I placed myself to the right of the "pack" knowing that I could set a straight line to the turn buoy without being in the masses. For the first time, I settled into a nice stoke fairly quickly. Once again, though, I had issues going straight breathing on my right side. So I deferred to my left since the buoy's were there anyway.

I was stroke for stroke with some guy up until right before the first buoy and then he either got lost of dropped off. Not sure what happenned. But standard for me, I was behind the front pack and in front of the second pack. Why can't people swim 1:30's?! I want swim friends too...

After rounding the last buoy and heading for the shore, I caught two guys that decided they wanted to drift left while I was going straight. Not sure where they were going, but it wasn't to the boat ramp. Maybe they saw a Mermaid...

Push a bit harder and really work my stroke. I need to practice right side breathing and going straight.

I came out of the water knowing that there HAD to be several people in front of me. As I approached my rack, I saw two people there just taking their time. Not sure what they were doing, but they were talking.

I put my stuff on and headed out fairly quickly. I chose to put my shoes on in T1 because of the climb right out of transition. That's not a climb I wanted to negotiate while putting shoes on.

Nothing. Good transition

Here is where I encountered new territory. I came out of T1 and started my climb out to the main road. Now I had thoughts of being first, but I knew there was NO way. I got to the main road and from the surprised looks on people's faces, I could tell they hadn't seen many other riders. After about a quarter mile, I saw my first rider up ahead. I then knew it was GO time. I also knew that there was a turn around coming, so I would soon enough know where I was sitting.

I really went after it the first 5 miles of the ride with a jacked up heart rate from the climb out of transistion. That was not good for the dinner the night before. I started to feel it come up somewhat. Mental note: No Gnocci the night before!!

A bit before the turn around, I see a guy on a disk wheel absolutely flying the other way. I knew he was the leader and he was looking strong. I passed one guy before the turnaround and knew that I was in 4th place at that moment. I was kinda excited because I've never been this high up before. After losing a bit of my stomach contents (seems to be a theme lately), I settled my HR and kept reeling in my next victim.

I caught the first guy before the next turnaround and was feeling strong on the hills. I finally got warmed up and things were humming. Now I was in third. I kept telling myself that the podium was mine to lose and kept glancing at riders coming the other way who looked really strong and saw several. So I began to not only ride scared, but was determined to pass more people. I had a beat on the #2 guy but he was a bit out there. As I finally got next to him, I noticed that there was an OR on his calf. He was a Relay guy! Now I had no idea where I was overall. When we passed back by the entrance, many people were on the road now. The lead guy was still looking strong and I just tried to push my gears.

As I went for my largest gear on a downhill (big front, small rear), my pedals free spun! I was like (WTF?!) not now...NO. I upshift one, same thing...again...still free...then...gear! Awesome. Now I can't use my smallest 3 cogs on my casettee. That's ok, at least it's not my top three because I've got to climb. I could hear the rattling of my casettee banging and just hoped that nothing would happen. Every shift was short and non-jerky to make sure nothing bad happenned. It sucked because I was just getting my roll (get it..roll..) on.

The second loop was aggressive uphills and conservative down because I didn't want to be stupid and lose my rear wheel. I knew it wasn't going to fall off, but combine that with my ghetto fix of my rear derailleur and who knows.

I head down the hill into transition and am probably doing about 40 mph in a tuck. A kid things about crossing the road and thank God Dad was there. Well, it's a sharp left turn and another downhill. As I approach this, an ambulance turns on it's lights and starts out across the road. I slam on my brakes and come to an almost complete stop.

As I head into transition, I know that I am one of the first and it was a really cool feeling. You can see the surprise on people's faces as they realize that your either in the lead or close to it. I was so excited that my bike stayed together during the last loop! I was pretty sure that I passed the guy in second, but couldn't verify it.

Get my rear casettee fixed by the bike shop!

Apparently, I flew through transition. It felt fast..but damn!

Nothing

Here is where my mental game was pushed. I headed out and Nancy didn't know what place I was in. She's usually really good at this. I think her family distracted her from her IronSherpa duties...might ban the Family...not sure.

I got to the first turn around and as I came back by transition, I see a guy come flying out of Transition wearing running shorts. I assume he's a relay guy, but you never know. I also saw about 3-4 strong looking guys coming too. So I buried my self-doubts and tried to keep a good pace going. The relay guy came by me (verified) and I picked it up a bit, but he was flying!

About a quarter mile from the second turnaround, I see the lead guy. He's wearing tri-shorts and a running singlet. I have no idea if he's a relay or not. I assumed he was a local pro that decided to do the race because he was flying!! I came around the turn and didn't see anyone for a while. I tried to convince myself that there was someone on the other side of the cul-du-sac that I didn't see and that he was coming for me. I had to stay focused because this is where I always lose it and create self doubt in my racing ability.

There were no mile markers so that didn't help either. I usually don't check my splits anyway, but it would have been nice to have a guage. Now I'm passing people and getting passed by others on the second loop. Most were sprint passing me with an occasional "O" on a calf. On the way home, I hooked up with a guy who was in the 20 - 24 age group. It was rather funny, because he assumed I was on my first lap like he was.

We spoke briefly and he asked me what age group. I told him 32 and I sat on his shoulder for about a mile. He was ok with that since he said, "I am just looking to win my A/G". With a mile to go, I picked it up and as I passed him, I said, "Have a good second lap". That caught him off guard because he said, "WHAT? you're finishing...dammit!"

I was still running scared and tried to keep my thoughts positive and have what I consider to be a good run. I head towards the finish line and see the clock. To my shock, it read 2:11:XX I didnt' realize it, but I was about to PR for an Olympic Distance race. It never occurred to me.

After I crossed the line, the Lin-Mark lady asked if I was an Olympic distance person, and said if so, "You just WON!" My shock was so profound I couldn't contain myself. She took pictures of me and got my name, etc. Then Nancy yells out and gives me a super huge hug. I would never in my wildest dreams think that I could Win let alone place this well in a late season, well attended race.

Unfortunately, my bubble was defalted a bit later, but that's ok.

Nothing. I could feel it in my legs that I had a Half Ironman the weekend before. My body just wasn't able to push super hard like I wanted it to.

Lots of hugs all around and I was just so shocked that I actually got numb every once in a while. I then realized that my BIL was still out on course and I at least knew he made it to the run because as I was coming in, I saw him about a 1/2 mile into the run.

I went back out and ran the last mile or so with him. He finished his first Olympic distance and got revenge on the course that he DNF'd on last year! Yeah MATT!!


Having a really good Half Ironman the week before and travelling for two days prior didn't help too much.


The race was a HUGE improvement from last year. From the swag bag to the changes in the race course. I would do this race again without a problem. If you didn't get something to eat, then it was your fault! IM had less food than he did. Dale, RD, had lots of giveaways and even gave out Heart Rate Monitors. The only negative comment was that the awards ceremony seemed like an after thought compared to the give aways.

Lots of people swarming the table for giveaways and then, "Oh...Johnny won the 30 - 34". Who wants a free Zoot racing top?

I ended up getting second overall and was very happy with that. I looked at the results and he made up his time on the run. He ran 6's while I ran 6:30's. Can't do much about that!! I PR'd and best of all, MATT finished and is now considering doing another one in Sept. HOW kick ass is that?!