11/7/15 Saturday
Panama
City Beach Florida Ironman RACE DAY - I AM AN IRONMAN!
Wow, I did it! It’s
very surreal to me. Me? I did this? It was hard, but it wasn’t hard. I was so fortunate to have so many friends
and people I knew doing the race and come up to cheer everyone on. Not once was I nervous, I was too busy having
fun. I had no expectations because I’d
never done an Ironman before. The year
went by so fast. This race was here
before I knew it.
I don’t think it was possible to have any more fun than we
all did. For me it included all the
training with friends, the Half Ironman in Augusta and continued even with the
drive up to Florida Ironman. It was so
crazy busy with all we had to do to get our gear and ourselves ready for the
race plus knowing so many people and wanting to visit and see them all. Every minute was packed busy but I did take
time to enjoy each and every moment.
The weather was beautiful, of course, up to race day. Then it got hotter with a lot more humidity
and some fairly good size waves/rollers in the ocean. Such is life on race day, right? Nothing I haven’t trained in so it was not a
problem. I had my Base Salt!
We almost got our car towed with the bikes on it, had fun
shopping for stuff at the Super Walmart and I really enjoyed shopping at the
Ironman Store and giving them whatever money I hadn’t already spent for this
race.
Our condo worked out perfect, which was on the beach about ¼
mile from the event. 3 bedrooms, 3
bathrooms, 3 girls, couldn’t have worked out any better. Dinner at Dee’s Hang Out, which we had found
last year when we were here volunteering.
Small, hole in the wall with exceptional food. Got to see Brian Smith’s “I’m not racing”
dance, which should be on YouTube.
Friday night before the race Shelley and I made an early
dinner in the condo. Yummy Salmon
(Shelley’s recipe was delicious!) rice and asparagus. We were very happy with out dinner. Got to bed early and slept the best I’ve ever
slept before any race. Still not nervous
about anything.
Race day!!! Got up early and headed to transition with
everyone else. There were 2800 people
doing this race. It is well organized
and I never had a problem getting where I needed to go, finding bathrooms or
anything else. Dropped our Morning
Clothes bag off and we are ready to race!
Still not nervous, kind of odd but I’ll go with it. So busy having fun with friends, who has time
to be nervous! Shelley and I are photo
bombing Lisa before the swim start.
Ironman does a rolling start and you are supposed to line up
according to how long you think it will take you to complete the swim. But when we went to get in line it was
already so long we couldn’t get to where we thought we should be. So we started back quite a ways. I’m not sure it made any difference because I
still would have been in the middle of so many people. The start goes pretty quick.
There is a video and
we look like ants as the swimmers get in and spread out. It’s impressive to see so many people getting
in. Of course, now that it’s race day,
the ocean is no longer flat. When it’s
my turn to get in a large set of waves come in too, figures. Oh well, such is life in the ocean. I am fortunate to live by the ocean in
Jupiter, FL and get to swim in it often so the waves really aren’t a problem,
just go under them. Then on to the
buoys, along with thousands of other swimmers.
What an experience! I
thought I’d be super nervous trying to swim with that many people. It’s never fun in the beginning of a race ,
even in much smaller events, you can get beat up. For some reason I had no problem, I did learn
how to swim defensively pretty quick so I didn’t get hit or kicked in the
head. I did collect a few bruises but
nothing too bad. It’s not hard to see
people swimming around you so it wasn’t hard to be aware of what was coming as
far as people swimming over you or swimming very aggressively. It wasn’t as bad as I though it was going to
be. I never found anyone to draft, darn
it, and had to dodge a lot of people swimming crooked and slower. There were big rollers coming through but
nothing breaking on us and one short area was choppy until we turned to head
back to the beach.
It was two loops for the swim. We had to get out and run a short distance on
the beach and then swim back out. They
had us swimming at an angle out to the first buoy after our first lap. With the waves coming in it was very
difficult because the angle kept us in the break zone. So I swam out under the waves and then headed
to the buoys, a little less effort. A
lot of people lost their goggles, I think in the waves coming in. Might help to wear them under the swim cap
and I always keep an eye over my shoulder on the waves coming in on top of me. On to the bike.
I did take my time in transitions, why the heck not, it was
my first Ironman and I had not a thing to prove. Someone is in there pretty much doing
everything for them if you let them. My
helper even tried to put my socks on for me.
If there is a next time I’ll let Shelley and Jeraine give me lessons on
a quicker transition. Got my bike and
was off.
The bike was great.
Not a lot to see but that was ok.
Always interesting to see what goes through your mind as the hours
pass. What songs, ideas and everything
else. I never pushed myself out of my comfort
zone because I didn’t know what to expect for the run. Never having ran more than 20 miles and after
a 112-mile bike. The only time on the
bike I was a little stressed was the last 12 miles. I had been warned; every year it’s the same,
strong headwind! But it’s only 12 miles
and then it’s over so get small and do it.
So far I feel great, off my bike, into T2 again taking my
time , like it’s a spa visit or something.
Off to the run! I see Julie and
Matt cheering me on and Julie ran with me a short way. So wonderful Matt and Julie there! I started my run/walk, 2min run, 30sec
walk. The people that live there are all
out blasting music and cheering along with other supporters. Very loud and very fun. Everyone calls your name, because it’s on your
race bib. At first I look to see if I
know them and then realize they are reading my name off my race bib. I will say if you acknowledged anyone on the
sidelines more people jumped in to cheer you on. So I waved and smiled to everyone along the
way.
Larry caught up to me after the first half of the first loop
and said he would run/walk with me. That
was so incredibly helpful to have someone to talk to. Then we met Carlos from Mexico who was having
a hard time with the humidity. It was a
very hot and humid day and night.
Luckily we train through all that in the summer so just another day in
our world. And we have Base Salt! I do think it’s a life saver in the endurance
events. We also caught up to John who
was having a touch time because of chafing, ugh!
Having people with me on most of the run made it the best
run ever in a race for me. I ran faster
than usual and didn’t really feel bad at any point. I never say that in a run. The aid stations were about 1 mile apart and
were very well stocked with everything you could want all through the
night. I was impressed. All the port-a-potty’s also were stocked with
toilet paper throughout the whole race, very nice.
Okay, last 3 miles.
John is behind us, Larry went on ahead (he is really a good runner), so
it’s Carlos and myself for the last 3 miles.
It’s dark and we are running through a neighborhood that seemed like it
took forever to get through. There were
a couple of times where we didn’t see any other runners coming or going. At one point I had to check and make sure I
was still on course and didn’t miss a turn.
Finally we turn onto the last mile! So exciting!
At ½ mile to go Carlos asked if I minded if he sprinted from there. Of course I didn’t mind, go Carlos! Then I came to the finishing chute, people
lined up on both sides cheering and giving high fives yelling your name. Super bright lights that your are funning
towards for the finish. It is an indescribable
feeling., you cross the finish line and hear “CRYSTAL LEWIS, YOU ARE AN
IRONMAN!!!” Super awesome! I know I couldn’t have smiled any wider.
I thought I would be so much more emotional during the race
but I was having so much fun I wasn’t, until after I crossed the Finish Line
and a volunteer came up and hugged me.
Then I cried super happy tears. Sara, Shelley’s daughter, was there with my
after race stuff, she was so nice to come back to make sure I had it when I
finished, so very much appreciated, thank you Sara. Julie and Matt were there to see if I was ok
and if I needed anything. I was ok,
tired, but ok. Thank you Matt and Julie
for looking after me; love you guys!
I did it, me. I am
just like everyone else, I am not a super athlete, I have arthritis and
orthopedic issues, just like everyone else.
I have everyday life issues, just like everyone else. It’s very surreal; I still can’t believe I
did this.
I will say this; I did the training. I managed the arthritis and orthopedic
issues. I took care of myself during the
hard training. The race was hard, how
can it not be for that time and distance.
But not once did I feel that it was too hard or not doable. Not once did I have to talk myself over a bad
spot. I went into this race with no expectations
other than that I knew in my heart I would finish it no matter what. I never had any anxiety or nerves. I knew I was going to have a good time, no
matter what was thrown my way.
One of my friends, Erica, who is an amazing athlete, told me
the day would go by fast. It’s odd
because I was out there 15 hours and 26 minutes and it went by fast. All of my friends finished and finished
well. I had no doubt they would. Even though they finished well, two of my
friends ended up in medical after the race.
One with hypernatremia and the other with inflamed lungs.
This race had a 26% DNS/DNF rate, which was one of the
highest ever. I did forget to mention
that it was not a wetsuit legal race and many were not prepared for that. The water was warm. We swim in the ocean all the time without a
wetsuit so it was not a problem for us. I did buy my wetsuit last year
specifically for this race, rather ironic.
They did allow you to wear a wetsuit if you wanted but you had to start
in the back about 15 minutes after the other swimmers. I think about 800 chose to do this. I would have loved to wear my wetsuit but was
ok without it.
I also neglected to mention that there as a very bad red
tide going on in the previous weeks leading up to the race. Something happens where there is no oxygen in
the water and it kills off the fish among other things. The red tide was mostly gone but the water
smelled like dead fish and I think we all drank more than normal because it was
so crowded in the swim. Almost everyone
I talked to had some sort of stomach issues or cramps. I did starting out on the bike and off and on
throughout the whole race. I had lots of
tums, Skratch rice balls and chicken broth, which all helped settle my stomach.
Talking with others after the race a lot of people told me
it was their hardest Ironman they’ve done and some had done 3 or 4. The after effects of the Red Tide certainly
didn’t help. The bike was fairly flat
and I think people used to hills are used to getting a break downhill. There was a couple rolling hills. And it was hot and very humid. Again, it was all conditions that I train in
all the time. Now had it been cold I
probably would have suffered on the bike.
I haven’t ever been on my bike in anything under 60 degrees.
And just like that it’s over. The year flew by, lots of fun, lots of new
friends and lots of new experiences. Not
one regret. It is the strangest thing,
you are used to your training schedule and seeing your friends every week. It’s almost like working your way up a cliff
and there is nothing after that.
What!?! What do I do with my
time, what are my friends doing? When is the next on? Plus you’ve put all the
effort into training you want to keep some sort of base, right? There is definitely an IM withdrawal problem.
I never had any desire to do one, until my friends did it
with me. One thing I learned through all
the years is never say never. I said I’d
only do one and be done. Hahahahaha, now
we are talking about Vineman in 2017. I
said only if the group does it. Who am
I?
I AM AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!
Thank you to everyone who supported encouraged, cheered and those
that did this race with me; Rophe, Trish, Krissi, Carl, Larry, Jeraine,
Lisa/Brian, Lisa R, John, Rex, Steve, Erica, Alicia, Julie B JZ and those I met at the race too. I’ve always said when I go to a triathlon no
matter how big or small, it’s hundreds or thousands of friends you didn’t know
you had.
Shelley Flowers – All of this started from an off-hand
comment. Blessed to be your friend, you
enrich my life, thank you.
On Your Mark: Matt
& Julie Gofoth and Zac, thanks for all the support, training and
friendship. Love you guys! Thanks for getting me on a bike I love and
getting it super comfortable.
Integrated Medical Systems – Greg, Lisa and Nicole, I could
not have made it through the training without you. Thank you for keeping me in once piece and
always making me laugh when I’m there.
Wahoo Masters, Linda Bostic – thank you for the effort and
work in making shirts for us and always being the best cheerleader.
Lakin & Sara Flowers for getting my bike and tri gear
out of transition (and Krissi’s friend
Katrin)
All my friends, new and old.
A special thanks to my husband, Shane. As everyone knows you have to have an
understanding spouse and family to do the training you need to. The crazy training hours, early to bed, early
to rise and I wasn’t able to go to as many of his races this year. He did everything he could to help me achieve
this goal and I so appreciate the effort and sacrifices he made for me. He even hung my Ironman Florida flag in front
of the house to greet me when I got home from a short trip to California.
Looking forward to the next adventure :) 
