Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Had misplaced my normal swim watch the week before race day...so had bought a cheapo CVS watch just to have a sense of where I was time-wise. Didn't look at it until around the 1/2 way point...it said 16:41. I thought to myself "Self, that just doesn't seem right." Looked at it again a minute later: Still 16:41. It was kind of digging into my wrist anyway, so figured there wasn't much use to keeping a $6 watch which was useless and causing me pain...so I unstrapped it and ditched it in the water. The next time the dam bursts and all the water drains out, I'll go back and try to find it. If anyone found a black watch floating around, let me know. It’s mine.

I swam the first several hundred yards defensively. The kicking and clawing and biting (OK, maybe no biting) were tough - the worst I've experienced in a fairly limited mass start career. Over time, the water became somewhat clearer...at least one could look for an open spot, jog over to it and swim without close company for a bit. Clearly, the closer I got to the left - along the buoy line - the more crowded it got. And then there were the turns – the closer to the turns, the more crowded the space. By the last turn I smartened up and opted for a wider turn just avoid the hand to hand combat.

Without any numerical sense at all of my pacing all I had to rely on was my breathing and my perceived effort. I was tiring, but still felt like the effort was a sustainable one. But I've been here before in other swims...only to find out that I was well slow of my estimated or desired pace. So, really had no idea what to think of the pace. Kept telling myself that this was, after all, an IRONMAN....and that the goal was finishing, not setting a new land speed (or in this case water speed) record. Just get done with the swim...whether it was in 1:15 or 1:40, it really didn't matter in the grand scheme of the day.

About 1/2 way between the last turn and the exit stairs I hear a wiff of a time over the PA speakers - 1:05. Umm....excuse me? 1:05? The fastest I'd done 2.4 in training was 1:07:30. And I'd told myself repeatedly that 1:15 or 1:20 was probably my goal time in the race since anything under about 1:10 left me drained in training. Now I'm looking at 1:05? You've gotta be kidding me. A part of me worried that the effort I'd laid out in the swim was too strong and that it would come back to haunt me. The other part, let's be honest, was a tad on the psyched side to have done the swim in a PR pace. The third part of me wondered if the course was off. :-)

I exited the water and laid down for the wet suit strippers - amazing volunteers as always - and chugged off to the Transition area. 138+ miles to go.


Was stunned at the results. Can't think of much that could have gone better. I’m not one for swim drills – my swim training consisted pretty much exclusively of long swims – 77 laps or more 2X weekly. This worked for me – was happy with the outcome.

My goal in Ironman wasn't to beat my time goals by cutting corners on transitions. I'd factored in a fair amount of time in my time goals to make sure that I had everything I needed for the longest segments of the race...and to make sure everything was as clean and dry and lubricated and adjusted and put together as possible. So - I didn't rush.

I do have to say, though, that when I found out post race that my T1 time was 10:44, those nearly 11 minutes seemed to fly by. Could it have really taken that long? Really? Guess so. Even in my amazement at that...I felt it was time well spent. Took the time to dry my feel and put socks on. Took the time to arm warmer-up. Took the time to put 2 HUGE gobs of Chamois Butter in the netherlands to promote...ummm...shall we say a more "comfortable" ride. Didn't do a suit change. Camel pack on (with spare tubular tied on), nutrition spread over the 20 pockets (OK, 5 really) that I have on my tri suit and I was off. As is the theme of the day - volunteers were great. Helping in every way possible.


Maybe try to speed it up a bit? Live exclusively off the course nutrition-wise....that would say a bit of time in stuffing my pockets full-o-stuff. But given the weather, glad I put on the arm warmers. I don't know. It was time well spend given the length of the ride to come.

Coming out of transition I was pumped. Great swim - but swimming is just a necessary evil in Ironman. This is where the race really began. The bike and the run - the two long segments of the day.

Felt strong coming out on the bike. Worried a bit as I had a hard time getting my heart rate down...seemed to be in the upper 150s when the majority of my training rides settled into a nice 130s and low 140s range. So, didn't want to burn things up too hard....but at the same time, I just really had a tough time getting the HR lower. Kinda just went with it for a while, figuring it was taking a longer time than expected to calm down after the swim.

Felt really good on the first "out" segment of the first loop. Speed was solid. Didn't realize exactly why until I turned around and felt the wrath of God in my face. Oh my. Wind baby, Wind. It was windy. There was a strong headwind. The wind, I must say, was ferocious. (You get the point?) It was what it was....not much anyone could do about it.

Drafting: Tough not to in spots. 2300 riders on the course....spread really over about 37 miles or road...calculate it out and there just isn't enough room for everyone. But, to the best of my ability, I avoided blatant drafting.

All of the "out" legs were great - with the wind. All of the "back" legs were tough - against the wind. They seemed to get tougher as the day went on...don't know what proportion of the blame I'd lay at the feet of tiring legs or at intensifying winds, but it just seemed to get tougher as the day went on. The 3rd "back" leg was absolutely brutal.

I stopped 3X - 2 porta potty pit stops of just minute or two each, and a quick stop to re-load nutrition at the SN bag area. Other than that, it was GO Go GO! Gotta hand it to the volunteers...having someone hold your bike as you slipped in to the porta potty? I mean come on! Even though it made me, who usually likes to linger a bit, a tad bit self conscious knowing that someone was actually out there (probably looking at their watch and timing me) holding my bike while I talked to a man about a horse, it was great to have the help. Wow.

It was also great to get back to the transition area each 2 hours and see my support crew - my wife and parents. They were troopers hanging out in the cold and rain and wind all day and I looked forward to hearing their encouragement each time I rounded the home base turnaround.

Umm...rain. Yes, there is that too. It sprinkled on and off. No downpours, which was good. Roads were wet from time to time and cornering was cautious when conditions were wet....but all in all, the good temperatures were a blessing.

The 3 loop course: A Plus. It broke up the route. Having not done a full 1-loop circle Ironman before I don't know what that feels like, but I enjoyed the 1-loop down, 2-loops down mentality that I had in doing this race. Same applied for the run. As hard as it was to head out on the 3rd loop...it was nice to know that the "majority" of that given segment was done.
Nutrition: I didn’t end up using the 3 liters of fluid that I brought along in my camel pack. Probably could have left that at home if I figured out another way to bring along my spare tubular. Ended up grabbing fluid on the course. Am glad, however, that I brought my own solid foods – there were enough opportunities to pick up GU along the way, but for some reason I didn’t do a good job of collecting Power bars or other solid food. So, glad I brought my own.


Not sure here. Maybe train on a bit more hilly terrain to simulate powering through the wind? My goal, though, was 6-6:30 on the bike, and I came in at 6:18. So, despite the conditions, I was able to get to the spot where I wanted to be.

Transition volunteers were awesome. What more can you say about them? You hand your bike to someone and then someone hands you your Transition run bag? "Is there anything more we can do to help you, sir?" "No...I'll go ahead and put my shoes on myself."

Another long and grueling segment of the race coming up. I wanted to be efficient, but didn't want to forget anything.

I took my time in putting my running shoes on. Opted to not change socks - which I debated about. In the end, it was the right decision for me.

I re-loaded on nutrition, mainly GU, and headed out.

So, this was it. The only thing that stood between me and my first IM race finish was a 26.2 mile run. A daunting task in any circumstance, but starting at 2:30 or 3pm in the afternoon. Who does that? Ironmen do. Who does it after doing 112 miles on the bike? Ironmen do. Who does it after doing 2.4 miles in the water? You guessed it.

So, I trotted off.

My goal was to run the first half at a nice and easy pace. Then run/walk the last half. Could it happen?

In the first mile I was pretty sure than answer was no. I stopped twice to adjust my shoe - it seemed too loose, then, too tight. Goldilocks set in eventually. First loop was tough, but I trudged on. My first walk break came at mile 7 or 8, not the 13 that I had hoped. Ya know - I'm OK with that. It was a long day - I just needed to take the run at a pace that I could do. It was MY race - just really tried hard not to get caught up in trying to keep up with those around me, and not to get too down.

Around mile 3 - the "Inspiration Station" where family and friends could leave 20-character messages to be displayed as we marched across the timing mats. Mine from my wife: "Candy Candy Candy" How appropriate for me....my sweet tooth is legendary.

At the tail end of the first loop, I came upon a lovely woman - brown hair, chin just about the height of the nape of my neck - madly in love with me. It was great to walk a bit and talk with my wife who was just so encouraging. I teared up a bit...not sure why. Maybe it was the fact I still had like 16 miles to go. But, off I went.

The "Ironman Math" started in earnest about mile 14 or 15 of the run. Where was I? What COULD my finish time be? I asked a few people around me to make sure what time it was - thinking maybe I had failed to reset my watch to local time. I calculated, loosely, that a 14 hour finish was in the bag - my goal. No problem there. My "Perfect Race" goal - if everything was just GREAT - was 13 hours. Could I make this time? I could. How much would it hurt? Well, loose math suggested that I'd need to average 13 minute miles for the rest of the race. Doable, for sure. I left plenty of margin to get those last 0.2 miles of the 26.2 mile run in, as well as any differences between my watch and the official time. With each mile that passed...a 11:30/mile for example - widened my margin for error and/or lowered my final finish time.

Second loop - things got tougher. Walked a bit more, runs were a bit shorter. Ran down all the hills and tried to run as much of the flats as I could. Walked the aid stations.

As was the case with the bike's 3rd loop - it was hard as heck to head out again, but at the same time, now all that stood between me and my first IM finish was 8+ miles. That's it. 8 "little" miles.

Then 7.

Then 6.

Then 5. Let's just say that those last 5 miles took some significant intestinal fortitude. Even though I was walking much more than running, they STILL seemed tough. Why is that? But, with each passing mile, the assurance of a sub-13 finish was improving. And that was amazing to me. It was that - and seeing my family - now joined by my in-laws and 2 lovely and supportive kids - which kept me going.

It was my 3 year old daughter on that last lap who - having not seen me in 3 days and now seeing me near the end of the race probably looking like dog doodoo - jutted out into the course arms spread wide looking for a big hug from her Pops. I obliged. With eagerness. The guy behind me, who could have been annoyed by the family intrusion into the course, instead played it cool and said "Now that will get you through to the finish." Indeed it will.

Nutrition: Tough go of it. Didn't eat much of anything after about 13 - and cut off all liquids from about 8 through 20 or so. Stomach was just full...not feeling well. Started taking down Powerade in the final miles - just to have something, but just never felt good in the last 1/2 to 2/3 of the run.

Making the final turn off the 3-loop course into the finishing chute was a rush, no doubt about that. But even at that point, it was hard to figure how much of the finishers chute there was! I was determined to "run" (reduced to a "one-foot-in-front-of-the-other-at-a-pace-a-bit-faster-than-walking") the rest of it. The crowd was screaming. I felt like I had won. I came around the final corner, into the bright lights - saw the official time as being less than 12:50 and was just so proud. I had done it. "Cameron {butcher the last name here} from Clayton, California - you are an IRONMAN!" These words...words I had heard countless times before on YouTube, except with different name associated, were now mine. Wow. I had done it!


Probably incorporate some longer distance transition runs into my plan - some 10 milers...longest I did after 100 miles on the bike was 7ish,I think.

After waiting for what seemed like forever to get my finishers picture taken, I was off to unite with family. My lovely wife met me at the exit of the finishing area and after the most wonderful hug ever I finally broke down. Cried. Pain, yes, but also pure emotion. It was amazing. We walked a few paces to a grassy area and I laid down. For the first time in 13 hours, my heart rate was allowed to decline.

11 months ago - just months after signing up for this race - I was flat on my back with a recurrence on intense back pain. Unable to do anything, let alone swim/bike/run. Could I do the race? Could I get well enough, in enough time, to train? Slowly, I began to feel better and little by little, I got out on the road/pool. Miles and duration built. And today - this day - was the culmination of it all.

God is good. Hebrews 12:1: “And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.” I don't think he had IRONMAN in mind when he inspired this to be written, but how appropriate a theme. He was with me in training - kept me relatively injury free and safe - only one minor bike accident. He kept me motivated over an extended period of time. He gave me friends who cheered me on and asked each Monday "So, what'd ya do this weekend?" He gave me family who cared. And most of all, he gave me a wife and 2 lovely kids who endured much more than I did in all of this. They are the Ironmen....We are an Iron Family. This was more than about me doing 140.6 miles in 12:49:20 - this was about the giving and constantly yielding nature of my family who put their lives on hold for me. Thanks to them...from the bottom of my now very healthy heart! May I be as gracious and giving when it comes time for Iron Mama to ramp it up for her race. :-)


Wind: Do more hills on the bike
Endurance: Do more long T-Runs in te training.



Couldn't be better, as expected. MDot races are all that they are advertised to be.