It started raining about 30 minutes before race start and they announced that the bike route was flooding. The race was delayed for 45 minutes for a decision to be made regarding the bike portion with a swim-run-swim being mentioned as the contingency plan. That didn't seem like such a bad plan considering that I had never ridden my tri bike in the rain and wasn't really looking forward to it. But I also thought about how much time I had spent these last six months training for the bike portion and I knew I was ready for the 112 miles. Thankfully, the decision was made to have athletes dismount for a few yards of flooded roadway and continue the race as otherwise planned. I was so relieved and happy not to have my race taken away by mother nature. At the start I was cold enough from the rain (which let up for a while) that the water felt blessedly warm. I have never had a more RELAXED open water swim in my life. I started in back and had space from the beginning. I ran into a few people, but wasn't clobbered myself at all. The water seemed a little choppier on the second loop, but was still nearly ideal. I didn't feel like I was exerting hardly any effort for the majority of the swim even though I matched my best HIM swim pace.

I only had tinted goggles so it was a little hard to see. I need to keep some clear ones in my bag for rainy swim starts.

My T1 items were soaked. It was really hard to get the bike shorts on wet legs. I was so glad though I had packed a light rain/wind jacket just in case. It was perfect for the conditions and I never got cold, which is basically a miracle for me.

I stayed focused on trying to average 16mph. This ride seemed to go very fast. I had a blast riding in the rain, although I also tried to be very cautious of turns and braking. Eventually the rain did let up and the sun came out. I left my long sleeved under armour shirt on though to prevent sun burn since I was so wet in T1 sunscreeen would've been impossible. I actually tanned though the shirt though and saw several people with bad burns. I didn't want to run a marathon with a sunburn. I had such a great ride. I didn't get the "Get me off this bike!" feeling I've had in races before. I was very comfortable (except for the wet shorts) and didn't feel fatigued at all. I kept thinking about how I hadn't planned on actually having so much fun for my 1st Ironman.

Probably nothing. I stayed spot on with nutrition and met my 16mph goal.

This took longer than 53 seconds. My T2 items were only damp, so that was nice.

Put my running shorts on before my shoes. I had to take my shoes off again to change shorts.

I was most nervous about this part of the race since I was coming back from a lower leg and side of leg injury. My longest training run in the weeks before was only 12 miles. I have only ran one other marathon back in 2007. My injuries didn't bother me at all and I was so thankful to be able to run almost the entire marathon portion, except walking the water stops and a few rounds of 5/1 run/walk intervals. The bad part was that all of the puddles soaked my shoes and socks and made them so heavy they pulled my shin muscles and I had to vasaline an emerging blister on the bottom of my foot every loop. I did feel a little nauseous between miles 13-15 and 25-26, but had run through much worse. I think I drank too much water. I was really surprised that I didn't really have any low moments. I wasn't overly anxious to get it over with or to have the run be done. I was just savoring the experience. I was almost sad to only get to run 1 1/2 loops in the dark and to have the whole experience over with so quickly.

Compression socks on BOTH legs. My left calf had one from my injury and that shin barely hurt. Chew ice instead of drinking so much water.

I walked around after the finish and sat almost an hour to try to calm my stomach. It hurt a little for the next day and a half. I did finally gather all my gear and get a massage which felt really good. I even got a little hungry and went with my Mom to TGI Fridays for some chicken strips at midnight.


Considering my running injuries, I have no regrets or complaints about performance. If I had lighter shoes, I do think I may have been a little faster.


I think this was a great choice for me. I raced the HIM the year before, so was comfortable with the course and logistics. I look back at all of the early morning workouts and long solo rides and can be glad of the outcome.