Moving at the pace of success.

All day long I was waiting for the inevitable.  I was told by many people that during the course of an Ironman there will be high points and low points. That is only natural when you are moving forward from 10-17 hours.  It is how you deal with the low points that will determine how your day goes.

While I never had a low point mentally, the first 4 miles of the marathon was a physical low.  100% humidity, 80* heat, total sunshine beating down on us.

Not Michigan.

As I took off, I realized that my HR was off the charts high.  Where was Bonnie?  I need to know what to do! What do I do?!?!  I have a marathon and all ready I am entering my 10K HR zones.  I would never last if this kept up.

I went from my race plan of run to the aid station then walk 1.5 - 2 minutes for recovery, to run walking 3 minutes on, 1 minute off  for the first half of the first loop.  I had implemented my survival run/walk plan at mile 0.4.  This was not good.

Looking around though I realized that this was great.  People were passing out, fainting, puking, sitting on chairs awaiting for ambulances.  Whoa.  People were not going to finish this race, and it hit me that I was going to.  While it would be slow, it would be on plan. 

Do I want to burn out my body and risk heat stroke and kidney issues ( there were a lot of both that day), of did I want to take what Bonnie had taught me in training and make the plan work?  Here is the test.  It was now up to me to fly or fall out of the nest.  So Jenn, what do you do? You throw ego out the door and you execute that plan.

You walk and recover and wait out the sun, running when the HR is low enough to allow some foot time. And so I did.  By the time I hit the turn around point in the park at about mile 6.5, I realized that my HR was dropping and that I could sustain a run period more than walking.  At this time I was really close to two other women who were also run/walking. so I asked if I could run with them.  They said yes and it was the best thing ever.

Darcie and Victoria were so awesome to run with.  Floridians from further south, they were great company and made the miles FLY BY! 

Before we knew it we were back at the special needs bags at mile 13 and I was just a half marathon away from completing this journey.  I am a half marathoner so 13.1 miles was nothing.  Just keep on running!

At this point, I saw Mike again and darn near knocked him over as I ran to him and jumped on him.  I needed to see him right then.  It was the perfect pick me up.  Also my sister in law Lorraine and her boyfriend Tony had flown up that morning, so they surprised me by being there to cheer me on.  Lorraine ran with us a for bit and I told her all about the run so far. About the carnage that was out there but how I was not a part of it.

Today was not about ego.  Today was about celebrating the woman I had become.  I had enough time off of the bike that I could have walked the entire marathon and still had time to spare on the clock.  I wasn't going to push myself for a time on the clock.  I was going to be an Ironman no matter how long it took, so I chose to be smart, keep cool, keep the HR in check and let the race plan dictate the pace.

Darcie had never ran past 14 miles before, so after that mile marker we would yell "Mile xx IN yo face!  We only have xx more to go!"  Darcie really saved the run for me, because of her company and her absolutely awesome personality we became quick friends and made the marathon just a little 26.2 mile jog in the city.  

I took a special moment at mile 23 and made sure to slap that mile marker extra hard.  Me and mile 23 have a thing.  Never quitting again.

We met up with Steve, who was a friend of my tri captain whom he met years prior at IMFL.  By this time my foot was hurting and I decided that I was just going to walk the rest of the way.  We were only 2 miles away from the finish line and I was soaking in the last little bit of my very first Ironman adventure.

Every time someone would ask  us "What is your pace?"  I would respond "Success".  

I did not want it to end, but I was ready for the finish line.   I was ready for the season to be over.  I was ready to be a wife.  I was ready to have some time to reflect and relax.  I was ready for the diploma.

We made the last turn and found ourselves at the start of the finish chute.  From here on out it is all a blurr... bight lights, all the cheering, the high 5's from every single person... and the smile that I just could not wipe off of my face if I had to.

This moment was ours.  All the years leading up to this one moment... all the lessons learned, the friendships and bonds made... it was all here.  It was time.  Time to graduate into Iron.

*beep beep* went the timing mat as we crossed under the finish line arch at 11:06:25 PM.

"Jennifer Kryvicky... YOU... ARE... AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!!!"

Yes.  Yes I am.

Myself and Darcie finishing strong and happy

I nailed the execution.  I soaked in every minute.  I even made a new friend who made the day extra special for me with her laughter and non-stop smiling as well. 

I had estimated a 6:30-7 hour marathon based on expected HR, and I finished the marathon in just over 7 hours. 

Final marathon time: 7:03:50. 

Total Ironman time: 16:06:25

The Fraser Women Ironman Virgins

Mike and I after the race

Enjoying my walk across the graduation stage