Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Overall it was a much better swim than I was expecting. I ate a hammer gel right before getting in the water. As one person said "that wasn't swimming, it was wrestling!" and boy was she right. On the way back I went way wide to try and get some free space. I ended up farther out than I wanted, so I'm not sure if it helped or slowed me down, but at least I wasn't getting kicked anymore.

Train a lot more, do more tris (this was only my second ever) to get used to fighting with so many other swimmers.

Came out of the water and a stripper got my wetsuit off very quickly. My feet were very cold with being wet and the cold ground/air temp. Ran around the corner and got my bike bag and sat in the grass to change. Took me a while to get everything figured out without getting a bunch of grass everywhere.

Wear socks or something until just before getting into the water. Again, more practice needed.

On the 3rd lap I noticed the shoulder was smoother than the road in some areas, but I had to pass people on the road so switching back and forth lost any time or comfort I could have gained.

I was using water in an aero bottle plus two bike bottles of 4 hour Perpetuem. Didn't feel hungry or have any problems with that plan. I accidently dropped one of my bottles half way through the 2nd lap. I stopped and picked it up. Probably didn't NEED to, but didn't want to litter or lose the bottle.

My lower back was getting very sore. I stayed aero almost the entire time unless I was trying to stretch my back.

More training! Stay on the road.

There was room in the changing tent this time so I got a chair and took my time getting my run gear on. I put shorts/tshirt on over my trisuit becaues I knew it would start cooling off quickly. ls shirt rolled/tied around my waist.

Not put run nutrition in my trisuit pockets if I'm wearing something over it. With the shorts and shirt tied around my waist the stuff in my pockets kept moving/coming out. Put some of it in special needs. I was concerned about the special needs process, but it appeared pretty smooth and most people got their bags back.

Here is when a good day started to go baaaad. I started off jogging and doing well. I drank gatorade at the first aid station and instantly started feeling sick. I took water at the next aid station and found someone to walk with. At the next aid station I tried a shot of hammer gel from my flask and a cup of water but that just sat like a rock in my stomach. Started some run/walk and that was good but my stomach was upset and my legs were getting really tight. Plus they just hurt. I don't know how to describe it. Just everything about my legs hurt. I tried one more shot of gel and the same thing happened so I threw out both flasks of gel I had at the next trash can. I didn't want to carry it anymore. Stayed with water for a couple aid stations and then started chicken broth and water. Tried to do run/walk when I could. At the start of my last lap I stopped at the massage/ART booth and they put some cramp 911 on my calves. After that I was able to do more of a power walk most of the rest of it.

Not being able to run for 6 months this year and then only limited running in the couple months before hand really hindered my run fitness. Also I should have tried coke for sugar/cals, but I don't normally drink soda/coffee so I didn't want to try it in a race. In hindsight I don't think anything worse could have happened trying it.

I walked over and got a slice of pizza. I knew I shouldn't since I had ONLY liquid nutrition all day, but I did it anyway and it made my stomach upset again. Sat down in a chair until it was my turn for a massage. Walked down to get my dry clothes on since I got really cold when I stopped moving and then took the bike/bags to the car.


Huge lack of training


Like every race, a lot more porta pottys are needed for race morning. I had to leave the transition area to find a shorter line and it still took 25 min. I wish the finishers shoot was longer. It seemed to go by so fast and the 'catchers' cart you out of the area pretty fast. Everything else was good.