Bucket List

Watched that movie a couple of nights ago.  Funny movie!!  Also makes you think about LIVING YOUR LIFE NOW!  If you haven't watched it, it's about these two men who find out they have terminal cancer and decide that they are going to finally check off all the items on their bucket list that they have been waiting their whole lives for the "right time" to do.  If my ironman story has inspired you at all, I would LOVE for you to take that inspiration and make it meaningful in your life.

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WOULD JUST LOVE TO DO BUT HAVE BEEN PUTTING IT OFF FOR......SOME OTHER DAY???

It's the perfect time of year to decide to stop waiting for SOME DAY.  TODAY IS THE DAY!!!  I know that you might be afraid, you might feel like you don't have the time, or any other number of obstacles...but if it's something you would really love to do, talk with your family and decide together if you can make it happen THIS YEAR.  Even if it seems like a small thing, as long as it's meaningful and important to you, then it's more than good enough.

I would be honored if you would leave a comment telling me what one of your goals is for the new year.  You can do it!!

Poor Harry.

When we arrived in our hotel the first night in Cozumel, Adam began the tedious task of pumping up all our tires with a hand pump.  He was very annoyed (which doesn't happen often) because it took about 30 min of intense pumping to pump a single tire and he still had three to go.  I thought he looked pretty attractive, sitting on the porch with his shirt off because he was sweating so much, glistening ironman muscles, pumping that tire in his angry, intense way.   After admiring him for a bit and having a few laughs at his expense, I suggested we head down to the lobby and try to borrow a real pump from another ironman athlete.

That's when we met Harry.  One of those really kind people that you feel blessed to have crossed paths with.  He was happy to lend us his pump after he took his mother for a walk.  You see, Harry travels the world doing Ironman races and he takes his aged parents with him because he is their caregiver.  In each race city, he hires a caregiver for the day of the race and drops off his parents pre-race, while he goes off to do an Ironman and then picks them up afterwards.  No big deal.

I saw Harry quite a bit on course, as we passed each other back and forth and exchanged greetings.  He gave himself hyponatremia on the run, just like me, and was also sick, slow and in rough shape.  Apparently he did pass out on course briefly and a nice volunteer offered him a sandwich, which got him off and running (or I should say walking) again.  It just so happens that Harry finished RIGHT AFTER ME.  I say poor Harry because it seems that Adam and I ruined Harry's finish line photos with our endless hugging.  Oooops.  Sorry Harry.  But thanks for the bike pump.

Poor Harry also got a badly infected foot from the sewage water on the run course.  He had to have the infected area cut out by a doctor at a Mexican hospital.  Poor, poor Harry.

Life After Ironman....and I hope I have a parasite.

I really hope I have a parasite because that means that there is an easy cure to my running "issues".  My bathroom breaks during training runs started after my Magrath triathlon this past summer, so it's possible that I caught a parasite in the water there.  My blood is also being tested for Celiac and Chron's Disease but that would not be good news.  Or perhaps the cause is something more complicated.  Whatever it is, I don't want to commit to doing anymore races until I figure it out.

So what have I been doing since Ironman???  
Our week in Cozumel following the race, we did a whole lot of this:

Since coming home to Calgary, I've kept myself pretty busy.  I was telling Adam that the past three days I haven't even sat down on the couch to rest.  It's just been go, go go.  I've been doing more personal training, gone to some yoga classes, done some upper body and core exercises (legs still aren't ready), spent lots of time with my kids, had a few play dates with friends, baked and delivered Christmas goodies and I've even taken up knitting!  My friend taught me how to make the cutest scarves with this really chunky yarn.  I love it because I'm filling my life with things that I didn't have as much time for when I was in heavy training.  I've been fortunate to adjust back to "normal" life and avoid AIDS (after Ironman depression syndrome), which is apparently a real issue for some people.  I think it helps that it's Christmas time.

Good news is that I feel completely at peace about how my race went in Cozumel.  I struggled for about a week with feelings of disappointment about my run.  On the one hand, I was so proud of myself for carrying on and finishing but on the other hand I felt like kind of a failure.  I no longer feel at all like a failure.  I feel grateful for the experience, grateful for what I learned from it and grateful for all the generous support and words of kindness from people who have heard or read about my experience.  It is so nice to know that such a flawed experience can be an inspiration to many others.  I have been so flattered and touched by those who have taken the time to read my experience and have expressed to me how it has touched them in some way.  Some have said it has inspired them to want to set a goal with their spouse, others have said that it helps them feel like they can carry on when things get hard and others have wanted to set personal goals of their own.  It has helped me learn about what success really means.  It does NOT mean that you achieve all your expectations.  It means that YOU DON'T GIVE UP!!!!  You keep carrying on.

Like I mentioned, we ARE considering signing up for another race.  So many factors to consider in making this decision and we are trying to take them all into consideration and even make it a matter or prayer.  Of course, training for an Ironman effects our family in a big way, so we are making the decision cautiously.  There are some great options for races:
FULL DISTANCE:
   Germany (June), Switzerland (July) or Cozumel again (November).
A couple of the races we would really love to participate in, only have foundation spots.  This mean that registration costs twice as much and then half goes to charity.  Anyone know of any companies that would donate??
HALF DISTANCE:
    Boise (June), Calgary (June/July), Miama (October).  Somehow Boise doesn't seem like a very exciting destination, compared to the others.

Part of me would like to do another full, so that I can give that marathon another shot.  Another part of me is hesitant to get back into those training hours again.  We're trying to decide before the end of December because that's when early registration ends for a lot of these races.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on what I should do, or even better if there's anyone out there who wants to train with me.  I would LOVE a training buddy.   Or I should say, I would love ANOTHER training buddy because of course Adam and I get to do some of our training together.

In other news, I think my toenail is going to fall off, due to trauma to the nail bed from racing.

I realize this post has a lot of pictures of feet.  Sorry about that.

VIDEOS AT THE FINISH LINE

WARNING:  TURN YOUR VOLUME TO LOW BEFORE WATCHING

My Ironman Story....

THE DAYS LEADING UP

Travel to Cozumel went well considering we had to transport two big bike boxes, one big piece of luggage and three carry-on pieces on: a flight to Cancun, shuttle to the port, long walk to the port, ferry to Cozumel and taxi to our hotel.  The only hiccup was waiting while the ferry operators tried to figure out where they were going to store about 80 bike boxes.  They eventually decided that they  would have us each carry our bike boxes down to the ground level (extremely awkward to accomplish).  As I watched the other athletes efficiently and athletically move, store and then remove these numerous bike boxes I realized that we were in good company.  Preparing for an Ironman means leading a life of trained efficiency and this finesse was apparent to me in the other athletes.

We met a young couple with their 2 young kids who were also there to race.  He said he was back for redemption, as he had raced last year and gotten really sick from swallowing a lot of salt water because he seeded himself in the middle of the competitive commotion on the swim.  He puked his way through the rest of the race and for hours afterwards.  This confirmed my previous decision to seed myself cautiously on the swim.

The day after arriving we woke up early to cycle out to Chankanaab Park for a 40 min. practice swim at the event location.  That practice swim raised my confidence another level that my swim was going to go well.  I don't think I have ever seen water that is a more crystal clear incredible blue than this water.  It was surprisingly salty and we agreed that we needed to turn our heads that extra bit on the breath to avoid swallowing and getting sick.  There was a gentle current and we both easily found a rythym to match our strokes and breathing to the waves.  It came naturally to feel relaxed and excited, considering we were in a tropical paradise at a world renowned snorkeling destination, with beautiful coral and fish to admire.  Adam got bit by a couple jelly fish but I didn't notice any bites, which is surprising considering they were feasting on us on race day.

The pre-race meeting later that day was good, although we really stumped the presenters when we asked a few questions at the Q & A session afterwards, so we just took our questions directly to the race organizer:
                 - How many mlls. are in the aid station bottles?
                 - Can you pick up your special needs bags on any lap of the bike and run?
                 - Is the ice on course made from purified water (safe to eat?)

                 - Where is there sunscreen available on course?

I found some humor in the athlete "peacocking", as we all seemed to be sizing each other up and deciding whether we were faster than the next guy/girl.  Most athletes had packed all their Ironman paraphernalia from previous Ironman races and some people had on a visor, jacket, shirt, shorts etc all from races they had competed in.  I thought it odd, considering their current observers were least likely to be impressed that they had done an Ironman.

The athlete dinner that night was catered by Senior Frogs and was a tasty carb loading affair (mashed potatoes, fresh tomatoe pasta, rice and veggies, salad and fresh mozzarella cheese.  Coming from our carb-paranoid culture, it was wonderful to be a part of the Ironman culture, where food is viewed as fuel for the body.

The day before the race we had a 30 min. run scheduled in the morning. Amazing that a year ago a 30 min. run would have BEEN my workout but now it's what I do to stay warm and relaxed before a race.  Adam and I joked that a drug addict takes drugs to relax and feel good, whereas a triathlete goes for a jog.

For the most part I felt confident and excited as we prepared for the race but occasionally I would get a wave of nausea and nervousness, which I would counteract with soothing mental phrases like, "it's just a long a training day Kim", "you're ready, you've prepared well, now just go enjoy it", and "there's nothing to be afraid of" followed by some cleansing yoga breaths.

In the afternoon, we took our bikes to set up our transition area and get body marked.  We were so lucky to have the first two spots on the bike racks, so that our bikes would be easy to find in our delirious post-swim state.  That evening when we got back to our hotel the restaurant wasn't open yet so we found a Subway and split a tuna sub.  Then we shared a meat and tomatoe pasta and a potatoe soup at a local restaurant.  Of course we also shared a pint of ice cream, as this has become a tradition of mine to eat ice cream the night before a race.  It seems to give me great energy the following day. I figured since it was going to be a long race, I needed to eat A LOT of ice cream.

Back at the hotel we set our alarm and a back up alarm for 4:30am and went to bed around 10:30pm.  I joked about how tragic it would be to accidently sleep in and wake up at 8am or something.  We both slept well after letting a couple more waves of nervous nausea pass. Before falling asleep we both smiled and said that, "this time tomorrow we'll both have done an Ironman." Little did I know what a loooonnnnnnggg day I had ahead of me and that I wouldn't, in fact, be finished until 11pm.

RACE DAY

We woke up at 4am, anxious to get going on the day.  We filled concentrate bottles with water, topped them up with ice (so we wouldn't have to drink hot tea on course), ate some cereal with yogurt and banana and then got in line to wait for the athlete shuttle, which TOOK FOREVER TO COME.  The transition area is open from 5:30 to 6:30, which time is supposed to be used to fill tires, put bottles and other nutrition on the bike, put on sunscreen, hand in the special needs bags etc.  At 6:30 the athletes are supposed to make their way down to the swim start where the almost 2,400 participants walk to the dock to get in the water and then swim a couple hundred meters to their chosen starting location.

Our shuttle bus didn't even come until 5:15 and then due to bad traffic it didn't arrive at the swim start until 6am.  We tried to remain calm on the drive. Adam, my always steady supporter just said, "don't worry Kimmy, I'll take care of everything with the bikes and you just get yourself ready."  So after handing in our special needs bags to the correct bus, off I went to stand in the 30 min long bathroom line.  It's the only time I've seen a much SHORTER line for the women than for the men.  I guess that's one advantage of only 25% of the field being female.

It was actually fun to chat with the other ladies in line around me.  They were all in their 40's, had two kids each and were from various places in South America.  They had all raced this course before and told me that I was going to love it for my first Ironman race.  They said the wind is incredibly strong on the east side of the island and that you have to sit up on the bike because aero position would be too unstable.  I thought to myself, "hmmm, we'll see....I've done a lot of training in the wind."  The bathroom had no toilet paper, which was an indication of things to come.

After a quick final check on the bike and locking in the satellite on my GPS watch, we made the walk to the swim docks.  The announcer over the loudspeaker kept encouraging people to get in the water.  She'd say things like, "some of you are in the water warming up by now and some of you are sitting hesitantly on the docks...we need ALL of you to GET IN THE WATER.  We have almost 2,400 athletes here and we need to get all of you in the water."

They were handing out Gatorade Primes, which we quickly drank and made our way to the rear docks because we wanted to start near the back of the pack.  There were cheering crowds lining the walkway and then we spotted a Canada flag and my parents cheering for us.  My dad had tears in his eyes and they both looked so proud and excited for us.  It was fun to see familiar faces and feel their support.  The crowd support throughout the race was great.  Mexican people know how to cheer!!  Lots of loud music and dancing all over the course.

THE SWIM

As we walked down the stairs near the end of the dock, I heard the announcer say, "eight minutes 'til start time."  I thought, "great, that's plenty of time to get in position."  Then, "wow I can't believe this race is finally here, this is so great."  In swimming out to position, I realized that my french braids were going to whack me in the face and I needed to tuck them into my swim cap, so I took a quick minute to do that.  We started casually breaststroking out to position when unexpectedly, we heard a loud bell chiming.  "Is it started?" I called to Adam and he just looked stunned and didn't respond.  We treaded water while looking around and trying to figure out if that was, in fact, the start of the race.  I started laughing because Adam looked so confused and it all seemed pretty funny, not knowing if we were supposed to start or not.  Then we heard a horn and I yelled, "I think it's started", while swimming up to where Adam was.  He waited until I was close and then began because he had agreed to "clear the way" for me for the first 2 minutes of the race.  We had 200 m. to swim before we even got to the buoys that marked the starting line.  I followed his feet and smiled ear to ear because that was such a funny start and because I WAS ACTUALLY RACING NOW and I LOVE TO RACE!

Because we started so far back, we had a lot of slower swimmers to pass through.  It was actually kind of fun to weave through a tonne of people and know that we were faster than you and you and you and you..... I had a nice rythym, stayed relaxed and kept the salt water out of my mouth.  The great thing about racing in an ironman, is the race pace is a nice comfortable aerobic pace, just like I had been doing for 6 months of training.  So different from racing in a shorter triathlon. During the swim, I kept thinking, "wow, this thing is taking forever."  Time really slows down for me when I swim, even in training.  After rounding the first turn, I must have swung out too far to the right because I kept noticing that all the swimmers were on my left.  I'd re-check my sighting and it seemed like I was on track so I'd think, "well, carry on."

The jelly fish bites were a constant nuisance, ranging in pain intensity from a mosquito bite to a bee sting.  The ones on my feet and my lip hurt the most and I probably got bit about 60 times in total.  My swim fitness was perfect, as nothing felt tired....thank you coach Florian and thank you endless training hours in the Gold's Gym pool.

As I found my sweet spot in the crowd among similar swimmers, I was able to relax even more and admire the crystal clear water, the coral and the tropical fish, of which there were only a few because I think the throngs of people probably scared them away.  Rounding the last turn, it was really exciting to be on the home stretch and then at the swim finish there was a set of stairs to climb up.  A couple of people seemed like they were pretty messed up and were sitting on the stairs in the way.  Running next to the crowds to the change tents, I felt so proud and happy and had fun cheering with them and giving a few high fives.

Next was a quick rinse in the shower to get the salt water off.  Then pick up the bike bag and into the female change tent.  It was so odd in there because there were a couple groups of Spanish women who were laughing and talking loudly and it kind of felt like a little party.  I was thinking, "isn't this a race?  What is going on here?"  There was no volunteer help and I was distracted by the party atmosphere but  I tried to focus and dry off, put on bike shirt, socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses.  I ran out of the change tent, grabbed my bike from the rack and was glad to see that Adam's bike was gone and he was on his way.

THE BIKE

I LOVE THAT FEELING of starting the bike segment in triathlon; you're still damp from the swim, the breeze feels cool and refreshing, the speed is invigorating after crawling through water and it's one sport down, two to go.  My plan was to take it easy on the bike, stay in the low end of my heart rate zone (around 135) and save my legs for the run.  I accomplished this perfectly and kept my speed around 30km/hr on the normal stretches and between 20-25km/hr on the windy segment.  I knew pacing was really important in the beginning when my legs felt fresh and it would be easy to go faster.  I felt amazing and I also felt hungry so I took a gel right away but that didn't settle well in my stomach.  There were so many athletes close together in the beginning, so breaking the drafting rule was inevitable.  I was easily going over 30km/hr and kept reminding myself to "take it easy."  


I chatted with other athletes, particularly those from Canada who noticed my bike jersey.  At that point, I was getting passed a lot more than I was passing but I just said to myself as my coach had suggested, "see you in a lap or two."  On the southern tip of the island, the highway takes a quick turn north to head up the windy east side of the island, right next to the coast.  The view took my breath away, it was SO GORGEOUS!  It's been left just as God created it, with big crashing waves, crystal clear blue water, white sand, devoid of people or buildings.  I loved it and wanted to let out a big scream of joy but was a little embarrassed because of the athletes nearby so I tempered it down to a quiet scream of joy.  But that didn't seem like quite enough so I let out another moderately loud, "WOOO-HOOOOO!"

The aid stations were an adventure in and of themselves.  Based on Adam's experience at Ironman St George and the description online, I was expecting great aid stations with lots of people passing out waters, gatorades, bananas, bars, gels, oranges, ice and cookies.  In reality, there was always a few people handing out water and gatorade and if you were lucky a banana but that was it.  If you wanted anything else you would have to literally stop and wait while someone found what you were looking for.  It was fun figuring out how to efficiently pass through those stations....I had to open the top on my aero bottle beforehand, slow down to about 15 km/hr (depends how many other athletes were arriving simultaneously), shout "AGUA!" and grab one off their flat held hand, dump the water into my aero bottle, toss it in the 'drop spot' and sometimes try for a banana grab as well but that made things even more tricky.  If I had extra water is was nice to splash myself with it to cool off (by mid afternoon the sun was SCORCHING.  The forecast had said a high of 27 but it felt hotter.)


For me, the incredible view and sound of the crashing waves made up entirely for the gusting winds on that 20 km stretch....plus I've had plenty of rides out 22X east so I was perfectly comfortable in aero position.  My CO2 cartridge fell off unexpectedly and went clanging on the ground between me and another rider.  "Was that yours?" he asked.  It took me a minute to figure out that it was mine and I responded, "Yeah, I think it was.  I'll just pick up a spare in my special needs bag."  I wasn't planning on stopping to get my ham and cheese sandwich and delicious chocolate muffin out of my special needs bag until the second lap, but I figured I better stop this lap to get that spare cartridge.


I pulled into the special needs bag area and after several Mexican teenagers had disappeared looking for my bag, I decided to go look for it myself, only to discover that THEY HAD LOST MY BAG.  So, I made a quick decision to grab a few things from Adam's special need's bag, which was hanging next to where mine should have been.  I took his cartridge and his sandwich, leaving him his bars.  It was so funny to talk to him after the race because I asked if he had stopped for his bag on the bike and he responded, "yeah and you wouldn't believe it but the Mexicans stole my stuff!"  I laughed and explained what happened and he said it was good I took the sandwich because he wouldn't have eaten it anyways.


I felt amazing on the second lap of the island and started passing a tonne of people.  By the third lap I started to get a little tired but still maintained a decent speed and passed a lot on the windy side.  I remember passing this Spanish guy who was about my age and he said something in Spanish and when I looked confused for not understanding he said, "you look good."  Meaning I think that I looked fresh, considering we were on our third lap of the windy side.  A few people commented as I passed, "this wind is killing me!"  All in all, I am extremely happy with how the bike went.  My avg speed was 26 km/hr and if you take into account the 5 min. I stopped at special needs and slowing down for an aid station every 10 km. then my average speed was closer to 28 km/hr.


With about 8 km left on the bike, a HUGE RAINSTORM came through....I'm talking like monsoon style.  It was so funny!  The streets flooded instantly and in some sections the water was halfway up my tire.  I really didn't know how fast was safe to go in deep water so I told the lady in front of me, "I'll go as fast as you go."  Unfortunately the sewers were also backed up so this was NASTY WATER in some spots.  It was actually really nice to cool down before the run and it was good timing because the rain stopped while I was in the transition tent and I was able to change into a dry shirt and socks.


THE CALORIE COUNT
CALORIES BURNED:
Swim: 1,000
Bike: 5,500
Run: 3,500
TOTAL: 10,000

CALORIES CONSUMED:
Swim: 150 (Gatorade Prime and EFS drink)
Bike: 2,500 (One gel, 3 Hammer bars, one small sandwich, some fruit gummies, a banana, 3/4 of my concentrate drink and one gatorade)
Run:  1,300 (6 gels, 2 bananas, 5 orange slices, cola, gatorade, mona vie, and EFS electrolyte drink)
TOTAL: 3,950

THE RUN

WARNING: SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH HEARING DETAILS OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BODILY FUNCTIONS.  
I know that probably makes most of you even more curious to keep reading.  I'm going to try to explain this experience while not being too gross, which is very tricky.  

I felt great starting my run.  My legs felt kind of heavy and my hip flexors were really tight and tired but considering I had just biked 180 km, I felt great.  After about 1 km. I heard someone from behind me say, "hey good lookin." I turned and there was Adam starting his second lap.  "No way!" I said, so happy and surprised to see him.  He fell into my pace at the time, which was about 5:20 min/km and he commented that I was going pretty fast and it had taken him a bit to catch up to me.  We had a great time running for a couple kms. together but then I had to stop and use the port o' potty so we split up at that point.  It seems that running has somewhat of a laxative effect on my body sometimes and the immodium I had taken on the last leg of the bike wasn't helping that.  I had a good first lap, stopping just one other time for the port o' potty.  Due to the rainstorm, there was a spot on the run that was flooded with backed up sewage water.  Apparently some athletes got bad infections from that putrid water infesting a cut on their feet.

My memory is kind of hazy on that second lap probably because my cognitive function literally ground to almost a halt.  I know that at one point I realized that I needed more calories and so I started taking gels.  I had been avoiding the gels up until then because they had upset my stomach on the bike but that was a mistake.  I was so focused on grabbing ice and water that I didn't focus enough on getting proper calories. (The ice down my sports bra and shorts helped a tonne because even after the storm it was still HOT).  I also decided to start taking caffeine, thinking that might help boost my energy.  I had to stop more and more at the port o' potties which was sucking up my time.  None of them had toilet paper, so I learned to take in a couple baggies of water to clean off.  As I sat in one of them, a lady asked from outside, "how is this one?"  "I looked around at the feces on the floor and on the walls and answered, "not too bad actually, I've seen worse" because I was thinking of my previous stop when there were feces all over the toilet seat.  

I did finish half the marathon in just over 2.5 hrs, which was good considering all the stops.  As I sat in one of the port o'potties on the way back from the second lap, I thought I might pass out in there, I was starting to get so light headed.  This was kind of scary because no one would know I was in there.  Shortly after that I started to walk because I was getting too lightheaded to run anymore.  If you've never done it, it is really hard to fathom how long a marathon feels after swimming 4 km and biking 180 km but let me tell you, it feels even longer when you are sick.  As I walked, I went through a checklist in my head, trying to figure out what was wrong with me.  I knew I wasn't dehydrated because I was peeing constantly.  I knew I hadn't taken in enough calories but I also decided that I had hyponatremia, which is when you take in too much water without replacing the electrolytes in proper ratio.  Along with being light headed, I felt disoriented, confused and foggy.  This was a lot to deal with, considering the stomach/bowel issues I was already dealing with.  I only had a few salt tablets left, so when I passed my parents, as I finished that second lap, I asked in desperation for them to try to find Adam and get me more tablets.  My mom said that the people coming in were starting to look pretty rough and many of them had this real vacant look in their eyes.  She was worried that I would come around looking like that because I was taking so long and unfortunately I did look and feel SICK!

That third lap loomed as one of the most overwhelming things I have ever faced.  My body was falling apart on me, I didn't know when I was going to faint or crap myself or both and I had zero energy left.  I gave my mom a hug and she said, "you have plenty of time (about 5 hours until the cutoff at midnight), you can finish this."  She said she felt like crying but knew that wasn't what I needed at the time.  I had felt SO overwhelmed but then I started to think, "ok I can do this!"  One step at a time.  I can do this.  I told her that I was going to start walking and that dad could come catch up to me if he was able to get pills.  Off I went to walk14 km when I was more fit for a hospital than for a marathon. I realized that the hardest part was in approaching that daunting task, knowing it would be so hard and deciding whether to do it or not.  Once I started, it felt more manageable because I was eating away at my elephant, metre by metre, km by km, rather than just standing there staring at the elephant.

In my desperate state, I decided to start asking other athletes if they had any extra salt tablets and that's when I became the crazy on-course salt begger.  I asked people who were coming the opposite direction finishing up their third lap, I asked people going to the same way I was and I even asked people on the streets who had either finished their race or were cheering...I pretty much asked everyone.  I'd say things like, "I'm really sick.  I think I have hyponatremia, do you have any extra salt tabs?"  Lots of people were really nice and gave me what they could.  A few people offered encouragement.  One nice guy about my age gave me a rice krispie square, which actually went down well.  An older man walked with me for a bit and told me about his calf muscle that was hurting him badly.  He told me that he knew I would finish it.  He knew exactly the pace we were walking and how long it would take us to finish and told me I had plenty of time. I told him "I don't know if I can do it, I'm so sick" and he responded, "I know you'll do it."  Thank you so much random stranger, you have no idea how much your words of encouragement meant to me! When I asked him if he thought I'd feel better once I got my salt levels up, he said, "oh yeah, you'll feel better....you'll feel better when you're done the race."

I had no idea how many salt tabs to take but I asked a few people and they said that I really couldn't take too many, so I took that pretty literally and took over 20 tabs in an hour (it could have been over 30, I really don't know.)  I had quite a collection going when my dad finally discovered me.  He said, "I brought you some tabs."  I responded, "oh that's great" and pulled out my baggies full of tabs to proudly add them to my collection.  I was officially a crazy lady.  My dad had begged some salt tabs off some other athlete and had hitched a ride with a random Mexican man on a scooter to catch me.  I asked, "are you going to walk with me?"  He said, "yeah, I think so."  Such a relief, especially with the ever present possibility of fainting.  At this point I was not just walking, I was walking SSSLLLOOOOW and I was stopping at every port o' potty and sometimes the bushes in between.  My bowels were messed up.  So there we were, walking along holding hands and when I asked him to sing to me he chose, "I am A Child of God" (A child's song from church).  Certainly not the experience I had expected for my race but memorable and special in it's own way.  I had prayed beforehand that this race would go well but had the feeling that I would finish and that God would be with me, whatever that meant.  He was with me and even though the race didn't go as hoped, He sent me an angel in the form of my dad to hold my hand and sing to me.

There were moments here and there where my mind would clear a little and it was really exciting to be able to grasp, even briefly, at feeling 'normal'.  I'd squeeze my dad's hand and say, "I'm feeling a bit better" but then the haze would settle back in and my mind would sink into fog again.  It was unlike anything I have ever experienced.  My dad became the salt pill regulator and gave me about 4 pills/hour from my extravagent stash.  I tried to put together coherent thoughts and tell him stories about the race like the jelly fish bites and stealing from Adam's special needs bag.  I asked him for things to pass the time like, "tell me about when you were in the most pain in your life?" Or, "tell me how I could feel worse right now" because I wanted to know that it could, in fact, be worse.

I kept wondering, in my head and aloud, whether or not I would finish and it wasn't until I got to the edge of the city with about 4 km left that I felt sure I would finish.  Between aid stations and in need of a bathroom, I headed into a hotel and asked where the washroom was.  It was so nice to be warm because by that point I was shaking due to chills and my dad had given me his shirt and hat to keep warm.  I took a warm washcloth off the counter, put it on my forehead and sat there for a long time.  I had given myself a serious salt water cleanse that finally passed through.  My dad cracked the door and asked if I was ok because I had been in there for over ten minutes.  I prayed to Heavenly Father, telling him that I had just a few kms left and asked if it was possible for me to feel good for those last few kms.  I felt great after that and as we continued on our way I told my dad, "I feel like I could run now.  I'm not actually going to because I don't want to pass out but it's nice to feel like I could."  As we got within a km I gave my dad his shirt back and told him to run ahead to let mom and Adam know I was coming in.

Within 100 m of the finish line I started to run and it was amazing.  I yelled, "I did it!" to my mom and gave the crowd a bunch of high fives.  The announcer said, "let's give it up for that lovely lady Kim Layton.  Kim, you should be really pleased with yourself right now because you know what I'm going to say because, KIM... YOU... ARE.... AN.... IRONMAN!"

Adam was waiting at the finish line and put my medal around my neck and gave me a big hug.  Special moment!!

Here are Adam's splits:

ADAM LAYTON

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1736	32	CANADA	SALES MANAGER

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:13:52	5:52:23	4:10:50	11:30:40	483	90

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	3.8 km (1:13:52)	1:56/100m	944	142
BIKE SPLIT 1: 54 km	54 km (1:43:30)	31.30 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 2: 117 km	63 km (1:59:27)	31.65 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 3: 180 km	63 km (2:09:26)	29.20 km/h
TOTAL BIKE	180 km (5:52:23)	30.65 km/h	657	108
RUN SPLIT 1: 7.04 km	7.04 km (40:27)	5:44/km
RUN SPLIT 2: 20.96 km	13.92 km (1:22:36)	5:56/km
RUN SPLIT 3: 34.88 km	13.92 km (1:26:08)	6:11/km
RUN SPLIT 4: 42.4 km	7.52 km (41:39)	5:32/km
TOTAL RUN	42.4 km (4:10:50)	5:54/km	483	90
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				8:51
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				4:44

Here are my splits:

KIM LAYTON

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1737	29	CANADA	WIFE, MOM, PERSONAL TRAINER

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:28:12	7:00:37	7:22:04	16:04:39	1674	49

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	3.8 km (1:28:12)	2:19/100m	1633	47
BIKE SPLIT 1: 54 km	54 km (2:10:06)	24.90 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 2: 117 km	63 km (2:21:18)	26.75 km/h
BIKE SPLIT 3: 180 km	63 km (2:29:13)	25.33 km/h
TOTAL BIKE	180 km (7:00:37)	25.68 km/h	1444	36
RUN SPLIT 1: 7.04 km	7.04 km (44:14)	6:16/km
RUN SPLIT 2: 20.96 km	13.92 km (1:48:48)	7:48/km
RUN SPLIT 3: 34.88 km	13.92 km (3:09:43)	13:37/km
RUN SPLIT 4: 42.4 km	7.52 km (1:39:19)	13:12/km
TOTAL RUN	42.4 km (7:22:04)	10:25/km	1674	49
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				7:00
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				6:46

Numbers only tell a part of the story though, don't they??  My numbers on the swim and the bike look good but I am more proud of myself for what I did on the run because I overcame so much more.  I am disappointed that I couldn't do what I was capable of doing on the run and I am still coming to terms with this and mourning "the race that could have been" so to speak.  On the other hand, this race makes a much better story and I will always treasure this experience, as I conquered the island and did something hard.  This was my Ironman story.

Check back in a couple weeks and I'll post on life post-Ironman and let you know what our next big adventure will be.