Ironman Frankfurt - July 5, 2015 Race Report

Ironman Frankfurt - July 5, 2015 Race Report

Sebastian Kienle's van - last year's Kona and European Championship Winner - amazing!

pro triathletes signing in

the bike check in process felt like an endurance event - we waited for about 1.5 hours just to catch a bus to the lake for bike check in

cramming bikes and athletes on the bus

my racing buddy

athlete village - the merchandise tent!

 

getting the finish line ready  - but you know me, I don't get too close to the finish line before a race.  might be bad luck

Meeting up with one of my SOAS team mates who lives in Germany.  So fun to chat with her, she's an inspiration to me -- she qualified and raced Kona a few years ago. 

the winners!

I felt like these photos really captured the way I felt during Ironman Frankfurt - I fought back tears as I finished on a super hot day (around 100 degrees) but I still managed a 24 minute Ironman Personal Best!  They were tears of joy -- the Ironman distance is a beast -- both mentally and physically and each one I do, I get stronger and start to believe in myself more each day.

pre-race selfie

post-race selfie!  still happy!  i've never been able to stay for the last hour of an Ironman finish line but this time I made it and I'm so glad that I did.  Amazing!!!

The last few minutes of Ironman Frankfurt

Monday we drove to Mudersbach, Germany to see our friends.  Ross met and stayed with this family when he was in junior high touring Europe with Blue Lake Music Camp.  They stayed in touch over many years (with letters, then email, then Facebook) and while we lived in Europe we saw them several times.  We all have children about the same age.  Many fun times shared and lots of good German beer!  And a MUCH needed load of laundry was done while we had a great lunch. 

Oma said Ross is her American Grandson

  Race Report details of Ironman Frankfurt:

I was so emotional leading up to the race in Frankfurt - Ross can surely vouch for that!  After having such an amazing race in Sweden, I wasn't sure I could do it again in Frankfurt.  I don't know what it is but I always get so nervous about something happening to my bike .... flat tire, gears not working, etc.  that it really consumes me.  I fear that I will not be able to finish the race and knowing how much time and effort that I put into training - it consumes me.  I had a string of picking up glass in my tires just before we left for Frankfurt and even picked up a small piece of glass on Saturday before the race.  Thankfully I was able to get the tire replaced.  But I realized that it's the things that I cannot control that truly stress me out.  I can control the swim for the most part and the run too but the biking part is somewhat out of my control.  So, on Sunday I tried to put those fears out of my mind and turn them into good energy - beast mode energy!

We woke up early on Sunday morning and walked a few blocks to catch a bus to the start.  It was already hot and humid but I tried to put that out of my mind.  We got everything set with our bikes and gear and headed to the swim start.  I got in the water to do a little warm up and it was almost time to get started.  The swim course was 2 separate loops and we had to get out of the water after the first loop and run on the beach for a few yards before starting the 2nd loop.  From the start, I couldn't seem to get good positioning in the water.  I would get a few strokes in and then bump into somebody.  I couldn't seem to get a good rhythm going.  As we approached the end of the first loop and got out to run on the beach, everyone was walking and it was tough to get around people.  The second loop went much better for me and I was able to get better positioning in the water.  I looked down at my watch as I exited the water and it said 1:14 - ugh!  my slowest Ironman swim to date.  I was hoping for something around 1:10 because I knew it would be a little slower without wearing a wetsuit.   I tried to focus on making my transition a little faster but that didn't seem to work out.  I know it's something that I really need to work on.  I hopped on the bike and started to race.  I felt really good on the bike ---- I wasn't targeting power or speed again this time, just heart rate again like in Sweden.  This seemed to work really well for me.  I did a little math in my head after the first hour and realized that I was biking at about 20 mph.  Seriously!?!  20 mph!  This is about the pace I was doing in Sweden last week.  Could I maintain this for another 100 miles?  I hope so!  I watched my heart rate and tried to really focus on taking in water and nutrition because of the heat.  I knew this would be key with the temps rising quickly and the sun beating down on us.  I have to say that this was the most beautiful bike course I have ever been on.  I loved the scenery - the little town centers that we passed through were so beautiful and unique.  All the locals came out to cheer - there were people young and old along the course all day!  It was amazing.  The kids were collecting the biker's water bottles and lining them all up along the side of the road.  It reminded me of my own kids.  There was one rough patch of road where it was all cobblestones - I know I had a look of terror on my face here!  I stopped to get my 2 extra nutrition bottles at special needs around mile 56 and guess who I ran into?  Ross!!  He was getting his extra nutrition too!  I stopped briefly to grab my bottles and say hello and I was off again!!!  I will admit that my heart rate went a little high after that as I peddled a little faster just to make sure Ross wouldn't catch up to me :)  I kept plodding along, knocking off the miles one by one.  There were a few hills on the course but when I got on the flats, I kept telling myself that this was the "working zone" - I focused on getting my heart rate in the right zone and taking in my water. 

The day progressed and I did a pretty good job of maintaining my 20 mph average and before I knew it, I was coming back into town for the run.  Yep, time for Forest Gump to RUN again!  I caught up to a girl that passed me coming out of the water - I recognized her tri kit.  (she had a MUCH faster swim to bike transition than me).  I grabbed my water bottle that had been sitting inside my run transition bag ALL day in the sun - ugh!  it was definitely hot.  Thankfully I expected it to be pretty hot, so it was empty and I planned to fill it at the first water station.  I felt pretty good transitioning from bike to run again- really focusing on keeping my heart rate and pace down for the first 5k.  And after that I did pretty good maintaining pace (somewhere around 8:15ish) for the first 15 or so miles.  But it was then that I started to break down a bit - mostly mentally - the Ironman Marathon is a beast!!!! I walked briefly through all the aid stations (I did this in Madison last fall and it seemed to work well for me).  I filled my water bottle about every 3rd water station (20 ounces each time so I knew it was HOT out!) and grabbed a glass of coke at most aid stations and some ice to stuff down my back to keep cool.  It was so hot, the gels didn't sound good to me and I know this ended up hurting me a bit in the long run --- I ran out of energy and the coke wasn't enough.

But it was around mile 16 that I convinced myself that a 9 min/mile pace was ok .... shortly after that, I convinced myself that 9:30min/mile was ok, then 10min/mile.... I started to fall down that slippery slope --- ahhhhh!!   You can see where this is going - ugh!  it was hot (probably over 100 degrees at this point) and I was tired mentally and physically.  But looking back, I'm a bit frustrated with myself that I let myself slow down -- my RACING self let my TRAINING self down a bit.  (definitely something I'm going to work on for IM WI this fall)  My heart rate was in the lower 150's -- still a bit lower than my target pace, so I know I had more in me physically.  But I did make sure that I ONLY walked in the aid stations and got right back to running when the aid station ended!  I am proud of myself for doing that because it's so easy to walk during the last part of the Ironman!

I caught a glimpse of Ross's tri-kit on my 3rd lap of the run.  Did a quick check of his armbands (we got 4 different color armbands as we completed the 4 laps of the run) and realized that I was still ahead of him :)  He didn't slow down for me to catch up to him, he kept going which made me want to catch him even more!  I finally caught up to him and passed him after a water station.  We said hello, he told me to keep going .... and so I did.  As I finished the last lap and I knew as I headed over the final bridge, I was almost there.  I picked up the pace and bypassed the last aid station.  Going into the finish area, I was so emotional -- it's almost like my months of training flashed before my eyes -- all the 4am wake ups or even earlier some days depending on the kid's schedule, the running to the store in my tri shorts so I could get right on the bike when I got home, the 100+ mile solo bike rides followed by a hour or so run ---- they were all so vivid in my mind.  I reflected back on my bike that day --- seriously HOW did I bike that fast?!?  But I DID and I was about to cross the finish line of my 4th AND FASTEST to date Ironman!  I was so happy!!!  Then they announced my name "Sara, YOU are an IRONMAN!"  it was awesome, amazing, and something that I will never take for granted.  A finish like that is never given, it's always earned!  and I DID IT!

After finishing, I noticed that they had a free massage tent.  I had put my extra clothes in Ross' bag earlier that morning thinking that he would finish before me.  I convinced the volunteer that I could identify the contents of the bag if he just let me have the bag for a minute.  I got Ross's phone to show the volunteer a photo of me and he let me have my stuff.  Yay!  Before the massage, I had to take a shower.... well, I didn't have a towel or soap but at that point, I didn't care!  I took a shower and they had some extra soap samples (in this portable trailer that had about 6 showers total for women) and dried off with paper towels -- yes, paper towels, lots of them!  and off I went to the massage tent.  It was seriously the best thing EVER!  It felt great!  30 minutes later, I walked out of the tent to wait for Ross to finish.  Got my finisher's tshirt, found Ross, called my mom and the kids and then went to the finish line to see the last few people come in.  I've never been able to make it to the finish line for the last hour and let me just say it was AMAZING!  Fireworks, balloons, music, etc.  So Cool!  So glad I got to experience the finish line this time.

Official Results:  13th in Age Group
               631 overall
                

Swim:	1:15:11
Bike	5:46:37
Run	4:15:13
Overall	11:27:36

On Tuesday morning, we took an early flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm - our last stop on our crazy European Tri Adventure. 

A quick flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm for the last day of our European Adventure

From 100 degrees in Frankfurt to about 55 degrees in Stockholm - at least I got to wear my new Ironman Finisher's Jacket!!!!!