The Journey to a Texas IronMan

Hi Everyone,

IronMan Texas is officially in the books! Dr. Crane and I both finished a very long day last Saturday of 140.6 miles. Now it is Monday and just this morning, it is hitting me that we both have the title of IronMan.
Was it worth it?
Yes.
Was it hard?
Yes.
Would you do it again? Initally we both stated no. Now that I have slept…well, lets just say I have time to think about it. ;)

I set rules for myself the night before the race: One, keep a consistent swim stroke. Two, hold back on bike speed and keep it consistent. Three, walk the run portion with a consistent stride. The steps were key in allowing me to cross the finish line Saturday night.

The cloud cover truly gave us a break for most of race day. Had the sun been out with the humidity, I will say things may have not been so stellar. The swim start was a little scary since this was my first mass swim start. When the gun went off, I was still on the ramp and was pushed into the water. Two bodies swam right over me. For a split second I thought I was going to freak out, then something inside told me to focus and I fought to get above water and push for space. Soon the swim stroke began, consistent and non stop. After awhile 2.4 miles were complete.

Standing upright after the swim was funny. My left foot wanted to keep kicking however not lift upright to the stair case. I laughed getting up the stairs and then walked/jogged to the transition tent. It was amazing how calm I felt and how the body was telling the brain to just hang out today and let me do this race. Once in the tent, the volunteers were amazing. I can’t for the life of me remember the volunteers names, but let me tell you – they were EXCELLENT! I was assisted from start to finish to prepare for the bike and within a few minutes, I picked up Celeste and off we went on the bike journey.

The first half of the ride was wonderful. The sky was overcast and in pockets, rain fell which was cooling. The scenery was soothing. I held back on the bike speed and just enjoyed the ride. The second half was flat and I was starting to get figity in the seat. I kept rolling through waterstop after waterstop and did not stop all 112 miles. I kept my promise to keep it easy and enjoy every minute.

Rolling into transition two was bitter sweet. I was sad to dismount after a great ride however this was the point where I knew I was going to be an IronMan. After another awesome transition, I was off for a three loop walk. I kept timing pretty consistent and received very large blisters on both feet. I won’t gross you out but walking on a bed of water in your shoe is not an enjoyable task. I stopped at every water stop, high fived the crowds and just smiled.

Last lap I made sure I thanked every volunteer. They had a long day also and each person was spectacular. Walking down the final path, I smiled and tipped my visor to all of the people screaming and yelling words of joy to myself and other race participants. I saw my husband Dennis and held back tears. I heard Sherpa #2, my friend Laurie screaming at the top of her lungs. We hugged and I was handed Ms. Kitty (beanie baby) that I had all through training. I actually picked up my feet and jogged (this hurt a lot) through the finish line and I heard it – Janet Dixon, you’re an IronMan! A friend of mine name Scott was volunteering and waited for me as I crossed the finish line. We hugged and high fived. Volunteers were smiling with one stating I looked so happy. I can’t describe the feeling but I will never forget that moment. Dennis caught up to me after the finish line chute and I just kept smiling.

The next day, the only thing that hurt was my feet and the blisters. My knee was annoyed since I kept rolling my foot out to avoid walking on the blisters. I expected to be in a lot more pain but it was not happening. That tells me I paced myself exactly as planned however, I could have taken in more nutrition before and during the race as I was hungry on the swim and on the run. That’s okay, I finished in time and 10 minutes faster than I anticipated.

So that’s it my friends – the journey has come to a close. I hope it was fun for you. So what’s next? Let me think a bit on that one. ;)

Talk to ya……soon!
Janet, IronMan 2011