IMAZ-Bike..

I took off on the bike feeling really good. I decided to try and eat right away some solid foods, since I knew later they would not go down. MISTAKE! I know better than this, really. I cannot eat solid food in a race, no matter what. I know this but wanted to "try it" since we had been eating in training...I paid the price. Although my first loop bike split was not bad, my stomach was a swollen mess. I took some Gas-X, I tried drinking more water, then was afraid more water would make it worse. About 1000 people passed me on the bike..one problem with having a good swim..and being an average rider. I had my HR monitor on and kept my HR below 145 for the most part. Finally in lap 2, I stood and passed some wind! Ahhh, that felt so good..I knew my stomach was operational again..Managed to suck down some Carboom gels and Infinite in loop 2 & 3. By loop 3, my legs felt really tired. I was having a hard time keeping my HR up, which I knew meant I needed to take in more calories, which I did with the gels as much as I could. I had to stop at the porta potty about 4 times, which I guess was good but totally sucked because I really wanted to break 7 hours on the bike. Which I did according to my Garmin, but with all the stops, it ended up being 7:06.

Since it was a 3 loop bike, I finally saw H on the first loop and each loop after that. It was so good to see him. He had a smile on his face..that made me so happy! I saw all my Outlaw peeps on the bike except for Brian and Cody...There was an ambulance that came zooming by, which made me a bit nervous..

As I calculated my bike time, I knew I would have to pretty much rock the run course if I was going to get a PR (14:15 at IMFL 4 years ago). My secret goal was to break 14 hours. I felt ready for it, I knew I had done the training. The weather was perfect! In the 70s for most of the day, very little wind, even had the headwind going dowhill on the Beeline Highway. What better conditions to ask for? I felt like I gave it all I had on the bike. I had pushed much harder than at IMCDA and knew I may pay the price on the run but wanted to push my limits a bit on this race..

As I headed into T-2, I was still in good spirits...still thought the PR may be in grasp. The volunteers at T-2 were amazing. Not only did I get my own personal assistant that did everything for me, there was also an A.R.T. therapist there offering to stretch my legs for me. Are you kidding me? Is this a mirage? I thought..Nope, she really did stretch me after I changed all my clothes. I decided to bag the Garmin for the run. I just did not want to deal with the chest strap and extra weight and stuff.. Off I went to run. I thought sure my T-2 was 20 min but it was "only" 10 min.