Ironman Arizona November 16 2014.
Race Report:
I started out my year with the fear of the 3000 people mass swim start. No matter how good of a swimmer you are it looks and IS intimidating. I wanted my focus to be on overcoming my fear and feeling strong when I got in the water. I can't say was completely unafraid but I certainly knew I couldn't have been more prepared and trained thanks to racelab! Before we marched to the water our coach Bettina Schnippenkoetter Warnholtz huddled us together offering us one last speech of wisdom and prayers. It brought tears to my eyes as I digested all that she said.
I gave Rod Gull a kiss goodbye and headed to the lake. I took hands with Maggie Kinsley and together we
headed to the stairs to get in. I swam out through the sea of people to get to the location I wanted to start. The
cannon went off and the lake just came to life as we all started heading in the same direction. Almost
immediately I started battling with a guy next to me as we took turns swimming over each other. I started to feel
really angry at how rough he was being with me and was trying desperately to muscle my way around him. But
then I started thinking about what coach Bettina told us about wasting energy on being angry and decided to
relax, stop and let the guy go ahead of me. He wasn't worth wasting my energy on. After that I just kept that
thought in my head and every time I came in contact with people I just swam around or away from them. After I
rounded my halfway point buoy the water started to get VERY choppy! I was looking around for a jet skier
because I couldn't understand were all the waves were coming from? (This should have giving me a good
inclination of the weather that was ahead) It wasn't an easy swim by any means but my goal was to get 2.4 miles
done in 1:25 and I completed it in 1:24:56! Ha! It felt like forever but I swam up to the stairs and was helped out
of the water by the volunteers and on to transition!
T1: I was greeted in transition by one of my closest friends and mentor Beverly A Crupi. She calmly helped me out of my wetsuit, wiped off my feet, got me my helmet and sunglasses, handed me my bike shoes and sent me on my way! Everyone said you should take time in transition to pull yourself together but I just wanted to get to the sport that I knew I was good at!
The only anxiety I had about my bike ride was the fear of getting a flat tire. I knew I could fix it but it would just be so discouraging having to waste time doing that.
Yeah!!! Finally on to the bike. I felt great getting on the bike because I knew the hardest part of my day was
behind me and I would now be able to enjoy the experience. I was cheered on by Rod Gull and the racelabbers
as I headed out towards the Beeline! I was on a great pace heading out felt lots of energy and was trying to keep
my heart rate in my race strategy zone... (This is very hard for me to do on the bike because I always want to
KILL it but I did my best.) The course is 3 loops and composed of a gradual incline out and a nice decline coming
back. I had done so many hill repeats in my training that the hill was going to be no problem for me...HA! Little
did I know that Hurricane Beeline was coming at us in full force! It was so windy heading up the hill! I couldn't
believe it! It was crazy. Every loop the wind just got stronger and stronger! About every mile I passed people
with flat tires, people who got blow around in the road and wiped out. At one aid station the volunteer dropped
a giant water bottle and the wind pulled it right out in front of me! I thought for sure I was going over my handle
bars but luckily by the grace of God I managed to avoid it and stay upright! I think my heart rate spiked to 200
here...
Overall though I can't say it was a bad ride. I saw my friends Stephanie, Judy Thometz, and Kingston from the
TAC on Gilbert and the beeline (right by the dump) for my second loop and Meg Maloney Marks, and Jodee for
my last loop. Seeing their faces and knowing I had friends that would drive out to the dump and wait there for
me to pass by was soooooo amazing! I can't thank them enough for showing me such great support! Then of
course every time I rode back through Tempe to turn out to do my loops racelab tent was in full force cheering!
That is always an exciting rush! In perfect conditions my goal going into the race was to do my 112 mile bike in
5:45-6:00 hours...I did it in 6:03 with CRAZY winds! I am super excited about my bike time! I KNOW that was the
best I could do. I had no flat tires, only had to stop for the bathroom once, and made through the whole ride
with a smile on my face! I flew into transition and were the volunteer took my bike and herded me back to the
transition tent.
T2: The ladies in T2 were awesome. They helped me get my shoes on, slapped Vaseline under my arms and stuffed my pockets full of goo! I got a ‘YEAH DAWN’ from Ellen Camp who was in there helping another athlete.
On to the marathon! Now my goal was always to be able to enjoy the run and really soak in the crowd and excitement of doing my first Ironman. So I knew I was going to take it slow and steady. I started out for my first mile and took notice of how bad my feet hurt. I think I was pounding them so hard on the bike to get up the hill in the wind that they really took a beating. I thought to myself (this isn't good that your feet are hurting already). I tried to not think about them but was forced to run/walk the first couple of miles because my feet were cramping so bad. Once I was able to put my feet out of my mind I started thinking about my stomach (which wasn't feeling so great). I felt very nauseous. I thought to myself what coach Bettina had told me to listen to body and eat what it tells you to. I tried to hydrate and take in some calories at every aid station and by mile 13 I finally started to feel better. I ran into my friends Meg and Jodee again and then finally got to see Rod where I stopped to give him a kiss and pull a rock out of my shoe.
The second half of the marathon was way better. I wasn't moving super-fast but I was feeling a LOT better. Right
after mile 17 I ran into Andi White Gorman! She and Gibby were there to cheer me on and she jogged a little
ways with me offering me support and encouragement telling me I was almost there and I was doing great. That
was a great pick up for that portion of my run. I kept trucking my way though each mile 1 by 1 until I was finally
able to hear the roar of the crowd and Mike Riley calling out Ironman names. Running into that chute was
indescribable. I saw Stephanie Warnholtz Woods just as I was entering and she yelled to me that I had done it
and I just started smiling from ear to ear. I could hear people in the crowd saying "look at her smiling!" I ran in
and saw Bev and Jim Crupi there yelling for me on the left and then heard Rod, Jenna Williams and Dylan yelling
for me on the right! I ran into the finish line and heard Mike Riley say "Dawn Brooks you are an Ironman"! And
there at the finish line was my friend and coach Bettina waiting with open arms to hug and congratulate me on a
race well done.
I have tears in my eyes now as I am writing this. All of my dreams and goals about this day have become reality for me. I gave myself 5 hours to complete the marathon and I did it in 4:55. Overall my finish time was 12:35. I can't even tell you what it feels like to know that I did my very best at something so out of the ordinary and unimaginable to most. Thank you to everyone who helped me achieve this dream. Ironman may seem silly or crazy to some but to me it was a challenge I wanted to overcome. I know I will do more Ironman races in my future but I know this will always be my absolute favorite one.
T2: The ladies in T2 were awesome. They helped me get my shoes on, slapped Vaseline under my arms and stuffed my pockets full of goo! I got a ‘YEAH DAWN’ from Ellen Camp who was in there helping another athlete.
On to the marathon! Now my goal was always to be able to enjoy the run and really soak in the crowd and excitement of doing my first Ironman. So I knew I was going to take it slow and steady. I started out for my first mile and took notice of how bad my feet hurt. I think I was pounding them so hard on the bike to get up the hill in the wind that they really took a beating. I thought to myself (this isn't good that your feet are hurting already). I tried to not think about them but was forced to run/walk the first couple of miles because my feet were cramping so bad. Once I was able to put my feet out of my mind I started thinking about my stomach (which wasn't feeling so great). I felt very nauseous. I thought to myself what coach Bettina had told me to listen to body and eat what it tells you to. I tried to hydrate and take in some calories at every aid station and by mile 13 I finally started to feel better. I ran into my friends Meg and Jodee again and then finally got to see Rod where I stopped to give him a kiss and pull a rock out of my shoe.
The second half of the marathon was way better. I wasn't moving super-fast but I was feeling a LOT better. Right
after mile 17 I ran into Andi White Gorman! She and Gibby were there to cheer me on and she jogged a little
ways with me offering me support and encouragement telling me I was almost there and I was doing great. That
was a great pick up for that portion of my run. I kept trucking my way though each mile 1 by 1 until I was finally
able to hear the roar of the crowd and Mike Riley calling out Ironman names. Running into that chute was
indescribable. I saw Stephanie Warnholtz Woods just as I was entering and she yelled to me that I had done it
and I just started smiling from ear to ear. I could hear people in the crowd saying "look at her smiling!" I ran in
and saw Bev and Jim Crupi there yelling for me on the left and then heard Rod, Jenna Williams and Dylan yelling
for me on the right! I ran into the finish line and heard Mike Riley say "Dawn Brooks you are an Ironman"! And
there at the finish line was my friend and coach Bettina waiting with open arms to hug and congratulate me on a
race well done.
I have tears in my eyes now as I am writing this. All of my dreams and goals about this day have become reality for me. I gave myself 5 hours to complete the marathon and I did it in 4:55. Overall my finish time was 12:35. I can't even tell you what it feels like to know that I did my very best at something so out of the ordinary and unimaginable to most. Thank you to everyone who helped me achieve this dream. Ironman may seem silly or crazy to some but to me it was a challenge I wanted to overcome. I know I will do more Ironman races in my future but I know this will always be my absolute favorite one.
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