When Clint and I came home to Victoria after Ironman Hawaii, I really struggled physically and mentally to recover. My body simply wasn’t responding like it normally does after Ironman. I didn’t seem to be bouncing back and was slow and sluggish. For 3 weeks Clint and I had to take everything 1 day at a time. I wasn’t sure if I could handle another Ironman this season and it made me uneasy. After all the work I did and fitness I gained for Kona, I really wanted to be able to race again. We made decisions day by day, kept me moving and hoped it would be ok. At the time, I was planning on racing Ironman Cozumel but had also put my name on the list for Arizona.
After 3 frustrating weeks, Clint, Rosie and I packed up and headed down to Tucson. I was either going to come around and race or have a family holiday. A couple factors contributed to things finally coming together physically and mentally. One was that I finally got a massage! Sounds stupid, but I neglected my usual massage schedule of 1-2x/week and was carrying all my tension and stress in my back, shoulders and neck. I didn’t realise what was going on until I finally had some good work done and went “aha!” Despite Clint’s mocking about my lavish spending, I immediately booked 2 more appointments for the following 2 days!
Also, coming back to the desert got me out of rainy Victoria and into a more comfortable place to train. Since going gluten free, I have dropped about 5 lbs and my body isn’t handling the cold very well right now. More about that later, but I think it might take a while for my thermoregulation system to catch up!
Once in Tucson, I was back in action. Still a little stale and “end-of-season-ish”, but nothing like as bad as I had been! Ironman Arizona feels like a home race for me now. I really like the energy of the looped course and most importantly, Clint and Rosalee could come watch the race. And so it was decided. I would do IM Arizona.
Race week I rested up and felt ready to go. I trusted that the fitness I gained from the work I did in Sedona would get me through.
The swim was really the only truly disappointing part of my day. My swimming has traditionally been very dependable; I feel I can count on it. Looking back, I recognize that I have been “cold” ever since I came back from Hawaii. The week leading up to the race in AZ, I kept noticing that I was wearing a hoodie when others were in T-shirts, jeans when others wore shorts etc. I just assumed I was still acclimatized for the heat of Kona.
I am used to the symptoms of cold from many years of swimming in Canadian lakes. Usually, adrenaline and other race feelings mask the early indicators of cold and a person can literally jump from feeling fine to being hypothermic without really knowing how they got there. My first symptom was extreme fatigue, followed by a realization that my arms simply weren’t moving as fast as my brain was telling them to.
Anyway, long story short, I feel lucky that I didn’t jump straight to hypothermia and was able to carry on with the race. Out on the bike I felt strong and was able to ride the 180km hard. It was a new thing for me to not lose any places on the bike. I held my own and was strong. Clint tells me that my first lap was slower than my subsequent laps, which is probably just because I was literally, warming up. Strangely, I felt like I was riding really hard on the first lap!
The run went fairly smoothly as well. In the last few miles I started to have that feeling of not knowing where I was or what I was doing. My friend Marilyn was standing about 300m from the finish line (I was pleased to recognize her). She gave me a cheer and I waved back, but later told her that what I really wanted to say was “Did I crap my pants?” Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Going into this race I felt I had lifted my game to a new level over the last couple months (and this year in general). I felt that a podium was possible. Having missed it by less than 3 mins, I can at least take away the feeling that I was right about that. Last year I was 8th in this race and this year 4th. Improvement.
I briefly considered taking on the double again and going Cozumel. I wracked my brain for a good reason to do another Ironman this weekend, but couldn’t find one. So, time to recover and start plotting for 2013.
But the biggest thanks is saved for my husband and coach Clint who makes it possible for me to pursue my goals day to day, month to month and year to year. I love you Clinton! Also thanks to my little Rosalee who really went to the well on race day to cheer on her mom. When we got back to the hotel she collapsed on the floor and slept for over 2h! What a great girl I have.
Pics courtesy of Tessa Capistrano Photography (www.tessacapistrano.ca)
