We entered the water at 7:11 am. I jumped imto the water and had no issues. The canal is narrow but seemed to be plenty of room. Got swam over a few times and had my feet slapped which got me out of rythme but only happened a few times. Once we turned into the main channelof the river I just hunkered down and swam. I swam on a few peoples feet but then decided to stay out of the crowd and moved to the outside.The bridges are so big and seemed to take forever to get to them.The exit got crowded but the stairs out of the water were orderly. Be careful if you ever do this race, my buddy slipped somehow and broke his toe. He did the remaining 138 miles with a broken toe.

Nothing. I had it in my mind I would do the swim and be out of transition in 2 hours and hit that exactly.

The transition tent was dark, clammy, chaotic and cool. Handler was awesome and I got in there and out of there quickly. Was a cool experience. I like this type of transition over any other type of triathlon.

Put my bike shorts on first. I left my jammers on for whatever reason and had everything including bike shoes before I realized that I had not put on my cycle shorts.

The bike course was amazing. I held off the first hour and a half. I didnt really give it everything I had during the entire ride for fear of having to walk the marathon in a miserable stupor. I had planned on a 7 hour ride which I got 7:03 on teh bike computer that had actual bike moving time. I did not figure in stopping twice to pee and stopping a few times in the aid stations and at special needs. This accounted for 34 mins. This was ok with me though because I was not completly done when I got off the bike. There were many people laying on the ground beside their bike along the course. Some looked like they were napping and some were in a heap crumpled next or on top of their bike. Lots of flat tire changers. I was astonished as to the amount of triathlon gear that had been dropped/discharged/lauched off of bicycles. You could make a killing on ebay.

I would spend a little less time at each stop and in special needs. Although my time threre were exceptable.

I got into T2 and got to changing clothes and drinking water. I dried off and got myself together. I heard out of the half darkness my name being called. It was one of my training partners. I was happy to see him and we waited for each other to be ready. We went to the sunscreen girls and got sunscreen. There was a guy laying on the ground in pain and I thought that I was glad a cooled it on the bike.

My buddy and I ran out of transition and was met by our families. We both have big smiles on our faces and everybody comments on that that see the photos. This is a testiment on the theory of not killing the bike. I was ready for the run. We ran 3/4 to a mile then walked through the aid stations. Consumed chicken broth, Perform, water, coke or whatever else was on the buffet. We did this for 18 miles. At the 18 mile point, my buddy said he was starting to feel real bad. We walked for a while and he insisted that I go on. I finally agreed and ran. I felt better when I saw him running towards me after I had made the 20 mile turn around. Turns out he was low on sugar and drank two colas and felt much better. I was able to run the last 8 miles other than stopping for a few seconds for the aid stations. I charged into the finish chute with hundreds of people screaming a beating on the sidewalls of the chute. All the lights and music and people were very overwhelming. I saw my wife and stopped to give her a kiss then raun the rest of the way in. My hadlere again was awesome. I felt great. Got my medal, my finisher gear and water. He walked me to get my picture then to my wife. We went back to where she was standing to watch and cheeron the rest of our group. I sat down on the curb and stood back up too quick. The wolrd started spinning and I saw stars and bright lights. I threw up 3 times and within seconds there was an Ironman volunteer sitting me into a wheelchair and off to the Medical bulilding. There I got unbelievable attention and an IV. That made me feel like a new man. I left and walked back to the Galt House with my wife. She was awesome all day also and had goten my bike an gear out of transition earlier so I didnt have to. What a great wife.

Not sit on the curb