Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Water did not seem real cold to me (coming from a guy who used to windsurf in Michigan winters). I was very glad I did the practice swim the day before. I only swam about 400 yards but used the practice swim as a chance to tread water, get a sense of the water temperature, and gain reassurance that I will be OK on race morning.

Different goggles would have been nice as the sun was in my eyes on the initial part of the swim. Other than that I was pleased with my swim. My goal was to get through the swim feeling strong. I never pushed real hard except at times to maintain my position. Lots of contact with others which was got worse during the last 500 yards or so.

My hands were somewhat numb and it made it very hard to put on arm warmers. A volunteer was there to help, and he was great. Arm warmers took a while to put on (but were a great decision, as I never felt too cold on the bike). Transition seemed to take forever. The warm tent was nice!

Just get faster getting through.

Overall a solid ride. No big issues. Maintained a strong pace. Never pushed too hard except the one time I passed a group of about 15 riders who were "riding together" for miles. I got angry and passed the whole group. As I passed I said "come on guys, spread out". I was subsequently re-passed by this group a mile later. I should not have passed them as it was a battle I could not win. I kept telling myself "race your own race".

Hydrate a little more, as I believe I paid for this on the run.

Nothing special. Overall good transition.

Spend a few more seconds getting more sunscreen.

I ran the first 20 or so miles, with the exception of walking thru the aid stations. Felt pretty good up to mile 20 when I experienced diarrhea and stomach cramps. I felt dizzy and had to sit for about ten minutes. I got back up, walked a quarter mile then got back to running a slow pace. I continued to feel nauseated but just kept going. I had a few more walks in between the Aid stations but then ran the last 2 miles nonstop. My pace was slow but it felt good to just keep moving.

Hydrate better on the bike in prep for the run.

I remained dizzy and nauseated and needed to drink but couldn't. I went to the medical tent and received a liter of IV fluids. It worked magic on me and I walked out feeling revived. Proceeded to eat pizza and drink 2 sodas.


GI issues. Need to look closer at my nutrition plan. Did not get enough salt.


This was my best IM race to date. Overall very pleased with my performance. The volunteers were awesome. Race support was superb. Crowds were terrific. So far this is my favorite IM venue. Unlike other IM's, it was nice to not have to worry about car traffic at all on the bike. The 3 loop course was fun. There were times I was nervous on the bike seeing people ride so closely together on the return loops.
I enjoyed seeing the pro's on the course.
My only real disappointment was my chip stopped registering times after 10 miles on the run (I did not know this till after the race). I stopped by the event tent afterward. They told me "the chip battery must have died". I did not know they had batteries?? Anyway, they did verify my finish time but I do not have the rest of my run splits. Not much I can do about that.
I signed up to do this next year and I'm really looking forward to it.