Wednesday, November 11, 2009

MY FIRST IRON-DISTANCE TRIATHLON (PART3)

THE RUN
I sat in the T2 tent changing and trying to regroup for the run. My garmin was messed up so I only had an estimate of the time that I had to run the marathon. I thought it was alittle over 7 hours. I headed through transition to run and TriSharkie was walking toward me. I knew she was way ahead of me but did she finish? No, she had chest discomfort on the bike thus spent an hour in the medical tent. After an EKG, she promised to "walk the marathon". We both headed out on the run course. TriSharkie moving much faster than me.

My plan for the run was to do a 5 minute run : 1 minute walk. The bike had taken much more out of me than I had hoped. From doing previous marathons, my fear was to bonk and not finish. I wasn't sure how much was left in the tank. I reversed the ratio to a 5 walk: 1 run. My nutrition went out the window also. The thought of any more Infinit flipped my stomach. I ditched my fuel belt and used the aid stations that were well stocked with bananas, oranges,grapes, pretzels, flat Coke, chicken broth, and water. It was like a buffet.

The run course was an out and back half marathon done twice. I liked it alot. The first loop I never felt like I was by myself. I absorbed everything along the route. I saw House, Bino, and Hooch all at different points on the course. The course went past the Hilton (host Hotel) 4 times. Each time that I went by there and the crowd that was there, I gained new energy.Everything was good except the clock was running out. Unlike the bike course, I was not hitting any low points.

After the turn to my second loop, I grabbed my special needs bag. Luckily, I had thrown in a jacket as the temperature was starting to drop. I also grabbed my glow sticks and reflectors that I had packed. I ran across the bridges toward downtown Wilminton. It all looked so beautiful lit up at night. The darkness of the run and quiet of the night was calming. Maybe too calming.

I reached the turn around in the park to head back to the finish. Now I knew it was game on and I had cut it way too close. When I reached mile 20, I looked at the time on my cell phone. 90 minutes was left to finish. A phrase from an IM Kona came to mind, " I am like Rainman counting toothpicks". With 5 miles left to go, I knew that I had to run the rest of the way to the finish. Although not panicking, I now was on a mission and needed to focus.

As I was running, I fell into a steady pace. I was running back into downtown and past the Hilton. There were still people there bundled up and cheering. It was just what I needed. I still felt good and pushed on still knowing I could make it.

It was with 3 miles to go when the most amazing thing happened. There was a guy on a bike that appeared out of nowhere. He introduced himself as Brent the director of the run course. He told me he would be escorting me to the finish line. I would be the last offical finisher of the race. Holy Penguins!! Here I am with 3 miles to go, 45 minutes left on the clock, and 2 big bridges ahead of me. At this point, I knew I had to dig into a place that I had never been before. Brent called the finish line and let them know that we were on our way.

There were still people on the course cheering. I passed the final aid station with 2 miles to go and did not take anything to save time. I crossed the first bridge with the metal grating. No Problem. Then came the second bridge. It was a steeper, higher incline. I had only walked this and no had no choice but to run up. Brent told me to breathe and focus. He talked me all the way to the top. Once there I looked to my left and could see tha Battleship lit up. He called into the finish line to update our location. He looked at me and said, "You are Iron. I don't know who will cry more at the finish, me or you. At the bottom of this bridge is mile 26. You have time." Chills spred across me body. A certain realization of what I had accomplished came across me. Every emotion of the day flashed in front of me.

I ran down the hill and got to the turn into the park for the finsh and there were my 2 kids waiting with flowers to run me in. Tears started coming down. Brent's voice told me that I had 7 minutes left and to look ahead see the finish lit up.Brent disappeared at this point. I made the final turn with my kids and could see the finish line. There was House, Snips, Sharkie, and Ed waiting for me. I crossed the line and the time was 16:56:16. The announced said, "Karen Mehrbrodt, From Bolingbrook, Illinois- You have reached the Battleship!" I DID IT!!!!!! Less than 4 minutes to spare. And there was House with the finishing medal to put it around my neck! It was the high of a lifetime. Something that no one could take awy from me. I am Iron!!

I learned alot about myself out there on the race course. I travel through every emotion possible. But most of all I found how deep that I could really dig into my inside to achieve something that I really wanted. I know this journey will not end here. It is a new beginning.










My reward was a tattoo on my right shoulder blade because this day was something that no one can ever take away.


IronWaddling......

21 comments:

SWTrigal said...

OMG-tears in eyes!
Congratulations-YOu did it!

21stCenturyMom said...

You got a tat!!! That is fantastic.

Congratulations again - well done!!!

TRIHARDCHIK said...

AMAZING! So proud of you. LOVE the tattoo--you earned and deserve it, IronWaddler!

Sara Cox Landolt said...

:-) I totally get this! My iron-distance finish was at IMFL and I finished ~4 minutes before midnight! It was amazing! Congratulations fellow Cinderella Finisher!!!!!! I'm thinking of this race in the future.

Badgergirl said...

I've been lurking for a bit, but your race report? Brought tears to my eyes! Congrats on finishing!

Iron Jayhawk said...

I am so proud of you!!!!!!!!! Way to dig deep and push yourself to a whole new place. You did it, Karen!!

...and I absolutely love the tat!

rocketpants said...

Congratulations! What a day! The hours you've put in for training and it sounds like just an amazing day. Yes...tears. Congrats.

Vickie said...

Karen, it was great following along with you. Hope to see you again in the future.

Sarah said...

Karen, your race report made me cry! I am so happy for you! You are Iron! You did it! You reached in and pulled way down deep to make it happen. I love that the Race Director was so awesome to escort you!

Kandi Rupert said...

I'm so proud of you! Can't wait to see you!

Brent said...

Congratulations Karen! You did Great!
You ran so good, so calm, so steady, so strong- by far the highlight of my day to be able to ride my bike alongside you. Thanks for the experience!
Enjoy all the many emotions that come with what you've accomplished. You will now look at challenges with a whole new perspective. I'm proud of you, you're an inspiration!
Oh Yeah- Way to kill that last bridge!
YOU are IRON!!!

ShirleyPerly said...

CONGRATULATIONS Karen!!!

I have goosebumps from reading your report. Very proud of you and so glad to have met you in person. Awesome job and way to finish strong!

Calyx Meredith said...

Oh man you made me cry! Thanks for sharing how you got yourself there, digging deep to get to the end - right into the circle of your family and support crew. You are truly iron. Love the ink.

Amytrigirl (aka Amybee) said...

CONGRATS, CONGRATS, CONGRATS! This was an amazing race report to read, but probably not nearly as amazing as your adventure!

Love your tatoo design too!

Fe-lady said...

Great story! I got choked up!!
Congratulations and great tatoo!!!

Yes, you are IRON!!!

Duane said...

You rock! And great tat! I am so happy for you!

Joe said...

I'm just speechless...this is so cool. You did a marvelous job of getting your wits about you after the bike, making all the necessary adjustments.

And the adjustments WORKED!! Your stomach calmed, you kept moving. You were aware of the surroundings, able to absorb the encouragement freely given, even as the night wore on.

How very, very cool for Brent to loop back and be with you the final 3 miles. That added all the necessary framework for you to focus. The fact you had the guts and endurance at that point to begin a 3 mile run is, perhaps, the most telling thing of this whole amazing saga. Then, to meet your whole family at the end had to be, as you said, the thrill of a lifetime. Indeed, it was a full family effort! They have to be hugely proud of you.

You set a huge goal...you worked through so much that could have distracted you this year. And..

YOU ARE IRON!!!!

Can't wait to keep hearing reflectins in the weeks to come.

Sunshine said...

What an amazing accomplishment. A million congratulations.
Sweet Pea and I were in OBX North Caroline on November 8 running a mere 15 miles.

Irene said...

You are amazing!

This was one of the best race reports. I got all choked up. I'm super proud of you.

Love the tat!

Dori said...

I'm in tears! I can't tell you how much I admire your fortitude. What a fabulous race and report. Congratulations, Iron Waddler!

Kimberly Rae said...

I've not been good at keeping up with blogs but its been on my mind...I gotta see and read how you did in NC... and here I sit, in tears, as a read your story! How awesome and, time to spare! Excellent and thank you for sharing!

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