The Ugly


How goofy is running a marathon, 26.2 miles, after a ridiculous bike and swim? Jan yelled to Amanda and I as she was going into transition that she was suffering from nausea. She looked really pale. We became worried that the run wasn't going to happen. Her bike time was slower than Jan or I expected. The temperature was at least 90, dew point 65. Not ideal for running any distance. Jan was in transition for over 20 minutes before starting the run, getting fluids, hoping they would stay down, and pulling herself together for what we thought would be the best stage of her race.

The Ironman web site updated her splits every 4 miles, which was nice for keeping track of where she was. We saw her at the start, around 2 miles, at 14.5 miles, and then....
Jan's time between 12-16 was her fastest of the day. We thought she would finish before the time cutoff. About 30 minutes later, just as we were discussing how to split up and cheer her into the finish we got the call. Jan had sat down on a curb, around 18 miles in, exhausted. A cop called over the EMT on duty. She was helped to the tent, then taken off in the ambulance to the temporary medical center near the finish line. We finally found her about 30 minutes after receiving the call. She was sitting in a chair talking with an EMT, but not on an IV. Her race was over. After a half hour or so, Jan and I headed back to the hotel, about 4 blocks away. She made it with only one 10 minute break.

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