Ok, guys. I finished Ironman Wisconsin. I was more than 2.5 hours off my goal time. But, the race didn’t really go as planned. At all. I knew that when I started to get blurry vision mid-bike ride that the race was going to be a race of survival not of speed. It seems that this year all of my big races have been spectacular fails. So, I spent much of the marathon telling myself that I was going to take time off after the Ironman. And that I was NEVER going to to an Ironman again. That I needed a break from racing and that I needed to figure out why I was having such a bad racing season.
Some of the frustration and negativity has faded with the muscle soreness. But some has not.
I’m still going to take some time off from racing and have decided to back out of the Philly Marathon in November. I’ll return to racing at Boston in April. As to another Ironman, I’m not sure. The competitive girl in me who is really disappointed with my time wants to race another IM next year. The girl who misses sleeping in on weekends is not so sure.
Right now, I’m still in Wisco, staying with one of my besties before she gets married on Saturday! Then, it will be back to the heat and humidity of Georgia. I’m regrouping. Refocusing.
And most importantly, redescovering what life is like and who I am sans ironman training.
Be on the lookout for some big blog changes (BIG!) and a BIG race report coming your way in the next week or so!
A public defender super heroine by day, I am a cupcake baker extraordinaire by night. And come weekend, I am an IronPerson. I deal with an NPR addiction daily and I dream of one day having Carl Kasell on my answering machine. I strive to be the best fur-mommy I can be, and when I have time, I'm learning to be a grownup.
P@P on Twitter
+ Follow Pen
- @granoah aw! Sorry that you are sittin it out, but I'm sure your back will thank you!
- Just posted a photo http://t.co/3FKeWD8X
- @granoah it depends. fever=DNS. otherwise, depends on how crummy i feel. what do you have this weekend?
- 3wks ago, I got a sore throat & 102deg fever a day before a race. now, I'm getting a sore throat again & supposed to race Sunday. WTFingF.
- Project Sub-5, week 1. http://t.co/v0422Es
What’s Been Shakin’
Who’s got something to say?
- Ashley @ This Is The Place on Two years post-post-concussion-syndrome.
- DirtProof on Two years post-post-concussion-syndrome.
- Caitlin on I’m back, b*tches.
- Luke on I’m back, b*tches.
- Amy B @ Second City Randomness on I’m back, b*tches.
- Luke on Doggone Wet 5K
- arismella on Doggone Wet 5K
- bethany on 2012? Bring it.
- 2012? Bring it. | pen at peace. on Who moved my mother-f-ing cheese?
- Ashley on To 2012 and beyond!
25 Responses for "I am Ironman."
I find it ridiculous that you were in a race for so long that it’s even possible to be 2.5 hours off your goal time. I still think it’s an incredible accomplishment and you should be proud!
you. are. intense. bummer you were off your goal but i admire you sooooooooooooooooooooo much that you finished it and stuck with it. you are simply amazing!
Wow…can I just say WOW! You ROCK! Please don’t be disappointed even if the race wasn’t all you expected to be because you finished one of the toughest endurance events that anyone can ever do! I can only compare to marathon training so I can imagine how much tougher and how much more time consuming it is just to train enough so you can line up at the starting line…much less participate…much less FINISH!
Congratulations on your IRONMAN! Seriously, no matter the time…you did it and you should feel super! I know I would. AWESOME JOB, Superwoman!
Congratulations on your Ironman! I know after training for so long and so hard it must be disappointing to miss your goal time, but in perspective just completing an ironman is a HUGE accomplishment. Like so huge I don’t have words to describe. Enjoy your free time and living life and I’m excited to see the blog changes!
wait..wait…wait… you just completed an IRONMAN and yet just said that your racing season was a failure? NO WAY! You are AMAZING. And you did something that hardly ANYONE can do. It is in no way a bad racing season.. it’s a HUGE accomplishment, and you should be so very prou of yourself for accomplishing that. I’d say that you had an amazingly successful season… YOU JUST DID AN IRONMAN!
I’m excited to hear the recap- even if you say it didn’t go as planned. You finished a freaking Ironman! All that dedication and work you put into counts for something. Seriously. I bow down to you…
First, congrats – just finishing an ironman really is a huge accomplishment, even though that sounds like a cliche.
Second, you’re still relatively new to racing tris, right? Its gotta be really hard to not only physically handle the training, but to figure out your nutrition, etc. I know some seasoned triathletes that STILL haven’t touched ironman or spend an entire year building up to one and not even working full time! You busted ass and you accomplished something most people never will – maybe not as fast as you’d like, but now you’ve got a ton of fitness under your belt that won’t just go away. Enjoy your time off and hopefully I’ll see you in Boston
You are amazing for even finishing. I think you’re a rockstar, doesn’t that count!!
Looking forward to seeing what changes you have in store!!
You are an inspiration, a survivor, and a certified badass. Oooof I’m so sorry it didn’t go exactly as you hoped…. but you BETTER be taking some time to seriously revel in your accomplishment. Not to mention your newfound freedom from all the training. Lady, you are an Ironwoman!!!!
Congrats on the Ironman! I look forward to reading your race report.
All of your blog friends are awesome. Thank you Penatpeace readers for trying to help my badass daughter keep things in perspective. I haven’t smiled as wide as I did when you crossed that finish line in years. If I could have rewound, I would have watched your finish over and over. Instead, I watched people I didn’t know crossing the line, and they made me smile, too. I am so proud of you. And you met my goal, which was for you to be smiling as you crossed the line.
I’m just going to reiterate what everyone said above and repeat that you are in no way a failure, but instead an amazing, amazing woman for completing just a tough event! You’re an IRONMAN and no one can take that away from you. I think you’re amazing and definitely an inspiration. Enjoy your time off, but I’m sure you’ll be back in action soon.
Congrats again!!
You are my hero for just finishing an Ironman. As a competitive girl myself, I can relate to all your frustrations and worries about the next race, but take time to focus on your HUGE accomplishment!
You sound very centered and happy, regardless. Must be the Wisconsin air and the nice midwesterners.
Oh, and now I will have that song in my head all night long. Thanks.
Congrats on racing an ironman! I’m sorry the race didn’t go as planned, but you have 140.6 reasons to be so proud of yourself! And I love your mom’s comment- how can you be disappointed after that:)
Congratulations on your IM finish. I think the fact that you finished the race when things started to feel off on the bike (the bike!) showed that you have incredible determination. If you can’t feel proud of anything else, you should certainly be proud of that.
Enjoy the rest of your time up here. We’re having beautiful weather, and never doubt the medicinal value of ice cream, brats and beer.
Congrats on being an IRONMAN! I did it too this year and it was my first IM also. It was amazing and brutal. I am lucky because I live near Chicago so I was able to train on the hills for the bike part. Trust me, those hills are insane and they take a lot out of you while you’re riding. I think it’s hard to train for them if you’re not from here.
I’m finding the emotions are healing slower than the muscles at this point. I feel neurotic – happy one minute, sad the next. I’m including my race report – I find reading them helps me remember stuff and find some closure for the whole thing. You can skip it if you want, I just thought it might help reading another perspective. Good luck and take care of yourself – you earned some TLC.
The swim was scary…there’s no way to prepare for that. But the 2nd loop was no problem and it went faster than I thought. Swimming up to that finisher banner was incredible.
The first loop of the bike was glorious. The support on the hills was truly amazing – my friend, Cathy, risked her life for me by running next to me for a minute! People were dressed up and banging drums and making a ton of noise. I was exciting and entertaining. The second loop of the bike wasn’t too bad. A little hotter and a little more tired but I was still smiling at the end. I had to remember to keep eating and drinking during the bike. Right at the bottom of the helix at the end, my bike chain locked up completely! This was at mile 112. I”m really lucky it happened then because I just ran up the helix with my bike. What a way to end the bike!
The run….that was brutal! It’s amazing how lonely you can feel when there’s 2000 other people running with you. But, I had moments of excitement when I saw my fans and that made all the difference! Again, my friend Cathy, ran with me and helped me keep moving! I was really positive and happy for the swim and the bike but I had a lot of negative thoughts during the run. I went into it with a bad attitude because I had been struggling with my run for the past 4 months or so. I think I over-trained a bit in May and that bit me in the butt for the rest of the summer. So, by mile 4, I wanted to stop. At the turnaround point, I saw some tri-friends and they cheered me up! Plus, I changed shoes which helped a ton! Then, I ran over to my family and broke into tears. I didn’t want to leave them and go out on that second loop! It was getting dark and it seemed so far away. My husband pointed out that I was running well and I wasn’t limping so I should be ok. Everything hurt but he was right – I wasn’t injured, I could keep running. I saw a woman puke up all her liquids at about mile 14 and I was really glad I wasn’t her. I think my nutrition was ok – maybe I could have done something different but it worked for me. Pretzels never tasted so good! The last 13 was nightmarish but I just kept making deals with myself. Run another mile and then walk. I found walking wasn’t much better so I just kept shuffling along.
At the end, I was dizzy and nauseous so when I ran down the tunnel to the finish line, I don’t remember much. Lots of bright lights and lots of faces. It was overwhelming. The volunteer at the end was awesome. He literally held me up because my legs were giving out. I almost went to he med tent but was coherent so I didn’t bother. I saw my family and then took a really long hot shower and felt so much better. Later, I went back out to thank my coach and see some of the party and pick up my stuff. The excitement was going strong until Midnight!
We went back to the room and I had a huge plate of fries, a big salad and a huge cookie and then went to bed. Now, it’s time to rest and heal. I’m glad that it’s over but I’m glad I did it and finished. Ironman is not necessarily the path to health but it’s a path to a glorious memory!
I finished at about 8: 40pm – It took me 13 hours and 40 minutes to do it all…
That’s the thing about Ironman…there’s so much that can go different than planned. If it were easy everyone would do it. Last year I stayed out there until midnight watching people come in and that’s when it struck me that no matter how long it takes you – everyone is on some level equal when you cross that line. The number one goal – no matter how mnay times you’ve done IM is to finish….because in a race like this that is NOT a given. There’s a lot of little decisions all day that can add up. Pacing, nutrition, went to push, went to back down, what to “let” into your mind. It doesn’t matter what you do leading up to it…I think it’s very humbling to be out there. Even the greatest athletes can be surprised what Ironman. At this point you’ve done it and whether or not you do it again is completely your decision! Take some time and let it soak in. And then decide if you want to commit that much time and energy to another one or you’d rather spend the little free time we get focusing on other things.
Did you have fans out on the bike course? Maybe at Old Sauk pass? I saw some peeps looking anxiously down the hill with a sign with your name on it….and thought it might be you they were waiting to go nuts for!
You are incredible. Incredible. I can’t even really articulate it, obvi. But I bet these conflicted feelings are normal. Rest up, superstar.
Congratulations. Finishing an Ironman is something that few people will EVER be able to do, regardless of time. You are borderline superhuman.
You definitely deserve some time off. Figure out what it is you want to do with your body — if your body tells you to start yoga, do that. Or kickboxing. Or walking. Whatever, just listen. And remember that you are fit and spectacular and awesome!
You did an Ironman. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. You are in the top echelon of athletes to just even complete it. I’m inspired by you!
You are so amazing! Seriously, you did what most people can only dream of. I’m sorry about your time, but finishing an Ironman is such a huge, huge accomplisment. Be proud, girl! Can’t wait for the recap
Sorry it didn’t go exactly as planned. You looked great out there though and it was still an amazing experience!!
Now take a break or don’t, whatever you want. You deserve it!
P.S. Did you find anywhere you can order finisher gear? I want to surprise John with something.
Penny, you are amazing!! Times 10! And don’t get down on yourself!
Oddly enough, I just read a story in Runners World about Matt Long and something he told someone who was training for his first IM… “Enjoy it. Just enjoy the experience.” Obviously a little late but I think you can still look at the IM from a a week ago and just smile at the fact that you did something 99.99999% of the population will not even attempt to do. And you FINISHED it! And you were smiling while you were RUNNING across the finish line.
I am still ridicously proud of you! Do you know how many people who will never ever complete an Ironman! I think it is smart for you to take some time off to think. Racing should be fun and something you enjoy. When it stops becoming that it is time for a break. It doesn’t mean forever…just a break to regroup, refocus and enjoy time for yourself that doesn’t revolve around the next workout, the next time, the next anything. Then once you have rested you will want it again and if you don’t then that is okay too.
Leave a reply