by Ashley » Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:13 pm The morning started out very smoothly and was a good indication of how the day would proceed. Damon and I woke up at 3:30 am and started our pre-race routines. We left the house about an hour later with Damon’s mom, sister, sister’s boyfriend, and cousin all packed into a small SUV. It was very similar to the year prior when Damon raced, but this time I would be racing, too!
Once we arrived in downtown Madison we started seeing other athletes walking with transition bags and bike pumps through the darkness of the early morning. That was exciting, because it was a sign that race day had finally arrived. It was really happening.
We arrived in transition and walked to our bikes. I filled my tires with air, zeroed out my bike computer, loaded my bike bottles, and checked everything over one last time. I thought my front break was rubbing on my wheel and that worried me a bit. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a rubbing break for 112 miles. I ended up walking my bike down the long transition area to where Damon was with his bike. I asked him to check the break and he opened it up. I was happy with that solution and walked my bike back down to my transition area. I was once again relaxed. I took care of a last few things at T2 and was ready to get the show on the road!
The Swim
Damon and I said our last goodbyes to friends and family who were nice enough to be out there to support us so early in the morning of a very long day ahead. We headed down the helix to the water all wetsuited up, at which point we realized we were still wearing flip-flops and I was still wearing my Detroit Iron visor. We forgot to hand them off to our family prior to heading to the swim. Luckily, during the long wait to get into the water, we saw our friends Keith and Lori who seemed more than happy to help us out by holding onto our stuff until after the race. By the way, Keith and Lori were a great support during the whole race!
Damon and I kissed goodbye and wished each other the best of luck as we headed into the water. It was really cool to know that he was out there with me and that I would probably see him on the run.
Once in the water, I swam to the spot Damon helped me pick out two days before during our practice swim. I was to start out wide and pretty far back. I lined myself up with the landmark tree and the arch in the bridge a couple miles ahead. The athletes were very spaced out there and I was comfortable with my spot. As I waited I began chatting with a nearby athlete. It was her first ironman, too. We high-fived and were ready to go. The gun went off. I waited a moment to take it all in and then started on my way.
Despite this race being only my third triathlon, I was surprisingly really clam and relaxed. I stayed wide the whole first length on the two-loop swim, though sometimes I found myself getting even wider. The first length seemed long, as I found that I wasn’t staying very straight but I was not worried about it. I stayed wide until I passed the first two turns and then started making my way over to the bouy line. I thought being closer to the bouys would make my second loop seem faster.
I still felt like I had decent space to swim, although I did get lightly hit and kicked several times, it wasn’t anything that made me nervous or scared. I think having started where I did helped a lot, as most of the people around me seemed to be the lesser competitive type in the swim. In fact, on one of the turns a guy even apologized after hitting me accidentally. I thought that was nice, but certainly not necessary. I checked my watch just before the 3rd of 4 turns on the first loop, which was almost the half way point and saw that I’d been swimming for 40 mins. I was surprised that I had not been out there for longer. Not because it felt longer, but because I thought I would be slower than that. The second loop was uneventful. After the last turn I could see the swim finish. That made me really excited, as I was most worried about the swim due to my lack of experience in the water. I didn’t even look at my time when I was coming out of the water, but I heard Mike Riely say my name. That was very cool. I also saw my friends Keith and Lori again and they had huge smiles on their face to match mine! Everyone was yelling and cheering! I felt like a celebrity!
Swim Time: 1:33:01
T1 Time: 8:29
TI and Bike
From there I was headed back up the helix into T1. The helix was lined with spectators, which was really cool. I saw more friends and family as I headed into the convention center. They were wearing neon green shirts that said “Team DASH” … “DASH” being a combination of the names Damon and Ashley! They were easy to spot. I made sure to wave to them so that they saw me and into the convention center I went. I got my bike gear and some sunscreen and off I went. I was really looking forward to getting onto the bike, in large part because I had to pee! My race strategy included peeing on my bike, as I have a relentless bladder and to stop at a port-o john each time would be very frustrating and time consuming. I headed down the helix on my bike.
I felt really weird on my bike at that point. I felt really compact, like my bike was too small. I briefly thought that someone messed with my seat height and cockpit. I knew that probably wasn’t the case and gathered that it was most likely just the change from being so stretched out in the water for so long to being more compact on the bike. After all, I’d never swam for that long, nor had I gotten on the bike that quickly after a swim. Nevertheless, it didn’t take very long for me to adjust, but it was a little strange at first.
The bike seemed to start off slow as we winded our way through the city. I was uncertain about passing people so early, but I patiently waited to make my first move. It seemed like once I started passing people, I never stopped. I later learned that I passed nearly 900 people on the bike!
I really wanted to start consuming my nutrition as soon as I got on the bike, but Damon taught me better than that. I counted down the 20 mins until I could take my first sip of infinit and start sucking on a power gel cola gel blast. 20 minutes on the dot, I started my religious consumption of my bike nutrition. I’d heard stories of athletes who get distracted during Ironman and mess up their nutrition as a result. I didn’t want to be in that position, so I was real strict about it and kept on schedule the whole race. It served me well as it had in training. I did have some nagging stomach cramps on and off throughout the bike portion of the race. I didn’t know why at the time, but after the fact, I believe it was from my consumption of the sugary powerbar gel blasts. I will not use those in Cozumel.
I was pretty familiar with the course, as I’d ridden the main 40-mile loop several times with Damon and others. I felt that helped me on race day a ton. I could even hear Damon’s voice in my head at certain points saying “this is a really fast part,” so I used that as my cue to make the most of it while others slowed in anticipation of all the hills they’d heard about.
I saw friends and family on the course who were stationed at the hill on Timber Lane. When I first began climbing the hill on Timber Lane, I could see them in their neon green shirts in the distance, so I began feverishly waving at them and started riding toward them on the left side of the road! I know what it’s like being a spectator at Ironman and how difficult it is to see your athletes sometimes. I guess I was worried they might miss me! They saw me without a doubt and made me forget about the hill I was riding.
Next, I made my way to the Midtown hill, where I knew our friend Jon would be waiting. It was like riding from one group of friends and family to another. It made the ride go by real fast. Just as I rounded the top of the Midtown hill, I saw Jon and began waving and yelling “Jonny boy!” He saw me and started running along side of me. I slowed down a bit to chat. He told me that he’d seen Damon quite a bit earlier and that he’d been stung by a bee, but that he was doing really well. I was so happy to hear that! I hoped that Damon’s day would continue going well.
Everything seemed to be going really well for me. I smiled and waved at all the race photographers.
I felt good and thought I was going at a reasonable pace, while saving something for the marathon. I kept my bike computer on the time function, so I didn’t really know how fast I was going or how far I’d gone other than the mile markers on the road. I approached the bike special needs bags and stayed far left, as I didn’t feel that I needed anything about of my bag filled with spare nutrition, spare tubes, and co2 cartridges. I saw some athletes ahead of me and yelled out “on your left” just to be safe. I guess that wasn’t enough, as someone decided to veer left right into me. I yelled “OH $HITTTTT!” as my life flashed before my eyes and I was certain I was going down. My bike fishtailed and hopped, but I stayed up. I’m still not sure how I stayed up. Another athlete who avoided the collision asked if I was okay and started cussing at the other athlete who almost caused me to meet the pavement. It was scary, but I continued on unaffected.
The bike portion of the race seemed to just fly by, partly because I kept myself amused by interacting with spectators asking “why is it so quite it in here?!” and with athletes. I remember playing cat and mouse with one guy on the bike who was wearing a jersey that had a monkey on the back of it. Each time I would pass him I would say “nice jersey!” He would laugh each time. Perhaps he was annoyed by the 4th time, but it seemed harmless and amused me!
I saw another athlete with the same bike as mine. I said to him “Nice bike, but how did you get one so much faster than mine?!” So yeah, korny but it kept me in a good mood. I’d also heard that the race starts on mile 80 of the bike. As I approached the 80 mile mark, I guess I expected something to happen. I got there and nothing. I suppose that was a good thing. I made my way back into town, riding down John Nolan Drive along the lake I’d been swimming in just over 6 hours earlier. I noticed a long back-up of cars trying to get back into the city and heard familiar voices yelling my name! To my great surprise, it was my family and friends support crew stuck in traffic! I waved! A few cars ahead in the lineup sat my own car, which Damon’s mom was driving! As I approached from behind I began waving! The car full of friendly faces rolled down their windows to cheer! It was pretty cool, although I knew they were missing Damon on the run course and that kinda sucked. I figured he’d probably be nearing the halfway point at that time.
I made my way back up the helix on the bike. This time I felt a little dizzy going around and around and wondered if the darn thing was ever going to end! Sure enough, I got to the top and volunteers were waiting to take my bike. I dismounted and awkwardly jogged into T2. Boy did that ride go by fast.
A volunteer found my bag and we headed into the changing room. I commented that I felt bad for her, being stuck inside on such a beautiful day. She thought I was crazy, as I guess a lot of people had been complaining about the heat. I felt real comfortable, so that was good. I began removing my biking shoes and helmet, as the volunteer laid out the contents of my T2 bag. I quickly changed shorts … it was really nice to put on a fresh pair, grabbed my visor, hand held water bottle, and headed out of T2. I stopped in the port-o john, hoping that it’d help the stomach cramps I’d been having on the bike. I also hoped that it would be my one and only visit to the porto-john, so I kinda just chilled out in there and took my time ….
Bike Time: 6:15:51
T2: 8:21
Run and Finish
Out of T2 and onto the run. I felt good, but the slight stomach cramps were still there, yet I was moving at a decent pace. I was happy to be onto the last of the three disciplines and was looking forward to the finish line. Several weeks earlier, I’d run one loop of the run course with Damon and Eric, so I was beginning to seeing familiar landmarks. Early on in the run, I started walking hoping that that would more quickly alleviate the stomach pains. I walked more than I probably needed to and it wasn’t until I saw Damon about 2.5 miles in that I began running again. I’d wished that I’d seen him before he saw me, as I would have started running! We hugged and kissed quickly. He was looking real good and I was so happy for him. Seeing him pepped me up and I began running again.
My marathon plan was to walk the aid stations and the hills. I found myself walking aid stations even when I really didn’t need to, but figured it was better to conserve energy early on than have nothing at the end. I stuck with that strategy. The spectator support during the run was particularly awesome. People I didn’t even know were cheering me on by name, which they read off my race bib. That made me feel even more like a celebrity! I saw lots of Detroit Iron athletes who were there volunteering, which was really cool. It was always great too see familiar faces and hear familiar voices out on the course. The energy of the spectators really helped fuel me. I threw my arms up in the air and cheered at almost every mile marker … even those as early as mile 2! Someone commented “little victories.” That person didn’t seem to be having a very good day.
At around mile 8 or 9 I made another port-john stop. This time I wondered if I would hear a knock on the door to see if I was still alive! I was in there for a while. This time there was success and the cramps were finally gone! Woooweeee!
Thereafter I made my way down inspiration mile. I was walking again at that point. I don’t know what it is about that stretch, but I saw so many people walking. I guess it was just a little boring. I looked at all the signs that were made for people and to my surprise, I noticed a sign that said “Go Detroit Iron” with our names listed! It was pretty cool and unexpected and it gave me the motivation to start running again.
At that point I kept telling myself “You’re going to be an Ironman. You’re going to be an Ironman. You’re going to be an Ironman.” It was super exciting and fueled my feet! I made my way back into the downtown area and onto State Street. The spectators there were on fire! Their energy really helped me pick up my pace. I saw Keith and Lori, which was awesome. I remember telling them, with a big smile on my face, that it was going to be a long marathon! They encouraged me and said I was doing great! I felt great and I was having a blast, so I continued along.
During the run I got pretty tired of eating gels. I’ve never liked them, and I think the sugar in them was part of cause of the cramps. So, while I always had a gel in my hand that I would take little bits of now and then, as the marathon progressed, I started experimenting with the other aid station offerings such as grapes and oranges, though only sucking the juice out of them. I also had some potato chips, pretzels, a cookie, and later the coveted chicken broth. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to eat too many solids on the run, so whenever I had something I made certain to chew until it turned to liquid. One drawback to the aid station foods was that I had no idea how many calories I was consuming, but I felt good so I went with it.
I continued my run and saw my parents just before the 13 mile turnaround. I remember telling them “I still have one more loop” as my voice kind of quivered and tears came into my eyes. My dad, who is not an athlete, said “Pace yourself. We’re in no hurry and we’ll be here when you finish.” I was really happy that they were there. I think they realized how important Ironman was to me and what an incredible event it is. I also found humor in my dad’s suggestion that I pace myself!
On my way back out on the second loop, I stopped at the run special needs and all I wanted was my “gin-gins” … small ginger hard candies. They tasted so good. I will carry them with me at all future Ironman races. I particularly loved them that day! I’d heard that they help to soothe an upset stomach and that’s why I originally brought them with me. Well, they also helped keep me happy! Yeah gin-gins!
I saw Damon again as I headed farther into my second loop, this time I was running when he saw me. He had gained a couple miles on me, which I thought was awesome. In fact, I actually wondered if at some point he would pass me on the run. He was on his way to the finish line and he looked focused and determined. We went to high-five and missed. Ha! I was so happy for him, as it seemed that everything shaped up well for his race. I knew he was going to finish strong.
Seeing Damon motivated me and I continued on my way around the second loop. I continued waving and smiling at all the photographers. I even did a little dance for one of them on State Street, which got caught on camera!
People were commenting on my smile throughout the run course. I even didn’t realize I was smiling until spectators were pointing it out. I was just so happy though and was having the time of my life! I felt real good considering what I was putting my body through and had no complaints.
The sun started to go down and it was getting later into the day. I was reluctant to take my sunglasses off. I guess I didn’t want to acknowledge that I was going to finish in the dark, even though I’d known for months that that would be the case. I eventually took them off and it actually seemed more day-like when I did. That made me happy. I talked with people on and off throughout the last loop. Some were in pretty bad shape. Most talked of their hopes to finish at a much earlier time, but their failure to do so because of some or another difficulty. That’s the nature of Ironman, so I felt very lucky. I really couldn’t relate. I was having a real good day out there.
With about 5 miles to go, the guy I had been walking with longer than I’d planned to asked if I was walking the rest of the way to the finish. I felt bad saying no, but I took that as my chance to start running again and did.
At the aid station just after mile 22, I discarded my last gel (which felt awesome!) and decided to fuel the last few miles with excitement and my very last gin-gin! From there I ran. I ran faster than I thought I could. People could tell I was on my way to the finish and they cheered me on. It was an amazing feeling. I so close to the finish line. I even began to hear the roar of the crowd at the finish and soon I could hear Mike Riley’s voice and soon he would be saying my name! And then, there it was. The finish line. I could see it and I ran toward it at what felt like a sprint! My arm was waving in the air and my smile was huge! I was seconds from accomplishing my goal and I did. I crossed the finish line as Mike Riley said “Ashley Vartoogian of Livonia, Michigan … YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” At that time I wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what my finish time was. I never looked at the clock. It was awesome and I could not stop smiling. I did it. It was an amazing experience. I am an Ironman!
Run Time: 5:16:49
Total Time: 13:22:31
Conclusion
Completing my first Ironman was a great adventure. I would do some things differently the next time, but would never choose going faster over having fun. I have Damon to thank for the wonderful experience and success, as without his influence and guidance, completing an Ironman would have never even entered my mind.
