I must apologize ahead of time for the small font and the length. This was a difficult task to summarize such an amazing experience into something manageable for you to read before the turn of the New Year.

Writing my Iron Tales was so easy, I thought for sure this would be routine for me, but it has proved to be a challenge. I feel I owe so many people recognition and so many details I want to share, but I respect that you all have busy lives so I tried my hardest to edit the best I could, you might only have to have a seven course meal while you read.

My race report has to include the days leading up to the race. Tuesday morning, Anne was at my door at 5am to help me pack up my trusty bike, which we did with ease considering the early morning hour I got a beautiful arrangement of roses at work that day from Lisah, then a sweet package in the mail from Jen, Remo & Chloe. I have to admit, this must be what it is like to have a birthday on a day other than Christmas.

Tuesday night it was time to put off the packing. Thankfully David came over shortly after 8 and took the role of trying to keep me calm, not an easy task!! I owe Dave a huge thank you and possibly a degree in Sports Psychology. Late that night I had a melt down and Dave tried to say anything he could to ease my mind, then finally he said to me 'Fine, don't go' and it was like all of a sudden everything was clear. Despite the many times I thought to myself how much better it would be if I had family coming with me, this was NEVER a thought in my head and I was doing this no matter what. Dave just found the words to make me realize that. I am forever in debt for that statement. I was finally able to stop focusing on what might feel missing in Canada and focus on the more important things like what I was going to purchase at that finisher tent the day after the race.

Dave and I left for the airport shortly after 5am, when we got there Beth, Joe, Robin, Jeff were already there as were their rides and our cheerleaders Tania and Julie Tania somehow managed to get the airline to announce our names on the flight to wish us luck, too cute!! Then we land in Vancouver and little did I know the adventure soon to follow. We go thru customs in Vancouver, so you have to get your bags/bikes and re-check them. Girls got the luggage, boys went to the oversized area for bikes. Low and behold, NO BIKE FOR JONI. We didn't waste too much time waiting, I filed some paperwork and we headed off to our next flight. I was in a bit of shock, but still hopeful that it just somehow would catch up with me in Kelowna.

Kelowna, NO BIKE. So again I filed more paperwork, the computer system was down so they couldn't even verify where the bike might be then, and couldn't give me a tracking number 'til the system was back up. Yes I was freaked out but somehow I was a ton calmer than I would expect from myself. I suppose I went into the infamous Ironman survival mode a few days early. Immediately we executed a plan to be at the Bike Barn first thing the next morning to see what I could do about getting a bike, just in case my bike never showed. I am forever indebted to Will & Gary at The Bike Barn (www.bikebarn.ca) they were servicing probably all 2300 athletes yet still snapped into 'get Joni a bike mode' I truly felt like their only customer. The next day I had a bike to ride, thanks to a local patron and of course to Fit Werx (http://www.fitwerx.com/) for providing me with my bike measurements back in April when I went for a fitting. It hit me when I was at The Bike Barn to pick up the loaner, that I may indeed be trusting this adventure to a bike I had not bonded with, I finally broke down. Thanks to Joe & Beth this was a manageable panic attack and we were back into BRING IT ON mode.

Air Canada was never able to verbally tell me they found my bike, but Friday a ghost driver dumped (yes literally) my bike off in the drive way of the Bed & Breakfast I was staying at. I never saw the truck or the driver, my guess is they were afraid of me, Ha ha! So I returned the loaned bike and brought my bike in to be put back together. Despite all their efforts they were still so happy to see that my bike arrived and they were going to be able to have it put back together for me in time to rack it on Saturday (since all bikes had to be racked by 3:45pm Saturday afternoon). I was only able to do a quick safety check ride with it once I picked it up Saturday, but I never thought I would be so happy to see my 50lb steel frame (ok an exaggeration but you get the point).

In the mean time we drove the bike course, swam in the lake. I went for a pre-race massage since I was having some shoulder pain, and had seen Jim Monday, so wasn't sure what was going on. Only to be told that I somehow had managed to pull three ribs out. But I iced and iced and stretched and stretched and by Saturday it was feeling tender but much better. We did the underpants run, the parade of Athlete's and soaked in the atmosphere of Penticton.

I got calls from so many friends and family, it was so incredible. My mom, dad & Lynn were so amazing through all of this, I owe them many hugs! I know they wished they could be there!

RACE DAY

Woke up at 1am, but was able to fall asleep again and finally awoke around 3:45am. I knew from the ' Ironman that nutrition was going to be key for me today, so I started forcing down my bagel with almond butter and started drinking my Amino Vital and water. I am glad we had our sessions and advice from our nutritionist Kim (www.kbnutrition.com) especially as the day progressed, I knew my target fluid intake and calories.

Decided to drive my rental car closer to the finish line, my place was only 7 blocks from the finish, but wasn't sure how a mile (+/-) walk after the race would feel, or how I would be, so decided to have my car there just in case. About 5am I arrived and started the quiet walk in the dark with all the other athletes. It was pretty silent, but electrifying at the same time. You could see the focus in each face, most likely they too were doing a mental checklist of what was in their special needs bags. I am grateful that Ironman' color codes our bags as well as writes 'Special needs for bike/run' b/c no matter how many times I checked the wording I still hesitated to drop that bag into the box.

From special needs drop off you walk into the body marking area. I know I told everyone and their mother my race number, but that morning I stood there with a blank and then a panic, was I in the right line and when I reached the markers did I give them the right number I was all body marked so it was time to head into transition, I spotted Robin & Beth also walking in and at the point a smile spread across my face and I proceeded to wear that smile the rest of the day!!

Swim 2.4 miles - 1:21:01
I have only been swimming for a short time, so this was certainly the most unknown to me during training, but I knew Meghan had prepared me well physically as my swim coach and my coach gave me a mantra to chant a few months ago 'confidence & calm' and this is what I stuck with. What is it like to start swimming with about 2300 athletes, I loved it, you knew that each person had a story, each person was making the same journey that day but thru different means than yourself. I tried to think of these things when I would get punched in the ear, or I could feel those hands at my toes as a fellow competitor was trying to draft or just trying to swim over me. I ended up closer to the buoys at the first turn than I had expected so I found myself in a sea of blue caps (male competitors) and just tried to find some space. About an hour into the swim I remember my mother telling me that my deceased Nana would be with me in Canada, but by no means for the swim since she was terrified of swimming so most likely would be cheering from the sidelines and would join me for the bike. I started laughing and started talking to Nana telling her she was swimming with me whether she liked it or not.

T1 - 6:43
My first IM transition. Don had me practice the Quick Change of 5min ALL season, but despite my efforts I triple and quadruple checked things, and applied my own sunscreen, I knew it was going to be a sunny warm day so wanted to make sure nothing got missed.

Bike 112 miles - 7:47:15
Time to get re-acquainted with my long lost pal Bianchi I have heard so many things about this course, mostly about Richter and Yellow Lake and the bees on the descents. Goal for day, smile and enjoy it and take it as it comes. My main goal of the race was to finish healthy so I could stay for the finishing fireworks at midnight!

We hit McLean Creek Road and all of a sudden it was tubular city, I was overwhelmed with how many flats there were, found out later that there had been tacks dropped on the road for us riders to find on race day. Unfortunate incident but luckily all my peeps stayed flat free that day! At mile 12 I saw the most disturbing site and it stuck with me the rest of the day. There is a sharp turn around here and as I approached there was a volunteer at the top telling us to move to the other side of the road b/c there was a rider down. I slowed to about 10mph and as I turned corner I saw the ambulance and the rider face down, bleeding and not moving. I quickly gave a sign of the cross and said a small prayer. All the riders surrounding me shared words of concern and wished each other a safe ride.

First 40 miles are effortless in comparison for what lies ahead. Turning right at Husky's was the milestone for the start of Richter Pass. I welcomed the climb b/c it was a nice change for the muscles and the fans along the way made you feel like Rocky. Eventually reaching my granny gear I spun up the hill and somehow found myself passing people, each of us offering each other words of encouragement. One guy was talking a little negative so I reminded him to look right at the gorgeous view we paid for and continued on my way. The old saying goes, what goes up, must come down, well I white knuckled my way down the descent and made it without being blown around too badly. We then hit the 7 'rollers' I don't know about anyone else, but I was not rolling up any of those hills, I thought they were challenging, but again great support on them. It was time for the out and back. Many had advised this would be the toughest part of the day mentally, and I can concur. The thing that keeps you moving is the concept that you have your special needs bag at the turn-around point. I knew I had a piece of beef jerkey calling my name. We also hit a major head wind here and I'm not sure my speed ever went above 11mph, but this was when I finally got to see Beth, Robin & Andrea so it helped me forget about the wind.

After you do the out and back it is time to start preparing for Yellow Lake, not as long as Richter Pass but where it falls in the race is the key. 1000ft climb @ 6% grade. Maybe I was just biking at too casual of a pace, but again, I enjoyed this climb. When I hit the guys cranking some music, and I wish I could remember what song was playing, I held on to my handle bars with my left hand, and thru my right arm up in the air and started 'waving 'em like you just don't care' The crowd loved it and I smiled even more.

Now it was time for the scariest part of the day for me. The winds were there for the fast descent back into town. There were times I had my bike so tight b/w my knees and my hands were aching but I kept my eye on those in front of me and tried to relax the best I could. I knew this was a place I could make up some time from all the climbing, but opted for the slower safer route for my mental state at that point, I wanted to finish the day healthy, so kept reminding myself that it was ok to be so cautious.

Once I hit Main St. again my emotions were high and as a volunteer grabbed my bike and told me nice job, off I headed to T2, not without a look back at my bike, thinking, 'can I do that, let someone take my bike'

T2 - 12:08
I know I know, I owe a HUGE explanation to my coach Don Fink (www.donfink.com) for this transition time. Luckily I can blame some of it on someone he knows well, Ray Campeau!! Ray had offered me a piece of information a while back about getting into this transition. He said 'Joni, you aren't going to win the race, so if you need some down time, take it here, get re-focused and then head out even if you sit there for 10 minutes' Well' I didn't exactly sit there, but I certainly took my time. I used the restroom, changed my clothes, applied more sunscreen, and then I did stand there looking at the pile of stuff the volunteer kindly dumped out for me and for some reason just couldn't put 2 & 2 together, did I have my visor on? Did I want to switch contacts? Nope so far so good with the pair in (see I usually can only wear them for short periods of time so I was worried I would be running blind or have to put a new pair in) Finally I got my act together and headed out, all the while thinking 'sorry Don'

Run 26.2 miles - 5:02:23
I couldn't comprehend doing a marathon after all we had done that day, but I was delighted to be on my feet and be in complete control of myself. No more praying to the bike flat gods, no more legs and arms flailing about in fury to find open swim space, just me and my sneaks. Oh and my list of 26 names that I would be dedicating each mile of the race to. This proved to be the BEST advice Beth gave me over a year ago, that she got from Anne. Each mile I would look at my list and spend time with that one person, sometimes for a while, sometimes briefly but each mile marker gave me something to look forward to. I spent some quality time with those who were with me for miles 2, 3, 4, 5 and most of 6, since I pretty much walked these miles outright. But after my 1:20 walk for 6 miles, I was ready to run and I began to feel really strong, it was more than a second wind for sure.

I soon saw Andrea heading back into town, she looked great and I knew she was excited. Same for Beth I saw her a couple of miles into the run when I was on my bike, then saw her again heading into town for her PR finish. Then I saw Robin, smiling away and she too looked strong and healthy. What a relief to know that none of those sirens were for them. I forgot to mention the multiple sirens throughout the day. You just wish whomever it is for is ok! I hit the turn around and special needs bag and of course a restroom for my 6th time that day, I was properly hydrated and couldn't make me happier each time I had to stop. I started to take chicken soup for a nice salt fix and forced some e-gel down, I didn't want it but I could hear my coach/nutritionist/Chris and many others just saying 'stick to your plan, no matter what' and it worked. I felt strong the second 13.1 miles, I did walk a couple of miles in full, but my goal was to hit mile 20 and never look back, run that last 10k in. Perfect timing, b/c mile 20 was dedicated to my coach. He and I have been through many months of training, colds, improvements etc and he was the perfect motivation for that run to begin. I had a blast the last 10k, loads of spectators were out and the love a smiling face, I thanked every one of them for staying out. Then I could see my Robin ahead so I started yelling to her, however, she didn't respond so I finally yelled 'Crackles' ( a nickname from her dear hubby Jeff) and she heard me. I ran down Main St. like I hadn't exercised all day, it was like my legs were light as feathers. I saw Robin again after I made my final turn into the finish chute, and we stopped for a big hug!

Then off to the finish chute, I heard him say 'Joni Fournier from Watertown, MA' and then the rest is a blur, medal around the neck, what size shirt do you want? What do you need, water? Gatorade? Here's a mylar blanket, 'please no thank you I'm quite warm right now' Then the light headedness sits in, 'I need to sit down' I felt a bit nauseous, so we headed toward massage tent line. Next thing I know Beth is by my side and didn't leave me again 'til it was time for my massage and was back as my massage was ending. We grabbed my dry clothes and my stuff and she, Joe & I packed up my car, then headed to the finish to watch the last finishers and fireworks. With an amazing finish for one lady as she crossed the line with 2 seconds to go and the crowds screaming loudly the fireworks kicked off and Robin, Beth and I stood closely, and I still had my smile from the morning.

I loved every minute of this experience and can't wait for Ironman Lake Placid on July 23, 2006 BRING IT!!!! My dear friend Amy told me time and time again 'Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever' AMEN to that!