Cheryl Isberg's Ironman Report....

Kudo's to the Kona Kids and the best to Rob for a strong recovery.

I will try to keep mine short...

Swim: I was within one minute of my goal. I swam inside the buoy line and I think swam with every 6'2-6"5" male triathlete out there. All I saw was feet and hands. One latched onto me the first lap and gave me a really good
charlie horse in my left, previously Achilles severed calf. That left me
without a kick for the last lap and so the arms and shoulders had to pull out a miracle in order to get my swim time.

T1- The best part, with RTBer's there! Tammy Barnhart pulled my suit off in record time. The bad thing was it triggered the charlie horse again so I limped into a t1 tent. There was not a spot to be found there and there were so many people shivering that I was wondering how they would continue.

Bike - With my calf on the verge of ending my race I was very conservative
on the bike. Every time we hit a hill I could feel it ready to go again so
I had to sit back and just keep it easy. It didn't help that at mile 20 I
also had some cable tension issues and my climbing gear would not stay in gear and pop out while going up the hill. Not a great way to climb. I figured at some point my chain would explode and I would ride until it did. Dearest Kristin and I spent a good deal of time together and that was great. The wind got me coming back down into town on the first lap and I lost time there but all things considered, it was the best I could do on that day.

T2- Lickity split fast for me :) Another high note for the race :)

Run - I walked to the first stop just gathering myself and took a hit off my
new inhaler. This was my first event with an inhaler. I was so freaked
out in T2 because the lady couldn't find my inhaler in the bag - when she found it I was totally relieved. After refueling at the first mile I decided to try to focus and did the "I will run to each water stop and walk
through the water stop". I did that for about 15 miles - a clear record
for me and I felt much like Phil with feeling the best I ever have - I knew I was on time for a 5 hour marathon. My calf felt great, I felt great, Rob was giddy, and the world was perfect.

Then the big marathon door shut in my face and nearly broke my nose.

The feeling was immediate and everything hurt, ached, and I lost my breath. I started walking at 16. I couldn't figure it out was it fatigue, was it nutrition? I was counting calories in my head that I taken since starting the run and knew it wasn't that. Was it old age? Was is lack of fitness? Was it the inhaler? Huh, where was inhaler #2?(yes, I was suppose to use 2 of them) I located inhaler number 2 about mile 18 in the back of my shirt and took a hit. Nothing great happened but I felt a bit better but still couldn't run. At the mile 19 water stop, I chose Ironman Extra Value Meal #2 - Chicken Broth without the fries please. I knew immediately of my rookie mistake. I needed Sodium and usually switch to Chicken Broth around mile 10 of the marathon but didn't. I took in as much as I could and like magic within a few minutes I was running again. Not on the pace I was previously but these feet know the way back to the barn and ran the last 6 miles home.

So, I have 8 weeks to recover and then do the big "A" race in Canada. Lets hope I can figure out the inhalers, Sodium, find a new bike mechanic, and also figure out how to climb a couple mountain passes. Seems simple enough.

Best to everyone who was out there - not just the athletes but those shouts
from the gallery from RTB'ers out there. My heart was filled at about mile
25 of the 2nd lap and then again about mile 70. The first was a lady about my age sitting in a lawn chair by herself and very quietly as she looked me directly in the eye she said "you are my hero" and the second was a guy sitting with about 5 empty lawn chairs with a boat in the back drop. He was asleep in a lawn chair with a beer between his legs....classic huh?