Redman, Race Day 1

(September 19th)
Rise and shine! The alarm sounded at 4:40. Ugh. I was actually pretty happy that I had a solid night of sleep! I'm ready to go. Coffee is priority #1, then food, then shower, clothes, potty, car - we're off to the race site. We got there with plenty of time to spare, and after dropping my transition bag by my bike, I found the line for timing chips. This line was kinda long, but moved along pretty quickly and before I knew it - I had a timing chip strapped to my ankle. Next line? Portapotty. Gross, but what's the alternative, right? This line seemed to take longer than the timing chips!
I made my way back into transition and started setting up. Transition mat-bike-helmet-sunglasses-running shoes-visor-socks-swim cap-goggles-wetsuit-fuel...yaddayaddayadda. As I'm setting things up, I hear this guy yelling what I thought was "Bob" at the time. He must have said it 4 times or more, when finally it occured to me that the voice was actually yelling, "Dawn"! It was Brett from Kansas City! He had attended my spinning classes for quite some time, and it was great seeing him here. He told me he is now an Ironman also - yeah Brett!! It really was fun running into him.
I continued setting up, and just about the time I was ready to roll, I went over to chat with Tiernan...it couldn't have been more than a minute and I felt a drop of rain. WHAT?! It's raining. Boo Rain. Boo. At first it was just a drizzle and we were sure it would stop quickly. Well, as it turned out, it went from drizzle to downpour pretty quickly. I grabbed my wetsuit, goggles, and swim cap and headed for cover under the shelter. It was pretty chilly, but there were lots of us huddled in the shelter. It continued to rain.
The full distance athletes were supposed to start at 7. Well, the race announcer came over the speakers and said they were discussing what to do - sections of the bike course were pretty covered in water, so they just weren't sure. They kept updating us every few minutes - usually just saying that they were still talking and would tell us just as soon as a decision was made. At one point, they told us that we might do a swim/run/swim. Come again? Um, can you imagine getting back into a wetsuit after being sweaty and wet? Could be interesting. I wasn't excited about possibly missing out on the bike leg!
So, while we're under the shelter, I decided to go ahead and get into my wesuit to get warm! It was interesting working my way into the wetsuit while crammed under a shelter with all these people. Thanks to Tiernan's help, I was in! We started talking to this other gal and her fam/friends who were under that shelter. When I decided to walk back over to transition, I told her I was heading over there and she wanted to come along. We got to chatting and guess what? She was from Kansas City too! Not just KC, but Smithville...what? I had to come to OKC to meet another northland triathlete? :) Nan was doing her first 1/2 Ironman, but she has BIG plans ahead. In just 2 months, she'll be doing her first IRONMAN!!! GO NAN! We made our way back into transition and I just couldn't believe how "flooded" everything was! It was just drenched.
Finally, they announced that the race would go on - all three legs! We were told that at one part of the bike course that was flooded, so we would have to dismount and go around this section on foot. They encouraged folks not to stress about setting a PR, but to just go out there and have a good time, and that we did!
As the girls were heading down to the swim start, I was about middle of the pack, and heard them say, "60 seconds!" Uh, hello folks...we gotta move. Well, needless to say, we didn't all get down the ramp before the gun went off and it was time to SWIM!

I thought - no way do I wanna start in the middle of this mess...so I held back for a few minutes. I literally saw all the women up ahead. I was dead last. Hmmm. I don't like that either. Since the waters had cleared, I started to swim. I felt good, but was taking it easy. I quickly felt like I was gettin in a groove, and really felt great. Slowly but surely, I started passing these pink caps. Ok, I feel better that I'm not at the back. :-) We swam along the shore, three left turns, and then back into the RedBull arch! Once I hit the 2nd turn, I picked it up just a little bit more, but wasn't ever really in a big rush. That said, I ended up finishing the 1.2 mile swim with a solid time of 40:06.

I took my time in transition, since everything was soaking wet. Tiernan was a great cheerleader, and cheered me off on the bike! Wow. I learned a valuable lesson today (one that I should have totally learned before now!)...always pack rain/cool weather gear in your transition bag - always. I was cooooold on that bike! It was spitting rain as I headed out on the 56 mile route, but aside from the cold, rain, and occasional wind, my legs were feeling F-I-N-E! It was an interesting ride with all the water. There was no relaxing and settling in, because you had to watch for water-covered potholes and such. The good news was that it was pretty flat! Yeah for flat! I tried to just stay pretty comfortable and not kill it. I finished the ride in 3:04.

My bike to run transition was comical. I literally picked up my socks and had to wring them out. I also dumped water out of my tennis shoes. Never before have I stopped at a portapotty during a race...I did here. And, I was off on the run. The run wasn't my best performance ever. I couldn't believe how many puddles we were running through. This guy in front of me ran into one of the puddles and came out without his shoe! It was somewhere in the red clay/mud that was now covering pretty much everything. Too funny! The good thing was that everyone had a really good attitude about it, and I enjoyed being out there. I was amazed at how many KC athletes I saw out there too - very cool!

When I came around to the turnaround on the run, some more fans had joined Tiernan (Scott, Ann, their kiddos, and Tiernan's husband, James came to watch us race). It was good to see familiar faces and have the extra support out there. The sun finally decided to join us, around mile 8 of my run. So, while I wish I could've been a little zippier with the 13.1 miles, I did finish it (2:45). Coming into the finish was a beautiful sight...a big long trail of red....I was happy to be done! (6:39:43)

I claimed my medal and my finishers shirt, grabbed a drink and was greeted by my cheering section! Woohoo - another 1/2 Ironman in the books!!! Now, could someone please find me a chair?!

More to come....