The beginning is always the best place to start…
However, this journey actually started almost
a year ago, when I started training for my first half Ironman.
You can read my other lengthy blog about that
journey. For this one I’ll start where the other left off. (To read my other blog
click here)
After Austin 70.3, I was hurt. It took me a week to even be able to walk
with just a small amount of pain. I had
injured myself 4 weeks before the race and then completed the race hurt,
knowing I was in self-destruct mode the majority of the run. Even after feeling better, my coach, Jeremy
Brown with Mind Right Multisport, would not let me run. I was frustrated and dying to get my legs
back. I waited, impatiently… But I had hired a coach, put my faith and trust
in him, and had seen him help other athletes through injuries, so I waited. #trusttheprocess
I decided just a few weeks after Austin that I would continue my
journey to complete a full Ironman. I
set my eyes on Ironman Texas! I also
created a hefty race schedule fed by my newfound competitive fire and desire to
push myself. I want to see how far I can
take this sport… Looking back and regretting is not a road I want to travel
down. I want embrace the joy and
experience of triathlon racing as long as possible.
I started my official full Ironman training. In my training, I work with other local triathletes
including several with East Texas Triathletes and Cobb Mobb members. It started with going to John Cobb’s weekly spin classes,
which are usually followed by a short run.
In the beginning, I just packed up my bike and left. Even though I was still getting over my injury, I wanted to run and even though people
encouraged me to get back out there, I waited.
I focused on other things like strength training and my swim. That focus quickly paid off and I started
gaining speed in the pool.
A note about training with other athletes:
It is so easy to compare yourself to others. Some of my closest friends are amazing
athletes and have a history in sports even if not in triathlons
specifically. For a few weeks I tried to
put myself beside them. I became
extremely frustrated and disappointed in my training and progress, hating that I was not at their level. But then I was finally allowed to run and I was back
stronger than ever with little to no pain!
I was so glad that I waited and listened!
Had I started running before then, I would have only caused more
damage. But here I was, still wanting more... I had a few runs and spin sets where I had to
focus on my heart rate and it made me feel like the most inefficient athlete. All I saw was weakness. Within this time I learned a very important lesson. I finally came to realize, that every athlete I had compared
myself to included, collegiate swimmers, runners, played sports or had been in
triathlons for years longer than myself. I was selling myself short, not embracing my potential, not appreciating where I was and
how far I had come. I took a major step
back and learned to focus on me, my personal goals, where I was in my journey, and not everyone else.
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| Pre Ironman Races |
Pre Ironman Races
On February 1st, I did the bike leg on a relay team with Nichole Nuccio for the Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon. We took first in Relay!
On April 19th, I placed first in my age group at Wiki Wiki Man Triathlon
and hit my sub 2 hr. time goal! This was
my third year in a row to participate in this event and my best time yet!
I also did Galveston 70.3 and got 9th in my age
group of 95 females with a total time of 5:31. A
major PR for me! This race was just a
training day for me but was an amazing experience and sealed my confidence for
Ironman Texas! A special thanks to Ryan
Moore for letting borrow some awesome wheels!
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| Ironman Texas Camp April 10th-12th |
Ironman Texas Camp!
An amazing weekend of meeting other athletes, learning the
course and time to focus on the race.
The camp was put on by Precision Endurance Pro Events @trainwithapro,
Precision Bikes and my coach’s company Mind Right Multisport. We got to meet and pick the brain of Pro
Triathlete Jordan Rapp. One major
highlight was getting to room with Jennifer Reinheart, and amazing woman and
triathlete! I came away from this camp
excited and encouraged! But most of all, feeling READY!
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| Athlete Check in for Ironman Texas |
Ironman Week
I went to Houston early to get away and just enjoy the journey ahead.
I got my race packet, attended the athlete
banquet and on Friday I got in a little open water swim and got my bike checked in.
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| Lisa, Seth, Paul and I |
Friday afternoon Lisa and I went to a pre-race prep talk from Craig, Mind Right's Sport Psychologist from U-Discovered, LLC! Craig talked about keeping positive thoughts during the race. What you think, you can create and you do NOT want to create negativity on the course. This ended up being a BIG focus for me during the race! Thank you Craig!
2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 26.2 Mile Run
The only nerves I seem to get are while picking my nutrition
and packing bags…
However, I was not nervous at all about the race. I knew I had put in the work and that I could
do it. I had set time goals but was not
going to let missing them ruin the fact that I was doing a freaking Ironman!
The night before, I stayed with Lisa Blackwelder not far
from the race site. I woke up calm and
we headed off to become IRONMEN! (Thank
you Lisa for not letting me forget my special needs bags!)
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| Pre swim pictures |
The Swim:
That morning I got to see my coach and other Mind Right
Athletes.
Joe, my husband, found me in
the crowd of athletes just before the start along with Sean Kwiatek and Jared
Daley.
We took a few pictures and with
words of encouragement and excitement they sent me on my way!
The swim was a rolling start instead of a mass start, which
I was grateful for. I found a spot and
moved with the flow of athletes towards the water.
Part of my race strategy was to focus on one section at a
time. I only had to focus on 1/3 of the
swim and that was all I allowed myself to think about. I was going to conquer this race one tiny
bite at a time!
The swim was probably one of the roughest I have
experienced. Likely because of the sheer
number of athletes in the water and that we were not grouped by age or
gender. I found myself feeling like a pinball,
bouncing between swimmers, fighting for my own space. I got kicked, swam over and stroked multiple
times. I did hit someone on the
back of the head pretty hard (sorry about that!) After the first turn I had accomplished my
first bite! Now I just had to get to the
canal. When I made that turn I could not
see the buoys. I am a right side
breather and the buoys are on the left.
I usually swim the buoy line because I can sight the buoys right in
front of me and my experience is, it seems to be less crowded. Since I could not see any bouys after the
turn, I went with the flow of the swimmers.
During the swim I did stop a few times to get away from a particularly
violent swimmer or to find my barrings.
This was one of the times I had to stop.
I finally found a buoy and it was FAR to the left. I didn’t want to trust other swimmers because
they can easily lead you astray. I began
fighting my way, crossing the swarm of swimmers, to find my buoy line
again. I did with little casualties and
was back in business.
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| Swim (pic-Jeffery Mayhall) |
The canal was very interesting because you actually have
spectators and people cheering you on as you swim.
A unique aspect of this race!
However, the canal comes with other
challenges.
You are bottle necked in
with other athletes and with concrete sides that simply rebound the water being
churned by the masses.
It was in this
last leg that I had to get a little feisty with two guys sandwiching me
in…
I threw an elbow and kicked into
high gear to leave them behind me.
After
swimming under a bridge I knew I was close to being done.
This was also where I saw Joe, Sean and Jared
cheering me on!
I gave a quick wave and
smile mid stroke and finished my swim in 1:17:33.
I wanted somewhere between 1:10 and 1:15 but
with having to stop a few times and fight off a few swimmers I am pretty dang
proud of my time!
A special thanks to Rachel Olson for letting me borrow her
speed suit. I’m sure it made me faster
just because it was hers! Channeling
my inner Rachel Mermaid.
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| Bike Bag Pick Up |
Coming into transition from the swim, you have to find your bike gear bag and head to the changing tent. After getting my bag and making it to the changing tent, I quickly chugged my mix of water and EFS by 1st Endurance,
put my helmet on and grabbed my shoes.
Transition was a mud pit and I did not want to put my shoes on yet. I found my bike quickly due to landmarks I
had memorized. I trudged through the mud
with shoes in hand and the bike on my shoulder.
After a quick footbath in a kiddy pool I threw on my shoes, opted for no
socks and mounted my bike for 112 miles!
I did get to see some of my supporters including my coach who shouted a few words of encouragement as I left transition.
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| Mud Pit AKA Transition (pic- Scott Falthouse) |
The Bike:
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| Out of T1 (pic- Jeremy Brown) |
On the way out, there was a great tail wind and 20 miles
flew by quickly.
I began to break the
ride down into tiny bite sized pieces.
Doing the math in my head to tell myself “Hey you have done one sixth of
an Ironman bike ride!
Hey now you have
done one fourth!” and so on…
My coach
had told me not to kill it on the bike because this race my focus was the
run.
I knew I had the swim and the bike
in the bag and it was the run that I needed to conquer.
So every time I thought, “This feels hard” I
eased up just a bit.
Unfortunately, my
hamstrings felt tight almost the entire ride even with backing off some.
Around mile 30 I saw some crazy people in
bright colored wigs, and I actually knew them…
The Cobb Mobb crew out in full force; Cori Moore, Kat Vann Hammers,
Christy Richbourg, Jenny Brown and John Cobb the man himself were cheering us on!
About 40 miles in, I knew I was struggling with eating what
I was supposed to. Two months earlier I
had made myself sick off of only taking in gels and blocks on a long ride and I
thought I needed to mix in some solid foods on the bike. I could barley choke down the solids I had
packed. This was bad because I knew
without the solids I would not get the nutrition I needed. I ate what I could but after one Bonk Breaker
and one and half Honey Stinger Waffles in only 40 miles I couldn’t manage any
more without making myself nauseous. I
started just taking in Cliff Blocks, my EFS and an extra gel I had packed just
incase. I concentrated on staying
hydrated.
Here is where the positive thinking kicked in. I did not allow myself to even think about
the possibility of throwing up while forcing myself to eat what I could. I didn’t allow myself to think of the
possible flat as I passed athletes on the side of the road. After a great tail wind I was hit with cross
and head winds. The first unexpected
gust actually almost took me out, which I have never had a close call like that
before. It startled me and left me
uneasy and nervous to stay in aero. I
kept hearing my coach’s words “stay in aero!”
This is the most efficient way to ride and I needed to be as efficient
as possible to give my run the best chance.
With my nerves a bit raddled and knowing I was failing on my nutrition,
the negative started to creep in… I
tried to think of the most positive thing I could and what I settled on was
that I was doing an Ironman. I AM DOING
AN IRONMAN! To be healthy enough, to be
ready, to not be injured, to even have the privilege to enter and start… I had
already finished the swim and now I’m half way through the bike!!! I AM DOING A FREAKING IRONMAN! I actually became giddy in that moment! I pictured myself acting like a little girl
jumping up and down and bragging, “I’m doing an Ironman, I’m doing an
Ironman”… This became my positive
thought. I tried to visualize crossing
the finish line and hearing “Crystal Self you are an IRONMAN” but this got me
emotional and I didn’t want to be crying on the bike, even happy tears, those
still needed to be earned!
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| Bike (pic-Jeffery Mayhall) |
I need to credit some of my speed to the 88’s loaned to me
by fellow triathlete Jeffery Mayhall!
You are awesome!
Along with the
mad bike technician skills of my husband Joe Self, manager of Elite Bicycles! My beautiful steed of choice is my Felt DA 4, with a Cobb V-flow Max saddle, keeping me
fast and comfortable!
I expected to struggle a bit more than I did on the bike,
but it goes back to being ready and training.
I have never done 100 miles in one ride before. I trusted my training and my body; I knew I
had the fitness to get me there. What I
did not expect was when I saw that 100-mile marker sign… that I would cry. I saw it and broke down. I had never ridden a century before. Cycling is where I started and this was an
accomplishment in itself that I had conquered in the mist of something else. It was a triumph I could have easily over
looked, I took a moment to let my self embrace that victory even though it was
not my goal or focus of the day. I was
also happy that I managed to be alone on this section of the course, as I’m
sure my choked cries would have been interpreted as pain instead of
elation.
After regaining my composure the remaining 10-12 miles
seemed to drag on, not because they hurt but because I was ready to take my
next bite out of this race. I was also
ready to see the faces of my friends and family on the run course. I actually NEEDED to see them…
I came into transition and handed off my bike to one of the
amazing volunteers and slipped off my shoes before running through the mud pit again. Another rock star volunteer had
my run bag waiting on me as I ran through the thousand of bags. I threw my hat on, got my feet rinsed off by
another remarkable volunteer (I’ll run out of words for these volunteers before
the blog is over because they are nothing short of spectacular and make this
race what it is!) put on my socks and shoes on and hit the pavement! On the way out, the sunscreen angels
slathered me! (More astounding volunteers)
The Run:
I couldn’t believe how good I felt… I kept looking at my watch and telling myself
to back off! This is only the beginning
of a very long run. I also wanted to
conquer this in bites. Three loops and I
was going to take them one at a time. It
didn’t take me long to find the first friendly faces of Sean and Jared! Sean reached for a high five but instead he
got slammed with a sweaty, nasty sunscreen covered athlete as I gave him a
hug! I high fived Jared and went looking
for my next victim to share all my Ironman glory with!
FYI: lake water + sweat + tears+ 112 mils on the bike +
sunscreen = covered in “Ironman glory” that must be shared with anyone who has
come to cheer you on during the run! Its
just part of the package! LOL
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| "Ironman Glory Hug" with Joe (Pic-Philip Shama) |
I soon found the awesome cheer squad of iTri365 and the Cobb
Mobb crew.
They practically set up a surprise
attack cheer explosion, bubbles included.
This is where my next victims awaited!
Victim number two… Joe!
Just
sharing the “Ironman Glory”
I high
fived Cori Moore and kept on moving!
(It
was at her Ironman in Louisville, KY that the IM seed had been planted)
As I rounded the corner I found three more
fellow triathletes and friends Jeffery and Rachel and Sarah Hankla, who became
victims of the Ironman Glory as well!
I
cannot believe the support, encouragement and number of people who came to
share this day with me.
I am truly
blessed beyond measure.
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Seeing Friends!
(Pic-Jeffery Mayhall) |
I was only a mile in.
I focused on my form, staying steady and staying hydrated. I listened carefully to my body grabbing water, Gatorade or oranges at the aid stations. I dumped cold water over my body and stuffed ice in every imaginable place. Lap one was about finding myself
and I did! The crowd was amazing! I have never seen such fanfare in my
life. Never felt like a super star
running through the crowd getting yelled at by people who didn’t even know
me! Getting high fives with people
shouting my name! (Your name is printed on your bib number so everyone cheers
for you specifically by your name and it is amazing!)
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Hill Run
(Pic-Kat Vann Hammers) |
Lap two was about enduring… I knew it would be hard but if I
could stay focused and consistent, I would make it.
As I came though the crowd of supporters I
soaked in their energy, taking what I could for the lonely back half of the
run.
When I felt tired, sore, slow or
lonely I found that little girl jumping up and down chanting “I’m doing an
Ironman, I’m doing an Ironman” and I would smile.
I found Seth Cooke, Clay Emge and Nathan
Lesniewski on the end of my second loop.
Clay jogged with me for a bit to check on me and offer some words of
encouragement!
I love having the wealth
of knowledge and encouragement from such amazing athletes around me.
Again very blessed.
Some of the other cheerleaders that encouraged me were
Kimberly Cooke, Kimberly Emge, Ashley Lesniewski, Brandon Lowder, Emerald Bragg, Dana Rucker,
Ginger Cobb, Graham Jones, Greg Brown, and Rachel’s Mom Janis.
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| Run - Feeling it... (pic-FinisherPix) |
Since the run is my most challenging of the three I knew
this was my test.
My coach and I have worked
very hard to get me to a place of running pain free and because of that careful
balancing act I have actually never run more than 14 miles at one time.
On this race day I was to do 26.2 miles… a
full marathon!
I had decided to trust my
coach without question for this seemly insurmountable task.
I knew deep down I could do it, I knew my
thresh hold, the amount of pain I could endure and my hand hovered over the
self-destruct button; I was completely prepared to push it if the time
came.
The same way I walked in to
Austin 70.3 injured I walked into this one knowing I would complete it even if
it took destroying myself in the process.
This I would conquer…
Lucky for
me I never had to hit that button because I came prepared.
I did the work, I did the training and I
trusted the process and nailed my second loop.
It was not easy; my legs were heavy and tired when I came around to my
cheer squad again.
I got reassuring
words all around probably a “power smack” or two and a reminder from Joe of
what I had said before… “If I can make it to this point then I know I can
finish”.
I found my little girl, inner cheerleader chanting her
mantra and kept moving. I managed to
only ever walk the aid stations, telling myself a body in motion stays in
motion. I had found myself in the first
loop, endured the second loop and now it was time to conquer the third! It was tough, but with each step I was
setting a personal record… EVRY. SINGLE. STEP!
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| Finishers shoot! (pic-Sarah Hankla) |
I saw Lisa on my last mile.
“Finish strong Crystal!” she said and I intended to!
You get to a certain spot and you can
actually feel the finish line, you feel the energy, you feel it calling
you.
I charged forward, taking the turn
to the finish line.
I began high fiving
any hand held out, grinning ear to ear letting the emotion roll through me as I
heard the announcer calling names and declaring them Ironmen.
I turned the last corner to find the red
carpet before me showing me the way to my victory.
Mental victory.
Physical victory…
I saw my baby girl cheering for her mommy to
the side along with Joe, my dad and step mom Shelly.
After a quick hug to my baby girl and a whisper
“Happy Birthday baby girl, Mommy loves you” I turned back to the finish
line…
Just a few more steps…
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| Finish! (Pic-Graham Jones) |
“Crystal Self,
you are an Ironman!”
12 hours 12 minutes and 7 seconds.
I did it…
I completed a full Ironman!
A remarkable volunteer was immediately at my side walking me
though the finishers shoot making sure I was ok, walking me to get my finishers
medal, hat, shirt and water. Friends
called out to me and I went to them giving them “Ironman Glory” hugs.
I could not have made this journey with out the love and
support of so many.
No words can express
my gratitude for allowing me the space, time and love required for me to chase
this dream.
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| FinisherPix |
~Crystal Self
#Ironman
Cobb Mobb
Elite Bicycles
Mind Right Multisport
Cobb Cycling
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| My Birthday girl at the finish line with me! |
