Monday, November 24, 2008

Ironman Arizona Race Report!


The best thing I have ever heard in my life:

"Corinne Frayer, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

I still can't believe it... I am an Ironman!

Sunday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. to both my alarm clock and a wake up call from the hotel (yes, I was a little paranoid) I ate my usual breakfast of Barbara's Shredded Wheat flakes, Kashi Strawberry Fields and Vitasoy Vanilla Soymilk. Most of my things were already ready to go so by the time 4:30 rolled around I was standing by the door, bags in hand, telling my dad to hurry up so we could go! We hopped in the car (after Dad forgot his wallet and had to go back to the room) at around 4:45 and were off to the race! We parked in the parking garage on the corner of Mill Ave and Rio Salado and were just about the first ones there! (yes, again I was a little paranoid. It will be a trend in this race report haha). When we got to the transition area I filled up my aero water bottle with Gatorade endurance and my water bottle with Smart Water. The the nice guys of Landis Cyclery pumped my tires for me and I was outta there! Then I had to go drop off my special needs bike and run bags so Dad waited for me in the spectator area. After that I probably went to the bathroom four times between checking my transition bags and making sure everything was set to go. When I was waiting in line for the bathroom the guy next to me was singing "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo and I thought of Barry and started to sing it with the guy! at around 6:15 I started to get my wetsuit on and I ate half of a Met-RX bar and gave all my dry clothes to my dad. Laura called me and I met her in the line for the bathroom (lots and lots of bathroom breaks in the hours before the race... nerves!) She hadn't even put on her wetsuit yet! The race started in 25 minutes! I was all ready to go, but I stayed with Laura and helped her into her wetsuit and dropped off her dry clothes bag. Then we joined the 2,500 other athletes waiting in a big herd to walk over the timing mats and jump into the water. Laura and I held hands and jumped in the lake together. My heart was beating faster than I can ever remember it beating before, but it was awesome

Swim 1:15

Laura and I swam the 200 meters to the start together and I seeded myself kind of in the middle but in an area where for some reason there was a big hole, so that was great! All I remember after that is the announcer saying something like, "I only have one more thing to say: Everyone have a great day out there." and BOOM the horn sounded and we were off. Now, I have a few things to say about the Ironman swim.
1) If you are a person that likes to fight, it is REALLY hard to hold back and not punch someone in the face for almost drowning you.
2) It's not easy swimming with 2,500 people, it actually really sucks
3) Tempe Town Lake is probably the most disgusting body of water in the United States of America
4) I still hate swimming
All in all, I swam a 1:15 so I have nothing to complain about. That's a pretty good time for my first Ironman swim. However there were lots of bumps along the road. First, my left goggle filled up with water in the beginning of the swim and I though, oh well, I'm not going to fix it. Second, I was never swimming without someone directly to my left, right, ahead and behind. That was REALLY annoying because I got slapped, kicked, knocked in the face and even shoved the entire swim. Seriously people, do you not look where you are swimming! That is why we wear goggles! At one point the group I was swimming in started swimming toward the middle of the lake and the people in the boats were yelling at us to go right. I started swimming diagonally right and accidentally nugged a guy. He literally stopped swimming and took both hands and shoved me away from him. Oh man, I felt the fire inside my body like I wanted to rip his goggles off and swim away really fast so he wouldn't have goggles for the rest of the swim. What an a-hole. I was definitely ready to be done with the swim and was so happy to see the red buoy where we would turn and head towards the stairs to get out of the lake!

T 1

My transition one time was pretty slow, about 7 minutes I believe. First, after I got out of the water I had to find a wetsuit stripper to help me get my wetsuit off. Then I ran down the long shoot to the swim to bike bags and I saw Jorge, Ted and my dad. That was pretty sweet! I grabbed my bag and headed into the women's change tent. Everyone else in the tent seemed to have a volunteer helping them transition... except me! So I did it all myself. Helmet on. Socks and shoes on. Gels in pocket. Spare tube in pocket. CO2 cartridge in pocket. Sunglasses on. Race belt on. Fuel belt bracelet on. Too much to think about! Then I ran out of the transition where some volunteers slapped some sunscreen on my arms and legs and I was off on the bike!

Bike 6:22

Right after leaving the bike transition we had to mount our bikes on a really skinny sidewalk. There were a lot of us in one area and it was pretty scary. Then there was this spectator guy yelling at me to hurry up and get moving. I was already pissed from the swim, so I was ready to hit him! Luckily I held back and got on my bike or he really would have gotten it! I took the bike very easy because I didn't want to burn myself out at all. Heading up the Bee Line Highway was the worst part of the bike course because it is pretty much uphill, but heading down the Bee Line and back down McKellips, McClintock and Rio Salado back to ASU was the best part of the three loops! I always got really excited every time we looped back around Mill/Rio Salado because my friends and my Dad were there cheering for me! During the swim and bike I had issues with my calves cramping up and hurting so I was VERY on top of my Endurolytes tablets and Gatorade. I ate and took two Endurolytes every 45 minutes and I sipped gatorade about every 15 minutes and whenever I was thirsty. I hardly used the aid stations, except for water and Gatorade refills and one banana. I did have to stop once during the bike because my tool bag under my seat was falling off. But in the grand scheme of things, it really was no big deal.

T 2

When I finally arrived at the transition area after 6 hours and 22 minutes of biking the volunteers took my bike and I walked (or tried to) to my bike to run transition bag. A volunteer met me right away and held my gear while I went to the bathroom. Then she helped me get ready for the run, which was totally awesome and way better than when I had to transition by myself from swim to bike. She dumped my bag out on the ground and got me some water as well. I changed my shorts, took off my singlet, put on my running shoes, strapped on my fuel belt, put on my white Nike hat and was off to the the sunscreen people again! By the time they slapped more sunscreen on me, my legs had loosened up and I was ready to run!

Run 3:57

The run was the most fun I have EVER had during a marathon. It was absolutely amazing and I couldn't even ask for anything better! There were spectators along the course the entire time cheering and I saw my dad a lot too which was awesome! I held back on the run a lot because I didn't know what to expect. Normally when I run just a marathon I go all out and always lose it around mile 20, so I didn't want that to happen at all. I took it slow, and I even slowed down a lot in the middle of the run to talk to some people to take my mind off my aching butt! I talked to a professor from U of I and a pilot who teaches guys in the Navy to fly! It was awesome meeting these people and the feeling I had when I saw my Dad at mile 20 I will never forget! "Six miles to go," he told me! I got so excited I picked the pace back up again and went all out for the last six miles and I loved every minute of it! I told him to go to the finish line and that I should be there in less than an hour. I finished so strong and I felt like I still had energy left in the tank! The finishing shoot was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. People held their hands out and I slapped their hands while sprinting toward the finish line with tears in my eyes! 11 hours and 46 minutes and I couldn't believe it! My goal was to finish between 12 and 14 hours and I exceeded my every expectation!

After I finished my Dad walked me around a bit and I took a picture with Jorge who congratulated me on my finish. Then I got some food and sat down and ate a piece of pizza and some pretzels. My Dad bought me an awesome Ironman Arizona jacket and a finisher t-shirt that I love! I got my bike out of transition and gave it to Tri Bike Transport so they can ship it back home this week, and I picked up my transition bags as well. I called my mom and she said Laura was on her last 5.9 miles of the run so my Dad and I went to the finish line and we watched her finish. It was awesome because when they announced she was a member of the US Army everyone went nuts and I cried! I ran down to meet her and we took pictures and I met her family. I am so happy I got to see her finish! I couldn't have done this race without her!

After we left the race my dad took me to Subway and the lady working asked me why I looked to tired. My dad told her I just finished a triathlon and she was like, oh. Haha she probably had no idea what he was talking about. Subway was awesome and then I went home to shower and take an ice bath. I hardly slept last night but it was worth it!

11:46 and worth every hour of training! Can't wait to see what IMAZ 2009 brings (yes I already signed up!)

XOXO
Cori

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cori! Your race report just brought tears to my eyes! I am soooo excited for you and I can't wait to join the ironman club soon! Congratulations again and happy recovery!

Eric Jelinek said...

Congrats, Cori.
Welcome to the club!

It was cool to see you on Thursday and catch up with you for a bit. Everyone here at the College Times is proud of you.

Check out my blog to see some video and pics from my day at IMAZ.

http://amightyadventure.blogspot.com/

I'll see you at IMAZ '09, as I signed up also. Good luck training and racing.

E

laura said...

Great race report! Am so glad that you enjoyed the race and are excited to do it again! Next year SUB-11 baby!!! You can do it!!

Can't wait to see all your photos!

Enjoy some Turkey,
Laura