I AM AN IRONMAN!!!!!!

A week ago yesterday, I became an Ironman. I joined this illustrious group of hard working, dedicated and sometimes a little nutty athletes. This has been a dream of mine since 1982. Why 1982? Well, I saw ABC’s “World Wide of Sports” broadcast of Ironman and saw Julie Moss crawl to the finish line. I thought to myself, “I will do this one day.” Needless to say, it would be years down the road before any of this would begin. I had to learn how to swim and I did. Let’s fast forward to the day before the big day with the practice swim. We get to Tempe Town Lake and it is time to squoosh myself into my wetsuit. Don’t let anyone tell you that everyone looks good in a wetsuit. It’s a lie, all lies!!!! I decided to wear my neoprene swim cap under my regular swim cap thinking that the water would be cold as it was last year but I did not have my neoprene booties due to my cat chewing a hole in them before I left. I jumped into the lake and was pleasantly surprised that the water was cold but doable. I treaded water for a while and started swimming. I got kicked, slapped and swam over but I was okay. I felt that I could have swam forever. When I go out, I decided that I would not wear my neoprene swim cap and I would just wear 2 caps and ear plugs. We went back to hotel after lunch to pick up our bikes and gear bags to drop off. I hopped on my bike and everything felt as okay as it could. Dropped off my bike and got ready for dinner with my team. To say that I was eerily calm was an understatement. I have never felt so calm which meant either everything would go well or I would crash and burn. Race Morning: I woke up at I think 4am or so and proceeded to get ready. I had my prerace oatmeal and the Skratch Labs Cinnamon Apple hydration mix (you drink it hot) and just stayed quiet like I normally do on race morning. We proceeded to make our walk to the race site and I had my iPod on listening to Jill Scott’s version of “Lovely Day” and the entire “Purple Rain” soundtrack. I needed to just ignore all of the nervous energy and get ready for an epic day. I got to my bike and had my tires topped up along with filling all of my bottles. Once I was done, I walked over to my gear bags for one final look to make sure everything was okay. Now it was time to put on my wetsuit and stand in the Portapotty line. I mean, there is NEVER enough whenever I race. I know that there is an awesome algorithm that I can created to insure that there are more than enough but alas, that’s not happening. While trying to stay calm, I ran into a friend of mine and I proceeded to almost cry. Almost. He reassured me that I would finish. Ran into another friend and I guess it was hug the crap out of Joy day because I guess I looked like a deer in headlights again. Finally, I can go to the can. Whew! Relief. But, I had to run and drop off my special needs bags. That was taken care of and then it was time to drop off the morning clothes bag and get ready for the swim. As soon as I put my goggles on, they snapped. Oh shit! Thank God I had another pair of goggles in my morning clothes bag. Thank you to the volunteer who helped me out. Got in line and was alternating between hydrating and pouring water down my wetsuit to warm up. Now, it was the moment of truth. Drop off my glasses and get ready to jump in the water and wait….. The Swim I inched my way towards the front as much as I could. I took a deep breath and got ready for battle, aka Ironman swim start. The cannon went off and it was time to rock and roll. The first 200 yards or so, I was kicked, grabbed and swam over but I held my ground. I did kick a guy in the face because I guess he thought that he could a free ride grabbing onto my ankles. No buddy! I started passing buoy after buoy and I was ecstatic. I wasn’t going the pace that I hoped but I didn’t care. I was doing this. On my 3rd round of sighting, I saw the big red blurry thing which was the turn buoy. Everything is a blur without my glasses on. It was a bottleneck. Guys were shoving me and I shoved back. I finally saw the orange buoys and it was time to head home. Now at this point last year, I was pulling due to my legs seizing up. This did not happen! I kept swimming and smiling and breathing. Oh, and don’t forget inhaling diesel fumes. Yummy!!!! This would come back to haunt me. Once I passed the under the bridge, I knew I had about 200/300 yards to go. I started picking up my pace but then it happened. A migraine hit me. I decided to ignore and kept swimming. I picked up my kick and was hauling ass. I made it to the steps. I popped my bum on the steps and was helped out of the water by some awesome volunteers. I started unzipping my wetsuit and the next set of volunteers were there to strip off my wetsuit. I was so friggin’ happy that I almost forgot my glasses. Swim done, 2 more to go. T1 (transition from swim to bike) I made the decision to not change into another pair of tri shorts. I’ll wait until T2. I did have some chicken broth because I was cold as hell. I was shivering badly-same thing that happened last year but not to where I was blue. I threw on my compression sleeves, socks, cycling shoes, camelbak, race belt and helmet and was ready to take on the bike. The Bike I finally mounted my bike and I took off. Let me tell you a secret-I don’t like the bike. Maybe it is due to having a bike that is not the right size, maybe it’s my own little insecurities, but I would rather have a longer swim and run. : P I’m riding along and after the first aid station around mile 15 or so, I heard the whoosh. It is similar to be a quarterback and hearing footsteps before you are knocked out. It was a group of professionals riding with their disc wheels in a peloton. Umm, hello??? There is NO DRAFTING IN IRONMAN PEOPLE!!! You are to be 4 bike lengths behind the closest biker in front of you. If you are in their “draft” zone, you have 20 seconds to overtake them which means that they have to fall back, which is what I did. I read the rules forward, backwards and upside down. Anyway, back to the bike. Around mile 30, I had to get off the bike...not due to being in pain, I had to throw up. Not good...Got back on the bike. I would do this 4 more times and I think it may have been from inhaling diesel fumes or my nutrition plans A and B not working in my favor. I make the first loop and it was a tight turn. Every time I had to make that tight turn, I would scream, “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit….HOT DAMN, I didn’t fall!” No really. On the turn going into the 2nd half of loop 2, I slowed down considerably, made the turn, grabbed a water bottle but proceed to see a guy kiss the pavement, literally due to dehydration and just going to fast/not paying attention to the volunteers. There were a lot of accidents on this bike course, but you have to be hyper aware of your surroundings along with staying on your nutrition/hydration plan. Once I made it to around mile 67, I stopped for my Special needs bag. Some people put special treats, extra water bottles, more Butt Butter or Ride Glide. I had 2 new water bottles, a Coca Cola (don’t judge) and Gummy Lifesavers. Can I tell you that was the best damn pop in history! It was fabulous. Now back on the bike: I made the turnaround for my last loop (3 loop course-remember) and I started doing the math and then I started to smile. I was going to make the bike cutoff with plenty of time to spare. I was the HAPPIEST BIKER in the world. Why??? I didn’t make the cutoff last year. I make the turnaround and when I saw mile 100, I knew it was just a little while longer. It was the LONGEST 12 miles ever but I was still smiling. I got towards the bike dismount line and I was ecstatic. The volunteers asked me if I wanted anything off of my bike. My response, “You can throw it in Tempe Town Lake for all I care.” T2 (transition from bike to run) I picked up my run gear and ran into the changing tent. Some of my friends were in the tent and of course I was giddy. I changed into my running skirt, visor, running shoes and socks and of course, I had to pick out my hair. I slapped on my hydration belt and it was off to run. Can I tell you how happy I was to run. I’m not fast and I’m not slow but I will get it done. I ran past the TriMonster tent and saw some more friends and was just happy and smiling. At around mile 4, I handed the clip on part to my glasses to one of my friends since it was getting dark. Up ahead, there was the next batch of friends asking me how I was doing. Of course, I was happy and hungry. Damn 140.6 miles of racing will do that to you. Being a 2 loop course messes with your head since you will see mile 18, before you see mile 6, but whatever. I was making friends on the course, finding out where people were from, singing songs in my head….you know, a typical Joy thing to do. On the turnaround for loop #2, I didn’t need my special needs bag so I kept going. Mile 15 was when I rolled my ankle. Clumsy me, and I was starting to get tired and everything was hurting. I kept going. The volunteers made everything so much better. I had to start walking at mile 18 but started to do a run/walk. Potato chips, water, banana and pop became my favorites foods at that point. I was slowing down but I kept moving. 8 more miles...Then mile 25 showed up along with my partner in crime. He was running beside me and reality started to sink in. I was going to be an Ironman. I had to walk a little, run a little but I was going to make it. He showed me wear his girlfriend had wrote in chalk on the sidewalk since I didn’t see it the first time. I almost lost it! I kept going, one foot in front of the other. My body was in sheer pain-everything hurt and then I saw the lights of the finish chute... It felt as if the whole weight of the world had fallen on me. The emotion that I felt cannot be described by words alone. It wouldn’t do it justice...just the amount of hours I spent training, working, lack of sleep, the self doubt, everything came crashing down. Once Mike Reilly said, “Joy, You Are An Ironman!” everything was all good but that’s not the best part...Mike Reilly led me back to the finishing chute and had the crowd say to me, “Joy, You are an Ironman!” and Jordan Rapp, professional Triathlete, awesome guy, placed my medal around my neck! I do have to admit that crossing the finish line was the best thing in the world. The volunteers were just AMAZING and can I tell you that I had the world’s best french fries EVER. Once I sat down, I started shivering because I got very cold all of a sudden. A volunteer gave me her sweatshirt and I was so thankful to her. But, she was thanking me for being there and crossing the finish line as a person of color. The After Show It’s the only way to describe it. After I hobbled to get my morning clothes bag and my other gear, we went to Loco Patron. We stayed for a while and it was kind of surreal on people who knew me because of my finish. I was so humbled. When we finally got back to the hotel, I had to take a shower. That is where I discovered that my wetsuit chafed the living crap out of my neck - it never did that before and that was with body glide along with my heart rate monitor cutting my wrist and the timing chip cutting the front of my lower leg. But that is ok, because I had a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream waiting for me and I went to bed an a Ironman finisher. I just want to thank everyone who believed in me even when there were times throughout this year that I didn't. I want to especially thank FFC- where I work and train, TriMonster, Team to End AIDS, Chicago Tri Club, Team Dream, Sole Tri Sisters, Team Bright Pink, the Miles family (hey, I have to live up to my last name), all of the volunteers on the course and just everyone who wished me such great juju, good luck, prayers, etc. It meant the world to me!!!!! Thank you, thank you and thank you... This is the end of this blog but my new blog will be debuting soon (same URL but new title). It will still be my adventures in multisport but also will mark my return to marathon (in February) and going back to Arizona to improve on my time and changing some things up. I hope that in the new year my migraines disappear. That's all folks!