Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

What can I say about an Ironman mass start. I knew going it it was going to be a washing machine, and it delivered as promised. The first 5-10 minutes were chaos. I got a foot in the face, followed by a pretty hard elbow to my right eye, but my goggles stayed on and I rolled over to get the water out. I lost my road ID wrist strap in the first 15 minutes. (I knew I should have just left it at home, but it was a part of the journey). I stayed to the shore line on the way out and then found myself inside on the bouys for the way back. I finally found some open water to swim in on the way back in.

Get more to the front for the start. I did try to move my way up, but as I was trying to move forward, boom, the cannon goes off and the day has started. Overall, I was quite pleased with my first IM Swim.

Ironman transition is quite a bit different than traditional transitions. I went the slow route and completely changed my gear into a dry bike jersey and shorts. This added time. I was surprised at how cold I was while changing. I was shivering trying to get my gear on. The volunteer helper was great, laying out my stuff and packing away all my wet swim gear.

I would probably wear traditional tri gear for the swim and not mess with changing out. This could easily save me 10 plus minutes on T1 and T2.

My goal on the bike was to conserve energy. I really didn't push hard at all. I was really just spinning my way up the hills to the turn and pressing a little bit harder on the downhill return. I took my time at the special needs area and got my PB sandwich, some crackers an other solid fuel in.(I think I burnt about 15 minutes here getting off my bike to eat my solid foods). I also gave up some time at the port o potties, but I was really pushing the fluids with my Perpetum bottles every 15 minutes, constant sipping on the water bottle and Salt Stick Caps every 30 minutes. I didn't have any GI problems or cramps!

Less potty breaks and probably push a bit harder. I felt like I still had my legs at the end of the day, so I could have pushed a bit more. That being said, I was pleased with my first IM bike overall.

Quickly got off the bike and handed it to one of the many amazing volunteers. My legs felt pretty good jogging over to get my bag. I was able to change fairly quickly into my tri top and shorts. I was wearing a MyAthlete gps chip for tracking the race. I had to change out the battery in T2. I broke the battery door trying to get the old battery out, but it continued to work well for my friends and family "watching" my progress online. I quickly coated my body with sunscreen and was off and running.

As before, I would just wear my tri gear throughout the day.

The first loop of the run was quite hot. I was taking every sponge and water cup I could at the aid stations trying to keep cool. My plan was to slowly jog the first 5 miles and get my legs. The sun started going down then and it quickly began to cool off. I settled into a good pace and kept at it for the remainder of the day. I really tried to keep my HR below 140 on the run. My run plan was to run between the aid stations, walk while re-fueling and to walk the hills. I stuck with this plan and it seemed to work well. The chicken broth was a life saver. I abandoned my plan of using Perpetum on the run. (I couldn't drink anymore of that stuff after almost 7 hours on the bike). Fortunately, there was plenty of other good stuff to eat on the run and my stomach held up well. I did experience my usual post Perpetum gas at about mile 13, but no other GI problems to report! My legs felt pretty strong all the way around the last lap. I rolled across the finish line as I heard Mike Riley say, "Kyle Richter, Vancover, WA YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!"

I wouldn't bother with Perpetum on the run. There was plenty of other good stuff to keep my fuel needs met.

I posed for pictures with the family and then went off to get some pizza, fries and coke.


Pushing a bit more on the bike with less "Rest Stops" could have easily saved 30-45 minutes. I am otherwise thrilled with my effort. I wanted to be Sub 14 and was almost Sub 13. The unknown for me was the marathon. This was my first Mary and I wanted to make sure I had some "legs" left at the end. As it turned out, I did have running legs left and felt like I could have pressed harder on the bike.


I am thrilled with my perfomance in my first IM event. There are so many question marks when competing in an Ironman: Was my training enough? Will I have mechanical problems on the bike? Will my diet plan work? Will my legs hold out? Fortunately, for me, Yes was the answer to all of these questions.
My mantra for the day was: Relentless Forward Motion. Fortunately I was able to keep this chant going in my head all day long. Phillipians 4:14 states: I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. I give Christ the glory in knowing that this great day was a gift from Him and my ability to achieve my goals was would not have been possible without my faith and trust in Christ.
Finally, thank you to all my friends and family for all of your support, prayers and aid along the way as I completed this amazing journey. You were all there with me at the finish line and I could not have done it without your love.