Race Coverage

Putting the Smile Back on Her Face...

Thursday, 28 July 2016 23:10

By Kristin Gustafson

Toughman Race Report - Another ½ Ironman is in the books. It wasn’t the day I was hoping for, but I didn’t quit and even more happy that my MS symptoms were nowhere to be found!!
I decided to sign up for the Elite group this time. I was a little nervous about this and thought it was time to see how I would stack up. This morning was perfect. I love racing in hot weather so I was happy that it was going...

to be another hot one. Not too happy that we couldn’t wear wetsuits, but I haven’t been able to wear one in any of my IMs so I am getting use to not wearing one. It is almost comical to think that I signed up for the Elite category and guess who had to do the backstroke…ME!! I got kicked in the face and had to whip to my back to catch my breath. I thought to myself that I am way out of my league here. I finally caught my breath and started picking up the pace. Felt good the rest of the way thank goodness. I think I came out of the water 3rd or 4th for the Elites around 35 minutes. Not too shabby for doing the backstroke!
I am still working on getting that transition time down. One of my MS symptoms is having trouble with my balance. Trying to take off my skin suit (Thank you Suzie Fox for letting me borrow yours!) was once again comical. I looked like and felt like a drunken sailor taking that off.

Off on the bike I go! This is where it gets interesting. The two ladies in front of me and a handful of guys took a left turn when we weren’t supposed to. My 56 mile bike just turned into 61.1 miles. Not only did I look like a drunken sailor in transition, I was now talking like one with all the swear words that came out of my mouth. I decided to hammer it down and make the best out of the situation as I swearing!! I averaged around 21 mph for the 61.1 miles, but ended up averaging 18.8 for the 56 miles. Boo!
By the time I got back from the bike, I literally was almost in tears. I was hoping for a PR and a possibly getting into the top 5. That was all gone with taking that stupid left turn. My T2 transition was 4 minutes long as I was talking with Gus. I lost most of my nutrition when I hit a bump coming back from my 5 extra mile adventure. I was worried if I could even do the ½ marathon with only a few bottles of Skratch on the bike. Plus, my MS does not like an empty belly when exercising now.
Thank goodness for the best husband to get me excited to run and forget about the bike. Literally he turned my attitude around in those 4 minutes. I took off and felt great. Once again I didn’t push the pace as much as I should have. I ran the last few miles around 7:00 minute miles so I definitely had more gas in the tank. One of these days I will learn how to pace myself!!
I have some very wise people in my life. As I was having a little pity party for myself with going extra miles, my friends and family remind me that I just did a ½ IM with not having my MS affect me at all. That definitely puts a smile back on my face. It feels good to finally start feeling back to normal! Now onto the big one…IM Wisconsin!
Shout out to my amazing coach Suzie Fox, Marni Sumbal for all the nutrition advice to get me ready for race day, Pearl Izumi for dressing me like a rock star, Nicollet Bike Shop (Brady Larson) for taking such great care of my bike, and Gu for giving my tummy some nutrients finally on the run!