ONLY TWO GULPS OF WATER TAKEN IN!!!!! (an omen of things to come???)

nadda!

not sure of the time of the T1 but do know i thought it was faster than last year. also know that this is the point of the entire weekend when i realized i FORGOT TO BRING MY GLASSES FOR THE BIKE!!!! (omen number two of things to come???)

nadda, er, strike that, REMEMBER MY FREAKIN GLASSES!!!

TAIL OF A STICK AND TWO LOOPS!

STICK - nice ride, enjoying conversation with various others. was relaxed and enjoying my new aero helmet!!! hitting the nutrition every 15 mins, gels about every hour, enduralytes every 1:15..........that was the plan.....

LOOP 1 - nutrition smooth......feeling great!!! the big hills hurt a bit, but was fine. hit the special needs about 3 mins ahead of plan, ate some combos, switched bottles and off i went!

LOOP 2 - oh oh, took off from special needs, turned right, hit that hill and then at the top my tummy said........dude, empty. ralph number 1!!! (nope, not got on shark bait, not sure how!).....rode along, still feeling ok, not good, but ok......half an hour later (two nutrition cycles) ralph number 2 (nope, again, none on shark bait!).......putzed along trying to recoup some feeling but couldnt.....about mile 65ish(?) couldnt use the big boy ring anymore, was too painful and didnt have any power at all...switched to little boy with a medium gear in back. hit the hills again, made them easier than loop one (the freakin support there is unbelievable!!!). after crossing that highway, the little boy ring/medium gear felt like crap so downshifted again to the easiest possible gear so basically none left at that point. just outside of verona decided to pull over and stretch some, so hopped off and went to stretch and immedialty peed.......note here wearing grey front panels on tri shorts tends to let everyone know that you are peeing, just sayin.......so back on 'bait i go and still couldnt muster any power at all. took the turn and about mile 99 started seeing stars. went down into aero at mile 100 and the next thing i knew i was over on the left hand side of the road, almost on the shoulder. came back over to the right side, pulled over, hopped off, sat down thinking i could just sit a bit and regroup. well next thing i knew some lady was shaking my shoulder asking if i was ok............choice time, lie and say yay im fine, just took a little nap is all and then get back on 'bait and finish the ride but being the way i was i wouldve probably put other riders in jeopardy and possibly take other people out if i were to crash.....or say no and get stuff taken care of. well, i said no, actually was more like.uuuuuuuuu......which in her language means no so got a ride in the ambulance, 1000 cc in an IV hookup, multiple blood pressure/pulse checks, an ekg and a very slow ride to the med tent where i weighed in at 138 pounds (friday registration i was 151..) had three gatorades while in there, a bottle of water and four cookies.

not knowing exactly what went wrong i dont know what i would do differently. i do know tho that i feel like i will remember this years ironman a LOT more than in '08. why? you always hear people say that ironman isnt about race day, its about the days that lead up to it. well on friday once we arrived into town it was just a great atmosphere all around. at the banquet table just sitting there and looking all the way down to the other end and seeing all the donkai was fantastic!! on saturday i went down to lake geneva and watched a friend kick some azz at that triathlon came back into town and went to dindin with a whole slew of donkai again (and they made me drink three shots in honor of my 40th bday...one apple juice, one cranberry juice and one cola!! EEEAAAWWWsome guys, thank you very much!!!) after i took the DNF i decided that i wasnt going to be that guy who sulked and went back to the hotel room. hell, how could i with all the donkai/BTer's out there?? stayed until almost 1130 cheering them all on and having a great time (i was kind of fading in and out due to everything........) then on the way back to the hotel i found out that the PACKERS WON!!! so guess what? MIAMI, YOU OWE ME FIVE BUCKS OR ..........well you know what the or is, right??)

GREAT WEEKEND with some OUTSTANDING PEOPLE!!!! thank you all so much for the inspires, comments and phone calls about my well being....very much appreciated and if (*cough cough* WHEN i do my next ironman, the results WILL be different!!!)

EEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

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