SIDELINED FOR A MAJOR RACE

Checked in an all ready to put my training to the test!

Race ready in Hawai'i 

My focus for 2015 was Ironman Lake Tahoe (IMLT) in September. I retired from my 30+ year career with the Environmental Protection Agency at the end of 2014 and put my heart and soul into training for this race with my eye on a second qualification for the Ironman World Championships in Kona. I spent a month in Kona in the spring training for and racing Ironman Hawaii 70.3 while enjoying the freedom of retirement. After quite a bit of research on how much time it takes to fully adjust to altitude before a race, I moved up to Squaw Valley six weeks before Ironman Lake Tahoe. I had a fantastic time, fully focused on training and enjoying what felt like a summer vacation after 30 years of foggy summers in San Francisco. I had a variety of training buddies coming and going from North Tahoe which was really fun. Outside of training I spent time cooking and focusing on good nutrition as well as doing a little hiking.

Just before the start of the Donner Lake Half Ironman

I had a great race in July at the challenging Donner Lake Half Ironman starting at 6000 feet of elevation with over 5000 feet of climbing during the 56 miles on the bike. In August I had the pleasure swimming the length of Donner Lake (2.7 miles) with the Sierra Nevada Masters without having to worry about boat traffic. My swims were all either in the clear, clean waters of Donner Lake or Lake Tahoe. I paddle boarded (SUP) for the first time, rode around Lake Tahoe a couple of times, hung out at Wild Cherries Coffee Shop, listened to music in the village at Squaw Valley and trained on the Ironman Lake Tahoe course until I knew every bump and crack in the pavement. 

Summer fun 

Wednesday before Sunday’s race I started to feel nauseous, but completed my last bike ride and feeling better I went out to dinner with friends who were also going to race. I got sick during the night and in the morning thought “stomach flu, I should be fine by Sunday.” I went to registration, picked up my materials, did some iron-shopping, and had race day wheels put on my bike. It was my 26^th wedding anniversary and my husband joined me in Tahoe that afternoon, but we cancelled our dinner reservations because I wasn’t feeling well.

Around 3 am I woke up, took a sip of water, and excruciating stomach pain commenced. Woke up my husband who called 911 because I was moaning in pain (he says I was screaming.) It turned out that a small, eraser sized ulcer had perforated my stomach and the pain was being caused by air in my abdomen. By 5 am I was undergoing 3 hours of emergency surgery which started laparoscopically but ended with a long incision from my zyphoid process to about an inch above my belly button. I spent race day on morphine and wasn’t coherent enough to track the progress of my friends who were racing.  I was released from the hospital on the 6^th day and was told I’d have to endure six weeks of down time.

Many of my friends have commented on how well I dealt with the disappointment of not being able to race after so much time an energy expended preparing for this one event. It has been four months and I’ve spent some time thinking about how I dealt with the emotional side of the disappointment of missing what turned out to be the final Ironman Lake Tahoe, the setback in my fitness and starting my road to recovery.

Sure, I had the gamut of emotions and questions: Why couldn’t this have waited until a week after the

So ready for IMLT, less than a week to go.

race? Thankfully it didn’t happen during the race. If it had happened during the swim, I probably would have died. Looking at the times and my previous performance at this race, before they made the bike course easier, I was sure I would have won my age group and secured a Kona slot. BUT – you have to make it to the starting line for any of that to count. I did allow myself to feel and experience the disappointment that I felt but it wasn’t overwhelming.

The biggest factor in limiting my disappointment after nine months of focus on this one event is that I enjoyed, loved, and reveled in the process. Not that I didn’t have disappointing training days or weeks where I felt completely shelled, doubted my ability and cursed my coach for giving me so much work. I learned that it is truly about the journey. My grit, metal and physical strength was really tested by putting in the hours and the efforts needed to be fully prepared. Race day is just the icing on the cake, the journey is what really counts.

One of my top notch care givers at Tahoe
Forest Hospital. No wheelchairs for
five time Ironman finishers :-) 

Secondly, there is nothing like a life threatening condition to make me appreciate the life that I have. I felt grateful for the support of my, family, friends and coach along with the opportunity to be involved in such an emotionally rewarding sport. I am grateful for the excellent care I received at the Tahoe Forest Hospital, in Truckee, from my surgeon and nurses. They had so much empathy for the fact that I missed the race and they made me feel like a rock star for being a multiple Ironman finisher. Several of them volunteered in the medical tent at the race and witnessed what it can take to complete an Ironman (or not complete an Ironman.)

One of the factors in successful Ironman racing is that you learn to deal with the adversity which is inevitable during a race. There are so many: getting clobbered on the swim, goggles knocked off, swimming off course, bike flats and mechanical problems, cold, heat, stomach problems, aches and pains, trips and falls on the run, etc. You deal with each one as well as you can and just keep moving forward to the best of your ability. I called upon this mental focus and training, dealt with my setback and put my eyes toward the process of moving forward. I also focused on appreciating the time to do the things I don’t have time for when in full training mode, like going out to brunch, going to the movies and reading.

As said by Olympic Gymnast McKayla Maroney: “Looking back isn’t going to help you. Moving forward is the thing you have to do.”

Three weeks after surgery, getting out for a hike was
challenging and up-lifting. 

Next up: The Road to Recovery (after major abdominal surgery)