Welcome back to my final entry of my journey to Coeur d’ Alene Ironman!!!!!!!!!! My journey has come to a close. How sad :-(
First I would like to thank my incredible and awesome coach…Felipe Loureiro of Breakaway Training! You are an incredible coach and I have YOU to thank for the past six months for…a GREAT training schedule, words of inspiration and encouragement, your motivation that kept me striving to become a better athlete and for the e-mails and phone call during my week at CDA IM to keep me focused, calm and relaxed. The best advice you gave me….Just consider the day of your Ironman like a long training day and break it into each event. Because of you, I couldn’t have had a better IM journey on race day and with a smile! So THANK YOU!!!!! I look forward to a another great season with you. :-)
2nd, I would like to thank my daughter Autumn and her friends for all their support! They nicked named me “Crazy Lady” because of the insane schedule I have kept over the past six months and previous years completing events. Your support and patience is appreciated more than you will ever know! Love you. :-)
3rd, I would like to thank all my training buddies over the past six months. You kept me motivated and in some cases pushed me outside my personal limitations and boundaries. Especially those who completed the Sat rides with me (Freddy) and Homa who had the patience to complete the last 3 ocean swims with me to provide last minute tips on my stroke/technique that hopefully would make me somewhat of a straight swimmer. We tried and I came up with the strategy on race day to have other athletes be my bumper buddies. :-)
4th, I would like to thank all my friends, my Breakaway Family, my real family and collegues who sent me numerous e-mails, and posted comments on my IM blog. Your awesome to send me motivational and inspirational quotes that kept me motivated over the past six months. Getting up at the crack of dawn to be in the pool by 5am for a swim or 5:45am to complete a run can be challenging! Again, thank you! I am very grateful to have people like you in my life!
On Sunday June 24, 2007…I finally heard those sweet words by Mike Riley say….VICTORIA SCHLOSSER YOUR AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!!! when I crossed the finish line at 11:22: 54pm. Total time out on the course was 16 hrs:22 min and 54 sec.
The emotions, thoughts, feelings, sense of accomplishment, achievement, jubliation, as you get closer to the finish line and run down the tunnel of other athletes/fan support is still difficult to put into words.
What an incredible journey it has been leading up to my Big day! They described our weather at our Victory party as…The day started out with a Hurricane and ended with a snow storm! The winds were 12-30pmh I heard AND it started pouring the last 10 min of the event which looked like snow! :-) Many of my friends asked me if I would complete another Ironman?????….AND my answer without hesitation was ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!! Because now I know that I have completed an IM in the hardest conditions thanks for my coach who prepared me for the UNKNOWN!
This is how my day unfolded….I received a wake up call at 3:30am, to fuel the body prior to leaving for final prep on race day. This included: being on site by 5AM to get body marked, check the air in my tires one more time, put my fuel in my bento box (where you keep gu’s, cliff bars or whatever else you plan on eating during the 112 mile ride as well as my hydration bottles for the first 56 miles.
I had put my race belt in my run transition bag and had to pull it, to put into my bike transition bag. Plus add items that I had forgotten the previous day. Then at 6:00am, we started to put on our wetsuits, take our dry clothes bag to the transition area, to be on the beach by 6:30am, for a 7am shot gun massive swim start! It was very very cold(mid 50’s) and windy as we waited for the gun to go off.
As we were standing there, I started to mentally prepare for the swim. then the race director made an annoucement that the lake was extremely choppy. Only we knew our athletic ability to make the decision to swim or Opt out of the swim and complete a duathon. Talk about getting into your mental psyche! UGH!!!!!!!! I have to admit I did get a little nervous when they made this annoucement.
But many of you know me…and although I am NOT a strong swimmer and it’s my weakest of all 3 events, there was NO WAY, I had trained as hard as I did for the past six months to complete a duathlon. I figured what the H&%$, worst case scenario, I would miss the 2 hr 20 min cut off but ONLY I would know I gave it my best effort, so I went for it. Would you expect anything less of me??????
My time for the first loop for the swim was One hr 10 sec. As I exited the lake from the first loop to complete my 2nd loop, I heard the announcer say….here comes VICTORIA SCHLOSSER from San Diego CA, your looking strong. The crowd started to cheer even louder and I lifted my hands straight up in the air like…YEAH Look at me, I am going to make it! I think this is the only IM where you have to exit the lake onto the beach and get back in for loop 2. Once I saw my time for the first loop, I knew that if I swam harder during the 2nd loop of the swim, I could make the cut off. Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww What a relief!
It’s amazing how calm I was as the gun went off as I proceeded to enter the lake with 2200 other athletes. :-) I kept telling myself, swim slow, steady and remember to glide! My focus for lap two was to swim hard and repeat my mantra….A DAY OF PAIN IS WORTH BRAGGING RIGHTS FOR A LIFETIME! THANK YOU TREVOR FOR THIS MANTRA! Once I got out of the lake and saw my time: 2hrs 03 min, I was so freaking excited and had the biggest smile anyone could potentially have! WOW, I made it were my first thoughts. I then ran to the transition area where the volunteers basically decided to swim in my swimsuit because it was low to mid 50’s. There was NO WAY, I was getting on the bike in wet clothes, so I changed so I wouldn’t freeze during the first 20++ miles on the bike.
As I was changing my volunteer Monica told me that over 100 athletes opted out of the swim to complete a duathon due to the dhoppy and rough water conditions and that there were another 25+ that did swim but had to turn around. THAT was a monumental moment for me and I started to cry, as you can only imagine the sense of achievement!
She was so nice, she asked me why I was crying. I couldn’t even speak. You and her have no idea how freaked out I was from the Thursday swim. It was so chooppy and I was tossed around like a piece of clothing in a washing machine. So here it is sunday and the water conditions were considered to be worse. UGH!!!!!! Anyway, I though of my father and my daughter Autumn and how proud they would be of me, knowing I accepted the challenge of compleing a 2.4 mile swim in extreme choppy water, knowing I am NOT only a weak swimmer but NOT a straight swimmer.
I came up with the strategy Sat night after changing it several times during the week, that I would utilize other athletes as my body bumpers to keep me in a straight line since I have a difficult time siting. But after buoy 6, I found myself by myself INSIDE the orange colored buoys. When I looked up to site, I thought I was the ONLY one left in the lake. My first initial thought…Dang I am slow! :-) Your mind can play tricks with you…so I told myself to remain calm, not to panic and take my time to see just exactly where everyone else was. Once I realized and noticed I was on the INSIDE of the orange buoys, I started to swim to get back on the course. UGH!!!!!! The last thing I wanted to do was add more mileage onto my swim. So Homa, I guess you can figure out that I learned HOW to site that morning. :-)
To paint the picture for you of how choppy the lake was….the race director told us at our Victory Party, they had over 60 Kayaks, 15++ jet skis and other water craft. Even the volunteers were nervous as they were doing everything they could NOT to tip over. How awesome of a feelingto know that the volunteers were concerned and looking out for our safety. I saw many athletes clinging onto the kayaks, but I didn’t let it effect me mentally and just repeating my mantra for the morning. THANK GOD, I had just completed a few rough water ocean swims prior to leaving for CDA IM, but certainly NOTHING that would have prepared me for this day.
Now for the bike course…it was extremely windy and out of the 56 miles, they said we had about 20 miles of uphill climbing. It was a combination of the Great Western Loop, both inside and outside of Torrey Pines hills, the top of Palomar Mtn and now add 12-20++ mph winds. WHOLLY MOLEY!!!!!! The weather GODS had no mercy on us. It was windy the entire day AND coming at us from all directions. A few times I almost got blown off my bike! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cut off for the first loop of the bike course was 1:30pm and I finished by 1pm. The 2nd loop cut off time was 5:30pm and I finished in ALL HARD gear at an avg of 16-18mph except the hills of course. I saw athletes dismount off their bikes when we were hit some of the hills from mile 75-90++. I am glad we drove the course, because I would have never enjoyed the beauty of the course. My focus was NOT to draft and get a penalty, stay motivated and focused. During the bike course, I wrote about 10 inspiration quotes on index cards just in case I hit several lows….but I have to be honest, I only remember one low.
Maybe it’s because I would read the signs that family and fan support made for their athlete, and I thanked both fan support and our volunteers as I rode by them letting them know they were appreciated! Some of the signs were classic and I want to share my favorites with you….
One fan made a series of signs that started out by stating: Sign one: Don’t lose your head! Sign two said: Because you will need it! Sign three said: Your brain is in it! Sign four listed all the names of the athletes they were cheering for. LOVED the signs! They made me laugh…. During the first 5 miles of the course which is also mile 60, a sign said: if you can read this sign…you are going to slow, so get your A$# moving! There were others but these stood out and brought a smile to my face! :-)
Just prior to making the first cut off at mile 54, there were these four guys who rang this HUGE cow bell and their sign said: if we ring this bell, it’s because we think your HOT! I started to laugh as I was peddling like a bat out of H%$# to make the last cut off, plus I was working out the lactic acid in my legs to prepare them for the run. There are others, but again, these stood out.
Once I made both cut off times for the bike…again, I had this incredible sense of relief knowing now I just have to run a marathon in SEVEN hours. First thought, I am going to become an IRONMAN!!!!! YEA!!!!!!! I felt awesome dismounting from the bike. My legs were a little tight, but not too bad. Mentally I was on top of my game. Never struggled in that arena.
As I came out of the transition area, I felt AWESOME mentally and physically! But then my worst nightmare set in…..my planters faciitis kicked in! UGH!!!!!!! I won’t even to begin to let you know what my initial thought was, as it was NOT good. So I changed my strategy that if I could endure the pain for the first 13 miles, I could still finish by 10pm or 10:30pm. So I ran, walked as well as stretched during the first 13 miles. By mile 14, I realized I really needed to run more than walk if I was going to make the midnight cut off. So off I go.
At mile 14, for me and 21/22 for him, I met this guy Robert from Orlando. We kept each motivated and decided we would run every five min and walk five min. He hurt everywhere, his hips, legs( he said he pushed it too hard on the bike) feet you name it he said it hurt AND he also had to sit in the hot tub after the swim for 30++ min just to warm up for the bike. I didn’t hurt at that time except for my left foot.
So as we ran, we talked to keep our mind off the pain we both were enduring. You have NO IDEA how bad I wanted to take tylenol, but they told me NOT to, because it would shut down my kidneys…since I was this close, I on occasion would refer back to my mantra for the day and even shared it with Robert.
He had completed other IM, but said this one took a toll on his body and he would never do another one again! Then we came to mile 25 and he turned to run down the tunnel of fans etc and I started my 2nd loop! We gave each other a high five and said….VICTORIA YOUR AN IRONMAN!!!!!! AND I SAID…ROBERT YOUR AN IRONMAN!!!!!
Meeting him killed time and took my mind off the pain. Funny how you meet incredible people during the run course where you just inspire and motivate one another. The last two guys I met on mile 23 told me I was hard core, because I kept pushing us so we could cross the finish line at 10:30pm, but we at this point were in major pain..legs feet etc. We would try running but that only lasted about 2 min. I kept trying to figure out if we were going to make the cut off. So we all agreed no matter how much pain we were in, we had to run from mile 25 until we cross the finish line.
Once I knew I was in home stretch I started running. I turned the corner and there was our biggest fan of the day…Crystal. Your support and cheery face added to my incredible journey and it was appreciated more than you will ever know! So thank you. I also saw, Sherry, her brother Darren who was also incredible fan support, Dave and others. FYI, Darren you should win BROTHER OF THE YEAR FROM SHERRY! :-)
When I heard them, I had this incredible high that is really hard to put into words, and as I started down the tunnel of other athletes and fan support….I had the biggest smile anyone could have! They wer eshowing me lot’s of LOVE by giving me high 5’s…and cheering me onto to the finish. As I got closer to crossing that line, I heard Mike Riley say…..those amazing words….VICTORIA SCHLOSSER YOUR AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My journey has ended. :-(
I have so much respect for those athletes that can complete an Ironman in less than 14hrs. WOW, I thought they must really spend time preparing, digging deep, surpassing their threshold until they bonk, on the swim, bike and run! I can honestly say, I never once thought…OMG, I have been out here for 12 hrs or 15 hrs. I took one event at a time, focused on every cut off time, and just enjoyed my journey as I considered it just another long training day! Thank you coach for those last words the evening prior to race day. :-) YOUR THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Once I got back to the hotel at 2am, I took a shower and my whole body hurt! My tricepts hurt, probably from gripping my aero bars so tight as I was hanging on to stay on my bike and on the downhills at 38mph. I know I have NEVER gone that fast downhill but I was trying to make up time. My legs hurt from 40++ miles of hills and pushing it the last 56 miles in the forever NON stop wind! All I know, it hurt to take a shower and touch my skin. I took a 600 Ibuprofin and finally crawled into bed and at 2am but was up by 6am from the adrenaline rush I was still experiencing from achieving what some would have thought as the impossible due to our weather conditions. Again, my hats off to all those athletes that had incredible times.
It’s amazing when you out there on the course, the things you think of. As I reflect back you do go through many highs but I didn’t go through many low’s. It literally is mental adn it’s up to you to reinforce positive quotes etc to keep yourself positive. I did have index cards with my and some of my teammate’s favorite quotes that I would pull out and read on occasion, but I kept going back to my mantra for the day…ONE DAY OF PAIN IS WORTH BRAGGING RIGHTS FOR A LIFE TIME!
I learned allot about myself out there….I started to question with all the hill training, did I ever bonk on the bike, and truely understand my max capacity for pain and endurance????? HUMMMMMMM, maybe this is why i would like to complete another Ironman, just to see how much I could improve myu time vs CDA IM in worst of conditions. I will work with a nutritionist, drop about 20lbs, strength train, work on my core, complete and ride much tougher hills and really test my will!
So I guess the bottom line is…This Ironman show is NOT over and I will continue my journey to another Ironman, but for now my new focus is enjoying the moment, taking a vacation and then start training for Chicago Marathon Oct 7, 2007.
One final thought….ONLY .00000009% in the WORLD have completed an IRONMAN! I will take suggestions for a vacation….one of my friends suggest I climb Mt Everest! How funny…..
Again, thank you for all your support during the last six months! I have enjoyed my journey down this road to my FIRST Ironman! What an amazing experience I will NEVER forget.
Have a great week!
Victoria
