Hello Family & Friends,
Thank you to everyone for your kind
e-mails and support. Sunday's race was so incredible!
PRE-RACE DAY
DOORS OPEN FOR IRONPRAYER
AND TROY RUNS A 5K
We arrive in Coeur d'Alene
&
head straight for the registration tent. We hope to post some
IRONPRAYER fliers around the "Athlete Village". As soon as I get my
silver wrist band on (it's a temporary piece of jewelry every competitor
wears that gets me into all the activities... including the big race), I
look for the person in charge. I introduce myself to Shelly and tell
her about IRONPRAYER.
After
putting on this event at IM Hawaii and IM Canada, I'm expecting this to be
difficult. I'm pleasantly surprised to find Shelley's completely
open to us posting fliers and even our huge banner right there in the
Athlete Village...thanks God!!
While Troy and I are hanging out we see there is a 5K for athletes,
spectators and kids. I challenge Troy to race it. He agrees on one
condition...it has to count as a "Soares Cup" race. (Ok, so what's
the "Soares Cup" you wonder? This season, Troy and I have been going
back and forth in how we place at the races we do together. It
became a competitive thing(= We wanted to find out who was placing
better so we came up with a points system based on our age groups: 1 point
for 10th place, 2 points for ninth, and so on, with 10 points for 1st
place. Coming to IM Coeur d'Alene, we noticed that I was currently 1
point ahead!) So I tell Troy that he is on...knowing it should be
challenging to get top 10.
The racers are off! It's a 2 loop race. As they run back from
the first loop, I see that some of the competitors (one a pro) are wearing
wrist bands...how can they be racing a 5K only 2 days from their IM
race...crazy!! Here comes Troy...great he's in 12th with a girl just
ahead of him...I got him(= He heads out on the 2nd loop, I tell him
it's going to be close. I anxiously await his return. Here he
comes! He's 11th, but he's the 10th male! The girl's going to
beat him! I shake Troy's hand and congratulate him on earning a
point. We're tied now!
IRONPRAYER
It's two days
before the race and IRONPRAYER is about to start.
Troy and I realize that many are probably confused, looking for the
IRONPRAYER at the "Athlete Village". Troy races down there to try
and round up the lost. Simultaneously, the worship band from Lake
City Community Church starts grooving. Tod Hornby, the Worship
Leader, and his crew sound great. We're rocking away and praising
the Lord.
I introduce Mike Rima, one of Lake City's pastors, and he tells us about
Paul's statement in 2 Timothy 4:7-8: "I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award to me on that day". He follows with a story about a girl
attempting the swim from Catalina Island to the mainland. In thick
fog, she final looses hope and quits. Discovering soon after that
she was only 1/2 mi from shore! For swimmers, the Catalina swim is a
very meaningful feat. For triathletes, this Ironman is very
meaningful. Our walk with God is very meaningful. He
encourages us to persevere on Sunday, reminding us that, like our walk
with God, we must continue to forge ahead in our race.
Meanwhile,
Troy's at the Athlete Village trying to direct people to IRONPRAYER
while Dave Scott's speaking on stage.
He has a captive audience. "Last question", he announces, and Troy
thinks to ask, "um, would you mind announcing the IronPrayer?" But
he resists until Dave's fully done... and then grabs the mic, announcing
the correct location.
Troy arrives
with some folks. Heather Gollinick, last year's champion, is
wrapping up her talk, recounting a recent recovery from a crash that could
have been so much worse. Troy retold
the story from CalforniaMan where he, Paul Cousineau, and David Ridder won
in memory of Alan Liu (I'll have his picture on my bike tomorrow).
Another gentlemen shared the sacrifices he had to make to get here...time
away from family and friends. These were all Christ inspired
stories...God giving each of them the strength to endure pain, loss, and
separation. And there were many more stories like that out there.
RACE DAY
I wake up at 4:30am feeling excited and a
little nervous. The weather is a bit sketchy...there's some lightning and
sprinkles. I arrive at the bike transition site around 5:15am for
body
marking (being marked with my race numbers), a quick bike and
gear
check and to drop off my special needs bags (extra food/drinks for the
bike and run). Around 1800 of us crowded a tiny portion of the beach
and we all have our eyes on the buoys ahead of us. Troy points me to
a spot in the middle left of the field.
I
am one of 500 women out there but our yellow caps seemed quite sparse
amongst the men's purple. This ratio didn't seem to matter at the
moment.
BOOM…we're
off. Within 100 yds. I knew I was in for a rough ride. There
are bodies everywhere, arms flying, very little room. I find myself
almost panicking but I pray to the Lord for courage and an opening to
escape the madness…I battle on for a secure position. I see
someone's goggles drifting to the bottom of the lake…how hard it must be
to swim without goggles…"please Lord protect me". Getting around the
first main buoy is tough but I make it…getting around the second main buoy
I feel a hard slap in the face…keep going…keep going. The swim
course is 2 loops. After the first loop we run up the beach and
through a gate and then jump back into the water. As I get out I see
my aunt Hilde and Troy…I smile to let them know I'm ok. I jump back
in the water this time making sure I'm further out and away from the
bodies. The second loop is less dramatic and slower. |
I get out of the water and head up to the
transition area where volunteers help tear off my wetsuit…one of the perks
of doing an Ironman. I run through the changing tent and get help
putting on my gear and then run off to my bike. I jump on and head
out for the first loop. I feel great and watch my average hover over
19mph for the first loop.
I keep looking to the label I put on my front water bottle of Psalm 37:23..."If
the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he
stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."
I hold firm to His promise that I won't fall. I see Mom, Dad, Hilde
and Troy as I start the 2nd loop…I smile and they cheer. I'm
confident I can keep up the pace on this next loop. Soon I realize
that I'm getting tired, feeling like I am hitting a ceiling and
unable to push any harder.
Along the way, there are 2 bad crashes.
One is in town and I see two cyclists down...apparently a head on
collision. One cyclist took a turn too fast, drifting into the
oncoming lane. Apparently Ryan, from "The Bachelorette", is on the
scene to help (he's doing IM Hawaii in the fall). The second is out
on the back side of the ride on a tight turn...two cyclists hurt.
The ambulance is now gone with the injured...focus, focus. This time
around I battle some headwinds, a tired bottom, and a full tummy.
I
opt not to take one of 3 extra bottles of fuel at mile 60 because I knew
my stomach couldn't hold that much and I didn't want to lug it around on
the bike. I watch my average slowly drop below 19mph…oh boy, am I
going to make my goal of 6 hours? A guy bikes by and asks me, "Is the
mantra on your bike bottle helping?" I say, "yes", weakly and
probably unconvincingly, realizing that I haven't been using the Lord's
strength enough. I read the verse again and my attention focused on
the part "for the Lord upholds him with His hand." I begin to
cry because I realize that the Lord is holding me up and giving me the
energy to keep going. I tell the Lord that I will be content if I
don’t make my goal and ask Him to help me through. The miles melt
away and I find myself approaching town…yeah!! I look at the time…oh
my gosh, I'm going to be close to 6hrs…wooo-whooo…THANK YOU LORD!!
I pull in at 6:01:46…YES! I
get off the bike and hobble to the changing tent…I'm thinking the run will
be tough but I'm glad the bike is over.
I head out for the first mile and feel great! I run a sub 8min first
mile…whoa…slow down Robin, you only have to run 9min pace. As I head
out for the first of 2 loops, I get the chance to see what the pros are
doing. Heather Gollnick, a fellow Christian triathlete is chasing
the leader and looks strong. The pros make it look so easy on the
run. I haven't quite followed the nutrition plan today. I
ended up not drinking 1-1/3 bottles on the bike and I am not drinking much
of the small flasks on my fuel belt mainly because the flavor is too
strong. I start drinking Gatorade and water and my tummy is happy
for now. I head out to mile 6 and feel a bathroom break coming…oh
no, will this race be like last year? Will my stomach hang in there?
After the potty break, I feel great again…whew!! I see Troy on the
way back from the first loop and he tells me I'm in the top 50 women…wow,
thanks God!! The first loop goes by pretty fast and I'm right on
pace. I'm constantly passing men and every once in a while I pass a
woman in my age group…things are falling into place. Mom, Dad and Hilde
cheer loud as I go by and I give the thumbs up.
As
I head out for the second loop I decide to take a few pretzels…my stomach
says "I'm hungry!!!". At the same time I feel my energy die out and
I start walking. I'm about to bonk (run out of energy). I
remember I'm not taking in enough calories. I grab 2 more big
handfuls of pretzels and enjoy the carbs and salt.
Within a few minutes I'm running again and feeling more energized. I
find myself passing more women. As I'm heading back into town I see
a girl in my age group ahead of me that passed me on the bike. I see
Troy and point
her out…it's mile 24 and I'm chasing her down. I put on a surge to
pass my competitor and about a 1/2 mile later pay for it. I'm just
trying to maintain the pace but feel more and more tired…I'm hoping to go
under 4hours for the marathon. I make it to Sherman Way and see the
finish 5 blocks down….Go!!! I told Troy that I wanted him to finish with
me and see him waiting for me. I grab his hand and we head off to
the finish line…it's a 4:00:09
marathon…perfect!
We cross the finish line together hands held high and heads facing the sky
to show that the credit goes to Christ…the total time is 11:15:56…about 55 minutes faster than my first Ironman…God is Good!! I
fall into Troy's arms and we
celebrate a great race!!!
|
PLACE |
Name |
Cat |
SWIM |
T1 |
BIKE |
T2 |
RUN |
FINAL |
2 |
ELLISON, JOAN |
W40-44 |
1:17:22 |
05:26 |
5:38:17 |
02:48 |
3:49:05 |
10:52:57 |
2 |
GOLLNICK, HEATHER |
WPRO |
0:55:43 |
02:33 |
5:21:02 |
02:10 |
3:20:22 |
9:41:48 |
2 |
SCHMIDT, BRAD |
M25-29 |
1:04:44 |
04:01 |
5:14:21 |
03:03 |
3:15:10 |
9:41:17 |
3 |
STERLING, LARRE |
W35-39 |
1:06:03 |
04:45 |
5:44:28 |
03:29 |
3:57:46 |
10:56:29 |
7 |
ILEY, JAMIMA |
WPRO |
1:01:13 |
03:00 |
5:29:02 |
02:31 |
3:35:22 |
10:11:06 |
7 |
LIETO, MATT |
MPRO |
0:54:54 |
02:22 |
5:01:00 |
02:07 |
3:21:37 |
9:21:58 |
7 |
REED, FARON |
M50-54 |
1:07:05 |
03:42 |
5:32:35 |
02:06 |
3:56:43 |
10:46:09 |
9 |
COOPER, LARA |
W30-34 |
0:57:43 |
03:17 |
6:01:12 |
02:12 |
4:02:40 |
11:07:01 |
10 |
DOUGERY, JOHN |
M35-39 |
1:07:36 |
04:40 |
5:16:25 |
02:31 |
3:32:24 |
10:03:34 |
11 |
HASSEL, DIANA |
WPRO |
1:01:11 |
02:38 |
5:26:50 |
02:46 |
4:01:48 |
10:35:10 |
12 |
DEASY, MICHELLE |
WPRO |
0:53:44 |
02:14 |
5:39:26 |
02:01 |
4:58:49 |
11:36:12 |
13 |
EVANS, KATHERINE |
W30-34 |
1:09:57 |
04:34 |
5:43:17 |
05:17 |
4:11:07 |
11:14:09 |
13 |
WITTHOFF, SCOTT |
M35-39 |
0:56:16 |
03:09 |
5:18:49 |
02:26 |
3:53:37 |
10:14:16 |
14 |
SOARES, ROBIN |
W30-34 |
1:06:42 |
03:41 |
6:01:46 |
03:39 |
4:00:09 |
11:15:56 |
15 |
REALE, LAURA |
W30-34 |
1:07:20 |
04:22 |
5:57:47 |
03:24 |
4:04:16 |
11:17:07 |
18 |
GRAHAM, LINDA |
W45-49 |
1:35:48 |
06:21 |
7:10:21 |
06:01 |
4:40:11 |
13:38:40 |
21 |
RAMP, MARK |
M45-49 |
1:08:39 |
04:21 |
5:53:15 |
04:40 |
4:00:16 |
11:15:10 |
28 |
GRAHAM, GORDON |
M50-54 |
1:09:02 |
13:15 |
6:21:12 |
09:00 |
4:54:56 |
12:47:23 |
29 |
BELDEN, BRUCE |
M35-39 |
1:01:24 |
04:21 |
5:33:20 |
03:50 |
3:52:15 |
10:35:08 |
37 |
ZAVACK, SCOTT |
M35-39 |
0:55:24 |
03:40 |
5:33:00 |
02:26 |
4:04:31 |
10:42:59 |
77 |
CHERRY, JAMES |
M45-49 |
1:12:07 |
04:47 |
6:47:36 |
03:15 |
4:58:01 |
13:05:43 |
150 |
GETTMANN, SEAN |
M30-34 |
1:05:07 |
03:43 |
5:54:16 |
08:17 |
5:29:13 |
12:40:34 |
|