Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas - Triathlon

I took Matt's advice and went to the right shore and got close enough so I could stand. I waited here until 6:59 when I worked my way to the front of the line. By the time the cannon went off I was at the front and in perfect position. I swam straight and ignored the urge to veer left towards the buoy. I was surprised by how calm the swim was, as I was mostly in clear water. I had a little contact, but it was actually less than Galveston until I hit the first buoy. I made my way around, and headed for the second turn buoy. At this point I made a decision to swim a straight line to the shore where i thought the canal entrance was. I was going about 20 strokes between sighting and I was always heading in the right direction. I just kept thinking through my training and did long and smooth strokes and I kept my energy level low.

Before I knew it I was at the turn for the canal. I looked at my watch for the first time and saw I was at ~45 minutes. I knew I was going at a good pace but not too hard, so I just kept plugging away. Before I knew it I was at the stairs. I made my way up, looked at my watch, gasped, and headed straight for the wetsuit strippers. I ran up the ramp, so my family, gave them all a kiss and went to grab my T1 bag.


Absolutely nothing. My goal was 1:10 and I did 1:05. I didn't over exert myself and I swam my own race. I was completely thrilled with my swim.

I grabbed a seat, dumped my bag and a volunteer instantly came to help. They sorted out what I needed and didn't and before I knew it I was ready to roll. I started to clean up my stuff but they told me they would get it for me so I took off. I saw my family again right before the mount line.

Nothing

I felt pretty good coming off of the bike and I was prepared for this course, as I had ridden it 4-5 times in training. I knew that the first half would feel easy and I made it my goal to stay within myself. Coming out of the water so fast meant a lot of people were going to pass me, so I prepared myself to just stay in zone 2 and relax.

My plan was to drink 3-4 oz of perform every 10 minutes, and to eat 1/4 of a powerbar every 20 minutes, and salt sticks "here and there". This amount worked amazingly on all of my training rides and seemed to work great in the beginning.

I had always started my training rides at research forest, so the first 10 miles were new to me. However, once I got to familiar ground i became very settled and relaxed. I knew the bumps, potholes, turns, etc. It was a pretty seamless ride all the way through Richards. I was happy, hydrated and energized. I skipped the personal needs stop and kept on going. Once I hit mile 75 I noticed my stomach was getting sloshy, which is a feeling I haven't had in almost a year. I tried to stick to my nutrition plan, but it made it worse so I switched to water and salt. Things seemed better, and my performance didn't drop, so I figured the worst was over.

My plan was to ride in zone 2, and allow myself to creep into zone 3 on the climbs. Looking back I only spent 14 minutes in zone 3 and no time in zone 4, which is amazing.

It was windier today than any of the training rides I had on the course, as evidenced by the slightly slower than normal split. I was still very happy with the time, as my goal 5:45.

Well, obviously something was wrong with my "tried and true" nutrition plan, but I don't know what it was.

I unclipped and got off the bike, ran over to give my family a kiss and moved on. I leaned on a volunteer and got out of my shoes so I didn't have awkwardly run the entire way. I put on my clean socks and shoes and I took off.

nothing

I knew I was screwed from the beginning because my stomach was sloshy. I tried to take my first gel in T2 and it wasn't going down. I was able to stay below 10 minute miles for the first few miles, but it didn't hold for long. I had no energy and I couldn't get any nutrition in. I tried gels, but I couldn't eat them. I couldn't stand the perform anymore. I tried chomps, chips, oranges, grapes, coke- everything they had but I couldn't get more than a nibble or a sip at a time. BRUTAL.

Joe passed me around mile 5, and Freddy passed me a few minutes later. We exchanged a few words and they kept on running.

I started fading fast and I knew that I wouldn't break 12 hours unless my nutrition lined out. The crowd on the waterway was awesome and provided enough energy to pick it back up to a run. I saw my team on the hill and that was a boost. Matt offered some advice to try and sip on as much as possible. I took their energy and pushed through the rest of waterway. I saw Julee, my mom and Camden as mile 8.5. I made it out of the waterway and was forced to walk when I hit the dirt path just past the Newton tent. After walking up the hill I ended up throwing up and that helped for a little while, but the stomach issues instantly returned. I took a pit stop at mile 10 and I was clearly dehydrated. I started getting nervous because I couldn't eat or drink anything. My run turned to a death march which turned to several long periods of walking. I walked all of miles 10 and 11, most of 12, part of 13 and most of 14.

At 14.6 miles we were back to the waterway and I ran again. I saw my friend Dustin around mile 15, which was a nice surprise, and then my team again. I didn't have much energy but I had enough to signal to them and they all jumped to their feet and ran down to me. It was such an emotional rush having their support!

I looped around the waterway and ran into my family around mile 17.5. I took the time to give everyone a kiss, told Julee how miserable I was doing but promised them I would be done before 7:30.

The last loop was tough. I grabbed a little water, coke, broth, and perform but couldn't stomach more than a few ounces total. I felt dizzy but I didn't let it stop me. I had already lost my stretch goal of 12 hours, I wasn't about to lose my goal of 12:30. I knew that if I could keep running I would have enough time to enjoy the chute. Miles 20-25 were a complete blur. I skipped a few aid stations because I was afraid if I stopped I wouldn't start again. I knew after I left the last aid station that I 12:20 was within my reach.

When I got to the point where the finishers turned right all of the pain went away. I saw my friend Dustin at the front of the shoot and veered over to give him a high five. I ran down and saw my family, and was confused why they were so far away. At that point Julee told me I had to turn and THEN run up the last stretch. I went down, caught as many high fives as I could. I saw my team before my family and become so emotional. Their faces and energy and true support was overwhelming.

I then saw my family and I stopped to kiss everyone. Mike Reilly even said something to the tune of "you have to cross the finish line at some point". I gave my last kiss and made my way across. I was beyond elated. I finished in less than 12:20...I was an Ironman!

I don't know what happened. My nutrition from the bike screwed me up for the run. I could have maybe ran a little more than I did, but I was honestly scared I was going pass-out from dehydration.

Once I crossed the finish line all of the reality sank in and the pain returned. Two young girls caught me and tried to talk to me and I could only get one or two words out. I walked to the finishers area, grabbed two chocolate milks and a burrito and fell into the first chair I saw. The burrito was sitting well so I sipped on the milk until my family arrived.

I don't remember much other than everyone congratulating me. Julee eventually got me a beer and a sprite and I slowly nursed myself back to consciousness. I ran into Robert as I was leaving the finishers area and that was surprisingly the first time I saw him all day.

I went to the room, showered, drank a little more, laid down for 30 minutes and bounced back. When the kids fell asleep my parents went brought back a bunch of tacos, chips and queso and I ate an ungodly amount. My sister watched the kids while Julee and I went to pick up my bike, bought a few bottles of wine, and we went to the finish line with my parents for the last hour of the race. I got to see Leo finish and I cheered as loud as I could for the last finishers. It was a great end to a great day.


Nutrition. I spent all year calculating, planning, practicing and refining my nutrition plan but it just didn't work. I have a long time to figure it out, 'cause this definitely will NOT be my last!


The volunteers were amazing!!!