I jumped the gun and was the first one in my wave out of the cove and to the first buoy, I then realized that I needed more oxygen and had to slow down a bit. My sighting was great and I felt really, really strong, but I wanted to save a little for the difficult bike to come. Overall, the swim was uneventful as I made my way through the wave that started ahead of me and searched for anyone to get behind and ride their draft. I got out of the water in 4th place and made my way through the long transition run to my bike.

Not start so fast.

It took me a little longer in transition because I had to run from one side of T1 to the other down a narrow lane to the bike exit and mount site.

Put gloves on later in the ride.

I felt good and was on my bike with no problems, then it was on past the screaming crowd and up the first hill. What a way to start the bike going up a steep hill at the beginning. I had ridden the hill the day before and had an idea on what to expect so I spun up the hill and tried to settle on the top knowing that I had a steep downhill going right into another long uphill. After that, the course went out of the park and on to flat and straight FM roads. Once on the flat roads I started to drink and eat some as I got my bike legs and tried to keep an average speed of 25mph, even into the slight headwind. I was working kinda hard at this point but I felt great. My taper had done me right and I was ready to race this day. After about 10 miles we turned out to do our first out and back section that took us down into the valley and up the other side. I let it go on the downside and hit 48mph, passing people like they were standing still. Gosh, I love the downhills! Then I got a quarter the way up the next hill before having to drop into and easier gear and spin up the far side. That hill ended up being the easiest of the 8 on the bike course. We went about 3-5 more miles then did a U-turn and came back into and out of the canyon. I had expected that climb out of the canyon to be hard because it was long but I did a decent job of staying steady and even averaged 12mph up that hill. Then it was on to the next flat section. The first out and back gave me real confidence as I was not getting passed and I was holding an overall average speed of 21mph through 20 miles of the race. Around mile 25 my lower back started to hurt so I stretched a bit, ate a GU and drank some more as I spun in an easier gear at a high 100 rpm cadence. This gave my legs a chance to recover as we turned into the next long section of flat roads with the wind at our backs going to the valley with the two most technical hills and the part of the course that I was most concerned about. I was really flying at that point entering the canyon and felt like I could ride all day. My average speed had increased to 23mph and I was having a blast. Going up the twisty and curvy first climb was not nearly as hard as I imagined after driving the course the day before. It was tough, but not as bad as the hill going up near Steiner Ranch and the Damn in Austin. Once on top, it was a flat out and back. With the wind still at our backs, I continued to hydrate and consume calories. At the turn around I dropped the gearing and tried to increase my cadence to maintain speed but not work so hard in a larger gear. That seemed to work as I was passing people going into the wind. I was cautious at the beginning of the decent but let it go towards the bottom after the last hairpin turn and whipped out onto the road and through the bottle hand-up so fast that I didn't have time to grab one. Then it was on to the Staircase Hill and the last technical part of the bike course. The way up was not too bad as I got to see a tarrantula and a turtle going across the road. Then the turn around and decent back to the canyon.

At this point, I had been 4th out of the water and thought I had past 2 in my age group to move into 2nd. I felt incredible and strong and planned to get down the hill and then hammer the flat lands back to the park and then just survive up the last hill. I was at mile 38 with an average speed of 21mph and on pace to ride a 2:45 (56 mile), which is 15 minutes faster than I had ever done in a Half Ironman. My nutrition was right on target and all I had to do was get to the bottom and then hammer on home. Well, I got 9/10ths of the way down and was about to go around the LAST corner when the rider in front of my reached for his water bottle going downhill. Let me stop and say that again. <> The idiot in front of me decided to take a drink going 30mph down a twisting and turning decent. I screamed "on your left" as he drifted into traffic. He tried to move to the right but lost his grip on his water bottle (duh), and as I was moving to his left, trying to avoid the riders going up the hill and the idiot on my right, I swerved around his spinning water bottle and missed with my front tired but caught the bottle with my back tired and it caused my back wheel to slide out from under me, going 30mph down that hill. I can't decribed all that happened next other than to say, I hit the ground HARD, broke my helmet and had road rash on my ankle, hip, elbow and sholder. My head hit the ground hard enough to break the helmet but I never lost consciousness. I was PISSED OFF and tried to roll out of the oncoming cyclists as everyone started screaming, "Biker down, biker down". A race official came up on me about a minute later and asked if I was alright and that the EMS was on the way. I said I was ok and wanted to keep going to see if I could finish. He said ok, but that the EMS folks were at the next intersection. I got back on my bike and checked to see if everything was working ok and went down the the hill. My helmet would barely stay on my head and I had blood streaming down my arm and a hole in my shorts and tri top. I couldn't see the massive road rash on the back of my arm and shoulder so I just ignored the pain. I saw the EMS guys coming towards me and decided right there that I was not going to stop. I figured if they saw me and my helmet, that they would not let me continue, so I put my head down and just flew past them. At this point I was in pain and really pissed off. I hammered up the next long climb out of that canyon and hit the headwind stright on. The wind was stinging my cuts so I just gritted my teeth and tried to keep moving. It was at this point that I realized my chance at a sub 6 hour race was in jeopardy. The wreck had cost me 10-15 minutes and I was in some major pain in my hip and shoulder. My elbow was still bleeding and I had trouble keeping it in the arm rest of my aerobars. Still, I was not going to stop until I got back to transition, 16 miles down the road. At the next water hand-up I grabbed 2 water bottles and proceeded to pour water on my wounds (mistake). The pain was almost unbearable so I stopped and just tried to keep moving my legs. The sad part of this whole thing is I passed the 50 mile maker and noticed how great my legs felt. Typically, I am ready to get off the bike and my legs feel like lead. Today, my legs were lite as air and I thought I might just have a good run after all. I spun up the last hill and went donw the backside (a little conservatively) and into transition #2.

I had gone from a 2:45 pace for the bike to a 3:15 because of that wreck. But still, I was hoping a good run would put me under 6 hours.

What would you do differently?:

Avoid rolling water bottle.

I got into T2 ok, as I saw Kari. Actually, as I heard her!!
I tossed my battered helmet to the ground and put on my running shoes. I had decided to go to a port-a-potty and see if I could determine the extent of my injuries and try to take a Advil and some GU.

Longer in T2 due to post wreck issues, otherwise, not much. I was into my running stuff very quickly. I probably spent 2 minutes in the port-a-potty.

Starting the run, I didn't want Kari to worry about me so I didn't say anything about the wreck. I tried to just get out on the run course and go 1 mile at a time, knowing that I could stop at any point and have the EMS guys take me back. I think I ran the first 2 miles with relative ease. My running legs felt great but I could tell that my hip was going to be a problem and my shoulder was aching with every swing. I got to the first hill at mile three and walked the hill with most of the other triathletes. At the top, we turned out of the park and headed down another hill into a canyon and the first water stop. I actually stopped here and got a wet towel, gatoraide and some more advil. All I heard on the run as people passed me was, "Oh my God! Are you alright?" I didn't know why everyone was so expressive because I could not see my back and shoulder. However, I could feel it and wondered if I was hurt worse than I knew. From this point on I could only run a half mile or so before needing to slow down to rest my hip and shoulder. I eneded up running/shuffling along with my left arm inside my trisuit like Napoleon for the rest of the run. At mile 9 I started to fight with my inner voice about stopping. The pain in my hip was approaching a point that I didn't think I could handle. I started to get nauseous and the heat started to affect my outlook. I seriously needed a pick-up of some kind and the water stations were starting to run out of everything except gatoraide and water. The good news was that they all still had ice. So I took a cup of water, a new, ice soaked towel and started on my way to the next aide station wondering if it was my last.
By mile 11 I was in serious need of a soda. Luckily, one of the aide station girls had one of her own cokes and poured me a half glass with ice. I don't know who she was but I think she kept me in the race. I was seriously about to stop and sit down at that point. After a minute I got that much needed caffeine kick and convinced myself that I had made it 68 miles that day and I could make it another 2. The last two miles were a blur and I tried to keep running but the pain in my sholder and hip made it almost impossible. As I neared the finish, I saw Aaron (JeepFleeb) and he ran into the street as he opened a cold bottle of Shiner Bock and offered it to me. On any other day I would have accepted. Aaron, I am sorry I didn't take it and I am sorry that I did not return. I sure wish I had drank that beer before I finished!

I ran the last 100 yards to the finish and saw and heard my group, with Kari the loudest, yelling and cheering. I shuffled across the finish line and was met by the crew and stopped by and EMT as they saw my condition. As soon as they saw my back they told me to follow them to the Medical tent so that they could "clean out my wounds". Not before I got my finishers medal and finishers t-shirt. I never wanted those two items so bad before at a race. That day, I had earned them more than any other race that I had finished, regardless of my time. The Medical tent was a new experience for me and I have to say that I was very impressed with all the people in the tent. First rate treatment and the nicest people I have ever seen in Medicine. The worst part at that point was when they start to pour hydrogen peroxide on my wounds. That stug so much that I yelled out and almost passed out. I had to sit down when my lips started to tingle and my body started shacking. So, they led me to a lounge chair and called the nurse to put in a central line to hook-up an IV of Saline solution to get my fluids back up. Instant re-hydration! Unfortunately, as soon as I sat back down, they started pouring the hydrogen peroxide again and trying to pick-out the pieces of asphalt that was were in my shoulder. They had to cut my suit off in places to clean all the road rash so I just sat there and tried not to bite my tongue off. After about 15 minutes, as my friends were coming by to ask if I had "seen their water bottle", I started to feel a little better. Then we packed up transition as Kari got the car and was able to get through the race officials to drive into transition so we didn't have to walk up that blasted first hill again. Off to dropoff Christine at her hotel and back to our hotel for the shower from hell and a night of sporatic and painful sleep. Run time of 2:59:37 was the worst 13.1 miles that I have ever done but also one of the proudest ones that I have for myself.

Run more hills

Spent the from the time I crossed the finish line until I got in the car in the Medical tent.


Bike wreck


I was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
"Pain heals, chicks dig scars, but Glory lasts forever" - The Replacements
I put most of my thoughts and experiences from this race in the other sections of this race report so I don't want to rehash them in the final comments. What I can say at this point, is I now know what it takes to be an Ironman. I know that I only did a Half that day, but I also know that I saw the demon of self doubt and reason and I conquered that demon. I also squashed a perfectly new and full water bottle with my back wheel and lived to tell the story.