Racing On Empty : Kansas 70.3

What does racing on empty mean? Does that mean physically? Emotionally? Well, for me, it was both. My drive to Kansas on Friday morning started off with a funeral. My Step sister passed away suddenly a few days prior and the family was devastated. Funerals can be healing and help with the process, but by the time I got on the road to Kansas, I was emotionally spent.

After a very short 5 hours of sleep, I met some clients for a short swim, bike, run which is my usual workout the day before a race. As I was finishing up my run, my stomach started to feel sour. I figured I just needed to get some more food and I would be fine. By the time I had parked the Flex at the Expo and picked up my packet; I knew I needed to get back to the hotel quickly. I figured, its been a rough couple of days and I just need some good sleep. After laying in bed until 4pm, I was getting super concerned as I could not even drink Sprite, let a lone, water or sports drink or eat a darn thing. I mustered up the energy to get back to the Clinton State Park to check in my bike and pick up the Flex. At that point, I made a call to coach to discuss the game plan for the morning as I had not consumed any liquids or calories all day!

I tossed and turned until 3am with stomach pain and then it finally stopped. But then, I got a bad headache, which I’m sure was from dehydration at that point. I had decided… I’M NOT RACING. The clock kept ticking, and ticking, and ticking. I got into the last minutes of when it would be TOO LATE to get to the race and I said… “I’ve got to try. If I’m standing on the sidelines and feel fine all day and didn’t try, I will be so mad!” I quickly pulled all my gear together, threw on my racesuit and headed out the door with a Sprite and a Bagel (not my typical pre-race meal for a Half IM!).

On the drive over, I keep thinking of the wise words I was told… “Stay in the moment”. This was so hard for me as my thoughts kept going to “If I make it out of the water, how on earth can I ride 56 miles on such an empty tank!” I would stop my self, back up and say, “just get yourself to the swim start”.

After a very conservative swim, (honestly, I was so tired and had no energy) I still didn’t think I could do 56 miles on the bike. I decided to listen to the words of advice about STAYING IN THE MOMENT and JUST GET ON THE BIKE. Then if I wanted to turn around after 2miles… so be it. Well, I got 10miles under my belt and said “Okay, we are just going for a ride, no big deal”. I tried to up my hydration and nutrition now to try and make up for the deficit but wasn’t too successful.. I took in some good calories, but couldn’t really take in more than I typically do for that distance. As I was about 45 miles into the bike, I kept thinking once again. “How on earth am I going to be able to truly run 13 miles.” I really had to work my mental muscle and just stop thinking about it and STAY IN THE MOMENT.

I finished the bike 12 minutes slower than last year and was pleased that is wasn’t any worse! I headed out for the run and put together a strategy. First of all, GET SOME SUNSCREEN! With the crazy, unprepared morning I had, the only thing I forgot was to apply sunscreen. I yelled to my family so they could be prepared for me when I looped back past them in about 10 minutes. The second thing was HYDRATE!!! I could tell my HR was elevating quickly due to my dehydrated state and it was hot. I decided if I was going to actually finish the race, I needed to walk the aid stations and get a full glass of water and a full glass of gatorade in me every mile.

My run was slow, but my goal was to finish. I had to find that very sensitive balance so I could use the only fumes I had left as efficiently as possible. It was a combination of running the downhills fast (it’s a relative term), walking the uphills, drinking and eating what my body would take in and not being out there on the course too long… as I really just needed a FRICKEN STEAK by this point. Miles 6-9 felt the best of the whole race as I felt the most hydrated I had been in two days, but miles 10-13 were the most challenging. My body just wanted to drop to the ground, curl up in a ball, and go to sleep. I fought this every step the last 3m and I was getting nervous because the finish was so close, but I was in a real bad way by this point.

I could not believe it when I was actually running down that finishing shoot on the yellow carpet to Dorothy and the Scarecrow. I really could not believe that putting each MOMENT together, would have got me there. If I would have bet on the day, I would have lost. I didn’t believe I was was capable of RACING ON EMPTY.

I am darn proud of my 6:17:00 Finish… actually, I’m just proud of my finish! One of those races that put more in your bag of experience, than any other.