IMCDA--WTF!?

It's now been a week since I raced Ironman Coure d'Alene and I've had time to reflect on how my day unfolded. And if you followed my race, you're probably wondering what the hell happened??? Unfortunately, my time does not reflect the effort that I put forth that day, nor the preparation and hours and hours of training. I plan on breaking it down into swim, bike, and run in the days to come, but here is the summary.

Finishing time (140.6miles): 11:51:53 (570/ ~2500)

Swim (2.4miles): 1:12:52 (586/~2500)
T1: 6:07
Bike (112miles): 5:28:10 (225/ ~2500)
T2: 2:46
Run (26.2miles): 5:01:58 (570/ ~2500)


My day started off just as I had planned. I thought I would come out of the water about 1:10, so I was pretty close to where I thought that I would be. Once on the bike, I again started off as I had planned, this includes nutrition, settling in, "spin-to-win" philosophy, planning where I was going to push hard, etc.......then came mile 100.

For some reason, I hit mile 100 and just started vomiting uncontrollably!!! Totally emptied everything in my gut!! I noticed that I had a substantial amount of fluid in my gut as it splattered all over me. I then sat up and tried to sip on water to settle my stomach, but it didn't matter--I couldn't keep anything down.

I hit T2 and knew the run was going to be extremely difficult! Not that a marathon at the end of 2.4mile swim and 112mile bike is ever easy......but I had really worked on my run off the bike for the last 6months and had really improved and was planning on 3:30. This did NOT happen. By the time I started the run, it was about 25 minutes since I first threw-up and still could not keep anything down.

I kept moving one foot in front of the other in pure agony! Stopping to walk every aid station, praying I would be able to get some calories or hydration and keep it down. Shortly after the second aid station (about mile 2) I completely emptied my gut again, and now it was very little fluid, but mostly acid and some bile. I realized that my goal of sub 10:00 was not going to happen and now I would be lucky to just finish. Then it was: shuffle, walk, vomit, walk, shuffle, and repeat for the remaining 24.2 miles. Often I was moving with my eyes closed, no form, and on the verge of collapse.

After I crossed the finish, I collapsed into the arms of the "catchers" and was sent to the med tent. By this point, I hadn't been able to have any fluids, calories, or electrolytes stay in my system for about 6hours! They first gave me Zofran (a common drug given to those with nausea from chemotherapy)-----I threw that up. They gave me another Zofran......just dry heaving. After about an hour of this, they moved me in the back and gave me two bags of IV. Once the solution hit my body, I was immediately cold and my body started shaking uncontrollably. I was spasming all over, much like a fish out of water, and my muscles were totally cramped up.

Finally after about 3 hours of med tent, I was able to walk and ready to go to the hotel, sip on some Ginger Ale, and recover.

This race broke my heart. I had worked so hard. So many early mornings. So many hours pushing myself, and so on.....

My outcome was a huge disappointment, but I am very impressed with my effort. It would have been very easy to quit. As I passed aid stations, they would ask, "do you need a doctor?" I just pushed.

Thank you to all that followed my race. Thank you Emily for keeping me positive when times are hard. Mom, thanks for coming and seeing your kid race--sorry about the scare in the med tent. To all my Trakkers/Rev3 Teammates and sponsors (Revolution 3 Triathlon, Trakkers GPS, First Endurance, Kestrel, Avia, All3Sports, Morris Trucking, TYR, Recovery Pump, TriSlide/TriSwim, Rudy Project, and Gray Goat Sports) thank you for your support in pursuit of my dreams.

Next up: Rev3 Portland, 70.3 on July 10th!

For detailed reports click here (coming soon):
Swim
Bike
Run