Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman

Rick, Tanya, Jerry and I swam out to one of the bridge pylons and waited for the start. I know I drove them crazy trying to make sure we stayed together, and Tanya kept saying "Settle down Chris, we're fine" ha! I wasn't freaking out but I REALLY wanted to start this as a group. I get pretty sentimental during big times like these and I wanted to be with the people I started doing tri's with out at Saguaro Lake 2.5 years ago. Back then, the thought of an OLY swim distance gave me hives.

When the gun went off, we held back for a minute, said our good-byes and took off. I have NEVER felt so great during a swim in my life! In the fury and excitement of a start, I am usually hyperventilating after 100 yards and have to settle myself down. I had nightmares of freaking out on this day for weeks, but for some reason on this day I was having the time of my life. Whenever I would turn to breathe, I would take mental pictures of it all in my head. It was a sea of arms! Truly impressive.

It wasn't all perfect. Things got congested when the lake took it's turn south and I got a nice kick in the right eye. Luckily, the guy who kicked me was illegally wearing booties and they softened the blow. It got packed again at the far turn-around, but as soon as we started our way back I was all alone. I knew from volunteering on the kayak last year that if I stayed WAY north of everyone, I would get to be all alone and have a straight line, while everyone else who was hugging the buoy line would have to swim extra yards north as the lake swung northward. This worked perfect. During the whole swim, I felt completely at ease. I wasn't working hard, and wasn't concerned about that because I just had a feeling I was doing fine. I actually thought to myself that I could have done another mile easily. That is a thought that has never crossed my mind before!

Getting pulled from the lake was my first experience with a volunteer, and I have to say it was better than I could have asked for. The guy pressed my "Stop" button on my watch, grabbed me, and said a ton of very motivational things to me as he pulled me from the water. All I could do was mumble "thanks for being here".

Nothing. I could have pushed a lot harder, but there was a long day ahead of me and I wanted to save my legs and conserve energy.

T1 was PACKED in the tent. I ran to the back and found a chair. Brian (BHannahs) came and sat down right next to me! We had a good time trading stories about the swim and gearing up for the bike. I lost him when I got my bike, as he jumped into a Porta-Potty.

Nothing. If you know me; then you know that I pretty much enjoy watching a good movie, ordering out for pizza and chatting with people during transitions. I'm having fun out there dammit!!

The bike started out nice enough, but became miserable quickly. Going out through town, I got to see Tanya pass by and said hi to her. I thought about riding with her because I liked her pacing during our training rides, but I was concerned about finishing this race and figured I could speed up later if I felt like it. I felt that if I was going to actually make the finish line, I had to do MY race and not concern myself with hanging out with friends. A minute or so later, Brian came by and we chatted a couple minutes before he dropped me.

As soon as we hit the Beeline, things took a nose-dive. There WAS a headwind going out that first lap. That, with the incline going out kicked my ass. I wasn't going fast at all, and by the turn-around, was feeling fatigued already. I kept telling myself this was going to be fine because the ride back was going to be fast and easy. I was right! It was NICE!

Then the 2nd loop came and by mile 60 I seriously contemplated snapping my rear derailleur in half to blame my quitting on an equipment malfunction HA! My "thing" that I've been having to see the Doc about was so sore that I couldn't sit in my seat for periods longer than 10 minutes before having to stand up. Then there was the headwind going back into town because the wind switched directions. It had died down significantly, but was still there. I would seriously rather have a headwind going out instead because at least you have it easy for the return trip.

Lap 3 was better than the 2nd or even the first for that matter. The wind was gone, and although I kept having to stand up I was used to the pain on my Chode, Taint, No Man's Land, or whatever you call it. I didn't have the completely "spent" feeling I've had on other centuries and pushed it on the way back. My goal for this ride was 16 mph. I hit it EXACTLY at the end of Rio Solado, but that little ride to T2 dropped me back down to 15.92. OH well.

I would have taken care of the Chode, Taint, No-Man's Land sore MONTHS ago instead of trying to wait it out until after the race.

I would RIDE MORE!!!

T2 was nice because I REALLY wanted to be off the bike. I wasn't rushing myself.

Had a great time on the run. It started off with getting to see Jude right at the beginning. Evidently she and Sandy were only feet away from me all over the transitions and bike, but I never once saw her. She was so excited that I thought she was going to try to run it with me. It definitely lifted my spirits, and knowing I was going to get to see her at the beginning of each lap gave me something to look forward to.

During this "run", I was slow and walked a lot, but ran WAY more than I imagined. At two different times, I was "power walking" past some "runners", and a couple guys asked me how the hell I was able to walk so fast, HA! I told them "I've been practicing". I felt great about this because everybody (including myself) feels that this SHOULD be about running, but everyone's attitude was about congratulating and motivating each other.

So, I ran way more than I thought I could, and it felt great. The cement was killing my feet so I kept to the grass/dirt wherever I could find it. The run segments went to a walk when my hamstrings felt like they would cramp or my stomach would lurch. I'd walk until those feelings went away and started back into a jog.

One notable thing is that at mile 17 or so, I jumped into a Porta-Potty. I must have dozed off for a sec. and it scared the shit out of me. All I could think of was passing out in there and not being found until the next morning when they were cleaning the place up. I then held the door open with my foot while I did my business.

The last 3 miles were my best. I passed quite a lot of people and told myself it didn't matter what cramped up. I was close enough and had enough time left to crawl it in if I had to. I no longer had to choose "just finish" over "go faster". I knew I was going to make this now and pushed myself.

Going down the chute was amazing! It was loud and people were sticking out their hands to high-five me. Kim was there at the end to do the catching and really made me feel like a winner out there! She was awesome!

Train for the run. This is going to be my year of correcting my back problems and LEARNING how to run properly.

MORE TRAINING!! I signed up for this race a year too early because so many of my friends were doing it. I wanted to go through the training with them and experience this race with the group. In a perfect world, I would have had a year to get the running/back issues taken care of and would have had another year to build up a good base for something like this.

This isn't a perfect world though. The lack of training; either from injuries or just plain laziness caused me a TON of anxiety in the weeks leading up to the race. Hopefully I've learned from that for future races! Despite any set backs, this was an AMAZING experience and I thank myself a couple times a day for doing this!!


This was an experience I will never forget. What made it even more special was being able to do it will all the people I started this sport with over 2 years ago! We've all come a long way during that time. These are wonderful people and I consider them my friends.