Penn State's mentor group - CLOSED! (Page 106)

Gregory Buck

Congratulations Greg!! Way to go IRONMAN!!!

Wanted to drop a quick note and I will give a more full update later. 

Race went well, swim was brutal, didn't think I was going to make it through the first 500 yards.  Race expanded to just under 3000 entrants.  After waiting in line to get in the water I was about 10 yards into the lake when the canon went off.  Probably about 3-400 people behind me.  This created a mixed martial arts demo in the first portion of the swim.  Got punched, kicked, swam over but survived.  My HR was spiked and I could hardly breath.  Finally calmed down and was able to concentrate on my stroke.  Second loop was about 5 minutes faster than my first.

Bike went well.  Pretty strong headwind heading out and into the first half of the loop.  I was actually faster going through the hilly portion due to the winds.  Felt good and dialed it back a little to save some legs for the run.  I wanted to average 18-18.5 and came in at 17.99 so all in all pretty good.

Run was just OK.  First half went well, then I started to fight nausea/GI problems.  3 stops in the porta john added some relief and some time to my run.  I was hesitant to try food that I hadn't trained with but the normal stuff wasn't working.  After some experimenting some banana helped to sooth it and I was able to pick up my pace over the last 6 miles or so. 

Great experience and I really enjoyed the day.  I can't imagine any events that are better supported and embraced by the community. 

Looks like I might have a visitor next year!  Congrats on registering.

I look forward to reading your race report Greg! The condensed version sounds like you had a typical ironman day, with challenges and triumphs!  Congratulations on achieving your Ironman finish!

I figured you would wait and do one of the November races Fred!  Great that you got into this one!

Out of curiosity Fred, are you looking to make up the time to go sub 10 across all 3 disciplines or is there one in particular that you are going to focus on?

I finally got in a swim over 3K this morning!  Felt good, but I took it a bit slower since it was my longest swim in several weeks.

PennState - 2010-09-14 5:21 PM

kenj - 2010-09-14 9:00 AM

Out of curiosity Fred, are you looking to make up the time to go sub 10 across all 3 disciplines or is there one in particular that you are going to focus on?

I finally got in a swim over 3K this morning!  Felt good, but I took it a bit slower since it was my longest swim in several weeks.

I don't know Ken, I am going to hire a coach and let him decide what I should aim for. I think it's going to be a bit of a reach to qualify, but I am going to *try*

Didn't mean to put you on the spot.  That is probably a good approach.