Just like with T1, the first thing we did in T2 was grab our run gear bags and head into the changing tent. I immediately sat down on a chair and started digging through my bag. I’d packed shorts, capris, long pants, a short sleeved shirt, and a long sleeved shirt because I had no clue if I was going to want to change or what I was going to want to wear. I decided to keep on my tri kit and just throw on a long sleeve top. Funny enough, I purchased that top at Walmart for $10 two days before the race, intending to put it in my special needs bag as a throwaway (those bags are available at mile 13 of the run, and you don’t get them back), but at the last minute I put it in my run gear bag thinking it might be the perfect weight for the temperature. Turns out, it was! Other than that all I changed were my socks (at least I think I changed my socks?). My toes had been frozen for the entire duration of the bike and all I could think about for the last several miles of the bike was getting to the changing tent and warming them up!
There are volunteers in the tent who will actually help you change and get your stuff out of your bags, and a woman came over to me and immediately started helping me. I didn’t need a ton of help changing but she helped me go through my bag and when I had a pile of clothes and bike stuff I’d taken off piled up in a chair next to my bag, she told me to go ahead and that she’d take care of packing it back up for me. I asked her her name to thank her, and when she told me her name was Cindy, I got really emotional. I started laugh-crying and told her that’s my mom’s name and then I was crying trying to tell her that my mom wasn’t there, and she gave me a hug before I left the tent. All day I was so thankful for all the volunteers and tried to thank as many as I could, and in that moment I was so emotional and just so grateful for her being there and it was honestly one of the best parts of the whole day.
(Wow, only 2 paragraphs before I started running! I’m getting better!)
We had to run around the field where transition was before jumping onto the riverwalk, which is where the finish line was last year (the start and finish of the run course were a little different than last year). I was surprised to see that I was running an 8:45 pace and was like girllll, you need to slow your roll! During that time all I was thinking about was how I couldn’t wait to see Ben and maybe talk to him for a second and tell him about Cindy, and I was originally thinking I would tell him that I was probably going to take my time and run like a 4.5-5 hour marathon so he probably shouldn’t expect me too soon. As soon as we got out of the field area I heard my name and it wasn’t Ben (I realized later he was still up the hill waiting for the others to come in on the bike) but it was my sister-in-law calling me! It took me by surprise and I waved to her and kept running, and then I was like but wait, I want to talk to her! Should I go back? I don’t want to go back! And I didn’t go back, but like a minute later I heard her again and could see her running up a little behind where I was, so then I DID go back to hug her and thank her for coming. For a split second I was worried I was going to get in trouble - I don’t know what the rules, if any, are about hugging spectators but I know we aren’t allowed to take anything from them (like water or whatever) - but I really didn’t care, I was just so emotional and happy to see her! (And I didn’t get in trouble but she said she did get the stink eye from a race official, oops).
From there we got out onto the riverwalk and a few minutes of running I realized my braid was kind of coming out from having had my helmet on. I was mad that I didn’t fix it in transition because now that time was going to get added to my run, but I slowed down to walk while I re-braided my hair. There were spectators all along the riverwalk and it was so nice being next to the water, and soon after I finished with my hair and got to running, I saw Mike Reilly again! He was standing on the side high fiving people, and as I passed he said, “I’ll see you at the finish!” and I said, “YEAH, you will!!!” (except I think I actually said, “Yeah, I will” - it had been like 5 hours, words weren’t really my strong suit at that point).
The run course is not what I would call hilly, but it is most definitely not flat like people who should apparently not be using that word claim it is. It’s an out-and-back course that the half people run once and the full people run twice. The first couple of miles after the initial halfish mile on the riverwalk are what I guess I would call rolling hills, then there’s a gentle but long decline, then a turn into a neighborhood with a couple hills that I would say are more up than down, and then into a park which also has some gentle inclines and declines but for the most part is more up than down (and it’s out and back, so the opposite of all of that is true on the way back). My watch has recently stopped tracking elevation for some reason so I honestly don’t know the elevation gain or how it compares to other, hillier runs I’ve done, but like I said - it’s definitely not pancake flat except for maybe a mile total.
Ben and Alyssa had camped out at the bottom of the first hill (about a mile into the race) last year so I was half expecting to see my family at that point, but then I remembered I had just seen them and I was a little sad about not getting to see them then. My first mile clocked in at 9:40 and I was pretty surprised by that given the fact that I had stopped to hug my sister, braided my hair, walked a water stop, and climbed a small hill all in that first mile! But I felt great and my pace felt perfectly comfortable. Running through town was SO fun and there were tons of spectators out cheering and high fiving and I would have been perfectly fine just running that first mile or two over and over and over again because it was really that much fun.
And I think that was the first time all day that I was really able to articulate that this was FUN! The swim had been super fun. And okay, fine, the bike wasn’t really fun but it was over so who cares. And now I’m running and there are people everywhere and THIS IS SO FUN!!! I wanted to do an Ironman every day in that moment.
I really think having run this course before was a big advantage. I knew exactly what to expect and how the scenery would change and that helped me mentally break it up into different sections. There was the town section (first 2 miles), lame section through an industrial area and a neighborhood (mile 2-3.5ish), then there was the park (miles 3.5-6.5), then the turnaround was in the park around mile 7. All totally doable. I told myself it was roughly about an hour to the turnaround in the park, then an hour until I’d see my family back near transition, then another hour out to the park, then another hour and I’d be done!
The first time heading out to the park went by really quickly. I knew I still had a long way to go but I was surprised by how good I felt, both mentally and physically, and felt completely capable of continuing to run. (Of course, it is worth mentioning that that could and most likely would have been a very different story if it were 3 hours later and I’d had to spend 56 more miles on the bike, especially on that course and on that day.)
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