Ironman Florida 2013 - A day of fist fights, smiles, and compression socks!

Ironman Florida 2013 - A day of fist fights, smiles, and compression socks! 

- The account of first time Ironman Allison LaRochelle

Since I started competing in triathlons a couple years ago after having my second son, Brady, an Ironman has always been on the bucket list.  And one year ago after racing my first Half Ironman, I decided to take the leap and sign up for Ironman Florida.  Being a Miami native, nothing was more appealing to me than sun, sand, and flat roads.  And so started my journey of training for my first full Ironman - I had my coach, my sponsors, Parvilla Cycle & Multisport, Guru Cycles, Pactimo & Retul, I had focused the 2013 season on this race. Now it was time!

What to say about Panama City Beach, Florida.  Other than the beautiful water and white sandy beach, the town itself leaves a bit to be desired.  To paint you a little picture, there are more strip clubs than Starbucks and we were lucky enough to have the “Show & Tail” Gentleman’s Club across the street from our condo.  But I wasn’t there to be out on the town so no big deal. :) We headed down to the Expo through a sea of compression socks, and checked in.  I have never seen so much compression gear in my life – I actually felt like the odd ball for not having it on.  Triathletes are a funny bunch. 

The Show-N-Tail "attractions" of PCB!

Coming into the race, my biggest concern was the bike leg.  I hadn’t been able to fit in many long rides, which had me very unsure about what was about to be my longest ride to date. The swim and run portions have always been my favorite disciplines so I wasn’t too concerned there.  That is until Thursday, when a front was moving through which gave way to some pretty rough seas for a practice swim.  It was insane trying to get out through all the waves. After fighting my way through the waves for a bit I decided to pack it up and body surf my way back in.  Cue the start of nervousness about the swim.

 Friday, the day before the big race, was even worse with very strong winds and the Gulf was so rough that they put out double red flags for no swimming allowed.  Cue more stress about the swim. The day before a race is always full of butterflies and nervousness for me and this time it was no different except amplified by about 100%!  So many questions go through your head: Have I trained enough?  Why couldn’t I just have done a couple more long rides?  What if the water doesn’t calm down?  Is it too late to go home?  Have I trained enough?  Have I trained enough?  Have I trained enough?  :)  Paul and I went out for my pre-race dinner of sushi and then back to the condo for an early bedtime.  Not a wink…that’s how much I slept the night before the race.  But finally it was time to get this show on the road and head down to transition!

After getting my gear together we all headed down to the beach to start.  This year they had self-seeding corrals which basically means you stand on the beach in between signs that signify how long you think it will take you to finish the swim. Everyone still starts at the exact same time, which basically means it is still a mass start of 3500 people running in and diving through the waves at the same time.  I started with my self-seeded group which was on the inside of the pack, closest to the buoys.  I thought I was prepared for the chaos of a mass start, but I wasn’t even close!  It is an all out brawl where grown men actually try to drown you!  No one cares that you are in a pink cap, they actually put their hands on your head and back and push you under.  Elbows are flying, fists are punching, people are cursing at each other in between gasping for air and trying not to drown.  It is complete mayhem.  I consider myself a good swimmer and this was the closest I have ever come to thinking I was going to drown.  About 300 yards out I had swallowed so much water and been punched and pushed under so many times I had a bit of a panic attack.  I screamed and tried to float on my back and regain my composure but it was useless.  I was completely boxed in by thousands of people and there was absolutely no way out. I thought of Paul’s friend who was a Navy SEAL and realized he wouldn’t just float here screaming like a little girl, he would fight like hell and keep moving forward.  So that is what I decided to do.  It wasn’t until the first turn buoy that I was able to finally get in a couple full strokes of free style and try to find my own little box where I could actually swim.  I knew I was getting close to finishing the first loop when a big wave crashed down on me and knocked my goggles off.  Phew, goggles back on and I made it through the first loop. A quick look at my watch pleasantly surprised me with 31 minutes despite my breakdown and all the fighting! I was psyched.  I ran across the beach and headed out for loop two.  This time I only took one big blow, which unfortunately was right on my watch so I was sure it had stopped my timer, but other than that I was able to get into a rhythm and just enjoy the swim and feel proud of myself (and a bit silly) for having recovered from my little episode on the first loop.  Finally I was done! 1hr 5mins! I had finished and had lived to tell about it.  I ran out of the water and looked to find that my watch had been smashed. Actual pieces of it were missing and it was completely broken.  Of all days to not have a watch!  But, it is what it is so I ran into transition and off for the bike. 

I was feeling great!  Even though I didn’t have my watch, I knew I had a good swim.  Once on the bike all I had to do was stick to the plan.  I had my power zones planned out and I just had to fight the urge to go with the people that passed me. I kept reminding myself that this was going to be a long ride so I didn’t want to burn all my matches this early.  Something I learned– this race is a draft fest!  I can’t even tell you how many groups of 6-12 people flew by me all drafting off each other.  It actually got a bit discouraging because even though it was tempting to jump on, it is against the rules and I wasn’t going to do it.  I did not want to be sitting in the Penalty Tent cursing myself and getting me out of a positive frame of mind.  It was fun to see a group of about 10 people who had flown by me around mile 70 all sitting in the penalty tent a little further up the road though.  I love when Karma works its magic :). The bike was pretty uneventful and I was so happy because I was feeling great!  I stuck to the power plan and ate and drank way more than I usually do in training and it was working.  Even though I didn’t have a watch I could see from my computer that I had a bike split I was really pleased with. Time for the marathon!

Smiling, high-fiving....Ironman's are fun right?

A quick change to my running shorts and gear and I was off – running “naked” as they say, without a watch to give me any indication of how I was doing time wise.  In a way I think this was a very good thing.  I ran completely by feel and didn’t have any added stress of looking down and thinking I was going too fast or too slow.  And I couldn’t tell anyone’s age group anyway because their calves were all covered with compression socks!  I felt terrific and so started a long run with my plan to walk every single water stop to make sure I stayed hydrated.  The crowd support during the run is unbelievable!  The aid stations have people dressed in costumes cheering like crazy and blasting music.  They make you feel like you are a rock star the way they cheer for you.  It was so much fun!  Around mile 9 I asked a man that had a Garmin how we were doing on time and he informed me that if we kept up this pace we were on target for a sub-11 hour finish time.  WOW, this was exciting news.  While I tried not to put too much pressure on myself to finish in a certain time, I was really hoping for a sub-12 hour race, so this was happy news!  It gave me plenty of cushion for the second loop because I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to keep this pace up the whole time. I told him thanks and that I liked his compression socks and kept running.  :)

What a great day to run a marathon

The first loop was done before I knew it and I was still feeling happy but definitely hurting a bit more.  All that liquid and gel throughout the day wasn’t doing my stomach any favors.  I forced down gels as few more times until I finally couldn’t take it anymore.  Thank goodness for the Pepto I had with me because I was eating those things like candy.  Around mile 15 I decided to switch to coke at the aid stations to help settle my stomach.  This was also the time I pulled out my note that Brock made me before the race “Go Mom Go.” That was all I needed to just keep moving forward.  I thought of quotes that friends gave me before the race, and I made Diana Nyads mantra of “Find a Way” my own.  No matter what I was going to find away.  The miles just kept clicking by and before I knew it I was at the 20 mile mark. My calves were cramping up very badly by now so at this point I started to stop and stretch them from time to time (Damn these people and their compression socks!). I knew I was slowing, but I was feeling really good for being 20 miles in and was still able to stick to my plan of only walking the water stops.  Around mile 23 I was in disbelief that I only had 3 miles left and I hadn’t had any moments of self doubt or feeling like I just couldn’t finish.  I also had no clue what time it was so I had no idea how close I was to breaking 11 hours.  I just wanted to keep moving forward.  Once I hit 25 miles, which was really close to our condo, I started to get excited. I stopped for one last drink and then picked up the pace a little.  A few people started running by me really fast but I didn’t think anything of it.  Hindsight is 20/20 and now I know why they were in such a hurry. When I could hear the finish line I picked it up a bit more and was running harder but feeling good. 

Allison LaRochelle - You are an IRONMAN!

Finally I was there running down the chute.  I was completely alone so I heard my name announced clearly and I was in total shock to see that my time was 11:01:32.  I was so happy and so proud of myself.  I still can’t believe what I just accomplished.  And you know what the first thing I did was?  Yep that’s right, put on a pair of compression sleeves with my flip flops!  Maybe there is something to these things after all :)

Although I am ecstatic with my race and my time, it is hard to quiet the “what if’s” when you are only 2 minutes from breaking 11 hours.  What if I hadn’t had my little melt down in the water? What if I hadn’t taken my time in transitions?  What if my watch had kept working and I could have known just how close I was, maybe I could have skipped that last aid station or not stretched my calves so much at the end?  I have thought of about a million things I could have done differently to get that extra 2 minutes back.  But at the end of the day, who really cares?  It the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter.  I had a perfect day for me.  It was one of those rare days when everything felt good and I was just happy. I was smiling all day, high fiving little kids, thanking volunteers, and encouraging everyone I passed.  I had Paul there cheering me on and was able to give him a great big hug at the finish. That’s really what it’s all about in my opinion.  Having fun, being happy, and being so grateful for being able to do this kind of thing. 

And now, I am officially an Ironman!!!!  :)