Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

It's a mass start with 3000 people. Enough said. Lots of contact and it seemed to continue the entire time. The out portion went by quick probably because I was just surviving. No clean water at all. The sun made spotting tough so I just followed the splashing. Visibility wasn't any different than any other OWS I had done. After the turn I took a hard elbow to the head that made my ears ring for a few minutes. Probably the hardest blow I've had in a race, but was able to shake the cobwebs pretty quick. On the way back in it seemed like the Mill Bridge just wasn't getting closer. Took forever to get there. I was able to get into some clean water for about ten minutes and stretched out my stroke. That felt good. About 1/4 mile from the bridge my shoulder started to bark but I ignored it. Nothing too bad. Made the last turn and then to the stairs. Tough to get out of the water, and glad to have a volunteer yanking me up. Was disoriented for a few seconds, typical post-swim fog. Wetsuit strippers were great. Walked to the tent just to take some time to get my bearings. Got a splinter on the way that I had to dig out 2 days later but luckily didn't feel it during the race.

The warming tent was nice. My hands and feet were like ice blocks. Fingers were so numb that I couldn't open my transition bag. Another volunteer appeared and helped me get my stuff out, and even helped with the compression socks and arm warmers. The fog finally cleared and I got to my bike, woofed down a banana and was off.

Glad to have a neoprene hood, definitely helped. Ear plugs are a must. Defogger worked on the goggles. The temp was bootie legal but I had done some pool swims with those and found that they just slowed me down and for some reason seemed to strain my hamstrings so I opted to go barefoot and I think it was the right call. Overall pleased with my time.

Lots of time here but for this kind of distance I don't care too much about transition time. It's more important to make sure I'm comfortable on the ride.

My strategy was to run my own pace based on HR. Wanted to keep it in 140s or better no matter my speed. I knew anything more would mean a nasty bonk later on. The first loop went by pretty quick. The headwind heading out on the Beeline was a bit of a surprise but this quickly faded. Turning around on the downhill was nice, kept at 25-30mph for about 5 miles.

The second loop wasn't much different except the headwind was gone and it was heating up a little. Glad to have my arm covers, I think they helped keep me cool. My strategy was to take a GU at the :30 of each hour and something solid like a powerbar, half a bagel or snickers at the top of each hour. Take a bottle of gatorade or electrolytes each hour. Stuck with it and it worked. Stopped for my SN bag on lap two. This included mylicon and tums.

At the start of lap 3 I implemented something new that ended up impressing me...attitude. This was about the time where some negative thoughts began to creep in. My butt hurt. I was hot, getting tired, ready to get off the bike. The idea of another 37 mile loop was overbearing. This was a key moment because I felt that I was losing control of the race. That's when I recognized the moment for what it was and started using positive thinking. Instead of focusing on how far I had to go, I instead focused on how far I had come. I thought about the entire year of anticipation and training. Yesterday's nerves, no sleep the night before. And here I was, the swim was over and I was starting on lap 3. Just dismantle this thing piece by piece, slow and steady. Amazingly, it worked! I pushed those demons away and kept my attitude positive and it did wonders for me. After that, something just clicked. This is a mental joust and I just took the best shot the course had to offer and was still peddling. It was quite a thing. The rest of my day would be more of the same. Everytime those demons started to attack, I would respond with positive thinking. Sounds cheesy and cliched, but it really does work and made a world of difference for me. The third lap seemed no more difficult than the first two and soon I was handing the bike off to a volunteer.

Nothing. Went as well as I could have imagined. Certainly not easy but managed my nutrition and fluids and kept the pace where it needed to be.

Again I took my time here. The volunteers were great. Didn't change shorts or shirt. Buckled my nutrition bag and changed shoes and socks. More sunscreen. Hat.

It actually wouldn't be a bad idea to change shorts altogether, something dry.

Felt great to be off the bike. The first lap was a little warm and my pace was good. Alternated perform and water at each stop. Had to slow a few times and I was sure to stretch out and speed walk at these moments. Crowd support was awesome. Ditto for the volunteers. Outstanding! As the sun set, the back side near the park (away from the water) was noticeably cooler. The hill around this area was too much to run, so I speed walked it. Still keeping to my HR plan.

Lap 2 is when the stomach issues began to set in. No cramps, just bloating. This is when I began to deviate from the nutrition plan and it probably cost me. Just didn't want to eat anything, but continued drinking. Got SN bag and pulled on my old sweatshirt. Kept with a run-walk strategy the rest of the way, and was able to speed-walk when I couldn't jog. What stands out about the run was the peaks and valleys. Would feel good for a few minutes, then felt horrible for a few minutes, and most of the horrible feeling was bloating. Again, the positive thinking helped. I recognized the valleys for what they were and knew they would pass. Was able to match that with a decent run pace during the peak times. I also knew the valleys were probably lack of energy, but eating something was getting more and more difficult.

Lap 3 was a grinder. Mile 18 was a tough moment for me, and I knew I had to get some energy in. The thought of eating anything made me want to puke, but I forced a powerbar down. Almost vomited at the first bite, but a few minutes after getting it down things began to improve. Amazing how my body revolts when I'm trying to force down what it needs. At the next station someone called out "grapes" which sounded wonderful. My body wanted grapes badly and they helped, and I tolerated them well. I would do a cup of grapes at each station until the finish. Once I got over the hill at mile 23 it became very real that I was going to do this. Spirits picked up and I was doing a little more jogging.

At mile 25 my stomach revolted. Horrendous dry heaves. Nothing came up but air and when all was done I felt so much better. I knew I could run the rest of the way but decided to take it easy and just soak it in. Barring disaster, I was gonna get sub-14.

Actually mustered a smile and fought back the tears as I turned into the chute, feeling pity for the folks just starting their third lap. The final 100 yards were amazing, and I will never forget it. The crowd was going nuts, how do they keep that up for so long? Slowed and walked across the line, hands raised. Unbelievable.

Recognize those valleys and force nutrition down.

Complete exhaustion. Slice of pizza. Back to the hotel for an awesome shower.


Inexperience. Stomach issues.


A timeless experience for me. Outstanding course. Great volunteers, amazing crowd support. Loved every minute of it, even the miserable ones.