Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Awesome start...so excited I didn't even notice the cold. Once the canon went off I was in the moment. Was getting hit but no problem, just like swimming at Bally's with waders coming into my lane. Being in the 90min group I was getting hit all throughout the swim but mostly at the bouys where it was treading water getting around. I would do a very light kick if I felt someone on my heels. Navigation was great, I just kept focusing on the next bouy and tried not to think ahead. I hit the turnaround at 45min...right on track for the 90min, and I wanted to neg split the back half. Had to pee twice swimming back but kept going just floated the legs. Seemed odd to go a total of three times in 90min.

The gel before the start was great...but maybe too much liquid. Would like to dedicate more time swimming next year late in the season to knock off 10-15min here.

I wore tri shorts and top under my wetsuit so I grabbed my bag and got ready outside of the tent. Hands and toes were a little cold here but I felt good, made sure I had my nutrition and was off.

Had about a 45sec snag getting on the shoes, but other than that I felt good here.

Felt really good on the bike. Had a great cadence and was surprised at my speeds at times. Noticed large pelotons on the downhill of beeline...but most of it was probably unavoidable. Went right past special needs. Eventually started skipping aid stations. I did take in a few bananas, about 4 gels, 1 bottle sustained energy, and some water and gatorade. Lap 2 seemed more windy than the first so I adjusted gears and just tried to maintain 85-90rpms.

Had to hit the porta 5 times first two loops! Spent at least 10min in lines. Finally adjusted my fluid intake by the third lap and didn't have to go again the rest of the race. Each time I stopped I got faster after relieving myself.

Was pleased to see someone there ready to take my bike! Again sat outside the tent and the change to shoes went fine. I decided to go with the calf compression sleeves and was pleased how it felt later. This prob added 60sec to get them on though.

Possibly wear the comp sleeves under the wetsuit and have them on entire race.

Keep in mind when reading this I have yet to run the entire run portion of a race Oly level or above! I felt great right away but then quickly saw a sign reading mile 16 and knew it was going to be a long day. I remembered reading ChrisM RR and tried to just focus on staying strong seeing these mile markers. By mile 3 I walked for about 20 seconds then thought of Daremo advising "you have no business doing an IM yet" and sucked it up and ran. I snapped out of it fairly quickly and decided I would give it my all to run this damn thing, even though something in the back of my mind was telling me I would be walking. I was thinking of stevebradley and the rest of my mentor group and how they would be anxiously waiting for my splits. I wanted to keep moving as quick as possible to the next timing mat. I felt like those timing mats were my chance to communicate with my BTers. By the end of the first lap I saw my wife and cheering section and they said I looked great, and I was feeling that way too ( I saw them each lap and it was a boost). I saw that sign that said (lap 1,2,3 this way) and thought of 4 letters: HTFU...remembering only a year earlier I had to ask what that meant. I glanced down and saw 9:20 on the timex and thought BryanCD must be finishing now...wow he is fast. Lap 2 was interesting for me...I wasn't in pain like I thought. I was mentally in a good place. I thought of Gordo where he said it was OK to walk up the hills and quickly while getting aid and thought "man, he sure is a nice guy to let me do that". On lap 2 I also stopped at SN and wasted about a minute there...I grabbed my long sleeve which I never needed (just tied around waste). FINALLY, I was on lap 3 and was thrilled that I was still running. Now it was not fast, but I was running...at the end of an IRONMAN. I let myself take some broth this lap and it was fantastic, so was that first cup of coke. Later the coke became a regret. As someone who hasn't had soda in months this was not that great for me. But the water was fine. Eventually I came around the village again and saw my family, I handed off the sunglasses and shirt and said see ya in an hour. I did the math and saw I was going to be around 13:05 or so and though that was way to close to my goal. Realistically I had already shattered my goal by not being the walking dead but I had some gut left. I thought again of ChrisM and how he learned his legs would not fall off from his coach earlier in the year. I kept saying to myself "just keep running, there not gonna fall off". Then I thought of Rudy, another racer...who had no legs...and then I saw him about 60sec later! That was all I needed. I hit one last aid station around mile 22 and blasted through the last 4 miles and ran up the last few ramps. I shortened my stride and stepped it up in pace. By the last couple miles I felt like I was doing 7mmp...of course I wasn't, but I was steady...and still running! I crossed the line with a big smile and felt like I could have ran another 10miles...Ok, maybe not, but still.

I suppose this run went great. I knew coming in 13hr was achievable, but wasn't going to beat myself up if I missed it. Thrilled to achieve it though! Had all day to think of the BTers out there and it was great. Thank you everybody for your support. I will see you at the starting line in 2010!!!

Had two pieces of pizza and a massage. Next year I will get warm clothes ASAP, starting shivering a bit. Went back to the room and watched the last finishers on the live feed via the web.


More experience is needed. Need to put in more swim yards, I barely trained for that discipline. Running could use a couple min per mile improvement as well.


Awesome race. After putting in an 8hr day at my last HIM in Las Vegas this was truly a night and day experience. Highly recommended you do this race!