Ironman Chattanooga

September 29th, 2019

Third time's a charm!

August was brutal. Lots of long and hot training days. But between some personal choices and letting go of the Kona qualification this season, I was finally finding some peace. And that is truly magical.

Race morning. Only a tiny meltdown trying to inflate my tires. Because obviously I have never done that before. My hands wouldn't stop shaking, so I couldn't get the pump to connect to the valve properly. Instead of inflating, I released all the air. Awesome. Luckily, there was a very chill bike mechanic to help me, saying "I got you girl. No more stress. I got you." Hooray for angels in disguise?

Since it's a point to point swim, I was finally ready to hop on the shuttle. Nice and easy bus ride with my love. He also raced, but classic him, was beyond calm and helped keep me calm. Well, calmer. Met up with my lady boss and my folks and before we knew it, it was time to squeeze into speedsuit and line up.

The Swim
I love current assisted swims. That is all. Water was warm, 80 degrees, but I never felt like I was overheating. Nor did I feel out of breath, like I was flying, or crushing it. Which was exactly the plan. Yes, I could have hammered and come out faster, but I knew the heat was going to be brutal, so I didn't want to bottom out or burn matches. Not yet. Came out at 54.57. 5th in my age group. Perfect.

T1
Why did we have to run up a metal ramp? Rude. Anyway, made it to the changing tent. I swam with my kit under my speedsuit, and I've gotta say, it was spectacular not having to put on spandex over wet skin. Things to ponder for future races! A couple lovely volunteers helped me get organized, snack on pringles, and vasoline up. Some spray sunblock, in addition to more volunteers slathering it all over me, and I was off to my beautiful Shadowfax.

The Bike
Oh this course. 116 miles instead of 112. Why did I pick this one? First 11 miles, the stick, had a pretty great headwind. Wasn't terrible, but wasn't particularly awesome either. But a headwind is a headwind. Felt like I was settling in nicely, wasn't pushing too hard, and was having a blast! Which is more than I can say for my previous races. Miles were ticking away, I was drinking every 15 minutes like I was supposed to, and the hills weren't completely destroying me. Before I knew it, I was at mile 52 for special needs! Refilled my Infinit nutrition, but much to my dismay, there was no extra water. So I couldn't refill all of them. Tiny panic attack. Or slightly medium panic attack. More pringles helped, and I was off again. Luckily, there were amazing crowds, AND MY PARENTS, just past there, so I got a burst of energy. Which felt great! Until I burned a few more matches because of the excitement. Oops. Started the second loop and immediately became deflated at the increase in the headwind. And then I got into my head. Overthinking it all. And pain was starting to creep in. Left hamstring began to spasm and didn't stop. Until the end of the race. And then my feet started to go num. Neither of those things had ever happened during training, so that was super fun. The sun kept climbing, the heat kept rising, and I was suffering. Miles 73-80 were a brutal false flat with a killer headwind. I think I shed a few tears. Mile 80 came, a turn, and downhill! And like that I turned it around. I was feeling good. Miles weren't really ticking away anymore, everything was really hurting, I could feel my skin burning, and I was done. And it was only mile 100. 16 to go. Ouch. Hit mile 105 and it was the stick back into town. Made it back to Tennessee (most of the bike course is actually in Georgia) and holy cow I've never been so excited to see TN! Oh my God I started recognizing where I was! I was almost back! And then! I was!! Bike time 6:23.37. Not too shabby.

T2
Started off running in my bike shoes and quickly gave up. Steady walk to get my bag and back to the changing tent. Super weird volunteer who just kept asking weird questions. Or maybe my brain was fried? Probably the latter. Hamstring was still very mad and feet were so numb. I really wasn't sure if this run was gonna work too well. But there was just a marathon left! Just....

The Run
My nemesis. Forever and always. Started off feeling decent. But DAMN was it hot. Got to see 2 of my favorite peeps right out of transition, so that helped. But then also immediately started with more hills. Why? Why so many hills?! So some walking started. Flattened out and I settled into a "run to each aid station" plan. Worked well. Wasn't a fast pace, by any stretch, but I felt strong. Mile 4 and I obviously needed the bathroom. And then I couldn't get my HR down. And that started to worry me. So I began intervals. 4 minutes run, 1 minute walk, walk the aid stations. And that was so manageable! I felt really great doing that! And then....Barton. It's the notorious hill on this run course. Preceded by other nasty hills no one mentions! But anyway, I made it. Let the walking commence! Walked up, ran down. Great! Except it wasn't. My right knee, true to form, began its nasty little habit of causing excruciating pain. Fantastic! Bending my knee even a little bit was agony. Super. Made it up and over to head back to downtown and I knew I was in trouble. But surprisingly enough, I was still having fun. Me? Fun running? What?! Saw my peeps again when I was almost to special needs, and that was a great boost!!

Special needs and I sat down to change my very wet and disgusting socks. But sitting down was a mistake. I actually asked the volunteers if I could just stay there. Luckily, they helped me up and I began the second 13.1. I knew my knee was no longer going to be able to sustain the 4:1 interval, so I switched to a 1:1. Obviously this extended my time quite a bit, but it was better than just walking 13.1 miles. And! My friend Janet was starting her first loop as I was starting my second, so we got to go a few steps on this journey together. It was also a nice mental break. I got to talk to someone I know and love. What a beautiful moment. She dropped me like a hot potato, and I continued to slog along. Miles slowly, very slowly, passed and my body was quickly shutting down. I couldn't really eat or eat much, and I knew that was going to end terribly, but my stomach just kept saying no. My eyes were getting heavy and I wanted nothing more than to lay down. Redbull wasn't helping, Coke wasn't helping, and I still had a 10k left. Naturally, I thought about the last 10k I did and how it was under an hour. Womp womp. Thanks, brain! I'm not sure where the strength came from. The spectators? The sun was finally setting? I knew my time would be better than Wisconsin? No idea. But I just kept going. Kept. Moving. Forward. And there it was! The mile 25 mark! 1.2 to go!! Energy was coming back. And then! I saw another friend as I crossed the final bridge. Thank God it was the last uphill. Have I mentioned how the hills never stopped? Oh look! A downhill! Ugh. My knee was so, so mad. But, I could see the shoot. And at that point, I could do anything. I saw all my support crew. I saw my parents, who have supported me through all this madness. I high fived all of the random strangers. And then I heard it. "Heather Hermann. You are an Ironman!!" Three-peat, baby!! Run time 5:52.38.

Overall time 13:25.21. 32 minutes faster than IMWI, despite an additional 4 miles on the bike. Words truly cannot describe how proud of myself I am. That was a very hard day. The heat, the wind, the hills. I later heard there were over 400 DNFs. Pros dropped out left and right. But not me. I could barely walk, but instead I flew. I flew over that finish line and into a me that feels like she can finally let go of her perceived failures from last season and the beginning of this season. And the relief that comes from that? Indescribable.

I made this journey with the love of my life and my best lady boss. He completed his second and she completed her first. I am so proud of them, I am so proud of me, and while I'm sure the post race depression will hit, I am savoring and relishing flying this high. Like the pheonix, I rose from my own ashes and I found my strength and my joy.