my goal going into the swim and bike was to conserve energy for the run. I knew that I could go around 1:20 without pushing. Kept a steady pace throughout. Spotting was good throughout. When rounding the bouy, I stood up and walked for a few steps bc the water was pretty shallow.
On lap 2, I got kicked in the face took a breath and continued on. Overall, I was thrilled to come out of the water in great shape and see my friends.

I think that I could have pushed a little more and been fine. Other than that, I was very happy. All was going very well at this point and thought I was on my way.

Going into T1, I knew this was going to take while. I had decided that I would change into bike shorts in the changing tents. I also had to run my stuff to my gf before getting on the bike to make sure everything got back- this was also suggested at the pre-race meeting The volunteers were great with helping me get out of wet suit.

not much. Although, my time was slow, I had planned for this going into the race. Switching into the bike shorts made the bike portion very bearable.

Again the goal was to go easy so that I would have plenty of energy for the marathon that was up next. I stayed at a steady pace throughout and did not feel like I was pushing.
Nutrition: 3 Crustable PB&J sandwiches (1 was in special needs bag); 48 oz water; 1 bottle of Powerade with 2 scoops of endurolytes and 2 scoops of Carb Pro; 1 bottle of Gatorade with 2 scoops of endurolytes and 2 scoops of Carb Pro; 2 more bottles of Gatoade Endurance; approx 3 GU Roctanes, 3 fig newtons, 2 100 calorie cliff bars from aid stations

I need to work on descending hills. I was braking down them way too much. It was more than annoying passing people going up hills and then breaking and being passed on the downhills.
I need to train on more hilly courses to get more comfortable.

Felt grat coming off the bike and into T2. I changed out of the bike gear (socks and shorts) and into running stuff. I also put on a fresh jersey.

not much. I liked the idea of putting on running clothes to run. For a 13hr race, the few extra mins seemed well worth it

coming out of T2 things were going great. I had not pushed at all and felt that I was ready to run a strong marathon...certainly 13 hours would be accomplished as it mean running ~a 5:30 marathon- which I should be able to do with no problem. During mile 1, my legs were starting to come under me and I jogged an easy 9:25. Mile 2, legs were under me and I was feeling ready to go under 13 hrs and thought I had a chance of going under 12. Mile 2: 8:28.
At this point, the triathlon gods decided to have some fun with me. Suddenly both legs started to cramp pretty badly. I was able to walk/jog the rest of lap 1 in 1:31. At this point, I am accepting that 12 is out of the question, but 13 was still well within reach. I was able to continue to walk jog on the way out for lap 2 and then the cramping got to the point where as soon as I started a jog, quads and calves were cramping up. As I rounded (walked) lap 2 and saw my friends and gf, I told them that they were looking at my pace for the third lap. I think lap 2 was around 1:57. I walked all of lap three bc of the cramps. I accepted the hand that I was dealt and vowed to finish. At points, the cramps were acting up while I was walking. As I watched Gerry pass me, I cheered hoping that he could break 13hrs, which he did with plenty of time to spare.
Coming down the final stretch, I managed to limp/jog across the finish line and celebrate that I was now an IRON MAN!!!

figure out how I can prevent the cramps!

seeing Christine and Kevin (who flew out from NJ to cheer) along with the rest of the gang at the finish was phenomenal. I can not thank everyone enough for standing out there and cheering for us for 13+ hours.
At this point my legs were in pretty bad shape. I went to the message tent and got a 15 minute massage. The guy said my legs were extremely tight and I needed to continue stretching.


cramping.


volunteers were everywhere: helping with wet suit removal, holding bikes at port-a-johns. every mile was an aid station on the run that was fully stocked with salt tabs, water, gatorade, fruit cookies, shot blocks etc.