140.6 – The aftermath
Photos: My official finisher photo (after which Greg gave me a big hug); showing my medal off to my cheering section; posing with my medal and (unbeknownst to me at the time) my mom's sign; showing affection to my medal (and yes, that's a Starbucks cup in my hand--and yes, I'm aware that I have an addiction to it); and giving Vardo a big hug when she got back to the room (courtesy of Sparkle).
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Cara took off to go cheer Vardo in and Michele and her mom stayed out to cheer Sue in, but the rest of the crew headed back to the lobby of the Hilton. At that point, I was tired, cold, and in desparate need of a hot shower, so my mom and my awesome Sherpa crew headed up to the room (that I found out later my Sherpa crew had warmed up for Vardo and me by cranking up the thermostat). After a few minutes and several more back slaps and hugs, my mom went back down to the lobby to join my dad, Kristie and Eric, and Steve and Kathy as they headed back out to cheer for Vardo, and I headed for the shower. Theresa took the honors of building the towel dam, then left me to peel off wet clothes and wash away 14+ hours of sweat and grime. After about 15 minutes, I’d had all the hot water I could handle and made my reappearance as a tired, but happy, Ironman.
I sat down and started to eat—I figured that, after every other race, I’d been famished within 30 minutes of finishing, so this should be no different…but by the time I was done with my formerly yummy noodles, I wasn’t so sure that was the best call as my stomach was churning. I should’ve anticipated that digestion would’ve been a tad affected by a lack of blood flow to my stomach (turns out blood goes to your muscles and vital organs during endurance events and immediate recovery, and not to your digestive system), but my stomach was in so much upheaval that I didn’t want to stray too far from the bathroom.
About the time I was discovering that little unfortunate side effect, Michele called to say that Sue and Erin were about ready to finish. She also warned that I shouldn’t sit for too long at a time. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well enough to wander out again (or at least too far from a bathroom) to head back down to the finish, but I did get up and walk around the room a little. About 15 minutes later, I got a similar phone call from Cara that Vardo was about ready to finish, but again, I was feeling too rough to make it down. I felt badly about that, but there was no way I was going anywhere.
Shortly after, Steph and Jenny headed back to their hotel—Steph, after all, was 8 months pregnant and had stuck it out all day. Theresa stuck around a little while longer to make sure I was OK, and then she also headed back to her hotel. Shortly after, Vardo and her Sherpa crew came up to the room—since I couldn’t be at the finish for her, I gave her a big ol’ hug of congratulations. It was pretty amazing, actually—that the two of us would be Ironman finishers continues to astound me, but it’s so damn cool that we could share that experience!!
Vardo was smarter than I and waited a while before she tried solid food—about 12:30, she tackled a cheeseburger and all was fine. Shortly thereafter, we both called it quits and crashed—we didn’t really talk too much about the race, and I think we were both still overwhelmed with the fact that we had just done this incredible thing.
I sat down and started to eat—I figured that, after every other race, I’d been famished within 30 minutes of finishing, so this should be no different…but by the time I was done with my formerly yummy noodles, I wasn’t so sure that was the best call as my stomach was churning. I should’ve anticipated that digestion would’ve been a tad affected by a lack of blood flow to my stomach (turns out blood goes to your muscles and vital organs during endurance events and immediate recovery, and not to your digestive system), but my stomach was in so much upheaval that I didn’t want to stray too far from the bathroom.
About the time I was discovering that little unfortunate side effect, Michele called to say that Sue and Erin were about ready to finish. She also warned that I shouldn’t sit for too long at a time. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well enough to wander out again (or at least too far from a bathroom) to head back down to the finish, but I did get up and walk around the room a little. About 15 minutes later, I got a similar phone call from Cara that Vardo was about ready to finish, but again, I was feeling too rough to make it down. I felt badly about that, but there was no way I was going anywhere.
Shortly after, Steph and Jenny headed back to their hotel—Steph, after all, was 8 months pregnant and had stuck it out all day. Theresa stuck around a little while longer to make sure I was OK, and then she also headed back to her hotel. Shortly after, Vardo and her Sherpa crew came up to the room—since I couldn’t be at the finish for her, I gave her a big ol’ hug of congratulations. It was pretty amazing, actually—that the two of us would be Ironman finishers continues to astound me, but it’s so damn cool that we could share that experience!!
Vardo was smarter than I and waited a while before she tried solid food—about 12:30, she tackled a cheeseburger and all was fine. Shortly thereafter, we both called it quits and crashed—we didn’t really talk too much about the race, and I think we were both still overwhelmed with the fact that we had just done this incredible thing.
posted by roehr @ 1:36 PM
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