Well, this will be the shortest race report to date. I woke up and did the ususal race breakfast 3 and a half hours before the race. My teammates and I then headed down to get bussed to the start. The entire way all I could think about was how cold the water was going to be. I was not that worried about the bike and run for some reason. I mean yeah it would be a long day, in the mountains, but I was prepared.

Getting to transition area it was still very dark at 4:45 am. The good thing was I had plenty of time to get my bike in order and stand in the port-o-potty line multiple times. I was hanging with my friend Lauren all morning and all we did was go to the bathroom and then get back in line. It was quite funny. As it got closer to race start, it just kept getting colder. I was bundled up to the max, which was very smart of me. Unfortunately, the layers had to come off, as I had to get in my wetsuit and head down to the ice bath..aka Sand Hollow Spring.

I got in the water about 5 minutes before the start. The plan was to get in and get used to it before the start so I would not panic when I actually had to start swimming. My face gets really cold usually and my feet and hands, but other than that my BlueSeventy wetwsuit does a fine job at keeping me warm. I believe the water was close to 55 degrees. Now that is the coldest water I have swam in to date. I recall Mooseman Olympic two years ago when it was sub 60 and I only had a sleeveless. Yeah I was a rookie back then. Anyway… this time around I was smart as a seasoned triathlete

I eventually moved my way up to the middle in the second row back where I found my teammate Molly. Lauren was with us as well. We chatted a bit and then bang… it was time to swim. Now this is where the downward spiral started. As most of you know, I dropped out of the race after 20 minutes. I had a tough start in the swim and got a little beat up. I tried to take a few breaks, however, it just made it worse as I was getting more cold. I definitelly struggled and was hanging on to the kayaks not once, but twice. I was at the point where I just could not feel the water and get into a swim groove. It was quite painful, so I decided it was in my best interest to pull the plug for safety reasons. Getting on the life boat was devastating, and the ride back to land was even worse.

I have to say it was a VERY tough decision. Yeah, I cried once I got on the life boat for a brief moment. However, I snapped out of it and told myself that I could do another race. This is just one ironman and I should not get too worked up over it. Yeah I put in a ton of training juggling a full time job, coaching, and trying to maintain a social life all at once, but I would be OK. Don’t get me wrong, I am sad. I am just trying to stay positive and come to terms that Utah just wasn’t my race.

With every life experience (in this case IM Utah), we learn something. Although I may have trained and came to this race ready to go, there is way more to it than that. You never know what the day is going to bring and sometimes you can’t be prepared for everything. When you are the least bit doubtful of survival, panic quickly sets in and takes over, and the game time decisions may not always be what you really want.

So for me, it is off to use some of this fitness to do another race. You may see me at Lake Placid in July. If I do another IM, it isn’t because I am chasing Kona. It will be because I want to put the training to the test. If I get a Kona spot, great and if not, will enjoy racing on the 70.3 circuit for my 2010 season.

Thanks to all of my friends and family for supporting me through my training for Utah. It was one heck of a long road! XXX

I am off to Vegas for a little fun… Yipppppeeee!

Filed under: Race Reports