So my strategy for the whole race was to have fun with it. I'm not going to qualify for Kona, so if I lose a few minutes here or there so be it. When the cannon goes off I hit the timer on my watch and waited 45 seconds, by then the mass of people had moved forward and I was able to get a nice clean start. There was some light bumps but hardly anything all the way to the first turn buoy. I stayed to the right from the start and angled to the first buoy. I started to catch up with the tail end of the main group and things were a little more crowded after the first turn. Shortly after the second turn on the long leg it was pretty crowded and a guy was swimming 90 degrees to the direction of the course and tried to swim over me right into my ribs. I used my right arm to push him off me and when his head popped up I pointed the direction he should have been swimming and said the course is that way...he looked very disoriented but put his head back in the water and started swimming. I thought ok maybe a guy can get off course a little but 90 degrees and not even picking his head up when he ran into me...in the end no harm done and it actually made me start to laugh thinking about the look on his face. Other than that it went fairly well a few kicks to the face and clocked in the head once but kind of what I expected. I just chugged along at the pace I had practiced and felt great when it was time to exit.

Nothing, I had fun.

Went pretty well, wetsuit strippers were great, help in T1 one was great. My bike was at the end closest to the T1 exit so I ran in my socks, carried my shoes while pushing the bike until the last few rows of bikes. I asked a volunteer to hold my bike while I put my shoes on which worked great. I noticed someone had knocked my speed/cadence sensor out of position and quickly adjusted it (I ended up having problems with it all day).

I felt good on the bike. At the very begging of the bike in the no pass zone of the bike trail a guy had crashed under one of the overpasses. Everyone was slowed to almost a stop (I unclipped because I thought we were going to stop) but we just moved moved along slowly until we came up on the guy. The EMT's had him on a backboard with a neck collar, and I thought that has got to suck only a couple of miles into the bike and it's over for him. The grace of God and luck sure has a lot to do with how things work out.

The stick and first loop went pretty good other than the Ironman Perform and water handoffs. The bottles didn't fit in my holders very well and I ended up ejecting two of the Perform bottles and went two stations with only water which put me off my nutrition plan. The other issue that I had was the volunteers would open the top of the bottles and unknowingly loosen the whole top, so after a few baths of Ironman Perform I learned to make sure the top was on before taking a drink (whoever said I was slow..). My one really unwise move was on Upper Garfoot after you go down the first big hill make the right turn and then wind down to the left. I carried some pretty good speed through the first turn and was going around thirty five before the left turn and was quickly overtaking three riders so I chose to pass them in the left lane just before the turn, just as I got around them and back in the right lane a truck with a horse trailer was approaching the turn from the opposite direction, one of the guys in the right lane said "that would of hurt" and all I could say was "yep". Not a smart move on my part.

The second loop the wind was picking up and the temps were starting to get warm. I think missing the two bottles of Perform started to take effect and my pace slowed dramatically. I started taking two bottles of Perform at the aid stations and within an hour started to feel more energy. The ride back to the Terrace on the stick went pretty well but the back and forth with nutrition was making my stomach cramp. In the end I had 6 waters, 5 Performs, two bags of GU Chomps and three cookies.

Felt pretty good coming off the bike. The T2 room was busy and the volunteers were all helping other people. So I did a quick change and started putting things in my bag. A volunteer finished up with a guy that he was helping and came over to help me out. The guy in the chair next to me accidentally kicked my ankle and I thought nothing of it...more on this later.

Coming out of T2 there were lots of volunteers handing out water and Perform I drank way to much probably four or five cups of liquid. Lori and the kids were right outside the run start so I stopped and talked to them and handed out hugs. It felt great to see them and really gave me a jolt of energy. As I headed out for the run I told myself be smart take it easy and again I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Within 5 Minutes the stomach cramps hit, I was able to maintain my run pace but had to skip an aid station because I thought I would throw up if I ate or drank anything. As I continued on to the next aid station I knew I would have to start drinking or I would get in trouble quick. When I arrived at the next stop I took a small cup of water and thought maybe a few pretzels would help calm my stomach. Within a couple of minutes I did feel better, the cramps were still there, but not like I was going to throw up or enough to make me walk. So for the rest of the run I walked the aid stations and few hills, ate a handful of pretzels each aid station and drank only water. At the turn around just before the electronic message sign I went across the timing mat and didn't hear the familiar beep. My heart skipped a beat and I looked down at my ankle...the strap was there but no chip and the velcro was undone. My mind raced back to T2 when the guy kicked me in the ankle, it must have knocked the timing chip off or loosened the velcro. I stopped at the next aid station and talked to the team leader who took down my number and said she would notify race officials just keep going. I repeated this with several volunteers including the guy at the half way turn around mat and at the finish line. After the race, when a time was not posted for me, I contacted Ironman Wisconsin (they were fantastic to work with on this) and they were able to post a time for me with in a day after checking their manual records...whew...not a big deal except explaining it to all the people who were watching me online and thought I had dropped out of the race. Another good lesson make sure the chip is there...

There was one other pretty funny story on the run. I had worn a cycling shirt because of the rear pockets. About mile 10 the shirt started rubbing on my chest which I thought might happen so I had put a running shirt in my Run SN bag. When I got to the SN bags I reached in grabbed the new shirt put it on looked at the socks in the bag thought " I'm good" and off I went. Just before I get to Camp Randall Stadium the balls of my feet felt like they were on fire. I had no other issues with them prior to this point so I'm thinking what is going on? I ran through the stadium and decided I better stop and check out what is going on with my feet, I knew I would not be able to continue to run with how hot they felt. So once I was on the street I sat down on the curb and pulled my shoes off and looked at the bottom of my socks...I couldn't believe it ...holes in the socks! I wore a pair of socks that I frequently wear when runnig, they looked like they were in good shape at the start of the run...! Hmmm should I go back and get the socks in the special needs bag..no to far...how about turning them inside out and upside down? So that's what I did, inside out holes on top of my feet and it worked perfect for the rest of the run. Next time I'll wear newer socks....

Wear new socks!

Overall I was happy with race as my first Ironman. I made some mistakes and learned some lessons but it all worked in the end. The support that I received from friends, family and other BT'ers was unbelievable, I can't thank all of you enough. I first had this goal 29 years ago watching the Ironman on TV and can't believe that I was lucky enough to be able to give it a go and accomplish it. Not to be melodramatic but it was one of the best days of my life (aside from my kids and getting married). On to IM Lake Placid for 2012 and then back to Madison in 2013...god willing!