Elise Wallace, You Are an Ironman!

Race day: Wake up time 4:40am. Not easy, especially with one hour time zone difference, but when I was awake I was ready to get up. All of our stuff had been ready for 2 days, so there wasn't much to do in terms of getting ready besides getting dressed and eating some food. I ate two mini blueberry muffins, apple & cinnamon oatmeal, a mango coconut water, a banana, and some Honey Stinger chews.

We arrived at the race venue around 5:45am. We hit the port-o-pottys first, which was a great idea. Very productive I should add too. We got body-marked, finished dropping off all bags, and got in our wetsuits. 

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We waited until about 10 minutes before race time before getting in the water. I got super emotional at this point. I knew the water was cold and the long day was about to start. I was crying. I made myself stop immediately and jumped in the water, making sure to hold onto my goggles so they didn't come off. The water was very cold, but surprisingly didn't feel as cold as the day before. Although, it was colder, but because it was cooler air temp, it didn't feel that way.

Skyler and I sat next to each other on a ledge in the water until the cannon went off. We jumped down and were on our way. Skyler said he swam next to me for 20 minutes, but I didn't know that because I only breathe to my right and he was on my left. It was a hectic start because everyone, all 3000 athletes, start at once. I got slugged in the face twice, but I survived. Maybe it didn't hurt because I was numb from the water. The sun was coming up just as the race started. I longed to feel the warmth of it on every stroke.

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The half-way point approached and I was glad to be heading back towards the beginning. About this point I began to notice that my body was shaking and my teeth were chattering. I was so cold! I've swam in colder water before, but never for this long. I couldn't wait to be out of the water and moving on with my day. It's funny because the swim was the least of my worries for the race, yet it was a stark reality at the moment. About 3/4 of the way I noticed my shoulder start to get tight. I had to adjust my stroke on my left arm to make sure it didn't bother me too much.

Elise Swim 1:22:55  (Goal: 1:20:00)
Skyler Swim 1:29:05

I couldn't have been happier to get out of that cold water and surprisingly my time was pretty fast. The volunteers must have seen that something was wrong with me because they immediately pulled me up the stairs and over to the blanket station. They wrapped one around me and sent me over to the women's changing tent. They walked me over to the heater tent section to help me warm up. I was hypothermic and couldn't stop shaking. I tried putting on my bike shoes, but my legs were shaking too much. I took a few minutes to relax and warm up. I was thankful I had packed arm sleeves to warm me up. Normally my T1, swim-to-bike transition, is a few minutes long, but this time I took all the time I wanted. It may have seemed like I took a nap because I took so long. Oh well. On my way to the longest bike ride of my life.

Elise T1 13:32 (Goal: 5:00)
Skyler T1 6:06

Normally Skyler and I tell each other to "Go Fast!" before each race. This time the motto was "Go Slow." You don't want to burn out your runs with too fast/hard of a bike ride. So as excited as I was to be starting the bike portion of the race, I tried to hold back.

The bike course consists of 3 loops of approximately 38 miles each. The way out was a 1/2 flat and 1/2 slight uphill, so the way back had a slight downhill then flat for the second half. For the first loop there was a headwind, so going uphill was a bit of a challenge. Nothing I hadn't trained for. I remember getting to the turn-around at 1:15. I did a quick calculation in my head (which I did a lot of during the race since there's not much else to do) and realized that my bike split would be super long if I kept that pace. But I had totally forgotten that the way back would be faster, especially with a tailwind. I finished the second half of the first loop in 57 minutes, for a 2:12 total for the first lap. Also on the way back I stopped to use a port-o-potty. I had needed to go to the bathroom for over an hour, but it was just not happening while sitting on a bike. I timed it perfectly when I approached someone leaving a port-o-potty. No line for me!

This race had a lot of splits, which was great for our family and friends who were tracking at home. Every time I passed one of the timing mats, I thought about everyone getting to see my times. I wanted them to be proud.

The second loop was pretty uneventful. I did ride beside a woman for about 10 minutes and talked with her. It's actually illegal to ride next to someone because of the drafting rules. But we weren't drafting, we were talking. Riding for 112 miles gets quite lonely. On this lap, the wind was going the opposite way, so I got to the turn-around faster than the first time. But on the way back, the wind was blowing in my face. I stopped at mile 63, which was the bike special needs station. In my special bag, I had packed some Cliff Shot gels, a banana, a granola bar, and some Nuun tablets. I ate the banana, took the gels, and took off my arm warmers.

Back to the start and I was ready to start lap 3. My second lap was also 2:12. I forgot to mention that I saw Skyler on every half-lap. Since I had a lot of time to think, I calculated where I would see him each time, factoring in his faster speed. Turns out my math skills are excellent and we are consistent cyclists because my timing was perfect every time. Also at the turn-around that's near the race venue, John and Deby were waiting to cheer us on every time I went past. It was so, so, so awesome to have them there! Racing is very emotional for me and having family there is so important.

Lap 3 was very similar to lap 2, but my neck and shoulders were really starting to hurt. I wish I had packed advil in my special needs bag (next time). The ride back into town was very exciting. I had survived the bike, which was my worst fear, and I was ready to start running a marathon. My legs didn't feel too tired because I had ridden so conservatively.

Elise Bike 6:37:23 (Goal: 7:00:00)
Skyler Bike 5:40:41

I rode into transition and passed my bike to a volunteer (pretty cool that they take care of putting our bikes away). I grabbed my T2 bag and headed over to the restroom. Ironman is a long enough race that I didn't feel bad stopping to go to the bathroom. I went into the women's tent and again was greeted with lots of naked women. I had never considered changing into running short, but after chafing a bit during the race, that may be something I consider for my next Ironman. I sat down to put my running shoes on and my new friend Missy came in and sat next to me. She had just finished the bike too and had a flat tire. Glad she was doing well!

Elise T2 7:32 (Goal 5:00)
Skyler T2 3:50

I headed out of the tent and was on my way to running 26.2 miles. I always gets too excited when I start the run and knew I needed to hold back my speed so I didn't waste too much energy. I had decided beforehand that I was going to walk all of the aid stations. My goal was a five hour marathon, which is about 11 minute pace. The first 7 miles were great. I was eating my gels and drinking a little at most aid stations. I also tried some salt pills to make sure I wasn't losing too much salt. Around mile 7 I started getting a side stitch on my left side. I rarely got these in training and it was usually from dehydration. I made sure I drank more electrolytes, but not too much where it swished around in my stomach. I had to jog/walk off the side stitch for about 2 miles until it finally went away. It never came back.

The run course was also a 3-loop course, each loop being approximately 8.7 miles. During the first lap, I spotted Skyler across a bridge on his second lap. He was about 5 miles ahead of me. I was so happy to see him!

During the second lap I spotted a new friend who was also wearing a Team Sparkle skirt. We had similar time goals for the race, so I knew we would cross paths eventually. This was her first marathon too! We ran together and talked for about 4 miles. On a downhill I got in front of her and never saw her again.

The aid stations were spread about 1-1.5 miles apart. Here's the order of stuff: Perform, water, food (oranges, bananas, gels, pretzels), coke, water, Perform. At each aid station I would stop and take whatever my body wanted. Sometimes it was coke, sometimes it was pretzels (for the salt), and sometimes it was nothing. Later in the day, they also offered chicken broth. It was delicious and I would definitely drink it again in a race.

The began the last lap and I was so excited to be near the end. Each lap started where the finish line was so I got to see a glimpse of the excitement at the finish line. I got a second wind at the beginning of my last lap. I had already run about 17 miles and I only had 9 more to go. I was running pretty fast and I kept hearing people ask why I was running so fast. My pace was probably about 9:00, which was fast considering most people were shuffling or walking. My knees were hurting a bit, but mostly only when I transitioned from walking to running.

Around mile 22 I approached an aid station which was at a park. I glanced to my left and noticed Skyler sitting on a wall, wearing a jacket. I said hi and kinda kept going. I shouted, what are you doing here? And he replied that he's see me at the finish line. I assumed he was finished and was just out on the course cheering me on. But I thought it was weird that he was at this location. So I turned around and went back, just in time to see him vomiting. Uh oh! Something was wrong. I then found out that he hadn't finished yet, but was sick again. His stupid stomach has messed up every endurance race longer than 8 hours. He told me to keep going, but I wanted to help. Since we were close to an aid station I ran over and got some water and a sponge for him. He sat on the wall for a bit and I told him that I would wait for him. He told me to keep going again, but I said it would be fun to finish together. He didn't want to let me. After a bit he managed to stand up and we walked through the aid station and kept going. He said I was allowed to walk with him up the hill and then I had to start running again. I didn't want to leave him, but I knew that's what he really wanted for me. So away I went, just a little over 3 miles left.

I don't know if it's because I was stopped for a while (about 20 minutes) or because I just was excited to finish, but all of a sudden I had so much energy and I was running fast. People kept looking at me running by and were whispering, where did she come from? I probably wasn't really going that fast, but it just seemed that way since most people were walking. I was also getting so many cheers! I bypassed every aid station that was left between me and the finish line. I was getting there as fast as I could.

Soon I was finishing my third loop and made the turn to head down to the finish chute. I had envisioned this moment almost every day since I signed up for this race. That feeling was what I wanted so bad. I knew it would be an emotional moment and it was. Tears were streaming down my face. I had done it and here was MY moment.

The last 50 meters was the finishers chute lined with thousands of spectators. I was alone and sprinting as fast as I could. I knew that my friends and family were watching live and that gave me even more energy. Then I heard the words I had been dreaming about, "Elise Wallace, you are an Ironman!" I had done it! All my hard work had paid off. I had become part of the elite club call Ironman. No one can ever take that away from me.

Elise Run 4:46:34 (Goal 5:00:00)
Skyler Run 6:31:25

Elise Total Time 13:07:56 (Goal 13:30:00)
Skyler Total Time 13:51:07

I was on cloud nine...for about a minute. Then I became concerned with how Skyler was doing. I had left him at about 3 miles to go. Calculating how fast you can walk 3 miles, subtracting the time since I left him, I figured he should be coming in about 15-20 minutes later. I waited and waited and waited.

My legs were tired from standing, so I sat down. But then people kept coming over to ask if I was ok. After almost 45 minutes of waiting, I saw him being pushed through the crowd. There was a medical staff person on each side of him. All I cared about at that moment was making sure he was ok. I followed the three of them over to the medical tent to assess the situation. He thought he might need an IV because he had been throwing up so much.

While I waited to see what happened I got to hang out with John and Deby, as they were waiting for us at the finish line. Thank goodness they were there to calm my nerves. Skyler was able to communicate to me that he was cold, so I went to retrieve our morning clothes, bikes, and bags. I passed near the finish line area to get where I needed to go and realized that I was missing out on all the fun. That is my one regret, that I didn't get to enjoy finishing my Ironman. Obviously Skyler is more important, but this was my first one and I didn't get my massage, post-race food, photos, or sharing stories with other athletes. Sadly, this is the only photo I have from the race (and you can't even see my skirt!).

After hanging in the medical tent for about an hour, Skyler was deemed ok and we left the area. We were both kinda hungry and grabbed some drive-thru fried chicken (Raising Cane's) and sodas. I had too much adrenaline to go to sleep, so I took an ice bath and watched tv until probably 1:00am. But sadly my appetite wasn't the best so I didn't enjoy all of my cupcakes like I wanted to. Only had one bite.

The next day everything started to sink in. I am an Ironman! We headed over to the race venue to buy more Ironman clothing. I didn't want to buy any before in case I didn't actually finish. Now I have enough to wear every day of the week.

The one thing I feared was how I would feel the day after an Ironman race. Surprisingly, not sore. I know!...it's crazy. Was it the compression tights? Could I have pushed harder? I don't know. I'm just thankful I could walk up and down stairs without being in pain.

Coming up...the aftermath.