Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

The swim was great. The water was a perfect temperature. I swam out to the start line with Jess, Rich had already gone ahead. We relaxed in the water a bit, tried to take in all the energy and focus on the task ahead. I was just saying "this is awesome" when the cannon went off. I immediately switched into business mode and started my journey.

The first few strokes were great and then my goggles started leaking. I kept trying to fix them but I couldn't do it while I was moving. So I stopped, turned around, and fixed them really quick. Done. Got moving again. There was a lot of thrashing and splashing, but all in all, I didn't get beaten up that badly. Just a few hits is all. With the sun in my face and some fog in my goggles, I couldn't see much so I just followed the traffic. I was passing alot of people. Jess's friend Kim and I paced a while together, though I don't think she realized it was me. After a while she had fallen behind and I kept on truckin'. I looked over to my left a few times to make sure I was sighting ok, and that my navigation was good. I passed under one of the bridges and I thought I was already at the turnaround, but it was the wrong bridge. On I went. Soon enough, the turnaround was in sight and I hugged the buoy, had to fight my way thru a little traffic, but it was pretty easy. Soon I was on my way back. And since the sun was now behind me, it was much easier to sight and navigate. This time I hugged the buoys all the way to the last turn towards the stairs. I felt like I hadn't been out there all that long. I was expecting a 1:20 to 1:30 swim. I came out of the water at 1:17:21. I came out of the water with a smile on my face. I wasn't tired or sore from it so that make me happy as well.

I don't think I could have done anything better. This was a better swim than I expected.

OK, so I got out of the water and no sooner did I take 5 steps that there was a wetsuit stripper on me ripping my suit off, threw me on my back and tore it off my legs. He handed it to me and off I went into the transition bag area. Picked up my bag and headed to the changing tent.

This was a little slower than I wanted. I had a lot to do and I kept forgetting stuff. Once I got my swimsuit off and my bike shorts on, I had to put on my tri top and then some bodyglide. After I put my shoes on I tried to step into my race belt and ripped the number. So then I had to try to reattach it. I finally got a small hole in it and reattached it. Wasted way too much time. After I was done, I stuffed everything back into the bag and headed out to the bike lot.

Concentrate more on what I'm doing.

Before I even start the narrative, let me say that there were 33-35mph winds with higher gusts out on the course. The race people said this was worse than the winds in 05. OUCH!!

OK, so I got out onto the bike and I looked at my bike computer. It wasn't reading. I remember that I'd spun my wheel the day before to make sure it was working. Turns out someone must have messed with my bike the night before cuz my wheel was on the other way. So I immediately pulled over, switched the wheel out and went on my way.

On the first lap, the winds weren't too bad. I felt a bit of a crosswind/tailwind going out, and passed a bunch of people but I didn't expect to stay ahead of them. Max speed was something like 24mph going out with the tailwind. I was pretty happy with that. I had no idea what was awaiting me on the other side. As I climbed the hill out on the Beeline, I thought to myself "holy crap, I'm doing an IRONMAN!!" and I started laughing. But the thought passed and I got back to business. The miles went by pretty uneventfully, I passed a lot of people. The last little climb on top of the hill was a bit of a challenge but I got up there and turned around with no problems. I'd been taking Gatorade and putting it in my aerobottle on the way up and was doing well with my nutrition. The first trip up took about 58 minutes. Then it was time to go back down. The winds weren't too bad, but I could definitely feel the headwind holding me back. Still managed to pass a bunch of people and get back to the bottom in a little over an hour. As I went up the bridge to the turnaround, I saw my mom, my brother, and Shane there, screaming for me! It was such an incredible pick-me-up to see them there. I smiled big for them. Total time for the loop was 2:01. Average speed was 18.9. Jess saw me a couple times before I saw her. I had blinders on.

Second loop...immediate felt that the tailwind was helping alot. The way up the hill on the beeline was superfast...averaged way over 20 and topped out at 27.5mph. I whizzed by people like they were standing still. Little did I know that I was about to get blasted. Rutger Beke and Tim DeBoom passed me most quickly on my way up. That was awesome. The way down was hell. I still managed 20mph for a little bit, where the decline was good but once it flattened out, I was struggling to make 17. Still I managed to pass a bunch of people, but here's where I started getting passed by some. I was feeling ALOT of pain in my back...I knew I had muscle rub in my special needs bag. SN was at mile 62 or so and I couldn't wait to get there. The approach to SN was at the top of a little incline which hurt to go up because my back was so sore. Made it there and chomped down on a PBJ that was in my bag. Slathered muscle rub on my back, and some Biofreeze type stuff on my legs. I started feeling better immediately. The rest of the way down was much less painful. I saw Jess, Rich, Chris, and Lane on this loop. It's good to see friends out there. This loop took about 2:02 and I was 4:03 in when I started the third loop. I'd been eating and drinking so much at this point that I was getting stomach and bladder cramping. I tried to stand up to pee, but I couldn't make it happen.

On the third loop the winds got crazy. Crosswinds, turned to tailwinds, turned to crosswinds again. At this point, I had to pee so bad that I stopped for a sec, tossed my bike down, and went behind a bush to pee. I felt like a new man. Got back on the bike and started again. I wasn't into a total tailwind until I got up onto the Beeline again. Then it was just an incredible tailwind. I passed people again, this time topping out at 28.5mph. Even the last little climb that seemed challenging on the first lap was nothing on the third because the wind was so strong at my back. As I turned around, I nearly had a heart attack because the wind was so incredible. I came to the first aid station after the turnaround and as I poured (or attempted to anyway) the Gatorade into my aerobottle, it just blew all over me...my shorts, legs, arms, face, etc. Crazy stuff. This time on the way down, I never made 20mph, I think my max was about 17 when I was passing people on the declines, and no more than 13 or 14 as I coasted. At the bottom of the hill where there was no help from gravity, I was sitting at 11 and 12mph, fighting as hard as I could. As I passed people, I looked at my computer and it said 13, sometimes 12...and I was passing people!! Just absolutely insane. I couldn't wait for this part to be over. As I crossed the bridge for the last time I was so happy that in about a minute I'd be done. As I came into transition and dismounted my bike, I said "Thank you Jesus!!". I almost couldn't get off the bike...luckily a volunteer held it up for me and said "it's not going anywhere until you are ok to move". I got off the bike, thanked him, and got moving into transition.

I don't remember what happened after that. I think he took my bike for me and I went into the tent. Cuz I don't remember taking my bike with me. The last loop was the longest (of course) and took about 2:14.

I gained 50 age group spots and 326 overall spots.

Train in a wind tunnel.

Not as quick as I wanted to be here either. But I wanted to get into fresh clothes and fresh socks before I started the run. My feet were very sore from fighting the wind. I had cramps all along the outside edges of my feet. I put all my clothes on, applied some muscle rub, vaseline, and then I stretched just a bit. Then I got up, packed up my bag, and headed out. A volunteer stopped me at the exit and slathered me with sunscreen.

Go a little faster.

The run was good. I had been shooting for 10:30's average and for the first loop was way ahead at 9:31 per mile average. As I started out, I saw my family again, and got a charge from seeing them. The first part of the run was along the lake with the wind at my back. But soon enough, the course crossed a bridge and boom...headwind. Still, the course was enjoyable. There were aid stations every mile and I visited every one. On the first loop, I alternated Gatorade at one station and then gel and water at the next. I ran the whole first loop (8 miles) without walking. At mile 8, I took a one minute rest. It was at the bottom of an incline and it was a welcome break. One minute of walking brought me to the top of the incline and a right turn that led across the bridge into the next loop. There I saw Chippy and Aaron, slapped their hands, and went on my way to the second loop.

On this loop I started to feel a little bit tired. At about 3 miles into the second loop, I came upon aid station 4, and AZChica came up to me and said hi!! I smiled and returned the greeting, but I couldn't talk much. I felt tired. At about 4 miles in, I saw Jess, we slapped hands as we passed each other, and I smiled because I knew I'd start seeing my peeps now. I couldn't wait to pass the halfway mark, which was on top of another bridge. I saw Shane at about the 12 mile mark and that gave me a little boost. He asked how I was, but I couldn't say much, I was tired and dry. Once I passed the 13 mile mark, I figured it was only another 2 and a half hours or so (I was still figuring on a 5 hour marathon). A bit after the 14 mile mark, I went into an aid station and they had chicken broth!! I was so happy! So I took the chicken broth and some cola and that was it. At this point, I was making only 12:30 per mile and was very tired. I saw Sheila (happycow) and she was cheering for me. I gave a thumbs up and a smile as I ran past. Suddenly as I ran, I started feeling awesome. The broth and cola were bringing me back to life. I ran to the next aid station where I took more broth and cola. This, I figured, is what would get me thru. My splits went back down to 10:20 or so. On this loop I saw Jess again, and saw Bluejack pass by on the other side. I probably saw a few others too, but the second loop was blurry...I was feeling weird until the broth/cola thing brought me back. I saw TJ and her friends on the bridge leading to the third lap. As I ran over the bridge, the announcer girl said "finishers to the left, 2nde and 3rd loop to the right". Grrr...how I wished I didn't have to go right. I finished the second lap at a 10:20 pace.

I saw more BTers on the third lap. I remember seeing Welshy just passing Mile 9 as I passed 18. I saw Steve (thegomer) a bit ahead of me and then again later on as I ran past him at a later aid station and gave him some encouragement. I saw Jess about a mile into her last lap as I passed mile 22. I saw Tom (madcow) on one of the bridges and we cheered each other on. The broth/cola combo was a saving grace on the third lap. It allowed me to run all of the last lap except at the one aid station under the bridge where I saw AZChica again and waved. I walked there for another minute. I decided to run my last three miles without stopping and that's what I did. Still took the broth/cola combo. Saw Sheila and Lauren again, smiled, ran past. At mile 24 I saw Lane, looking strong on his second lap. Lane was the last BTer I saw. It was starting to get dark now but I was determined to finish befor the glow necklaces came out. As I ran up that last little incline (the one I walked at Mile 8 on the first lap and 17 on the second) I knew I was about to become and IRONMAN!! I got this huge smile on my face and the pain in my feet and legs disappeared. I ran over the lighted bridge and I heard the announcer girl say "finishers to the left!!"...wow that felt awesome to know that I could finally go left!! I started running as hard as I could and turned the corner. I came into that finisher chute and saw 12:24 on the clock...I ran past some people, slapped a bunch of hands, and threw my arms up in the air as I crossed that line! I was deafened by the cheering, by the music, by Mike Reilly saying my name (I didn't actually hear it)...it was all just too much to take in.

Maybe a little more nutrition in transition, but that's about it. Everything was really good on this run.

At the finish line, a catcher caught me and gave me my hat, shirt, and a bottle of water. I saw Aaron there and he took over from that point. He brought me thru the finish area and into the greeting area where Shane came and hugged me and cried. It's strange to say, but it felt so good to know he was emotional about it...to me it meant that he really knew how important it was to me that he was there, and that it was important to HIM as well. He hugged me for about 30 seconds. Then Aaron asked if there was anything else I needed and went back to his catching duties. Later on he helped me get a finisher picture with Shane. Thanks Aaron!!!

After sitting for a while, my mom and brother came back, I hugged them, and we hung out and waited for Jess, who came in at 13:02 and cried because she was so happy! We also saw Steve (thegomer) who finished in 12:44. We shared a few stories and some pizza. We were really tired though and wanted to get back home. So that's what we did.

Shane was a total sweetheart and went to McDonald's later on to get us some food on his way back from picking up Rich, who finished in 16:39 and Aaron.


The damn wind!!! It was brutal on the bike and the run. I can honestly say that I don't think that I could have done anything significantly better. All the factors that slowed me down were from outside. It was a good day for BT!!




Over 3000 volunteers, a great course, easy to navigate spectator areas, and some of the best organization anywhere. I can't wait to do another NAS-organized IM race. Not this year...Couere d'Alene 2008 maybe? Either way, this was just one hell of a day and I couldn't have imagined it being any better than it was.

I had such an awesome time meeting all the BTer's this week. You all rock and I have the utmost respect for each and every one of you! Congrats to all of the IMAZ peeps!!