The swim was the part I trained the least for, but was the least worried about because I was a swimmer in college and an ocean rescue lifeguard on the outer banks for 3 years. I started near the front and stayed there. The first loop was fine, but heading into the chop on the back stretch was much more challenging than the first part. However, my experience really helped with that and I was able to pull away from most of the group. The second loop got tough because of the sun. On the back stretch I absolutely could not see the buoys. Imagine trying to see a bright yellow buoy in choppy water while staring directly into the sun. There was nobody close enough in front of me to follow, so I just guessed. I am pretty sure I went a little far outside of the loop, but it didn't effect me too much.

Nothing. I feel like I nailed the swim: a good pace with minimal effort.I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the race.

Normally pride myself on having some of the fastest transitions, but this is the first time I have ever worn a wetsuit for the swim or socks and a jersey for the bike (I had only done 4 sprints before this race). I told myself beforehand that I was going to relax and take my time in transition, and I did just that. I also spent a moment enjoying how happy I was with the swim. It really pumped me up to come out of the water and have everyone cheering and seeing how fast I went, but I didn't want that to affect my bike so I got it all out while I sat there.

Go a lot quicker! Now that I have done it once for fun, I will work on shaving time when I do it again. I would like to see T1 at about 1:45.

Felt great at the beginning because I was still excited and had the wind at my back. Then turned around and rode 8 or 9 miles back into the wind and still felt really good. Then I started the loops, which I like to call "The tale of two twenties." First I enjoyed riding with tail or crosswinds on smooth as glass roads for about 20 miles until I got to the bottom of the loop and turned East. That is the part when the headwind started and the roads got crappy. I HATE RIDING INTO HEADWINDS! I don't have a nice lightweight, aerodynamic tri bike like most people. I am just riding an off-the-shelf Specialzed Allez road bike with aero bars slapped on the front (I am a poor kid and I had to keep the price under a grand). I know that the wind makes it tougher for everyone, but my friends assure me that the aero equipment makes a big difference. Maybe someday I will experience it. Either way, I had about 20 miles of seemingly relentless headwinds that held me down around 18-19mph for the stretch, and made me work a lot harder than I wanted to. Just as I was starting to feel really tired, I finished loop one and got rejuvenated by encouraging parents and the wonderful tailwinds of the terrific 20. Back to a comfortable and surprisingly easy 23-24 mph avg for 20 or so miles until the terrible 20 again. On the second loop, the 20 miles of wind really took it out of me. Where it was easy to go 24 just minutes earlier, I was working hard to go 16-17 for a large percentage of this section. By the end I was definitely still having fun, but I couldn't wait to get off my bike.

I dunno, I couldn't really go easier in the windy parts because I would have probably fallen over from going so slow, and I was already going quite easy in the non windy sections. I guess I just need to get stronger facing a wind.

If I stopped there, I could honestly have said that was one of the hardest things I had ever done, but I didn't stop. I still had to run a marathon. I took a little break in the tent. Changed into running shorts and shoes. Relaxed for a few minutes while I tried to convince myself to start running. Finally I just left the tent and started jogging.

Not be tired, somehow. That would be really nice. Other than that, nothing. I needed the break.

I really don't like running (I am a swimmer, after all), but I have always been pretty decent at it. I went into this with confidence because I just went under 20 minutes in a 5k 3 weeks before the event, but I was in no way ready for the run that was ahead of me. I started out consciously trying to make myself run slower than I thought I could at the beginning. Then I saw that my first mile split was 8:26 and thought that this might not be as bad as I thought it would be. I had, through naivety, set my goal pace at 10 minute miles without stopping to walk at all. I have done a marathon once before and I hit a bit of a wall at mile 18 or so. I slammed into a 6 foot thick wall made of concrete and steel on this run, and it came at mile 4! Holy smokes, that was rough. I had to stop and go to the bathroom, but that didn't take very long. That mile was 5 minutes slower because I got a rude awakening: there was no way this was happening without me walking. I did a lot of walking that mile. I then changed my philosophy to relaxing and walking through all the aid stations. This ended up working really well for me, though I still hit a couple more walls and had to do some extra walking 2 more times. I found that every time I got to the last mile at the bottom of the out and back I really struggled. However, I just kept taking it one mile at a time and refused to give up. My entire athletic career I have been a sprinter, so I had a lot of people giving me questioning looks when I told them what I was doing. I just kept thinking of everyone that doubted me and made myself keep pushing. The chicken noodle soup at the 3rd aid station was a big help. And all the volunteers were awesome, I really couldn't have done it without all their help.

I remember at the start of mile 25 someone at the aid station asked me if I wanted some "Stop Pain" ointment for anything. Suddenly I thought of all the pain I had gone through for the past 11 hours and realized that this is what it is all about. Pushing through the pain, winning the mind over matter battle, doing something that no sane person would ever do and not forgetting all the preparation that brought me here. This close to the finish, and I finally realized that it isn't about the finishing for me, it is about everything leading up to the finish. I had actually been doing an ironman since the day I started training, and once I crossed the finish line it would be over. Sure I could brag and tell other people that I did it, but the important part for me was knowing that I could take the pain and sacrifice at every level of the ironman and it couldn't bring me down. In my mind, this was about me defeating the ironman, and I wasn't finished quite yet. After this revelation flashed through my mind in a split second, I looked at the volunteer and told him, "No thank you, I want to feel these last 2 miles." I tried to pick up the pace a little, and when I reached the last aid station a mile later I really picked up the pace. It was everything I could do to keep running, not shuffling, for the last mile point two, but I did it! I defeated the ironman and slayed the beast that had been casting self doubt into my mind since I first heard of it 7 years ago. I could barely contain my excitement.

Focus more on running in my training. It is definitely my weakness.

None. Got my massage and went to Denny's. Then McDonalds. Then had a couple more mini bagels. Then finally went to sleep.


Lack of endurance.


When I got home and told my wife all about it (she couldn't come because of work), she decided she wants to do one next year! She is a much better endurance athlete than me (she raced the mile in college swimming, I did the 50 and 100) so she might just kick my butt. Unfortunately, for her to be able to do it with work, we can't go all the way to MD next year :( We both signed up for IM Louisville because it is close. I didn't really take any time off after the race. 3 days later I was already hitting it again. Doing 3 or 4 5-mile runs a week and throwing 10-20 milers once a week. I actually did 10 miles the Saturday after the race. I have a lot of work to doto get under 10 minute miles next time. Great Fun!!!!