Meet Our Ironman (She’s a Woman)

Most people will never know what it feels like to run a marathon, let alone what it’s like to swim 2.4 miles in open water, bike 112 miles and THEN run a marathon (26.2 miles). You’ve got to be tough as nails.

One of our newest employees at STP, Jennifer Boland, is just that. She competed in the Ironman Triathlon in Panama City November 3, 2007 and here’s what she had to say about it. (Way to go, Jennifer! We’re so happy to have such a strong, determined woman join our team!)

Race report:

“Let me preface this by saying that my training had not been optimal in my opinion. I knew I had done what I needed to do in order to finish, but my speed work was severely lacking. My bike training was particularly weak as I was only averaging about 120 miles a week.

Pre Race

The race didn’t quite start as planned. My friend Matt had insisted that we didn’t need to leave for the race until 6:15 and got us there at about 6:35 which was 5 minutes before transition closed. In that time I had to get marked, pump my tires, put my sunglasses in my swim to bike bag, put on sunscreen and put on my wetsuit. Well, I skipped the sunscreen and decided that I’d just have to utilize the sunscreen “slatherers” when I got out of the water. The good news was that I didn’t have time to wait around and get nervous.

Swim

I’ve never been through a mass start with that many people before. At the Great Floridian we had about 500 people, which is nothing compared to the 2200 that started IM Florida. Basically, it was a sea of bodies. Every time I put my arm in the water to take a pull I hit someone, almost every kick was in someone’s face or in my own. If I were to do the swim again, I’d probably start a little closer up to the front. I don’t like to go too hard at the beginning of the swim, but I had to swim over and around hundreds of people. I pretty much just went in survival mode on the swim. I was pleased when I came out in 1:12:34 which was about 1 minute faster than my last IM swim.

Bike

Transition went smoothly and I was off on my bike in less than 5 minutes, with sunscreen all over my upper body. The first 50 miles of the bike were uneventful other than the fact that I was passed by over 500 riders. I guess that’s the disadvantage of being a better swimmer and disciplined racer. I knew I had to ride my own race. There was a lot of drafting too, which was annoying.
I just kept plugging along with my speed hovering between 17 and 18 MPH. I was right on goal pace. Then the winds picked up and the road got really bumpy. The bumps made it difficult to keep a smooth pedal stroke and I wanted to brace my body for each one. It also made eating and drinking more difficult. I really started losing steam at around mile 70. I knew that my bike training had not been optimal. However, I was inspired by Wendy’s performance at Kona. I knew I could have a less than optimal bike and still have a great race. I focused on cadence and plugged through the next 40 miles on the bike. It turns out I finished the bike in 6:30. I actually thought it was closer to 6:50. I was relieved to get off the bike and enter transition.

Run

After choking on a salt tab and throwing up, I started running. I was relieved by how great my legs felt. I knew my turn over was right where I wanted it so I just kept running. I wasn’t wearing a watch because I didn’t want to know how slow I was running. But I saw the race clock as I began my second run loop and saw that it said just over 10 hours. My eyes welled up with tears because I was so happy. I knew that I couldn’t let myself down and kept running. On the second loop I consumed coca-cola, broth and a little water at just about every stop. Unfortunately this took time and my pace suffered. At the 20 mile mark the race clock read 11:27. I was hoping that I could pull out a sub 12:30 IM at that point. A couple of guys committed to running with me. We were running just over 10 minute miles and we still needed to fuel ourselves. So needless to say, we ran the last 10K in 69 minutes instead of 60. But we also knew we were doing the best that we could. My marathon was a 4:43 which is only 3 minutes slower than my marathon PR.

I finished in 12:36, which was an amazing feeling. I knew I had put out the absolute best effort I could have on that given day. I crossed the line with a huge smile on my face and my arms up in the air. I’ve always dreamed of feeling that good. My dream came true.”

If you’re thinking about training for a triathlon, check out our tri gear and Zoot apparel.

We’ll be getting a whole new line of triathlon gear and apparel in the spring — so check back for all your training and racing needs!