Race Report – Ironman Chattanooga 2015
Disclaimer: I wrote this after the race last year, and for the sake of time and getting this out before the race tomorrow, I haven't re-read the whole thing. My apologies for bad spelling/grammar or if it doesn't seem as well put together. Thanks for reading!
Thursday:
Woke up Thursday morning, feeling good, ready, and excited for the weekend
ahead. Loaded up the car, making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. I then
headed over to Neomonde to meet up with DeGaulle (D) before heading to Chattanooga.
Arriving at 9am, I waited for a little while, started creating a play list on my
ipod for the long drive ahead. When D pulled up, SURPRISE, he had Fred
with him! This increased my excitement level another couple of notches, as I
was hoping he would decide to come. We helped D load up what he needed
from the bakery and by 10am we were on our way. Along the way we stopped a few
times, mainly for food. About half way through the drive, I started hearing a
squealing under my hood, great. The next stop we made was to a Cookout where we
were going to eat, but they didn’t have any inside seating or bathrooms, so we
walked next door to Chic-fil-A to get lunch and use the restroom. We were at
least trying to eat somewhat good food. We went in search of a post office
next, so D could send out a birthday card for his son that he meant to
leave back home. When we stopped, Fred took a look under my hood, and concluded
that it was indeed my belt making the squealing noise, but couldn’t see any
major problems with it. Things like this make me glad I was caravanning out
with someone, just in case anything were to happen. I called Chris to fill him
in, and he just said that if the belt goes, I’ll lose power steering and all the
lights on the dash will come on, at which time I should pull over. Fingers were
crossed the rest of the drive. Thankfully, aside from the horrible squealing
noise, we make it to Chattanooga without any issues. By the time we arrived
though, it was around 6 pm, so too late to check in for the race. Instead, we
did a quick change and went out for a bike ride on the run course. It was great
taking it easy and just enjoying the scenery and good company. We saw an
amazing sunset on the way back, just beautiful! By the time we got back to the
hotel it was dark, so we went to go get some dinner at the Big River Grille
& Brewing Works, then hung out at the hotel for a bit unwinding. Since the
hotel room I had for that night was an HIE about 15 min away, I left around 11
or so, doing a quick drive past the other HIE about a mile away, that I had
booked for the rest of the stay. I was a bit concerned whether the neighborhood
was good or not after reading some reviews online, but it seemed fine, really
quite actually, so I decided to go with it and cancel the other room for
Fri-Sun. When I got to the hotel, turns out they didn’t have me in the system
until Friday night, but thankfully they were able to get me in at the
government rate. The woman that checked me in said that as long as I let them
know before 6pm Friday that I wanted to cancel, that I wouldn’t be charged for
that night. Sounded good to me, but I should have cancelled then; story on that
to come later. It started to rain as I was bringing my stuff into the room for
the night. I didn’t completely unpack as I wasn’t planning on staying there
more than one night. I left my bike in D’s room, since it was already in
there and it was right near the Ironman Village. All in all the room wasn’t
bad, but getting in bed around midnight was a little later than I was hoping.
We had decided to meet up around 730 am to go swim in the reservoir, so that
wasn’t allowing me for much sleep. Oh well, to bed I went!
Friday:
Wake up, don’t remember what time exactly, but probably around 630 or so. I
packed up what I needed for the day and headed over to DeGaulle and Fred’s
room. Unfortunately, I missed the exit, and had to go who knows how many miles
out of the way before I could turn around and go back. Called Fred to fill him
in and had him text me the address of the reservoir so I could meet them there.
It was chilly and raining, but as long as there’s no lightning, the swim is a
go. Found the entrance to the park okay, but took me some time to find the spot
we were going to swim at. I still beat Fred and D there. I wasn’t sure
if we the other IOS members were going to swim with us or not, turns out not.
It was so cold walking down to the water in the rain wearing just a swim suit,
burr. The water felt great though, so the swim was actually really nice and
enjoyable. We swam for about 20-30 min, then I made the run, in sandals, back
to the car, since it was still pretty cold out. I wrapped up in my towel and
sat in my car for a bit before doing somewhat of a deck change in my car into
some dry pants, commando, and a hoodie over my swim top. Fred came across some
other people he knew, so he swam a bit more with them while I stayed warm in my
car. Blasted a little “Come on ride the train” in my car, in honor of IMCHOO! After
leaving the reservoir, we headed back to breakfast with the rest of the IOSTC
crew. The entire way there my car was squealing super loud. Then all of a
sudden, it stopped. Thank goodness. Well, unfortunately, the next turn we made
I realized I didn’t have power steering anymore, F***! Thankfully, we were
right in front of the hotel I had booked for the rest of the stay, so I called
the guys quick to let them know what was going on and pulled my car into the
lot and parked it. The guys came back to pick me up so we could get to
breakfast. It was still raining and, being 98% sure that it was my belt that
went, we headed to breakfast and decided to check the car later. We ate at the
City Diner, same place I grabbed dinner last year when I volunteered. It was
fun hanging with everyone and eating some good food. The music there is all
oldies too, which is great and always puts me in a good mood. From there,
D and I finally got to go check in for the race and pick up our swag!
The ground was sopping and super muddy from all the rain. Good thing I was
wearing sandals because my feet were sinking into the mud quite a bit.
Thankfully, the gear tent was relatively dry, so I picked up a few things, which
of course wasn’t cheap. After that, we headed back to D and Fred’s room
to grab a shower and change into dry clothes. By the time we were all showered
and had gone through our swag bags and all that, it was time for lunch. We just
went to Mellow Mushroom and got a pizza and appetizer, nothing fancy, but it
was good and familiar. After lunch, we Fred and I dropped D off at the
hotel and went to check on my car. Sure enough, the belt was toast. Called
Chris to get his input and decided to go get a belt and tensioner tool to
replace it with. I quickly checked into the hotel, before we headed over to my
other hotel to check out. We got there around 430 or so, turns out I needed to
let them know by 2 pm if I didn’t want the room, so I ended up getting charged
for a night in a room that I didn’t need. Goodie! Loaded up the rest of my
stuff in the truck, then we headed to O’Reilly auto parts to get what we
needed. That took FOREVER. We had to have been there for at least 30 min just
waiting in line. It was ridiculous. While we were waiting, Kim and company
arrived at the hotel, so they had to sit tight until we got back. We finally
got what we needed and made it back to the hotel. I said a quick hi to Kim,
Kyleigh and Mrs. Patricia, gave them a room key, before going back over to my
car to help Fred. Turns out it wasn’t just the belt. The tensioner pulley was
seized up, great. Well, couldn’t replace that part ourselves, so I’d have to
take it to a shop somewhere. Fred attempted to take the stuff back, but they
needed my credit card, so I’d have to do that later. Great, that’s just what I
needed. At this point, the race is going to be the least stressful part of the
trip! After Fred left to join the others for dinner, I took the rest of my
stuff up to the room and visited with the girls for a bit before dinner. We
just went to a restaurant near the Ironman Village, since it was quick and
close. After dinner, we went back to the hotel so I could get my gear bags all
set and ready to go for Saturday. That’s a process, but one I started before I
left Raleigh, so it wasn’t terrible. The biggest thing was figuring out what to
put in my special needs bags. The plan was for me to try to get to bed early
Friday night to be sure I got a good night’s sleep. Well, I think it was 930 or
1000 pm before I finally got into bed, and I probably didn’t fall asleep until
after 11 pm. Oh well, roll with the punches.
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| The broken belt. |
Saturday: Hotel breakfast, not great but better than
nothing. I get some food in my belly then try to figure out a timeline for the
day. I grab all my gear bags and head over to the guys’ hotel. We plan a trip
over to Walmart to grab a few last minute things, one being garbage bags. With
all the rain, best to double bag so that the sneakers, bike shoes, and all the
other stuff really, doesn’t get soaked. We also pick up a few things for the
special needs bags. Kim and company continue shopping, so I go with D
and Fred back the hotel to finish getting our gear bags together to take down
to the transition area. Both D and I want to get a quick ride and run in
before we check our bikes and gear in, which has to be done by 3pm. We run
first, as D’s bike is getting checked over. We quick pick his bike up
after the run then go for a quick ride over to my hotel to pick up a few
things. Finally, we rode back to his hotel, finished putting our shoes in their
respective bags, make sure we have everything then take it all down to
transition. The whole drop off process goes really smoothly, and I remember to
let some air out of my tires, not that it probably mattered much, but no point
in taking the risk. It was a big weight off having that all taken care of. I
called Kim to see what they were up to and if they wanted to grab lunch, but
they had recently eaten, so the three of us went to a local place a few blocks from
the hotel to grab lunch. At this point the tiredness really hit me for the
first time since we got there. I really wanted a nap more than anything, and
the situation with my car was still stressing me out. I still had to find a
place to take it, and a way to get it there. Thankfully, Chris added me to his
Allstate policy, so they were going to take care of the tow, but I couldn’t
call them until I was within a half an hour of being at my car. Since we wanted
to take a drive of the bike course, I had to wait. More to come on that later. Lunch
was actually really good, and once I got some food and water into my system, I
felt much better. We found out that the place we were eating at was closing for
good the next day. I think it was called Sugar’s. That’s kind of sad, but I
guess the owner has a couple other restaurants, so it’s not completely
terrible. After leaving the restaurant, we head back to the truck and hit the
road. Shortly after we start the drive it starts raining again, and we get
behind some slow person. Go figure, we want to get the drive done so we can go
rest and take care of other things, but we get stuck behind slow people. Oh
well. The drive was very beneficial, and I’m glad we went, but by the end I was
starting to get a bit car sick, which doesn’t normally happen, but hey, those
are the breaks. About 15 min or so from the hotel I call Allstate back, and
they send some guys out to tow my car. I decided to take my car to the National
Tire and Battery about 10-15 min away, since they are open until 7pm, but also
open Sunday to work on it so it would be ready Monday morning. I have 30 min or
so to rest in the hotel room before the guys show up. When you think of getting
your car towed, you think tow truck. Well, what pulled up was two guys in a
small white truck with a tow dolly behind it. I was thinking to myself “WTF,
hopefully that thing can get my car where it needs to go without it coming
off.” I will say, the guys were nice, but they were not, based on looks alone,
men that I would just get into a car with alone. Thankfully Kim and her mom
were there to take me in their car and follow the guys over the NTB. I was
surprised that they were able to get my car there, but we got there right
around 7, and NTB was still open. Went
in and dropped my car keys off while the guys unhooked my car. I thanked them
for their help and we headed back to the hotel. By this time, I really didn’t
feel like eating much, so I had some Vitamin Water and a Fig Bar, not much
more. Thankfully, D let me use the room he got for his son to sleep in
the night before the race, since it was so close to the Village and easy to
meet up in the morning. I grabbed all my stuff and Kim dropped me off at the
hotel so I could get settled in. When Fred and D got back from dinner, I
went down to finalize the timeline for the morning, then headed back to my room
for bed. I slept so well, my only gripe was I wish I had slept longer.
Sunday (Race Day): I will start by saying that this was a great
day because I no longer had to think or worry about my car. Today would be less
stressful than anything else I’d dealt with over the past few days. So, with
that in mind, here’s the plan and how everything went. The plan nutrition wise
is to have two servings of CytoCarb on the bike, and one on the run. The rest
will come from cliff bars (2 big or 4 small on the bike and 2 small on the
run), bananas (1 whole one throughout the bike courses), stinger waffles (1 on
the bike), and whatever I could manage on the run (pretzles, oranges, chicken
broth). In addition, I’d be taking my Base Salt every 5 miles on the bike and
every one mile on the run. So I made sure I had everything I needed to carry
with me, and everything else I’d get on the course. I had even packed an extra
tube and CO2 cartridge in my bike sn bag, just in case. My biggest concern for
the day was making sure I made it through the bike course without any major
incidents, once I was through that I knew I’d make it. So here’s how I
approached the race, and this had been my plan from the beginning. Go out for a
nice warm up swim in the river, change into my bike gear and go for a nice,
long, scenic bike ride through Georgia. Finally, survive the marathon. See,
even with all the training I’d done, I had still only maxed out at 101 miles on
the bike at one time, and 15ish miles running at one time. That means that this
race would contain two of the longest distances I had ever done, and they would
be back-to-back. I actually enjoyed the challenge, and felt ready for it. Okay,
back to the timeline. Wake up call, 4 am. I had laid out my breakfast goods and
got my bottles ready the night before. No microwave in the room, so I went down
to the café in the hotel and got a couple of disposable bowls and some hot
water to make my oatmeal and cream of wheat. I had some vitamin water with
breakfast, but no coffee or tea; I didn’t want to have to pee too much. I
gathered all my water bottles, my bike pump, and my special needs bags and
headed down to meet up with Fred and D around 440am. Word came back that
the swim was wetsuit optional, which I had figured would be the case, so I left
my wetsuit in D’s room, rather than carry it in my morning clothes bag
for no reason. I decided just to wear my old Aquablade swim suit from college,
with my sports bra underneath, since that bitch is impossible to get on while
wet. We made our way out of the hotel
before 5am. We got our body marking done, dropped off our special needs bags,
then made our way to the bikes to put air in our tires and load up the water
bottles. For the bike, I had two bottles with CytoCarb in them and an empty
slot for plain water at the first aid station. Next, we went through the
transition area to put any last minute items in our gear bags. I put my hand
held water bottle with the CytoCarb mix in it inside my run gear bag. From
there, I put my bike pump in the IOSTC tent. All that was left now was to board
the bus that would take us to the swim start. I just want to say that I am so
thankful that D was doing this race with me. It was great having a
friend to ride the bus with and talk to race morning. The bus ride was fairly
short, and we weren’t terribly far from the swim start when we got there. Now,
we wait. We had about 1.5-2 hours to wait at the start. A period of thought and
relaxation, and trying to make my body want to use the bathroom before the
lines at the porta john’s got too long. I relaxed for about 30 min or so, then
decided to at least go try. FYI, this is a TMI part. I peed, and pooped a
little, but knew it wasn’t sufficient for the day ahead. Oh well, what can I
do? Nothing. Went back to my spot in line and just relaxed. As the sun started
to come up, everyone got up and the line started moving a bit. We could hear
the pro’s go off at 720 and 725. Our start was at 730. It only took about 5 min
or so to make our way to the water. Gave D a quick fist bump and away we
went! I jumped in the water, feet first
as was required for safety purposes and started my journey down the river. Now,
given that the swim was down river, and we knew there was going to be at least
a little current, I will say that I couldn’t feel it. The only “current” I felt
was a push toward shore that I had to fight against. Even still, I was steadily
passing folks and sighting fairly well. My Garmin is always overestimating swim
distances, so I knew that it wasn’t totally accurate, but I still laughed to
myself a bit when it buzzed for the first mile, and I was still several buoys
away from the first orange one (the first half were yellow, second half
orange). The swim was relatively pleasant and went by pretty quick. I came out
of the water in around 52 min (my Garmin estimated 2.8 miles). There was definitely
a current, but not as strong as last year for sure. The jog from the water exit
to transition went quick. I tried to find Kim and Patricia in the crowd, but
there were so many people it was nearly impossible. I found my bike gear bag
pretty easily and made my way into the changing tent. There were only a couple
other women in the tent when I got there, so that was nice. One of the
volunteers helped me find a spot and get stuff out of my bag. I warned her I
was about to get naked, just so she wasn’t too surprised, then proceeded to
take the swim suit off. Since I go commando in bike shorts, and that’s what I
was wearing for the bike section, I was exposed for a bit of time, as bike
shorts are almost as hard as my sports bra to get on while wet, even though I
dried off as much as I could. I finally got them on, put my tri top on, bike
shoes, helmet, gloves, etc. I made sure I wasn’t forgetting anything then
headed out of the tent. Now go figure, I had to pee again. I really need to
learn to pee while I’m swimming, but since I’ve never liked the thought of someone
peeing in front of me, I never had a desire to learn the skill. Still, it would
have come in handy, as it took me an extra 2-3 min at least to go, since again
I had to lower the bike shorts and get them back on again. Done, now I can
finally make my way to my bike. I found it pretty easily, grabbed it off the
rack and headed out of transition. I was sure not to mount before the mount
line then made my way out on the course. Now having driven the course the day
before, I knew there were a bunch of RR Tracks to deal with, but regardless my
bike supply cage still came off after going over one of the bumps. I had to
stop and get it or I’d have worried the whole time about getting a flat and
having nothing. Luckily that only took about 30 seconds to get and start riding
again. Thankfully, that ended up being the only problem I had on the bike
course. I saw Mike go by me around mile 23, then Julie PP around mile
40. It was nice seeing teammates along the way. It reminded me to have fun and
enjoy myself. A few of the hills were not what I would consider rollers, but
they weren’t Lystra, so I got through them alright. At mile 55, still on the
first loop, I reached the bike special needs. A volunteer had my bag ready and
waiting, so I stopped and made sure that I didn’t need anything. The only thing
I grabbed was my Advil that I packed. My legs had been achy the whole ride, so
I decided to take the Advil so it would subside before the run. Whether it
worked or not I can’t remember, but I made it through the second loop and back
without any major problems, so that’s all that I cared about. Along the ride
there were many funny signs, but the only ones I remember were a series of 3;
the first (“What’s the water temperature?”), the second (“Wait, the bike course
is 116 miles?!”), and lastly (“is the run course hilly?”). They made me laugh,
so it was nice. The other Julie passed me around mile 65 or so, and she’s the
last teammate I saw until the last few miles when Ramiro went by. There were a
couple fun downhill sections, and Fred was a bike pointer on the biggest one,
so I was always smiling when I went by him. So, remember when I said I didn’t
think I had pooped sufficiently before the race? Well, by the time I got off
the bike, I definitely had to go. I dismounted and handed my bike off to a bike
catcher then headed to grab my run gear bag. Got to the changing tent, and
again, there weren’t a lot of women in there. I changed out of my bike shorts
and put underwear and regular running shorts on. Put my HR monitor on and made
sure I had everything I needed before heading out of the tent. Now, on to the
porta-potty. At least this time I didn’t
have to deal with bike shorts, however number 2 takes much longer than 1. While
I was doing my business, I heard the first pros coming into the finish. It
sounded exciting and I was thankful I at least go to hear it. On the other
hand, I was thinking to myself “They are finishing before I even start my run.”
Crazy! I finally finished and headed for the sunscreen applicators. This was the station I volunteered at last
year, and was thankful for their help this year. They were quick about getting
me coated and I was on my way. Then I heard my name, and surprise, I see Kim,
Kyleigh, and Mrs. Patricia waving to me. I smile and wave, then stop and go
over to say hi and give a quick hug and kiss to Kyleigh. It was so good to see
them and I’m thankful they were there. I finally get out on the run course.
It’s around 3 pm and I’m about 8 hours into the race. At this point I know
that, unless I bonk or something crazy happens, I will finish and be an Ironman
before midnight! Right off the bat there’s a hill. My plan is to walk the
uphills and run the flats and downhills. That’s just what I did. Steady as she
goes I made my way through the run course. I walked through the aid stations
every mile to get water and ice, oranges and pretzels and to take my Base Salt.
It was hot out, well, not terribly hot, but humid for sure. I saw some people
who were on their second lap, and they were dripping wet. At that point I was
glad that I had several days during my training where it was hot and/or humid
and I knew how to deal with it. The first several miles went by pretty fast.
There were a lot of funny signs along the way, and great volunteers and spectators.
That always makes the race more fun. Before I knew it I was crossing the river
to the “hilly” section of the course. Again, I walked the uphills and through
the aid stations, and ran the flats and downhills. It wasn’t bad at all, mainly
because I had those walking sections. As I was on my way back up Barton, I saw
D on his way down. It was nice to see him, so we high fived and went on
our separate ways. The bridge back across the river is different than the other
one. It’s a pedestrian bridge, mainly made of wood, whereas the other one was a
road. It was a bit of an uphill, so I walked some, then downhill the second
half and to the halfway point of the race. At 13 miles we hit the run special
needs station. I had put a number of things in the bag, but the only thing I
grabbed was the gum. It was great! Looking back, I probably should have taken
the salt and vinegar almonds too, but they weren’t easy to carry, so I didn’t.
I thought for sure I would hit a wall on the second loop. I kept waiting, and
waiting, but it never came. I surprised myself how I was able to keep running.
My legs started to get tight, but I could still run. It was a great personal
accomplishment for me to make it past 20 miles and still not hit a wall. I knew
I’d make it to the finish. The only issue I had on the second loop was that,
despite drinking what I though was more than enough water, I was starting to
dehydrate. I could tell because I was having a hard time eating anything solid.
The only solid I could get down was pretzels, and that was because I softened
them with water in my mouth so I could get them down. At this point I was just
hoping that everything I had eaten to that point, and oranges and base salt,
would be enough to get me to the finish. I even tried the chicken broth, which
was great, but that was around mile 24, so a bit late in the game. Regardless,
it was good. I ran and walked with another girl for a bit between miles 22 and
25, but when that last bridge uphill came, she looked back and I said “Go get
it girl!” and she kept on running. I walked that part, mainly because I wanted
to be able to run from the crest to the finish, and it was uphill, so walking
was the plan. It had gotten dart several miles back, and actually most of the
second loop for me was done in the dark. At some point a volunteer had given me
a glow necklace, not sure when exactly, but it was cool. I had a head lamp on
me, but didn’t end up using it since the course was lit pretty well. About a
half mile from the finish line I almost cried just thinking about how I was
going to be and Ironman, and all the hard work paid off. I kept it together
though. As I hit the home stretch, I high-fived as many people as I could, it
was great! I dropped off my water bottle and headlamp near the IOSTC tent
before I hit the shoot, since I didn’t really want those in the pictures. The
finishers shoot it unreal. I heard the announcer call my name, completely
butcher the last name, but announce me nonetheless. First time Ironman.
“Kathleen, you are an Ironman!” And I
am, forever. It’s a great feeling. There wasn’t anyone right behind me coming
down the finisher's shoot, so as I hit the timing mat archway I walked through it and
soaked in the moment. All smiles, it was a great feeling to cross that finish
line. The catchers were there, of course, but I didn’t need to be caught. I
felt good, legs were sore and so were my bicepts (I have no idea why) but
otherwise I felt pretty good. I made my way to the picture area. I saw Fred,
then Kim and it was amazing! Took several pictures to capture the moment then
went to the IOSTC tent to grab my gear that I had set aside. Said hi to
everyone quick, then went back over to the hotel to shower and change so I
could make it back to the finish for DeGaulle. I got a few pictures with Kim
and Kyleigh in the lobby of the hotel, then let them go back and rest while I
got cleaned up. The shower felt great! Clean, dry clothes were also pretty
nice. By the time I got back to the tent, I was ready to eat, and knew I needed
to. Mike helped me find the pizza tent, so I grabbed a couple slices and 2
bottles of water. It was nice to sit and eat, relaxing with friends and talking
about the race while we waited for D. It was great watching him finish,
and afterward I got a couple more slices of pizza and helped Fred get him back
to the room. In hindsight, we should have had him go to the medical tent, which
he ended up at eventually, but he was alright after an IV to help him get
re-hydrated. Once I knew he was gonna be ok, I called Kim to pick me up. I
grabbed just the things I would need for the night and left the rest in the
room, since I’d be meeting the guys in the morning to follow them back. Fred
was awesome and got all my gear bags and bike for me. He even brought my bike
pump back up to the room. It was so nice to have that already taken care of. I
know Fred had a long day out on the course, and he still was helping us all out
after he finished his shift. Kim and I made a quick stop at Five Guys for some
fries and pickles, just in case I got hungry during the night then went back to
our hotel. I was beat, but wanted to talk, and could have for awhile, but sleep
prevailed. I didn’t wake up hungry during the night, but I did eat one hell of
a breakfast the next morning! Pictures below!
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| Swim Exit |
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| Swim Exit |
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| Smiling because I was having fun, and because I saw the photographer. |
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| Cruising Right Along! |
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| Again with the photographer thing! |
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| Soaking up the finish! |
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| Kim and I at the finish line. |
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| The Goddaughter and I after the race. |
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| Mrs. Tricia and I! |
