My first mass start. Totally insane. There was no navigating the first 800m, just bumper swimming. I got kicked and jostled ALOT but I kept my cool. I got really cold on the 2nd lap, but my personal mantras kept me moving. Overall, I am very happy with the swim. I came out 1 min slower than my target race plan time.

Start a little further back. I could have afforded to lose 5 min off my swim time to not get kicked so much.

I wasn't as concerned with time as I was with making sure I was dry and my clothes were on properly. The volunteers were incredible (even helping me put on my bike bib while I was standing in the buff). I managed to do a complete wardrobe change, get suncreened up, and out of there in ~10 minutes. Good enough for me.

Nothing.

I got dominated by pretty much everyone. It was really demoralizing to get passed the entire ride, but I stuck to my race plan of going at a comfortable pace which was ultimately the right decision. I finished 15 min faster than my realistic race plan time.

My hamstring injury started flaring up around mile 70 which kept me out of the aero bars for the remainder of the ride. That was really tough emotionally.

Nutrition went really well. It was tough to eat after 90 miles, but my special needs bag provided me with perfect energy sources that I could put down. I never bonked which is great.

Get a tri bike. Train faster. My training didn't include enough high intensity bike work. Do longer than 112 mile bike ride in training.

Again, the volunteers were incredible. They helped me pull of my sweaty clothes, change into my new ones, tie my shoes, and rub sunscreen all over. For how tired I was, i'm amazed it only took 9 minutes. Definitely thanks to the volunteers.

Put calf compression sleeves on BEFORE putting my running shoes on.

I felt great on my first "out" leg and kept to my race plan of 11 min/mile. On the first "back" leg I wasn't taking in enough fluids (even though I switched between water and powerade at every aid station). My fingers began to tingle and I began to go faint at mile 12 so I started pounding liquids and gave up on my nutrition plan. This was the toughest point for me mentally. I recovered on the 2nd "out" leg and got back to my nutrition plan. I had a great 2nd "back" leg that I ran with another guy who was fighting an injury. We ended up doing a negative split on that leg.

Vary my aid station nutrition between: 1st) 2 cups water + 1 gu, 2nd) 2 cups powerade, 3rd) 2 cups water + banana + salt, 4th) 2 cups powerade. Then repeat.

I got really cold really quickly. I wrapped 1 space blanket around my lower body and 1 around my upper body. I tried to do a light stretch but it's too hard to say if it was effective at all.


My bike, and my hamstring. I got injured 5 weeks before the race from over-extending my hamstring by riding in an aero position too much on my road bike. That injury cost me 3 weeks of running training, 2 weeks of bike training, and the ability to go into an aero position during the race. I definitely need a tri bike if i'm going to do an Ironman again.


There were 3000 volunteers who were absolutely incredible. The course is beautiful. There were tons of people cheering the entire race. Great venue. I highly recommend this race to anyone attempting their 1st Ironman.