IMAZ, Anything is possible!!

In July I thought my racing for the year was done. Heck, I thought I may never be able to run again, ever. I was walking down the stairs at a swim meet and felt like I was shot in the back of the leg with 1000 rubber bands all at the same time! It hurt like nothing I have ever felt before. I thought for sure I had torn my Achilles tendon. I went to physical therapy, doctors, acupuncture, massage. Nothing was helping. I finally reached a point of desperation and drove to Boulder to see Bob Cranny. The minute I walked in I knew it was the right decision. For the next 8 weeks I spent two days a week making the 1hr 15min commute each way to Boulder. I was finally cleared to start running. Now when I say running I mean more along the lines of jogging slow. I also ran on the Alter G anti-gravity treadmill one day a week. Slowly I added time to my runs and topped out at a 15.8mile run on the Alter G and a 7.5mile run on my own feet with full body weight. After 16 weeks of pain and feeling like I was never going to race, Bob had me feeling like maybe, just maybe, I could do an Ironman.

Ironman Arizona is my most favorite race. It feels local, as it is such a short flight and I know the area so well. The volunteers are truly amazing, and the spectators are rowdy and supportive! I was feeling great this year and had not come down with my usual pre-race sinus infection. I believe it has to do alot with my diet, and eliminating Gluten has kept the germs at bay!

Race morning was so relaxed that I had to remind myself several times that I was doing an Ironman. I was able to eat all my breakfast without feeling like I was going to have it all come back up from the butterflies swimming in my tummy. I had no pressure, no expectations, no one to disappoint or let down. I knew that I had worked so hard on my swimming and biking that all I had to do was "walk" the marathon and I would be a 17 time Ironman finisher! Too damn cool!

The swim start was crazy brutal. I got in right away so I could swim to my spot and hold on to my position prior to the cannon going off. Bad move number one. I was so COLD! Once the cannon sounded I could not get moving, my arms and legs felt frozen in place! I got punched, kicked, swam over, and pushed around from all sides. People were panicking, all I wanted to do was swim hard and get out of the water. Once I got out, I was immediately disappointed with my time. Bad move number two, don't look at the clock when you come out of the swim.

Once I got onto the bike course I knew it was time to move. I could tell we would have a headwind all the way out the B-line highway, so I took it easy and tired to keep my cadence high and my HR low. Out on the second loop I looked down and saw the biggest thorn I have ever seen sticking out of my tire. I decided to ride hard until it went flat and deal with it then. Funny thing is when it did go flat, it was right in front of a mechanical tent. My luck at Ironman races was turning around! I drank and ate while the boys from the bike shop changed my flat and by the time Larry caught up to me I was ready to get rolling again. Bad move number three, I left a half full bottle of EFS on the side of the road. For the rest of the bike course Larry and I went back and forth, pushing each other to ride hard. Coming into transition my legs felt amazing, I was worried that maybe I did not ride hard enough.

At the start of the run Larry ran up to me and said nice job! I was so excited that we were running together, for the first time in like 14 Ironmans! I was sharing this great day with my best friend, my husband! What more could a girl ask for right? It was all smiles and roses until we hit mile 12, I wanted to stop, I'm sure there were tears. He convinced me to keep moving and to be honest it hurt more to walk than it did to run. So I "ran". By mile 17 we were both hurting so much, Larry decided to walk a bit longer at each aide station and I just had to keep moving forward. I wanted so much to finish together, that's what will keep us coming back I guess.

All in all it was a great day for the Orgills! Not a PR for either of us, but good lessons learned. Oh and the race day pics are hilarious!! Thanks for reading, Happy Holidays!

Cheers