Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Swam 7min slower than last year. Some of it was fitness, some it was getting hit so much in the beginning. I really need to put in the work to get to 1:15 or lower here.

Went with two swim caps and the cold wasn't an issue.

spend more time training in the pool.

T1 was ok here, over 2min improvement. Having the calf sleeves on under the wetsuit helped.

I didn't put in the work, so of course I took it easy, and of curse I went slow. Next time put in the required work and make it a hard, fast swim. On this day my body was not ready for that so I did what I could.

Had a flat out of transition, still not sure how that happened. Everything was fine before the swim. Paul Huddle the race director actually helped me change the flat. Once I got rolling the front tire (tube actually) exploded from too much air?? so we tried again...this time I had no more CO2 (used 2 filling first tube) and had to run with the bike a few hundred yards to a bike support station.



After that I got cruising good, winds were minimal this lap but I was hitting decent speeds over 21mph all the way out. The wind started to pick up and continued to pick up through the next 2 laps until finally it was big, nasty, gusty wind. It only helped in one direction, the other 4 directions it was rough. 3rd lap I was going 14mph back into town. Stayed in aero through most of it. It was cool out so I had the 2 bottles of sustained energy and some water...1 banana.

Also around mile 60 or so I saw Dan Gade, my ex boss' brother. Saw a one legged guy riding a bike and thought wow, that's hard as hell. Then I saw an Army shirt, then Passed and saw he looked like Pattons twin! def was his brother, I said hello and after a few seconds wished good luck and continued on. Turns out it took him over 7.5hrs to complete the bike...although he came back to smoke me later.


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Captain Daniel Gade, U.S. Army, lost his right leg on January 10, 2005 to an Iraqi IED roadside bomb. Gade is a two time Purple Heart recipient, his first award after being wounded by an insurgent RPG round during the infamous battle for Ramadi. The U.S. Army Captain did not regain consciousness for three weeks and underwent a total of 40 surgeries during his five months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Dan Gade has recently been tipped as an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Capt. Gade is a part of the U.S. Army and the Challenged Athlete’s Foundation as well as Operation Rebound. In an impressive show of force Capt. Gade finished in 12:50:20 in the middle of the pack for all athletes. Army Strong! (from TriSports photo's)
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Around mile 88 I got another flat. I believe it happen when I was pushed to the left and had to ride in the gutter to keep it upright, about 30 sec after that I felt it go out. Thankfully, again...I was near race support. I just stayed calm trying not to pull a normal stadler ( http://youtu.be/PJWhNg-QiTc) and used it as an op to use the porto potty ala Chrissie W in 2008 (no link here, but you get the idea).

Speaking of Chrissie...man those pros were fast, they blew by on the bike like it was nothing. How the wind did not effect them I do not know. For me, easy...I never ride in winds like that. So, its to be expected...it got me.

overall just tried to stay positive and through my time goals ut the window.

get faster on the bike. Like most people it comes down to being consistent and training smart. I rode easy/mod becasue my training was easy/mod. Perhaps next cycle I can learn to push it (similar to swim).

Saw Patton in transition here. That was cool. Gave him a high 5.

Nothing, this was fine.

Again, a trend...I wasn't ablke to go long in trng. Actually 13miles was my long. Surprised I got as close to last years time as I did. Overall I just need to train consistently and smart. WIthout that, I can;t expect to go too hard on these runs.

Not much, can't be too hard on myself...I was injured for 6 weeks after-all during my big training. different, how about not get injured in training.

got massage afterwords, and unlike last year, I got warm clothes on right away.


consistent training.


Again, a great race put on my WTC. I pretty much covered it in my report, but I need to train harder is all. If I want to take my race and body to a new plac I need to train to be able to do that. In the mean time I am stepping down for shorter races next year to learn to push the pace. My A race will be IM CA 70.3 on my birthday. We'll see what happens after that.

right at 34 min slower than last year...not bad considering the conditions and the flats...but for me...I need to learn to push harder and go for it. I have completed twice now...it is no longer unknown. 13 hrs is my "safe time". going under 12 will take more.