A little something I wanted to share with everyone.  When I was in FL I shared a condo with 4 other girls and 1 guy (Jay). Poor Jay got roped into being a Sherpa for 5 girls. So here is a peom he wrote from the eyes of a sherpa, being traped in a room with 5 girls. Hope you enjoy and get some laughs.

 

THE BALLAD OF AN IRONMAN SHERPA

 

After months of training, their day was here, But for a sherpa, a time to fear.

       

             As a warning . . . This tale may seem to be quite unreal, But hang with this group,

you’ll soon know the deal.

October 31st, the day we left for the feat, When the rest of the world all went Trick or Treat.

To Ironman Florida, in Panama City Beach, Where 17 hours is the mark you can't breach.

On the drive, every ache and pain felt through the year, Came back with a vengeance as the race, it was near.

We arrived at Boardwalk Resort, all in Room 6- 0 -0 - All so excited, stress running low - not!

 

There were signs on the walls and flowers in a vase, And mountains of food to get through the race.

See you must never look in the fridge of an Ironman freak, It would scare you to death, it's

not for the meek.

 

It was soon time for dinner, chose Hammerhead Fred’s. Came back at 8 - still late for bed.

 

Up the next morning for an early swimming gig - All walking past the mirrors thinking "Does my ass look big?"

 

It’s hard to believe what they next sought out to do, A 112 mile car ride just to see what they’d soon go through.

 

Then they came back and began to soak one by one. it’s what these people do, it’s what they do for fun?!?

 

Now time for dinner and they all started to cook. Something called quinoa - but it looked like gook.

 

They looked at the schedule to see where in the morn they must be, Upset when they realized the pancake breakfast would not be gluten free.

 

They started to pack their bags, a nerve-wracking chore, As their gear began to overtake the entire condo floor.

 

Green bags and red bags, yellow and blue, Bottles and tickets and still they were not through.

 

 Helmets and goggles and wet suits to find, And soon they were exhausted and began to unwind.

 

 Off to the pre race talk went the newbies like they’re supposed to do. When they left the others laughed so hard I think they turned blue.

 

Then another soak and then time for bed - They all seemed on edge, but I think it was dread.

 

The next morning, last minute supplies – to the nearest store, And Dunkin’ Donuts coffee was the sherpa’s next chore.

 

The girls thought about dinner - roasted chicken - their pick - Slow down, its only lunch, these girls are sick!

 

Then the girls started tossing their hair around all as a team. And talking about something they called Hoo Ha cream?

 

"I put it here, I put it there," is what they all did say. With this much estrogen flowing - stay out their way!

 

 Soon it was time to take the bikes and bags to the start. So they loaded down the Sherpa, like he was a baggage cart.

 

The newbies had their check lists - they went to the extreme. Their walls and doors were covered - crazy it did seem.!!

 

With not much sleep, they awoke; now time for the race, To conquer the course, all fears to face.

The day would consist of swim, bike and run, And yes, don't forget, they do this for fun.

 They endured the aches as well as the pain; they endured the wind, but thankfully no rain.

As I watched the race, waiting for the day to be through, I raised my cup of beer in a toast –

Now that ’s what smart people do.

 Everyone finished, they all crossed the line, with smiles and tears, happy with their time.

 

The night was tough, but there was one last chore, up at four for the finisher’s store.

 

The finishers entered at a fervent pace, Forgot their pain, this the real race.

 

You see, if you finish you HAVE to purchase the swag, whether a jacket or a shirt, even an Ironman rag.

 

As a Sherpa, you think you are finally through, When there is still one more job that you must do.

 

To massage their legs, yes, it’s quite insane, as they scream "It hurts good" ‘I can take the pain."

 

 To bed they go, their time away almost done. They all have their medals, they all have won.

 

See, it’s who they are, it’s part of their soul, to reach the finish, the ultimate goal, To struggle and fight, to do all they can, To hear the crowd cheer,

"You are an Ironman!"

 

By: Jay Bernath

The Race of my Life

Wow where to start, I had an amazing race and it all came together for me. Leading up to the race was another story though...

Wednesday morning it was Florida bound with a good friend of mine. When we arrived in FL is was time to get down to business. We registered right away to get everything we need. After we got settled in the condo it was time to get a bike ride and swim in. And this is where everything started going down hill. 5 of us girls decided to bike the run course to check it out. About 3 miles in my bike started to not break right and as I decided to break to stop to see what was going on all of a sudden my tire blew. This was a breaking point for me. In the past month I have had 3 flats and this bringing it to 4. I just couldn't believe this was happening. After 5 of us tried to change the tire we couldn't get it. For some reason neither of us could not get the tire over the rim. After almost 20 mins of trying some guy came out of his house to help. After he tried as well we didn't have any success and he offered me a ride back to the condo. To speed things up, when I got back I asked 4 different people for help and finally the 4th person was able to get the tire on the rim. At this point I thought my race that hasn't even started was over. I locked myself in my room and had a break down, because it I get a flat on the course there was no way I thought I could get the tire back on.  I was hoping to swim but with how long everything took with my bike it was just going to have to wait till Thursday morning.

Thursday it was up early and the wetsuits were on. Staring out at the water I knew this was not going to be good. There were about 20 of standing on the beach not believing the waves we were seeing. Well someone had to just go for it so I took off for the water and next thing I knew I was being smacked by waves and the current was not friendly either. After about 15-20 mins trying to get past the breakers this was the breaking point were I knew I was going to have to be ok with a bad race. As you can see things were just not in my favor but I was determined to push through and just go with whatever the day gave me on race day. The rest of the day was getting things ready to bring down to transition on Friday and look at my bike to see if I could figure out what was going on with my breaking that made my tire blow. After all that it was time to relax. And relax was exactly what I did and needed. I really had to refocus on my for Saturday and set different expectations based on the way things were going.

Friday the day before the race was a little busy in the morning and early afternoon. It was up early for a swim, the water was a lot calmer. It was then off for a bike ride to check things out one more time. The breaks were working good and I felt a little more comfortable. Then it was time for a short run.  It started to look like things were finally starting to turn around for me. I did one final check of my transition bags and my bike, then it was time to drop them off.

 Then it was time to relax for the rest of the day. I honestly think I could get use to this relaxing thing. ;) As the night approached I got my last min things together for the morning and tried to get some sleep.

IRONMAN FLORIDA
4am came fast but I was awake and ready for the day. 4:15 am it was time to head down to drop off the special needs bags and pump the tires. Being so close to the transition are and start line I was able to head back up to the room to relax for almost an hour before it was time to head down to the start. Jordan and my father-in-law stopped by the condo to wish me luck and walk down to the start line with me. With out my knowledge they arrived later then they had planned the night before, because they hit a deer while driving down. I'm just thankful that they are ok. (He was very sweet to not tell me before the race, so I didn't worry).
As we waited on the beach to go into the start area it was nice to see so many friendly faces. There were so many people there I knew to cheer a bunch of us on. It was finally time to get into the starting area and say my prayers and find my spot on the beach for the mass start. Based on the waves (which were not to bad) and current I tried to find where I wanted to be and waited for the gun.

The Swim
BANG the gun went off and instead of everyone running into the water we all took our time and worked our way past the breakers from walk. After that is was game on, the usual kick, hitting and pushing with people trying to get their place in the water.

The swim is a 2 loop swim, when you finish the first loop it is back onto the beach for a 100 yard run back down the beach then back into the water.  The first loop was very crowded and the once you got out into the ocean there were also so nice size waves. I just focused on myself found my stroke and just kept swimming. Coming back in was a lot easier then going out. You could use the waves and current to you advantage.  The second loop they made you get in the water and swim diagonally out to the buoy. Which made it a little hard with the breakers and current. At this point point were more spread out which was nice as well. As I started to make my way around the first turn buoy I started to feel a little sea sick. This is one thing I was hoping wouldn't happen. All I could think was swim faster and get out of the water. As Nemo would say "Just Keep Swimming" and that I did. I exited the water in 1:21. I just had my fastest Ironman swim!!!!

T1
Out of the water and to the wetsuit strippers then under the showers to rinse off and into T1 I went. I rinsed off enough just to get the salt water off my face. With that being said I was still covered in sand from getting my wetsuit off. Oh well nothing I could do now. I grabbed my bike bag ran into the  changing area, put on my bike gear then it was off on the bike.

The Bike
As I got on the bike I was noticing how much sand I still had on me. How well it was time to forget about the sand and get down in the aero position and pedal away. There is nothing exciting about this bike course. It was flat and all the trees and roads looked a like. All I could do was find a comfortable  pace on the bike and keep pedaling. There was definitely wind out there sand it seemed like every direction was a head wind, but it was doable. The only thing I could not believe we're all the penalties that where being handed out. Every penalty box I was was full of athletes. With that being said I had to focus on myself and just race my race. About mile 80 I was to that point where all I wanted to do was get off the bike. So pedaling I kept on.  As I started climbing up the bridge back to the coast I happened to look off my right and in the intercostal we're 2 dolphins. That put a huge smile on my face ( I love dolphins) and from that point I know I was going to have a great rest of the race if I could just pace myself. As I reaches the dismount area I glanced at my watch and I just saw I did a 5:55 bike!!!! My fast bike ever in a distance race.

T2
I passed my bike off to the volunteers and grabbed my run bag and into the changing area I went.  I put on my running stuff and off on the run I went.

The Run
As I ran out on the run there was Jordan and my father-in-law yelling and cheering my. As I started my run I already new I was going to be doing a 5:1 (5 min run, 1 min walk) doing this I was hoping I could keep a consistent pace. As I started adding up all my times I figured out what I needed to run to break 13 hours which was my goal that I kept to myself.  I knew I could do it after crunching numbers if I didn't fall a part on the run which has happened in my past two Ironmans. I knew my nutrition was was on point. Nothing compared to Wisconsin but there were a lot a people lining the roads partying cheering everyone one.  It really helped keep your mind off the pain and on the goal. I saw a lot of friends that were spectating out there and all their cheers were amazing and helpful. Half way through the run I saw Jordan and my father-in-law again and I stopped to talk to them for a seconds as I was talking to them Jordan said "babe if you do the same pace for 13 miles that you just did you will break 12:30." I looked at him, smiled and laughed a little and said "don't count on it" I knew I have paced myself well and I was feeling as good as I could for only having 13 miles left. As I took off running again all of a sudden Jordan ran up next to me a said "12:30" smiled and turned back around.

As I rounded another corner there were all my friends yelling and screaming for me and I won't forget Kate saying "Tracey you are having the racing of your life!!!!" From that point I knew I couldn't disappoint anyone. I was just happy that I was going to break 13 hours, but now I put more pressure on myself and set a new goal with 10 miles left. I had to break 12:30. As every mile went on I would recalculate my finish time with an estimated pace I knew I could hold and I was always a few minutes over 12:30, put I just kept on pushing forward. I started alternating chicken broth with my nutrition and  focused on the finish. With about 2 miles left I calculated it again and then I realized I could really break 12:30. I tried not to get over excited and stuck with my run/walk plan even though I was so close in. It was working so I just stuck with it. as I rounded the 2nd to last turn and I heard a familiar voice. My friend Kate who was spectating was walking to the finish line as I yelled her name she ran over and ran with me as saying nothing but encouraging words that once again will never be forgotten. As she slowed down to let me keep on running to the finish line I looked at my watch and I knew I did it. I had the finish shoot all to myself and enjoyed every minute of it, because I just had the RACE OF MY LIFE!!!!! I broke 12:30 which I never thought could have been possible.

As we walked back to the condo Jordan broke the news to me about hitting a deer. He was so sweet to not tell me about it so it wouldn't affect my race. We got to the condo relaxed and ate some pizza then it was back down to the finish line to cheer on some other friends finishing and watch the final finishers come in. Watching the final finishers cross the finish could be the best part of an Ironman,

Sunday was a day a relaxing on the beach and that is exactly what I did. Nothing was better then enjoying the beach and reflecting back on an amazing race that will never be forgotten. Since I decided to take 2013 off from ironman racing I couldn't;t be happier then ending on that note. I can't thank my husband enough for all the support he has giving the past two years while I trained for Ironmans. I can honestly say he is the best supporter anyone could have. With out his support I could never have done any of the Ironmans I have done. Not only do I have the best husband I have the most supportive family ever as well. I am truly blessed with amazing people in my life. I hope all my family and friends know that none of this could be possible with out there support and help. Even a simple text goes a long way. Thanks you all for being there for me and supporting me in my journeys so far. Even though I have no plans to do an Ironman next year doesn't mean that I won't be racing other races. =) Thanks again I have the most amazing supporters.

Ironman Florida
Swim:  1:21:20
T1:  7:40
Bike:  5:55:34
T2:  4:18
Run:  4:58:57
Total:  12:27:49