My quest for iron has begun on may 9th, 2009.
We got to PCB on thursday, checked in and went straight to the water. Red Flag up. WTF? Immediately, my freaking out started. Got in the water without my wetsuit and did pretty well. After packet pick up and the expo shopping trip, back in the water we go, no problemo. So i am feeling pretty good at this point. On friday morning, go for another swim, in my wetsuit, and all hell breaks loose. I get extremely nauseated and lightheaded, pretty miserable in the middle of the ocean, in deep, deep waters. I am praying for calm seas on the race morning. No such luck!
On the morning of the race, I was pretty nervous. Everyone I talked to, told me if the race was wetsuit legal, to wear it, so I did. Somewhere between 3rd and 4th boui, I started getting extremely ill. I treaded water and tried to throw up to no avail. I was miserable. I just wanted to get out of the water. Thank God that noone asked me if I needed help, because I am not sure that I would have kept going. I took me a lifetime and then some to get out of water.
Got on the bike and felt better. It was pretty windy on the course, so my avg was 18.6 mph, I wsa hoping for better, but since the sea-sickness was still following me around, it was cool with me.
The run was amazing, I was able to go sub 2hrs, despite the heat. At some point I started retaining all of my fluids, so by the time I reached the finish line, I looked 9mo pregnant. Oh, well.
The experience was amazing. I have learned a lot, so the quest for iron has begun. It was awesome to see amazing ATC peeps racing and cheering. You guys rock. And a special shout out to my boys: Steven and Dave, who have e4mbarked on my quest for irom with me in 2009.