I began the swim quite well, avoiding any flailing arms and feet. (Some who know me will remember I got a nasty cut and black eye at IMAZ April '08)

Just after going under the 2 bridges I did have a guy put up a little tustle as we bumped into each other. He seemed to try to push off me and as I looked over at him I realized my feet touched down, so I stepped away, walked a few steps and then proceed with the swim.

At the turn, nearly everyone walks at the buoy as you can walk with the current. I did so as well and shook my arms out then proceeded with the swim. I had one zig zag off to the right side during this part with the current behind me, otherwise swam well.

When I neared the end of the first loop, I sighted the red buoy and as I neared it and prepared to go around it only to find that there was another red buoy. So I swam to it and turned and swam the 2nd loop, sighting very well with no zigs and no zags.

I might swim a little harder against the current. I swam quite well (for me) missing my best IM swim time by just over a minute. Take away the buoy confusion and the zig zag on the first loop and I may have had it.

After crossing the time mat, the wetsuit strippers removed my suit. My bike was nearby on the rack. Saw the guy I borrowed goggles from. Thanked him and then placed them in his bag. Put my bike shoes on... still had my cap on... took it off and then put my headband on to keep sweat out of my eyes. Put my helmet on and I was off.

There was a line of bikes to exit T1 and it is just a quick moving line. There is also a hill that you can run up or bike. Most run up it and start riding at the top... I did so as well.

Maybe have a towel there as I had some dirt on my feet. I did a quick brush but still had some dirt on them when I put the shoes on.

Swim faster so there aren't as many people ahead of me and I can then exit T1 more quickly.

I had already decided that I was not going to hammer the bike like I have in the past. Told myself there is no time to make up... just race and feel comfortable. The pace I decided on was 20 mph. This allowed me to gradually pass people as well.

The bike starts in Guerneville and weaves through some tight roads taking you to the loop. A little in the ride, there was a crash... at the crash site the USAT official stopped his motorcycle in the middle of the road and nearly caused a pile up of other racers. (would later find out that the crash involved a BTer as he got his tire wedged in a crack down causing the crash).

After making it through the crash area I kept riding along and had 2 guys that were yo-yoing back and forth with me as we passed many other riders. Then a really good looking girl rode by. I had a thought to go with her... but then said nope... keep on the plan to ride a even pace.

As I made it 20 miles into the bike the first aid station was coming up. At this point the USAT official decided he was thirsty as well and cut in front of me to grab water at the aid station. I missed water because of this but didn't let that bother me. I knew the next aid station was 10 miles down the road and I had plenty of water and heed left to make it there.

At every aid station from there on, I would get water, place it upside down balancing it in my aero bottle. Then I would grab a banana, put it in my mouth and squeeze the water in the aero bottle and quickly discard it. At a couple of aid stations I grabbed gatorade for my cage too.

I rode along and climbed chalk hill very well. Stayed in the saddle and span nice circles up the hill. As I was finishing the first loop I noticed that my front tire was getting mushy. I noticed that it had less than desired pressure earlier in the race but it wasn't mushy at that point. It had been slowly leaking air and was down to 40 psi. I had to slow as I made turns but knew that special needs was just a little bit down the road.

When I got to special needs, they asked if I needed my bag and I simply asked if they had a pump. The guy ran to his car and pulled the pump out and inflated my tire like a full service gas station. That was nice! Will my tire pressure back up I started riding along and could take the turns faster. Nice!

Kept the pace consistent and kept passing riders as I cruised along. I kept smiling during this ride and really enjoyed it. When I got about 85 miles in, I was still feeling good and felt like I had rid the demons I had in my head from last years debacle at mile 88 of the bike. I also came up on that girl that I decided not to chase earlier on and she had blown up a little.

Then Chalk Hill came up again. I went up it very well again but it was certainly tougher the 2nd time around. Stayed in the saddle but almost rose up. I had just seen another rider standing up on the climb and how much energy he was wasting. When I passed him he said "great climbing" to me and I simply said "just spinning circles in the saddle." Because of that I stayed down and tried to keep my pedal strokes as smooth as possible.

I rode the rest of the course and then cruised in to the high school/T2.

I must also say that my Argon carbon frame made the ride a lot more comfortable than last year on the aluminum Fuji.

Somebody was able to pace himself. Miracles do happen as I normally and especially last year... go hard on the bike trying to make time.

The pacing allowed me to have my fastest IM bike split by 3 minutes(6 bike splits thus far)... 15 minutes faster than last year where I rode a real fast first loop and then cracked 88 miles into the bike. Not the same this year as I held a consistent pace the whole way through.

I was slowed slightly by the gradually lowering pressure in my front tire to 40 psi... and the stop at special needs to air it up. Great call not stopping earlier though as the tube was good. The valve just didn't seal and that caused the slow leak. I also stopped at the aid station before chalk hill... very short stop to make sure I had all of the aid I needed as there was a gap of 17 miles until the next station. 2 wise moves! :)

Good transition. Had to pee really bad though... actually caused me to speed up a bit.

Did fine!

Started out the run feeling really good. Didn't feel the effects of the bike at all and took off with my plan of running the flats and downhills while walking up the hills and at the aid stations.

The plan worked well for the first half of the first loop. At that point, I had a new friend that was doing his first IM. I basically started mentoring him along. We kept motoring along but were walking a little more than just the aid stations and hills but not too much more.

The second lap was powered by Oreos. I ate an Oreo at each of the first 3 aid stations and then again at the 6th aid station. When we got to just over a mile from the end of the lap he said he felt his fingers tingling so I told him to walk and I went off.

I ran the rest of the second lap and then started the third lap off running after eating another Oreo with some Gatorade at the aid station. I was glad to have 2 lap bracelets and took off running. My running pace had really slowed though. I started walking a little more but did keep on running some. I tried and tried for the whole third lap to get my knees higher to pick my pace up. Then after the turn around I kept thinking about how at some other IM races I have done, I got a finish line trot going with a good pace. I would try to get this going over and over again but never could get the motor running. Saw breaking the 12 hour mark go away from me and then a new PR mark went away as well. I didn't care though as I kept putting a smile on as I really enjoyed the race.

Because of near heat stroke at the end of June, I only mustered up 21 miles of running in July. It was the hottest July on record in Arizona so I was just doing short runs in the gym on the treadmill. Really needed at least a little better training if I expected to run well.

At 2 veggie burgers and then went to the shuttle to get my truck. Came back and ate 2 burgers and 1 veggie burger and a bowl of chicken soup.


The run.


I did a real good job exorcising the monkey from my back where he had rested since this race last year. I felt the redemption throughout the race. I raced much more intelligently than I have in the past and it paid off. I was in better shape going into the race last year but racing smart and according to plan worked much better.

This is a great race. I really like the course and it is a really well run race.