Well, I expected a 1:30 swim, so I was surprised I was so slow. The start was fine. It was crowded but not nearly as crazy as I thought it would be. I stayed on course for the entire swim. My goal for the swim was to never feel like I was working...I had plenty of time for that later in the day. Also, I was so happy to be doing the swim in my first Ironman that I didn't want it to end!! My breathing was very controlled so I knew I was going easy. It was so cool to get to the turn-around...gosh, I was just so psyched about the whole thing!! I can't express it. Then, when I turned the last buoy and headed for the stairs I was just so thrilled and was thoroughly enjoying myself. What a joy. So even though I did really poorly here, it was a joyful 1:39:59!
Oh, and I peed 5 times during the swim. Yes, I said 5 TIMES!!!!!!! This is just the beginning of a day full of pee......

Eh...whatever. Next time.

Got stripped, which was great, and ran to get my bag. They had my bag waiting for me and I grabbed it and ran into the changing tent. Each person in the tent seemed to have their own volunteer helping them. She laid a towel down for me so I could clean the grass off my feet, then took my stuff out of my bag for me. I put my socks and shoes on, my helmet and number and grabbed an E-gel. Then she slathered me with sunblock and off I went. The volunteers packed all my swim stuff into my bag for me and it was waiting for me the next day.

Not eat the gel.

The bike. Well, I felt great in the beginning except that I was very bloated already and had to burp constantly for the first 20 miles or so. I kept the HR in zone 1 despite a strong desire to go faster because I knew that an easy start would make or break the rest of my day. So, HR in zone 1, I was having fun for the first loop. Very happy, feeling great, loving the crowds and loving the day. I saw Chippy and Haley at the end of the first lap and screamed to them. It was so cool to be out there! I just kept enjoying the moment, enjoying the day, being amazed that I was doing an IRONMAN with all these other awesome people!!!!
The only problem was my nutrition. The gassiness was worrisome and painful, and there was something wrong with my Infinit (my nutrition on the bike was Infinit, water, and skittles). It tasted "off", like the bottle was dirty or the water I used to mix it was bad. I kept burping it back up and soon I couldn't drink it at all. So, I had to do what everyone tells you to never do:change your nutrition plan during an IM race. But, I needed to settle my stomach and I needed to find something I wanted to drink. So, I threw the Infinit away. That was scary. I switched to Gatorade Endurance from the course, and water. I made sure I drank as much as possible to get as many calories from the Gatorade as I could.They had aid stations every 7-10 miles and I made sure I had finished a water bottle by each station and got a new one since it was hot and dry out. Also, I started eating the skittles on lap 2. So from maybe mile 25-67 I had only Gatorade, water, and Skittles. After mile 30 I bumped the HR up into low zone 2 and kept it there for awhile, but started feeling like I was working too hard, so I went back down to zone one and left it there for the majority of the ride. I don't know....maybe I was just too afraid of that marathon. My plan was zone 2 after 30 miles, so why couldn't I do that? Not sure.
Anyway, I got the special needs and got my second bottle of Infinit. Thankfully it tasted fine so I used that the rest of the course and finished it with 5 miles to go. Perfect. Also, I ate another bag of skittles and a PBJ from my special needs bag.
I never felt like I wanted to quit, I never felt really bad, I never felt really down at any point. Yes, parts of the course seemed long and boring. The hill on the 3rd lap magically got much, much longer. Not saying it was easy by ANY means, but it was OK...my longest ride ever and once my stomach settled dowm I felt pretty darn good.
A few other things: saw Aaron 3 times and he was freaking tearing it UP out there! Also, I met Dana on the course and saw jchyte at the same time. Hearing the pros whoosh by on their disc wheels was cool. And the peeing. I peed on the bike for the first time. And I peed A LOT!!!! All the time. Really..ALL THE TIME! My socks were drenched and my shoes may need to be thrown away. Poor bike. :)
I figured my bike speed would be between 16-17 mph based on my training, and that is what I got.
When I was about 1/4 mile from the bike finish I saw TBG (my friend Tom from Tampa) for the first time. That was great, to have someone out there spectating that I had trained with.

I don't know. I don't know.

Got off the bike and a volunteer took it from me. I was feeling a little disoriented but just did what I did last time...got my bag from a volunteer and went into the change tent. I was severly chafed in my armpits and literally could not put my arms down. All the pictures Haley took at this point show me with my arms out in the air..haha! Got some vaseline, it didn't help. Changed into my tri shorts, put my visor and socks and shoes on, and off I went to run my first marathon!! The volunteers put all my stuff away for me again and sunblocked me. When I left transition I saw Tom and Haley and Chippy and said hi.

Wow. The toughest thing I have ever done, I think. And the thing I am most proud of..my first marathon!!!
I started out feeling great except I couldn't lower my arms! So at the first aid station I got 2 sponges with cold water and rinsed the salt off of me. After that I could put my arms down.
Nutrition: it was very hot at the start of the run. I walked through every aid station except that last 2. I drank at them all, a mix of everything. Water, gatorade, soda, and chicken broth. Had no gels, a few cookies, about 4 grapes. The best thing was the coke. Loved it. Around the 10K point I started to feel my toes cramping a bit and got worried. I didn't find an aid station with chicken broth till the 2nd loop, and as soon as I had some of that I was all better. Worked great. I had no cramping at all for the rest of the race and no stomach problems. I drank too much, I think, because I did nothing by pee for the whole run. Sense the trend yet? I did nothing but pee on myself for the entire RACE! During the run I was stopping at every other aid station to use the porta-potty and was still peeing on myself in-between. It was constant. But, all that fluid kept me from bonking, so I'll take the peeing. I never got bloated, which is really a HUGE accomplishment for me. I feel like the nutrition was a big success and I am very, very happy that I was not at all limited by poor nutrition. It had been a big concern of mine. Next time maybe I won't drink as much, but it was so dry out there I was always thirsty.
OK, so the run started hot. I felt fine the first mile (especially since I met Gina (grvfrog) right as I started and she was starting her 2nd lap), but then I really started feeling bad...tired and sluggish and off. I was freaked that I was feeling that way already. I was hoping that my slow swim and bike would pay off on the run and now I was facing a longer marathon too. So at this point I spotted Todd Crandell, the man that was in Runner's World last month and just wrote a book about being a former drug addict and now Ironman junkie. I wanted to meet him so I stopped and shook his hand (he was walking)and we started walking together and talking. This was one of the highlights of my day, that one mile I spent walking and talking with him. It was great...we talked about the race and how we were both feeling bad, about our dead mothers, about drug and alcohol abuse in our families, about his Race for Recovery HIM. It was awesome. After that mile I felt I could run again and I didn't need to take another break like that for the rest of the run. I think walking that mile made a big difference for me..it gave me a nice break. So on I went, mile by mile. The first lap was hard, because you see all the mile markers for the second and third laps too. It's hard to see a sign with a 2 on it and then see a sign with a 19 on it. Ugh. All I could do was go from aid station to aid station. They were all about 1 mile apart and that was my ENTIRE race...getting to the next aid station. I saw my peeps as I finished the first lap and Haley had some salty crackers for me. I hadn't found any broth yet so those were good. I gave them all a hug and continued. The second lap was OK. I finally saw Aaron on this lap and that was great. I can't remember too much about this lap except that I decided not to stop for my special needs bag. I didn't need anything. Every mile marker was a victory. I told myself to get to the first 10K..that was easy. Then get to the 13 mark..half way. That was good. Then get to 18...that was a good one because after that I was running farther than I ever had run before...EVER! Saw my peeps again after lap 2 and at this point I had nothing left to say..I was quiet. Everyone on the course was quiet at this point. The volunteers were just as awesome...the best volunteers, but I could do nothing more than whisper "thank you" at this point. So I said goodbye to my wonderful friends and headed out for the last loop. Hard. Hard. Hard. Painful. So, so painful. My legs were killing me, not from the ITB, but just all over. I did not want to walk. It was very important to me to know that I gave it my all. It was a matter of pride. I wanted to be able to say that I ran most of the marathon. It was my thing. Plod, plod, plod. Aid station. Pee. Plod plod plod. Aid station. Pee. At mile 19 my friend from the plane, Freddy, passed me so I said hi and we chatted through an aid station and then for about a 1/4 mile walking. It was great to see him and exchange tales of the day. We started running again and he was gone. Mile markers were beautiful...19, 20 21, 22, 23, 24,and the best one yet, 25. I wanted to see that sign more than anything. I wanted to see that sign and know that it was MY sign. When I got there I threw my glow band in the garbage and smiled. Kept going. Then Paul came up and I ran with him for about 1/2 mile and we exchanged race stories too. Also a first timer. He is a dude that knows Aaron from races in Texas and we kept running into him all weekend. There was this other girl out there with me. She was in my age group and she was my target. We constantly kept passing one another. She was doing a run/walk and I was doing a constant Ironman shuffle. So at around 25, she passed me and I thought she was gone for good, but then with about .1 miles left I kicked it and blew past her to the finish. That felt great!! And there I was...over the beautiful bridge, turning the corner, running down the chute, finishing my first Ironman with a big grin on my face!!!! It was undescribeable.It was.....it was joyous, precious, painful, glorious, messy, fun, fantastic, overwhelming, relieving, perfect. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I did it. I did an Ironman.

As soon as I crossed the line, a volunteer grabbed my arm and asked if I was ok, gave me my medal and finisher stuff, and walked me off the course. There was Tom and Chippy waiting for me and I don't remember what I did. Got a mylar blanket and what?? I don't remember. Smiled. Hugged. Chippy set off to get pizza, and me and Tom found the pizza tent too and I got some for myself then sat down. The pictures of me sitting and eating the pizza sum up how I was feeling more than anything I could write here. It's hilarious. After we reunited with Chippy we went and got my bike and rolled it over to the Tri Bike Transport spot and said bye to the pee-soaked machine. Walked to the car and drove back to the house with a parking lot pit-stop ala Haley. :) :)
At the house I took a very brief ice bath, ate some cookie dough, and went to bed or something. No, I remember seeing Aaron and Haley. So I guess I stayed up for awhile talking. It's a blur.


Mmmmm...lack of time in the sport.


The volunteers were absolutely amazing. The run course aid stations were fantastic. I really loved the people at the Phoenix tri club station. They were so kind and supportive. The sorority girls in camoflauge were so cute. This was just an amazing experience, from the first day at the expo till the end. It is like being transported to your home planet for a week. Among your own kind. I cannot wait to do IMFL. I just cannot wait. I love this. I hated being so slow, but I will get better. Chippy reminded me that I was slow at my first sprint tri too and that got better, so this will too. I am hooked. This was a very important achievement for me. It came at a time of many changes in my life. It was a wonderful distraction and a great reminder that the most poweerful force in my life is myself and my own strength. I have never felt such a sense of pride and accomplishment. And the best part was doing it with my very good friends, who made the whole experience so much more delightful, meaningful, and blessed. Haley and Chippy...I cannot thank you enough. Your faces were a beacon for me during that race. I don't know how I managed to find the 2 best girls in the whole world to be my friends. :)And thank you to all of my other wonderful BT friends who supported me during this whole journey. You guys are all amazing and so, so special to me.
What I will remember the most is that run course. When I drove by it in the car the next day it did something to me. When I see pictures of it it does something to me. When I think about it it does something to me. It touches me in a place inside my body and I feel it physically. I feel something. It makes me cry and it tugs at me. It's so powerful in my mind that I feel it physically. I can't describe it.