Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Average day in the water..In fact, it was the one part of the day that just wasn't much fun. Punched/Kicked/Swam over - You get the idea. I lined up all the way to the right based on a faulty premise that I could avoid the washing machine at the start - Ha!

I came into the race with a fair bit of confidence that I could break 1:10. Nyet. So it goes - I'll try and do better next time.

I changed into bike shorts in T1. All my long rides were done in fully padded shorts and it's a long day in the saddle to be wearing thin, tri swim shorts. Good call.

It's all good - Not blazing fast but efficient enough.

There was a strong headwind on the way out of town - I've heard 20+knots and I've heard not quite that strong - that was pretty much the defining characteristic of this race.

The front, head-windy half of each loop was tough, sure. It's definitely also true that folks were riding like Vikings on a rampage after the turnaround - Good times. I freely admit keeping one eye out for people riding rear wheel disks - In gusts like that, those riders would be potential hazards to navigation and I had no interest in locking handlebars at 30mph.

My impulse is to race the bike and nothing gets me moving like a rider in front of me. It's only taken about ten 1/2IM's to figure out I have no hope of running if I follow that inclination so I dialed it back to about 4/5's. Had planned on a conservative 5:50 bike split - As it turns out, happy enough with finishing time based on the decision to back off.


Nothing - I raced my own race for a change.

Changed again: Running shorts. Even so, was reasonably speedy. Got slathered with sunscreen heading out of the tent.

Good to go.

Came out of T2 feeling good. Not much going on with cramps, not too bloated.

I made the Mary a series of 26 more or less mile long races - One aid station to the next. I was running 8:30 miles and then taking 2 mins at each aid station with the same routine every time: Get two cups of water/Two cups of ice/Power Gel every other station/Salt Tab every 2-3 miles. Walked up most of the hill after Papago Park and then a little of the hills around Rural Road Bridge but for the most part, I was at a steady jog.

New cooling technique - Latex gloves like you'd wear if you were painting, with ice cubes inside. This worked beautifully.

And then there was the Coke I started drinking..

I started sipping on Coke around the midpoint of the first loop..Stomach seemed ok with it, so I'd grab a small cup every other station and nurse it until I was ready to start running again. Sips turned to gulps in the last 5 miles. With a couple three miles to go, I noticed I was running hard/feeling good..CAFFEINE!! All those sips for twenty miles wound up jacking me up big time and the pain, it did go away. I think of Coke as a little bit of a sugary sweet guilty pleasure..Turns out it's pretty good in a race, too.

Went through the finish line smiling. Thanked everyone in sight. Sat down and waited for the sugar crash.

12:08"04 was a 1hr4min PR.





My run time was almost an hour slower than my stand alone PR, so no great shakes for sure. However, I feel like success on this day was measured in a 'did I blow up and have to walk or not' metric..On those terms, I think it was an Ok day..One day I just might run through those aid stations.

Do differently? Nothing. I ran through the Finisher's chute like the hounds of hades were right behind. That felt good. Let's Play Two.

Massage - Got my hamstrings worked over for like 30mins..That felt great.


I think my limits are totally self-imposed..I could be faster but choose not to by averaging 11-13hrs/week in training vs. 18-20. For the time being I am ok with that. Having said that, it was all the shoulda/coulda's from two years ago that got me to register for this year in the first place. We'll see.


The volunteers knock me out everytime. Standing around in the sun like that so that other folks can do a race? They are awesome.