My Ironman Experience by Renee Sobering
I still remember turning on the TV when I was about 12 years old to see a mass of bodies writhing and splashing around in the water. That caught my attention. I continued to watch as people poured out of the water and started peeling off wetsuits, only to don bike helmets, grab their bikes, and head out on the road. As I listened to the announcers, I learned that they had a long ride ahead of them, 112 miles to be exact. Even with the race edited for television, it seemed to last forever! By this point, I was quite impressed, but that evolved into outright amazement when I found out that after the bike, these athletes were going to run a marathon! That was the first time I saw the Hawaii Ironman.
A litte voice in the back of my head said, "Wow, it would be cool to do that someday!", but quickly dismissed that notion, since I was really not much of a swimmer or a cyclist. In college, I worked at a facility that did testing and training for triathletes, both amateurs and pros, and that little voice in the back of my head came back. I had a friend teach me how to swim, and I asked my parents for a bike for my graduation gift. That's how it started.
Flash forward, it's now 7 years later, and I'm standing knee-deep in the water with 2,900 other athletes, waiting for the gun to go off. BANG! 2,900 triathletes bound into the water and start swimming, ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Suprisingly, the swim was not that crazy. Yes, there was a lot of hitting, kicking, bumping, etc...but no more than any other triathlon I've done. The swim is not my strength, but the 3,800 meters (2.4 miles) went by rather quickly, and before I knew it, I was out of the water, running to the transition tent to put on my bike gear.
Then came the bike, usually my strength. I had driven the route only two days before, and the hills on this ride were intimidating to say the least! I tried to avoid starting out too fast as per the recommendation of numerous athletes who had done this race before. There were two passes to climb, plus a number of "rolling hills" to conquer. I'm not sure I would categorize a 1 mile uphill climb as a "rolling hill", but I suppose over the course of a 112 mile bike ride, that is only a drop in the bucket! To put it simply, the bike course was hard...damn hard. I was doing pretty well until I hit about 80 miles when the pain in my neck and shoulders reached "I want to scream" status. My breathing became labored, and I started to wheeze, unable to take a deep breath. I dont' have asthma, and this is not a common occurence for me so I was taken by suprise with the fact that I simply could not get my breathing under control. I stopped and stretched a few times, and managed to get through the last 30 miles, but my breathing was still problematic when I got into the transition tent. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get my wheezing under control in preparation for the marathon I still had to run.
I have to admit, as I struggled to breathe in the transition tent, I thought that I might not be able to run the marathon. Then I thought about the hours of training and the support that my family and friends had given me, and quickly dismissed that notion. I started out on the run, and it was rough! I typically run between 7-8 minute miles, but on that day I was running 9 minute miles and walking at every aid station (every mile), making it more like 10 minute miles. After about 4 miles I was no longer running, just walking, and I started to do the math...I had 22.2 miles left and if I was walking 3 miles per hour...that would mean that I would be out on the course for another 7 hours! That's when I started to run again, despite the fact that both of my hamstrings were cramping and my right knee felt like it was going to give way.
There were a few people I met along the way who kept me going, one man was having a bad day like me, and we pushed eachother to keep running even though he was sick to his stomach and I felt like my legs were going to fall off! It wasn't until about 16 miles in that I really started to understand that this race was no longer about my finish time, it was about finishing, period. As the sun set and we continued to race in the dark, all of the athletes offered eachother encouragement. Some were shuffling, some were walking, some were limping, but we all had the same goal...to finish. When I had about 2 miles to go, I could see all the people lining the streets and hear the crowd cheering. My body hurt in ways I cannot describe, but I was determined to RUN across the finish line. I started to run, and it hurt like hell, but the adrenaline kicked in and I was able to push pretty hard the last 200 meters. Suffice it to say, it was not my best race ever, but after 13 hours 52 minutes and 54 seconds of exercise, I have never been so proud to cross a finish line in my life!
Even though I walked about half of the marathon, I ended up 76th out of 143 women in my division, and YES I will be doing another Ironman. Now that I know what to expect, LOOK OUT!
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me, supported me, called me crazy (I know it was out of love), and especially to my husband, Darryl. I'll beat you someday, honey.... :o) You know I will!
- Renee Sobering, B.S., NSCA-CPT
