It was all good - no great! I just put my head down and swam. I got kicked in the face twice - not too bad but on the way back it could have been really bad if I hadn't picked up my head up just in time to notice that I was swimming up on Mr. Breast Stroke Man. Ugh! I actually had more contact on the way back than out to the turnaround. I found my groove quickly and swam into and sighted off the sun to the turn around. I hit the turnaround at 37 minutes. I was stoked. On may way back I managed to hold my own and swam just off the buoy line which is probably why I had more contact but that's where I stayed. At one point a girl swam over me and she stopped and said sorry and when I laughed and said it was okay she said you know what? I said what? and she yelled WE'RE SWIMMING AN IRONMAN SWIM! Hell yes!! I hit the stairs at 1:27! The volunteer helped me up and I had to stand there for a minute and get my head together and then off I went to the strippers - this is the coolest thing ever I have to say. Needless to say, I was ecstatic about my swim. You can see like ALL of my teeth in the picture I'm smiling so big. I LOVED IT.

Nothing. I think I did great.

Ok, I know this was a long time. UGH! I got my bag no problem. I got into the tent and it was a mad house! My feet were like blocks of ice - I wasn't that cold coming out of the water but walking on the cement to the tent my feet got so cold they hurt. There was no place to sit and all the volunteers were helping someone. I just went to the corner and started doing my thing. It's hard to put clothes on a wet cold body. There was grass in there which was stuck on my feet and pretty much all my stuff that was on the ground. Finally got a mylar and sat down and put shoes on and everything else. I would get yelled at later by my friend Jackie and I quote, "What the hell were you doing in there?!"

Next time ( oh come on, you know there will be one!) I will wear the sports bra and top that I will wear the rest of the day. Hopefully I will have a volunteer to help me too. I honestly didn't even conceive of the notion that it might be crowded in there...I didn't expect to have such a kickass swim and not be last or close to it.

This was a good ride. I kept it steady and there was very little wind for us. It was in our faces on the way out on the first lap, in our faces on the way back to town on the second and kind of in the middle on the third loop. Just when it seemed to get long and kinda boring I hit the turn around and zoomed back to town. I saw Todd and Liz who were out at bike special needs - it was fantastic to see them so many times and I looked forward to it each loop. I saw Dave out there and I heard my name called out a bunch too by other folks but I didn't see in time who it was as they passed. Sorry about that but thank you for the shout - I felt great. Tim said hello as he was finishing up and I was heading out to my third. I was able to keep my tude in check and not get grumpy and sang songs when I was out there like "whatcha gonna do with all that junk? all that junk inside that trunk?" People are great at races..good job Dolores! nice work! Yeah, I had a good time out there. Oh and this was my longest ride ever!

Go faster - I'm faster this year than last year on the bike. I'll be working on it. But on this day I think I did well. I did awesome with my nutrition and water and didn't feel completely toasted when I was done.

Much better than T1 thanks to Jackie who I almost clocked. I love her but I wanted to hit her there for a sec. She yelled at me about my earlier transition and was up my ass to get me out on the run course as fast as possible. I didn't get to sit still even for that minute I was dreaming about the last half hour on the bike. Oh well.

This is where it got ugly (well at least not really ugly til mile 15). By the first mile marker - which I thought was so far away already - my PF foot had said hello. My right calf was tightening up. Great. Limping already. The plan was to do a 5/1 and I had hoped to get at least 18 miles in on the bum foot. That plan did not work - the stopping and starting running walking thing was killing me so I decided to only walk aid stations since it hurt less to run than it did to walk. That lasted til about mile 15. Up to that point, I felt pretty okay and the foot was holding up. I wasn't moving very fast but faster than walking. At about mile 15 my left IT band and hamstring decided to make an appearance and cramped up just enough to stop me from running, I changed strategies and tried a 2/1 which looking back on it now I don't know why I thought that would work if a 5/1 didn't work before but I just thought if I could run some it'd be better than walking. No go. At about this same time, I really started to dread that third loop. I saw Jessica twice on the run. She told me I looked great. Luis said that too when he passed me. They were on their third loops I think and really almost there. They looked awesome. The second loop really started to suck and I did not want to go out and do it again plus I was hurting. I admit it I wanted to sit down. I was not having fun and this was supposed to fun right? I rode that thought for a few miles but still didn't stop walking. I came across my friend Brandice at the start of the third loop and started crying. I also saw Todd and Liz again here and they had signs with my name on it! so cool - thank you! She walked with me and told me how she knew if I quit how pissed I'd be to just shut it and keep going. We got to aid stations and she didn't help - she made me do it and looking back now it really took my mind off things for a second. She kept saying I'd make it in time and I had begun to have a glimmer of hope that I could do 9 miles in 2 1/2 hours and I tried to walk faster. There was no more running by this time. I had made the cut off with some time but I had to really move. It hurt and it sucked and I hated that run course. I picked up my daughter and my dad at about mile 21 I think. My spirits were better but I had started to accept that I probably wasn't going to make it by midnight and Mike was not going to say my name. I was moving slower and I had to stop and pee at almost every aid station. My dad was so funny he kept saying where is that damn finish line? I can hear it but I can't see it! This is part of the deal..I knew that I'd hear it the whole time I was out there. Why I thought it was funny I don't know. The volunteers on the course kept saying those hateful things like "you're almost there" and "two more miles!" which were not true! It seemed like we heard "two more miles" like 3 times and then hit the 22 mile sign - that's 4.2 miles liar! The course sucked especially around that time. Can I ask you something? WTF was that smell by the bridge? and why was it so damned dark under that overpass by the horses? I almost fell on the ground right there! Anyway, Mike Reilly or not I was finishing the course - I was so close but not close enough. I just kept going. They offered me a ride back - no thanks. With about a mile and a half left walking through Tempe Beach Park with my daughter, my dad, my bff, my coach and 3 friends, I finally finished at 12:31 a.m.. I had an extra special finish. and hey, I FINISHED!

Lots.

My dumb foot and my slowness.


What an experience. I loved it. Ironman does things right. I can't wait to do it again but I probably won't until 2011 and somewhere else - I have to work on not hating that run course in Arizona. Thanks to all the BT friends out there on Sunday - I hope I didn't forget anybody. It meant a lot to me to have friends out there.