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We left for the big island on September 26-two full weeks before the race. When I say we, I mean the whole family – my husband Chris, 3 year old Gabriella and 8 month old Blaisen. We arrived at SFO to eventually be delayed 3 hours. Awesome! Our trip was starting out with a bang and by the time we actually got on the plane, the kids were pulling their hair out. The airline attendants saw the chaos we were dealing with and ever so gently slid a free beer to Chris and then they slid another one.

As I may have stated in a previous race report arriving in Kona is always such a great feeling. I have been going to the big island since 1991 and each time it is such a wonderful, peaceful feeling as you step off that plane and smell the Kona air. I love it. This year I was more excited than I have ever been to be and race at Ironman.

Our two weeks prior to the race were uneventful, the last time I was in Kona to compete we had an awesome 6.5 earthquake; thankfully we had nothing like that this time, just the normal days of family life and preparing for the big day. We went into this race with a lot of great support and a lot of focus and it was everything we had. Chris and the kids had all been amazing as I prepared for this race, my nutrition was the best it had been, my training was the best it could be, and my mind set was above the bar. We were there to win; bottom line.

We had help with the kids starting October 1 and race week I had a full house helping with all the pre-race stuff. It truly was a team effort. My workouts were great and by Friday I was going crazy with the waiting game. The day could not come soon enough; I was ready. I had 3 goals: Goal 1: come out of the water with the first group of woman on swim. Goal 2: Ride strong and be in the zip code off bike. Goal 3: Run whatever it took to win!!

Race morning was beautiful. It was the first time in a while that race morning was crystal clear, sunny and bright. One thing I did all year was do things different than normal and race morning was no different. I decided I would actually do a warm-up run. On the advice of Cam Widoff, I made my way to the back of the King Kam and there I saw, Belinda Granger, Macca, Shingo Tani, and a few other top pro’s. Hmmm, apparently this wasn’t anything out of the normal for some but for me it was fun and great to see my competitors. Who would of thought, warming up before an Ironman!

As we entered the water I had a smile from ear to ear and I was just fired up to get going. I swam around and looked for who I was going to start with. I always wait until we start lining up to see where I will place myself, I never have a specific plan. This year I seemed to be around Macca and it felt like a good spot so there I went. Most of the women were way on my right and I knew the first 400 or so was going to be rough. The cannon blew and off we went and as in years past the beginning was rough; people slamming and hitting and dunking but then it settled down and I found that I was somewhat near the front. I knew there would be about 3-4 other woman who swim as fast as me and as we neared the boat I knew I was with them and that we were the first women. We seemed to be doing well and as we rounded the boat it got ugly again and then our pack seemed to get confused. We made the next buoy but then it looked like we were starting to head towards the buoy on the other side of the course. Once I realized what we were doing I tried heading towards the right one but was getting slammed by the guy next to me that we just hit each other until the whole group realized we were heading the wrong way. Once we corrected, which seemed to take at least another buoy, the rest of the swim was just a slam-fest as the men were fighting to stay close and women were just collateral damage. We exited the water and I think I there were 2-3 other women with me but I made it a goal to be on the bike first and that is what I did. I have led the bike before so why not again! There you have it, first woman on the bike thank you very much Goal 1: done

I have been working on my cycling a ton and even though I did not even start riding this year until April 1st and had my bike stolen at the end of July I had a great bike ride. I used a power tap for the first time and it was great. I didn’t get paralyzed by the data; just used it as a reference. I originally had thought I may go for the bike prim but when I saw I was riding over 24 mph and I was getting passed I knew that if I wanted to stay in the game I had to let that go. This was my first time doing Kona on a TT bike, my GURU Crono, and we really focused on aero dynamics which I am so glad we did. The island gave us a taste of how it used to be with the winds, it wasn’t the worst I have had but it was a solid 8 on a scale of 1-10. We had gusts and head winds most of the day. It made me smile and laugh and I actually yelled “she’s back” during the ride (meaning Madame Pele). I rode strong and tried to ride aggressive, the wind really kept the packs down and I rode solo all day long. I was inspired a lot during the ride thinking of my kids and my little 8 month old. At one point I had the camera crew on me and I was holding my fingers up in the number 2! 2 kids I was yelling! Then I was telling them that I was doing this for all those moms out there and for the women out there who think they can’t stop training to have a baby and come back better than before. It empowered me and I kept riding strong. I had a rough spot coming back into town; I could tell I had some cramping that was trying to come on but it really wasn’t totally out of the norm, by 100 miles who isn’t tired of being on their bike? I kept my focus and stayed positive and even though it seemed as if I was in no man’s land I actually was very much in the game. As I came into T2 I could see a competitor leave and there were two others in the tent. I was so excited because I knew I was going to run well. I was somewhere in top 10 (someone told me 5th, someone told me 7th) but it didn’t matter I knew I would pass these girls on the run and I felt I was in great contention for a top 3 finish!

Goal 2: done
After I grabbed my bag from T2, I went to put on my shoes and as soon as I sat down and bent my leg to put on my shoe I double cramped in both hamstrings and calves!! I could not move!! I lay in the chair waiting for them to release and when they did, I put the shoes on, stood up and was ready to go when the first step made me cramp again!! This time I was about to fall over when the volunteers caught me. Two more volunteers came and rubbed out each leg, both hammy’s and calves. While that was happening I stood there, frozen, watching women change and leave!! UGGGG!! VERY FRUSTRATING! Once the cramps released I walked out and very gingerly starting running to keep it from happening again. Hello BODY of mine, this was not my plan!! It took most of 10 miles before I felt I had anything and once on the highway I did what I could to gain back what I lost. The run was not the run I had imagined or trained for, but mentally it was. I did EVERYTHING to stay positive. I raced the run, picking it up here, backing off there, trying to get the next girl in front of me. I was waiting for my endorphin kick which ultimately didn’t come until the last 2 miles but when it did I managed to get even more positive and run hard to the end. I knew there was at least one other girl I could possibly catch so I went for it. I missed her by 7 seconds!! In the end, I made it in top 10, 9th place overall. I was elated and mentally drained when I crossed the finish line. It was a HARD day, too hard for a 9th place but it was what it was and I can not complain as I really felt I did the best I could do. If there was a category for Professional woman who have kids and especially one who had a baby 8 months ago, I would be the winner!

I knew I was going into this race with the least amount of training one could do for an Ironman. I knew it was going to be a challenge to try and compete with these girls who train all year and have no other “extra curricular” activities. I knew it was going to be hard but I prepared for my mind to take over and to race above what I may have been able to put in during training. You may be thinking it was a bit reaching to think I could win this race, especially given my circumstances, but I will tell you that is the attitude I had to have. I wish I realized this years ago; but at least I realized it and I have made the necessary changes. I may be 39, and yes I may have two kids, but I know I have not reached my full potential. I still think I can win, in the last 5 years I have only been able to compete twice, circumstances were as such; it was not planned that is just what it was. Can you imagine what I can do with a solid year of training? I can.

Let it Go,
Gina