The theme of IMWI is gratitude - I have so much gratitude in my heart for so many reasons and people. 2017 was an Ironman journey that challenged me in new ways I never thought possible.
So much happened in the past year and while it has been my plan to do an Ironman in 2017 for the past 2 years, I couldn't have imagined how challenging this experience would be. I switched jobs - I'm now back at LLS working on the fabulous national Light The Night team - and I could not be happier with this big career move, I feel home. While this did wonders for my happiness, any job change adds some stress and learning curves, and in I continue to travel a lot.
Ironman training is HARD. It's long ass hours spent pushing your body through pain (literal physical pain and mental pain), prepping for workouts, etc. Doing all of this while traveling added a whole new element - not only was a planning my work travel, but planning my workouts in new cities. Looking up gyms, needing pools, spin studies, and finding hotels near running paths. I've felt like all I've done is plan to workout for months so it's no wonder I had little mental space to plan anything else in my life (sorry friends).
It was also hard on my family, Mike and Hector. I'm so blessed that I had so much support again from Mike through all the training and traveling. It wasn't easy, but we made it work and I could never have done it without his support.
PRE-RACE
Some weeks the mid-week workouts barely got done, when I had super busy work travels. The long workouts happened after long travel days, making me even more tired on the challenging, long days. I crashed about 5 weeks out from the race, causing me to miss almost 2 weeks of swimming. My ankle injury (I tore my posterior tib tendon a year ago) plagued me on/off for months, causing me to have to reduce running. Training wasn't pretty.
BUT the last few weeks leading up to the race were filled with solid, long training days. Sometimes the workouts were really, really slow, but I got them done with good hydration and nutrition. Tried to eat as healthy as possible in the weeks leading up, and made it a point to stretch/do yoga daily.
Mike and I decided we would make the trek to Wisconsin by car, taking the 16 hour trip to Madison in the Foz (Subaru). We left the Wednesday before the race, and decided to stop outside of Chicago for the night and continue on the remaining 2.5 hours on Thursday.
ARRIVAL IN MADISON, WI
We got to the house we rented to meet up with Amanda, my friend who was also doing the race as her first IM and ready to kill it after she trained super hard! Amanda lives in San Diego so it was very cool to have her do this with me from across the country. And of course I had my local bike mentor/Iron friend/sherpa Dave, who got me through alllllllllll of the long bike miles :). We checked in and drove the bike course on Thurs - which was rolling and just as expected with a couple big hills, and I felt really good.
When I say that my week of the race workouts weren't spectacular, I don't think I could really explain what happened. Friday, 2 days pre-race, I went to do my pre-race swim in Lake Monona followed by a bike ride. OK so this lake is waaaaayyyy bigger than Mirror Lake (in Lake Placid). I freaked out in open water for the first time in years. I cried and had a hard time composing myself for the next 2 days. The lake was super choppy, hard to sight and really hard to feel comfortable to swim at all. I wasn't the only one nervous, but I felt defeated.
This was my big freak out. Bigger than I would've liked...here is where so much gratitude comes in. I am still so thankful for my training partners, family and friends - Doreen let me cry to her, Dave reassured me all was ok, Amanda tried to keep saying positive things, Erica told me she would punch me in the face if I cried to her ;), Mike reminded me I always have a freak out, my parents and sister told me I was ready, so many friends texted me pump up messages...THANK YOU for all of it, again. Sounds silly but the biggest relief came from a tiny gift of worry dolls Doreen gave me the day before the race - Erica discovered the 10 little dolls perfectly covered the map of the swim course! So I put them under my pillow, and was granted the wish of smooth waters on Sunday - so much gratitude!!!
RACE DAY
It was a cool sub-50 degrees, dark but with a calm lake - so I couldn't have been happier at 4am! We got to transition to check the tires and add a few final items to my transition bags. Before I knew it, the sun was rising and we were rushing to the swim start to hear the National Anthem and then push my way into my swim wave start. Hugged my crew goodbye (Mike, Doreen and Erica) and squeezed Dave with a huge good luck hug. Being so rushed was actually good because I had no time to worry!
The Swim
Swim was an in water start and staggered to 6 waves of 500 people. Water was cold, but swimming out to the start line helped me adjust quick. I was wave 1, right after the Male Pro's. Followed by plan by staying in the back and letting everyone go. Got into a groove quick and was thinking "I got this". Until the men in other waves came barreling into me (literally), and I got punched and dunked. It was scary, but nothing compared to how I felt on Fri. It was hard to sight and on the final turns I ended up closer to the kayaks than buoys, so I can only imagine what I actually swam (I need to get better at sighting!). My hips got really tight so I did this weird frog kick every so often in the final .5 miles.
There is no greater feeling for me than to see the swim exit approaching - I was beaming as I finally reached it and sprinted out of the water, ready to tackle anything! Gratitude - my worry dolls got me through.
Transition is actually up this helix parking garage that people were lined up, making the run into T1 really fun. You grab your bag and head inside the hotel to a meeting room to the changing tent - was really nice being chilly out.
Erica was volunteering and I panicked at first when I didn't see her almost screaming "ERICA WHERE ARE YOU" - but then she was right in front of me helping Amanda! Wished Amanda the best as she headed out a few before me, and Erica helped me get on my dry way to my bike. THE SWIM WAS OVER YAY!
The Bike
Was a little chilly in the beginning, but it felt awesome! No high temps but sunny. The bike course is full of rolling hills and a lot of turns, but I was ready for it with lots of practice on similar courses back home with Dave.
Felt good through the halfway mark, was happy to grab my bike special needs bag with my PB&J, drink mix, and salt and vinegar chips (and to lose the arm warmers). And my family took an Uber out to Verona (where people all hang and party) to see me - I was 100% they'd be there, and when I saw them I couldn't have been happier! Amanda's cheer squad was all over the course too so it was great to see so many peeps throughout the ride.
The big 9% grade hill is Barlow. Knew it was coming and a lot of people walk it, which was the most nerve-racking part. Luckily the swim spread us out enough it wasn't crowded, and Dave took me up many 14% graders so I was good to tackle it. The crowd support on the hills was huge, the spectators really amped me up.
I got a bit tired after Barlow and felt like I really needed a boost so in some caffeine and increased my salt intake, and I was like a new person. There was also no shade so while cool, it did warm up a lot in the sun. Saw my family once more around mile 90 and it was awesome once again, felt so good after!
I pushed hard the last 10 miles with a steady pace to drive me up the helix to T2, and as always I couldn't have given up Flo Jo (my bike) fast enough - sorry girlfriend, we needed a break.
I had a real speedy T2 somehow, got out of there in 9 minutes to tackle the marathon.
The Run
I was nervous about the run - because of my injury. Because it's freaking last and still 26.2 miles. Because I never know how my body and stomach will feel. I smile so big every time I think about my run in Madison because some way, somehow, it was picture perfect!
I took it exactly at the pace I wanted, being sure to not go out too fast (a mistake I made in the other 2 IM's). I had learned in this training that Base Salts work so much better for me, and was taking in salt every mile (every 5-10 on the bike). I also took in Shot Bloks, pretzels, grapes, and oranges when I could at the mile markers, and walked through each as planned to take in water or my drink mix in my hand held bottle.
The run course looks cray on the map, but it was AWESOME because you zig zag in/out of town and college campus there are literally people everywhere! You also get to run a lap on the turf at Camp Randall Stadium twice - it was incredibly cool to run in an empty stadium. Megan and Carolyn met me out on multiple parts of the run course, which was amazing - gratitude for them.
When you head back onto the main drag, it's magical. There are literally people screaming for you lining the streets. You can't help but run faster because of the energy they are giving off.
Shortly before the turnaround, probably around mile 11ish I caught up to Amanda. She finished the bike about 10 minutes before me having a great time, and was walking more than planned and we had seen each other on the out and backs. We walked together for a few, and it was great to spend some time on the course together (I wish we had seen someone in our crew for a pic, but Jen caught a great shot of our dots crossing on the app from home!). She was doing great, and I was really happy to see her. I also finally got to see Dave just after, and we had a big hug. I knew the run was going to be long for him, but he still had a great, positive attitude and was so supportive of me and the quest for my PR. It really made my heart happy to have a moment with him.
The second loop I thought was going to be tough, so I decided to start taking in Coca Cola right away - every mile I was now taking salt, Coke and water. And it helped almost immediately, giving me the boost I needed. My plan was always to walk the hills and I had done well the first loop with it, and maintained for loop 2. I was feeling excellent, maintaining a very steady pace. Saw Meggies and Carolyn lots more. I told Erica I would be really happy if they found cheese hats, so she, Mike and Doreen succeeded and made my day!
I met a friend named Megan, who had a small issue earlier in the run and was rebounding so well. We ran the last few miles together on and off, after passing each other back and forth earlier. It was really nice to find someone to chat with. Saw Dave once more and another big hug, and he told me he was so proud of me and I told him the same :).
Heading back into the final 2 miles, my Megan tells me I'm close to breaking 14 hours - I really had no idea since I used my bike computer for the ride. I ran a solid final couple miles, as fast as I could. No walking all running, I made my way into town and up around the Capitol where I said my goodbyes to the crew and Mike after seeing Doreen and Erica and knowing my parents were at the finish.
Turned onto the straightaway of the finishing shoot and saw the bright lights and heard the loud cheers...and I smiled and ran my way down, not even seeing the crew on my way. Sprinted somehow to Mike Reilly, and he said those famous words - "Andrea Griffith, YOU are an Ironman!" Threw my arms up in the air and savored the moment I had been waiting for all day!
(Added because I forgot) Finishing time of 14:02 - just over 14 hours, but a huge Ironman PR for me!! I forgot to share because the magic for me is more about my journey and the day, and not as much the time (although I wish I went 2 minutes faster somewhere lol). PR of about 30 minutes - 1 min bike PR, T2 PR, annnnd a 27 min run PR :)
Ironman #3 was a special day. Ironman Wisconsin holds up as the best spectator friendly race and best spectator supported race! I am so blessed to have had my crew there for me, so much gratitude for Mike, my parents, Megan and Carolyn, Doreen and Erica. Gratitude for Amanda and her crew, racing together and being there to see her cross the finish line of her first Ironman shortly after me. Much gratitude for Dave, who got me through a lot of long days this year and others and who completed his 6th Ironman and is entering into IM retirement.
Thank you to all for the words and actions of support, for the love, for the uplighting words when I needed them throughout my training. Thank you for bearing with me being tired and cranky, and absent from a lot of things for the past 6 months.
GRATITUDE for it all :) #IMWI
The Business was once again Taken Care of.
