Article by Cathy Taylor

"In my life I'd like to get to those twilight years and know I
gave it my all, I lived a life, I'd gone out there and did my
best, had those adventures and learnt as much as I could and I
will always look back and think "now that was a day, now THAT
WAS A DAY".

--Jon Ackland, on "Why an Ironman"

Now that was a day…Now THAT WAS A DAY!

This all started in March, 2002 - when I got the Hawaii spot at IM New Zealand. It was unbelievable, me, the queen of the BOPers, (back of the pack) earning a Hawaii spot, but I did, and now I really had to start training! So, I got me a coach (thanks, Mike) and started working on training, and losing weight.
I also got some "non-athletic" advice. My massage therapist is Hawaiian, and when I told her I was afraid of the winds and heat that Madame Pele could give me out on the lava fields, she told me that Madame Pele really likes gin. She said that the things to do, is go to the Volcano National Park and throw a bottle into the volcano for her. She said the park employees don't really like it, but they would understand.

So, I kind of started to develop a relationship (in my mind anyway) with Madame Pele. When I had a headwind on a bike ride, I would smile and tell myself that Madame Pele was giving me some practice. When I was running in the woods and came upon a flower I hadn't seen before, that was Madame Pele giving me a small gift - something to enjoy while training. Things like that. The summer weather was perfect for training - I think only 2 times did we have to postpone a training ride due to rain. It got hot and humid - perfect for Hawaii training. Madame Pele took care of me for the whole summer. I had some hard lessons to learn tho - Tupper Lake was a very bad day for me, but I learned a very important lesson about drinking water (one I would really need in Hawaii). She took care of me, so the trip to the volcano was going to be to thank her for all her "help" in getting me to Hawaii.

So, after all the training, the planning, the hopes, the fears, I was finally in Kona. Kona, the Mecca of the Ironman Triathlon world, a place I never even dreamed of going to. Here I was, and on Thursday, when I turned in my race day gear bags, I had the magic wristband on, the one that meant that I was a participant.
During the week, the main focus was to get a little bit of training in, and to relax. I had to shut out a lot of stuff that I knew would/could bother me. I knew going in that I would be even further behind the majority of participants just because this race has the best of the best - I just had to accept that, and expect it. If I compared myself to the other "bodies" around me, I would lose confidence quickly - so I didn't do it! I couldn't worry about the heat, the wind or the weather - there was nothing I could do about the weather, and we would all face the same thing. Lots of mental games were going on, but they worked, I stayed calm, I stayed pretty confident, and I enjoyed myself completely the week before the race.

Now, I wasn't there alone, by any means. My husband Bill was there, his son Matt flew in from Chicago and John Faith -who has become our very close friend - was there too. They were all great in their support of me, they all rode with me in the car, all the way around the island so that I could throw the bottle of gin into the volcano - even tho I'm sure they thought I was crazy to worry about it. But I really wanted to thank Madame Pele (or whatever name you have for the forces that are larger than we are) for watching over me in preparing for this race.

It is finally race day. After a great night's sleep (to bed and asleep by 8:30pm) we wake up at 3:30am - and it is pouring outside. Remember that thing about not worrying about the weather? - Well now is the time to believe it - you can't change the weather, so forget it. I ate breakfast, drank some coffee and got ready to leave. We started walking towards the start area around 4:45am - turned around to get some more clothes cuz it felt a little cold-ish in the rain. Got to the start area, found that body marking (where they write your race number on your arms and legs) was inside - kind of unorganized, but not bad considering they decided to do it inside at the last minute, when they saw the rain.. Then all there was to do was wait. We (Matt, Bill & I - John, who had volunteered to be a race official, had already left to meet up with the other officials) found a place to sit and wait. I can't believe this, I am waiting to start the Hawaii Ironman!!! Remember the plan now Cathy, smile the whole way - like Natascha (Natascha Baadman - professional triathlete, has won Hawaii Ironman 3 times in a row, and no matter what happens out there, nothing knocks the smile off of her face - and whose signature I got on my poster! - and who won the race by-the-way). Enjoy the day, enjoy every single minute.

At 6:45am, I said good bye to Bill, my husband and the best training partner in the world. I really wished that he was competing along with me, but I had to do it alone today. But he would be with me as I swam, and as I ride the bike course, and images of him running in front of me thru the woods would be in my mind while I was running in the dark. He worked as hard as I did to get me there, and I can't possibly thank him enough.
I'm in the water - waiting for the start. I am really counting on my sea-bands (wristbands that use accupressure to prevent seasickness) to keep me from getting seasick. It happens to me pretty easily - and I'm really hoping that they work here!!!

The cannon goes off!
I AM IN THE HAWAII IRONMAN SWIM!!!!!

As expected, most of the field took off very quickly leaving me lots of open space to swim in. I had no problems with people hitting me, or swimming over me, none at all. I just started swimming, and kept swimming, and swimming, and swimming. The course layout is straight out (parallel to the shore) for 1.2 miles, swim around 2 boats in the harbor, and then swim back. 1.2 miles in a straight line is a very long way. I finally made it to the turn boat, there was a clock mounted to it and it said 48 minutes and something. In my sea-logged brain - already not able to do math, I thought that was a terrible time, that I would a very slow swim. In actuality, it was perfect, my total swim was exactly twice that, and the time was pretty good for me in a wetsuit-free IM swim. Anyway, I passed the first boat, then the second boat and turned back towards the finish. I AM HALFWAY DONE WITH THE HAWAII IRONMAN SWIM!!! (and I'm not seasick yet!) But I have no idea where to swim. I can't see anything on shore to swim towards, and I can't see the buoys because of the huge waves, so I guess I will just follow those people that I can see… wow, there are a lot more people around me than I thought there would be. This is nice, just keep swimming, and swimming, and swimming. Now I can see the big blow-up Gatorade bottle on the pier. Now I know where to go. Finally I can make the pier out, and I swim to the left of it. There are the volunteers, the ones that pull you out of the water and make sure your legs will support you… I'M DONE WITH THE HAWAII IRONMAN SWIM!!!! I didn't get seasick, my time of 1:36 was great, I am stoked!

Into the change tent, more volunteers to help you, sunscreen you, make sure you put all you bike clothes on, and then they direct you in the right direction. Now I'm on the pier, my bike is racked way, way, way out there - with a number of 1469, it was almost at the end of the pier. But when I get there, there are 2 volunteers with my bike. One is holding the bike, the other one is straightening out the helmet straps, and my shoes are on a little white towel on the ground, so I can clean off my feet before putting the shoes on - it's amazing! So I put the helmet and shoes on and get on my bike. I'm on my bike, riding out of transition - oh, did I mention that it is raining? It is raining pretty hard, but that's ok, I did New Zealand in the rain - so I know I can do it. I saw Bruce Ginsberg (from Albany Triathlon Club) on the way out of the bike area, hey! - I'M ON THE BIKE OF THE HAWAII IRONMAN!!!

Around a couple of bends, up a small hill - I must have missed Bill & Matt - make a turn - There they are!!! Smile and give them the thumbs up! Around the block, back down Palani Drive, and then out the Kuakini Highway towards the Queen K Highway. I did miss Bill & Matt the second time, I was working very hard to go slowly and avoid all of the white paint on the wet road while making my turn at the bottom of the hill - but they got a picture of me!

As I head south on the Kuakini Highway, the rain seems to let up. I get to the Queen K Highway and start the long trip out to the turnaround in the little town of Hawi. I'M ON THE QUEEN K!!! (the Queen K is the highway from Kona north, through lava fields, totally without shade in the hot sun, the highway that has made or broken every Ironman triathlete since the race came to the Big Island. The bike course has about 65-70 miles on the Queen K, and the run has about 10 miles on the Queen K. The road of legends.)

I have to almost keep pinching myself, this is just incredible, I am riding back thru the Kona intersections - and it's raining again (maybe it only rains in Kona?) Now I'm riding out on the Queen K thru the early lava fields - with an incredible tail wind pushing me along - thanks Madame Pele. Thanks also for the rain (which is now stopped) to keep me cool for a while. I get in the aero position, and pedal away. I am flying with almost no effort at all - yes, I'll pay for this later, but that is later, right now, enjoy the ride.

One thing I have to say is that the ride out the Queen K is far from desolate, in fact it is very pretty and interesting. There are many different types and colors of lava, there are these great flowering bushes that are scattered along the way (thanks Madame Pele, those are for you to make leis while out on the lava fields, aren't they?) there are mountains and hills in the background, the ocean is almost always in view, sometimes with beaches.. it is really quite nice.

Hit the timing mats at 30 miles and felt like I hadn't done anything yet! Went over the mats and said out loud - "I'm Here!" - to all the people watching on the web. I'm smiling!

Kept riding, and all of sudden it hit me, I should have seen the pros returning from Hawi (the turnaround village). Where are they? Finally, at about mile 45 or so, I saw the helicopter and then the lead "pack" - only one I recognized was Jurgen Zack. Then some space and the next group had Cameron Brown in it. Well, I have made it to a point in the course that I rode earlier in the week. On Wednesday, we drove to a point in the bike course that was 20 miles from the turn-around in Hawi, and Bill, Matt & I rode from there to Hawi - with John driving the sag wagon. There are 20 miles to go and I will be in Hawi!! Of course it's a lot of hills, but they aren't very big, and I did them all already with Bill (a big confidence booster!) With about 8 miles to go to Hawi, the headwinds kicked in. Keep smiling Cathy, it's only 8 miles to Hawi!! So, I smiled to myself as I rode 8mph up hills that should have only meant a downshift or 2, and I'm passing people! I usually make it a habit to say something to people as I pass them, or as they pass me - in this race, lots of people don't respond. But lots do, so I keep on talking to them. I'm getting closer, and closer, and finally there is the sign that says, Hawi-town.!!! I MADE IT TO HAWI !!! Make the turnaround (around a VW station wagon), stop at special-needs and get some of the extra food I packed for myself. Now I get ready to enjoy the ride down the hills, and with a huge tailwind! And I fly, and I smile!! What a great ride! It only lasted about 8 miles or so, just about as long as the headwinds that were so bad in the other direction. But then I'm back to the place where Bill & I started our ride, I only have from mile marker 68 to mile marker 99 to go - and I'm done with the bike!! This is so exciting, I am feeling great and have only 31 miles to go! (That is just one of our after-work rides!) But now I get the head winds that went with the tail wind I enjoyed very early in the ride. Oh, well, but I'm almost done, so I can do it. Just keep pedaling, and smiling! The aid stations are almost every 5 miles and that helps a lot. It has gotten pretty warm, and the sun is bright, so the water has become a life-saver. So are the wet sponges, I squeeze the cold water on my legs, and on my helmet - it feels soooo good! Keep pedaling. Keep smiling. The miles slowly go by. Keep smiling! So, I pedal and smile my way back towards Kona. Finally the winds seem to turn around, once I got closer to Kona. I'm flying again, shifted back up to normal gears, after having been in very easy gears for a long, long time! (at one point I was in my aerobars, going downhill, pedaling and only going 14mph - normally a speed I do when resting) but now I'm smiling, I can't believe it, I am almost done with the bike! Now I pass the road to the Energy Lab - people are now running on the other side of the road, some are walking, most are running. I'll be back here in the dark, but for now I am so, so happy, the bike went great! Finally it's a right turn towards the bike finish, and then the finish arch is there!

I AM DONE WITH THE IRONMAN BIKE!!! IT'S 4:00pm, AND I HAVE 8 HOURS TO DO THE MARATHON!!!!

The new run course makes you do about ¾ mile right in the old airport, a straight out & back from the transition tents, then you wind your way back thru Kona. As I run out of the tent, the announcer says that Natascha Baadman just won the race!! I smile a very big smile for her, and then smile my way to the turn-around straight in front of me. As I make the turn-around, I realize that now I am running with the breeze and that means it is very, very warm. The sun is still out and very hot! Hey, you know what? I don't have to run in the sun. I have enough time to run only in the shade until the sun sets (@ 5:30)… so that is what I did. I walked a lot in the first part of the run, ran in the shade, and waited for the sun to go down. There was an aid-station at 1 mile then we ran thru town, and the next aid station was at mile 3. That sure seemed like a long, long time… but that is exactly why I carry water with me. At about mile 3, I saw Bill & Matt!! That was very exciting, because I feel absolutely wonderful!! I cannot believe how good I feel!! Nothing has malfunctioned, my stomach is behaving (I gave it some Rolaids just in case, but didn't need to), I have lots of time, and I'm choosing to walk when it is hot. What a wonderful place to be. I honestly do not care about my finish time - other than within the cutoff, so I can afford to be very careful not to get cooked in the heat (many pros did get cooked in the heat of the run, and never finished). I made it to the southern turn-around at 5.5 miles, and headed back towards town. As I worked my way back to Kona, I got to walk/run along the ocean watching an absolutely gorgeous sunset! Thank you Madame Pele! What a beautiful sight! After that, you wind back thru town, and the back out to the Queen K Highway. It's about mile 10 for us going away from Kona, and about mile 25 for the lucky ones coming the other direction.

Not a whole lot to say about the run, I ran to the aid stations, drank coke, chicken soup, filled my water bottle that I carry, then started 'running' to the next aid-station. It got very dark, but they had quite a few big lights placed along the course, so those combined with the streetlights at intersections made it ok. The pavement on the shoulder of the Queen K is perfect, so that wasn't a worry. They gave out glow sticks, but some people must have refused to take them, and it was sure hard to see them!! One time I thought that I saw a glow stick laying on the ground and thought I might pick it up. As I got closer, I realized that it was with a big pile of stuff, then when I got even closer, realized that the pile of stuff was a person! I stopped and asked him if he was ok, totally expecting no response at all - but he kind of moved his head, opened his eyes and said, very dreamlike, "yes, I'm just resting"… resting - in the middle of an intersection with no lights, lying on the ground! So I ran with purpose now towards one of the ever-present flashing lights on top of a medical van… I waived my glow stick over my head, told them about the guy, they said that they were "on it", but asked where he was. I told them he was right back there, you can see the glow stick… That was scary, but I assume he was ok with a little of their help, but probably did not finish.

I made it to the Energy Lab turn.(The National Energy Lab - a private concern, has a 3 mile road to their buildings that they allow the race to run on - again though, a road of legend ) I did not know how long this road was, as you were not allowed on it before the race - it's private property. I knew I was at mile 14+. Pretty soon, there was a mile marker on the other side of the road, 19 miles! Wow, this is a 5 mile loop, didn't know that… but ok, smile, cuz I made it to the Energy Lab, and it isn't "sapping all of my energy" as I have heard in every Ironman TV coverage. (of course they are talking about running in the heat of the day, not at 8pm!! - but never mind that, I feel good!!) So, out the Energy Lab road. Part way out was the special needs location. Didn't need too much, left most of my stuff there, but not my package of QuicDisc - those are like gold! Finally saw the turn-around, made the beautiful noise that your timing chip makes when you register on the mats, and started back.

I AM LEAVING THE ENERGY LAB!!! I STILL FEEL GREAT!!! This is an unbelievable day! Made it back to the Queen K, and there is Matt on his bike, waiting for me, he cheers as I pass by, and then stays there to cheer others on. I continue towards the next aid-station, smiling even more! Matt later rode by on the other side of the road, and stopped near the next aid-station, and was there when I got there. We leap-frogged the rest of the way back! It was great. Part way back to Kona, all of a sudden the moon broke thru the clouds! We had beautiful moonlight!! Thanks Madame Pele, you're still taking care of me! I am really smiling now! Still running between aid-stations. Still drinking coke & chicken soup at each one, and water almost constantly. I can't believe this, I am approaching mile 25! The turn back down Palani Drive! I AM GOING TO FINISH THE HAWAII IRONMAN!! I see Matt one more time as I make the turn away from the finish line, people along the side of the road are continuously congratulating me! I never stop smiling. Now, remember Cathy, turn the hat around (I had put the brim in the back in order to feel the sprinkles that were falling while I was running on the Energy Lab road - that felt really good!), pull the TRI-DRS tag out so it is on top of my shirt and shows in the picture …. The picture is very important you know! Anyway, I am suddenly making the very last turn onto Alii Drive. Alii Drive - the goal of every Ironman Triathlete - where the finish line is, where the screaming crowds are. There is probably still 1/3 - ½ miles to go, but now there are progressively more and more people cheering you on, the smile gets bigger and bigger, the steps get longer, everything feels lighter, as I float down the road.

I AM COMING TO THE FINISH LINE!! There is Matt, one more time, taking a picture!! - love you Matt!! This is almost too much to believe, there are the spot lights, now there are lots and lots of people, I am finishing on Alii Drive! There is the finish arch-way, Mike Reilly (the announcer who manages to announce each & every finisher's name) says my name (and some other stuff that I can't understand) as I approach the finish. I am slapping hands with spectators, now I don't want this to end… but then it happens, I cross the finish line.
I FINISHED THE HAWAII IRONMAN!!!

I AM AN IRONMAN!

Immediately, Bill is there with me, I feel wonderful, it is so good to see him, and I am so happy.
As we walk towards the finish stuff, John Faith shows up along side of me. I am smiling so hard it almost hurts!

I did it. I finished the Hawaii Ironman. Who ever would have thought it? I got my medal, t-shirt, had another picture taken, and found the showers we used after swimming during the week. Then we all walked home together, leaving all the madness behind, as I savored the feeling with the people I am closest to. We met up with Matt, and the 3 of them escorted me back to our condo, where we even had some champagne! I felt great! I still feel great. I am so happy with my race. I am so happy with everything. I never, ever thought that things could/would possibly all go so well. Nothing, absolutely nothing went wrong. How often does that happen - and then to have it happen on the most important race of your life! I am really blessed. I had the best support in the world, Bill, Matt & John could not have done more for me, or done more to support me. I love them all, and they know it!

Thanks for listening, sorry it's so long, but it was just so great!
Cathy (Ironman Hawaii Finisher forever) Taylor

Ps - for anyone doing any future Hawaii Ironman races, Madame Pele must really like Tangueray Gin.