IMWI 2015

I honestly don't exactly know how another year could possibly beat 2015. The wedding was just the happiest, best party ever. But as happy as I was that day, last Sunday was perhaps the most satisfying, proud moment of my life. 14 hours, 31 minutes, and 35 seconds (plus two years of training) lead me to one of the top three announcements of my life: 1) I now pronounce you husband and wife, 2) Congratulations, Dr. Kelly, and now 3)...

Kate Kelly, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!

But before that, I had to complete the race.

2.4 mile swim

I had been pretty calm leading up to race morning. I will admit to having 3 minor panic attacks in the two months prior to the event, but in general, I was feeling confident I had done enough training to finish. In order for Doug, sister, and parents to get a good viewing spot, they decided to head over to the race start with me at 4:30. They are so good to me. I made my way to transition, adding a few things to my bike and run gear bags, pumping my tires, checking my bike computer, and eating the PB sandwich I hadn't the stomach to choke down yet. Never did get the whole thing down. Banana and hard-boiled eggs were easier that morning. Around 6:25, I started making my way out of the convention center down to the lake. This was when I got really freaked out. I was trying to hold back my tears, both out of excitement and terror, and when I passed my parents in the parking garage - they had a perfect viewing spot - and I could see my fear reflected in their faces. But I got a quick high-five and a kiss from Doug and slowly made my way down to the start.

It was really slow getting into the water, and in fact I only made it into the water with a few minutes to spare. I had originally been worried about having to tread water for a long time, burning precious energy, but that was not even a concern at that point. I hung out off to the side and in the back and waited for the cannon. At 7:00 on the dot, the cannon went off and the crazy began. 2800 competitors surged forward, though it seemed more like a piranha frenzy than a bunch of people swimming. It took about 100 yards for me to be able to put my head under and start to actually swim; at one point I started laughing - it was so crazy. People were swimming on top of each other with the pace not getting going. But eventually, things thinned out a bit and I was able to begin a regular stride.

The water was cool and clear and I felt really good from the beginning. I looked at my watch at each turn and was feeling pretty good about my pace - not too fast, but keeping up with my goal. I was jostled pretty much the entire time, but I also had moments where I could swim my own pace. At one point about 400 yards from the end a guy grabbed my leg, pulled me down, and swam on top of me. I punched him in the gut as he went past. Seriously, dude, if you're back with me, you're probably not going to Kona. Calm the fuck down. At any rate, I came out of the water in 1:28:02 - faster than my ideal goal of 1:30.

 
I was elated, and really happy one leg of the journey was over. The transition is a little crazy - you have to run up the parking ramp, around the helix, and into the convention center. Transition times are notoriously long at Madison because of this, and when I was training, I was worried about the extra time and energy of all that transitioning. But really, it was so exciting to run through all those people, and past my parents, Doug, and Megan, and you can see my happiness reflected in this pic:

112 mile bike

The volunteers in transition were awesome. They helped me on with my arm warmers, made sure I went through everything in my gear bag and didn't forget anything, got me a glass of water to drink while I took a quick gu for some fast energy to start the bike. I moved as fast as I could, and with the run up to transition, I was still over 13 minutes in transition. But I changed completely so I could wear my most comfortable bike shorts, and wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything behind. I learned this the hard way, when I did the Austin 70.3 last fall and forgot my sunglasses when I went out from the bike. The blazing heat and sun got to me, and I started throwing up at mile 40. I was able to settle my stomach and felt better once I started to run and had on a visor, but I didn't want that to happen at Madison. Anyway, I finished up in transition and left for the bike.

The bike is grueling. No other way to say it. The hills are relentless, and it is a very technical course - many, many turns and constant rolling hills. There are only 3 really bad bitches, which you do twice, but there are lots of other steep or long or constant hills that slow you down. The good thing is that since it was a little windy, especially for my second loop, I was never riding into the wind for a long period of time due to all the turns. But the hills can shred your legs if you aren't careful, and I wanted to be conservative. When I rode one loop of the course in July, we averaged about 15 mph, and I felt confident that I could do the race just shy of that pace. My goal going into the race was 14.5-14.75 mph average, and I started off well.

One loop of the course done, I was feeling confident in my body, but still anxious about equipment. I know how to change a tire pretty quickly, but if something else went wrong, I have very little mechanical knowledge. I felt more and more relieved as the miles ticked by.

Since the bike course is mostly open, meaning there are cars allowed on the roads, spectators are discouraged on the bike portion. This is good for safety, but makes for a lonely race. There were TONS of people out on the bitch hills, which was awesome. The only spectators that were not awesome were the guys dressed as clowns - one peeking out from behind trees in the woods and one who would walk out from the cornfields. Creepy. The first loop someone was passing me as I saw the cornfield clown. I asked if he saw it too or if I was hallucinating. Luckily, he saw it too.

Everyone tells you that nutrition is really the key to an Ironman. You can be incredibly well trained, but if your hydration or fuel plan doesn't work, you can bonk and your day is done. On the bike, I usually take a combination of a rice bar I make (sticky rice, eggs, ham, yellow pepper, tomato, onion, and lots of salt), fruit twists from Target, and peanut butter Ritz crackers. I took bananas at a couple of aid stations too. The cooler temps (it topped out at 70) helped me keep fueling and my hydration plan worked well.

By the second loop, the crowds had died down, but by then I was feeling more confident I'd make the cut off (5:30 pm) by about an hour as long as I didn't run into any mechanical issues. I did a silent cheer at 70.4 miles (longest race mileage ever) and then at 102 miles (longest ride ever). When I turned onto John Nolan Drive at mile 111, I started sobbing. I was SO relieved to have made it through the bike, with an hour to spare, and was nearly certain I could finish the race. My bike time - 7:35:11 (14.76 mph avg) - left me 7 hours to run the marathon. I could do this.

I saw my family right before heading into my second transition - luckily they couldn't see the tears or they would have been worried. When I got into transition, the volunteers were concerned, but I told them they were happy tears, tears of relief!

26.2 mile run

Once off the bike and out of transition, I made my way to the run course. The crowds were thick, as it was prime time for elite finishers of the race. There were tons of cheers and it felt great! Well, until it got quiet, I took stock of my body, and realized that every part of me hurt. This would be a mental battle I've never experienced.

The run was fairly uneventful. I took it one mile at a time. I walked through the aid stations from the start, wanting to make sure I saved my legs for what promised to be a tough marathon. I met some cool people along the way. The cruelest halfway point in sports is the half marathon in many an Ironman, especially Madison, when you run into the finisher's chute, 20 yards from the finish line, hear the cheers, and have to head back out for another 13.1 miles. But honestly, at that point, I was so focused, I didn't give myself an opportunity to think too much about it. I had a job to do. And I was going to do it.

Doug, Megan, parents, and friends were spread out throughout the course, and I got to see them several times throughout. I didn't have to force smiles - though it was hard, I was feeling better than I expected to feel at this point, and I was focused and sure.

It got dark, and there were times I wished I had a headlamp - there was a section through the woods on a gravel trail that I was a little nervous about tripping on, but I made it ok. Just kept plugging along. I took a gu about every 5 miles and one fell out of my race belt along the way, but luckily there was plenty of food at the aid stations. Bananas went down well but potato chips have never tasted better than 130 miles into an Ironman. This would prove to be my slowest marathon by an hour - 5:06:15 - but who the hell cares?!

The final mile of the race was the most thrilling I could ever imagine. With our names on our bibs, everyone on the sidelines was screaming "Kate, you're going to do this! You're going to be an Ironman!" I would scream, "I did it!" back at them and slap high-fives. I was clearly excited because while my average pace during the race hovered around 11:45 - about 10:30-11:00 running pace and walking through aid stations - I dropped to 8:00 for the final mile - almost a 4 minute faster pace. I felt like I was flying. Nothing hurt, I felt invincible.

Coming into the finisher's chute, the crowds are 3-5 deep all along the sidelines. Everyone is screaming. I spotted my husband, sister, and parents, ran past them slapping high-fives and screamed "I did it!" at them (captured on video by my sis even), and made my way to the finish line.

I had really hoped I could space it out so that I finished crossing by myself. So self-indulgent, but if I was going to finish (and perhaps just finish once), I wanted to savor it. It all worked out, that there wasn't anyone around me, so I didn't even have to slow down or speed up to make sure I crossed alone. And then, as I've been dreaming about since I raced my first triathlon two years ago and fell in love, I heard Mike Reilly proclaim: A teacher from Minneapolis, Kate Kelly, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

As soon I crossed the finish line, I was swarmed by two volunteers, dubbed "catchers," who started asking me questions, presumably to gauge whether I was delirious or not. Since I satisfactorily answered their questions, after they shepherded me to get my medal and through the finish line pic area, they dropped me near husband, sister, and friend and I made my way through the food lines before exiting.

My legs seized up on my immediately upon finishing, and everything else hurt too. I had some chicken broth which tasted wonderful, but couldn't stomach much else. Walking to the car to head back to the hotel, I think a part of me died. But the funny part about afterwards is that once I woke up the next morning, I wasn't that sore. My quads felt like I'd done a hard workout the day before. My hips and back were a little tight. But I could jump around, go down stairs, touch my toes - all things I can NOT do after running a straight marathon. I did wake up starving and I've been exhausted all week. But considering the fact that I pushed myself to my physical limit for over 14 hours, it seems pretty crazy that I'm not sore.

The next two days (well actually, I'm still doing it) I kept turning to Doug saying, "I can't believe I did that. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. That is crazy. I can't believe I did it." I still can't believe it.

The feat has almost always seemed completely out of reach, not even worth fantasizing about. Until 2013, I didn't even know to dream that I could do it. For years, I would watch the coverage of Kona in complete awe (and still will!), watching these beautiful humans doing something it doesn't seem like humans should be capable of doing. I never thought I could do something like that. Didn't believe I could dream that big. But now I'm a finisher too. I might not ever do another one, but I don't have to. I am an Ironman.

race report: Raleigh 70.3

What an incredible day I had yesterday! Definitely one of my highest moments as an athlete.

I got to NC on Thursday evening, and spent Friday at the expo and swimming in the lake for the race course. The expo was smaller than I expected, but that just meant less for me to spend money on. But don't worry, I still bought more Raleigh Ironman 70.3 gear than I need. The bummer was that there wasn't an athlete briefing that day, so I had to go back on Saturday. So on Saturday I heard all the rules and found out that since the water was 80 degrees, it wasn't going to be wetsuit legal. Which was fine because I only had the one open water swim in a wetsuit from Friday in my training. After the briefing, I went out to T1 to leave my bike.

The course was a point-to-point, which meant there were two transitions. This made an already nerve-wracking experience even more so. We had to check in our bikes the night before and then leave them there. It was good, though, because then I saw the swim course laid out (the lake was really big, and we weren't allowed to swim in the spot where the course was, so I had done my swim on Friday in another area of the lake). The swim seemed tough but do-able. There were a lot of really, really nice bikes out there alongside my 25 year old hand-me-down.

Sunday morning I got up at 3:15 am and got ready to go. I got down to T2 around 4:45, laid out my run gear, and hopped a bus to take me out to T1. I closed my eyes and tried to tune out how long and hilly the ride was, knowing I'd be biking some of that in a few hours. We made it to T1 and I laid out my bike stuff. T1 closed at 6:45 and then the waiting began. My wave didn't hit the water until 8:10, so I had some time to kill. There were not enough portapotties, so waiting in that line ate up about 40 minutes. I sat on the grass for a while, but couldn't bring myself to watch the earlier waves. I was really nervous and kept yawning like crazy and was afraid if I watched how long the swim was, I would psych myself out. Finally it was time to get in line.

The swim start was in the water, so we waited until the wave was off and then took to the water. For most people, they could stand in the starting area but I was too short and had to tread water. Oh, and turned out they decided to make it wetsuit legal, but I had already gotten my head around not using a wetsuit, so I opted to swim without it.
 

The first 500 yards were crowded, but the water was fine and breathing went well. When we turned the corner for the long part of the course, the water was super choppy and I hydrated well swallowing mouthfuls when I meant to take a breath. Near the second turn it got crowded again, as I caught up to some slower swimmers from earlier waves, and I took a kick to the chin that cause me to bite my tongue. I would have benefited from some more open-water training, but I finished in 49:18, which was right about the time I thought it would take me.

I decided to take my time in bike transition to make sure I had everything set before I left. I ate a little, somehow got my calf sleeves on my wet legs, and headed out. Some of my nerves were settled, but I was still pretty nervous for this bike course.

The first 5 miles were tough, a set of uphills with a few flat places. I hit my stride from 6-11, and from 11-12.5 was one, long, steep uphill that was pretty awful.  It was rolling through 40 with some good flat sections, and then the last 15 were grueling - a series of constant rolling hills so you couldn't get settled in a pace.  The bike course was beautiful, though, despite the hills and wind (16 mph, with gusts up to 25 mph) and loneliness - there were not a lot of spectators. My cousins were at mile 39, exactly where I needed a boost. It was great fun to see them out there.

I averaged about 15.5 mph on the bike, which was my fastest long ride to date on the toughest course I've ridden. And I really had to hold back, so I know I had more in me. I wanted to save my legs for the run, especially since it was heating up fast and I knew the run would be tough. Overall, a 3:35:18 ride.

I took my time again in transition, used the bathroom and drank a little extra water. I found out that bodyglide melts into a hot greasy mess in the sun, and it exploded all over me when I opened it up. I'm glad I didn't get burned! So I had to run without any and prayed for no bad chaffing.

The run course started uphill, low and slow, for the first 5 or so miles. But since it was an out-and-back, I knew I'd get to finish on those hills running downhill. The course was through downtown Raleigh and then onto a paved trail through a college campus and by some museums. It was really lovely. The downtown was really hot and I felt like I was baking on the blacktop, but some of the trail section was shaded. It was 85 by this time.

The thing about this run, though, was that I felt really good and passed a couple hundred people. I couldn't believe how many people walked most of the race. I think I was passed twice early on when I walked through an aid station, but I think I ended up passing them both later on. I stopped counting people around mile 5 with 100 passed. I saw my cousins again on a loop section in the middle so I passed them twice. It was great to give the boys high-fives and get a boost heading into the finish.

I felt so good, and was really glad I had been conservative on the bike and in the first half of the run. I walked through the aid stations and part of two of the hills in the middle. But otherwise, I was steady the whole run, keeping around 9:30 pace which averaged out to around 10:20 with the walking through aid stations. At mile 10 with a 5k left, I decided to see what I had left and hit the gas. I was flying down the last few miles, and felt so awesome. My last mile was 7:15 pace! I was fast enough that my cousins missed me at the finish, which they were bummed about, but I was flying so high it didn't make a difference to me.

All in all, I am really proud of my training and feel lucky that I had a good day. My nutrition plan worked flawlessly for me which was one of the things I was most nervous about. Staying fueled and hydrated is essential when active for 6:44:53. I finished in almost the top half (52%) and was thrilled to cross the finish line.

My goal was to finish, but if I was honest, I wanted to finish in under 7 and still be running at the finish. I did it!

hitting the open road

Tomorrow I embark on my summer adventure. 3200 miles in 3 weeks. All in the name of a half ironman I'm attempting next Sunday. I'm super nervous and super excited. Exactly how I should feel before this craziness begins.

I'll update from the road.

one for the books

I had ambitious, anxiety-causing workouts planned this weekend. I'm 5 weeks (to the day) from the HIM, and I made the mistake of trolling forums and blogs about triathlon training last week. See, I got my Athlete Guide and there are so many rules, and I started to flip out once again that I am not ready to be fast enough to make the cut-off times.

Anyway, I had planned a tough set of workouts before the freak-out, so I didn't change course. I just felt that there was more riding on them to go well.

The week was tiring, with work and a couple tough swim and run workouts. So I headed into Saturday a little fatigued. But I rode one of my fastest 20 mile rides followed by my longest brick run of 10 miles to date. And I finished feeling ok. Worried about Sunday, but that was two meals and a sleep away.

Sunday I woke up a little tired, but ready to get the party started. Ran 10.75 miles with a running team buddy, inhaled some eggs and toast at Longfellow, and set off for a 48.5 mile ride. Had company for about 28 of it, which was awesome. Headed out to hillier Wayzata and Hopkins, as I need to get some practice on hills. And when I got home, ran another 1.5 miles to see how my nutrition plan worked. I've had some not-so-good runs post-ride because of nutrition issues, so it was great to have a successful run post-ride. I finished feeling ok. Not even too fatigued. I'll for sure be sore tomorrow, and I'll be ready for bed at 6:45 prolly. But have a post-workout high that only comes from working hard.

After this weekend, I have 2 more tough weeks of workouts before I start my taper. Feeling more and more ready as the date approaches. I'll still be scared out of my mind when I toe up to the starting line. But excited to be scared of this race!

a new plan

I am having a really hard time dealing with my current leg pain and the impact it is having on my running training. I was supposed to run the Virginia Beach full marathon, but it took me 5 months to get up to running 30 mile weeks, so that wasn't going to happen. I switched to the half and soon developed hip pain. It is bad enough that I limp after running. It's not good, whatever it is. I've seen a chiropractor/pt doc and it hasn't gotten better so she thinks I should either see another kind of doc or just go ahead for an MRI. I have an MRI scheduled for March 4. I am certain they are going to find something terrible like bone cancer and a broken hip. Probably a labral tear too. And maybe bursitis to top it off. In the mean time, doc Jenna said to just keep running unless it got worse, which it hasn't, so I keep running.

All this, though, has made training difficult. My May marathon is now out the window, and I'll just hope I can hang in there to complete the half iron. My running buds think I should bag the year, and maybe set a goal race at a shorter distance, focus on getting and staying healthy and maybe get faster at a shorter distance. This is not what I want to do, but they are right. So instead of signing up for the Chicago marathon today, I decided to make the TC 10 mile my fall goal race. And plan to kill a spring 2014 marathon.

This doesn't make me happy, but it is the right thing to do. I hate doing the right thing.

18 weeks

Normally when a woman posts on a blog with a title "XX weeks," she follows that up with a picture of her growing belly. I am hoping that over the next 18 weeks mine shrinks. But that's beside the point. I figured out that as of today, I am officially 18 weeks away from the 70.3 I am planning to attempt. Which also means, then, that I am 16 weeks away from my goal race for the spring, the Green Bay Marathon.

I was flipping out about this earlier this weekend, thinking that there was no way I'd be back to race condition in 16 weeks. I know I can always just run the marathon, but frankly, marathons are brutal, and I don't want to put my body through one if I don't think I can get close to a BQ. But then I realized that my year anniversary with the club is coming up this week. And though I've been set back by injury, I'm about in the same place mileage- and speed-wise as I was last year at this time. I think that I'll be able to get back to where I was in May (well, minus the stress fracture). The marathon is really my main focus, but I should probably do something about that tri also.

So what am I doing to stay on track? I have a spiffy new training plan that includes 2-3 rides (for now on my new trainer - fun fun), 2 swims, and 1 weights workout a week, plus the 4-5 runs. The runs and weights are givens - no compromise on those. I will make sure to get at least 1 long ride and 1 long swim in each week. I will listen to my body on the rest.

tri and tri again

I finished my very first triathlon yesterday. It was maybe the most fun I've ever had at a race, maybe save for the 25k I did last April that was so hard but felt so great. Oh, and the first time I ran the TC 10 mile. Well, my first marathon would have to be up there. Ok, so I've had a few super fun races, but this one is right up there. I had zero expectations, since I could only run/walk the 5k, and had no idea what to expect with transitions and the swim. I didn't know anything about the bike course, so I wasn't worried about the hills (which there were plenty of, btw). A few other folks from the run club were also competing, and it was great to see some of them in transitions and in the out-and-back run.

I'm glad I liked it, because a few weeks ago after a second glass of wine, I made the ill-advised, likely stupid decision to give a Half Ironman a go next June. I figure I'll have 10 weeks to train between the Virginia Beach marathon I'm running in March and the 70.3, so if I keep up some swimming and biking all winter, I'll be in ok shape. My goal will be to finish, that's it. I might do a few more shorter distance tris later in the summer next year, or be training for another marathon if I fail to BQ in Virginia. Time will tell. And, of course, this is all under the assumption my leg will heal up and stay strong. Most people would do more than one triathlon before signing up for a 70.3. Oh well.

As I was chatting with a new friend met at the tri, we decided that tris might be awesome or awful for the reason that it gives you the opportunity to buy lots more gear - you need three sport's worth of stuff instead of just running. And bike gear can add up fast. Just what I need - something else to spend money on.

And how funny is this: woman in front of me at packet pick-up was named Megan. When I went up to give my last name, she leaned over and said, "Kelly was my maiden name." I replied, "So your name was Megan Kelly?" To which she replied, "Yes, are you Megan Kelly?" I said that no, I wasn't but my sister is. She said, "Is she Megan Jean Kelly, the fast runner from Northfield?" Small world. I remembered my sister telling me stories about the other Megan Jean Kelly, and here she was, a new friend. She got into tris this summer and loved them. I can see why. Anyway, after I give myself a few days to recover, I'm going to try to get my winter training schedule going - planning runs, bikes, and swims each week. Here's to winter fitness!