3.95 IRONMAN Races in 2 Years : I am an IMAZ Finisher

Two years ago I came to IMAZ to do the swim and the bike in preparation for IMTX2018. While I had never swam more than 1.2 miles or ridden more than 56 miles, I had this crazy idea the week before that maybe I could finish the whole IM, sans anything more than HIM training. I got to mile 20 of the run and got pulled from the course at the last run cutoff at 10:30 pm. While what I did was absolutely a heroic effort, it made me crazy to not finish something I started.

So on Sunday morning, I found myself back at the swim start of this race to finish what I started. And I did. I finished at 10:11 pm, about 2 hours ahead of what I did two years ago. The past two years have been an incredible journey for me. I am now a 3 time IRONMAN, I am no longer finishing at the bottom of my age group at races and I no longer get dropped from every ride I do. I love riding my bike now and my quest to “make my weakness my strength” is not done by any means, but it is making significant progress.

Walking to the race site on race morning, I got somewhat emotional. Now I know that while I love to race, an IM day is going to hurt. The water was 62 degrees. I had done the practice swim and elected not to use a neoprene cap or booties since I hadn’t ever practiced with them. During the practice swim, I warmed up after the first 100 yards. On race day, it was about 3 or 4 degrees colder and I never did warm up. Started with the 1:20 finish group and really had no issues with traffic and felt like I was swimming strong. It was cloudy until about 75% complete and then the sun came out, but it was behind me so not in my eyes. Got out and surprised to see 1:37 on my watch. I somehow swam 4930 yards instead of 4224: looking at my Garmin afterwards I zig zagged a bit. So I was swimming 2:00 pace, just swam way too long 😦   I got out and the wet suit strippers helped me get my wet suit off. Now to run .4 mile to the transition tent wet in 50 degrees. Honestly that was the worst part of the whole race; very cold. Had an amazing volunteer helping me in the tent. My hands were cold and I couldn’t zip up my kit top. She had trouble with the zipper too. I was so cold I could barely talk but felt better once I got my wind vest, arm warmers, buff and winter gloves on.

Got on the bike pretty fast after that and started off on the 112 miles. Coach Jana’s instruction to me was to control my power at 100-105 all day. Was well above that at the start so knew I needed to settle down. Made it to the first climb up the false flat and there was that wind in my face that I remembered from 2017. I don’t think as strong – maybe 10 mph. Wanted to attack it, but followed instruction and kept my power at 105. It’s only 11 miles up and I knew that the way back down would be magical. Stopped at the top to use the bathroom and regroup. Unfortunately when I got my bike back from the volunteer, my chain had come off. Quickly got that resolved and then flew back, peaking at 30 mph, to start loop 2. Kept looking forward to special needs on loop 2 and the chance to eat something besides a gel and tailwind. I was staying on my nutrition but it was starting to be less then satisfying. Got up the hill and stopped again to use the bathroom. This was a problem because Jana only wanted me to stop twice and I was only at mile 56. Shed my arm warmers and buff as it was getting warmer. Made it to special needs and ate my peanut butter bar and refilled my bottles with tailwind. David had made his way out to the aid station across from special needs and cheered me on as I went by – hard to explain how much this support means. Also saw the Bell family at the end of loop 2 cheering for me!!!! Started loop 3 and was happy to see my power was just under 100 and avg mph was 16. Still felt good at this point and knew once I made it up that false flat to mile 94, I was home free. A lot of ugly thoughts go through your head when you are on mile 82 or so of an IM and you are going 11 mph into a headwind. But I kept reminding myself my power was where Jana wanted it. And I started praying. Prayed for a lot of people – it’s a long time on the bike. Never been so happy to get to the top! I got off and used the bathroom again – more in need of a mental break then anything else. So this 112 miles was 6:58 minutes of ride time for me. 13 minutes were the four stops. But that is my best 112 mile ride ever. My avg power was 95 and it was only 75 at IMTX in April. So all the hard work I’ve been doing on the bike is starting to pay off. Rather then starting off super hard and dying, I controlled my power evenly over the whole ride. And I knew this set me up for a good run.

My goal here was to run the whole marathon. Got in and out of T2 pretty fast – again thanks to an amazing volunteer. Started running and looked at my watch. Jana wanted me to keep my heart rate at 130-135. I never run by heart rate but I once again followed her instruction. In the past, I would start off running fast and then by the end, I was walking. This was not my best IM run leg, but I am proud to say I ran the whole thing, except for walking through aid stations. I broke up this race into four 6.5 mile segments. So I finished the first one and stopped to use the bathroom. Two miles into the next segment, I was starting to feel low on energy. Remembered that I needed to be taking in gel blocks, so got back on track with those. The sun started going down during the last bit of the first loop and it was absolutely beautiful with the sun sinking into the desert and the lights of Tempe Town Lake reflecting off the water – always helps to have something so pretty to divert your attention from everything hurting. Got back to IM village and the 13 mile point. Saw David here and seeing him and the people cheering us through this stretch helped. Then back out for loop 2. It was significantly quieter on this loop. Dark now and starting to get cold. Lots of people walking at this point. I knew I just had to keep my head down and keep running and watching my heart rate. My watch died at during mile 18. Was pretty mad at myself because that happened at IMTX too and I had known I should have completely shut it off during the bike, but forgot. So now I had to trust my inner pace to stay on track. So I was just moving from aid station and mile marker to the next one. Felt really happy when I made it to mile 20. Asked some what time it was and it was around 8:30 – way in front of any cutoff. So just kept moving from mile to mile. Got lots of encouragement from athletes walking who told me I was looking strong. At mile 24 I was feeling pretty exhausted. Almost stopped running and this pretty lady with a Team Empower kit that I had been passing and then falling back with said to me, “don’t you stop now – I’ve been watching you all day.” That little bit of encouragement was all I needed. Suddenly was at mile 25. A volunteer who saw the pain on my face told me “you are really close.” I knew it was true but we were on a very dark empty road and I was getting really cold. Suddenly, someone said the finish line was right around the corner. I could hear Mike Reilly’s voice and the music playing. I turned a corner and there it was. I started crying. A lady spectator yelled at me “don’t you ugly cry – they are going to take your picture – you smile!”

Suddenly I was at the finish and Mike Reilly said “55-year old Cheryl Perry from Spring, Texas……Cheryl Perry, You Are An Ironman!”  And I had done it. It was 10:11 pm. I was a little delirious. Someone came and gave me my space blanket and asked me if I was OK. Funny, I thought it was this guy Bob who I knew from my first tri team – haha. Then I realized he was a stranger and remembered IM finish lines had catchers. Got some pizza and chips because I was starving then found David for a big hug.

I came to finish – CHECK.  I came to have a bike PR – CHECK.  I didn’t really think about an overall PR but since my first Texas race the bike course was 5 or 6 miles short due to road construction or something (can’t remember why), this would indeed be a PR – BONUS CHECK.

Training for two IRONMAN races in one year has been tough. Not just on me, but David has had to sacrifice a lot as well. Long weekends out training. Asleep by 8 pm because so exhausted from training. It’s time, money, mental exhaustion. But he stayed right there with me and came here to Arizona with me with the same unwavering support he has exhibited since day 1 of this triathlon journey.

So 48 hours removed, feeling pretty good. Everything hurt yesterday. Today just key spots – quads, triceps and neck (from being in aero). Time to rest and recover now. Amanda at Specialized Body Works will fix me all up here shortly.

What next? Made a decision not to decide until I finished up this race. So home to concentrate on my family and Thanksgiving for a few days and then I will work on my 2020 race plan.

Incredibly grateful for my coach Jana. She is absolutely amazing. Patient but absolutely tells me where I fall down which is just what I need. She helped guide me with not just workouts but nutrition and mental preparation and so much more. I’m extremely lucky to be working with her.

Also very grateful for my swim coach Gemma who also raced an IM this weekend in Cozumel. While the swim wasn’t my focus this training cycle – her support and guidance are incredibly important to me.

My Valkyrie teammates – amazing support and encouragement!!!!!!! Gabi, Marci, Gemma, Jen, Michelle especially with so many words of encouragement to help me get through this tough week.

David Perry – no words can describe your support so I’m not even going to try – just tell you how much I love you. Same to Mom and Dad, sweet Jacquelyne and Kyle and Ryan for their encouragement. And all my family and friends who support me with kind words and encouragement.

Picking up this IMAZ medal closes this chapter of my tri journey but these past two years are just the first few chapters of this story. Not exactly sure where it goes from here or how it ends but that’s part of the fun. I feel very alive when I am doing all this and isn’t that an incredible gift?