Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

I knew I made a bad wetsuit decision immediately after getting in the water. I was torn between the full suit and the sleeveless. Swam in the 2-piece the day before and felt fine (but that was only for 15mins or so). I was absolutely freezing waiting to start. Saw DickDime and chatted for a bit treading water. We were both surprised when the gun went off. The start was pretty chaotic and for the first 500 meters or so I was climbing all over a bunch of people (and getting swam over as well). Note to prospective IM'ers out there. Do not stop swimming. I ran into quite a few people that just stopped. I don't know if it was to regain composure or what. But I know I nailed some people in the head. I got to the turn around really quick and was surprised at how fast I got out of the washing machine. At this point I started feeling really bad. It sounds strange, but it felt like my ears were clogged and I started getting dizzy. I swam over to a kayak and grabbed a hold of it and started puking. I must have barfed 3 or 4 times. After that I just hung on to the kayak for a long time. I'm not sure how long it was, but I started getting really cold. I knew I needed to get moving so I started swimming again and the return trip went fine. I grabbed the rail and made my way up the steps and fell down (the dizzyness was not giving up w/o a fight). A volunteer grabbed me and next thing I knew I was in the med tent. I was in there for a long time.

I have no idea what really happened. I can only think that maybe I took in a lot of water during the start. I couldn't really get a decent breath on either side.

This portion mainly takes place in the med tent. They put me on a cot and I was shivering beyond belief. It was borderline convulsing. So I'm sitting there laying down and telling the attendant I'll be fine once I get on the bike. He says to me "Just lay there. You got about an hour till you're DQ'ed". That's when I thought Ok I gotta get outta here and start racing. So I convinced the guy I was alright and he says alright go ahead. I get to the transition tent and see my friend Brett(Alpine87) in there, but I'm still somewhat delirious. At this point I'm thinking ok it's time to forget about Kona. Let's start thinking about damage control.

Anything and everything.

The first half lap (18 or so miles) I just focused on getting my head straight. I knew I had to dial back my preplanned wattage so I was doing about 15-20 watts lower than I had originally planned. I was drinking a lot and took into 2 gels and those seem to stay down just fine. So then I resumed my planned nutrition intake, which was to take in close to 400 calories an hour. I started feeling pretty good going into the second lap, so I pushed it a little bit harder and kept drinking. That bit me in the butt, cuz I had to stop a total of 3 times to pee. I tried peeing on the bike, but it just wasn't happening. However I plan to learn this clever little maneuver before my next Ironman. The last lap I was feeling great and was ready for the marathon.

Each lap I did was progressively faster than the previous, so I'm happy with that. I felt great coming off the bike so I probably should have went back to my originally planned power output. However I wasn't sure what kind of toll my calorie expenditure in the lake would take on the day. So I feel good with playing it safe.

T2 went fine for me. I was amped! I knew I would finish the day as an Ironman and it's amazing what that can do for your spirit. The guy in the transition tent asked me how I felt and I told him I was great.

Nothing

First 6 miles were great. I was ready to run a marathon. In this excitement I failed to take in any calories. Then I hit a bad patch. I was thinking "Man I got a long ways to go". The rest of the run was more or less shifting between feeling really good and feeling really bad. I started craving garbage at mile 18. All I could think about was pizza and french fries. My last lap was pretty dang slow. Every aid station I went through was all out of pizza and fries so I settled on powerbars, fruit and everything else they had on offer. That was pretty much the story for the entire last lap.

Take in the gels I had with me early. I started taking them way too late and it effected me pretty bad.

Hugged my wife and father and sat down and ate pizza and fries.


No excuses!!! I did what I could and am satisfied with what I did.


IMAZ was an amazing experience. Despite everything that happened I'm glad to say I am an Ironman. Things could have gotten really bad for me, but I always planned to a have a "Plan B" and a "Plan C". My first goal was always to just finish the race and gain some insight for the next one. Yes I had hoped of going to Kona and I feel I put the training time and effort in to get there. Am I disappointed in being way out of the slots? Not really. I know I have what it takes to get there eventually. I have the patience and determination. I may or may not do this distance in '09 but I will definitely go for another Kona bid in 2010. I took 5 days off of all training and anything Tri related after the race. Hence the week it's taken to finally getting around to doing this race report. I feel good now. A little tight but no soreness. I'm reinvigorated and ready to start training again. PR's will fall '09.