Dawn McPherson - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!

I woke up to my alarm this morning (3 a.m.), shocked that I slept solid all night! I also could not believe how calm I felt...I mean, it's today - the Ironman is today, Dawn!
I showered (always like to start my day clean, since it will end pretty gross!), put finishing touches on my gear bags and hauled everything upstairs. Bill - my awesome brother - was not only getting up early to drive us to the race, but he got up even earlier and cooked up a big ol' breakfast for me to chow down. Normally my stomach is nervous sick, but this morning I felt fine and was able to eat. I had eggs, turkey bacon, and pancakes. Mmmmm. Oh yes, and coffee. Always drink coffee.
Shortly after eating, we were heading to pick up Troy. We were at his house at 4:30 a.m., and down to the race site by 5. It was great just getting dropped off. We walked right up to the folks doing the body marking - "2008" down each arm, and age "36" on the left calf. We made our way to the transition area and got our bikes ready - filled the fuel system with perpetuum and water, aired up the tires and just gave everything a once over. I put a few other things in my transition bags, used the ol' Johnny on the spot and left the transition area. Bill and Steve were waiting just outside, so they walked with me up to drop off my special needs bags (these are the bags you get mid-way through the bike and run). I was done. I was ready to go. It wasn't even 6 a.m., but I was sure happy to have everything ready to go. And, oddly, I was still fairly calm.
We walked around a little, joking about all kinds of things. It actually helped to keep my mood light. We saw the folks from Denver and Steve took some pics of all of us. Since the pros were starting at 6:25 (Go Ben - Go!!!), I started working on my wetsuit around 6:15, sunscreen, body glide, etc...I grabbed my hood, cap and goggles and headed to the start. I wasn't sure where Troy had gone, but I knew he needed some "alone" time before racing.
(TO BE CONTINUED...I gotta go to bed!)

Sorry race fans - it was way too late and my little peepers were closing while I typed, so I had to call it done for last night. I'm up now, sitting in front of the fire (yes, it's another beautiful morning in CDA!), drinking coffee, and trying to recount all the details of this extraordinary day/experience. It's difficult to put some of it into words, really. Alright, on with the race -

Bill took my backpack with all my dry clothes, Teva sandals, etc., I hugged him and headed down to the beach. There were already hundreds of athletes down there, helicopters cirling above, you could hear the announcer giving updates on the pros who were already well underway - amazing - it was all very cool. Ooops, I realized I wanted a little assistance with the top of my wetsuit - it's helpful to have someone kinda tug on the shoulders a bit to ensure full rotation of your arms. So, I could still see Bill up on the rock wall, and went up there and had him help me. He's a pro at this, 'cause he's helped me with the wetsuit at other races and when practicing out at smithville lake. Steve was back up there with him too, so it was just nice to see them both again before all the chaos begins. I was still feeling pretty calm, but a little concerned about where I would start the swim. I really wanted to start wide (out to the right), but the beach was pretty full of people out that way. I licked my goggles and got in the water. We couldn't swim out too far anyway, so I just swam several strokes out n' back, out n' back. It was cold, but didn't seem quite as cold as it had been 2 days ago.
I walked back up to the wall where my family now was standing. I couldn't really see anyone but Bill, steve and bailey...but I knew they were there. Alright, this is it. I'm walking down the beach. I tried looking around for Troy, but there was no way I could find him in this wall of wetsuits! (Wetsuits were mandatory for this race, 'cause the water temp did not get above 60 degrees. I think they said we were at 59 race morning.
SWIM
BOOM! the cannon went off and the clock was running on my first Ironman! I took my time behind the masses of people running/walking down into the water. I was kind of middle of the beach, to slightly right. I entered the water and started swimming. At first, I felt totally fine, focused, trying to shake off the cold and get in a rhythm. Just 100 yards or so in, I'm noticing the swarm of other swimmers around me - people are stopping and bobbing in the water, you're getting hit and swam into and ankles tugged on, etc. It's just scary and if you can't keep your wits about you, you're hosed. Well, I couldn't calm down. You can't really stop, 'cause you'll get plowed down by the folks behind you...so, there I am just 100+ yards into my ironman and I feel like I'm sunk. I bobbed for a second, trying to catch my breath - I swam a few more strokes. Then threw my hand in the air signaling for a guy on a surf board - he was literally to me in seconds. I pulled myself up about waist high and leaned across the board, holding my neoprene cap away from my face a little, just trying to breath. I don't mean to sound so dramatic, but it was at that moment I said to myself - get it together, Dawn. If you can't keep it together here, this day isn't going to happen. Figure it out and get this done! It was probably only 30 seconds or so, if that, that I held on to the surf board. I thanked the fella, he wished me well on the race, I pushed off, back into the water and was back at it. Long and lean, dawn...just keep moving forward. I imagined I was in the pool at the Y, just swimming laps as I've done for the past months. One stroke at a time, lift that right elbow...reach, pull, calm breathing...steady. Before I knew it, i was totally in a rhythm and felt great. Though the water was cold at the start, it felt so nice and clean now. I kept sighting ahead so I wouldn't swim too far off course, though I definitely was swinging (intentially) wide. I was in a groove and wanted to keep it going. You still felt or saw people around you, but it had definitely broken up a bit, and for that I was thankful!
As I neared the turn, the water was notably choppier. The turn got pretty congested, even out where I was, but I was still calm and collected. Next turn and i'm heading back into the swim beach - watching for the big, black archway...one stroke at a time. I am doing this. As I got closer to shore, I could hear the cheers of the crowd and the announcer - you could still hear the chopper overhead, and occasionally a rescue person yelling to a swimmer to turn or get back on course. Lots going on, that's for sure, but for the most part, I was in my own little world. Every now and again, I would find some heels to swim on, until they either pulled away, or I went around. I was dictating my pace, don't wanna push it now.
I was thrilled to hit that beach the first time - I knew I had this swim...one more loop - no sweat. I wondered if my family could see me getting out of the water (doubtful since everyone looks so much the same!), and I wondered if the mat registered a lap down, for those folks watching online. Back into the water I went. As I'm getting ready to start swimming again, I see Troy standing in the water. TROY GREEN, I yell...we're doing an IRONMAN! I ran up and hugged him and learned that he was struggling with some cramping in his legs...just relax and pretend you're in the pool, Troy. We're doing this! I wished him good luck and started my 2nd loop. I quickly fell back into the groove and was loving it. I kept thinking about relaxing my body - I didn't want a lot of tightness later in the day, because of stress here. I moved in a little bit more on this loop, 'cause it had thinned out even more. As I neared the turn, a kayak fella yelled at me...I guess he didn't think I was turning enough - that scared me a little, but I calmed right down and fell back into the groove. Next turn I had a guy swimming across me in the water - guess he wasn't sighting. I was still fine. Now I was on the homeward stretch...oh yeah! I kept my sights on the big, black arch, trying to see it each time I sighted. As I got closer and could hear the crowd again, I actually found myself smiling - I'm doing an Ironman today. I smiled all the way in and up to the beach. The crowd was wild!
T-1
I stopped on the grass, layed down and let a volunteer rip my wetsuit and booties off. More volunteers directed me to my transition bag and towards the women's changing tent. I saw my mom outside the gates by the tent - she was cheering loudly, taking pics, ringing her cowbell. It was good to see her. I ran into the tent. These volunteers are amazing! They pretty much do everything for you...I hardly had to do a thing. I sat down for a minute and toweled off a little, cleaned all the grass off my feet and put my shoes on. Then the jersey, race belt, helmet, sunglasses, threw fuel in my pockets...got sprayed down with sunscreen and left the tent. I ran through the bag area and into the bike corral. My bike was in a great location, near the exit, actually, so I didn't have far to go with it. The crowd was huge all along the fences, cheering wildly!
(to be continued in my next post - sorry this is so long, but I want to note as much detail as I recall...)