1-Iron DistanceTriathlon, 1-Perfect Day, and 1-Fast Momma!

REDMAN TRIATHLON



Pre-race Hugs!

 1.2 mile swim/ 56 mile bike/ 13.1 mile run

At 4am my alarm went off to the start of a "once in a lifetime day".  My first thoughts were "I don't want to do this".  After all of this training it amazes me the power that mental thoughts can have.  My mental thoughts should know better by now.  I had a nice warm shower and got dressed, fed lil' Abram and then Justin and I  was ready leave the house by 5.  In the car I ate 1/2 of my night- before- made oats, egg, and 1/2 banana. 

When we got there Justin carried my bags and I enjoyed our comforting conversation as we walked on the pathway to transition area.  And oh the beautiful morning.  There was no wind, which is rare for Lake Hefner.  It was low 50s and would reach mid 90s by the races end.


I went to set up my transition area.  This took me a good thiry minutes because my rubber bands kept popping that hold my shoes to my bike.  Get ready, this may be the funniest triathlon thing you've ever heard.  I aired up my front tire and and had to walk around the bike rack to get to my back tire.  The tire pressure read 60psi.  What?  I just aired them up to 120psi yesterday.  I am having a flat.  Do I need to change it?  Do I need to chance it and hope it is a slow leak?  Well I air it up to the recommended level, unhook my pump and then I notice it wasn't my bike.  IT WASN'T EVEN MY BIKE! I quickly got to my bike while looking around in hopes that noone saw me.  I thought "I could get disqualified or penalized for some kind of bike tampering act".  It just so happened the bike that was two bikes down from me was just like mine.  What are the chances?  I guess they were going to leave them at 60psi because the owner had his/her transition set up and I didn't see anyone at the bike before transition closed.  With time to think about this, they had to have had a much better ride with properly inflated tires.  :) Glad I could help out!

Justin and I right before the start. 

As I lined up in the 3rd wave, waiting to walk down to the water, I was overwhelmed with so many people there to support me.  I was also overwhelmed to actually see the 1.2 mile swim distance laid out (my pool laps didn't look that far).  I got to say hello to everyone prior to the race.  The last thing Mom told me before I headed for the water was 'Sue, Shirley, and Norma said good luck'.  My eyes teared up and so did Moms.  Bagpipes begin to play and me and all of the pink caps made our way down to the water.  I will never forget this moment.


THE SWIM 

 



After Swim



I got into the water.  Megan and Emily, my TNT friends were close by so it was a comfort like in training.  The gun went off and I was doing this thing!  Because of the low water the swim course was moved to middle of the lake.  Big orange buoys were out there that we were supposed to ignore.  (The anchors were too long and they blew all over the place.) We were looking for smaller white buoys, which were hard to see when you have an obstacle course of oranges buoys going out to the first turn.  I started out on the right outter edge.  In no time I found my rhythm and enjoyed every minute of it.  It did seem like a long way, but in no time I was making my final turn to head in.  On that last part was the only time I slowed down.  I just couldn't see the buoy and couldn't find a good landmark to spot off of.  Guess what, I found that buoy anyway and started the big run up to T1.  I heard many cheers as well as the announcer saying "Janna Pratt is out of the water". SWIM TIME: 38:40.

THE BIKE 

Bike Start



I was excited to be on the bike and even more excited about how good my legs felt.  They felt pretty fresh the entire 56 miles.  I guess I was so used to my 10 hour training weeks on tired legs.  My last week of training was very light so my legs were rested (a nice change).  I started off easily averaging the upward end of 18 to 22 mph and was careful to make sure I could handle the pace the whole time.  I wanted to stay conservative on the bike pace because I had no idea what to expect the 13 mile run would be like.  I was on track to come in from my bike around the 3 hour mark.  A whopping 30 minutes ahead of expected.  I told you I felt good. 


I am not sure how many times me and three other girls would pass each other back and forth.  I guess some of us were better at uphills and some better at flats.  I got to quickly meet a couple of them.  One in which I got to cheer on during her run.  I wonder if I aired any of your bike tires up?  :)  You can thank me later. 

I took two handups at two different water stops.  A handup is when a race volunteer holds up gatorade or water bottle so you can grab it as you are pedaling through the water stop.  This was a first for me.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't drop it so I grabbed it and squeezed it so hard that gatorade shot straight out the top.  I yelled "sorry" to the volunteer.  I was one for one so I used the same method in getting my next water bottle.  It shot straight out of the bottle too!  I thought it was pretty funny.  Two for two!
About 6 miles from the bike finish I heard cheers "Go Janna!" from some of my family.  Of course it gave me a jolt and in no time I was done with the bike portion of the race. 


Bike Finish.  BIKE TIME:  3:02:27



THE RUN 

At the beginning of the run I saw Jackie climbing a pile of rocks to get a good picture of me. :) I felt really good going into the run with my first mile at a 8:54 pace.  I was in reach of that pace for about four miles.  Around mile 3 I started feeling something in my right shoe.  I dealt with it for a little while and then had to quickly pull my shoe off to get it out.  I didn't feel anything in my shoe so I put it back on an started running again.  I felt it again.  Bummer it was a blister and I am sure 10.1 more miles of this would aggrevate it something awful.  Other than that I could run for days.  I saw Justin around mile 4.5 and gave him a positive update (other than the blister).  He than ran to another place he could see me just short of the turnaround at the halfway mark.  I was so happy to see him each time.  At the turnaround everyone was there holding up signs, taking pictures, and cheering me on.

Headed out for my 2nd loop on the run.  See Asher's hand that I am running to?



I got to see many Team in Training participants during the run and several that was in our group:  Taylor, Emily, Megan, Patty, Carl, Lisa, and Nate.   It was nice hearing "Go Team"  when someone recognized the TNT logo on my tri suit top.


The last four miles I had slowed down to about a 10:15 pace as the temperature had reached the mid 90s.  My legs were still strong.  I kind of laughed to myself imagining the conversation I would have with Justin and me telling him that it wasn't that bad.  I had fuel left in the tank.  I think that is a good way to do it on my first half iron.


I ran with guy named David for the last 2.5 miles.  He was finishing his first half too.  He had small words of encouragement that made an impact on the last part of the race.  During that last 2.5 miles there was a guy up ahead of us that would bend over in agony from leg cramps.  We would just about catch up to him and then he would take off again.  With a half of a mile to go I let David power ahead.  I finally caught the guy cramping and said "let's go buddy, not much longer now".  He stood up and trudged behind and asked desperately how much farther.  I said "point 4 to go, just stay with me".  I remember during some of my  hard runs that I could just focus on the shirt in front of me and make it for a while.  "Are you still with me?"  I asked.  "Yeah".  He was still behind me.  Then we made it to all of the tents and I hear the sighing words of relief come from behind me "WE ARE HERE!"  I didn't check again because I knew he was already there.

Coming up the finishers chute, the first person I see held up above the side rail is Asher.  I run to him and take him and run him to the finish.  I hear the announcer say "Janna Pratt finishing her first half ironman.  She would like to give a shout out to Asher and Abram."  Just before we cross, I let Asher down so we could run across the finish together.  Wow, that was amazing!  FINISHING TIME 5:51:08 

RESULTS:


SWIM:  38:40   Pace:  1:46/100 yards


T1:  2:37


BIKE:  3:02:27  Pace:  18.4 mph


T2:  1:30


RUN:  2:05:56  Pace:  9:36 minutes per mile


TOTAL TIME:  5:51:08


Age Group Placing:
9th out of 32


Female Placing:
29th out of 167


Male and Female Finishers:
152 out of 417


Average Finish Time:
6:20:18


In the medical tent getting blister aid. 






Me Bless'ed Blister

 





  




Joleen, Me, and Emily Sporting our Medals

 

 SUPPORT CREW!

 

   

 

 

 



 Many, many thanks!  I would like to thank all of the people that I got to run for that is or has previously fought the battle of cancer:  Shirley, Sue, Norma, Pops, John, Johnny, Kevin, Steve, and many others.  I thought of each of you along the way.  You kept me strong.  The half iron was nothing compared to your battle.  Thank you for truly inspiring me.

And I wouldn't be here without all of the generous donors that helped me to exceed my goal of $2000.00.  The amount raised went to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  There were many times throughout training that you helped get me through.  Your support was/is a real blessing to me and many others.  Thank you!

Justin, over a 4 month time period you set up the perfect race for me.  From the many early mornings, to the nights away for group trainings, and the Saturday never ending rides, you sacrificed for me.  Throughout race day I was overwhelmed with thankfullness for you.   Knowing what you have done to get me to that day.  On race day you were out there running from one place to another just to get a glimpse of me and to cheer me on.  I can never thank you enough- you have changed my life forever by helping me accompish this goal.  We won this thing together! I love you.

And my two sweet boys, Asher and Abram.  I want you to know that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to as long as you have God and a determined spirit.  My heart is full of love for you.  I look forward to many fun adventures with you.  I promise to always be active for you and with you.

 



My up close and personal fan club.  Though this blog only has 7 followers, the number of people who came to the Redman to cheer on Janna Pratt were out of this world.  Justin, Asher, Abram, Pops, Teen, Mom, Dad, John, Melody, Jim, Tawana, Mark, Jamie, Kaylee, Emilee, Beau, Jackie, Hayden, Holten, Lindall, Kasey, and Dalton.  WOW, WOW, WOW, you guys were so awesome.  You even had shirts with my name on it!  I commented to Pops after the race that I never thought I would see him with a t-shirt on that had my name on it.  :)  Thank you Jackie for putting together the photo album of my race.  I will treasure it forever.  I know all of you helped with the boys, thank you....they loved every minute of it.  Jim, thanks for getting the boys all ready to go and bringing them to race.  You are quite the race babysitter!  Making signs, giving me high fives, waiting, tracking me down when I was out biking, and your endless cheering.  And even a gigantic banner awaiting me at the house.  Thanks for making it the perfect race for me!

September 21st, Inspiration Dinner

Our Team In Training group got to get together one last time at Hideaway Pizza to celebrate our journey.  I got to bring Justin and the boys to celebrate with me.  Here is a picture from the event.

TNT GROUP