As soon as we hit the ramp, they told us to run because they needed to get the line moving. I ran to the end of the dock and a certain calmness came over me. I thought about all of the videos I watched of the IMKY swim start and here I was running fown the dock getting ready to jump in and do my first Ironman, something I had been preparing for for the past 3 years. As I got to the end of the dock ,I jumped in and began swimming my race.

About 400 or so yards into th swim, a guy on a kayak was cruising towards me at a high rate of speed. He was yelling very loudly for me to push far right. I thought this was odd because the buoy line was far left. After I got passed him I could tell that something was wrong. I stopped swimming and looked around and saw several people pulling a swimmer onto the shore of towhead island. The swimmer was motionless and they were doing chest compressions on him. I knew it wasn't good if they were doing compressions, especially on the bank of the island. I felt horrible for whoever it was, but he had many people there to help him and I kept on going. What I saw would stay with me for the remainder of the race. I kept wondering if he would be ok.

I maintained my bearing during the rest of the swim and cruised along. It seemed like it took forever to get tot he turn, but once I did the swim really went fast. Before I knew it, I was swimming under the first bridge. I did notice a diesel smell/taste in this part of the river. The next thing I knew, I was swimming under bridge #2. I could now see the swim finish and I was really happy about that.

I exited the water and looked at my watch and saw 1:15. I was impressed with that time. I expected to swim closer to a 1:25. I felt really good exiting the water and ran to T1.

Nothing.

I took my time here and made sure I had everything. Being as this was my first Ironman, I wasn't flying through anything!

Nothing.

I started the bike feeling really good. The goal was to continue feeling good throughout the entire ride. I wanted to stay on top of my nutrition and avoid the weak, low blood sugar feeling. My plan was to take 1 gel, 1 Endurolyte, eat some of my special race mix, drink 2 bottles of fluids (1 Perform, 1 water) per hour. My special race mix consisted of a bag with a chopped up cliff bar, combos, GU Chomps and pieces of a Honey Stinger Waffle. I also took a half of a banana at each aid station. I stuck to my plan and felt fine throughout the ride.

Before I knew it I was at the out-and-back section of the course. I knew what this was all about and I knew I was going to have to be extra careful here not to get involved in a crash. This is a very nasty section of the course with all of the bikes that are on it at the same time. I stayed to the right the whole time and carefully made my way down the hills.

As I made my way through La Grange the first time, Mike Reilly was there announcing and he gave me a little shout out as I passed through the cheering crowd. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to see Amanda in the crowd of people. The last we talked, she was going to take the shuttle into La Grange. I was a little bummed thinking she would have went out there for nothing.

I had to pee so bad on the bike. I tried really hard to pee on the bike, and actually did.....kind of. I had to wait for the downhills to pee. It was impossible for me to pee while pedaling. As soon as I would start to pee, I would have to start pendaling again, thus causing a break in my stream. I also kept worrying about my wiz getting all over the person behind me. I finally stopped at a port-a-john to finish it off.

As far as the hills go........I did a ton of biking on hills this year leading up to this race. At the beginning of the year, I wouldn't have lasted 50 miles on this course. However, I have been doing century rides every weekend since the end of May leading up to this race. A lot of those rides being on hills, so I was prepared to have a nice, enjoyable, scenic bike ride and that's exactly what I had.

I controlled my pace and stayed very aware of how I was feeling the entire time. One of the coolest parts of the ride was when I was riding next to a horse field and there were about 20-25 horses running along the fence line beside me as I was riding along. It was really an amazing sight. I thought about how much my 16-year-old daughter would appreciate seeing this. She is really into horses, and I remember thinking it would be awesome if she could have seen that. It's definitely something you don't see everyday living in the city.

The miles continued to tick away and I continued to feel very good. I was ready to get off the bike, but I was ok from a mental and nutritional stance. I made it to T2 still feeling strong. It was so nice to have someone take my bike from me and to not have to worry about anything but heading to the changing tent.

Looking at my overall pace, I think I could have pushed a little harder, but overall I'm really happy with this, especially considering the course.

Again, this is an Ironman and I was taking my time to make sure everything was right and that I had everything I needed.

Nothing.

I saw David in T2 and we started running together. I was looking for Amanda as we left T2. I saw her very briefly as I headed out on the bike, but I didn't get to give her a kiss. I was looking forward to giving her a big, stinky, sweaty kiss. I finally saw her and did what I set out to do. After that, David and I continued running across the bridge and back.

By this time, I was extremely hungry. We hit an aid station and I ate several chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, oranges, etc. I finally told myself to slow down a bit on the grub because I didn't want to make myself sick. I had to remind myself that I still had 24 miles to go.

It wasn't long before I was hurting and needed to start walking. This was a common theme throughout the rest of the marathon. There were times when I told myself to stop being a pussy and to just block out the pain and run. I was fine when I did this, but then the nausea set in. I didn't want any drama, I just wanted to finish. Unfortunate for him, but fortunate for me, David was feeling rough too, so I had some company in my misery. David and I trained a lot together for this race, specifically on the bike. I had a lot of comfort in the fact that he was with me. His presence helped me tremendously.

We made it to the turn-around without incident and made our way back to town. As we approached the half way point, I was shocked to see how close we ran tot he finish. It was almost cruel how close they had us run to the finish. I could see finishers, and I could hear Mike Reilly calling out their names. I wanted to be them so bad, but I still had another half marathon to go. No worries though, because I knew it would only be a couple 2 or 3 hours before that was me. I did get to see Amanda again and serve her up with another smooch before heading back out for lap #2. That was refreshing...maybe not for her, but it certainly was for me.

David and I continued to run/walk together. We would run 3 cones, then walk 1, repeat. We would also walk the aid stations, making sure to take in what nutrition we could. The miles continued to tick by. As they did, more pain set in and the slower my running pace got. I kept telling myself, "Who cares. This is your first Ironman and you have plenty of time." However, my secret goal was to break 13 hours, so I wanted to run more, but I just kept allowing myself to walk. I knew I was going to be close. I ended up putting my sub 13 hour goal aside and settling for a decent first Ironman finish.

As we got closer to the finish, I saw the other folks who were passing us and just heading out on their 2nd loop. I remember feeling so fortunate I was almost done. That's when the excitement began to settle in. I knew I was about to complete my goal of finishing my first Ironman. I reflected on how much sacrifice it took, on my part and my family, to get here. I was really excited to be done. With a mile to go, David told me to haul ass and haul ass is what I did. I could hear the crowd. As I turned the corner, I could see the light. I was approaching the finish line and I didn't know what to think. I remember telling myself to slow down and to take it all in. Before I knew it, I was in the finishing chute and hearing Mike Reilly calling my name. I crossed the finish line and was greeted by my catcher. I don't remember his name, but he really took care of me. I was very unstable on my feet and not really with it. He made sure I didn't fall on my face and escorted me through the process of getting my medal, hat, shirt and finisher photo. He also made sure I found my wife before leaving me.

I would have ran more. I know I could have, but I let my mind talk me into taking the easy way out. However, given the fact that this was my first IM, I can't really complain. My stated goal was sub 14. My secret goal was sub 13. To meet the 2 goals in the middle was more than I could ask for.

Another goal I had was to finish early enough to go back to the hotel, shower and head back to the finish to cheer on the final finishers. I'm happy to report that I did just that.

After finishing, I went to the convention center and grabbed some pizza, then headed back to the room to shower. Me, Amanda, David, Alice, Jeremy and Tom went back to the finish, where I enjoyed frosty, cold, adult beverages while cheering on the midnight finishers. I was very happy to have achieved all of my goals for this race and to be in the good company of 2500 other crazy people.


The lack of running.


I later learned that the swimmer that I saw pulled from the water died. I was crushed to hear this. I thought about him the entire race. My thoughts and prayers go out ot his friends and family.

Rest in peace, Mark Wezka.....YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!