Race report, Ironman Wisconsin

Sorry I haven't written.  I wanted my first post after IM to be my race report.  Here it is.  Sorry for the delay.

I've been avoiding writing this race report for a while. I've been avoiding it because it was a long, hard, hot day and I just kept one foot in front of the other.  I get emotional when I think about the day.   Things didn’t go as planned, and I had to deal with it out there. All that mattered was that I had made it to the start line and I knew I was going to get to the finish line.




I believe that every person, at least once in their life, has to take on a challenge that seems impossible. By taking on the challenge we learn that we are capable of accomplishing things then we never thought we could, we also learn that we can overcome obstacles more easily than we think we can. It’s a day to test ourselves and by doing that we turn into hero’s. We don’t always know what these “tests” will be which is the hard and fun part. Some people may thing that’s cheesy, but I think it’s true. For me, that day is the Ironman.



I think that Ironman is an incredible journey. The training, the planning, the commitment, the people you meet, the stories of courage, everything. To call my journey “hectic” would be an understatement but I can’t think of the right word. My followers have noticed that this season has been full of lots of fun, life events. I broke a toe (ok, not a fun event), completed my first Triple T, got engaged, planned a Chicago wedding, rode my bike across Iowa, moved to Alabama and started a new job all while training for Ironman Wisconsin. Each of those events is incredible and amazing in themselves. Unfortunately when you put them all within a 4 month time period life starts to feel crazy. In the midst of all this stuff I came close to walking away from Ironman. I was struggling to enjoy my workouts and races felt like a job. I decided to continue and told myself I needed to change my mental attitude and that training needed to be about having fun.

During the race I really thought about that decision. I spent all day looking around saying “This is FUN!”. It was important for me to keep that attitude as you will learn as I walk you through my race day.

The week of Ironman was also hectic. My bike and some of my gear were in Chicago and the other half were in Birmingham. I picked up race wheels from a shop in Birmingham thinking I could fit them in a suitcase I had. I got home the night before my flight to realize that they didn’t fit. The next morning before my flight I had to run to the bike shop where they packaged them (Cahaba Cycles is the BEST). When I got to Chicago, I realized that my bike shoes weren’t in anywhere to be found (I thought I had left them in Chicago but that wasn’t true). At that time I had NO clue where they were, shut I was lucky if I knew where my wallet was at that point. Nothing in Birmingham was unpacked or organized. Monkey and I had a room that looked like a tornado had gone through it. After attempting to give him some guidance on the 20 places they could be he told me he couldn’t find them and sent me my mom on a plane with my very old, cheap pair of shoes that I hadn’t worn in two years.

I arrived in Madison with my friend and training buddy Cindy. Cindy and I managed to keep each other from freaking out by talking about wedding stuff and counting red barns. She told me that my shoes didn’t matter which was kind of her and I kept telling her that she was going to rock the race and beat her boyfriend and my 2010 training buddy, Brian (which she did).

We got there, registered, checked into our hotels, and went to the team meeting. I was actually pretty calm at that point. My mom also showed up which was fun.



The next day I woke up, did one last short brick workout, dropped my transition bags off, browsed the Ironman store, hung out with My mom and Dirty D (a friend who came up from Chicago) and enjoyed my last supper at a favorite, Francesca’s al Lago. I went to bed feeling fine, in fact I even managed to fall asleep at 9:45.



Waking up was awesome. I said “FINALLY, I get to be done with this!”. It’s true. I was mentally exhausted form the four months of life events that I needed Ironman off my plate. I needed to start focusing on different things and I knew that I had one day between me and that.

The swim start is really beautiful. There are 3000 people all sitting treading water and the sun has just come up over Lake Menona.  As I waslked to the swim start I stopped and I kissed my mom and gave Dirty D a hug. I got in the water and made my way into the inside. That’s where I was last year and it worked then so I figured why change it. As I treaded water I got teary eyed. The announcer made a speech before we did a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11. I remember him saying “10 years ago our country went through a lot of pain”. I don’t remember what else he said but it was pretty emotional. Then next thing I knew the gun was going off.

The swim started out great. I was moving and I felt good. I wasn’t trying to gun it, just go nice and easy and get warmed up. I was sitting there repeating the U2 lyrics in my head “It’s a beautiful day, don’t let it get away”. Next thing I knew my goggles were gone and someone was swimming on top of me. It hurt actually, Luckily I had another set of goggles so I stopped and put em on and got on my way. This time I was singing the Finding Nemo song “just keep swimming, just keep swimming”. While I was coming around the last cone for the first lap I got knocked hard. I was fine but I noticed my goggles were leaking. After a few hundred yards I stopped at a kayak and asked if they had an extra pair. They told me they didn’t but I could ask the next one. So I swam to the next kayak and they didn’t have a pair either. At that point I just figured I would go at it without goggles so I did. Swimming with no goggles stinks, but I just wanted to be done and the sooner I could get moving the better.

I came out of the swim in 1:22. 5 minutes slower than last year. Oh well, time to move on (that’s literally what I said when I looked at my watch). I ran up the helix and it is just such an awesome feeling. Everyone is cheering and I knew I was smiling.

T1 went really fast, in fact I was 8 minutes faster than last year. I hopped on my bike and just told myself to go slow. I knew I couldn’t afford to blow myself out. I hit the first few rest stops and finally stopped in Mt Horeb so I could use the bathroom. At that point I was about 30 miles in (2 hours) so it made sense. I also got to see a friend that I trained with last year. She hugged me and wished me luck as I started the fun “roller coaster” part of the course. The next 30 miles just flew by. I really don’t remember them. I remember just looking around at the course saying “wow, you have spent the last two summers on this course training”. In fact, my first lap that day marked the 25th time I had ridden that loop. (Note: For those who don’t know the bike course has a stick, then two loops them you go back down the stick to Madison). I remember just thinking back to all the fun training times, the friends I have made, the bad days that I got through, just everything. I also remember saying to myself “wow, you won’t be back in this course for a VERY VERY long time”.

About half way though the bike my feet started really hurting. It was just this pain in the balls of my feat from the shows I was using. I stopped a few times just to take my shoes off and rub the pain out. It was almost unbearable. Somehow I just kept saying GO FORWARD. Then I got a flat. Yes ladies and gents, the wheels that I shipped and brought with me from Birmingham gave me a flat. I actually laughed when it happened. I flatted about 10 times this season so it didn’t surprise me that it happened on the course.

I came into t2 and the woman helping me asked if I wanted Vaseline for my blisters. WHAT BLISTERS?!?!? Well low and behold I had blisters on the bottoms of my feat. I put ointment on them and then got out to start the run.

I started off feeling slow, but good. I was seeing lots of friends and 2010 training buddies. People were coming up and giving me hugs, telling me I could do it. I knew I could. I started running and walking through the aid stations (every mile). My feet were hurting but I could manage it. Somewhere around mile 11 my hamstring started hurting. Next thing I know I’m almost to the half-way point and my hamstring is just throbbing. I decided to start walking. I just focused on swinging my arms and keeping a 15 minute pace. I also linked up with another racer and we just spent the next 10 miles talking and getting each other going.

At mile 23 I stopped for a second cause I thought I had a huge rock in my shoe. I took my shoe off to realize the rock was just my blister. Oh well. As im walking I see my friend Deb who had been behind me. The thing is, she’s now ahead of me. I say “hey, look at you, you’re going to do this tonight”, she responds with “tory I think I made a wrong turn”. Oh crap, she did.

Deb is a friend who trained with me last year and ended up missing the cut off at mile 19 of the run by 2 minutes. We were all cheering for her this year and looking forward to the moment when she would finish the race. Well, come to find out she had taken a wrong turn. . She started crying and told me to leave her. I couldn’t leave her, I had to make sure she got back on the route. I walked with her till we could find a race official. The race official told her she had to go back and do the whole thing over again which meant she would miss the cut off at mile 19 again. As we walked away from each other (her towards the right route and me towards the finish line and the last 3 miles) I started crying. I wanted her to make it so badly. It just sucked. There wasn’t a volunteer on the course and after exercising for a whole day, we just aren’t thinking clearly and she got lost. Plus it’s pitch dark. I have a bone to pick with how the ironman race official called this but I will talk about that another time.

About a half a mile from the finish line I saw a friend coming out of a porty potty. The course was pretty bare a that point and he ran with me for a while. He was drunk and he just went on and on about the day and everyone else that day. It made me laugh so hard. Right before I got to the finish line shut he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheap and said “congratulations tory, I’m so proud of you. You are an ironman”. I will never forget it. It was just so fun to be with him on the course. I can’t explain it.

I came through the finish line shoot and got tear eyed. It was just a long day. Everything hurt. But I had made it. I had gotten myself there. Even with all these excuses to stop, I didn’t. As a crossed the finish line I tripped (yes, it’s rather funny when you watch it, I will post that later also) and then I smiled.



The finish line is amazing. I am writing about my feelings then and I am crying. It’s just this feeling of disbelief and being proud and wanting to collapse but feeling like you are invisible. It’s the best feeling in the world.



I can’t thank enough people, my mom (for coming 2X in a row), Monkey, Dirty D, Heather, Lindsey, Brian, Cindy, Dave, Kathleen, Jeff T, my dad, Dave, Melissa, my coaches, team Chiowa are just a small list of the people I need to thank.

IM wisconsin race tracker

I am on my way to the start and I just wanted  to make sure I thanked everyone for the support this season.  Today I am going to have fun and remeber that all that matters is getting to the finish line! 

Track me on www.ironmanlive.com 
#272

See you when I am a finisher!

Race Week, Oh Sh&%

It is time, its here. I keep having these “Oh SH%$” moments where I realize I’ve forgotten something. This morning on the way to work I realized I had forgotten my cycling shoes and sunglasses. Smooth move Tory. It’s hard having half my stuff in Chicago and half of it here in Birmingham. I thought I had left my shoes there and then I realized they were here. My mom will bring them up tomorrow when she comes to Madison.


Getting to race day is half the battle of racing. Seriously, right now race day seems easy compared to the amount of crap I have to think about and remember over the next 48 hours.

Readers, I apologize. The truth of the matter is I’m flipping out right now. I’m nervous about forgetting something, not finishing, not getting wheels to the race site, etc. It’s just a lot to think about. I keep telling myself “The hay is in the barn, the hay is in the barn” This just means that I’ve done the work and now it’s just time to execute on it. There’s nothing left that I can do to get myself prepared. At a certain time, you are just ready to go. I’m apologizing because it is really hard to put into words the way I’m feeling and what I’m experiencing. It’s been a whirlwind summer. I’m lucky to have gotten as far as I have. I spent my last summer in Chicago training for this. I also have been managing a move (to the deep south, new job, Monkey starting grad school, all while training for an ironman. There were some workouts that I couldn’t’ get done, at times I didn’t have the mental capacity, at other times I didn’t have the physical capacity. Now I am sitting here with race right in front of me and I’m reflecting on the strength it has taken me to get to where I am. I’m trying to figure out how to use that on race day to keep me moving forward to the finish line. I also find myself getting teary eyed when I reflect on the last year. There’s just been so much and I’m so thankful for everything. Again, this is very hard to put into words.

I also want to apologize for not writing since I moved to Birmingham. Things are different down here. Some of the differences are fun and I’m embracing them, others are not so fun and I make me miss Chicago. The new job is going well and I’m finding myself excited every day for work and to get to the office and start attacking the day. I promise I will write more about this move after Ironman.



I want to thank everyone for their support over the last year of training. I don’t think people realize how important it is to have friends and family that support the ironman goal. Over the last week I have had friends email me telling me they will be on the course cheering me on, I’ve had friends wish me luck and tell me that they will be thinking about me that day, the Facebook messages have been amazing. THANK YOU for this. It really does mean the world to me. I think about those messages while I’m riding a lot. I will remember them on race day and will find strength in them.



Ok, time to go catch a plane.