Ironman St. George - Utah - TriathlonFull Ironman

Holy crap! Nothing I did in training prepared me for this. I started close to the front on the inside. I predicted a 1:20ish split for the swim. I think that the mass of swimmers just slowed me down. The amount of contact and the large number of swimmers going perpendicular to the rest of us made it very difficult out there. I couldn't count the number of times that I was wiped out by swimmers going completely the wrong way. What made it worse was that I would get a cramp in my left calf everytime I was brought to a stop by these wrong wayers. They had to have had their eyes closed or goggles full of water to not see the direction everyone else was headed. After making the second turn we had a long straight that was at least a mile long. At this point, to get away from the meelee, I moved inside the buoy line. I was actually closer to all the rescue craft than the buoys. I had very clear water, but was still intercepted by the occassional rogue swimmer who was headed off to somewhere far more important than the swim exit. Finally made the final turn and headed in to the boat ramp. Swim felt long but I was feeling good. Hit the ramp grinning, ran up, and was met by the strippers. Grabbed my gear bag and ran off to change. I was in 1302nd place.

Place myself at the very front and get inside the buoy line immediately. Swim sprint to get clear of the scrum.

Wore bike shorts under wetsuit. I am a school teacher and 2 6th grade girls from school were my helpers. They were so excited! Wore cycling shirt and white arm coolers. My neighbor was a bike handler and he had it ready for me as I exited the change area. I noticed that there weren't many bikes left and the race clock read 1:40something. I had some work ahead of me to get caught up. Ran bike out, clipped in, and off I went.

The best part of a day that was fantastic from start to finish. I was immediately in a crowd that would last until the end of loop 2. Ate my honey waffle stinger. It would be the last solid I'd eat for the next 24+ hours. Riding along the road out to the main highway we were all passed by a guy on a single speed road bike, he was wearing a t-shirt, baggie shorts, and berkenstocks. He had a race bib on and the bike also had the race sticker. He was up out of his seat pedalling like crazy and disappeared up ahead. I never saw him again. There's no way he could have ridden the hills ahead. Biking is my strongest and I started passing as soon as we hit the main highway. I hit every aid station. I had an aero bottle up top and 2 cages below. I'd take on a water and an IMPerform at every station. The perform got crushed into the aero bottle. Those perform bottles were a pain. They are thick plastic and are hard to crush and/or drink out of. The aid station volunteers had the caps twisted open and would sometimes break the main lid seal. If it was broken I had a spraying mess to deal with. After each aid station I would soak my arm coolers and the top of my thighs with water. I would continue this routine all day. Heat never bothered me. I ate 1 gel and 4 electrolyte tabs each hour with the liquids. The course was a 24 mile ride into St. George from the lake followed by two 43 mile loops. The first part of the loops got us through town, and out past the Shivwits Indian Reservation, after which begins the meat of this course which is a 15 mile section with most of the climbs culminating in "the Wall". After the wall is a 2 mile false flat into the town of Veyo where we turn onto the main highway. A mile out of Veyo is the Veyo hill which is the last of the "Big 4". After that is a 5 mile section of smooth highway that is slightly upill for 2 miles and then slightly down for the next 3. On both loops we had a fairly strong wind coming from the SW that hit from the right front. The 8 mile descent back down into St. George was a blast. My top speed through here, according to my Garmin, was 46mph. Got lapped by 5 pro men while on the 2nd loop. Those boys were flying! Finished the bike feeling great. Or so I thought. Now in 783rd place. I had passed 519 bikes.

Change tent was a stinking, hot, humid, disgusting mess, and the ground was soaked. Guys were just sitting around shooting the breeze as if they were bellied up to a bar drinking a cold one. I'm thinking "this is a race people"! Did a full kit change. Put my run shoes on before changing pants and then put my shirt on inside out. Gave up some time getting everything right, went #1, got sunscreened, grabbed a water and headed out. Found out later that some of the guys sitting around in the change tent had run/leg injuries and had planned on DNF'ing after the bike.

The conditions inside the tent threw me off. Don't let it phase me next year.

I had run this course many times and I knew that I could knock it out in no worse than 4:30 no matter how hard I rode the bike segment. I was just a little off. My lower legs were very tired coming out of T2 and I really didn't get my run legs until mile 4. I alternated between a run and a zippy walk which served me well throughout. Course was 2 out and backs over hilly terrain. I hit every aid station for fluids. Soaked my arm coolers at each and also grabbed ice to hold in my fists. Never felt hot. The thing that surprised me most were the large number of people doing the death march on the top of the course. Lots of suffering up there. Heat and hills taking there toll. Having never done a marathon I was expecting difficulty at mile 18ish but was able to maintain pace to the end with no real issues. Aid stations, volunteers, and spectators were fantastic. Finished in 586th with a smile. Felt great.

Couldn't eat or sleep until next day. Was able to drink. The whole day was an incredible experience and I am definately in for 2012, 2013, 2014,......


To do an Ironman is special. To do one in my home town magnified the whole experience. The hardest part of the day was seeing so many friends and teammates having difficulty and/or DNF'ing. I had my dream day and theirs was a nightmare. Volunteers and aid stations were incredible.