Pre-Race:
We set every alarm we could get our hands on. One was set for 4:00am, the next was 4:02am, then 4:04am, and finally 4:06am. There was no way we were gonna over-sleep! We both woke up fairly quickly, and I think we both had slept pretty well. The beds at the Hilton are awesome!! We'd rehearsed this morning a bunch of times in training, so we knew exactly what to do.
Breakfast came first. That's the whole point of getting up so early: eating (and digesting in time for the start of the race). It was pretty much peanut butter and jelly for both of us. We double-checked that we had everything we needed then headed out the door.
Weather wasn't looking the best, but we had pretty much figured that was the way it was gonna be, so no real surprise there. Temps were in the 50's and windy. But at 5am, it wasn't raining, which made me very happy and at least a little hopeful for the rest of the day.
First stop was dropping off special needs bags by the capitol building. Sunshine had answered a desperate call from me on Saturday to pick up another pair of gloves for me at Skunk River, and I decided to use those instead of the mountain bike gloves I bought the day before. So, those had to be taken to my transition bags.
The next order of business was undressing the bikes from the night before. We'd covered the seats and computers with plastic bags for protection should it rain overnight. Also, we needed to pump up the tires and get them race-ready!
Next up was body marking. There was quite a line for that. It was still pitch black out, so some of the body markers were even wearing headlamps to see what they were doing.
Once we had all the pre-race duties out of the way, we headed off to the pre-determined meeting location in search of our Iron-Sherpas. They were all there and dressed in their gold Iowa State shirts (although some ISU shirts were buried underneath layers of warmer clothing).
The Iron-Sherpas knew their jobs. Roehr and I would need them to take our gear (the stuff we wore down to the start of the race) and drop it off in the room, then head out to take lots of pictures. They also had the responsibility of retrieving our bikes and transition bags after we left T2 and returning those to the room. We needed cheering all over the course, then they needed to get some warm clothes to us at the finish line. Sounds pretty easy, but it was a pretty big responsibility and they did an awesome job! Plus it was about 20 things that we didn't have to think about in the already crazy day.
At some point, the sun started to come up (though not "out"). We knew it was getting time to put on our wetsuits and make our way down to the water for the swim!
The Swim:
There was music playing all morning. It had started out with Enya and some other "soothing" music, but as the morning progressed, the intensity of the music progressed as well. I don't remember what any of the songs were, but I could feel my heart rate increasing, then I got excited which gradually transformed into nervous. My final emotion as I walked toward the water was, "Oh, YEAH!! I'm doing the Ironman!"
I left Roehr with the Kraft gang, as I wanted this moment all to myself. I spotted my friend Tom, who was volunteering as a wetsuit stripper, on the other side of the mob of swimmers trying to make their way into the water. I cut against the grain and got one last hug from Tom before I made my way into the water. Mike Rielly was on the microphone alternating between some really cool, encouraging words and basically yelling at people to get in the water as quickly as possible so we could get the race under way. We looked like a slow moving neoprene lava flow making our way to the start.
The Ironman Wisconsin swim is a deep-water start meaning everyone is in the water basically treading water until the gun goes off. The water temp was about 70-72 degrees (lots warmer than the air temp), but still a bit chilly as the first streams of water make their way into your wetsuit through the zipper! Basically, you can line up anywhere between the shore and the first buoy to start the race. And you also need to line up according to your anticipated swim time, so you don't get run over at the start by faster swimmers, nor swim over the top of slower swimmers who started out too close to the front. As you can imagine, it's a bit challenging to know exactly where the best place to be is. I was floating around about 10 yeards behind the start line, and a guy kinda mentions to no one in particular, "If you're not swimming in less than an hour, you need to get back!" My goal time was 1:30, so I started to kinda push back a little bit.
As I looked around, I could see a mass of white caps (men) and just a handful of dark caps (women). I knew from dinner on Friday that the men outnumbered the women almost 4 to 1. It was gonna be an ugly swim. We knew we were getting close to the start time. Everyone was telling the other participants to have a good race, etc. Then the cannon goes off, and the calm waters turned into a massive washing machine. There were arms, legs, feet, hands, and heads everywhere.
It always takes me a little while to get into my rhythm, and I thought that this big of a race would take me even longer, but I must have lined up in about the right spot, because I think I was able to swim without too many people around after about 200 yards. The 2.4 mile swim is a 2-loop rectangular swim: about half a mile across on the long sides and just under a tenth of a mile on the short sides. I was able to swim the rest of the first leg without too many incidences. The biggest bottle-neck of the swim occurs at the first corner. Swimmers who were way spread out at the start all converge to a single point, and this is where things started to get crazy. It is a really hard area to swim through. Because of the congestion, everyone has to slow up or it'll get ugly very quickly. Since most people don't have their heads down in the water, their legs are usually below them (rather than straight out to the back). When you try to kick to gain some forward momentum, it is usually in the form of a side-stroke kick or a breaststroke kick. Both of these kicks are hard to anticipate and hurt when they make contact with someone else. It was pretty violent through the first turn, and things didn't spread out much over the short distance to the next turn, so turn two was just as bad.
I think we all thought that things would improve once we made it to the backstretch - things should spread back out and space out considerably to the start of the next lap. However, the conditions overall were even worse on the back stretch. First, the wind was clearly out of the east. We were now head-on with the waves that had been pushing us along during the first leg. The water was much rougher, and the speeds were much slower. This is also the section that I got grabbed and pulled down a couple of times, kicked in the stomach (I haven't figured out how that happened yet...), and just basically beat up. So, between the weather, waves, and other swimmers, I was ready to get back and get started on the second lap.
People close to me know that I don't tolerate cold weather very well. My hands and feet turn white and go basically numb in conditions that are anything less than perfect. It's just something I've learned to live with. Of course, at the start of the race, I was cold, excited, nervous, and under-dressed. Not a good combination for me. So, as I made my way into the water before the swim, my hands and feet were already frozen solid - I couldn't feel much in either location. I knew it would improve as the race got under way, but it still makes things a bit more challenging for me. Bythe middle of the first lap, I noticed that blood had indeed returned to both my hands and feet (although it took longer for the warmth to reach my feet), so I was feeling more like myself and enjoying the day more.
After what seemed like a long time, we reached the third turn of the first lap. My mind was starting to go places it shouldn't. In the midst of all the turmoil, I was actually having fun. I keep thinging how awesome it was to actually be doing the Ironman! This wasn't just a training swim or some other triathlon on the road to the Ironman, it was THE Ironman! My head started to think about what was coming up next and how the bike would go. I knew I needed to turn off those thoughts and just stay in the moment. I remembered the interview that Mike Reilly did with the oldest female competitor at the Athlete's Dinner. He asked her what advise she had for the rest of the participants. She reminded us that we needed to worry about the swim during the swim, the bike during the bike, and the run during the run. We shouldn't be thinking ahead or back, just live in the moment. As I remembered her words, I put my head back into the game and kept on swimming.
Lap two was less congested. I really felt pretty good in the water despite the conditions. The second lap seemed to go by more quickly, and I never really got tired or wanted the swim to get over for any reason other than I was pumped to get going on the rest of the race. As I came around the last buoy, I noticed that there was a race clock on the shore. I was too far away to read it, but every time I looked up to sight, I saw it become more and more clear. I knew the time I wanted to get, and started to laugh to myself as I got closer and closer. I was right on my goal time (in fact, my official swim time was exactly 1 hour, 30 minutes, 0 seconds!). That felt like a great way to start the race!
Swim to Bike Transition (T1):
There were a ton of volunteers in wetsuits in the water helping to pull people up the steep bank and out of the water. I knew Tom said that he and his friend would be the first two wetsuit strippers as we came out of the water, so I looked for him as soon as I got out. He was busy with someone else, but his buddy was free. They get the wetsuits off in a flash - before you even know what is going on! I had just unzipped and pulled my arms out when I got in front of him. He yanked it down to my waist, then had me plop down on my butt and he ripped it the rest of the way off my feet! I jumped up, grabbed my wetsuit and took off in a quick jog towards the helix and headed up. People were cheering like crazy. It was fun to run up the helix and just look at all the people lining it the whole way up. I saw a couple of people who I knew and everytime I saw someone, it put just a little more spring in my step!
I saw Roehr's friend, Sue, at the top of the helix. She was running over to see someone in her cheering section. I kept on trucking into T1. I expected to see a lot of people in T1, but it was way crazier than I thought. My mom was working in the transition area, but I never saw her. She did leave me a little note on my transition bag to let me know she was thinking of me. That helped a lot!!
Basically, there were naked people everywhere, so when in Rome... My volunteer was great. Besides getting everything out of the bag and somewhat organized, she untwisted my sports bra, which can become a nightmare when you try to put one on and you are still a little wet from the swim. I'm sure she saw more than she bargained for, but she was a lifesaver! I put on my bike shorts, leg warmers, bike jersey, arm warmers, jacket, helmet, gloves, and sunglasses. It wasn't the least bit sunny out, but I was not about to be without them! This was to be the warmest point of my entire day.
I carried my shoes (they are hard to run in - especially on concrete, and I didn't want to risk taking a fall at that point) and ran barefoot out of the change room and across the parking ramp to the bikes. I heard Sparkle, Sunshine, and Cara cheering for me and even managed to give them a wave as I headed to my bike.
I could see Royce standing next to my rack. He'd volunteered to help hand out bikes, and it was great to have him there. He held my bike while I put on my shoes. I gave him a quick hug, grabbed my bike and trotted down to the mount line, got on the bike and headed down the other helix out to start my 112-mile adventure.
The Bike:
It didn't rain at all during the swim (tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor...), but it had started by the time I made it on to my bike. Soon my sunglasses were covered with water, but thankfully, my legs were fresh and I was still pretty warm, so I didn't curse the wind too much in the beginning.
The IM Wisconsin bike course is sometimes called a lollipop course. It has a 16-mile section that goes from Madison to the town of Verona (this section is like the stick of the lollipop). Verona is the starting point for the 40-mile loop that you ride twice (that takes you to Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains before heading back to Verona). This is the "sucker" (no pun intended) part of the lollipop. The ride ends with another 16 miles back into Madison for the marathon. In June, I'd ridden the 2 loops, but I'd never been on the out-and-back section except in a car.
It wasn't bad starting off. The out-and-back is pretty flat (relative to the rest of the course) in the early miles. I hadn't stopped to use the restroom in T1. I think I had so much adrenaline, that I never noticed I needed to go. By about mile 5, I noticed! I knew there would be an aid station (and a kybo) at mile 10, so I just hung on for dear life. I was starting to have cramps by the time I reached the aid station, so I jumped off at the first stop. I was just starting to get cold and wet at this point, so I did my duty, readjusted all my gear, and got back on the bike. I knew I had a long way to go, and I wanted to cover as many miles as I could before I started to feel bad. After the potty-break, I started drinking more water, and I started in on my nutrition plan.
I had 2 flasks of Perpetuem, each with enough calories for 4 hours. The plan was to drink nothing but water til mile 10, then have some Perpetuem every 5 miles, completing bottle number one by the time I got to Bike Special Needs (at mile 56 - the halfway point). Nearly all my rides this summer had been in the blazing heat. That is usually the weather for IM WI, so I thought I was set. I hadn't really been prepared for how my body would feel in the cold! I found it is harder to eat when you are very hot, so I thought things would go down easier in the cold. Actually, it was harder to remind mydelf to eat and drink in the cold, as I didn't get hungry or thirsty like I do in the heat.
I survived the inital 16 miles without too many woes. I passed Sue right after my potty stop. We chatted quickly, then proceeded to play a cat-and-mouse game for the rest of the ride. I'd pass her, then she'd pass me. We were never very far from each other on the bike. I was relieved when we finally got to Verona. Now I would be in more familiar territory. There are also a lot more hills on the loops, but at least I knew what to expect!
I knew the roads would be a little bit more slick due to the rain. I had to be more careful, on lap one at least, then I could get after it more on lap two when I knew the conditions better. There are just a couple smaller hills from Verona to Mt. Horeb. But they are difficult because they aren't just ups and downs. Most of them involve going up, then near the top, having to turn one direction or another. Or, the downhills have turns at the bottoms, so you can't use much momentum to help you up the next hill. After the first few hills, we ride on a county road for quite a stretch, make a right onto a steep uphill, then you know that Mt. Horeb is coming up soon. But the stretch of road leading into Mt. Horeb seems to go on forever. I would just start thinking, "I remember this section, Mt. Horeb is right around the corner!" But, then I'd realize that that wasn't the section I was thinking of, it must be this next section! This game went on forever in my head, until I was finally in Mt. Horeb.
In the midst of that section, I was riding along, minding my own business and I started to "feel" someone ride up on my left side very closely. It was almost uncomfortable how close this person was; it just felt strange. I was wondering who this jack-o was who was trying to cause an accident. I glanced over my shoulder, and as I realized who it was, we both started to laugh. Sue was just messing with me. We shared a good laugh then and throughout the race as we kept passing each other.
The climb into Mt. Horeb is deceivingly long. It looks pretty short, although steep, but it's one of those hills that makes Wisconsin such a tricky race. As you think you are reaching the top, the road turns left into town and keeps climbing. It ends up being about 3 times as long as it looks by the time the hill comes to an end. By this point, I was starting to get a little cold and the wind was starting to pick up. As the route leaves Mt. Horeb, we were hit with a very strong headwind and few trees to block the chill.
The road then turns into a virtual roller coaster - lots of big ups and downs. Of course, the winds and the wet roads didn't allow me to feel like I could really let loose to take advantage of gravity! After leaving the hills, the route flattens out for a bit as we made our way to Cross Plains. Again, the headwind was brutal. It was really starting to get hard to stay warm or keep moving forward as any decent pace. Plus, I knew what was coming up after Cross Plains - the BIG hills.
By the time I reached the aid station in Cross plains, I was hungry. Perpetuem works but I don't think I was taking in near enough at that point. I moved away from my nutrition plan and started eating Power Bars and bananas. It just felt good to have some solid food in my stomach. One rule of racing (especially an Ironman) is to stick with what you've practiced in training and not introduce anything new on race day. But this race day was nothing like my training, and I knew that drastic situations called for drastic measures. Thankfully, the gamble worked out for me.
I remembered the three upcoming hills vividly from the training weekend. I knew they'd be tough, but I also knew they were doable. The fans were awesome. I really thought that no one would be out in the rain and cold to cheer on the hills, but there were lots and lots of people there! They made such a difference in getting athletes up the hill. They had cow bells, drums, and other noise makers, plus lots of people were in costume. The worst had to be the hairy guy dressed in a short black dress and a red wig. He was pretty nasty looking, but it gave me something else to think about rather than the lack of oxygen in my lungs!
On the third (and what I think is the worst of the three) hill, I was starting to hurt. Thankfully, all the fans from Des Moines were there and cheering loudly! They were great and made me feel like I was the only athlete they were there to cheer for! Craig ran (or walked - I wasn't moving very fast) up the hill with me and said some encouraging words. Jenny, true to form, was very calm and reassuring. She asked how I was doing and reminded me to keep up with my nutrition and water intake. One of her best attributes is her ability to seperate the hype from reality and help keep her athletes grounded. It worked, but I really wished that they would still be there when I came back around on the second loop. I knew they'd need to get back to cheer on the faster racers during the run, but I let their encouragement carry me on and back to Verona.
As I headed back to Verona, I started to notice that hands were feeling pretty strange. They just weren't able to do exactly what my brain commanded them to do. Shifting was becoming troublesome, but I could still get it done. I figured that I would stop at Special Needs and hopefully warm up a bit and eat my Snickers Marathon bar (my special treat!).
As I was riding through Verona, I was pedaling along a pretty lonely stretch with a lot of car traffic. Someone drove up behind me and yelled, "Go Julie!" I wasn't sure how anyone would know my name since my race number (that also has my name on it) was tucked underneath my jacket. I glanced over to see my friend Dave waving out of the car window. Dave lives in Cedar Rapids, so, although he is a triathlete, I wasn't sure what he was doing up in Madison or why he knew to look for me, but it was a good surprise nonetheless. He took a couple pictures:
I was smiling because it was cool to be able to have them drive along side me as I rode (not because I was having any fun - because I wasn't...). It made that lonely stretch a little less lonely.
As I passed intersection that would send riders either onto their second loop or back to Madison if they had finished loop two, I was starting to feel the fatigue and the cold of the first 56 miles of the race. Sadly, I had to take the turn to the second loop, but I knew special needs was just ahead. I managed to pull over and get a volunteer to hand me my bag so I'd never have to climb completely off my bike. I also needed some lip balm, but my hands were so cold that I almost couldn't grip the cap to take it off. When I did get it off, my fine motor skills were not functioning to the point that I could hang onto the cap. It went flying somewhere, but I didn't have the desire to hunt around for it. Plus, in the grand scheme of the race, that cap meant very little to me.
After tearing the wrapper on my candy bar with my teeth (hands couldn't handle that task), I rode away for loop two while I ate. The second lap was not much different than the first, except I could feel my physical state changing to something I'd never experienced before. And, I was really starting to look forward to getting off the bike and on to the run.
The best part of loop two was having my cheering section set up on the hill into Mt. Horeb. They were going crazy when they finally saw me ride up. The pom poms and cameras were going like mad! That little boost carried me through the next few miles.
The wind was still crazy and I think the rain was coming down harder on the second lap. I just kept reminding myself that the only way to get this bike ride over with was to keep riding. So that's what I did. Pedal, drink, pedal, eat, pedal, repeat. I was able to ride a little more aggressively on some of the downhills now because I knew more about how my bike would react in the conditions. So, the downhills were getting faster, but the uphills were getting slower. By the time I reached the final three hills of the loop, I was not moving very well at all. My fingers (and basically my hands, for that matter) were useless. I could use them to downshift (very important, as my legs had little go left in them), but I had to use my whole palm if I needed a higher gear.
I had little time to enjoy the fact that the hilliest part of the race was over. I still had the longest 16 miles of my life ahead of me. I had to really concentrate on willing my legs to turn over. The whole way back to Madison was into a headwind, it was late in the afternoon (3-4pm), and I was soaked to the bone, cold, and miserable. If I let up my concentration for even a second, all I wanted to do was cry. Somehow (I'm still not sure how), I made it back to Madison. I counted down every fraction of every last mile. There were still points in the final 5 miles where I didn't honestly think I could do it. But, at long last, I was making my way up the same helix I had ridden down exactly 8 hours earlier.
A nice man grabbed my bike and before he took it away, he asked if there was anything I needed off of my bike. All I could think of was my lip balm. I tried to reach down to pick it up, and this was when I realized my hands were in big-time trouble. I just looked a the guy and told him I couldn't do it. He grabbed it for me, put it in the palm of my hand, then took my bike away. I balanced the cap-less lip balm in my hand as I went inside - I couldn't get my hand to actually squeeze the container. Right as I came into the building, I saw Kevin. He yelled some encouragement to me, but I think we both knew I looked like death (barely) warmed over. Still it was nice to see him.
I made my way inside, just following the people in front of me. Someone handed me my T2 bag, and I tucked it under my arm since I couldn't grip it anywhere with my hands. I sat down and someone came over and dumped my bag out for me. She got things kind of organized before she left me to go help someone else get dressed. I reached up to unclip my helmet, but couldn't squeeze with enough pressure to get the buckle to release. So I thought maybe I could unzip my jacket. No dice. Again that urge to cry came over me - I was totally helpless.
Another nice woman saw my troubles and literally came to my rescue. She was very straight-forward and got the job done. She took my jacket off. Helped me out of my wet bike jersey, arm warmers, and gloves. Like a little kid, she pulled 2 new dry shirts down over my head. Then, she and I wrestled my body out of my bike shorts and into my tri shorts. Bless this woman's heart, she was a trooper. Then she helped me into my dry socks and shoes. We put some reflective bands on my wrists and got me back into the same jacket I'd worn on the bike. I'd intended on wearing my leg warmers for the run, but in my daze, I never thought of that until she'd gone away with my bag. I picked up my gloves and a Snickers Marathon bar (by the way, those things are the greatest things in the world!!) and walked slowly towards the door. Then I realized what was going on - I still had to run a marathon!! No way was that going to be possible.
I walked out into the hallway and it looked like a war-zone. There was carnage everywhere. Literally bodies were lined up both sides of the hallway. They were wrapped in mylar blankets, everyone with a blank stare. I think they all were thinking the same thing I was about going back outside. No way! I hung out by the garbage can and ate my Snickers. I gave my gloves a little squeeze cause they seemed a little wet. Boy, was I shocked when a huge river of water poured out of the gloves. My little squeeze turned into a full-fledged wringe-out and I lightened my load by at least a pound. With the Snickers bar eaten, I went to put the gloves back on. I worked for at least 5 minutes on the first one. It was a big-time wrestling match, and I just got more and more frustruated as I went. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to finish the race because I couldn't even get a stupid glove on.
With one glove on, I headed down the hall to the fluch toilets for a quick break. I couldn't even do that normally without useable hands, but somehow I got it done. I stuffed my other hand most of the way into the other glove, took a deep breath, and walked out the door, back into the cold and rain, but never really knowing what I was going to do when I got out there.
I was in a daze of sorts, but thankfully I immediately saw Sparkle, Sunshine, and Cara. They had some encouraging words and hugs. Sparkle told me later that she was just as relieved at that point to see that I had survived the bike as I was! I told them my hands didn't work and chatted with them for a quick minute then walked down the course. I figured if nothing else, I needed to make some sort of forward progress, or it was gonna be a really long day! Right after leaving my friends, I found a new best friend. This new bf was handing out mylar blankets! I knew from my marathon days that it wasn't gonna be like a warm fuzzy blanket, but mylar had saved my butt a couple times before, so I took one. Very soon after that, I walked up to my parents, Lori, Phil, and Susan. I think I said, "I need a hug!!" They had lots of hugs saved up and showered me with those. I took another deep breath and thought that I could try to run. I trotted away from them actually feeling okay considering the circumstances.
My plan was to run as much of the first half as possible. I knew I'd be hurting for the second half, so the plan there was to just hang on for dear life. I also had decided that I woundn't run any of the uphill sections or the aid stations. Thankfully, the Madison course is pretty flat (except for a couple evil hills), so I knew I could run a lot of it. During training, my friend Tom told me the marathon is not about who runs the fastest, it's about who slows down the least. Good advice.
Even though I'd just finished that Snickers bar, I was starving. I started eating pretzels right away at the first aid station and they tasted great! Soggy and slimey from all the rain, but great. My other favorites were slimey, soggy bananas and chicken broth. And, every third aid station I did the Hammer Gel I was carrying with me.
As I ran, I found myself searching the sidelines for people I knew. The fans were my lifeline. I would run from one group I knew to the next. That was what kept me going. They did an awesome job of spreading themselves out along the course, so I didn't have to run long without seeing someone I knew. The hardest section for me was after I'd seen Cara, and she told me where (she thought) Sparkle and Sunshine were going to be next. I was so disappointed when I got to that pooint and didn't see them. But, I did see them within a couple miles, so all was good after that.
The run course is a 2-loop, out-and-back, which means you get to see a lot of the other competitors. I was able to cheer for the Kraft and the Des Moines gangs all through the race. My first lap was done in about 2:30, a little slower than I expected, but not too bad. I got a little teary as I made my way to the turnaround point - not because I still had a half marathon to go, but I was so close to the finish line and I knew at that point that I would be able to finish. I was excited to hear Mike Reilly call me an Ironman!
The turnaround is literally feet from the finish line. It's kind of a cruel joke, but it gives you a lot of energy to feed off of for your second loop. I saw my parents, Lori, Phil, and Susan right at the turnaround. I was a little surprised at what they told me: "You look SO much better than you did 13 miles ago!!" They were relieved. But, I felt better at that point, too. I was still wearing the mylar blanket. I found it wasn't really very warm, but it helped a little. The best part was that it was keeping me from getting anymore wet in the rain. My arms were a bit tired from holding onto it, but there was no way I was letting it go. I told my fans that I'd see them in about another 2:30-3:00 hours, then I took off again. It was 8:00pm.
As one would expect, the second loop was more challenging. I knew all the turns and hills and problem areas. I walked a little more, but just tried to keep moving. The crowds of people from the first loop had thinned out and there were a lot of us out there doing the "Ironman shuffle." I talked to lots more people on the second loop. I walked with one guy until he found some woman with a coffee pot in one hand, and a stack of styrofoam cups in the other. He thought that sounded divine. I kept shuffling. Lots of us were alternating between running and walking, so we would pass, then be passed, by the same people over and over. We all encouraged each other, despite the fact that we were all pretty miserable.
It was now pitch black out and race volunteers were handing out glow sticks. I took one although I was pretty sure no one was gonna miss a large ball of aluminum foil running down the street! I found Sunshine and Sparkle standing under a street light around mile 19. I was hurting and squatted down to stretch my them. Apparently it looked like I wanted to stay and chat about old times, because soon they were making me get up and get going.
I ran a little further down State Street where I ran into some of the Des Moines fans on the side of the road. I stopped to talk to them, but quickly realized Terri was standing there in jeans and a sweatshirt. I asked if she had finished already, but was very sad to hear that she had just missed the cut-off for the bike, so she was done. I was really bummed for her. I know how much she put into her training, and I wanted her to do well. I must have wanted to talk too much there, too, because they sent me off quickly as well. I had about another 1/2 mile of running before I decided I couldn't run another step. But I also knew I had plenty of time to finish by walking, if I just kept moving. It was a slow death-march of sorts, but it was forward progress nonetheless.
The trip back along the lake was bitter cold. There was a biting wind that just blew right through my frozen exposed legs. And it was rather lonely. There were still a few hard-core fans left, but most had gone, leaving nothing but some soaking wet signs and a few flood lights to line our path. At about mile 22, during the most lonely part of the course, Ford had set up an "Inspiration Station." Previously in the weekend, fans could go to a kiosk to write a personalized message to their athlete. At the IS, athletes crossed a timing mat which identified us by our timing chips. That triggered the LED sign to display our personal message. Lori had left me one, and surprisingly enough, with all the rain, I saw it! There was also a young guy on a microphone updating us on the time and encouraging us to keep moving, as we would finish with plenty of time if we kept going. I was really cranky by this time, but those two things helped me maintain my forward motion as I made my way back towards Madison.
The next two miles, I walked with an older gentleman, a rather annoying slightly younger guy, and another woman my age. As I made my way back by Camp Randall for the fourth and final time, I saw my mom walking down the sidewalk in the other direction. She never saw me, but thankfully I saw her, and, relieved, she turned around to walk back with me. I think she was starting (or continuing...) to be really worried about not only my finishing, but also for my health and safety. It was great to have the company, and it was even better that it was my mom. I really enjoyed having her there to cheer me on, but it was awesome to have her share in some of the real experience. She now gave me the updates on the time, and we kept trucking towards the finish. Close to State Street, I first saw Jenny. She was headed out to find Jess, who was still behind me. They wanted to make sure she finished in time. Then right away, I saw another friend, Mike, who was heading out to find his girlfriend Cindy.
Once we made it onto State Street, I was really getting excited to finish. Soon, Don Roehr made his way back from the finish line to find me. He jumped out onto the street to finish the race with my mom and I. Shortly after that, Royce and Lori showed up! I had a bunch of people getting me to the finish line!
The last stretch of the race is up State Street (towards the capitol), make a right turn and run uphill a block, make a left turn past the special needs bags, and a quick right to the last block of the finish line. Right before the last hill, I told my posse I was going to (finally) lose the mylar blanket and finish without it. Don wouldn't let me throw it in the garbage can, he insisted that he take it. As soon as I took that blanket off, it was like I had taken off all the fatigue of the day. I knew I wanted to run across the finish line, but apparently I also wanted to run the last (uphill!!) section, too. I suddenly just took off running again. I felt no fatigue, it was like I was just taking the first steps of the whole race. Of course, this also meant that I was running away from all the people who wanted to see me finish. So, they had to run, too! I don't think they had counted on that! I remember Royce running up the hill on the sidewalk right with me, yelling the whole way. I turned the final corner and was met with a sky full of bright lights, tons of cheering people, and the finish line!
My legs carried me effortlessly down the decline, and I heard Mike Reilly say those wonderful words, "Julie Vardaman, you are an Ironman!" The finish line catchers were awesome. They grab you as soons as you cross, get you something to drink, get your finishers schwag (shirt, hat, bag, and medal), then help you get your picture taken, make sure you are okay physically, and pass you out the tail end of the finishers area. Everyone was right there as I made my way out. There were lots of hugs and pictures all around.
Sparkle met me with a bunch of warm clothes. Right there I started stripping off some of the soaked clothes, and they wrapped me up in blankets and fleece. Matt Zepeda and his girlfriend had come out to watch the final finishers after he had finished some hours earlier, and they came over to say hi.
The Roehrs, Sparkle, Sunshine, and Cara walked across the street to the Hilton to check on Roehr. The rest of the group came inside to the lobby and we chatted while I warmed up. Everyone was getting tired, and I wanted a shower in the worst way!! Everyone else went back to their hotels, and I went upstairs.
There was a really cool surprise waiting for me there. During the bike segment, Sparkle, Sunshine, and Cara set about decorating our room:
I took one of the warmest, longest showers ever. When I dried off, I realized that I had been soaking wet for over 17 hours!! I climbed into bed with ice bags on my quads, my knees, and my hamstrings. Sparkle and Cara had tried to get me some fish tacos to eat, but the Mexican place in town was not cooperating, so Sparkle got me a cheeseburger from room service. We all rehashed the day until about 2am, when Roehr and I finally fell asleep. We'd been up for 22 hours and covered 140.6 miles during the race (and at least another 0.4 miles of walking before and after the race). To our surprise, we only slept 4 hours that night... but I'm sure we both had big smiles on our faces.
I made reservations at the same Italian place I had eaten on the training trip - Bellini's. We were the first party of the evening, but we were a big one! There were over 20 of us there, including Cara, Sunshine, and Sparkle who had just gotten into town. The staff did an excellent job and kept checking in to make sure everything was just right. Terri and her family arrived, then the whole party of Des Moines triathletes showed up. We pretty much took the whole place over! I had a TON of fun talking to people and getting fired up for the big race! Roehr and I passed out the Iowa State shirts we bought for people to wear so we could see them on race day. Roehr and her sister (and the rest of us) were surprised to know that Jenny (Coach Jenny from DM) was a good friend from college. I don't think anyone thought their paths would cross again, and certainly not at an IM. Jenny hardly recognized Roehr - she knew her back in the days before her 111 pound transformation! I walked out of that dinner just filled to the brim (and over-flowing) with the love of all those people who had sacrificed in one way or another to make my dream come true! It sounds kinda cheesy, but I've never felt love like that before in all of my 30 years. 
Following that great meal of... you know the answer... pasta with red sauce, I drug Cara, Sunshine, and Sparkle downtown with me for... you know the answer... ice cream at Ben&Jerry's then dropped them off at the bar, while I headed back to the Hilton to turn in. I had a good phone conversation with Terri as I walked back by myself. We went over our last minute details and then shut the book on all the training of the last year. We 're ready to take the final step! 
