to walk in order to save your energy.
*I was bummed because unlike last Ironman where I met Maureen from San Fran on mile 4, I did not find someone that was the same pace as me to talk with this marathon. That meant I was literally on my own to finish.
*Loop one felt great! Saw the gang at least 4-5 times
*Starting loop two, I stopped by special needs, chatted with my mom for a bit, then grabbed my snacks and hit the road (for the record, Gummy Worms are the best snack for a marathon!)
*Second loop proved to slap us both in the face with a little melt down. The legs finally started to speak and tell us they weren’t exactly thrilled with what we were doing to them today.
*For me, I realized my time in Canada wasn’t going to happen, but if I picked up the pace (significantly) I had a chance of coming in under 14 hours. So I did what anyone else would do with 8 miles left in the race… I picked it up.
*Again, a little worried when you are “speeding” by everyone and the volunteers and spectators aren’t necessarily cheering you on, but surprised you are racing in. I was on a mission and I didn’t care if it meant I was collapsing at the finish to meet my goal.
*Needless to say I pulled sub 10’s on the last part of the run, made up some time and finished with my goal!
Patrick’s run time: 4:56:17
Shannon’s Run time: 4:47:02
Finish:Everyone keeps asking what it feels like to cross the line after a race like this. Truly it’s hard to explain, but in a split second as you run down the chute and the lights are on you, the crowd is cheering you on, and the announcer is calling your name… it hits you that all that hard work paid off and you did what you set out to do, complete 140.5 miles, and you are proud! You can’t believe your body and mind pushed you through those hard times (yes, I did think of quitting a few times on the bike) and that you just traveled 140.6 miles! You are emotional, excited, and in shock.
Patrick’s FINISHING TIME: 13:19:11
Shannon’s FINISHING TIME: 13:55:34
Just for the record, Patrick had an amazing race on a difficult course. He killed his Personal Best from the last Ironman by knocking off 2 ½ hours off his time!
Again, a huge thanks to everyone that left us voice messages, text message, and emails wishing us good luck! You have no idea how motivating those simple words of encouragement are to us, especially when we start to doubt our ability. Thanks for being our support and our coaches!
Next?So will we do another one???
Patrick says, “Yes!”
Shannon says “I’m not saying no”
Needless to say, we both want to get our lives back by spending time with family and friends again. The race isn’t the hard part; it’s the training and the time it takes away from our normal lives.
So, next season we both think ½ Ironmans will suit us fine!
