HITS National Championship: Palm Springs - Full Iron Course - TriathlonFull Ironman

I had only done 1 open water swim prior to this so I was pretty nervous. The half distance and full distance athletes started at the same time. So there were about 350 swimmers that were trying to squeeze through the first entry buoys that were about 20 meters from shore. I basically stood on the shore for a couple of minutes until it appeared to thin out. Probably not a good idea. I lost lots of time trying to swim around people for the first 800 meters. It sure was fun though.

I am not a swimmer, so I expected to do much worse on the swim. I should have trusted my training and moved up more in the pack at the start so I wouldn't have lost so much time by being in the back.

I wore a trisuit under my wetsuit so the only real problem was trying to get my wetsuit off over my watch. It got stuck, and I basically had to put the wetsuit back on and remove the watch and start over. I was feeling great though, and still in good spirits.

Nothing really. Just pay better attention to my watch as I begin to take my suit off.

I'm definitely not a good cyclist. Not even an average cyclist. My plan was to try and go easy enough to have enough left in the tank for a strong marathon. I was hoping to average around 18mph. The first two laps went pretty well, and I think I was slightly above that pace. On the third lap, the fatigue began to set in. Around mile 80, the DayQuil had worn off and I was feeling miserable. No longer in the best of spirits. The blatant drafting on this course was also taking a toll on me mentally. I shouldn't have let it bother me, but it did. People were flying by me in packs of 2,3,4 and more. I eventually pulled over about mile 95 to take in some more pills and to refocus. I popped 2 more DayQuil, 2 more Imodium ad, 2 Advil, 2 salt sticks and went on my way.
I was doing this race to raise awareness for a charity, so I told myself to just finish. I had been pretty good with my nutrition up to this point. About 250 calories an hour, which is what I trained with. Honey stingers and heed. When I got to t2, I was ready to be off the bike like most people. My spirits were beginning to pick up.

Work on my engine!!! My biking is terrible. Must improve. I plan on getting lots of saddle time this year.

T2 went well. I had to swap watches at this point, because the watch I wore during the bike portion. Was almost out of battery life. The only real issue was it took almost a mile into the run before my garmin would pick up a satellite. ( this would haunt me later)

Maybe invest in the Garmin 910 so I don't need to worry about wearing three different watches for a race.

This is where I hoped to make up some time. I was passed by so many on the bike, that I hoped I could catch many of those who had already passed me. The first few miles I felt great. However, about mile 4, things changed for the worse. I don't know if it was the sickness I had been battling all week, or just general fatigue, but I knew at this point I I was not going to accomplish any of my goals. First goal was to finish under 12:30. Second goal was to not have to walk the marathon. My last and secret goal was to possibly go sub 12.

At this point, I was both physically and mentally drained. My mind started going to a very dark place and I wanted to give up. My body felt done. I knew in my mind there was no way I could run another 20+ miles. I was frustrated. My training went so well , and I felt I shouldn't be this tired this soon. I told myself, just make it to the next aid station. When I arrived there, I remember reading someone's race report here that swore by defizzled coke. Without hesitating I grabbed some coke and some cookies and kept running. It surprisingly made me feel a little better. My goal for the run was to go sub 4. At this point, I went from about 9:00/mile to almost 10:30 pace. I was fading fast. After another aid station stop with more coke and water, I began to pick up the pace again. I reached the half way mark at about 2 hours. I still didn't think I would be able to run even another 100 feet.

I just kept telling myself that if I could manage to run about a 2:12 half Mary, that I could go sub 12. At this point, I was on fumes like most people. The only thing keeping me going was my family and the girl I was doing the charity for. The last 13 miles was the hardest thing I have ever done both physically and mentally. My body and mind were done. I could no longer even get out words to respond to other runners who were cheering me on heading in the other direction. I tried to give myself so many reasons to quit. Somehow, I just kept running.
With about 3 miles left, I knew I had about 30 minutes to finish to go sub 12. I was beyond exhausted. With about 200 meters to go, my good friend ran next to me and said I had 2 minutes to finish to go sub 12. I pumped my arms and gave it everything I had. It felt like I was running in slow motion, which i pretty much was. I crossed the finish line and collapsed and realized my time was 12:00:06. I had missed my ultimate goal time by 6 seconds. I was extremely disappointed at first, but then kind of laughed to myself and said next time.
It was the ultimate journey and experience of a lifetime. It was everything and more than I imagined. This is a phenomenal sport, surrounded by phenomenal people. Can't wait to do it again.

Nothing really. I gave it everything I had

Went home, took more NyQuil and went to bed while my family and friends celebrated:)


Lack of bike fitness


I didn't reach my secret goal of going sub 12, but I am very proud of the fact I never gave up. Never in a million years did I think after mile 4 that I would have been able to finish the run without walking.