Ironman St. George - Utah - TriathlonFull Ironman

Swim was good overall. Beat my goal time which was to finish between 1:30 and 1:40. Was very happy with that. Started just a little behind everyone up front at the start line. Still banged around pretty good for the first 1000m. Felt the calves cramping about 1/3 through...stretched them out a bit...the rest of my legs started cramping about 3/4 through. Was able to take 30 seconds and stretch them out a couple of times. Ran into a lifeguard on a surfboard which woke me up. I was in cruise control at the time. The right arm of my wetsuit slid down to my wrist and was letting in water the last 800m of the swim which was aggravating.

Not much. Check wetsuit fit. Stretch legs more? I am hearing that the cramping was probably due to the cold water.

T1 went as well as I expected. Grabbed my bike bag, went inside the tent, found a chair and dumped my bag. Changed into bike shorts, put on bike jersey...decided to forgo the long sleeve shirt that was going on first. (good call). Put on bike jacket, helmet, grabbed some extra stuff I had thrown in the bag that morning...aspirin, advil, etc. Packed up the bag, took off, gave it to a volunteer and then....WOOPS! Left my sunglasses in the bag. The volunteer was awesome, he dumped the bag, found them right away, handed them to me and re-packed the bag. I hit the port o potty and the sunscreen application area and then took off to my bike. They were calling my number, so another great volunteer had it ready. Waved to Wendy and my dad who were on the side with my dog Hogan and took off out of T1. It was great seeing them there!

Not too much...pretty happy with how T1 went.

The bike leg was tougher than I thought it would be. I believe the swim being so cold took some of the energy out of my legs! I had trained on the course a couple of times and expected to come in around 7:50 - 8:00 hrs, so I missed my goal a little there.

1st 24 miles:

Felt tougher then expected. The first climb over by the fairgrounds seemed steeper than I remembered! I was surprised how tired I felt that early on the bike leg. However, by mile 15, I started feeling pretty good. Had to stop once and hit a port a potty. I was cruising pretty good and hit the beginning of the 1st loop on my pace. At mile 22 I saw my friend Andy who lives about a block from the bike course. He gave me a shout and a wave and I told him I would see him in about "3 hours". I knew that is where Wendy and my dad would be as well.

1st Loop:

The first loop felt pretty good. I did a good job staying in zone 2 (heart rate) and keeping to my pace. I was very aware of the fact I could and should not push it on the first loop or I could be toast on loop two. I handled all the climbs well and made it to the downhill section pretty much on pace.

2nd Loop:

Saw Wendy, my dad, Andy and several of my friends on the Stampede Flyball team at the same place I saw Andy earlier. They were all holding signs and cheering. It was great to see them. I felt pretty good. I was right around 78 miles at that point. A few miles later, mile 82 to be specific, I all of a sudden had the worst shooting pain in my lower right back that I have ever had. It was a stabbing pain that was excruciating. I get lower back pain, but never had the stabbing pain. I was in slight panic mode, it hurt to stand, to move, to do anything really. I was coming up on one of the short nasty climbs and had to jump off and walk it due to the pain. I knew I was ok on time, so I wasn't to concerned. Once I made it to the top and jumped on the bike, the stabbing pain was gone. YAY! Made it to the Veyo wall and then had to walk the hill as I was now fighting cramps in the quads. I knew I was ok on time for the cutoff and didn't want to risk really cramping up. The legs were pretty toast leaving Veyo and climbing that last 5 or 6 miles. The downhill coming back into St. George was wild! It was extremely fast and some of the gusts scared the crap out of me! I knew by walking it had cost me some time, but I was comfortably going to make the cutoff time. One thing that took me by surprise was that last little climb at mile 110. What the heck was that!??

Not much. I paced myself well for the training I had done. I wouldn't do anything different in the race, but I would train harder for the hills of this race for the next time I do it.

Would love to know what caused the stabbing pain on the bike. One thought based on research and discussions is that it may have been kidney pain due to my nutrition. I really have no idea.

T2 went as well as expected. It took them about 15 seconds extra to find my run gear bag. It was not in the same spot as drop off. Not a big deal. Went into the changing tent. Changed into my run shirt and shoes. It felt great to be off the bike, but I knew the run was going to be brutal!

Nothing.

The first 3 miles felt uphill, then rolling up and down for the next 3.5 miles. I was really able to only run on the flats and downhills, I had to walk on the uphills. I knew that by this strategy, it would be coming down to the very end on whether or not I would finish in under the 17 hr limit.

The first 13.1 miles was completed on target. The target being right around 14-15 minute miles with the walk/run/survive strategy. At the halfway mark, I was mentally pretty toast. I had been talking to myself for a while about whether or not I could keep going. Although the thought of quitting did enter my mind, it would never happen. I had told Wendy that I was finishing or they were taking my off in an ambulance!

Anyway, at the halfway point, I saw my dad, first thing I asked was "where is WENDY!?" I was really hoping to see her and get her encouragement. Well she was taking care of our dogs out at Sand Hollow. He said "she will see you at 900 East with some warm clothes." Well at the time, that made no sense to me. I was like, so she is going to see me at the finish line and have clothes for me? Great, at least she is confident that I am going to finish. :) At that point, my dad must have read my facial expression and knew I was in a world of hurt and says to me: "You have everyone coming up from Vegas!" WHAT???!! I knew he meant a bunch of my good friends and flyball teammates were coming up! I was like "YOU ARE KIDDING ME!, I AM TOAST. I AM NOT SURE I CAN DO THAT AGAIN"! I was referring to the 13.1 miles! He says, "well you better get going cause everyone is coming!"

Alrighty then! I immediately took off. I knew the pace I had to keep to finish. I had to be right around 15 minute miles and I would have 10-12 minutes to spare. That first 3 miles uphill was brutal. I put my head down and walked as fast as I could. I was able to average right around 15 minute miles going up, so that was great! The next 3.5 miles started getting nasty with the rolling hills, it was getting dark and colder and the wind was becoming more noticeable. Well, I hit the turn around on pace and at that point as I was approaching the turn around, it hit me what my dad had said. 900 East! There was Wendy and a bunch of my friends! They had the signs out and were yelling for me! It was awesome! I think I just smiled at them, gave them a fist pump, but did not stop as I knew I had no extra time to waste! Wendy forgot to give me anything warm which was good! I was cold and I think it helped me keep going because I was miserable. After seeing them, I just kept to my pace. The Garmin was a blessing. I could monitor my pace and knew that I was right on track, still with 10-12 minutes to spare. The next 3.5 miles or so were the most miserable of the entire race. It was dark, cold, windy and I was pretty much alone. I found out later that there was only another 10 people on the course behind me. (9 finished, 1 missed by a couple minutes) Once again, I put my head down, and pushed as hard as I could to get to the 23 mile mark. I knew at that point, there was 3 downhill miles left. At the 23.5 mile mark, my friend Andy was waiting for me at the bottom of a hill that turns back to town. He walked along side of me for almost a mile or so and that was awesome! It was great to talk to someone after 16 hours of not talking! I confirmed my watch time to make sure I had the time I thought I did. He provided some much needed encouragement and we both knew with 1.5 miles to go that I was going to be an IRONMAN! He said, "I'll see you at the finish line"! He took off and I just kept going! Walk/run...walk/run...and so on! Running along Diagonal Street, I could here Mike Reilly calling out the finishers and knew it would soon be me! I thought my heart was going to explode! At the final turn with 300 yards or so to go, there was my Dad and Lonnie checking on me! They were all very nervous and they could not wait down by the finish anymore! They were coming to help! HAHAHA! I turned the corner, saw the finish line and a shot of energy hit me and I was able to run it in! The crowd was going crazy. Reilly had them all worked up, I was high-fiving the crowd and Mike, it was an AWESOME way to finish the race! And here Mike Reilly say, "James, you are an Ironman!" was incredible!

Wow. That I don't know. I guess just train more.

I pretty much just went to the post race area, and hung out with with Wendy, my dad and all my friends! I tried to choke down a piece of pizza, but that was tough! We hung out for an hour, and then we went back to Sand Hollow where I passed out in the RV!


Probably just starting the Ironman specific training plan later that I should have. I did a 4 month plan although I was training for this race for a year. I needed a few more long rides and runs!


The race was awesome. It was a very difficult race but that is what an Ironman is and what I wanted! The volunteers and city of St. George were unbelievable! They put on a great event and a very challenging course. I highly recommend this race!