A storm was rolling in and it was windy, so the water was very choppy. I was just happy we were getting the full distance in. This was by far the largest race I've done, so I was not used to that much traffic and contact. I handled it well and just did my thing. I got hit a lot, swam over a lot, and the choppy water knocked me around a lot. I was able to sight well though and kept in a straight line, despite the waves doing their best to push me around and hide my view of the buoys. This was my first 2.4 mile open water swim. Physically it was no problem, but handling the conditions and the contact was the trick. For me though, this was a great swim. I was hoping to swim 1:30 and I nailed that. My weakest discipline was now behind me.

This was as good a swim as I have in me. I just need to keep training. I didn't wear a tri top and I don't know why. Next time I'll wear it.

The run from the water through T1 is .4 miles long. A stripper ripped my suit off (nice!) and I made the jog to the changing tent, with a quick pee stop. I changed, grabbed my bike, and was on my way. Overall I thought my transition was smooth but could have been a little faster.

Wear my top during the swim to save some fiddling around in T1.

I followed my coach's game plan. I went easy on lap one, and picked up the effort on lap two. As promised, the rain started falling 20 miles into the ride and just got harder, accompanied by strong winds. The rain just didn't let up. With all the water coming off the bikes in front of me, it felt like the rain was hitting me from the sky and the ground. Everybody had to deal with the same conditions, so I did my best to just focus on my race, my effort, and my nutrition. I kept right on top of the nutrition (330 Infinit calories per hour) and had to pee twice during the bike. I popped a salt pill every 30 minutes as well. I rode past an awful crash at mile 55 and it reminded me to take it easy on the downhills (hope those riders were ok). I reloaded my bottles at special needs and was off for lap two. My legs felt great after one lap and I passed a *lot* of people on lap two. That kind of worried me because I thought maybe I was going too hard. The effort felt right though so I just tried to stay focused on myself. The rain and wind continued to hammer away and I started to feel it about 90 miles into the ride. At this point I started to think about the run and how dead my legs were going to feel. I was a little nervous that I pedaled too hard. I was shooting for a 6:30 bike and I nailed a 6:15. Easily my best century ride to date. I moved up about 600 spots on the bike.

More hill training. This ride itself though went about as well as I could have possibly hoped. I nailed it.

Get off the bike and a volunteer takes it. Got to love that! I spotted a couple of friends cheering at T2 so I stopped to say hi before they told me to "GO!" :D I changed out of the bike shorts and into tri shorts, changed socks, grabbed my gels, and got to running. I exited the changing tent and let out a "WOO HOO!" much to the crowd's (and my own) delight.

Nothing. A smooth transition.

Ah, the run. My favorite and strongest part. After feeling a little run anxiety on the bike, I was thrilled with how good my legs felt when I started the run. No different than any brick run. In my enthusiasm, I started a little fast, but I settled into a "comfortable" 9:15ish pace, knowing I had a long way to go. I put the 26.2 miles out of my mind and just focused on one mile at a time. Run a mile, then take any nutrition and a walk break if needed. I started to feel the Ironman fatigue around mile 10 but pushed through to 14 miles before I needed to walk up a hill. I walked maybe 30 seconds and got right back to running. I did this for all the uphills the rest of the way. I came upon DW at mile 18 of my race..she was around mile 8. I gave her a hug and some encouragement, then continued on. My legs were really starting to hurt here, but I was still running. The last 10K was a real grind, as I was completely exhausted. I took a couple of extra short walk breaks, but walked no more than 3 minutes total the entire run. I was passing a lot of people, and I was surprised to see so many people walking. As tired as I was, I was still mentally focused and kept fighting to the end. Finally with three miles to go in my run, the rain stopped. With about 1.5 miles to go, I could hear the finish line and it helped pull me to the end. I caught up to DW as she was finishing her first lap. I stayed with her for a few seconds before she pushed me on to the finish line. I damn near floated down that finish chute, and stopped under the clock with my fists raised as the announcer proclaimed me an Ironman.

Coach said I could break 13 hours if I had a good race, and 12 hours if the stars aligned. Well it was too cloudy and raining for the stars to come out, but I damn near executed this race to perfection. 12:07 is about as good as I could have possibly hoped.

A finish line volunteer stayed with me for a minute and kept asking if I was ok...I felt great. Completely exhausted, but great. I've felt worse after marathons. I got my medal, my finisher shirt and hat, and plopped down in a chair in the finisher tent. As I sat down, I hung my head and everything sort of hit me at once...the training, the long workouts, the commitment and sacrifice, and the great day I had. Everything was so totally worth it. After gathering myself, I pounded a plate of food before going to the hotel to shower, then returned to the finish area to see DW's glorious finish.


The weather. So much wind and rain! The worst weather I have ever raced in, and it just happens to occur in the biggest race of my life.


Such a great race and event. I'll be back in 2017. The people make this great. Te race organizers, officials, volunteers, spectators, and fellow athletes are so supportive and encouraging. The event itself seem to run flawlessly. I am completely satisfied with the entire thing.