I usually start the swim near the front, but for this day I started in the back and toward the side. I wanted to be able to start slow and get out of the scrum quickly if I had to puke in the water. The start was crowded back there, but opened up after a while. Eased into the swim, focusing on long smooth strokes. Except for brief periods, my stomach cooperated nicely during the swim, and I felt pretty good.

Nothing

Loved the carpet for the long trot into T1.

I'm a biker at heart, and I love hilly courses. This is a great course -- scenic, with enough hills to keep it nice and interesting. I started off nice and easy, and started eating right away -- since I had very little in the tank, I knew I had to make eating a priority. So, keep the heart rate down and keep food going in. My Infinit sports drink which Ive used for years was not sitting well, so I tossed it and lived off Honey Stinger Waffles, Powerbars, and water.

Halfway through, I felt pretty good, so I bumped up the pace a bit. The last trip up to Lac Superior hurt a bit more than the first trip, but soon the ride was over. All in all, the bike went very well -- food was staying down, energy level was OK -- I couldn't believe that I had a shot at finishing!

On the bike course, the fans/volunteers started to really come out. Judging from the age range, it looked like the entire town was out volunteering or cheering -- very cool!

I started the run feeling pretty good. My plan was to mentally break the course into 10K bits, and walk if I needed to. The first 10k went OK, but right after that the wheels came off. I started to walk, but my energy level sunk to a point where even walking got difficult. My stomach was not digesting while running. Things got dark, but I told myself to just keep moving, because, as the ultra-runners say, things never always get worse.

As I started to come back into town, the energy from the fans/volunteers really really hit me. They were just so supportive of us. And they weren't just friends/family of the racers -- they were all the locals. I know it sounds sappy, but I had nothing left in the tank, and their energy got me out of the dark place and through the first lap.

OK, time to adapt. After experimenting, I found that Coke, orange slices, and a little chicken broth went down OK as long as I walked 300 meters after each aid station. So that became the routine -- walk about 5 minutes after aid and then trot to the next station.

Nearing town for the second time, it started to pour. Bad news for those headed out into the dark for lap two. I tried to encourage them and give them some of the energy that the spectators had given me.

About 2km out, a rainbow appeared over the finish line area -- A fitting ending to a long day.

Ate a little and got into some warm dry clothes.


Apparently, getting sick right before a race is a BAD idea.


I cant believe I finished. Here's what I learned from this experience.

Race execution (pace, fueling, etc) makes a tremendous difference in a race of this length -- I think it was the only thing that got me through. This was IM #5 for me, and I can honestly say it was my best-executed race to date. Strangely, being sick forced me to moderate my effort and focus on fueling.

If things aren't working, you need to adapt. My stomach did not accept my original nutrition plan, so I tossed it to the side of the road (literally), and found things on the course that worked.